Publications by authors named "Barratt M"
Introduction: Despite high-dose 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) drug alerts being distributed, no research has been conducted as to changes in use in response. This study aimed to determine if: (i) high-dose MDMA drug alerts, and (ii) varied descriptions of dose, effects and actions to reduce harm were associated with intentions to reduce the initial MDMA dose in a hypothetical scenario.
Methods: Australians who used MDMA pills/capsules in the past year completed an online survey.
Space habitation provides unique challenges in built environments isolated from Earth. We produced a 3D map of the microbes and metabolites throughout the United States Orbital Segment (USOS) of the International Space Station (ISS) with 803 samples collected during space flight, including controls. We find that the use of each of the nine sampled modules within the ISS strongly drives the microbiology and chemistry of the habitat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Drug alerts aimed at both people who use drugs and health workers help to prevent acute harms from unpredictable illicit drug markets and by equipping health workers to handle unusual drug events and share vital information with service users. However, there has never been an alert produced for anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), an important class of illicit drugs. We report on the development, implementation and community receptivity of the first-ever AAS community drug alert.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Consuming no or low (NoLo) alcohol products in place of regular strength alcohol products could reduce alcohol-related harms in high risk drinkers. This study provides a new perspective by exploring beliefs about NoLo products and motives for their use by level of risky drinking using a model of behaviour change.
Methods: The 2022 Global Drug Survey included items on NoLo product use, beliefs, and motives for consuming or not consuming NoLo products.
Aim: To describe how specialised models of registered nurse-led care and support can play a vital role in the health and quality of life of someone with intellectual disability and multiple chronic and complex health problems.
Design: Single instrumental case study.
Methods: Data collection occurred between March and August 2023, and included interviews with parents, historical case files, descriptions of the nurse-led model of care and a list of the daily registered nurse-led interventions.
Background And Aims: The clandestine production and distribution of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) poses health risks due to the uncertainty of their contents. This study aimed to test the chemical content of AAS samples and provide aggregate results back to the community, exploring how these results influenced usage decisions and risk management.
Design: A mixed-methods approach was used, combining chemical analysis of AAS samples with qualitative interviews.
Background: Parents of children with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities play a crucial role in providing direct care but often demonstrate heightened parental stress and reduced quality of life. This review explores perceived quality of life from the experiences of parents when caring for young and adult children.
Method: A qualitative systematic review following Joanna Briggs Institute meta-aggregation approach has been completed and reported according to PRISMA guidelines.
Background: There is emerging recognition of the risks of harmful chemical pesticides, fertilizers and 'nutrients' by cannabis growers. One group of chemicals, Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs), many of which have been banned from food crops for decades, have been found unlisted in a number of fertilizers and supplements marketed at cannabis growers.
Methods: This paper predominately uses data from a 2020-21 convenience web survey of mainly small-scale, recent (last 5yrs) cannabis growers from 18 countries (n = 11,479).
Article Synopsis
- The COVID-19 pandemic affected cannabis cultivation behaviors, with a web survey of 11,479 growers across 18 countries revealing that most practices remained stable, though challenges were noted in purchasing cannabis.
- While 28.2% of respondents reported increased cannabis use, and 21.4% reported growing more cannabis during the pandemic, those who faced job loss or casual employment were notably more likely to increase their cultivation.
- The study concluded that the pandemic prompted some to start growing cannabis and highlighted that a lack of access to illegal supply chains motivated home cultivation increases, though it acknowledged limitations in sample representation.
Article Synopsis
- Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is a condition impacting the small intestine, frequently seen in stunted children, characterized by damaged gut barrier and reduced nutrient absorption.
- A study with gnotobiotic mice showed that specific bacterial strains from stunted children can cause inflammation and immune changes similar to those found in EED, impacting gut and brain function.
- The research highlights a strain, Campylobacter concisus, as a potential contributor to gut issues, suggesting that targeting small intestinal microbiota could lead to new treatments for undernutrition across generations.
Undernutrition in Bangladeshi children is associated with disruption of postnatal gut microbiota assembly; compared with standard therapy, a microbiota-directed complementary food (MDCF) substantially improved their ponderal and linear growth. Here, we characterize a fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) from a growth-associated intestinal strain of cultured from these children. This enzyme, expressed and purified from hydrolyzes a variety of -acylamides, including oleoylethanolamide (OEA), neurotransmitters, and quorum sensing -acyl homoserine lactones; it also synthesizes a range of -acylamides, notably -acyl amino acids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ketamine's popularity has surged globally in the past decade, especially among young men. Emergency department visits due to its toxicity remain relatively rare, often linked to co-occurring use of other substances.
Aims: Using data from the Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2018, this study explored the correlates associated with lifetime and past-year ketamine use, and estimated the socio-demographic characteristics, usage patterns and experiences of respondents seeking emergency medical treatment (EMT) after ketamine use.
Article Synopsis
- A randomized controlled trial was conducted in Bangladesh on children aged 12-18 months, comparing a microbiome-directed complementary food (MDCF-2) with a calorically dense standard food, revealing better weight-for-length improvement in those treated with MDCF-2.
- The study also found significant protein and microbiome changes associated with the recovery process, suggesting potential biomarkers for treatment response and the need for further research on MDCF efficacy.
