Inventory of plants used in traditional medicine in Somalia. III. Plants of the families Lauraceae-Papilionaceae.

Thirty-five plants are listed, which are used by traditional healers in the central and southern parts of Somalia. For each species are listed: the botanical name with synonyms, collection number, vernacular name, medicinal use, preparation of remedy and dosage. Results of a literature survey are also reported including medicinal use, substances isolated and pharmacological effects.     

Propofol versus traditional sedative agents for gastrointestinal endoscopy: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Even though propofol has better recovery profile than traditional agents, its use is limited because of the perception of increased complication rates. Because an adequately powered trial comparing risk of propofol with traditional agents is lacking, we performed a meta-analysis of the current literature. METHODS: We searched Medline (1966-October 2004), EMBASE (1980-October 2004), and Cochrane controlled trials registry. The following 4 cardiopulmonary complications were assessed: hypoxia, hypotension, arrhythmias, and apnea. Procedures were divided into 3 groups: esophagogastroduodenoscopy group, colonoscopy group, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography/endoscopic ultrasonography group. Pooled odds ratios for complications were calculated for all the procedures combined and then separately for the 3 groups. Random effects models were used for 2-proportion comparisons. RESULTS: Of the 90 citations identified, 12 original studies qualified for this meta-analysis and included 1161 patients. Of these, 634 received propofol, and 527 received midazolam, meperidine, and/or fentanyl. Most of the included studies were randomized trials of moderate quality and nonsignificant heterogeneity (Cochran Q = 4.81, P = .90). Compared with traditional sedative agents, the pooled odds ratio with the use of propofol for developing hypoxia or hypotension for all the procedures combined was 0.74 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44-1.24); for EGD, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.33-2.17); for colonoscopy, 0.4 (95% CI, 0.2-0.79); and for ERCP/EUS, 1.07 (95% CI, 0.38-3.01). CONCLUSIONS: Propofol sedation during colonoscopy appears to have lower odds of cardiopulmonary complications compared with traditional agents, but for other procedures, the risk of complications is similar.     

CADASIL in Arabs: clinical and genetic findings

Background  

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is increasingly recognized as an inherited arterial disease leading to a step-wise decline and eventually to dementia. CADASIL is caused by mutations in NOTCH3 epidermal growth factor-like repeat that maps to chromosome 19. CADASIL cases have been identified in most countries of Western and Central Europe, the Americas, Japan, Australia, the Caribbean, South America, Tanzania, Turkey, South Africa and Southeast Asia, but not in Arabs.     

Terminal deletion 6p23: a case report

We report on a girl with cleft lip and cleft palate, antimongoloid slant of the palpebral fissures, umbilical hernia, skeletal anomalies, partial syndactyly, hypertonia with increased deep tendon reflexes, psychomotor and growth retardation, and other congenital anomalies. Cytogenetic studies demonstrated a 46,XX,del(6)(qter----p23:) chromosome constitution.     

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Factors Among Somali Immigrants and Refugees

Background

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks are of concern among immigrants and refugees settling in affluent host countries. The prevalence of CVD and risk factors among Somali African immigrants to the U.S. has not been systematically studied.

Methods

In 2015–2016, we surveyed 1156 adult Somalis in a Midwestern metropolitan area using respondent-driven sampling to obtain anthropometric, interview, and laboratory data about CVD and associated risk factors, demographics, and social factors.

Results

The prevalence of diabetes and low physical activity among men and women was high. Overweight, obesity, and dyslipidemia were also particularly prevalent. Levels of calculated CVD risk across the community were greater for men than women.

Conclusion

Though CVD risk is lower among Somalis than the general U.S. population, our results suggest significant prevalence of risk factors among Somali immigrants. Comparison with prior research suggests that CVD risks may be increasing, necessitating thoughtful intervention to prevent adverse population outcomes.

     

The New Normal? Patient Satisfaction and Usability of Telemedicine in Breast Cancer Care

Annals of Surgical Oncology - Telemedicine was adopted to minimize exposure risks for patients and staff during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. This study measured patient satisfaction and...     

Unconscious perception of "extinguished" visual stimuli: reassessing the evidence.

When parietal-damaged patients fail to report a contralesional stimulus because of extinction, is this because the stimulus is not perceived, or because it is perceived but cannot reach conscious awareness? VOLPE et al. [10] reported an intriguing study that seemed to locate the problem at least partly in the transfer of information to conscious awareness. They showed patients with extinction pairs of stimuli, one in each hemifield. Although patients were predictably poor at reporting the identity of the contralesional stimulus, they were able to make accurate same/different judgements comparing the two stimuli. This was interpreted as evidence that both stimuli were perceived. In the present paper, we point out that the dissociation between identification and same/different matching could also be due to the possibility that less visual information about the contralesional stimulus is necessary to make a same/different judgement than to identify the stimulus, and that chance performance is considerably higher in the first than in the second type of task. In Experiment 1, we verified this by degrading one side of a stimulus display and "replicating" the dissociation with normal subjects. We also equated the amount of visual information needed for the two tasks by yoking the stimulus pairs on "different" trials of the same/different matching task with the choice pairs on a forced choice identification task. Under these conditions, the dissociation vanished. In Experiment 2, we administered these tasks to three parietal-damaged patients with extinction. When the original method was used, same/different matching was better than identification of the contralesional stimulus. With the forced choice identification method, the dissociation again vanished.