Copper, zinc and iron levels in infants and their mothers during the first year of life: a prospective study.

Background: Essential micronutrients are important for maintenance of life. Deficiency of micronutrients is more likely to be encountered in children, and women studies are required to investigate the status of micronutrients in children and women. This study aimed to longitudinally evaluate changes in zinc, copper, and iron levels in breastfed infants and their mothers during the first year of life.

Change in positive affect during outpatient cardiac rehabilitation predicts vital exhaustion in patients with coronary heart disease.

Vital exhaustion is an acknowledged psychosocial risk factor of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and recurrent CHD events. Little is known about trajectories in vital exhaustion in patients with CHD and the factors predicting this change. We hypothesized that vital exhaustion would decrease during outpatient cardiac rehabilitation and that an increase in positive affect over time would be associated with decreased vital exhaustion at discharge from cardiac rehabilitation.

Health-related quality of life is associated with positive affect in patients with coronary heart disease entering cardiac rehabilitation.

Health-related quality of life (QoL) is an important and widely used outcome measure in cardiac populations. We examined the relationship between positive affect and health-related quality of life, controlling for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, clinical variables and negative affect. We further investigated the role of gender in this relationship given the well-known gender differences in cardiovascular health.

Serum and hair zinc levels of infants and their mothers.

Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the zinc status of mothers and their infants attending a well-child clinic.

Methods: Blood and hair samples were collected from infants and their mothers at 2nd, 6th,12th month after delivery. Information on infant and their mothers' dietary habits was gathered.

A comparison of psychosocial risk factors between 3 groups of cardiovascular disease patients referred for outpatient cardiac rehabilitation.

Purpose: Few studies have examined psychosocial risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) between diagnostic groups of CVD patients. We compared levels of depression, anxiety, hostility, exhaustion, positive affect, and social support, and the prevalence of type D personality between patient groups with a primary diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CHD), chronic heart failure (CHF), or peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Methods: We examined 548 CHD patients, 105 CHF patients, and 79 PAD patients who completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the cynical hostility subscale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, the short form of the Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire, the type D personality questionnaire, the positive mood scale of the Global Mood Scale, and the Enhancing Recovery in CHD Social Support Inventory, all in the first week of cardiac rehabilitation.

Relation of heart rate recovery to psychological distress and quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Psychological distress, poor disease-specific quality of life (QoL), and reduction in vagally mediated early heart rate recovery (HRR) after exercise, all previously predicted morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). We hypothesized lower HRR with greater psychological distress and poorer QoL in CHF.

Design: All assessments were made at the beginning of a comprehensive cardiac outpatient rehabilitation intervention program.

Heart rate recovery after exercise in chronic heart failure: role of vital exhaustion and type D personality.

Objective: Vital exhaustion and type D personality previously predicted mortality and cardiac events in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Reduced heart rate recovery (HRR) also predicts morbidity and mortality in CHF. We hypothesized that elevated levels of vital exhaustion and type D personality are both associated with decreased HRR.

Association of Helicobacter pylori infection with gastroduodenal disease, epidemiologic factors and iron-deficiency anemia in Turkish children undergoing endoscopy, and impact on growth.

Background: The purpose of the present paper was to investigate the relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and clinical symptomatology, breast-feeding and socioeconomic level. The relationship between H. pylori and iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) and the effect of H.

Elevated hair levels of cadmium and lead in school children exposed to smoking and in highways near schools.

Objectives: Heavy metal pollution has become a serious health concern in recent years. Cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb) are toxic heavy metals. This study was aimed to determine the risk factors for high cadmium and lead levels in school children.

CagA positivity and its association with gastroduodenal disease in Turkish children undergoing endoscopic investigation.

Background: Cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) product is a bacterial virulence factor contributing to the pathogenicity of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection in humans. Host factors, which vary in different countries, interact with bacterial factors to determine the disease state. Our objective was to investigate the frequency of CagA-positive HP strains and evaluate the contribution of CagA positivity to symptoms and development of mucosal lesions in HP-infected Turkish children.

Celiac disease and glycogenic acanthosis: a new association?

Unlabelled: A 6-y-old boy and an 8-y-old girl were admitted to our clinic with anaemia and failure to thrive. Laboratory tests revealed iron deficiency anaemia and positive antigliadin antibodies in both of the patients. Slightly raised grey-white plaques were observed on oesophageal mucosa during endoscopical investigation of the patients.

Long-term outcome after sclerotherapy with or without a beta-blocker for variceal bleeding in children.

Background: Esophageal variceal bleeding is a life-threatening complication of portal hypertension. Optimal treatment for the prophylaxis of variceal rebleeding in children has not yet been determined. In the present study, we aimed to compare the long-term efficacy of endoscopic sclerotherapy with or without oral beta-blocker therapy in the secondary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding.

