Residential Status and the Physical Health of a Mentally Ill Population

Current literature suggests that severely mentally ill individuals are at high risk for increased physical morbidity and mortality. This study considers the relationship between residential arrangements and the health status of this population. It compares the health status of 234 severely mentally ill individuals living throughout California in sheltered-care facilities, institutions, or the general community. Sheltered-care residence was found to predict positive physical health status when traditional risk factors, as well as risk factors peculiar to this population, were controlled for. The results underscore the value of sheltered-care residence for severely mentally ill individuals who need this type of care. Implications of the results are discussed

Assessment of post-competition peak blood lactate in male and female master swimmers aged 40–79 years and its relationship with swimming performance

The main purpose of this study was to measure the postcompetition blood lactate concentration ([La]b) in master swimmers of both sexes aged between 40 and 79 years in order to relate it to age and swimming performance. One hundred and eight swimmers participating in the World Master Championships were assessed for [La]b and the average rate of lactate accumulation (La’;mmol l-1 s-1) was calculated. In addition, 77 of them were also tested for anthropometric measures. When the subjects were divided into 10-year age groups, males exhibited higher [La]b than women (factorial ANOVA, P < 0.01) and a steeper decline with ageing than female subjects. Overall, mean values (SD) of [La]b were 10.8 (2.8), 10.3 (2.0), 10.3 (1.9), 8.9 (3.2) mmol l-1 in women, and 14.2 (2.5), 12.4 (2.5), 11.0 (1.6), 8.2 (2.0) mmol l-1 in men for, respectively, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69, 70–79 years’ age groups. When, however, [La]b values were normalised for a ‘‘speed index’’, which takes into account swimming speed as a percentage of world record, these sex-related differences, although still present, were considerably attenuated. Furthermore, the differences in La’ between males and females were larger in the 40–49 age group (0.34 vs 0.20 mmol l-1 s-1 for 50-m distance) than in the 70–79 age group (0.12 vs 0.14 mmol l-1 s-1 for 50-m distance). Different physiological factors, supported by the considered anthropometric measurements, are suggested to explain the results

Definitions, pathophysiology, and epidemiology of acute cholangitis and cholecystitis: Tokyo Guidelines

This article discusses the definitions, pathophysiology, and epidemiology of acute cholangitis and cholecystitis. Acute cholangitis and cholecystitis mostly originate from stones in the bile ducts and gallbladder. Acute cholecystitis also has other causes, such as ischemia; chemicals that enter biliary secretions; motility disorders associated with drugs; infections with microorganisms, protozoa, and parasites; collagen disease; and allergic reactions. Acute acalculous cholecystitis is associated with a recent operation, trauma, burns, multisystem organ failure, and parenteral nutrition. Factors associated with the onset of cholelithiasis include obesity, age, and drugs such as oral contraceptives. The reported mortality of less than 10% for acute cholecystitis gives an impression that it is not a fatal disease, except for the elderly and/or patients with acalculous disease. However, there are reports of high mortality for cholangitis, although the mortality differs greatly depending on the year of the report and the severity of the disease. Even reports published in and after the 1980s indicate high mortality, ranging from 10% to 30% in the patients, with multiorgan failure as a major cause of death. Because many of the reports on acute cholecystitis and cholangitis use different standards, comparisons are difficult. Variations in treatment and risk factors influencing the mortality rates indicate the necessity for standardized diagnostic, treatment, and severity assessment criteria

Residential status and the physical health of a mentally ill population.

Current literature suggests that severely mentally ill individuals are at high risk for increased physical morbidity and mortality. This study considers the relationship between residential arrangements and the health status of this population. It compares the health status of 234 severely mentally ill individuals living throughout California in sheltered-care facilities, institutions, or the general community. Sheltered-care residence was found to predict positive physical health status when traditional risk factors, as well as risk factors peculiar to this population, were controlled for. The results underscore the value of sheltered-care residence for severely mentally ill individuals who need this type of care. Implications of the results are discussed

Health and a residential care population.

This article describes the health status of 234 severely mentally ill (SMI) persons residing in California's supervised residential care facilities in 1973. Relocated in 1983, 63.2% reported their health as good to excellent. Over the follow-up period 80.8% maintained their SSI benefits, insuring them of health insurance coverage. Surprisingly the follow-up sample, believed to be at high risk of increased physical morbidity, compared quite favorably to low income subsamples of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The SMI reported better health, access to and utilization of health services. Differences were particularly striking in the poor health category with NHIS respondents reporting poor health 3.5 times more frequently than SMI sample numbers. These results offer some support for the contribution of health insurance benefits and supervised residential settings to positive health outcomes of this vulnerable population

Plasma-Mediated Inactivation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms Grown on Borosilicate Surfaces under Continuous Culture System

Biofilms are microbial communities attached to a surface and embedded in a matrix composed of exopolysaccharides and excreted nucleic acids. Bacterial biofilms are responsible for undesirable effects such as disease, prostheses colonization, biofouling, equipment damage, and pipe plugging. Biofilms are also more resilient than free-living cells to regular sterilization methods and therefore it is indispensable to develop better ways to control and remove them. The use of gas discharge plasmas is a good alternative since plasmas contain a mixture of reactive agents well-known for their decontamination potential against free microorganisms. We have previously reported that Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms were inactivated after a 1-min plasma exposure. We determined that the adhesiveness and the thickness of Pseudomonas biofilms grown on borosilicate were reduced. We also reported sequential morphological changes and loss of viability upon plasma treatment. However, the studies were carried out in batch cultures. The use of a continuous culture results in a more homogenous environment ensuring reproducible biofilm growth. The aim of this work was to study plasma-mediated inactivation of P. aeruginosa biofilms grown on borosilicate in a continuous culture system. In this paper we show that biofilms grown on glass under continuous culture can be inactivated by using gas discharge plasma. Both biofilm architecture and cell culturability are impacted by the plasma treatment. The inactivation kinetics is similar to previously described ones and cells go through sequential changes ranging from minimal modification without loss of viability at short plasma exposure times, to major structure and viability loss at longer exposure times. We report that changes in biofilm structure leading to the loss of culturability and viability are related to a decrease of the biofilm matrix adhesiveness. To our knowledge, there has been no attempt to evaluate the inactivation/sterilization of biofilms grown in a continuous system