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Biomedical subjects

C A Akpom

Publications and source records attributed to C A Akpom.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1985

Symptoms of respiratory illness in young children and the use of wood-burning stoves for indoor heating.

The occurrence of symptoms of respiratory illness among preschool children living in homes heated by wood-burning stoves was examined by conducting an historical prospective study (n = 62) with an internal control group (matched for age, sex, and town of residence). Exposures of subjects were not significantly different (P greater than .05) with respect to parental smoking, urea-formaldehyde foam insulation, and use of humidifiers. The control group made significantly greater use of gas stoves for cooking whereas the study group made greater use of electric stoves for cooking and of air filters (P less than .05). Only one home used a kerosene space heater. During the winter of 1982, moderate and severe symptoms in all categories were significantly greater for the study group compared with the control group (P less than .001). These differences could not be accounted for by medical histories (eg, allergies, asthma), demographic or socioeconomic characteristics, or by exposure to sources of indoor air pollution other than wood-burning stoves. Present findings suggest that indoor heating with wood-burning stoves may be a significant etiologic factor in the occurrence of symptoms of respiratory illness in young children.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1981

Suppression of granuloma formation around Schistosoma mansoni eggs in severe protein malnutrition: the role of the egg.

The role of Schistosoma mansoni eggs in producing suppressed granulomatous response in severe protein malnutrition was studied in mice by the von Lichtenberg technique. Granulomatous response to eggs recovered from infected mice fed on 4% protein diet for four weeks was compared with the response to eggs that were recovered from mice fed on standard control (20% protein) diet in both unsensitized and sensitized normal mice. Granulomatous response to the former was significantly smaller (p less than .01) in unsensitized mice than to the latter. This suggests that the eggs might have responded to the "milieu interne" altered by malnutrition, in a way that its granuloma-inducing capacity differed from what it would be in well nourished mice. It was concluded that suppression of host cellular immunity may not be the only factor that explains suppression of granulomatous response to S. mansoni egg in severe protein malnutrition.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

The oogram as a sensitive method of assessing the effect of dietary deficiency on the parasite in experimental Schistosomiasis mansoni.

Effects of malnutrition on Schistosoma mansoni worms harbored by groups of chronically infected malnourished mice were assessed by four different methods: oogram technique, liver egg count, measurement of worm lengths and the number of surviving worms. Compared with the other methods the oogram technique showed several advantages. It seems to be the method of choice for conducting such studies at the chronic stages of the disease. Unlike other methods each of which offers only one parameter of measurement, it provides three parameters and is the only method that is apparently capable of detecting residual effect of severe malnutrition on the parasite under the experimental conditions. Since the oogram technique has not been in common use in nutritional studies, it is suggested that its use in combination with some of the existing measures would enhance the scope of findings from such studies.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

12. Index of ADL.

The Index of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) encompasses six basic human functions: bathing, dressing, toileting, transfer, continence, and feeding. It provides an objective method of classifying heterogeneous groups of people with chronic illnesses, disabilities and impairments, and of describing their health needs and outcomes.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1976

A measure of primary sociobiological functions.

The Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (Index of ADL) is a scale whose grades reflect profiles of behavioral levels of six sociobiological functions, namely, bathing, dressing, toileting, transfer, continence, and feeding. Its hierarchical nature makes it possible to rank the overall functional status of people in an ordered manner, to make comparisons among them as individuals or groups, and to detect changes over time. Developmental studies have encompassed children as well as adults, the mentally retarded as well as physically disabled, and noninstitutionalized as well as institutionalized people. In view of relationships to behavior of primitive societies and parallelisms between the order of index functions and patterns of child growth and development, the Index of ADL appears to be based on functions of sociobiological primacy. This concept is supported by twenty years of methodological and applied observations. The Index has been used to produce predictive information about chronic conditions and to evaluate the benefits of long-term services. It has been used in profiled measures of severity of illness. As a screening measure and survey measure, it has contributed information about health needs and outcomes which is useful for management, planning, policy making, research, and techning.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1975

Calorie and protein malnutrition in chronic murine schistosomiasis mansoni: effect on the parasite and the host.

The effects of diets containing 8% and 4% protein and of 50% calorie-deficient diets on the host, the parasite, and the parameters of disease in chronic hepatosplenic schistosomiasis were studied in mice that were infected for 20 weeks with Schistosoma mansoni. Controls consisted of uninfected mice of the same size and age maintained on a balanced 20% protein diet. Each of four corresponding dietary groups of infected and uninfected animals was fed on its assigned diet from the 20th to the 24th week of infection. Between the 24th and the 28th week of infection, all groups were nutritionally repleted by being returned to the standard control diet. Changes in body weight and deaths were recorded throughout the experiment (20-28 weeks). Parasite and host responses were measured at 24 weeks and again at 28 weeks. Severe protein and calorie deficiencies were associated with diminished egg output, an effect that appeared to be residual in the most severely malnourished animals for some time after malnutrition has been corrected. In general, the parameters of hepatosplenic disease were less severe in the more severely malnourished animals; 50% calorie deficiency was the cause of greater amelioration than marked protein depletion. During the period of malnutrition the mortality rate in mice given the 4% protein diet was not significantly different from that in controls (approximately 30%), while that in the calorie-restricted animals was only 9%.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The inhibition of granuloma formation around Schistosoma mansoni eggs.

The effect of protein, calorie, and vitamin deficiency states on the granulomatous response of mice to eggs of S mansoni injected into the microvasculature of the lungs was studied. Moderate to severe protein and calorie deficiencies, as well as thiamine and vitamin C deficiencies, inhibited the host's granulomatous response to S mansoni eggs, which is a form of delayed-type hypersensitivity. The antivitamins neopyrithiamine hydrochloride and desoxypyridoxine hydrochloride were both highly effective in suppressing granuloma formation, but the former proved highly toxic at the doses utilized. Desoxypyridoxine hydrochloride given at a dose of .05 mg/mouse/day produced almost complete inhibition of granuloma formation; marked suppression was also present at fivefold dilution. This antivitamin appearts to be one of the most powerful immunosuppressive measures so far examined.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Schistosomiasis: nutritional implications.

Most studies on the interactions of nutrition and schistosomiasis have involved experimental animals. Generally, these studies show that schistosomiasis may be alleviated by severe malnutrition, especially calorie deprivation. However, nutritional modulation of schistosomiasis in experimental animals is observed only when severe deficiencies are induced during the acute disease. Except during overt famine, in humans such severe forms of malnutrition occur mainly in the young, who are not yet exposed to heavy burdens of schistosomal infection. Older individuals, who may be heavily infected, are usually not so severely malnourished. Therefore, the nutritional rehabilitation of severely malnourished children, which should improve immune function, is unlikely to exacerbate the immune-mediated pathogenesis of schistosomal disease. Nutritional interventions can be planned independently of the prevalence or intensity of schistosomiasis in the population. Heavy infection with Schistosoma mansoni can cause both direct nutritional losses and severe disease manifestations. These constitute two important reasons for the administration of mass chemotherapy to the heavily infected segment of a population. Both of these adverse effects can be corrected by a reduction in the intensity of infection; complete cure is not necessary.

Adolescent↗