1,720,996 research outputs found
The European cystic fibrosis society patient registry: a useful tool to improve patient care in CF centres
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Acido folico e oltre: potenziali nuove strategie per la prevenzione
No full textAttualmente non esistotono studi che abbiano dimostrato l’esistenza di effetti collaterali in seguito all’ esposizione a Acido Folico non metabolizzato, mentre sono ampiamente assodati i benefici derivanti dall’assunzione di acido folico prima e durante la gravidanza nella prevenzione delle malformazioni congenite.
Tuttavia, l’evidenza di un potenziale effetto negativo della supplementazione con Acido Folico dovrebbe essere tenuto in considerazione, specialmente nei casi in cui vengono prescritte dosi estremamente alte di Acido Folico (come 4-5 mg/die) per prevenire la ricorrenza di malformazioni congenite .
Ipotizziamo dunque che, in futuro, i limiti dell’acido folico potrebbero essere superati tramite l’uso di un folato naturale, come l’ L-5-methyl-THF, che possa fornire una prevenzione potenzialmente più sicura e efficacie contro le malformazioni congenite
Folic acid and primary prevention of birth defects
No full textBirth defects (BDs) are an important public health problem, due to their overall incidence, occurring in 2-3% of live births in European Union. Neural tube defects (NTDs) are among major NTDs, due to their severity and relatively high incidence; in the meanwhile NTDs are also the most effectively preventable BDs to date. In particular, an adequate folic acid (FA) intake reduces both the occurrence and the recurrence of NTDs; FA is the synthetic form of folates, naturally occurring vitamins in a number of foods, especially vegetables. The daily intake of 0.4 mg of FA should be recommended to all women of childbearing age who plan to become pregnant. The Italian Network for Primary Prevention of BDs through FA Promotion has achieved a significant improvement in FA awareness and use in the periconceptional period. Nevertheless, primary prevention of BDs needs to make further progress; the Italian National Centre for Rare Diseases participates in european sureveillance of congenital anomalies (EUROCAT) Joint Action as coordinator of activities on the effectiveness of BDs prevention. Mandatory food fortification with FA has not been introduced in any European country. The health benefits of FA in reducing the risk of NTDs are undisputed; however mechanistic and animal studies suggest a relationship between high FA intakes and increased cancer promotion, while human studies are still inconsistent and inconclusive. A Working Group organized by the European Food Safety Authority pointed out significant uncertainties about fortification safety and the need for more studies; currently, FA intake from fortified foods and supplements should not exceed 1 mg/day in adults. In conclusion, based on up-to-date scientific evidence, the Italian Network strategy pivots on periconceptional supplementation integrated with promotion of healthy eating habits, support to health education, enhancing the role of women in managing life choices about their health and pregnancy and increasing the scientific knowledge about BDs primary prevention
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Storie di leucemia, storie di resilienza? : uno studio qualitativo basato sulle narrazioni di ex pazienti guariti
No full textIntroduction: in the paediatric age, the experience of leukaemia is considered a traumatic event, following which a surviving strategy is developed (they talk indeed of “cancer survivors”). Young patients’ reactions to leukaemia can be different. From a damage, leukaemia can be transformed by some of them into an opportunity. They activate some resilience strategies, that allow them to positively cope to illness.
Leukaemia illness narrative, besides allowing to understand what consented to the patient to cope to his/her illness, is considered itself a resilience strategy.
Aims: through a qualitative study, based on written illness narratives, we wanted to analyze how leukaemia was remembered and how it impacted on patients’ existence, trying to discover resilience strategies in their illness narratives. More specifically, we analyzed both the roles of family and of health professional staff in supporting the implementation of a resilience process.
Methods: 300 healed patients, more than 18 years old, and that had interrupted the therapy from at least 5 years, were contacted by letter or by e-mail. One hundred and five responded to the invite of narrating their illness experience. The written narratives were analyzed with the Grounded Theory method. Two researchers separately individuated and labeled the concepts outlining from narratives, grouped them in categories and then in themes.
Findings: five themes emerged from the analysis of the illness narratives: (1) memories of illness and the related feelings (fear and anger); (2) changes that followed the illness: in the immediate: body change; in the medium period: some experiences of being excluded by adolescents peers; in the long period: personality building (stronger, more sensitive and “richer”); (3) resilience strategies activated to cope to the illness, aided both by external factors (family, health professional staff) and internal factors (willing of fighting and living); (4) the current illness experience, generally positive, with some fear for relapse; (5) gratitude to the health professional staff.
Many leukemia stories can be intended as resilience stories, in which an opportunity derived from a damage. In these stories a therapeutic alliance among health professionals, families and, moreover, young patients, was discovered.
Conclusions: the written illness narrative has revealed a useful strategy to deeper understand the leukemia experience and to comprehend how it can develop a resilience process
Criptorchidismo ed Ipospadia nella provincia di Ragusa: uno studio epidemiologico
No full textInserito nella rubrica del Bollettino Epidemiologico Nazional
Cryptorchidism and hypospadias in the Sicilian district of Ragusa and the use of pesticides
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