Factors associated with socio-demographic characteristics and antenatal care and iron supplement use in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Senegal.

Antenatal care (ANC) offers remarkable opportunities to reach a large number of women with effective nutrition and health interventions, including iron (Fe) supplementation. However, all women do not equally seek nor benefit from ANC. We aimed to identify characteristics associated with ANC and Fe use among women in hard-to-reach areas in Afar, Ethiopia; Sedhiou and Kolda, Senegal; and Kakamega, Kenya.

Effects of intermediate- and long-term use of opioids on cognition in patients with chronic pain.

The authors review research on the intermediate- and long-term effects of taking opioid medication on cognitive functioning in patients with chronic cancer and noncancer pain. Opioids seem to be more likely to worsen cognitive performance during the first few days of use and during the first few hours after a given dose, particularly on timed performance in psychomotor tasks. Results have been inconsistent regarding what decrements in cognitive performance are observed when patients with chronic pain who have been using opioids for more than three days are compared with healthy volunteers.

Translating nutrition research into action in humanitarian emergencies.

Except for the management of severe malnutrition, there has been little research specifically conducted to support emergency food and nutrition programs. Lacking empirically based guidance regarding how accurately to identify problems and select the most effective means to achieve desired objectives, programming decisions have been based on extrapolations, anecdotal evidence and intuition, with hopes of doing the right thing. Consequently, donors, implementers and affected governments, who often hold contradictory opinions, expend time and resources on controversies about when and how to act.