Maternal education, health profession and cigarette smoking are decisive factors for self-medication in children by parents

Self-medication of children by their parents (SMCP) is an important public health issue as the effects and potential risks may be unpredictable. The objective of this first national Montenegrin study was to assess the prevalence of and factors influencing SMCP among schoolchildren. Data were obtained from a national representative sample of 4496 schoolchildren aged 7–13 years (50.4 % boys). Parents/caregivers completed a questionnaire concerning their demographic characteristics, socio-economic and cultural status, as well as the self-medication (SM) of their children. The association between SMCP and parents\u27 socio-economic, demographic or cultural status was assessed by logistic regression analyses. The prevalence rate of SMCP was 24.6 %. Univariate logistic regression showed that maternal socio-demographic characteristics (educational level, employment status, health care profession and smoking habits) were relevant for SMCP. In a multiple logistic regression the independent effect /adjusted odds ratio (AOR) (95 % CI)/ of maternal factors on SMCP remained for: education /2.23 (1.18–4.24)/, university-level vs. no education; profession /1.50 (1.07–3.00)/, health profession vs. non-health profession; and smoking habit /1.22 (1.04–1.42)/smokers vs. non-smokers. SMCP may be expected for every fourth child in Montenegro. Specific maternal factors that independently raise the probability of SMCP are higher education, health profession and smoking

Noise and Performance: Research in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and Newly Independent States

Researches on noise and performance in central and Eastern Europe and South-East Europe countries and Newly Independent States have been performed in last 40 years in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics, Russia, Serbia and Yugoslavia, mainly at universities in the capitals. In laboratory studies the effects of noise have been studied on vigilance, visual performance, attention, information perception and processing, reaction time, short term memory and spatial reasoning. The field studies focused on the relation between chronic exposure to community noise and children′s behavior and executive functioning (EF) and between industrial noise and occupational injuries. These studies were mainly complementary to the studies in Western Europe

Recent advances in research on non-auditory effects of community noise

Non-auditory effects of noise on humans have been intensively studied in the last four decades. The International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise has been following scientific advances in this field by organizing international congresses from the first one in 1968 in Washington, DC, to the 11th congress in Nara, Japan, in 2014. There is already a large scientific body of evidence on the effects of noise on annoyance, communication, performance and behavior, mental health, sleep, and cardiovascular functions including relationship with hypertension and ischemic heart disease. In the last five years new issues in this field have been tackled. Large epidemiological studies on community noise have reported its relationship with breast cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. It seems that noise-induced sleep disturbance may be one of the mediating factors in these effects. Given a large public health importance of the above-mentioned diseases, future studies should more thoroughly address the mechanisms underlying the reported association with community noise exposure. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 175078

Changes of Blood Pressure and Hemodynamic Parameters after Oral Magnesium Supplementation in Patients with Essential Hypertension—An Intervention Study

The objective of this study was to examine the changes of blood pressure and hemodynamic parameters after oral magnesium supplementation in patients with essential hypertension. The single-arm non-blinded intervention study comprised 48 patients (19 men; 29 women) whose antihypertensive therapy was not changed for at least one month. The participants were asked to consume (daily at home) 300 mg of oral magnesium-oxide supplementation product for one month and to have their blood pressure and hemodynamic parameters (thoracic fluid content, stroke volume, stroke index, cardiac output, cardiac index, acceleration index, left cardiac work index and systemic vascular resistance index, heart rate) measured in the hospital before and after the intervention. Measurements were performed with impedance cardiography. After magnesium supplementation, systolic and diastolic pressures were significantly decreased (mean ± standard deviation (SD)/mmHg/from 139.7 ± 15.0 to 130.8 ± 13.4 and from 88.0 ± 10.4 to 82.2 ± 9.0, respectively; both p < 0.001). The two significant hemodynamic changes were the decrease of systemic vascular resistance index (dyn s m2/cm5) and left cardiac work index (kg m/m²)/mean ± SD from 2319.3 ± 753.3 to 2083.0 ± 526.9 and from 4.8 ± 1.4 to 4.4 ± 0.9, respectively; both p < 0.05). The observed hemodynamic changes may explain lowering blood pressure after magnesium supplementation

