Health Care Seeking Behavior among Caregivers of Sick Children Who Had Cerebral Malaria in Northwestern Nigeria

Cerebral malaria is a significant cause of childhood morbidity in our region. The challenges of effective management include time and quality of treatment. The study appraised the health care seeking behavior of caregivers of sick children who developed cerebral malaria, in Zaria, northwestern Nigeria. Caregivers indentified were parents 29 (87.9%) and grandparents 4 (12.1%). Most of them were in the upper social classes. Health care options utilized before presentation at our facility were formal health facility 24 (72.7%), patent medicine seller 12 (36.4%), home treatment 10 (30.3%), and herbal concoction 6 (18.2%) with majority 24 (72.7%) using more than one option. Antimalarial therapy was instituted in 25 (75.6%) of the cases. Mortality was significantly associated with the use of herbal concoction, treatment at a formal health facility and patent medicine seller, multiple convulsions, age less than 5 years, and noninstitution of antimalarial therapy before presentation. The study showed use of inappropriate health care options by caregivers and highlighted the need to pursue an awareness drive among caregivers on the use of health care options

Serum iron markers in HIV and HIV-malaria infected participants residing in malaria endemic area of South-Eastern Nigeria

HIV and malaria co-infections affect iron status. The present study was designed to determine the collective predictive power of some iron markers in HIV infected and malaria co-infected participants. For thisstudy, 101 participants were randomly recruited from indivividuals requesting for HIV screening. The participants were grouped as ‘asymptomatic HIV participants (n=36); asymptomatic HIV-malaria co-infected participants (n=19); symptomatic HIV participants (n=16) and HIV uninfected control participants (n=30). Blood analysis were performed for HIV infection, malaria infection, haemoglobin (g/dl), CD4 + T cell count(/mm3), albumin (g/l), iron (ug/dl), UIBC (ug/dl), TIBC (ug/dl) and percent transferrin saturation (TS%). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the blood concentrations of haemoglobin (f=4.805,

Care of the Child with Special Health Care Needs: A Report on 2 Nigerian Children with Muscular Dystrophy

Care of the child with special health care needs is gradually becoming a significant public health issue. To identify what these special health care needs are in our environment, 2 children presenting with clinical features of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy were studied. This crippling neuromuscular disorder has no cure at the moment and death is common in the 2nd decade of life. Issues concerning health care identified in this study included poor growth and development of the children, over dependence on family members for care, limited resources available to these families and very scarce community support. Establishment of a special health care needs department, to provide coordinated and comprehensive services, is advocated in our health care delivery system. Keywords: Special Health Care Needs, Muscular Dystrophy Annals of Nigerian Medicine Vol. 2 (2) 2006: pp. 29-3

Histopathologic effect of potassium bromate on the kidney of adult wistar rats.

Objective: We aimed to demonstrate the histopathologic effects of potassium bromate (KBrO ) on the kidney tissues of rats following 3short-term and long-term exposures.Method: Twenty young wistar rats of weights 180-250g were divided into three groups. The control group A was sub-divided into two groups of three rats each and orally administered with 1ml of distilled water daily for 7 days and 21 days respectively; the experimental groups B and C were administered with 75 mg/kg body weight/day dosage of KBrO orally for 1 week and 3 weeks 3 respectively.Results: Histopathological examination of the experimental groups showed haemorrhagic, necrotic and degenerative changes in the kidney tissues compared with the control group, which maintained normal kidney tissues. These histological changes were marked in group C animals exposed to KBrO for 3 weeks compared to those exposed for 1 week. 3             Conclusion: The present study indicated that both short-term and long-term exposures to sub-lethal dose of KBrO caused alterations 3in the histology of the kidney of wistar rats. These alterations may account for the various nephrotoxic effects associated with exposure to KBrO In addition, some of the histopathologic effects were marked in long-term compared to short-term exposure to 3. KBrO , thus indicating duration-dependent effect of KBrO consumption.Key Words: Potassium bromate, Wistar rats, Histopathology, Kidneys, Nephrotoxi

Combined GLP-1, oxyntomodulin, and peptide YY improves body weight and glycemia in obesity and prediabetes/type 2 diabetes: a randomized single-blinded placebo controlled study

OBJECTIVE: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) augments postprandial secretion of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), oxyntomodulin (OXM), and peptide YY (PYY). Subcutaneous infusion of these hormones ("GOP"), mimicking postprandial levels, reduces energy intake. Our objective was to study the effects of GOP on glycemia and body weight when given for 4 weeks to patients with diabetes and obesity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In this single-blinded mechanistic study, obese patients with prediabetes/diabetes were randomized to GOP (n = 15) or saline (n = 11) infusion for 4 weeks. We also studied 21 patients who had undergone RYGB and 22 patients who followed a very low-calorie diet (VLCD) as unblinded comparators. Outcomes measured were 1) body weight, 2) fructosamine levels, 3) glucose and insulin during a mixed meal test (MMT), 4) energy expenditure (EE), 5) energy intake (EI), and 6) mean glucose and measures of glucose variability during continuous glucose monitoring. RESULTS: GOP infusion was well tolerated over the 4-week period. There was a greater weight loss (P = 0.025) with GOP (mean change -4.4 [95% CI -5.3, -3.5] kg) versus saline (-2.5 [-4.1, -0.9] kg). GOP led to a greater improvement (P = 0.0026) in fructosamine (-44.1 [-62.7, -25.5] µmol/L) versus saline (-11.7 [-18.9, -4.5] µmol/L). Despite a smaller weight loss compared with RYGB and VLCD, GOP led to superior glucose tolerance after a mixed-meal stimulus and reduced glycemic variability compared with RYGB and VLCD. CONCLUSIONS: GOP infusion improves glycemia and reduces body weight. It achieves superior glucose tolerance and reduced glucose variability compared with RYGB and VLCD. GOP is a viable alternative for the treatment of diabetes with favorable effects on body weight