Knowledge, attitudes and practice of breast cancer screening among female health workers in a Nigerian urban city

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Late presentation has been observed as the hallmark of breast cancer in Nigerian women and an earlier onset has been reported in this population. This study was designed to assess the awareness of female health workers about risk factors and screening methods for early detection of breast cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among female health workers in the two major government health institutions in Benin City, Edo State capital in Nigeria.</p> <p>Data analysis was by SPSS version 10 and test of significance was done with differences considered significant at p < 0.05.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three hundred and ninety-three (393) female health workers out of five hundred and five eligible subjects completed and returned the questionnaires, giving a response rate of 77.8%. One hundred and two (26%) were Doctors, two hundred and fifty-four (64.6%) Nurses, and thirty-seven (9.4%) were Radiographers, Laboratory Scientists and Pharmacists. A high proportion of our respondents had very poor knowledge about risk factors for breast cancer (55%). The awareness of mammography as a diagnostic method was very high (80.7%), but an extremely low knowledge of mammography as a screening method was found. Mammography practice of only 3.1% was found among those above 40 years of age who qualify for routine annual screening. Relatively low knowledge (45.5%) about Breast Self Examination (BSE) as a screening method was found.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These female health workers who are expected to act as role models and educate the public had poor knowledge of risk factors for breast cancer and practice of breast cancer screening. There is very urgent need for regular update courses for health workers concerning breast cancer education including screening methods.</p

Drug dosing during pregnancy—opportunities for physiologically based pharmacokinetic models

Drugs can have harmful effects on the embryo or the fetus at any point during pregnancy. Not all the damaging effects of intrauterine exposure to drugs are obvious at birth, some may only manifest later in life. Thus, drugs should be prescribed in pregnancy only if the expected benefit to the mother is thought to be greater than the risk to the fetus. Dosing of drugs during pregnancy is often empirically determined and based upon evidence from studies of non-pregnant subjects, which may lead to suboptimal dosing, particularly during the third trimester. This review collates examples of drugs with known recommendations for dose adjustment during pregnancy, in addition to providing an example of the potential use of PBPK models in dose adjustment recommendation during pregnancy within the context of drug-drug interactions. For many drugs, such as antidepressants and antiretroviral drugs, dose adjustment has been recommended based on pharmacokinetic studies demonstrating a reduction in drug concentrations. However, there is relatively limited (and sometimes inconsistent) information regarding the clinical impact of these pharmacokinetic changes during pregnancy and the effect of subsequent dose adjustments. Examples of using pregnancy PBPK models to predict feto-maternal drug exposures and their applications to facilitate and guide dose assessment throughout gestation are discussed

Effect of Guinea Corn Husk Ash on the Mechanical Properties of Lateritic Concrete

Materials in Nigerian building construction are scaling great heights in prices, demanding every stakeholders in the industry to research into alternatives in indigenous materials and agricultural wastes for rural infrastructural development. This research was aimed at investigating the effects of guinea corn ash on mechanical properties of lateritic concrete as partial replacement for Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The lateritic concrete was investigated for its workability, porosity, compressive strength and corrosion resistance at varying water-cement ratios with different percentages of Guinea Corn Husk Ash (GCHA). Central composite method was used to obtain an optimal combination that would give the highest compressive strength for the lateritic. The optimal combination was found to be 20% GCHA and 80% OPC at 0.51 water cement ratio. This combination gave a porosity of 14.59%, slump height of 2.75 mm and a compressive strength of 18.78 N/mm2 . This is higher than the control compressive strength of 17.61 N/mm2 by 6.64% obtained at 0.7 water-cement ratio. Therefore, guinea corn husk ash can be used as a replacement for cement in lateritic concrete

Advanced carcinoma of the rectum with 5-year survival and complete tumour clearance follwing radiotherapy and 5-fluoro uracil therapy - a case report

No Abstract. NQJHM Vol. 8 (4) 1998: pp. 267-26

Telomere length in myelodysplastic syndromes.

We have studied telomere length in the bone marrow cells or the granulocyte and lymphocyte cell fractions of 54 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) by Southern blot hybridization using the (TTAGGG)4 probe. The average telomere length expressed as the peak telomere repeat array (TRA) in the peripheral blood, or bone marrow samples obtained from a group of 21 healthy age-matched controls (26-89 years old, mean age 55), ranged between 7.5 and 9.5 kb (mean peak TRA 8.6 kb). Twenty-four patients with refractory anemia (RA) were studied; 10/24 (42%) had telomere reduction (&lt;7.5 kb) relative to age-matched controls and the mean peak TRA was 7.5 kb (range 4.0-9.0 kb). Eleven patients with RA with excess blasts (RAEB) were studied; 5/11 (45%) had reduced telomeres relative to age-matched controls and the mean peak TRA was 7.1 kb (range 5.0-9.0 kb). Eighteen patients with MDS in transformation to AML, comprising 15 with RAEB in transformation (RAEBt) and 3 with CMML in transformation (CMMLt), were also studied. Thirteen of eighteen patients (72%) had telomere reduction relative to age-matched controls and the mean peak TRA was 6.1 kb (range 3.5-9.0 kb). Thirty-six patients included in the study had either a normal karyotype or a simple karyotype (1 karyotypic change) and 20/36 (55%) of these had telomere reduction and the mean peak TRA was 7.1 kb (range 4.3-9.0 kb); 8 patients had a complex karyotype (3 or more karyotypic changes) and 5/8 (62%) of these had telomere reduction and the mean peak TRA was 6.1 kb (range 3.5-9.0 kb). We conclude, firstly that there is heterogeneity of telomere length in MDS and that this is observed throughout the spectrum of FAB-subtypes. Secondly, these data show that a marked reduction in telomere length in MDS if often associated with leukemic transformation and with the presence of complex karyotypic abnormalities