Severe Hypercalcemia in a Postpartum Patient.

Background: There are multiple clinical manifestations of hypercalcemia and several causes of hypercalcemia. Hypercalcemia caused by milk-alkali syndrome is increasing in frequency.

Case Report: A 26-year-old woman presented after having undergone caesarian section.

Stockpiles of obsolete pesticides and cleanup priorities: A methodology and application for Tunisia.

Obsolete pesticides have accumulated in almost every developing country or economy in transition over the past several decades. Concerned about the risks these chemicals pose to nearby residents, public health and environmental authorities are eager to reduce health threats by removing and decontaminating stockpile sites. However, there are many sites, cleanup can be costly, and public resources are scarce, so decision makers need to set priorities.

Rickets: an overview and future directions, with special reference to Bangladesh. A summary of the Rickets Convergence Group meeting, Dhaka, 26-27 January 2006.

Rickets has emerged as a public-health problem in Bangladesh during the past two decades, with up to 8% of children clinically affected in some areas. Insufficiency of dietary calcium is thought to be the underlying cause, and treatment with calcium (350-1,000 mg elemental calcium daily) is curative. Despite this apparently simple treatment, little is known about the most appropriate management of bone deformities of affected children, and further studies are needed to determine the details of dosing and duration of calcium therapy, the role of bracing, and specific indications for surgical intervention.

Pesticide poisoning of farm workers-implications of blood test results from Vietnam.

Information on the health impacts of pesticides is quite limited in many developing countries, with many surveys relying solely on farmer self-assessments of their health status. To test the reliability of self-reported data, an acetyl cholinesterase enzyme (AChE) blood test was conducted for 190 rice farmers in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Results reveal a high prevalence of pesticide poisoning by organophosphate and carbamate exposure, where over 35% of test subjects experienced acute pesticide poisoning (a reduction of AChE >25%), and 21% chronically poisoned (>66% AChE reduction).