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What remaining questions regarding Helicobacter pylori and associated diseases should be addressed by future research? View from Europe.

A variety of questions regarding Helicobacter pylori need to be addressed by future research. Further investigations are needed on the relationship between H. pylori and gastric cancer. In particular, the mechanism of the interaction between H. pylori infection and host genetic factors and dietary factors that lead to the cancer need to be unraveled. Also, the reversibility of cancer-associated abnormalities (e.g., hypochlorhydria, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia) by eradication of H. pylori needs to be determined. Noninvasive means of identifying H. pylori-positive subjects at high risk of developing gastric cancer are required for such subjects to be targeted for eradication therapy. Further studies are also required on the interactions between H. pylori and proton pump inhibitor therapy that might predispose to cancer. There is considerable interest in the possibility of noninvasive H. pylori testing replacing endoscopy in determining management of nonelderly patients with uncomplicated dyspepsia unassociated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Randomized studies comparing endoscopy vs. noninvasive H. pylori testing in this situation are required with comprehensive outcome measures. Improvement in eradication therapy is required and will depend on the development of more effective and specific antibiotics and therapeutic vaccines. Wide-scale elimination of the infection will depend on preventing its spread from person to person. Achieving this will require further knowledge of its mode of transmission, particularly in childhood, and the development of prophylactic vaccines. Further studies are required to define the role of H. pylori infection in other diseases, including predisposition to enteric infection in the developing world as a result of H. pylori-induced chronic hypochlorhydria, nonulcer dyspepsia, pernicious anemia, atherosclerosis, and NSAID-related ulcer disease. Finally, we need to know whether H. pylori infection may be beneficial in certain circumstances and whether eradicating the infection may be disadvantageous to some subjects.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Voltage-addressable on/off microvalves for high-pressure microchip separations.

We present a microchip-based, voltage-addressable on/off valve architecture that is fundamentally consistent with the pressures and solvents employed for high-pressure liquid chromatography. Laser photopatterning of polymer monoliths inside glass microchannels is used to fabricate mobile fluid control elements, which are opened and closed by electrokinetic pressures. The glass substrates and crosslinked polymer monoliths operate in water-acetonitrile mixtures and have been shown to hold off pressures as high as 350 bar (5000 p.s.i.). Open/closed flow ratios of 10(4) to 10(6) have been demonstrated over the pressure range 1.5-70 bar (20-1000 p.s.i.), and the pressure-leak relationship shows the potential for valving control of flow through packed or monolithic chromatography columns. We expect that this valve platform will enable multiplexing of multiple chromatographic separations on single microchips.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗

Addressing the need for education: curriculum development for nurses about intellectual and developmental disabilities.

People with disabilities and national and international agencies are voicing their views, forcing health care providers to look at how people with disabilities are treated in the health care system and to find ways to help them achieve equal access to quality care. Education about nursing care of patients with I/DD is limited in basic nursing education programs and for nurses who are in practice. A number of developmental disabilities nursing projects are addressing this need with curriculum development that has validated the need for education and has begun testing the various methods of instruction. As the curriculum is disseminated in written or Internet-accessible formats, nurses in education and practice will be able to find resources that target a specific topic area or a set of comprehensive instructions to acquire a better understanding of the comprehensive needs of people with I/DD and better ways to provide care. There is a need for a greater integration of curriculum about nursing care of people with developmental disabilities into basic nursing education at all levels and further evaluation of the impact of this curriculum on nursing care for people with I/DD. The hope is that these efforts can improve the education of nurses and other health care providers for the direct benefit of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Adolescent↗

Addressing nicotine addiction in women. Role of the midwife.

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other premature deaths among women in the United States. Tobacco use accounts for 10% of perinatal mortality and is 100% preventable. Smoking is now more common among adolescent girls than among boys. Women's health care providers are in an excellent position to intervene in this growing epidemic. This article addresses the health consequences of smoking as well as the social, economic, and emotional toll of cigarette smoking on the woman and her family. The reasons women begin and continue smoking in spite of known risks are examined. The role of the midwife in treating nicotine addiction in women throughout the life span is examined. A theoretical model based on the woman's stage of change is presented as a framework for intervention. Behavioral and pharmacologic treatment recommendations are included. Opportunities for professional activities for community education and advocacy for a tobacco-free society are presented.

Coronary Disease↗

Are physicians equipped to address the obesity epidemic? Knowledge and attitudes of internal medicine residents.

