Annals of agricultural and environmental medicine : AAEM
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Ann Agric Environ Med · Jan 2013
ReviewChemical exposure early in life and the neurodevelopment of children--an overview of current epidemiological evidence.
A number of chemicals have been shown to demonstrate neurotoxic effects either in human or laboratory animal studies. This article aims at evaluating the impact of exposure to several chemicals including: organophosphate, organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury and lead on the neurodevelopment of children by reviewing the most recent published literature, and answer the question whether any progress has been made in the epidemiology of the neurodevelopment of children induced by exposure to those chemicals. The result of the presented studies show that exposure to the above-mentioned chemicals may impair the neurodevelopment of children. ⋯ Concerning the covariates and confounders affecting the endpoints in most of the presented studies, confounders were included in data analysis. In order to recognize the early cognitive, motor and language outcomes of chemical exposures, well standardized tools were used for evaluating the neurodevelopmental effects and offer an early and fairly comprehensive measure of child development. Because the neurotoxicants may cross the placenta and the fetal brain, exposure consideration regarding the reduction of exposure to those chemicals should be implemented.
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Ann Agric Environ Med · Jan 2013
ReviewThe role of neurostimulation in the treatment of neuropathic pain.
The treatment of chronic pain syndromes may include pharmacological, physiotherapeutic, and invasive methods. Considerable number of patients do not achieve sufficient pain relief with pharmacotherapy, in these patients with neuropathic pain, electrical neurostimulation may be applied. ⋯ Neurostimulation therapy is also used in addition to the current medical treatment in different neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease, dystonia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, refractory pain, epilepsy and migraine. The article provides the physicians the knowledge on different neurostimulation techniques for treatment of chronic neuropathic pain and their effectiveness.