History of violence and subjective health of mother and child

Objective: To study the self-reported prevalence of experienced violence among a cohort of women about two years after giving birth, their health during pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and their experience of their child’s health.

Setting and subjects: In 2011, a total of 657 women participated in phase III of the Childbirth and Health Cohort Study in Icelandic Primary Health Care, 18 to 24 months after delivery. The women had previously participated in phase I around pregnancy week 16 and phase II 5–6 months after delivery. Data were collected by postal questionnaires.

Main outcome measures: Women’s reported history of experienced violence, sociodemographic and obstetric background, self-perceived health, the use of medications and their child’s perceived health.

Results: In phase III, 16% of women reported experiencing violence. These women felt less support from their current partner (p?p?p?p?p?p?=?0.008).

Conclusions: Our study confirms that a history of violence is common among women. A history of violence is associated with various maternal health problems during and after pregnancy, a higher rate of caesarean sections and maternal reports of health problems in their child 18–24 months after birth.

• KEY POINTS

• Violence is a major concern worldwide. Understanding the impact of violence on human health and developing effective preventive measures are important elements of any public health agenda.

• ??The reported prevalence of experiencing violence was 16% among women attending antenatal care in the primary health care setting in Iceland.

• ??Women with a history of violence reported worse health in general during pregnancy and delivered more often by caesarean section, compared to women with no such history.

• ??Mothers with a history of violence also evaluated the general health of their child as worse than women with no such history.

• ??The findings of this study support the importance of recognizing and addressing experienced violence among women in primary care.

     

The construction of a profession: a study of the history of nursing in Iceland

This paper aims to provide insights into nursing's place in today's health care through a study of its historical development b Iceland. It is part of recent attempts by feminist scholars to shed light on the history of women in public life. Based on an analysis of the different discourses on nursing, the role of the nurse, die material conditions mat have shaped the life of nurses and structural influences upon health care, conflicting and contrasting understandings of nursing have emerged. Whereas physicians tended to define the nurse as a lowly assistant with the status of a servant, the nurses themselves understood nursing as an independent occupation charged with die responsibility of meeting the needs of die public for assistance and education in matters related to health and well-being. Late in the 19th century this clearly articulated mission became somewhat blurred and their work was reduced to a rather narrow understanding of performing routine tasks and following orders. A number of interrelated factors contributed to this development     

Effect of cyclodextrins and polymers on triclosan availability and substantivity in toothpastes in vivo

The aqueous solubility of triclosan is only about 10 microg/mL. This very low solubility can hamper its biological activity in the oral cavity, which could explain the mixed clinical results obtained from triclosan toothpaste trials. Triclosan availability in a silica-based toothpaste was improved through cyclodextrin solubilization. The triclosan in vivo availability was optimized through a series of phase-solubility studies and triclosan release studies. It was found that in toothpastes, natural beta-cyclodextrin (betaCD) was just as good a solubilizer as the more water-soluble betaCD derivatives. Furthermore, the amount of cyclodextrin could be reduced by as much as 60% through the addition of a small amount of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), without affecting triclosan release from the toothpaste. Optimally, cyclodextrins resulted in an almost 3-fold enhancement of triclosan availability compared to an identical toothpaste containing no cyclodextrin. In vivo studies in humans showed that replacing triclosan with triclosan/betaCD in the toothpaste resulted in only moderate improvement in triclosan substantivity. However, replacing triclosan with triclosan/betaCD/CMC complex resulted in significant improvement in triclosan substantivity. Furthermore, the in vivo studies showed that replacing free triclosan with triclosan/betaCD/CMC complex resulted in an almost 3-fold increase in initial triclosan concentration in saliva after brushing and about 2-fold increase in duration of activity.     

Obesity modulates the association between sleep apnea treatment and CHI3L1 levels but not CHIT1 activity in moderate to severe OSA: an observational study

Sleep and Breathing - The inflammatory markers chitinase-3-like protein 1 (CHI3L1) and chitotriosidase (CHIT1) have both been associated with cardiovascular complications. The aim of this...     

