African health sciences
-
African health sciences · Jun 2013
Case Reports Historical ArticleNodding syndrome: origins and natural history of a longstanding epileptic disorder in sub-Saharan Africa.
Repetitive involuntary head nodding was first reported in the 1960s in the Wapogoro tribe of Tanzania. ⋯ Historical accounts of head nodding (amesinzia kichwa, Swahili) among the Wapogoro tribe fit the August 2012 World Health Organization (WHO) case definition of probable Nodding Syndrome. Reported to have existed in this population for at least 80 years, Nodding Syndrome is a progressive seizure disorder that leads to generalized convulsions (kifafa), brain damage and death.
-
African health sciences · Jun 2013
The outcome of non-carbapenem-based empirical antibacterial therapy and VRE colonisation in patients with hematological malignancies.
Febrile neutropenia (FN) is generally a complication of cancer chemotherapy. ⋯ Our results suggest that initiating of non-carbapenem based therapy does not provide high response rates in the treatment of febrile neutropenia attacks. Furthermore, non-carbapenem-based empirical therapy provides benefit in regard to cost-effectiveness and antimicrobial stewardship when local antibiotic resistance patterns of gram-negative bacteria are considered. Patients who are colonized with VRE are more likely to develop bacteremia with VRE strains as a result of invasive procedures and severe damage of mucosal barriers observed in this group of patients.
-
African health sciences · Mar 2013
Physical activity and health promotion strategies among physiotherapists in Rwanda.
Physical inactivity has become a global health concern and is among the 10 leading causes of death and disability. Physiotherapists are in a position to combat inactivity and effectively promote physical activity to their clients. ⋯ Although physiotherapists experience barriers to promoting physical activity, they have good physical activity promoting practices.
-
African health sciences · Mar 2013
Psychological distress among adults admitted to medical and surgical wards of a Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda.
Physical illness is commonly associated with psychological distress that may be a direct effect of the illness or an adjustment in coping with the physical illness or its treatment. Little is known about psychological distress of patients on general wards in developing countries. ⋯ There is a high level of psychological distress among the physically ill and it is often unrecognized and untreated.
-
African health sciences · Mar 2013
Seasonal disease activity and serum vitamin D levels in rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis.
Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that plays essential roles in calcium and phosphorus metabolism, bone formation and mineralization homeostasis, also has a role in the maintenance of immune-homeostasis. ⋯ These results suggest that vitamin D does not have an important role in the seasonal disease activity of these diseases and that seasonal changes in disease activity may play an important role in evaluating Ankylosing Spondylitis patients rather than Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis patients and should be taken into account when examining these patients. These conclusions need to be validated in multicenter studies with high number of patients.