Addressing High Rates of Smoking in Remote Aboriginal Communities – New Evidence for GPs.

Addressing high rates of smoking in remote Aboriginal communities – New evidence for GPs.

Aust Fam Physician. 2013 Jul; 42(7): 492-6
Robertson J, Conigrave K, Ivers R, Hindmarsh E, Clough A

To inform smoking interventions by clinicians, particularly doctors, in primary healthcare settings in remote Aboriginal communities, we describe the results of tobacco surveys in remote Northern Territory communities.During 2008-09 in three remote communities in the Northern Territory, 400 people (aged ?16 years) were asked about their tobacco use.Extremely high rates of smoking persist: 71%, 78% and 82% of those interviewed in the three communities. More than half the smokers were either thinking about or actively trying to quit, despite limited access to appropriate support. Among former smokers, the most common motivator for quitting was ‘health concerns’. Of those citing ‘health concerns’, 22% specifically mentioned receiving advice from a clinician, usually a ‘doctor’.General practitioners, and their colleagues in similar primary healthcare settings, are well placed and are strongly encouraged to take every opportunity to make what could be a significant impact on reducing harms related to smoking and environmental smoke. HubMed – rehab

Graft survival and visual outcome after simultaneous penetrating keratoplasty and cataract extraction.

Int J Ophthalmol. 2013; 6(3): 385-9
Al-Mohaimeed MM

To evaluate the indications, complications, and visual and graft survival outcomes in eyes that had undergone simultaneous cataract extraction and penetrating keratoplasty (PKP).We described a retrospective study of 101 patients who had undergone simultaneous cataract extraction and PKP at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2002. All patients were followed up postoperatively with maximum follow-up 68 months.The mean age of patients was 61 years. The mean overall follow-up was 27 months. The most common indications for surgery were corneal scarring (45.5%), previous failed graft (15.8%), corneal ulcer (12.9%), Fuchs endothelial dystrophy (8.9%), stromal dystrophy (2.9%), and other conditions (14.5%). Overall, 69 grafts (68.3%) remained clear at final follow-up. Previous glaucoma or postoperative glaucoma had no statistically significant effects on graft outcome (P>0.05).The graft rejection rate (17.8%) was a significant risk factor for failure (P=0.00). Age, gender, indications for surgery, corneal graft diameter, and intraoperative vitreous loss had no statistically significant effects on the PKP outcome (P>0.05). Postoperative visual acuity was significantly associated with preoperative visual acuity (P<0.01).The present study provides evidence that performing a combined procedure results in more rapid visual rehabilitation and good graft clarity. HubMed – rehab

The effect of celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor on noise- induced hearing loss.

Iran J Basic Med Sci. 2013 May; 16(5): 726-30
Pourbakht A

Objective(s): Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the major cause of acquired hearing loss. Celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, is a non- steroidal anti- inflammatory drug (NSAID) with known antioxidant and antineoplastic activity. Therefore, we monitored the extent of temporary noise- induced threshold shifts (TTS) and cochlear damage caused by high level 4- kHz noise exposure to verify the differences with those pretreated with celecoxib. Materials and Methods: Ten male albino guinea pigs (300-350 g in weight) were randomly allocated into two groups: the primal group was exposed to 4- kHz octave band noise at 102 dB SPL for 3 hrs (group 1, n=5); the latter pretreated with 50 mg/ kg celecoxib for 3 days, then exposed to noise (group 2, n=5). Before exposure and one hr after noise exposure, threshold shifts were evaluated with auditory brainstem responses (ABR) and finally the animals were euthanized for histological evaluation. Results: Comparing the threshold shifts before/after noise exposure with those pretreated, we found out that TTS caused by noise exposure did not show significant mitigation by celecoxib. By observing the organ of Corti at lower middle turn of cochlea in celecoxib pretreated group, considerable hair cell loss was discovered. Conclusion: The current study clearly confirmed that celecoxib had no attenuation against temporary noise-induced hearing loss. HubMed – rehab

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides neuroprotection following spinal cord injury in a rat model.

Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2013; 6(7): 1337-42
Huang H, Xue L, Zhang X, Weng Q, Chen H, Gu J, Ye S, Chen X, Zhang W, Liao H

To investigate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on the iNOS mRNA-iNOS-NO signaling pathway and neurofunction protected in a rat spinal cord injury model.A total of 36 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group (n=12), SCI group (n=12) and SCI + HBOT group (n=12). SCI + HBOT group In the SCI group and SCI + HBOT groups, SCI was performed on rats. In the SCI + HBOT group, rats with SCI underwent HBO treatment 30 min after SCI for 24 sessions. After HBO therapy, measurement of motor evoked potential (MEP), Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan (BBB) scoring and pathological examination were done. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were employed to detect the mRNA and protein expression of iNOS, respectively. Diazo colorimetry was performed to detect the serum NO content.The mRNA and protein expression of iNOS in the spinal cord and the serum NO content were markedly increased in the SCI group as compared to the control group (P<0.05). However, the mRNA and protein expression of iNOS and the serum NO content were dramatically reduced in the SCI + HBOT group as compared to the SCI group (P<0.05).HBO therapy can promote the neuroprotection following SCI, which may be related to the effect of HBO on the iNOS mRNA-iNOS-NO signaling pathway. HubMed – rehab

Shear Elastic Modulus on Patellar Tendon Captured from Supersonic Shear Imaging: Correlation with Tangent Traction Modulus Computed from Material Testing System and Test-Retest Reliability.

PLoS One. 2013; 8(6): e68216
Zhang ZJ, Fu SN

Characterization of the elastic properties of a tendon could enhance the diagnosis and treatment of tendon injuries. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between the shear elastic modulus on the patellar tendon captured from a Supersonic Shear Imaging (SSI) and the tangent traction modulus computed from a Material testing system (MTS) on 8 fresh patellar pig tendons (Experiment I). Test-retest reliability of the shear elastic modulus captured from the SSI was established in Experiment II on 22 patellar tendons of 11 healthy human subjects using the SSI. Spearman Correlation coefficients for the shear elastic modulus and tangent traction modulus ranged from 0.82 to 1.00 (all p<0.05) on the 8 tendons. The intra and inter-operator reliabilities were 0.98 (95% CI: 0.93-0.99) and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.93-0.98) respectively. The results from this study demonstrate that the shear elastic modulus of the patellar tendon measured by the SSI is related to the tangent traction modulus quantified by the MTS. The SSI shows good intra and inter-operator repeatability. Therefore, the present study shows that SSI can be used to assess elastic properties of a tendon. HubMed – rehab