Hiccup: an extremely rare presentation of thyrotoxicosis of graves' disease.

Persistent hiccup is a rare but potentially severe condition that can be symptomatic of a variety of diseases or idiopathic. Most episodes last only a few minutes and are self-limited, but hiccup can get persistent and become a real problem for physician and patient alike. The center of hiccup may be activated by a great variety of stimuli travelling along different nerve pathways and bring different effecter responses.

Technology for remediation and disposal of arsenic.

Groundwater contaminated with arsenic must be treated to meet stringent drinking water standards or guideline values. In recent years, several reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable treatment technologies have been developed, although improvements will continue to emerge as work continues. All treatment technologies work by concentrating arsenic at some stage of treatment.

Development and implementation of water safety plans for small water supplies in Bangladesh: benefits and lessons learned.

Water safety plans (WSPs) are promoted by the WHO as the most effective means of securing drinking water safety. To date most experience with WSPs has been within utility supplies, primarily in developed countries. There has been little documented experience of applying WSPs to small community-managed systems, particularly in developing countries.

Disease burden estimation to support policy decision-making and research prioritization for arsenic mitigation.

The main response to arsenic contamination of shallow tubewells in Bangladesh is the provision of alternative water supplies. To support decision-making in relation to alternative water supply selection, the Arsenic Policy Support Unit commissioned the development of a tool for estimating disease burdens for specific options using disability-adjusted life years as the metric. This paper describes the assumptions in dose-responses, relationships between microbial indicators and pathogens, water consumed and population characteristics used, and presents a case study of how the tool was applied.

Risk assessment of arsenic mitigation options in Bangladesh.

The provision of alternative water sources is the principal arsenic mitigation strategy in Bangladesh, but can lead to risk substitution. A study of arsenic mitigation options was undertaken to assess water quality and sanitary condition and to estimate the burden of disease associated with each technology in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Dugwells and pond-sand filters showed heavy microbial contamination in both dry and monsoon seasons, and the estimated burden of disease was high.

Levels of blood and urine chemicals associated with longer duration of having arsenicosis in Bangladesh.

Arsenicosis is presently one of the significant public health problems in Bangladesh. Employing household screening of over 3.6 million people living in 6 arsenic-affected Upzilas of Bangladesh, 1,503 arsenicosis patients were identified at first and then blood and urine were collected from some of them and analyzed through laboratory techniques.

Manifestation of arsenicosis patients and factors determining the duration of arsenic symptoms in Bangladesh.

This study analyzed a total of 1482 arsenicosis patients living in 6 of 496 upzilas (sub-districts) of Bangladesh, who were identified through household screening and then confirmed by a trained medical team headed by medical officer. Melanosis was common (97%) among them but about two-thirds (68.7%) of the patients were suffering from keratosis.

Arsenic mobility and groundwater extraction in Bangladesh.

High levels of arsenic in well water are causing widespread poisoning in Bangladesh. In a typical aquifer in southern Bangladesh, chemical data imply that arsenic mobilization is associated with recent inflow of carbon. High concentrations of radiocarbon-young methane indicate that young carbon has driven recent biogeochemical processes, and irrigation pumping is sufficient to have drawn water to the depth where dissolved arsenic is at a maximum.