Neurogenic mechanisms in bladder and bowel ageing

The prevalence of both urinary and faecal incontinence, and also chronic constipation, increases with ageing and these conditions have a major impact on the quality of life of the elderly. Management of bladder and bowel dysfunction in the elderly is currently far from ideal and also carries a significant financial burden. Understanding how these changes occur is thus a major priority in biogerontology. The functions of the bladder and terminal bowel are regulated by complex neuronal networks. In particular neurons of the spinal cord and peripheral ganglia play a key role in regulating micturition and defaecation reflexes as well as promoting continence. In this review we discuss the evidence for ageing-induced neuronal dysfunction that might predispose to neurogenic forms of incontinence in the elderly

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Perforated duodenal ulcer a rare cause of acute abdomen in infancy: A report of two cases

Duodenal ulcer perforation is very uncommon in infants and children, that is why it is not usually considered in the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen in this age group. Moreover, the diagnosis of this condition is usually overlooked because of vague and variable symptoms and low index of suspicion on the part of the treating physicians. In this brief report, we are reporting two cases of successfully managed perforated duodenal ulcer in infancy. African Journal of Paediatric Surgery Vol. 5 (1) 2008: pp. 46-4

Splenic abscess in children: A report of three patients

Splenic abscess is uncommon in paediatric age group. It usually occurs in conditions of disseminated infective focus. Conventional treatment of abscess is incision and drainage, although splenectomy or splenic conservation is alternative. In this report, we are presenting case summaries of three patients suffering from splenic abscess. A retrospective review of three children was managed for eplenic abscess in our institution.All three patients presented with pyrexia, weight loss, and recurrent abdominal pain for more than six weeks. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody detection test (ELISA) was nonreactive in all of them. The first patient was managed by splenectomy because of multiple splenic abscesses involving the entire spleen; the second one had exploratory laparotomy and drainage of splenic abscess with preservation of the spleen; and the third patient had successful ultrasonic guided aspiration of abscess. The follow-up ultrasonography done after three and six months in two patients, with splenic conservation, did not reveal any recurrence of abscess. In children with splenic abscess, ultrasound guided aspiration of abscess should be the first line of treatment, when this fails either because of multiple abscesses or dense adhesions around the spleen then splenectomy or open drainage may become necessary