C O N T E
N T S
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JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
ISSN:
1582-5388
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Public health Nitrate toxicity and
drinking water standards – a review B.C. Kross Abstract. The current US EPA maximum
contaminant level (MCL) for public drinking water supplies and the health advisory
level (HAL) for other
private water supplies is 10 mg/L, expressed as NO3-N.
Unlike other drinking water standards, the nitrate standard
has no safety factor,
which typically is about a 10-fold safety factor to account for differences in human susceptibility. Guidance, action, or advisory levels for nitrate in drinking water are lower in several countries, including Germany (4.4 mg/L), South
Africa (4.4 mg/L), and Denmark
(5.6 mg/L). Clearly health
and regulatory officials in other countries believe that the current
WHO and USA drinking water standard for nitrate is not adequate to protect their
most susceptible population from methemoglobinemia. In addition to acute methemoglobinemia, other potential health effects of nitrate exposure in drinking water include cancer, disruption
of thyroid function, birth defects, and developmental disorders in children. Is the current
drinking water standard
in the US and World Health Organization for nitrate adequate?
I think not! Clearly the most
susceptible human population (infants under four months
of age with existing diarrhea conditions) is not adequately protected from methemoglobinemia. In addition,
recent studies suggest other possible linkages between nitrate in drinking water and adverse health consequences for adults. Particularly troublesome is the finding
of a positive association
between nitrate in drinking
water (at levels below the USA drinking water standard) and bladder cancer and ovarian
cancer in a large cohort of women
in Iowa, USA. Given this framework, the regulatory authorities should establish a safety factor of two, which would
reduce the current MCL and HAL for nitrate to 5.0 mg/L
NO3-N. This regulatory
mandate would encourage a
prudent public health strategy
of limiting human nitrate
exposure. Key words: nitrate,
drinking water, safety factor, methemoglobinemia Ü FULL TEXT.PDF Adverse health effects associated with methemoglobinemia in children Gabriela Mancaş, MarietaVasilov, Gabriela Albu Abstract. In
order to point out some
health effects associated with methemoglobinemia in children, we investigated a battery of oxidative and
antioxidant defence bioindicators
(methemoglobin, reduced glutathione, lipid peroxides and glutathione peroxidase) in 336 children aged 0-3 years living in eight rural localities within three districts, confirmed as high risk territories
for nitrate exposure in drinking
water. The results showed significant increased lipid peroxides levels in the children exposed to nitrates vs. unexposed group, as a possible early reversible effect of exposure. The investigation also highlighted significant differences of the biochemical changes pattern in 0-3 year aged children at two levels
(moderate and high) of
nitrate concentrations in drinking
water. Key words: epidemiological
study, bioindicators, methemoglobin, lipid peroxides, glutathione Ü FULL TEXT.PDF Elena Lungu, Iliana
Palamaru, Lidia Rusu Abstract. The
present study is constituent part of a program which
have started in 1997, aiming to assess
the prevalence of physical, metabolic and behavioural risk factors related to primary hypertension
in Iasi city. This cross-sectional survey was conducted
in a primary care unit in Iasi
city during 01.01 –
31.12.2001. The mean age of investigated persons was 58.38 ± 15.12 y for
the Ist hypertension
grade of severity, 64.12 ± 7.66 y for the IInd hypertension grade of severity,
and 64.64 ± 9.73 y for the
IIIrd grade of severity.
No hypertension of IVth
grade of severity (according
to the Joint National Committee classification) was found in this catchments area. Body mass
index (BMI) had average values between 26.05 ± 3.87
kg/m2 and 29.51 ± 5.82 kg/m2,
indicating a moderate risk
for cardiovascular disease. Hypertension
was present in patients’ family history in 41.93% in mothers and 13.97% in fathers, most of the patients
were never smokers (93.46%). More than 24%
of patients had a sedentary lifestyle. The total HDL-cholesterol ratio indicates a risk of coronary event, in
12.25% of male and 11.25%
of female.
Key
words: primary hypertensions, body mass index, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, cardiovascular disease,
coronary event, family history
Ü FULL
TEXT.PDF
Cardiovascular risk assessment in elderly patients Ioana Dana Alexa, Gina
Constantinescu, Larisa Panaghiu, G. Ungureanu Abstract. The aim of study was the
investigation of particularities
of the cardiovascular risk
factors in elderly compared with middle-aged patients. The subjects were divided into two groups:
group A consisting of 61 patients aged ³ 65 years old and group
B consisting of 58 patients
aged between 50 and 64 years old. The subjects
were admitted in our Department for the following cardiovascular diseases: angina, miocardial infarction, hypertension, and heart failure.
