Search

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate blood pressure (BP) levels and their relationship with different indices of body fat in a group of adolescents, in order to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension and plan preventive and corrective strategies.Design: Cross-sectional study in primary care.Setting: All high schools in the Aosta Valley region, northern Italy.Subjects: Five hundred and thirty-two adolescents of both sexes, aged 15.4 (standard deviation 0.7) years. The following parameters were measured: body weight, body height, body mass index (BMI), four skinfold thicknesses, body fat mass, waist and hip circumferences and BP.Results: BMI data indicated a high prevalence of overweight subjects in both sexes, but higher in males, while the prevalence rate of obese adolescents was lower. Of the total, 11.8 % of subjects suffered from systolic hypertension, while 6.9 % suffered from diastolic hypertension. In linear correlation analysis, BMI and all adiposity indices, except waist:hip ratio, were found to be significantly associated (P ranging between 0.05 and 0.001) with both systolic BP and diastolic BP in both sexes, with r ranging between 0.152 and 0.359. Multiple regression analysis with the stepwise method showed BMI and body fat mass to have the strongest association (P < 0.001) with BP, with r ranging between 0.275 and 0.359.Conclusion: Unless reversed, these conditions are worrying and predict the possible development of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. There is a pressing need to develop a comprehensive medical and nutrition plan, together with preventive and corrective strategies, in school programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many human milk benefits have been well documented; nevertheless the newborn potential risk to the xenobiotic exposition may be relevant and it requires a biological monitoring in general prevention. Concerning this problem, attention should be paid to mycotoxins and heavy metals.Aim of the study: Assessing the presence of the xenobiotics aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, lead and cadmium in human milk, defining their level of contamination and evaluate the potential risk for the newborn derived from this xenobiotic ingestion.Methods: A study has been carried out on lactating women randomly selected in seven hospitals in Lombardy (Northern Italy). Two hundred and forty-seven puerparae were recruited; 231 women participated in the study. Womens milk samples on the third or fourth day after delivery were tested to determine aflatoxins and ochratoxin A levels. Lead and cadmium were determined in 143 women because supplemental milk could be taken only from these women.Results: Aflatoxin B1 (11.4 ng/l) and aflatoxin M1 (194 ng/l) were found only in one sample,while ochratoxin A was detected in 198 samples (85.7%) at an average value of 6.01 +/- 8.31 ng/l. A total of 75.7% of samples were positive for lead; the cadmium situation was better with 87.4% of the sample with values below detection limits (2 microg/l. A high percentage of babies (71%) are exposed to mycotoxin levels on day 6 greater than the TDI value of 0.2 ng/kg b.w. Lead and cadmium presence in human milk presented risk respectively for 8% and 0.7% of newborns on the fourth day; 9.5% and 1.4% on the sixth day.Conclusions: The study points out that mycotoxins and lead are present in maternal milk, and the data confirm the need to continue biological monitoring in general prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrient content, insects, mycotoxins and heavy metal contamination were determined on 35 samples of organic and conventional wheat (Triticum aestivum). A higher crude protein level was observed in conventional wheat (129.6 vs 107.5 g kg-1; P<0.01). Organic wheat was more infested by pests than the conventional one. Ochratoxin A levels were low and not different between organic and conventional wheat. The deoxynivalenol level was significantly lower in organically grown than in conventionally grown wheat (2.85 vs 99.67 µg kg-1). cadmium concentration was higher in conventional wheat (27.87 vs 19.41 µg kg-1; P<0.01), while lead was higher in the organic samples (29.63 vs 8.47 µg kg-1; P<0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading causes of death in industrialized countries are traumatic injuries and acquired disability, and entry to the emergency department in childhood. TBI (traumatic brain injury) may involve the onset of both primary lesions and a complex immune response (sterile immune reaction to brain injury), which, in addition to neuro-protective effects, can mediate secondary neurological injury. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), as a circulating inflammatory marker, has been related to outcomes in adult patients with non-neurologic diseases (such as gut tumours) or neurologic diseases (such as stroke or brain tumours), and to the prognosis of traumatic brain injury in adolescents and adults. However, the potential role of NLR in predicting outcomes in paediatric head trauma is not clearly defined. The aim of this retrospective observational study is to evaluate the association between clinical features predictive of intracranial and extracranial lesions in TBI and NLR and to establish whether an elevation of NLR is indirectly associated with adverse outcomes in pediatric patients with TBI. We analysed a sample of 219 pediatric patients, between 2-18 years old, after a TBI, and evaluated if differences in NLR were associated with neurological signs or positive CT in pediatric patients. We then compared the NLR values ​​between healthy subjects and patients with TBI.

Human nutrition encompasses an extremely broad range of medical, social, commercial, and ethical domains and thus represents a wide, interdisciplinary scientific and cultural discipline. The high prevalence of both disease-related malnutrition and overweight/obesity represents an important risk factor for disease burden and mortality worldwide. It is the opinion of Federation of the Italian Nutrition Societies (FeSIN) that these two sides of the same coin, with their sociocultural background, are related to a low "nutritional culture" secondary, at least in part, to an insufficient academic training for health-care professionals (HCPs). Therefore, FeSIN created a study group, composed of delegates of all the federated societies and representing the different HCPs involved in human nutrition, with the aim of identifying and defining the domains of human nutrition in the attempt to more clearly define the cultural identity of human nutrition in an academically and professionally oriented perspective and to report the conclusions in a position paper. Three main domains of human nutrition, namely, basic nutrition, applied nutrition, and clinical nutrition, were identified. FeSIN has examined the areas of knowledge pertinent to human nutrition. Thirty-two items were identified, attributed to one or more of the three domains and ranked considering their diverse importance for academic training in the different domains of human nutrition. Finally, the study group proposed the attribution of the different areas of knowledge to the degree courses where training in human nutrition is deemed necessary (e.g., schools of medicine, biology, nursing, etc.). It is conceivable that, in the near future, a better integration of the professionals involved in the field of human nutrition will eventually occur based on the progressive consolidation of knowledge, competence, and skills in the different areas and domains of this discipline.