BACKGROUND: To analyze whether internists are suited for their role in treating the growing numbers of obese patients, we surveyed residents about their knowledge and attitudes regarding obesity. Previous assessments have not analyzed familiarity with obesity measurement tools or the correlation between knowledge and attitudes. METHODS: We administered a survey to 87 internal medicine residents in two urban, university-based residency programs. RESULTS: Almost all respondents understood the medical consequences of obesity, but 60% did not know the minimum BMI for diagnosing obesity, 69% did not recognize waist circumference as a reasonable measure of obesity, and 39% incorrectly reported their own BMI. Although nearly all respondents agreed that treating obesity was important, only 30% reported treatment success. Forty-four percent felt qualified to treat obese patients, and 31% reported treatment to be futile. Knowledge and attitudes were not correlated. Rasch analysis of knowledge and attitude subscales showed satisfactory model fit and item reliability of at least 0.96. CONCLUSIONS: Despite solid knowledge of the comorbid conditions associated with obesity, residents have a poor grasp of the tools necessary to identify obesity. They also have negative opinions about their skills for treating obese patients. Residency training not only must improve knowledge of obesity measurement tools but also must address physicians' negative attitudes toward obesity treatment.

Adult↗

Changing the way we address severe malnutrition during famine.

This year, yet again, saw widespread food insecurity and famine across the horn of Africa. Again, humanitarian agencies set up operations to implement various relief programmes. Nutritional interventions included general ration distribution to the whole of an affected population; blanket supplementary feeding to all members of an identified risk group; and targeted dry supplementary feeding centres for moderately malnourished and therapeutic feeding centres for the severely malnourished. As is usual in emergencies, many of the therapeutic feeding centres were hard to set up and did not achieve an adequate coverage of all the severely malnourished. This combination of delays and low coverage meant that many therapeutic feeding centres achieved little overall impact on mortality. I believe that the present focus on therapeutic feeding centres as the sole mode of treating severely malnourished people during famine is inappropriate and often counter-productive. A new concept of community-based therapeutic care is necessary to complement therapeutic feeding centres' interventions if famine relief programmes are to address the plight of the severely malnourished in an efficient and effective manner. During an emergency, the community-based therapeutic care approach could quickly provide good coverage and appropriate treatment for large numbers of severely malnourished people. The principles behind community-based therapeutic care are, however, developmental, empowering communities to cope more effectively with crisis and with transition back to normality. This is very different to the therapeutic feeding centres' approach that disempowers communities, requires very large amounts of external staff and resources, and undermines the infrastructure. Although emergency community-based therapeutic care programmes could be large-scale and implemented quickly, they could also evolve into developmental Hearth model nutritional programmes without changing their conceptual basis. Conversely, Hearth programmes, although largely sustainable, could in times of crisis quickly scale-up into rapid effective emergency interventions. Creating such a continuum between emergency and developmental approaches has long been a holy grail of humanitarianism.

Africa↗

Detection of plasmids using DNA and RNA probes and the light-addressable potentiometric sensor.

Intact plasmids, plasmid fragments, and cDNA were detected using two DNA or RNA probes of varying lengths, each containing only biotin or fluorescein molecules. The probes were hybridized with the target plasmid/cDNA, bound with streptavidin, captured on nitrocellulose membranes, and detected using the urease-conjugate of an anti-fluorescein antibody via the light-addressable potentiometric sensor. The output of the silicon-chip sensor is in the form of rate, microV/s, and is directly proportional to the quantity of hybridized DNA captured on the membrane. Use of the larger probes (for beta-actin cDNA target) results in detection of intact plasmid at the level of approximately 106 target molecules; complementary DNA could be detected at similar levels. When the smaller probes are utilized (pGEM or pBSActB targets), plasmid fragmented targets could be detected only at levels 200 times greater than those observed when using the larger RNA probes.

Biotin↗

From health technology assessment to research on the organisation and delivery of health services: addressing the balance.

This paper argues that the focus of research to improve health services has, until recently, been on health technology assessment. The authors make the case for a greater emphasis on research on how health services are managed, organised and delivered, and refer to initiatives in a number of countries which are seeking to address this balance. The way two such initiatives in England and Canada have set priorities for this type of research, involving a wide range of stakeholders is described. The authors argue that a wide range of disciplines needs to be applied to research on the organisation and delivery of health services. Important theoretical differences between and within disciplines, and their implications for research methods, are discussed. An example of an issue in the delivery of organisation of health services (how best to deliver orthopaedic care) is used to illustrate how a number of different disciplines can be applied. The challenge for researchers from these disciplines is to see how far they can work together to carry out research in this important field. The challenge for this research is that the findings are valued and used by health service professionals, managers and users.

