Perceptions of mindfulness practices as a support for individuals managing caregiving responsibilities and chronic disease: A qualitative study.

Objectives: Explore the lived experience of individuals managing and/or caregiving for someone with a chronic disease and their perceptions of developing a mindfulness program for stress reduction.

Methods: Sixteen participants with chronic disease and/or caregivers participated. Participants completed eligibility screening, demographic questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews (30-60 min each) online or by phone.

Helicopter Crashes in the Deployed Combat Setting: The Department of Defense Trauma Registry Experience.

Background: Military helicopter mishaps frequently lead to multiple casualty events with complex injury patterns. Data specific to this mechanism of injury in the deployed setting are limited. We describe injury patterns associated with helicopter crashes.

Systematic Review: Association of Pesticide Exposure and Child Wheeze and Asthma.

Background: The prevalence of wheeze and asthma has risen over recent decades for all age groups, especially children. These disorders can lead to decreased quality of life, missed school, urgent care and emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and increased health care costs. Environmental exposures, including pesticide exposure, are likely a contributing factor to this increased prevalence.

Myasthenic Crisis After Recurrent COVID-19 Infection.

A patient with myasthenia gravis who survived 2 COVID-19 infections required plasmapheresis to recover from an acute crisis.

Prehospital Intervention Analysis of Helicopter Crashes in Afghanistan.

Background: Based on isolated case reports, military helicopter mishaps often result in multiple critical casualties leading to complicated stabilization and evacuation by healthcare providers. The aim of this retrospective descriptive analysis is to describe the incidence of common prehospital injuries associated with rotary wing crashes in order to improve mission planning and casualty survivability.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from the Prehospital Trauma Registry and the Department of Defense Trauma Registry (DoDTR) from April 2003 through May 2019.

Pediatric Primary Care Relationships and Non-Urgent Emergency Department Use in Children.

Objective: Non-urgent emergency department (ED) use contributes to healthcare costs and disrupts continuity of care. Factors influencing patient/guardian decision-making in non-urgent situations are poorly understood. We sought to determine the association of patient/guardian - primary care provider (PCP) relationship with non-urgent ED usage and explore related factors.

Anterior Mediastinal Mass Causing Intermittent Atrial Fibrillation.

Mediastinal masses are a rare finding in the emergency department and typically present with vague chest complaints such as chest discomfort, chest pain, or dyspnea. Rarely do these tumors present with dysrhythmias, and when dysrhythmias are present, they typically arise secondary to endocrine or metabolic effects exerted by the tumor. Here we report a case of a patient who presented to the emergency department with atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response, concomitant with a history of recurrent palpitations that were previously aborted with self-induced vagal maneuvers.

Systematic review of Marburg virus vaccine nonhuman primate studies and human clinical trials.

Background: Recent deadly outbreaks of Marburg virus underscore the need for an effective vaccine. A summary of the latest research is needed for this WHO priority pathogen. This systematic review aimed to determine progress towards a vaccine for Marburg virus.

Does fetal leptin and adiponectin influence children's lung function and risk of wheeze?

Adipocytokines, which are secreted during fetal development by both mothers and fetuses, may influence fetal lung development, but little human data are available. We used data from the HOME Study to investigate the associations of cord blood adipocytokine concentrations with children's lung forced expiratory volume (FEV1; N = 160) and their risk of wheeze (N = 281). We measured umbilical cord serum adipocytokine concentrations using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and FEV1 using a portable spirometer at ages 4 and 5 to calculate the percent predicted FEV1 (%FEV1).

Gestational Pesticide Exposure and Child Respiratory Health.

Background: Childhood wheeze may be related to pesticide exposure, and diet and genetics (Paroxonase; ) may modify the effects of exposure.

Methods: We analyzed data from the HOME Study, a prospective pregnancy and birth cohort, to examine the association of gestational urinary organophosphate (OP) and pyrethroid (3PBA) metabolite concentrations with child wheeze, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) at ages 4 and 5 years, and wheeze trajectory patterns through age 8 years.

Results: Among 367 singletons, the frequency of wheeze ranged from 10.

Predictors of Behavioral Changes After Adenotonsillectomy in Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Adenotonsillectomy (AT) is associated with improved behavior in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, it is unknown whether polysomnographic parameters are superior to the parent-reported severity of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in predicting behavioral changes after AT.

Objective: To ascertain whether polysomnographic parameters vs parent-reported severity of SDB are better predictors of treatment-related behavioral changes in children with OSA.

Association Between Changes in Timing of Spring Onset and Asthma Hospitalization in Maryland.

Importance: Ongoing climate change is affecting the health of communities across the globe. While direct consequences, including morbidity and mortality tied to increases in the frequency of extreme weather events, have received significant attention, indirect health effects, particularly those associated with climate change-driven disruptions in ecosystems, are less understood.