Studies of the human microbiome are progressing rapidly but have largely focused on populations living in high-income countries. With increasing evidence that the microbiome contributes to the pathogenesis of diseases that affect infants, children, and adults in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and with profound and rapid ongoing changes occurring in our lifestyles and biosphere, understanding the origins of and developing microbiome-directed therapeutics for treating a number of global health challenges requires the development of programs for studying human microbial ecology in LMICs. Here, we discuss how the establishment of long-term human microbial observatory programs in selected LMICs could provide one timely approach.
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- The study investigates the quality and strength of drugs sourced from cryptomarkets versus those obtained offline, focusing on substances like MDMA, cocaine, and LSD.
- Results show that drugs from cryptomarkets had a higher likelihood of containing the expected substance and were generally stronger than those from offline sources, particularly for MDMA, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
- However, some cryptomarket drugs like MDMA tablets and amphetamine were found to be lower in strength compared to their offline counterparts.
Introduction: Women who use drugs, particularly those using anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), encounter heightened social risks influenced by the legal status of AAS, varying regionally. In jurisdictions where AAS are legal, medical guidance and prescription are common, while in illegal regions, there are challenges associated with acquisition and safer usage. Therefore, we aimed to explore the experiences of women who use AAS in Australia, where these substances are criminalised, with a focus on the challenges they encounter in acquiring and using these drugs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A randomized controlled trial in Bangladeshi children aged 12 to 18 months with moderate acute malnutrition found that dietary supplementation with the microbiota-directed complementary food (MDCF-2) significantly improved weight gain and repaired gut microbiota compared to the ready-to-use supplementary food. However, the MDCF-2 formulation was made daily from locally available ingredients and the need for a packaged, nutritionally compliant, and organoleptically acceptable MDCF-2 prototype was essential for future large-scale clinical studies.
Objective: The study aimed to develop and assess the acceptability of 3 alternative foil-packaged formulations of MDCF-2 in comparison to current MDCF-2.
Article Synopsis
- This study examines the self-treatment of psychiatric conditions using psychedelics without medical oversight, aiming to better understand unregulated therapeutic practices.
- The research primarily looks into the effects of psychedelics on mental health, particularly for conditions like depression and anxiety, while also analyzing how demographic factors might influence the prescription of traditional medications.
- Key findings indicate that many respondents experienced positive outcomes such as improved mental health and self-awareness after using psychedelics, with a significant portion of users having a history of depression or anxiety, suggesting the potential for psychedelics to lessen the need for conventional medication.
Carbohydrates comprise the largest fraction of most diets and exert a profound impact on health. Components such as simple sugars and starch supply energy, while indigestible components, deemed dietary fiber, reach the colon to provide food for the tens of trillions of microbes that make up the gut microbiota. The interactions between dietary carbohydrates, our gastrointestinal tracts, the gut microbiome and host health are dictated by their structures.
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- Bifidobacteria are important early colonizers of the gut and offer various health benefits, but individual responses to probiotics can differ based on factors like strain type and diet.
- A study reconstructed 66 pathways related to carbohydrate utilization in bifidobacteria, revealing significant variability in their glycan metabolism capabilities at both species and strain levels.
- This research enhances understanding of bifidobacterial metabolism and lays the groundwork for developing targeted probiotic and synbiotic formulations that optimize health benefits.
Article Synopsis
- * A randomized controlled trial inBangladesh tested a microbiota-directed complementary food (MDCF-2) against a ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF) in children transitioning from SAM to MAM, finding MDCF-2 led to better weight gain improvements.
- * The study also identified 215 beneficial plasma proteins associated with improved growth and demonstrated changes in the children's gut microbiome, highlighting specific bacterial strains that may help in recovery, suggesting a need for further research on MDCF's effectiveness and potential treatment markers.
Importance: Innovative approaches are needed to address the increasing rate of postpartum morbidity and mortality associated with hypertensive disorders.
Objective: To determine whether assessing maternal blood pressure (BP) and associated symptoms at time of well-child visits is associated with increased detection of postpartum preeclampsia and need for hospitalization for medical management.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This is a pre-post quality improvement (QI) study.
Article Synopsis
- - The article explores the role of small-scale cannabis growers in distribution, highlighting that many are not part of criminal gangs but instead engage in various types of supply practices across different countries.
- - Using data from a comprehensive survey of cannabis growers in 18 countries, it finds that most growers distribute surplus cannabis, with sharing and gifting being more common than selling.
- - The study concludes that, while profit motives exist, many small-scale sellers prioritize social connections over financial gain, indicating a shift toward the normalization of cannabis supply in low-end markets.
Background: Globally, stunting affects ∼150 million children under five, while wasting affects nearly 50 million. Current interventions have had limited effectiveness in ameliorating long-term sequelae of undernutrition including stunting, cognitive deficits and immune dysfunction. Disrupted development of the gut microbiota has been linked to the pathogenesis of undernutrition, providing potentially new treatment approaches.
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- The study examines first-time experiences of individuals using LSD, noting a significant surge in recreational use and interest in its therapeutic potential.
- Data from a 2018 Global Drug Survey, involving 3,340 respondents, highlighted that almost all participants found their experiences exceeded expectations, with most feeling excitement and only a few reporting severe side effects or needing emergency medical treatment.
- While the overall experiences with LSD were mostly positive, the study emphasizes the need for harm-reduction efforts to ensure user safety as LSD's popularity increases.