Canada↗

The need for nursing and midwifery programmes of education to address the health care needs of minority ethnic groups.

The article reviews some of the more influential literature of the past decade on the health needs of ethnic groups, in an effort to identify what is being done by nursing and midwifery education to address the health care needs of these groups and to prepare practitioners who are able to respond to these needs. The article suggests that despite the relative lack of progress in this field of health care and education, there still exists much confusion, disagreement and lack of clarity around many issues, such as the identification of relevant content, the integration of this content into the curriculum and more importantly the delivery of this content. The literature seems to point to a lack of cultural knowledge, particularly for certain ethnic groups, which needs to be rectified. But even when knowledge is available, the evidence clearly indicates that both educators and practitioners are failing to translate this into effective and culturally sensitive care. The article suggests that nursing and midwifery education could and should play an important role in the development and dissemination of culturally sensitive care.

Curriculum↗

Addressing government and market failures with payment incentives: Hospital reimbursement reform in Hainan, China.

This paper examines the role of provider payment policy as an instrument for addressing government and market failures and controlling costs in the health sector, particularly in developing countries. We empirically evaluate the impact of provider payment reform in Hainan province, China, on expenditures for different categories of services that had been subject to distorted prices under fee-for-service. Using a pre-post study design with a control group, we analyze two years of claims data to assess the impact of a January 1997 change to prospective payment for a sub-sample of the hospitals. This difference-in-difference empirical strategy allows us to isolate the supply-side payment reform effects from demand-side policy interventions. We find that prepayment is associated with a slower increase in spending on expensive drugs and high technology services, compared to fee-for-service. The fact that payment reform is associated with reduced growth in spending on the most expensive drugs is particularly encouraging, given that drugs account for a remarkably high percentage of both the level and growth of aggregate health expenditure in China. Payment reform can be an effective policy instrument for correcting market failures and adverse side effects of government health sector interventions (such as distorted prices to assure access to basic services), both of which can lead to excessive health care expenditure growth. Such health spending growth can have a particularly high opportunity cost for developing countries.

China↗

Addressing social and cultural disparities in tobacco use.

Disparities in smoking as a function of ethnicity exist, but part of that disparity appears to be mediated by education level. Smoking prevalence differences by ethnicity disappear or decrease substantially when controlling for education level. Nonetheless, ethnicity remains an important consideration when striving to understand the mechanisms associated with smoking, as well as in the development of smoking prevention and treatment programs. In this paper, the complex interrelationships among ethnicity, social class, and smoking are discussed in brief, and a framework for developing a systematic means of addressing social disparities in tobacco use is described.

Adolescent↗

Randomized trial addressing risk features and time factors of surgery plus radiotherapy in advanced head-and-neck cancer.

PURPOSE: A multi-institutional, prospective, randomized trial was undertaken in patients with advanced head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma to address (1) the validity of using pathologic risk features, established from a previous study, to determine the need for, and dose of, postoperative radiotherapy (PORT); (2) the impact of accelerating PORT using a concomitant boost schedule; and (3) the importance of the overall combined treatment duration on the treatment outcome. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Of 288 consecutive patients with advanced disease registered preoperatively, 213 fulfilled the trial criteria and went on to receive therapy predicated on a set of pathologic risk features: no PORT for the low-risk group (n = 31); 57.6 Gy during 6.5 weeks for the intermediate-risk group (n = 31); and, by random assignment, 63 Gy during 5 weeks (n = 76) or 7 weeks (n = 75) for the high-risk group. Patients were irradiated with standard techniques appropriate to the site of disease and likely areas of spread. The study end points were locoregional control (LRC), survival, and morbidity. RESULTS: Patients with low or intermediate risks had significantly higher LRC and survival rates than those with high-risk features (p = 0.003 and p = 0.0001, respectively), despite receiving no PORT or lower dose PORT, respectively. For high-risk patients, a trend toward higher LRC and survival rates was noted when PORT was delivered in 5 rather than 7 weeks. A prolonged interval between surgery and PORT in the 7-week schedule was associated with significantly lower LRC (p = 0.03) and survival (p = 0.01) rates. Consequently, the cumulative duration of combined therapy had a significant impact on the LRC (p = 0.005) and survival (p = 0.03) rates. A 2-week reduction in the PORT duration by using the concomitant boost technique did not increase the late treatment toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: This Phase III trial established the power of risk assessment using pathologic features in determining the need for, and dose of, PORT in patients with advanced head-and-neck squamous cell cancer in a prospective, multi-institutional setting. It also revealed the impact of the overall treatment time in the combination of surgery and PORT on the outcome in high-risk patients and showed that PORT acceleration without a reduction in dose by a concomitant boost regimen did not increase the late complication rate. These findings emphasize the importance of coordinated interdisciplinary care in the delivery of combined surgery and RT.

