The GOAL study: a prospective examination of the impact of factor V Leiden and ABO(H) blood groups on haemorrhagic and thrombotic pregnancy outcomes

Factor V Leiden (FVL) and ABO(H) blood groups are the common influences on haemostasis and retrospective studies have linked FVL with pregnancy complications. However, only one sizeable prospective examination has taken place. As a result, neither the impact of FVL in unselected subjects, any interaction with ABO(H) in pregnancy, nor the utility of screening for FVL is defined. A prospective study of 4250 unselected pregnancies was carried out. A venous thromboembolism (VTE) rate of 1·23/1000 was observed, but no significant association between FVL and pre-eclampsia, intra-uterine growth restriction or pregnancy loss was seen. No influence of FVL and/or ABO(H) on ante-natal bleeding or intra-partum or postpartum haemorrhage was observed. However, FVL was associated with birth-weights >90th centile [odds ratio (OR) 1·81; 95% confidence interval (CI<sub>95</sub>) 1·04–3·31] and neonatal death (OR 14·79; CI<sub>95</sub> 2·71–80·74). No association with ABO(H) alone, or any interaction between ABO(H) and FVL was observed. We neither confirmed the protective effect of FVL on pregnancy-related blood loss reported in previous smaller studies, nor did we find the increased risk of some vascular complications reported in retrospective studies

Medicinal Plant Use and Health Sovereignty: Findings from the Tajik and Afghan Pamirs

Medicinal plants are indicators of indigenous knowledge in the context of political volatility and sociocultural and ecological change in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Medicinal plants are the primary health care option in this region of Central Asia. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate that medicinal plants contribute to health security and sovereignty in a time of instability. We illustrate the nutritional as well as medicinal significance of plants in the daily lives of villagers. Based on over a decade and half of research related to resilience and livelihood security, we present plant uses in the context of mountain communities. Villagers identified over 58 cultivated and noncultivated plants and described 310 distinct uses within 63 categories of treatment and prevention. Presence of knowledge about medicinal plants is directly connected to their use

Composition, viscosity and solubility of saleps from twenty different orchid (Orchidaceae) species

The quality of salep depends on its chemical composition, especially its glucomannan content, which varies according to the species. Saleps from 20 different orchid species collected from various regions in Turkey were analyzed for dry matter, ash, protein, glucomannan and starch contents. Moreover, viscosity and solubility of these saleps (1% w/v) in water and milk with different sucrose levels (15-25% w/v) were investigated. Starch and glucomannan contents of the species were found between 4.58-43.98 and 7.84-48.54%, respectively. Saleps obtained from Dactylorhizaromana ssp. georgica, Orchis tridentata and Serapiasvomeracea ssp. vomeracea species were identified as the species that contained the highest glucomannan content (42-48%) which could provide the highest viscosity in water and milk solutions. Additionally, despite having relatively lower glucomannan and starch content (36 and 35%), the water solution made with salep from Himantoglossum affine exhibited high viscosity and suggested that a synergistic effect existed between starch and glucomannan. Saleps from nine orchid species contained more than 40% glucomannan but only three of them exhibited good thickening properties and can provide ideal viscosity in water and milk with the addition of sucrose (658-690 cP)