The effects of taurine on repeat sprint cycling after low or high cadence exhaustive exercise in females

This study investigated the effects of taurine on repeated sprint exercise, performed after fixed incremental ramp exercise to exhaustion at isokinetic high (90 r/min) or low (50 r/min) cadences. In a double-blind, repeated measures design, nine females completed an incremental ramp test to volitional exhaustion, followed by 2 min active recovery and 6 × 10 s sprints on a cycle ergometer, in one of four conditions: high cadence (90 r/min) + taurine (50 mg/kg body mass); high cadence + placebo (3 mg/kg body mass maltodextrin); low cadence (50 r/min) + taurine; low cadence + placebo. Heart rate (HR) and blood lactate concentration B[La] were measured before and after the ramp test and after the sprints. Taurine lowered HR vs. placebo prior to the ramp test (P = 0.004; d = 2.1). There was an effect of condition on ramp performance (P < 0.001), with higher end-test power (d = 3.7) in taurine conditions. During repeated sprints, there was a condition × time interaction (P = 0.002), with higher peak sprint power in the placebo conditions compared to taurine (sprint 2–6; P < 0.05). B[La] was higher in taurine compared to placebo post-ramp (P = 0.004; d = 4.7). Taurine-lowered pre-exercise HR and improved incremental end-test power output, with subsequent detrimental effects on sprint performance, independent of cadence. Short endurance performance can be acutely enhanced after taurine ingestion but this effect might not be maintained across longer periods of exercise or induce the need for longer recovery periods

Admissions to the Cardiff Poisons Unit involving paracetamol poisoning (1989-2002)

Paracetamol is the commonest agent taken in overdose in the UK. Paracetamol overdose is also the most common cause of fulminant liver failure in the UK and around 15–20 patients a year undergo liver transplantation after paracetamol overdose. In the present study, we studied the trends in paracetamol poisoning over more than a decade in Cardiff to compare these patterns with trends in the other substances taken in overdose. All data concerning patients aged 14 and over in both sexes referred to the Cardiff Poisons Treatment Unit at Llandough Hospital between 1989 and 2002 were studied to compare the substances used for overdose due to their sex, age and outcome after paracetamol poisoning. The Chi-squared test for trend was used. During the 14-year study period (1989–2002), there were 18,834 admissions to the hospital involving either pure paracetamol or in combination with other drugs (37.0%, N = 6975), and the proportion of admissions with paracetamol poisoning increased from 35.9% in 1989 to 44.4% (χ2 for trend = 3.9, P < 0.05) in 2002. Thus, paracetamol poisoning remains a major public health problem in the UK. In this study, we suggested that paracetamol pack-size legislation in the UK in September 1998 has not achieved as large as an overdose rate reduction as might have been expected