Adult↗

Strategies for effectively addressing women's concerns about the menopause and HRT.

HRT has many benefits for postmenopausal women yet acceptance and compliance with therapy is low. This paper sets out some of the main concerns women have regarding HRT and highlights ways that physicians can effectively deal with these concerns. Physicians dealing with women concerned about starting or continuing HRT should conduct patient-centered consultations employing good counseling skills. Dealing effectively with women's concerns means addressing their attitude to HRT, listening to the patients' fears in an understanding and non-dismissive way, and focusing on good communication. Common concerns relating to unwanted effects such as bleeding, fear of cancer, weight gain, thrombosis, general systemic effects, and the use of medical intervention generally, can be dealt with if the physician follows the principles for conducting a patient-centered interview. When it comes to decisions about starting and continuing on HRT, it is important that women are treated with understanding, their concerns are taken seriously, and they are given time to air their views and ask questions. Tailoring treatments to individual patients can overcome many of the problems women have with HRT, however it is important that the decision to start HRT, and the most suitable regimen and delivery system to use, be decided in partnership with the patient. This should result in the patient having a better understanding of HRT, and may improve compliance.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Addressing the myths of cervical spine injury management.

Every year in the United States about 5,000 people sustain a cervical spinal cord injury. Vastly greater numbers present to hospitals after motor vehicle crashes and falls with potential cervical spine injuries (CSI) for evaluation. This group of patients requires very careful management while undergoing evaluation for potential CSI to minimize the potential for spinal cord injury. It is, therefore, incumbent on everyone caring for these patients to distinguish between fact and fiction in regard to CSI management. This article addresses the following areas of controversy: CSI is a rare injury; patients with cranial and facial injuries are at increased risk for CSI; everyone with a significant mechanism of injury needs radiological clearance of their cervical spine; a normal cross-table lateral view radiograph excludes significant CSI; oral intubation of patients with CSI is not safe; a semi-rigid collar prevents movement of the cervical spine; and the evaluation of the cervical spine needs to begin in the resuscitation room in every patient.

Algorithms↗

The challenge of effectively addressing tobacco control within a health promoting NHS Trust.

As part of its participation in the international network of health promoting hospitals (HPH), South Tyneside Health Care NHS Trust has initiated a series of sub-projects that are informed by the contemporary evidence-base and the principles of the HPH programme. This paper concerns the first of these sub-projects, whose aim is to establish an equitable and effective Trust-wide system to address smoking in South Tyneside. The ambition is to build a framework for, and foster a culture within which, individuals will be treated considerately, whilst managing "unhealthy" behaviour in such a way as to have a long-term positive impact within the organisation and the surrounding community. This paper will briefly outline the key activities underway, and the manner in which it is hoped this approach to undertaking a HPH sub-project will contribute to sustainable local health improvement, while also supporting the Trust's broader transformation into a truly health promoting organisation.

Community Health Planning↗

Addressing trauma in substance abuse treatment with American Indian adolescents.

Substance abuse among American Indian adolescents is a serious problem that frequently continues into adulthood. Therefore, it is important to investigate all potential means of prevention and treatment of substance abuse that might improve the physical and psychological health it undermines. This paper examines the prevalence of substance abuse and its potential relationships with physical/emotional trauma or loss that occurs in American Indian adolescents' lives. The possible benefits of addressing trauma and posttraumatic stress as means of enhancing treatment is explored. An example of residential treatment that involved a focus on trauma and loss is included.

Adolescent↗

Legislation and regulations addressing workplace violence in the United States and British Columbia.

OVERVIEW: For as long as workers have had contact with customers, coworkers, the public, and others, they have faced risk of assault. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, a number of highly publicized incidents occurred that involved multiple fatalities, and reliable statistics showed homicide to be a major cause of worker deaths. As a result, violence in the workplace became a subject of concern among the public and policymakers. This article reviews a number of legislative and regulatory efforts from the past decade that were designed to prevent violence against employees. Some states and localities have enacted legislation to address specific types of violence in the workplace, such as robbery-related violence, and violence against health care workers and taxi drivers. In addition, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as a number of state OSHA programs, has attempted to reduce the risk of assault to workers through new and existing statutes and administrative regulations. To provide a contrast with developments in the United States, the author will also discuss requirements for prevention of assault in the workplace in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

British Columbia↗