A Simple Method for Demonstrating the Giardia Lamblia Trophozoite.

A simple method for demonstrating the giardia lamblia trophozoite.

Filed under: Eating Disorders

J Clin Diagn Res. 2012 Nov; 6(9): 1492-4
Rajurkar MN, Lall N, Basak S, Mallick SK

Giardia lamblia is a flagellated protozoan parasite of man. Only 2 stages i.e. the trophozoite and the cyst forms are observed in the life cycle of Giardia. The Giardia infection is acquired from drinking water or by eating food which is contaminated with cysts. The symptoms of the Giardia infection are foul smelling diarrhoea, flatulence, steatorrhoea, etc. Stool samples from the patients are examined for the detection of the motile trophozoites and cysts. As the trophozoites disintegrate rapidly, the stool sample should be observed within 15 minutes of its passage. Hence, we developed a staining method to stain the Giardia trophozoite permanently.Smears of the stool samples were prepared and they were fixed with methanol. The staining was done by using a 1% methylene blue solution.All the 15 known Giardia lamblia trophozoite positive samples were also found to be positive by the Methylene blue staining. The Giardia lamblia cysts could not be stained by this method. 20 stool samples were used as negative controls.We developed the methylene blue staining for demonstrating the trophozoite of Giardia, which is a very simple permanent staining method. The slides can be kept for a permanent record.
HubMed – eating

 

Relationship between Snail Population Density and Infection Status of Snails and Fish with Zoonotic Trematodes in Vietnamese Carp Nurseries.

Filed under: Eating Disorders

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012 Dec; 6(12): e1945
Clausen JH, Madsen H, Murrell KD, Phan Thi V, Nguyen Manh H, Viet KN, Dalsgaard A

Fish-borne zoonotic trematodes (FZT) are a food safety and health concern in Vietnam. Humans and other final hosts acquire these parasites from eating raw or under-cooked fish with FZT metacercariae. Fish raised in ponds are exposed to cercariae shed by snail hosts that are common in fish farm ponds. Previous risk assessment on FZT transmission in the Red River Delta of Vietnam identified carp nursery ponds as major sites of transmission. In this study, we analyzed the association between snail population density and heterophyid trematode infection in snails with the rate of FZT transmission to juvenile fish raised in carp nurseries.Snail population density and prevalence of trematode (Heterophyidae) infections were determined in 48 carp nurseries producing Rohu juveniles, (Labeo rohita) in the Red River Delta area. Fish samples were examined at 3, 6 and 9 weeks after the juvenile fish were introduced into the ponds. There was a significant positive correlation between prevalence of FZT metacercariae in juvenile fish and density of infected snails. Thus, the odds of infection in juvenile fish were 4.36 and 11.32 times higher for ponds with medium and high density of snails, respectively, compared to ponds where no infected snails were found. Further, the intensity of fish FZT infections increased with the density of infected snails. Interestingly, however, some ponds with no or few infected snails were collected also had high prevalence and intensity of FZT in juvenile fish. This may be due to immigration of cercariae into the pond from external water sources.The total number and density of potential host snails and density of host snails infected with heterophyid trematodes in the aquaculture pond is a useful predictor for infections in juvenile fish, although infection levels in juvenile fish can occur despite low density or absence infected snails. This suggests that intervention programs to control FZT infection of fish should include not only intra-pond snail control, but also include water sources of allochthonous cercariae, i.e. canals supplying water to ponds as well as snail habitats outside the pond such as rice fields and surrounding ponds.
HubMed – eating

 

Risky Food Safety Behaviors Are Associated with Higher Bmi and Lower Healthy Eating Self-Efficacy and Intentions among African American Churchgoers in Baltimore.

Filed under: Eating Disorders

PLoS One. 2012; 7(12): e52122
Anderson Steeves E, Silbergeld E, Summers A, Chen L, Gittelsohn J

There are an estimated 9.4 million cases of foodborne illness each year. Consumers have a key role in preventing foodborne illness, but differences in the practice of food safety behaviors exist, increasing risk for certain groups in the population. Identifying groups who are more likely to practice risky food safety behaviors can assist in development of interventions to reduce the disease burden of foodborne illnesses. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationships of health indicators and psychosocial factors with self-reported food safety behaviors.Data were collected via questionnaire from 153 African Americans who attend churches in Baltimore City. Individuals reported high overall concern with food safety (mean score: 0.80±0.49 on a scale of -1 to +1) and practiced food safety behaviors with moderate overall frequency (mean score: 5.26±4.01 on a scale of -12 to +12), with considerable variation in reported frequencies depending on the food safety behavior. After adjusting for demographic variables, food safety behaviors were significantly associated with BMI and psychosocial variables. Riskier food safety behaviors were associated with higher body mass index (BMI) (??=?-0.141 95%CI (-0.237, -0.044), p?=?0.004). Self-efficacy for healthy eating (standard ? [std. ?]?=?0.250, p?=?0.005) and healthy eating intentions (std. ??=?0.178, p?=?0.041) were associated with better food safety behaviors scores.These results show important relationships between weight-related health indicators, psychosocial factors and food safety behaviors that have not previously been studied. Interventions tailored to higher-risk populations have the potential to reduce the burden of food-related illnesses. Additional studies are needed to further investigate these relationships with larger and more diverse samples.
HubMed – eating

 

Adherence to healthy dietary guidelines and future depressive symptoms: evidence for sex differentials in the Whitehall II study.

Filed under: Eating Disorders

Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Jan 2;
Akbaraly TN, Sabia S, Shipley MJ, Batty GD, Kivimaki M

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that dietary patterns are associated with future risk of depressive symptoms. However, there is a paucity of prospective data that have examined the temporality of this relation. OBJECTIVE: We examined whether adherence to a healthy diet, as defined by using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), was prospectively associated with depressive symptoms assessed over a 5-y period. DESIGN: Analyses were based on 4215 participants in the Whitehall II Study. AHEI scores were computed in 1991-1993 and 2003-2004. Recurrent depressive symptoms were defined as having a Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score ?16 or self-reported use of antidepressants in 2003-2004 and 2008-2009. RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounders, the AHEI score was inversely associated with recurrent depressive symptoms in a dose-response fashion in women (P-trend < 0.001; for 1 SD in AHEI score; OR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.75) but not in men. Women who maintained high AHEI scores or improved their scores during the 10-y measurement period had 65% (OR: 0.35%; 95% CI: 0.19%, 0.64%) and 68% (OR: 0.32%; 95% CI: 0.13%, 0.78%) lower odds of subsequent recurrent depressive symptoms than did women who maintained low AHEI scores. Among AHEI components, vegetable, fruit, trans fat, and the ratio of polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat components were associated with recurrent depressive symptoms in women. CONCLUSION: In the current study, there was a suggestion that poor diet is a risk factor for future depression in women. HubMed – eating

 

 

GNDD? – e-petition: epetitions.direct.gov.uk Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels: gorgeous-not-drop-dead.tumblr.com had to release announcement early. silly job. twitter: twitter.com Goodreads: www.goodreads.com tumblrs: little-nerdasaurus.tumblr.com & www.spiffing-books.tumblr.com blogspot spiffingbooks.blogspot.co.uk bookmark shop: sites.google.com music: father sleep – burgundy reel

 

Related Eating Disorders Information…