Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Are patients admitted to hospitals from care homes dehydrated? A retrospective analysis of hypernatraemia and in-hospital mortality.
To compare risks of hypernatraemia on admission to hospital in persons who were with those who were not identified as care home residents and evaluate the association of hypernatraemia with in-hospital mortality. ⋯ Patients admitted to hospital from care homes are commonly dehydrated on admission and, as a result, appear to experience significantly greater risks of in-hospital mortality.
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Multicenter Study
Ritual circumcision and risk of autism spectrum disorder in 0- to 9-year-old boys: national cohort study in Denmark.
Based on converging observations in animal, clinical and ecological studies, we hypothesised a possible impact of ritual circumcision on the subsequent risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young boys. ⋯ We confirmed our hypothesis that boys who undergo ritual circumcision may run a greater risk of developing ASD. This finding, and the unexpected observation of an increased risk of hyperactivity disorder among circumcised boys in non-Muslim families, need attention, particularly because data limitations most likely rendered our HR estimates conservative. Considering the widespread practice of non-therapeutic circumcision in infancy and childhood around the world, confirmatory studies should be given priority.
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The use of surgical facemasks is ubiquitous in surgical practice. Facemasks have long been thought to confer protection to the patient from wound infection and contamination from the operating surgeon and other members of the surgical staff. More recently, protection of the theatre staff from patient-derived blood/bodily fluid splashes has also been offered as a reason for their continued use. ⋯ As a result, we recommend caution in extrapolating their findings to contemporary surgical practice. However, overall there is a lack of substantial evidence to support claims that facemasks protect either patient or surgeon from infectious contamination. More rigorous contemporary research is needed to make a definitive comment on the effectiveness of surgical facemasks.
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We sought to determine the primary care-based prevalence of moderate-to-severe atopic eczema/dermatitis in children and to estimate what proportion had co-morbid aero-allergy and/or food allergy that was contributing to their atopic eczema/dermatitis. ⋯ Although atopic eczema/dermatitis is a very common diagnosis in children in primary care, most appear to be relatively mild and/or transient. Only a small proportion of children had evidence of ongoing underlying IgE-mediated atopic eczema/dermatitis.