Objective: Individuals with ADHD are known to have more risk of developing substance use disorder (SUD). However the underlying mechanisms behind it are not straightforward. Method: We report a case of an adult with ADHD, who has a long standing history of polysubstance use, since the age of 10. He had multiple relapses, even after numerous efforts undertaken to keep him drug-free. Result: ADHD symptoms were not optimally treated during admission. He had preference towards opioid-based and amphetamine-type substances in order to attain euphoria. Conclusion: Taking into account the biological and psycho-social condition of this man, we discussed the role of ADHD from the perspective of dysfunctional rewards system and other possible factors in explaining his drug-craving behavior.
Outbreak management in disaster has to be planned and implemented prior to, during and after the disaster is over. The risk of outbreaks following disaster is related to the size, health status and living conditions of the displaced population. The risk is increased due standing water in floods for vector borne diseases, overcrowding, inadequate water and sanitation and poor access to health care. The 2006-2007 flood in Johore resulted in 2 episodes of food poisoning and an outbreak of coxsackie A24 acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis. Only 19,667 (12.5%) of the 157,018 displaced persons suffered from communicable diseases which comprised of acute respiratory disease 7361(28%), skin infection 4241(19%), acute gastroenteritis 1872(8%) and conjunctivitis 589 (2%). The routine disease surveillance and environmental control were enhanced to cover the relief centers and flood areas. Risk assessment of communicable disease carried out resulted in prompt control measures and good coverage of preventive activities. In conclusion the Johore State Health Department has successfully manage the outbreaks during the major flood.
Varicella or chickenpox is an infectious disease caused by Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), which commonly affects the children. It is a mild, self-limiting disease and rarely complicate to serious conditions except in adults. Decreasing incidence of chickenpox among children, probably owing to improved living conditions ,prevention and health care, is worrisome as growing number of adults are being infected. This creates disturbing concerns in many parties as women at childbearing age might get infected and not only are them at a great risk of serious complications, but also their unborn fetus or their newborn babies.
Social security traditionally means a social insurance program providing social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. It also hovers around the subject of social insurance, where people receive benefits or services in recognition of contributions to an insurance scheme. Providing services for medical care, aspects of social work and even industrial relations may be included as part of social security services. Lately, the term is also used to refer to basic security, a term roughly equivalent to access to basic necessities. The 1 World Conference on Social Security organised by the Brazilian Government on 1st to 5th of December 2010 stimulates the countries to adopt universal, comprehensive and equitablesocial security systems as a valid, ethical and feasible option in the process of national reforms and regional integration. The main challenge to achieving the noble objective of universal social security system is financial sustainability and social cohesion supported by political will. As seen in a number of countries, Malaysia has a mixed social security schemes comprising state and private schemes, statutory obligatory requirements on the part of
employers as well as state social assistance programmes. Maintaining the quality of life of the individuals and their dependents has become the primary focus of policies and programmes in providing social security. Among the critical pressures on the population’s standard of living is the provision of health care. Extension of the coverage for social security is critical in ensuring social inclusion.
The works of Malaysian poet, Wong Phui Nam's Against the Wilderness (vii) China bride and Variations on a Birthday Theme (iv) Kali, illustrate a bride and a mother in terrifying images. Wong's stylistic form of representing the female body through startling images of inversion and degradation evoke feelings of unease. The suspension between the known and the unknown causes a bewildering reality verging on madness. Interpreted through the lens of the carnivalesque, specifically, the grotesque body, festive language and parody, I attempt to reconstruct the psyche of the Chinese migrant which underpins these poems. The migrant who arrived in Malaya during the colonial era in the early nineteenth century faced political and social struggles in adapting to a new land. In the poems, the migrant juxtaposes his position to a female and uses the female body as a site of contention to intensify the torment of the psyche and to reflect the despair of the Chinese in Malaysia.
A case control study was conducted to identify the risk factors for acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) in hospitalised children in Kelantan. One hun-dred and twenty children aged one month to five years hospitalised for ALRI were matched by age with 120 children as controls. Data on demography and expo-sure to putative risk factors were collected by interview-ing parents or caretakers. Anthropometric measure-ments were also carried out to assess the nutritional sta-tus of the children. For each risk factor studied, the odds ratios for exposure and disease were calculated by using univariate analysis followed by multiple logistic regression analysis to determine those factors which remained significant.
The presence of sibling(s) who coughed at home (OR 12.1, 95% CI 5.2-28.1), crowding in bedroom (OR 4.4, 95% CI 2.1-9.0), weight-for-age < 3rd percentile (OR 9.0, 95% CI 3.1-25.8), lack of breast feeding (OR 9.4, 95% CI 2.3-38.4) and incomplete immunisation (OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.7-12.1) were significant indepen-dent risk factors for ALRI. Other factors like poverty, maternal education level, male sex, low birth weight, history of atopy, family history of asthma and indoor air pollution were not associated with an increased risk of ALRI.
