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Biomedical subjects

T Puckree

Publications and source records attributed to T Puckree.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

School bag carriage and pain in school children.

PURPOSE: In South Africa (SA), anecdotal evidence for the incidence of shoulder, back and neck pain in school children is alarming but no scientific studies have confirmed this impression. The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between pain and school bag carriage in scholars in Durban, SA. METHOD: A study was carried out at four different schools in the Verulam and Chatsworth Regions in Kwa-Zulu Natal, SA. Schools were selected by convenience. One hundred and seventy six scholars between the ages of 11 and 14 years correctly filled out a questionnaire with open-ended and closed-ended questions. Each child also had his/her body and bag weight measured. RESULTS: In this study, most of the scholars experienced shoulder and a combination of shoulder and other bodily pain. The majority of the children carried backpacks over two shoulders. The type of bag carried was significantly related to pain experienced (0.00). A significantly larger number of female scholars experienced pain. CONCLUSION: The shoulder and other bodily pain experienced by the sample of scholars are strongly related to the type of bag and the gender of the children. More in-depth studies into identifying risk factors for bodily pains in school children are indicated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

An alarming rate of drug-resistant tuberculosis at Ngwelezane Hospital in northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain a profile of tuberculosis (TB) cases caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in northern KwaZulu Natal (KZN) for 2001. METHOD: The demographic and drug resistance characteristics were determined. A total of 251 smear and culture confirmed cases was obtained and the resistance of three major anti-tuberculosis drugs was tested using the proportion method. RESULTS: The patients were mainly from Ngwelezane (57.8%), Stanger (23.5%) and Manguzi (18.7%); 59.0% were male; 54.2% of the isolates were obtained from new TB patients. The mean age of the TB patients was 29.6 years, with the maximum notification age range at 25-34 years. A high prevalence of drug-resistant and multiresistant TB was observed in this region. At least 55% of previously treated and 19% of new cases from all areas were resistant to at least one of the drugs tested. New patients from Ngwelezane and Manguzi area had a high prevalence of any rifampicin resistance (11.0%) and ethambutol resistance (3.9%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the TB epidemic in northern KZN, especially in Ngwelezane, is severe. An infrastructure to educate stakeholders about the need to ensure consistency in treatment is needed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Anti-diarrhoeal evaluation of some medicinal plants used by Zulu traditional healers.

Aqueous and methanolic extracts of several medicinal plants, Psidium guajava (leaves), Aristea spp., Iridaceae family (stem), Bridelia micrantha (bark) and Eleutherina bulbosa (bulb), used by Zulu traditional healers were evaluated for anti-diarrhoeal activity against different experimental models of diarrhoea in rats as well as for anti-microbial activity against different pathogenic microorganisms that cause diarrhoea. The methanolic extract of P. guajava (leaves) was the only agent showing significant inhibitory activities against the growths of Salmonella spp. (two isolates), Shigella spp. (S. flexneri, S. virchow and S. dysenteriae) and enteropathogenic Escherechia coli (two isolates). The methanolic extract of B. micrantha (Bark) demonstrated weak inhibitory activities against S. flexneri and S. plesiomonas. Based on the results in experimental rat models, there were significant reductions in faecal output and frequency of droppings when plant extracts were administered compared with castor-oil treated rats. All plant extracts also significantly retarded the propulsion of charcoal meal and significantly inhibited the PGE(2)-induced enteropooling. The results have confirmed the effectiveness of all these Zulu medicinal plants as anti-diarrhoeal agents.

Africa↗
PubMed2002

Physiotherapists and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome: knowledge and prevention: a study in Durban, South Africa.

This study determined what physiotherapists in Durban, South Africa know about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), their attitudes towards patients and how they cope as individuals. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire. One-hundred-and-fourteen physiotherapists in Durban hospitals participated in the study. Seventy-two per cent of the questionnaires met the criteria for analysis. Ninety per cent of the participants believed that they knew about HIV/AIDS, but only 78% could identify all viral transmission modes. Of the 38 physiotherapists who believed that they knew the stages of an HIV infection, only 11% actually knew the stages, 28% could not explain them and 61% were vaguely aware. Fifty-six per cent of the respondents had treated patients who had died from HIV/AIDS. Only 38% of physiotherapists were completely at ease when treating HIV/AIDS patients despite the fact that 98% believed that physiotherapy was an integral component of the management of an AIDS patient. Fifty-one per cent of the respondents were unaware of support structures provided by their employers. The authors conclude that the perceptions of physiotherapists about their knowledge about HIV/AIDS do not stand up to scrutiny. Significantly more attention should be paid to the development, implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of educational programmes on HIV/AIDS for physiotherapists in the workplace.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1998

Abdominal motor unit activity during respiratory and nonrespiratory tasks.

Abdominal muscles serve multiple roles, but the functional organization of their motoneurons remains unclear. To gain insight, we recorded single motor unit potentials from the internal oblique (IO) and transversus abdominis (TA) muscles of three standing subjects during quiet breathing, a leg lift, and an expiratory threshold load. Inspiratory airflow, recorded from a pneumotachometer, provided tidal volumes and respiratory cycle timing. Fine wires, implanted under ultrasonic imaging, detected single motor unit potentials that were visually distinguished by their spike morphology. From the number of spikes, firing profiles, times of occurrence in the respiratory cycle, and their onset, instantaneous, mean, and peak firing frequencies we deduced that 1) breathing patterns varied across tasks, 2) different motor units were recruited for each task with essentially no overlap, 3) their firing displayed prominent expiratory activity during each task, and 4) the recruitment levels and discharge patterns of IO and TA were different. We conclude that the IO and TA motor pools receive a strong central respiratory drive, yet each pool receives its own distinct, task-dependent synaptic input.

Abdominal Muscles↗
PubMed1997

An evaluation of the functional status of the residents of a geriatric residential facility in South Africa.

An increase in dependent elderly people together with a change in social structure from extended to nuclear families is resulting in institutionalization of the elderly. Since training of health care personnel is not keeping pace with the demands for health care, many institutions for the elderly are forced to function without the necessary health personnel. The purpose of the present study was to examine the functional status of the residents of one geriatric facility without health care personnel in Durban, South Africa. Functional status of each of the 101 residents was assessed using the Barthel Index. The results show that although overall Barthel Index scores showed that ageing or pathology did not influence numbers of functional elderly, individual analysis of items indicated that the majority of the residents could not perform basic functional tasks like feeding, bathing and climbing stairs.

Activities of Daily Living↗