Physical and mental health comorbidity is common in people with multiple sclerosis: nationally representative cross-sectional population database analysis

<b>Background</b> Comorbidity in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is associated with worse health and higher mortality. This study aims to describe clinician recorded comorbidities in people with MS. <p></p> <b>Methods</b> 39 comorbidities in 3826 people with MS aged ≥25 years were compared against 1,268,859 controls. Results were analysed by age, gender, and socioeconomic status, with unadjusted and adjusted Odds Ratios (ORs) calculated using logistic regression. <p></p> <b>Results</b> People with MS were more likely to have one (OR 2.44; 95% CI 2.26-2.64), two (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.38-1.62), three (OR 1.86; 95% CI 1.69-2.04), four or more (OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.47-1.77) non-MS chronic conditions than controls, and greater mental health comorbidity (OR 2.94; 95% CI 2.75-3.14), which increased as the number of physical comorbidities rose. Cardiovascular conditions, including atrial fibrillation (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.36-0.67), chronic kidney disease (OR 0.51; 95% CI 0.40-0.65), heart failure (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.45-0.85), coronary heart disease (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.52-0.71), and hypertension (OR 0.65; 95% CI 0.59-0.72) were significantly less common in people with MS. <p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> People with MS have excess multiple chronic conditions, with associated increased mental health comorbidity. The low recorded cardiovascular comorbidity warrants further investigation

The 2013 clinical course descriptors for multiple sclerosis: A clarification

The clinical courses of multiple sclerosis were defined in 1996 and refined in 2013 to provide a time-based assessment of the current status of the individual. These definitions have been successfully used by clinicians, clinical trialists, and regulatory authorities. Recent regulatory decisions produced variations and discrepancies in the use of the clinical course descriptions. We provide here a clarification of the concepts underlying these descriptions and restate the principles used in their development. Importantly, we highlight the critical importance of time framing the disease course modifiers activity and progression and clarify the difference between the terms worsening and progressing

Goat-associated Q fever: a new disease in Newfoundland.

In the spring of 1999 in rural Newfoundland, abortions in goats were associated with illness in goat workers. An epidemiologic investigation and a serologic survey were conducted in April 1999 to determine the number of infections, nature of illness, and risk factors for infection. Thirty-seven percent of the outbreak cohort had antibody titers to phase II Coxiella burnetii antigen >1:64, suggesting recent infection. The predominant clinical manifestation of Q fever was an acute febrile illness. Independent risk factors for infection included contact with goat placenta, smoking tobacco, and eating cheese made from pasteurized goat milk. This outbreak raises questions about management of such outbreaks, interprovincial sale and movement of domestic ungulates, and the need for discussion between public health practitioners and the dairy industry on control of this highly infectious organism

The Effect of Age and Occupation on the Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori

Serological studies in developed and developing countries using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays have validated this technique as a rapid, noninvasive method for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infections. The prevalence of serum antibodies to H pylori was studied in 473 Canadian blood donors from Manitoba, 212 healthy Japanese. and 226 healthy Americans. As expected, the seroprevalence rose progressively with age in the three populations and reached its peak (greater than 55%) in subjects 60 years of age and older. The seroprevalence did not decrease in elderly persons (60 to 99 years), indicating a persistent immune response. More detailed analysis was perfom1ed on the Canadian population. Age-adjusted prevalence rates in men and women were similar. Among young adults (15 to 29 years). farmers had a significantly higher seroprevalence rate than white-collar or blue-collar workers. but in older persons occupational rates were similar. A multiple linear regression analysis of the data confirmed that age and occupation in young adults were both significantly associated with seroprevalence of H pylori infections

Learning Style Preferences and their Relationship to Linguistic Competence

The immediate objective of this paper is to determine the relationship between learning styles, demographic profile of the respondents and their linguistic competence. Primarily, this research endeavor desires to find out how learning styles sway students’ learning absorption specifically of the English Subject. The learning theories and models that underpinned the study were the constructivists’ and cognitivists’ theory of learning. The Dunn and Dunn learning style model which has five key elements, namely, environmental emotional; physiological; psychological and sociological was used. Communicative Competence model created by Celce-Murcia, Dornyei and Thurrel (1995) focusing on Syntax, Morphology and Orthography also supported the study. To gather the data needed, the researchers made a personally-drafted learning styles inventory and applied the descriptive correlational method to analyze the results. An analysis of this study yields that the over-all pre-dominant learning style preference of the respondents is Sociological preference. The Demographic profile of the student respondents as to age, birth-order, monthly-income, gender, ethno linguistic origin, and parents’ educational attainment also showed significant relationship to the elements of learning style preferences. Lastly, it was found that Syntax has no significant relationship towards Environmental, Emotional, Sociological and Physiological Preference but has a huge correlation to Psychological Preference. Morphology, however, has no significant relationship to all the learning style elements. As with Syntax, Orthography showed no significant to all the learning style elements but Psychological Preference