Publications by authors named "Bienek A"

Background: Canada recently enacted legislation to authorize the collection of data on laboratory incidents involving a biological agent. This is done by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) as part of a comprehensive national program that protects Canadians from the health and safety risks posed by human and terrestrial animal pathogens and toxins.

Objective: To describe the first year of data on laboratory exposure incidents and/or laboratory-acquired infections in Canada since the came into effect.

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Background: High blood pressure (BP) is the leading cause of death and disability in the world. The objective of this analysis was to perform a detailed update of the epidemiology of hypertension in Canada.

Methods: Five population-based data sources were analyzed.

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Introduction: The Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada--hypertension component (SLCDC-H) is a 20-minute cross-sectional telephone survey on hypertension diagnosis and management. Sampled from the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), the SLCDC-H includes Canadians (aged ≥ 20 years) with self-reported hypertension from the ten provinces.

Methods: The questionnaire was developed by Delphi technique, externally reviewed and qualitatively tested.

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"Diabetes in Canada: facts and figures from a public health perspective" is the first comprehensive diabetes surveillance report published by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The report aims to support public health professionals and organizations in developing effective, evidence-based public health policies and programs to prevent and manage diabetes and its complications. The report, developed in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, the Canadian Diabetes Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, CNIB, Health Canada and the academic community, uses data from national health surveys and vital statistics, as well as population-based administrative data from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS).

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Background: Some of the greatest barriers to achieving blood pressure control are perceived to be failure to prescribe antihypertensive medication and lack of adherence to medication prescriptions.

Methods: Self-reported data from 6017 Canadians with diagnosed hypertension who responded to the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey and the 2009 Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada were examined.

Results: The majority (82%) of individuals with diagnosed hypertension reported using antihypertensive medications.

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Background: Approximately 17% of Canadians with high blood pressure were unaware of their condition, and of Canadians aware of having the condition, approximately 1 in 5 have uncontrolled high blood pressure despite high rates of pharmacotherapy. The objectives of the current study are to estimate the prevalence of resistant hypertension and examine factors associated with (1) lack of awareness and (2) uncontrolled hypertension despite pharmacotherapy.

Methods: Using the 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey (N = 3473, aged 20-79 years) and logistic regression, we quantified relationships between characteristics and (1) presence of hypertension, (2) lack of awareness (among those with hypertension), and (3) uncontrolled high blood pressure (among those treated for hypertension).

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Patients with hypertension are advised to lower their blood pressure to <140/90 mm Hg through sustained lifestyle modification and/or pharmacotherapy. To describe the use of lifestyle changes for blood pressure control and to identify the barriers to these behaviors, the data from 6,142 Canadians with hypertension who responded to the 2009 Survey on Living With Chronic Diseases in Canada were analyzed. Most Canadians with diagnosed hypertension reported limiting salt consumption (89%), having changed the types of food they eat (89%), engaging in physical activity (80%), trying to control or lose weight if overweight (77%), quitting smoking if currently smoking (78%), and reducing alcohol intake if currently drinking more than the recommended levels (57%) at least some of the time to control their blood pressure.

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Background: Health professionals play an important role in providing health information to patients. The objectives of this study were to examine the type of advice that Canadians with hypertension recall receiving from health professionals to manage their condition, and to assess if there is an association between health behaviour advice provided by health professionals and self-reported engagement in health behaviour modification.

Methods: Respondents of the 2009 Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada (N = 6142) were asked about sociodemographic characteristics, health care utilization, and health behaviour modification to control hypertension.

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Individuals with hypertension should lower and maintain their blood pressure levels through lifestyle modification and/or pharmacotherapy. To determine whether perception of blood pressure control is related to behaviours and intentions for improving blood pressure, data from 6142 Canadians age 20+ years with self-reported hypertension were analysed. Relationships between perception of control, current behaviours for blood pressure control and intentions to improve these behaviours were examined.

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In this study, the use of transcutaneous ultrasonography for the post-operative control of wound healing after caesarean section in cattle was investigated. In 20 cows, admitted to our clinic because of dystocia, a caesarean section was performed via the left flank. Post-operatively, the laparotomy wound was checked with a 5.

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The aim of this study was to ascertain whether overweight men and women of comparable age, body surface area and weight would display any differences in weight loss or changes in body composition while receiving identical calorie intakes. 15 men and 15 women of mean age 46.7 (26-57) years with obesity (body mass index 29-36 kg/m2) were given a reducing diet containing 700 kcal/d for 4 weeks.

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Preoptic neurons, extracellularly recorded in the rat's brain, were tested for their responses to thermal stimulation of the scrotal and abdominal skin before and after electrolytic lesions of about 1 mm3 in the area of the rostral raphe nuclei, nucleus raphe dorsalis and centralis (NRD/NRC). All analyzed neurons were of the switching type, i.e.

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Neuronal spike-trains were recorded extracellularly within the preoptic area, which is generally considered the center of information processing for thermoregulation. The neuronal responses were tested by thermal stimulation of the scrotal and abdominal skin of the rat. After a neuron had been identified as warm responsive, electrical stimulation and/or lesion were applied in medial midbrain to test the influence on the preoptic neurons.

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