São Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicina
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Muscle strength and functional independence are considered to be determinants of frailty levels among elderly people. The aim here was to compare lower-limb muscle strength (LLMS) with functional independence in relation to sex, age and number of frailty criteria, and to ascertain the influence of these variables on elderly outpatients' independence. ⋯ Elderly individuals with 1 or 2 frailty criteria presented greater independence in all FTSST scores. The subjects with higher LLMS presented better functional independence.
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Prevention of childhood obesity is an international public health priority given the significant impact of obesity on acute and chronic diseases, general health, development and well-being. The international evidence base for strategies that governments, communities and families can implement to prevent obesity, and promote health, has been accumulating but remains unclear. ⋯ We found strong evidence to support beneficial effects of child obesity prevention programmes on BMI, particularly for programmes targeted to children aged six to 12 years. However, given the unexplained heterogeneity and the likelihood of small study bias, these findings must be interpreted cautiously. A broad range of programme components were used in these studies and whilst it is not possible to distinguish which of these components contributed most to the beneficial effects observed, our synthesis indicates the following to be promising policies and strategies: school curriculum that includes healthy eating, physical activity and body image; increased sessions for physical activity and the development of fundamental movement skills throughout the school week; improvements in nutritional quality of the food supply in schools; environments and cultural practices that support children eating healthier foods and being active throughout each day; support for teachers and other staff to implement health promotion strategies and activities (e.g. professional development, capacity building activities); parent support and home activities that encourage children to be more active, eat more nutritious foods and spend less time in screen based activities. However, study and evaluation designs need to be strengthened, and reporting extended to capture process and implementation factors, outcomes in relation to measures of equity, longer term outcomes, potential harms and costs. Childhood obesity prevention research must now move towards identifying how effective intervention components can be embedded within health, education and care systems and achieve long term sustainable impacts.
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Nausea and vomiting are major inconveniences for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Despite standard preventive treatment, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) still occurs in approximately 50% of these patients. In an attempt to optimize this treatment, we evaluated the possible effects of carbamazepine for prevention of CINV. ⋯ Carbamazepine was not effective for prevention of CINV and also had a deleterious side-effect profile in this population.