Plos One
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World Health Organization (WHO) estimates for deaths attributed to Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Nepal have risen from 51% in 2010 to 60% in 2014. This study assessed the distribution and determinants of NCD risk factors among the Nepalese adult population. ⋯ The prevalence of low fruit and vegetable consumption, overweight and obesity, raised blood pressure and raised total cholesterol is markedly high among the Nepalese population, with variation by demographic and ecological factors and urbanization. Prevention, treatment and control of NCDs and their risk factors in Nepal is an emerging public health problem in the country, and targeted interventions with a multi-sectoral approach need to be urgently implemented.
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Despite suggestions that animal pollinators are crucial for human nutritional health, no studies have actually tested this claim. Here, we combined data on crop pollination requirements, food nutrient densities, and actual human diets to predict the effects of pollinator losses on the risk of nutrient deficiency. In four developing countries and across five nutrients, we found that 0 to 56% of populations would become newly at risk if pollinators were removed. ⋯ Overall, the effects of pollinator decline varied widely among populations and nutrients. We conclude that the importance of pollinators to human nutrition depends critically on the composition of local diets, and cannot be reliably predicted from global commodity analyses. We identify conditions under which severe health effects of pollinator loss are most likely to occur.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Inflammatory Mediator Profiling of n-butanol Exposed Upper Airways in Individuals with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a chronic condition characterized by reports of recurrent symptoms in response to low level exposure to various chemical substances. Recent findings suggests that dysregulation of the immune system may play a role in MCS pathophysiology. ⋯ We demonstrate no abnormal upper airway inflammatory mediator levels in MCS subjects before or after a symptom-eliciting exposure to low dose n-butanol, implying that upper airways of MCS subjects are functionally intact at the level of cytokine and chemokine production and secretory capacity. This suggests that previous findings of increased cytokine plasma levels in MCS are unlikely to be caused by systemic priming via excessive upper airway inflammatory processes.
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The aims of this study were to estimate the incidences of herpes zoster (HZ) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in patients after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Furthermore, we aimed to explore the risk factors of the development of HZ and PHN in patients after TBI. This population-based, longitudinal analysis was conducted using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (consisting of 1,000,000 beneficiaries) from 1996 to 2010. ⋯ The incidences of HZ and PHN in TBI patients were also significantly greater than for controls in the CCI = 0 subgroup. To our knowledge, this is the first population-based cohort study to reveal that TBI is an independent risk factor for HZ and PHN in TBI patients, especially in females. Physician should pay attention to the possibility of HZ and PHN in TBI patients and be aware that HZ vaccination early after brain trauma may lower the incidence of HZ and PHN.
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Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was introduced to China in 2004 to reduce the harm of injecting drug users (IDUs). However, little is known about continued drug use, especially methamphetamine (MAMP), among MMT patients. ⋯ These findings indicate the complexity in the treatment of heroin users and underscore the importance in prescribing appropriate methadone dosages in order to reduce both heroin and MAMP use.