The U.S. diet is not what it used to be, but still not what it should be. Every major medical organization now recommends we take a multivitamin, but we’ve all heard that certain vitamins that we can’t break down or that don’t get into our system create nothing but expensive urine. In this segment of DL Radio, Jordan Rubin, founder of Garden of Life, explains how choosing the right type of multivitamin can make all the difference in your daily health & wellness. Save $5 on your next Garden of Life purchase. Click here!

Could Nutritional Rehabilitation at Home Complement or Replace Centre-Based Therapeutic Feeding Programmes for Severe Malnutrition?
To measure the success rate of three different strategies used in M decins Sans Fronti res large-scale therapeutic nutritional rehabilitation programme in Niger, we analysed three cohorts of severely malnourished patients in terms of daily weight gain, length of stay, recovery, case fatality and defaulting. A total of 1937 children aged 6–59 months were followed prospectively from 15 August 2002 to 21 October 2003. For the three cohorts, 660 children were maintained in the therapeutic feeding centre (TFC) during the entire treatment, 937 children were initially treated at the TFC and completed treatment at home and 340 children were exclusively treated at home. For all cohorts, average time in the programme and average weight gain met the international standards (30–40 days, >8 g/kg/day). Default rates were 28.1, 16.8 and 5.6% for TFC only, TFC plus home-based and home-based alone strategies, respectively. The overall case fatality rate for the entire programme was 6.8%. Case fatality rates were 18.9% for TFC only and 1.7% for home-based alone. No deaths were recorded in children transferred to rehabilitation at home. This study suggests that satisfactory results for the treatment of severe malnutrition can be achieved using a combination of home and hospital-based strategies.

How to choose the right Calcium supplement
Many people might be surprised to learn that while vitamins are essential for good health, it’s minerals that need more attention since they are harder to absorb and assimilate. Calcium is one of the macro-minerals, or the essential minerals, in our diet. The U.S. RDA’S have steadily increased over the years starting at 600 milligrams a day, and now research shows that we may be upping the recommended daily allowance to 1500 milligrams a day. In this segment of DL Radio, Jordan Rubin, founder of Garden of Life, details how to choose the right calcium supplement and protect against mineral deficiencies. Save $5 on your next Garden of Life purchase. Click here!

The correlation between myocardial function and cerebral hemodynamics in term infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
This study investigated the effect of myocardial dysfunction on the cerebral hemodynamics in term infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). We evaluated myocardial systolic and diastolic functional parameters and cerebral hemodynamic parameters in 40 term newborn infants with HIE and 30 healthy controls during the first 14 days of life using two-dimensional/pulsed Doppler ultrasound. The results showed that there were significant cerebral hemodynamic disturbances and cardiac dysfunction in neonates with HIE, and the more cardiac dysfunction the patients have, the more severe encephalopathy they would suffer. Therefore, it is important to preserve cardiac function and treat myocardial dysfunction in infants with HIE.

The Frequency of UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 Promoter Region (TA)7 Polymorphism in Newborns and it’s Relation with Jaundice
Increased bilirubin formation and decreased bilirubin conjugation play an important role in the pathogenesis of the newborn jaundice. Although physiologic jaundice is seen in most of the newborns, there are many risk factors that affect the severity and duration of hyperbilirubinemia. The latest studies showed that the frequency and severity of neonatal jaundice have been increased when mutations of the gene coding UDP-glucuronosyltransferase(UGT)1A1 coexist with other risk factors. healthy term newborns weighing over 2500 g. were included in this study. The patient group consisted of 107 newborns either with total bilirubin level over 15 mg dl–1 within 7 days or 5 mg dl–1 after 15 days of age. The control group consisted of 55 newborns with bilirubin levels in physiological ranges. We investigated the frequency of promoter region [thymine–adenine(TA)]7 polymorphism in UGT1A1 gene. Factors which might cause pathologic and prolonged jaundice with coexisting polymorphism were also investigated. UGT1A1 6/7 genotype was found to be 11% in patient group and 13% in the control group. The difference between patient and control groups was not statistically significant. (TA)7 allele frequency was 0.069 and it is concluded that UGT1A1 promoter region polymorphism was not a risk factor for neonatal jaundice.