Genetic correction of PSA values using sequence variants associated with PSA levels

Measuring serum levels of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is the most common screening method for prostate cancer. However, PSA levels are affected by a number of factors apart from neoplasia. Notably, around 40% of the variability of PSA levels in the general population is accounted for by inherited factors, suggesting that it may be possible to improve both sensitivity and specificity by adjusting test results for genetic effects. To search for sequence variants that associate with PSA levels, we performed a genome-wide association study and follow-up analysis using PSA information from 15,757 Icelandic and 454 British men not diagnosed with prostate cancer. Overall, we detected a genome-wide significant association between PSA levels and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at six loci: 5p15.33 (rs2736098), 10q11 (rs10993994), 10q26 (rs10788160), 12q24 (rs11067228), 17q12 (rs4430796), and 19q13.33 [rs17632542 (KLK3: I179T)], each with P(combined) <3 × 10(-10). Among 3834 men who underwent a biopsy of the prostate, the 10q26, 12q24, and 19q13.33 alleles that associate with high PSA levels are associated with higher probability of a negative biopsy (odds ratio between 1.15 and 1.27). Assessment of association between the six loci and prostate cancer risk in 5325 cases and 41,417 controls from Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, Romania, and the United States showed that the SNPs at 10q26 and 12q24 were exclusively associated with PSA levels, whereas the other four loci also were associated with prostate cancer risk. We propose that a personalized PSA cutoff value, based on genotype, should be used when deciding to perform a prostate biopsy.     

Critical role of factors II and X during coumarin anticoagulation and their combined measurement with a new Fiix-prothrombin time

Vitamin K antagonists (VKA) are monitored with prothrombin time (PT) based assays that are equally sensitive to reductions in factors II, VII or X. We compared the effect of vitamin K dependent (VKD) coagulation factors on PT and also on rotational thromboelastometric (ROTEM) parameters. The PT was equally sensitive to reductions in factors II, VII or X but ROTEM parameters correlated poorly with the PT in anticoagulated patients´ plasmas. ROTEM parameters were more affected by mild and moderate reductions in FII or FX than by FVII or FIX which had little influence except at very low coagulant activity. We developed a modified PT that was sensitive only to reductions in factors II and X. The Fiix-PT (Fiix-INR) correlated well with PT (INR) but the Fiix-INR fluctuated less than the INR in an anticoagulated patient reflecting its insensitivity to FVII. The ROTEM results suggest that mild to moderate reductions in factors II or X are more important during clot formation than factors VII or IX. Reductions in FII and X may better reflect anticoagulation with VKA than FVII or IX. The new Fiix-PT may more accurately reflect the degree of therapeutic anticoagulation in patients treated with VKA than the current PT which is subject to a confounding variation caused by FVII.     

Outcome for children <4 years of age with malignant central nervous system tumors treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell rescue

BACKGROUND: Children <4 years of age (yo) with malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumors have a dismal prognosis. In an attempt to delay or obviate radiation therapy (XRT) and improve outcome, our institution has treated children <4 yo with newly diagnosed malignant CNS tumors with high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous stem cell rescue (ASCR) followed by selective XRT. PROCEDURE: Fifteen children (age 4-38 months) with malignant CNS tumors have completed treatment with HDC/ASCR. All patients received three cycles of induction chemotherapy (cisplatin 3.5 mg/kg- day 0, cyclophosphamide 60 mg/kg- day 1 and 2, etoposide 2.5 mg/kg- day 0-2, vincristine 0.05 mg/kg, day 0, 7, 14) followed by three cycles of HDC (carboplatin 17 mg/kg and thiotepa 6 mg/kg, day 0 and 1) with ASCR. Histology included five medulloblastomas, four primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET), five malignant gliomas, and one ependymoma. Outcome and treatment toxicities were evaluated by retrospective chart review. RESULTS: Median follow-up time of the 15 patients is 22 months (range 8-82 months). The 1- and 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) is 86.1% and 52.2% and overall survival (OS) 91.6% and 72.1%, respectively. Ten patients are alive and disease free 3-77 months (median 18 months) after having completed HDC/ASCR, thereoff five received XRT. Toxicity was primarily myelosuppression. There was no treatment mortality. CONCLUSIONS: We are encouraged by the outcome of 15 children <4 yo with malignant CNS tumors treated with tandem cycles of HDC and ASCR at our institution. The treatment regimen is relatively well tolerated.