BCG vaccination in the first year of life protects children of Indian subcontinent ethnic origin against tuberculosis in England.
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STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess the protection conferred by BCG given during the first year of life against tuberculosis among children of Asian ethnic origin born in England. DESIGN: This was a matched case-control study. SETTING: Cases were selected from notifications of tuberculosis and controls were selected from child health or school health records in 14 English health districts. PARTICIPANTS: 111 cases of childhood tuberculosis with Asian names were selected. For each case there were five controls with Asian names, matched for age, sex and district of birth. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Child health or school health records were searched to determine the proportions of cases and controls who had been vaccinated with BCG. Overall, BCG vaccination given in the first year of life was estimated to confer 49% protection against tuberculosis with 95% confidence interval 14-62%. CONCLUSIONS: BCG vaccination in infancy was found to be associated with a lower protective efficacy than has been found for the secondary school age BCG programme (80%) but nevertheless the protection is substantial and, in the United Kingdom, BCG vaccination of infants considered to be at relatively higher risk of tuberculosis is likely to reduce the incidence of childhood tuberculosis. (+info)
Cancer epidemiology and control in North-Western and Central Asia - past, present and future.
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The North-Western and Central region of Asia stretches from Turkey through Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, to Iran and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadjikistan and Afghanistan. These countries in the main share Turkic, Iranian or Caucasus ethnicity and culture and can be considered as a regional entity for cooperation in control of cancer. The present review of cancer registry and other epidemiological data was undertaken to provide an evidence base for cancer control programs and pointers to possible research collaboration. The most prevalent cancer site in males is the lung in the Western part of the region and the stomach in most of Iran and Central Asia, followed by the oesophagus in the latter two. Bladder cancer is comparatively frequent throughout. In females breast cancer is number one, generally followed by gastric, oesophageal or cervical lesions. However, there are interesting differences between countries or regions, particularly regarding the stomach. General tendencies for increase in adenocarcinomas but decrease in squamous cell carcinomas and gastric cancer point to change in environmental influence over time. Variation in risk factors depends to some extent on the level of economic development but overall the countries of the region face similar challenges in achieving effective cancer control, underlying the necessity for cooperation. (+info)
Cancer epidemiology in South-West Asia - past, present and future.
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South-West Asia, stretching from Lebanon and Syria in the north, through to Yemen in the south and Iraq in the east, is the home of more than 250 million people. Cancer is already a major problem and the markedly increasing rates for diabetes suggest that the burden of adenocarcinomas will only become heavier over time, especially with increasing obesity and aging of what are now still youthful populations. The age-distributions of the affected patients in fact might also indicate cohort effects in many cases. There are a number of active registries in the region and population-based data are now available for a considerable number of countries. Scientists from the region are also contributing to epidemiological research into the causes of cancer and how to develop effective control programs. The present review covers the relevant PubMed literature and cancer incidence data from various sources, highlighting similarities and variation in the different cancer types, with attempts to explain disparities with reference to environmental factors. In males, the most prevalent cancers vary, with lung urinary bladder or liver in first place, while for females throughout the region breast cancer is the major problem. In both sexes, non-Hodgkins lymphomas and leukemias are relatively prevalent, along with lung in males and thyroid in certain female populations. Coordination of activities within the Arab world, as well as Israel, could bring major benefits to cancer control in the eastern Mediterranean region. (+info)
Self-reported tobacco smoking practices among medical students and their perceptions towards training about tobacco smoking in medical curricula: A cross-sectional, questionnaire survey in Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
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Do South Asian women with PCOS have poorer health-related quality of life than Caucasian women with PCOS? A comparative cross-sectional study.
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Historical perspectives of oral biology: a series.
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From antiquity, individuals, tribes, and cultures have sought the abilities of singular individuals to try to heal them or to help them to endure the onslaughts of disease. For thousands of years before recorded history, these services were provided by the medicine man or shaman of the tribe, whose secret treatments were passed from generation to generation by the apprenticeship methods of teaching. For the most part, their therapies were at best palliative and their effects were placebo and psychological in nature. Reliable written records of healing practices began with the ancient Greek civilization about 400 years before Christ. The written recording of rational therapies and practices established the "physician" as one of the premier occupations (or "professions") of ancient Greek society. About 160 years after Christ, the Greek physician Galen began the practice of examining the post-mortem anatomy of various animals and extrapolating his findings in an attempt to understand the structure of the human body. This was the first well-recorded and documented effort in what we, today, would term "biomedical research". While Galen's efforts and written production were massive, his impact on medical practices beyond Greece was minimal due, at least partially, to the lack of mass printing and distribution methods. Ironically, at almost the same time that Galen's complete works were published, Andreas Vesalius of Brussels published the most startling and exquisite book in the history of medicine. Vesalius' De Humani Corporporis Fabrica (1543)2 was a lavish and beautiful exposition of human anatomy. This event, for all intents and purposes, formalized the separation of the science of medicine from its art. We suggest that this event established the division of medicine into two historical streams--the "healers" and the "scientists" (or Streams "H" and "S"). However, even to the present, the biomedical scientists remain dependent on the established institutions of the healers for their very existence and continuity. Very early the dental healers developed as a distinctly separate branch of the H Stream, due to the efficacy and directness of the therapy of tooth extraction and the need for mechanical aptitude for its execution. This was exemplified in the long and successful history of the barber-surgeons, or their earlier equivalents, as therapists in every society on Earth, including the U.S., up to nearly the turn of the 20th century.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) (+info)
Social and ecological synergy: local rulemaking, forest livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation.
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