Aetiological factors in left-handedness

Lateralisation associates the extremities and senses of one side of the body, which are connected by afferent and efferent pathways, with the primary motor and sensory areas of the hemisphere on the opposite side. Dominant laterality denotes the appearance of a dominant extremity or sense in the performance of complex psychomotor activities. Laterality is manifested both as right-handedness or left-handedness, which are functionally equivalent and symmetrical in the performance of activities. Right-handedness is significantly more common than left-handedness. Genetic theory is most widely accepted in explaining the onset of lateralisation. According to this theory, the models of brain organisation asymmetry (anatomical, functional, and biochemical) are strongly, genetically determined. However, the inability to clearly demonstrate the association between genetic factors and left-handedness has led researchers to investigate the effects of the environment on left-handedness. Of particular interest are the intrauterine environment and the factors influencing foetal development, of which hormones and ultrasound exposure are the most significant. It has been estimated that an extra five cases of nonright-handed lateralisation can be expected in every 100 males who were exposed to ultrasound in utero compared to those who were not. Socio-cultural pressure on left-handed individuals was much more severe in the past, which is confirmed by scientific findings that left-handedness is present in 13% of individuals in their twenties, while in less than 1% of individuals in their eighties

Left-handedness and health

Hand dominance is defined as a proneness to use one hand rather than another in performing the majority of activities and this is the most obvious example of cerebral lateralization and an exclusive human characteristic. Left-handed people comprise 6-14% of the total population, while in Serbia, this percentage is 5-10%, moving from undeveloped to developed environments, where a socio-cultural pressure is less present. There is no agreement between investigators who in fact may be considered a left-handed person, about the percentage of left-handers in the population and about the etiology of left-handedness. In the scientific literature left-handedness has been related to health disorders (spine deformities, immunological disorders, migraine, neurosis, depressive psychosis, schizophrenia, insomnia, homosexuality, diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, sleep apnea, enuresis nocturna and Down Syndrome), developmental disorders (autism, dislexia and sttutering) and traumatism. The most reliable scientific evidences have been published about the relationship between left-handedness and spinal deformities in school children in puberty and with traumatism in general population. The controversy of other results in up-to-now investigations of health aspects of left-handedness may partly be explained by a scientific disagreement whether writing with the left hand is a sufficient criterium for left-handedness, or is it necessary to investigate other parameters for laterality assessment. Explanation of health aspects of left-handedness is dominantly based on Geschwind-Galaburda model about 'anomalous' cerebral domination, as a consequence of hormonal disbalance.

Blood pressure of urban school children in relation to road-traffic noise, traffic density and presence of public transport

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between noise levels, traffic density and the presence of public transport and children′s blood pressure. Another aim was to assess the applicability of public transport as a proxy indicator of noise exposure. A cross-sectional study involved 1113 children aged 7-11 years from a central municipality in Belgrade. Equivalent noise levels were measured in front of all schools and in the middle of all streets. Traffic density was defined as number of light and heavy vehicles per hour. The number of public transport vehicles was calculated from official timetables. Children′s addresses were matched with noise levels and transport maps. A physician measured blood pressure with the sphygmomanometer. Children attending schools with public transport running nearby had by 1.3 mmHg higher systolic pressure than did children from schools without public transport. This relationship was independent from children′s age, gender, and body mass index, family history of hypertension, some dwelling characteristics, and lifestyle habits. The association between diastolic pressure and public transport was statistically insignificant. The study indicated a possible positive association between the presence of public transport in the vicinity of schools with systolic blood pressure in 7-11 year-old schoolchildren. The presence of public transport may serve as an auxiliary indicator of noise exposure in undeveloped countries with limited capacities for noise measurement or modeling