Prevalence of urinary incontinence in Andorra: impact on women's health.

BACKGROUND: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a frequent public health problem with negative social consequences, particularly for women. Female susceptibility is the result of anatomical, social, economic and cultural factors. The main objectives of this study are to evaluate the prevalence of UI in the female population of Andorra over the age of 15 and, specifically, to determine the influence of socio-demographic factors. A secondary aim of the study is to measure the degree of concern associated with UI and whether the involved subjects have asked for medical assistance, or not. METHODS: Women aged 15 and over, answered a self-administered questionnaire while attending professional health units in Andorra during the period November 1998 to January 2000. A preliminary study was carried out to ensure that the questionnaire was both understandable and simple. RESULTS: 863 completed questionnaires were obtained during a one year period. The breakdown of the places where the questionnaires were obtained and filled out is as follows: 32.4% – medical specialists' offices; 31.5% – outpatient centres served exclusively by nurses; 24% – primary care doctors' offices; 12% from other sources. Of the women who answered the questionnaire, 37% manifested urine losses. Of those,45.3% presented regular urinary incontinence (RUI) and 55.7% presented sporadic urinary incontinence (SporadicUI). In those women aged between 45 and 64, UI was present in 56% of the subjects. UI was more frequent among parous than non-parous women. UI was perceived as a far more bothersome and disabling condition by working, middle-class women than in other socio-economic groups. Women in this particular group are more limited by UI, less likely to seek medical advice but more likely to follow a course of treatment. From a general point of view, however, less than 50% of women suffering from UI sought medical advice. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of UI in the female population of Andorra stands at about 37%, a statistic which should encourage both health professionals and women to a far greater awareness of this condition

Kupffer cells and T linphocytes form coniugates within the liver of chronic hepatitis C patients that recall dendritic cell-T interactions within the peripheral lymphoid tissue

Hepatology 1997, 26 (suppl): 446

Immunofluorescence and enzyme histochemistry on consecutive sections from glycol-methacrylate-embedded bone marrow, lymph node and kidney specimens.

We describe an immunohistochemical technique adapted to tissues embedded in glycol-methacrylate (GMA). 1-micron-thick GMA sections from kidney, lymph node and bone marrow biopsies were trypsinized and then incubated with F(ab)2 antisera. GMA sections presented some distinct advantages with respect to compared paraffin and cryostatic sections: (1) reduction of background fluorescence, (2) higher resolution of morphologic details, (3) possibility of studying undecalcified bone marrow specimens and (4) possibility of coupling histochemistry with immunofluorescence on consecutive sections. Moreover, in a case of lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma specific immunostaining for membrane IgM was obtained on GMA sections

Reciprocal translocation involving 3q21 in an unusual myeloproliferative disorder with myelodysplastic features and prominent dysmegakaryopoiesis. Cancer Genet Cytogenet ,1991

A case with an atypical myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) characterized by overt dysmyelopoiesis, mostly represented by abnormal thrombopoiesis and showing a t(3;18)(q21;q21), is described. The unusual hematological findings, which characterized a disease borderline between two distinct entities, namely MPD and myelodysplastic syndromes, are also discussed in relation to the cytogenetic abnormality affecting region 3q21 and possibly dictating the abnormal thrombopoiesis

IgA-containing plasma cells in the intestinal mucosa of children with selective IgA deficiency.

In 8 children with selective IgA deficiency (serum IgA less than 5 mg/dl, secretory IgA less than 0.5 mg/dl in unstimulated saliva) immunofluorescent staining of intestinal biopsy specimens revealed the presence of IgA-containing plasma cells. This finding supports the hypothesis that in the intestinal mucosa of patients with IgA deficiency B lymphocytes undergo "sterile" differentiation into IgA-containing plasma cells probably incapable of secreting the IgA synthesize