This study showed that poor nutritional status, inap-propriate child care practices and poor living conditions, particularly those related to crowding, predispose to ALRI in Kelantanese children necessitating hospital admission. A change in these factors may reduce the morbidity and mortality of childhood ALRI in Kelantan.
Because of variable inconvenient living conditions in some places around the world, it is difficult to collect reliable physiological data for ostriches. Therefore, this study aims to provide a comprehensive in silico insight for the nature of polymorphism of important genetic loci that are related to physiological and reproductive traits. Sixty-nine mature ostriches ranging over half of Iraq were screened. Six exonic genetic loci, including cytochrome c oxidase I (COX1), cytochrome b (CYTB), secretogranin V (SCG5), feather keratin 2-like (FK2), prolactin (PRL) and placenta growth factor (PGF) were genotyped by PCR-single stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Thirty-six novel SNPs, including seventeen nonsynonymous (ns) SNPs, were observed. Several computational software programs were utilized to assess the extent of the nsSNPs on their corresponding proteins structure, function and stability. The results showed several deleterious functional and stability changes in almost all the proteins studied. The total severity of each missense mutation was evaluated and compared with other nsSNPs accumulatively. It is evident from the extensive cumulative in silico computation that both p.E34D and p.E60K in PGF have the highest deleterious effect. The cumulative predictions from the present study are an impressive guide for the genotypes of African ostriches, which bypassed the expensive protocols for wet laboratory screening, to identify the effects of variants. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation of its kind on the analyses and prediction outcome of missense mutations in African ostrich populations. The highly deleterious nsSNPs in the placenta growth factor are possible adaptive mutations which might be associated with adaptation in extreme and new environments. The flow and protocol of the computational predictions can be extended for various wild animals to identify the molecular nature of adaptations.
H. pylori infection is a global public health problem associated with some gastrointestinal diseases in children, especially in developing countries, since prevalence of H. pylori is low in the developed world. Both noninvasive (stool antigen test, urea breath test, and blood test) and invasive (histology, rapid urease test, and microbiological culture) tests have been utilized to detect H. pylori infection. However, a single test is not reliable enough and does not provide accurate enough data to determine H. pylori infection among children. Risk factors of H. pylori infection in children were related to ethnicities, household properties, geographic location, living conditions, water sources, type of housing, presence/absence of sewage systems, and garbage collection within the living environment. These risk factors were usually associated with the socioeconomic status of the family. This review article aims to determine the gaps in the knowledge of the epidemiology, risk factors, and diagnostic tests of H. pylori infection among children. How to cite this article: Ozbey G, Hanafiah A. Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Risk Factors of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Children. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2017;7(1):34-39.
Within last 17 years two widespread epidemics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred in China, which were caused by related coronaviruses (CoVs): SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. Although the origin(s) of these viruses are still unknown and their occurrences in nature are mysterious, some general patterns of their pathogenesis and epidemics are noticeable. Both viruses utilize the same receptor-angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-for invading human bodies. Both epidemics occurred in cold dry winter seasons celebrated with major holidays, and started in regions where dietary consumption of wildlife is a fashion. Thus, if bats were the natural hosts of SARS-CoVs, cold temperature and low humidity in these times might provide conducive environmental conditions for prolonged viral survival in these regions concentrated with bats. The widespread existence of these bat-carried or -released viruses might have an easier time in breaking through human defenses when harsh winter makes human bodies more vulnerable. Once succeeding in making some initial human infections, spreading of the disease was made convenient with increased social gathering and holiday travel. These natural and social factors influenced the general progression and trajectory of the SARS epidemiology. However, some unique factors might also contribute to the origination of SARS in Wuhan. These factors are discussed in different scenarios in order to promote more research for achieving final validation.
Background: The quality of life (QoL) describes the multidimensional self-perceived well-being of a person, which is an important diabetes outcome. This study aimed to measure the QoL scores among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), as well as their clinical and sociodemographic predictors.
Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 180 randomly sampled patients at a primary care clinic on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A self-administered questionnaire containing the Audit of Diabetes Dependent Quality of Life-18 (ADDQoL-18) was used.
Results: Most of the respondents (96.7%) were Malay, with a median (interquartile range, IQR) age of 54.0 (14.0) years old. The majority of them were females (60.0%), married (81.1%) and from low-income families (63.3%), who attained a secondary education or lower (75.6%). Only 49.4% of them were employed. The mean (standard deviation, SD) ADDQoL-18 average weighted impact score was -4.58 (2.21) and all 18 domains were negatively affected, particularly the living condition, family life and working life. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that the age (adjusted B = 0.05,P= 0.004) and insulin use (adjusted B = -0.84,P= 0.011) were QoL predictors.
Conclusion: T2DM negatively impacts the patient's QoL in all aspects of their life. The QoL improvement with age suggests that the older patients had accepted and adapted to their illness. The need to improve the QoL among insulin users was also highlighted.
Study site: Klinik Kesihatan, Malaysia