Helicobacter pylori infection in Turkish children with gastrointestinal symptoms and evaluation of serology.

Helicobacter pylori infection is a common etiopathogenetic factor in children with gastrointestinal symptoms in the developing world. Although serology offers an easy noninvasive method of diagnosis, its sensitivity and specificity are reported to be low among children. In this prospective study, we investigated the frequency and endoscopical and morphological findings of H.

Does interferon and ribavirin combination therapy increase the rate of treatment response in children with hepatitis C?

Background: Interferon-alpha was the first accepted treatment of chronic hepatitis C. In recent years, adding ribavirin has produced better response rates in adult patients than monotherapy with interferon-alpha. Whether adding ribavirin also improves treatment results in pediatric patients remains unclear.

An educational intervention on promotion of breast feeding complemented by continuing support.

The study, aiming to document the effect of continued support for mothers on frequency of exclusive breast feeding, was carried out by inclusion of breast feeding counselling in the context of well-baby care. One hundred and forty-six mothers who had been exposed to two educational sessions on breast feeding after delivery were given appointments to bring their baby to the paediatric hospital for well-baby care. The mother-infant pairs were followed by the same two residents for 4 months.

An educational intervention on promotion of breast feeding.

This study was designed to search for an effective method to promote exclusive breast feeding among Turkish city women delivering in hospitals. Four hundred and forty-two primiparae with uncomplicated deliveries and with healthy infants with birthweights of greater than 2500 g were exposed to a group educational session on breast feeding after birth, followed by one repeat session at home. Four hundred and ninety-nine women served as controls.

Oral rehydration therapy: studies on potassium balance.

The clinical response and changes in potassium balance were studied during oral rehydration therapy (ORT) with a solution containing 20 mmol potassium per litre in well-nourished and malnourished infants of 3 to 15 months of age as well as in neonates and young infants less than 2 months old (range 5-60 days). All infants were successfully rehydrated orally. The potassium intake considerably exceeded the potassium output in all groups during the entire rehydration period.

Salt and water homeostasis during oral rehydration therapy in neonates and young infants with acute diarrhoea. II. Rehydration with a solution containing 90 mmol sodium per litre (ORS90).

The clinical response and changes in water and salt homeostasis were studied during oral rehydration therapy (ORT) with a solution containing 90 mmol sodium per 1 (ORS90) in 9 infants less than 2 months old (range 2-60 days). Two infants were still dehydrated 36 hours after starting ORT and were excluded from the study. Fluid was retained more rapidly and also to a larger extent than in infants of the same age treated with a solution with a sodium concentration of 60 mmol/l (ORS60).

Oral rehydration therapy in neonates and young infants with infectious diarrhoea.

The clinical response and changes in water and salt homeostasis during ORT was studied in 15 infants less than 2 months old (range 2-50 days) with acute diarrhoea. Eight patients were neonates and 7 were 1-2 months old. The oral rehydration solution contained 60 mmol sodium per litre.

Oral rehydration therapy in malnourished infants with infectious diarrhoea.

The clinical response and changes in water and salt homeostasis was studied for 36 hours during oral rehydration therapy with a rehydration solution containing 60 mmol sodium/l (ORS60) in 14 malnourished 3- to 15-month-old Turkish infants with acute infectious diarrhoea. All patients were successfully rehydrated with this treatment. Sodium was efficiently absorbed from the gut and water balance was rapidly restored.

Hair manganese concentrations in newborns and their mothers.

The study was designed to investigate the manganese (Mn) status of mothers and their offspring at delivery. Hair Mn concentrations in 31 full-term, 18 preterm and 12 newborn infants with congenital malformations and their mothers were determined by the flameless atomic absorption technique. Both in infants with congenital malformations and their mothers, hair Mn levels were significantly lower than the full-term and preterm infant-mother pairs.

Unsuccessful oral rehydration therapy in an infant with enteropathogenic E. coli diarrhoea. Studies of fluid and electrolyte homeostasis.

A 4-month-old male infant with severe hyponatremic dehydration due to an enteropathogenic E. coli O125: B15-induced diarrhoea had continued very high stool fluid output with a very elevated sodium concentration after hospitalization and the institution of oral rehydration therapy (ORT). Thirty-six hours after start of ORT intravenous therapy was required.

Hair chromium concentration and chromium excretion in tannery workers.

Hair and urine samples were collected from 34 male tannery workers and from 12 normal adults. Eighteen of the workers dealt directly with chromium and the remaining 16 (controls) worked in the offices and kitchen of the same factory. All were found to be clinically healthy.