Comparative Study of Nutritional Status of Urban and Rural Nigerian School Children
Nutritional assessment in the community is essential for accurate planning and implementation of intervention programmes to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with under-nutrition. The study was, therefore, carried out to determine and compare the nutritional status of children attending urban and rural public primary schools in Ife Central Local Government Area (ICLGA) of Nigeria. The schools were stratified into urban and rural, and studied schools were selected by balloting. Information obtained on each pupil was entered into a pre-designed proforma. The weight and height were recorded for each pupil, and converted to nutritional indices (weight for age, weight for height, height for age). A total of 749 pupils (366 and 383 children from the rural and urban communities, respectively) were studied. The overall prevalent rates of underweight, wasting and stunting were 61.2, 16.8 and 27.6%, respectively. In the rural area these were 70.5, 17.8 and 35.8%, while in the urban they were 52.2, 15.9 and 19.8%, respectively. The mean nutritional indices (Weight for Age, Weight for Height and Height for Age) were found to be significantly lower among the rural pupils than urban pupils (P < 0.001 in each case). The present study shows that malnutrition (underweight, wasting and stunting) constituted major health problems among school children in Nigeria. This is particularly so in the rural areas. Therefore, prevention of malnutrition should be given a high priority in the implementation of the ongoing primary health care programmes with particular attention paid to the rural population.

Screening for Retinopathy of Prematurity in Developing Countries
Improved survival of low birth weight, premature babies in India has increased the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity. Western reports describe screening criteria to pick up babies most at risk. However, our population of at-risk neonates is likely to be different, as most nurseries in India are not very well equipped. Our aim was to develop a screening strategy appropriate for our conditions. Ophthalmic records of 60 neonates with gestational age ≤35 weeks and/or birth weight ≤1500 g, born over a 1-year period, were retrospectively reviewed. Laterality, location and stage of retinopathy of prematurity were recorded. Age at detection, at threshold disease and at maximum stage was recorded, and progression or regression of retinopathy noted. The incidence of retinopathy was 13/60 (21.7%) and of threshold disease was 3/60 (5.0%). Threshold disease was never seen before 5.5 weeks PNA. Zone I disease invariably, zone II disease in 12.5% cases and zone III disease never progressed to threshold stage. Most (10/13; 76.9%) cases regressed without treatment. Screening for retinopathy should commence at 4 weeks PNA (post-neonatal age). Screening time, discomfort to the baby and complications can be reduced by examining temporal retina first. If normal, the nasal retina need not be examined. Also, babies with zone III disease need not be followed up to complete visualization. Retinal vascular dilatation, resistance to pupillary dilation and persistence of tunica vasculosa lentis can be indicators of intensive screening.

Death of a G-6-P-D Deficient Child with Co-morbid HIV Infection Linked to Scarification
Facial scarification is a process of engraving marks on selected portions of the face at infanthood for various cultural purposes. It is a common cultural practice in Africa especially Nigeria. The induction is associated with fever and severe crying in infants. Usage of the same unsterile tools for the induction in different children and the unhygienic environment are possible means of contracting HIV infection. Occurence of G-6-P-D deficiency and malaria predipose to severe anaemia often requiring blood transfusion. Blood screening facilities are grossly lacking in most rural areas in developing countries. This report is on a 2-year-old male child who presented with facial marks, lacked G-6-P-D and died of HIV infection after a follow-up of 6 months. We suggest that HIV infection contracted from facial scarification in the presence of G-6-P-D deficiency caused the child’s death.

Evaluation of the TEG platelet mapping assay in blood donors
Background: Monitoring of antiplatelet therapy in patients at cardiovascular risk is difficult because existing platelet function tests are too sophisticated for clinical routine. The whole blood TEG Platelet Mapping assay measures clot strength as maximal amplitude (MA) and enables for quantification of platelet function, including the contribution of the adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and thromboxane A2 (TxA2) receptors to clot formation. Methods: In 43 healthy blood donors, the analytical (CVa) and inter-individual variability (CVg) of the TEG Platelet Mapping assay were determined together with platelet receptor inhibition in response to arachidonic acid (AA) and ADP. Results: The CVa of the assay for maximal platelet contribution to clot strength (MAThrombin) was 3.5%, for the fibrin contribution to clot strength (MAFibrin) 5.2%, for MAAA 4.5% and for MAADP it was 6.6%. The MAThrombin CVg was 2.8%, MAFibrin 4.7%, MAAA 6.6% and for MAADP it was 26.2%. Females had a higher MAThrombin compared to males (62.8 vs. 58.4 mm, p = 0.005). The platelet TxA2 receptor inhibition was 1.2% (range 0 10%) and lower than for the ADP receptor (18.6% (0 58%); p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The high variability in ADP receptor inhibition may explain both the differences in response to ADP receptor inhibitor therapy and why major bleeding sometimes develops during surgery in patients not treated with ADP receptor inhibitors. An analytical variation of ~5 % for the TEG enables, however, for routine monitoring of the variability in ADP receptor inhibition and of antiplatelet therapy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 14th, 2007 at 2:38 am and is filed under Vitamins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.