Infliximab or cyclosporine for acute severe ulcerative colitis: a retrospective analysis.

Background And Aim: Medical treatment of steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) is limited to either cyclosporine or infliximab. Studies comparing cyclosporine with either placebo or intravenous methylprednisone showed promise for cyclosporine, but associated it with significant toxicity. There is conflicting, but increasingly positive evidence for using infliximab.

Density of alcohol outlets and teenage drinking: living in an alcogenic environment is associated with higher consumption in a metropolitan setting.

Aim: This study examines the relationship between physical, socio-economic and social environments and alcohol consumption and drunkenness among a general population sample of drinkers aged 12-17 years. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND MEASURES: The study was conducted in Auckland, New Zealand. The design comprised two components: (i) environmental measures including alcohol outlet density, locality-based measure of willingness to sell alcohol (derived from purchase surveys of outlets) and a locality-based neighbourhood deprivation measure calculated routinely in New Zealand (known as NZDEP); and (ii) the second component was a random telephone survey to collect individual-level information from respondents aged 12-17 years including ethnicity, frequency of alcohol supplied socially (by parents, friends and others), young person's income; frequency of exposure to alcohol advertising; recall of brands of alcohol and self-reported purchase from alcohol outlets.

New Zealand Pacific peoples' drinking style: too much or nothing at all?

Aims: To describe the alcohol consumption patterns and related harms of some Pacific peoples (Samoan, Cook Islands Maori, Tongan, Niuean, Fijian, and Tokelauan) living in Aotearoa (New Zealand), and to draw comparisons with measures from the general New Zealand population.

Methods: The Pacific Drugs and Alcohol Consumption Survey (PDACS) was carried out with 1103 randomly selected Pacific peoples aged between 13 and 65 years old who were resident in households throughout New Zealand. The survey used computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) and computer assisted cell-phone interviewing (CACI).