Patients diagnosed with arrhythmias, different types of
atrioventricular blocks or valvular diseases have been excluded. The cardiovascular risk factors studied were: obesity, dyslipidemia (characterized by a high total/HDL cholesterol ratio), isolated systolic hypertension, diabetes, sinus tachycardia (heart rate > 80
beats/min at rest) and smoking. A detailed questionnaire have been administered
at hospital admission, followed by clinical and
laboratory investigations.
After one year of specific treatment, patient’s status have been reevaluated. The spectrum of cardiovascular risk factors in elderly is different
from middle-aged patients. So in elderly group predominate basic synusal tachycardia, diabetes and isolated systolic hypertension and for middle aged patients dislipidemia and smoking were lieder factors of risk. Key words: cardiovascular risk factors, elderly, association of risk factors Ü FULL TEXT.PDF
Preterm birth – new
insights on an old problem Iolanda Elena Blidaru, Maria Stamatin Abstract. Preterm labor is the final common pathway after
several potential insults to the feto-maternal
unit. As a common cause, intrauterine infections (both clinically evident and
subclinical) are associated with increased proinflammatory cytokine concentrations in the amniotic
fluid and the gestational tissues. This fact represents the trigger for “the
intrauterine inflammatory response syndrome” as an abnormal maternal immune
response. Key words: preterm
birth, preterm labor, maternal immune response, cytokines Ü FULL TEXT.PDF
Maternal biomineral status and newborn data Victoria Papadopol, Otilia Damian, Iliana Palamaru, Cristina Adam,
Nicoleta Florescu, Doina Dămăceanu Abstract. The
study aimed to investigate some bioelement levels of pregnant women
as well as the relationship of these levels with the newborn data. The
studied group consisted of 211 fullterm pregnant
women who were hospitalized for delivery in “Cuza –Vodă” Maternity from Key words: pregnancy, iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, newborn data Ü FULL
TEXT.PDF Dermatoglyphic indicators of illness risk for endogamous populations Ana Ţarcă Abstract. The results of a study of digital-palmar Dermatoglyphics
from a pathological
perspective on a sample
of 600 subjects (300 men and 300 women), coming from three
endogamous Moldavian villages, with a predominantly catholic population, have been assessed. More than 75% of the persons under investigation were bearers of dermatoglyphic anomalies with serious medical implications. Their frequency in the studied populations
draws strikingly close to the
values that we have found
for some subjects with different congenital and hereditary illnesses in Key words: dermatoglyphics,
endogamy, dermatoglyphic anomalies Ü FULL TEXT.PDF
Occupational medicine Internal doses as function
of aerosol size for the reference worker inhaling radon daughters
V.Tomulescu Abstract. The paper presents an assessment of internal doses received by workers in Uranium mining, due to inhalation
of radon daughters. Four Reference Worker subjects have been taken: normal nose breathers performing usual work, or heavy work, and habitual mouth augmenter involved in heavy or usual work. The
total activity duration is 6 hours, i.e. one working day.
The equilibrium between radon and its decay products
was considered at 1 kBq/m3 mean concentration of Radon activity in air. The paper takes
into account the contribution to internal dose
of all short live radon daughters, all being considered
attached to aerosols. The aerosol size is ranging
from 0.0006 mm to 20 mm. The work shows
radiation doses on several internal
organs and tissues and the
effective dose, as function of aerosol size. Results were computed with ModeLung software, based on ICRP Publication 66 data Key words: reference
worker, inhalation, radon
daughters, aerosol size,
organ dose, effective dose Ü FULL
TEXT.PDF Epidemiology: communicable
disease Chlamydia antibodies in rheumatic patients Sofia Constantiniu, Angela Romaniuc, Cecilia Durnea, Elena Rezuş,
Rodica Chiriac, C. Berea Abstract. 93 patients with recent inflammatory joint disease were investigated for the presence of anti- Chlamydia IgM antibodies. The specific antibodies have been found
in 17 patients (18.2%) by
ELISA Chlamydia TRUE- IgM commercial kit. 58.8% of positive patients had clinical diagnosis of reactive arthritis;
29.4% of ankylosing spondylitis
and 5.9% of sacroilitis and Reiter’s syndrome too. Serological investigation of patients with arthritis appeared as necessary for a better understanding the germy ethyology of seronegative
arthritis. Key words:
reactive arthritis, ankylosing
spondilitis, IgM antibodies, Chlamydia, ELISA Ü FULL
TEXT.PDF |
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