Home  About us  Contact
 

High Risk Area (high + risk_area)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences50%

Selected Abstracts

Etiology and prevention of gastric cancer: a population study in a high risk area of China

JOURNAL OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES, Issue 4 2005
Wei Cheng YOU
A series of studies has been carried out in Linqu County, Shandong Province, China, a high-risk area for gastric cancer, to investigate the risk factors associated with gastric cancer, precancerous lesions and the prevention of gastric cancer. Our studies showed that sour pancakes (a popular local food), salted foods, cigarette smoking, and family history of gastric cancer were risk factors, whereas fresh vegetables, and intake of vitamin C and calcium were inversely associated with the risk of gastric cancer. The prevalence of chronic atrophic gastritis was approximately 20% in an adult population in Linqu County, intestinal metaplasia was approximately 50%, and dysplasia was approximately 20%. A follow-up study showed that the relative risk of developing gastric cancer increased with the severity of gastric lesions, and was associated with dietary factors, cigarette smoking and H. pylori infection in this population. The findings strongly support the idea that gastric cancer is primarily determined by environmental factors and develops in a multistep progression of precancerous lesions. [source]

Pregnancy testing prior to sterilisation

BJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 11 2000
Asha Kasliwal Specialist Registrar
Objective To determine the incidence of positive pregnancy test on the day of laparoscopic sterilisation. Design Prospective longitudinal observational study. Setting Gynaecology unit in a UK teaching hospital. Sample Between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 1998, eight hundred and two consecutive women were admitted for laparoscopic sterilisation after assessment in the gynaecology clinic. On the day of planned surgery, all women had a pregnancy test performed on a urine sample taken that morning following overnight fasting, immediately prior to operation. Main outcome measures A positive pregnancy test on the day of planned surgery. Results Of 802 women tested, 21 (2.6%) were pregnant. A careful medical history taken before surgery revealed evidence of amenorrhoea and menstrual irregularity in 17 of the pregnant women. Of the 21 pregnant women, 11 underwent termination of pregnancy, six continued the pregnancy, four had a miscarriage and one had an ectopic pregnancy. Conclusion The routine practice of pregnancy testing on the day of laparoscopic sterilisation introduced in our hospital should continue to be part of a thorough clinical assessment before surgery. This may help to reduce the considerable level of existing litigation in a high risk area of gynaecological practice. [source]

Planning to Reduce Risk: The Wildfire Management Overlay in Victoria, Australia

GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009
RACHEL HUGHES
Abstract In a world where climate change is a ,given', the concepts of vulnerability, resilience and risk are now pivotal in public policy debates in many countries. Within this context, planning controls are designed to facilitate safe, sustainable and prosperous communities. In line with March's (2007, 11) observation that ,one important "reason to plan" is the reduction of risk', Victoria's Wildfire Management Overlay (WMO) was developed with the aim of mitigating wildfire risk through the identification of high risk areas and ensuring that minimum fire protection measures are implemented. The need for such an Overlay is becoming increasingly apparent as climate change contributes to the growing frequency and intensity of bushfires in Australia. Empirical research has found that, by following WMO prescriptions, the risk of a dwelling igniting from direct flame or radiant heat generated in a one in 50-year fire event can be greatly minimised. Yet not all local Councils in Victoria have built the WMO into their land use planning processes and schemes. Barriers to adoption include: lack of political will, a distrust of ,over-regulation', lack of training and mentoring of planning staff, and potential conflicts with vegetation conservation objectives. [source]

Using Penalized Splines to Model Age- and Season-of-Birth-Dependent Effects of Childhood Mortality Risk Factors in Rural Burkina Faso

BIOMETRICAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009
Heiko Becher
Abstract Several previous studies have identified risk factors for childhood mortality in high risk areas, such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Among these are lifestyle factors related for example to nutrition or sanitation. Other factors are related to social class, ethnicity and poverty in general. Few studies have investigated a dependence of these factors by age and season of birth which is the focus in this study. We perform a survival analysis of 9121 children born between 1998 and 2001 in a rural area of western Burkina Faso. The whole population is under demographic surveillance since 1993. All cause mortality is used as the endpoint and follow-up information until the age of five years is available. Recently developed spline regression methods are used for the analysis. Ethnic group, religion, age of mother, twin status, sex, and distance to next health center are used as covariates all of which having a clear effect on survival in standard Cox regression analysis. With penalized spline regression, a more detailed risk pattern is observed. Ethnicity is more related to death at early age, as well as age of mother. The effect of the risk factors considered also appear to be related with season of birth (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]