Objective: To investigate how ongoing changes in the timing of spring onset related to climate change are associated with rates of asthma hospitalization in Maryland.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and asthma in young children: NHANES 2013-2014.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of persistent chemicals used as industrial surfactants, fire-fighting foams, and textile treatments. Early childhood exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) may affect the immune system to increase the risk of allergic and respiratory diseases. However, there are substantial gaps in our knowledge about the relationship between PFAS and immune-mediated outcomes such as asthma in children.

The Impact of Early-Life Exposure to Antimicrobials on Asthma and Eczema Risk in Children.

Purpose Of Review: We examined recent research on associations of prenatal and early-childhood exposure to the antimicrobial compounds, triclosan, and parabens, with the risk of asthma and eczema in children. We will discuss potential biological mechanisms of this association and highlight strengths and limitations of the study design and exposure assessment of current findings.

Recent Findings: Results of available toxicological and epidemiologic studies indicate a potential link of triclosan and paraben exposures with asthma and eczema in children, as well as changes in microbiome diversity and immune dysfunction, which could possibly mediate an association with the health outcomes.

Early childhood wheezers: identifying asthma in later life.

Wheeze in young children is common, and asthma is the most common noncommunicable disease in children. Prevalence studies of recurrent asthma-like symptoms in children under the age of 5 years have reported that one third of children in the US and Europe are affected, and rates and severity appear to be higher in developing countries. Over the last few decades, significant research efforts have focused on identification of risk factors and predictors of wheeze and on tools to identify which children who wheeze will progress to develop asthma.

The associations of triclosan and paraben exposure with allergen sensitization and wheeze in children.

Triclosan and parabens are chemicals used in personal care and medical products as microbicides and preservatives. Triclosan and paraben exposure may be associated with allergy (atopy), but these associations have not been evaluated with respect to other atopic states such as eczema (atopic dermatitis). This study examines the associations of urinary triclosan and paraben concentrations with allergic sensitization and asthma in children according to eczema history.

Family hardships and serum cotinine in children with asthma.

Background And Objective: A better understanding of how poverty-related hardships affect child health could highlight remediable intervention targets. Tobacco smoke exposure may be 1 such consequence of family hardship. Our objective was to explore the relationship between family hardships and tobacco exposure, as measured by serum cotinine, a tobacco metabolite, among children hospitalized for asthma.

Bisphenol a exposure and the development of wheeze and lung function in children through age 5 years.

Importance: Bisphenol A (BPA), a prevalent endocrine-disrupting chemical, has been associated with wheezing in children, but few studies have examined its effect on lung function or wheeze in older children.

Objectives: To test whether BPA exposure is associated with lung function, with wheeze, and with pattern of wheeze in children during their first 5 years.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A birth cohort study, enrolled during early pregnancy in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio, area among 398 mother-infant dyads.

Iodine deficiency, pollutant chemicals, and the thyroid: new information on an old problem.

Many women of reproductive age in the United States are marginally iodine deficient, perhaps because the salt in processed foods is not iodized. Iodine deficiency, per se, can interfere with normal brain development in their offspring; in addition, it increases vulnerability to the effects of certain environmental pollutants, such as nitrate, thiocyanate, and perchlorate. Although pregnant and lactating women should take a supplement containing adequate iodide, only about 15% do so.

Secondhand tobacco exposure is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children.

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the leading cause of liver disease in children in the United States, and prevalence rates are rising. Smoking is associated with NAFLD, but the association of secondhand smoke exposure with NAFLD is unknown.

Aims: To investigate the association of secondhand tobacco exposure with NAFLD in children.

Bisphenol A exposure is associated with decreased lung function.

Objective: To examine the associations of bisphenol A (BPA) exposure with lung function measures and exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in children.

Study Design: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of a subsample of US children age 6-19 years who participated in the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We assessed univariate and multivariable associations of urinary BPA concentration with the predicted pulmonary function measures for age, sex, race/ethnicity and height (forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], forced vital capacity [FVC], forced expiratory flow 25%-75%, and FEV1 divided by FVC) and with FeNO.

Cotinine in children admitted for asthma and readmission.

Objective: To explore the relationship between tobacco smoke exposure (reported versus biomarker) and rates of readmission for children hospitalized for asthma.

Methods: We enrolled a prospective cohort of 774 children aged 1 to 16 years admitted for asthma or bronchodilator-responsive wheezing. The primary outcome was at least 1 asthma- or wheeze-related readmission within 1 year.

The contribution of housing renovation to children's blood lead levels: a cohort study.

Background: Routine renovation of older housing is a risk factor for childhood lead poisoning, but the contribution to children's blood lead levels is poorly defined for children with lower exposure levels.

Methods: We examined a prospective cohort of 276 children followed from 6 to 24 months of age. We conducted surveys of renovation activities and residential lead hazards and obtained blood lead level (B-Pb) every six months.