The Medical journal of Australia
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The population undergoing surgery is aging and this trend will continue for many decades to come. Better anaesthetic and surgical techniques are lowering the risk-benefit ratio for surgery, making it an increasingly attractive treatment option. Good preoperative assessment and postoperative management form an integral part of strategies to minimise morbidity and mortality while maximising hospital efficiency.
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Comparative Study
Early-onset group B streptococcal infections in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal infants. Australasian Study Group for Neonatal Infections.
To survey early-onset neonatal infections in Australian and New Zealand neonatal units and to compare the incidence of group B streptococcal (GBS) sepsis among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal babies. ⋯ Early-onset GBS sepsis is more than three times as common in Aboriginal babies delivered in hospital than in non-Aboriginal babies. Four of seven Australian maternity hospitals surveyed had no firm policy for reducing the incidence of early-onset GBS sepsis. All should urgently consider such a policy.
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Several lines of evidence suggest that neurotoxic beta A4 amyloid deposits are of prime importance in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Epidemiologically determined risk factors such as Down's syndrome, head injury and apoE allelic status can be explained on the basis of this hypothesis. However, there are difficulties with the hypothesis--amyloid accumulation may be necessary, but is not sufficient to produce the neuronal damage seen in Alzheimer's disease. The association between aluminum exposure and Alzheimer's disease remains unproven and is considered to be increasingly peripheral to recent developments in our understanding of the disease.