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Assessing population-based programs to reduce blood cholesterol level and saturated fats.

This article reviews seven community-based programs for prevention of cardiovascular disease and their effects on blood cholesterol levels and saturated fat intake. In two programs, cholesterol levels were reduced more in the intervention area than in the reference area. In two other programs, cholesterol increased less in the intervention area than in the reference area. In one program, cholesterol levels initially fell in the intervention group and increased in the reference group; after the first 4 years, the levels also started to increase in the intervention group. The final two programs reduced cholesterol equally in both groups. Only two programs reported on the intake of saturated fats; in both, intake of saturated fat was reduced more in the intervention area than in the reference populations. In one program area, total intake of fat was reduced more than in the reference area. Published data do not allow us to draw conclusions regarding which components of the programs were most important. These studies show that the average blood cholesterol level can be affected in a general population.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

[Interventions on the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus: is it feasible a population-based program in our country?].

Considering the increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in underdeveloped countries as well as the simplicity of identifying individuals at high risk for such disease, implementation of intervention measures for its prevention is of great interest. Several studies have confirmed the benefits of lifestyle changes in preventing or postponing the progression from impaired glucose tolerance to DM. The review of these studies showed a 50% to 60% reduction in the incidence of DM by means of lifestyle modifications. Such results are better than those reported in studies in which pharmacological interventions were used with the same purpose. Despite the efficacy of lifestyle changes for the prevention of DM, compliance may represent a limitation to be implemented in communities. In our country, studies are necessary to assess the barriers for the implementation of a population-based program for the prevention of DM and other lifestyle related diseases in high-risk Brazilian subjects.

Brazil↗

The USC*PACK PC programs for population pharmacokinetic modeling, modeling of large kinetic/dynamic systems, and adaptive control of drug dosage regimens.

Programs for PC's and compatibles provide nonparametric (NPEM) population pharmacokinetic modeling, BOXES for compartments and arrows for pathways, to make large kinetic and dynamic models, and clinical software for Bayesian adaptive control of drug dosage regimens, with D-optimal sampling strategies and explicit determination of assay error patterns.

Bayes Theorem↗

Incidence of leukemia in occupations with potential electromagnetic field exposure in United States Navy personnel.

Leukemia is the fourth most commonly occurring cancer in the United States population between the ages of 17 and 34 years, an age group heavily represented in the US Navy. Historical computerized military career records maintained at the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, California, were used to determine person-years at risk (total, 4,072,502 person-years) by demographic characteristics and occupation for active-duty naval personnel during 1974-1984. Computerized inpatient medical records were searched for first hospitalizations for leukemia. Cases of leukemia (n = 102) were verified by using pathology reports or Navy Medical Board or Physical Evaluation Board findings. For comparisons, age-adjusted incidence rates and standardized incidence ratios were calculated by using rates for the US population provided by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute. The overall age-adjusted incidence rate of leukemia in active-duty naval personnel was found to be very close to that of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program population (6.0 vs. 6.5 per 100,000 person-years). Only one occupation, electrician's mate, emerged with a borderline statistically significant excess risk of leukemia (standardized incidence ratio compared with the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program population = 2.4, 95% confidence interval 1.0-5.0). This finding is intriguing in the light of several studies showing an excess risk of leukemia associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields.

Adolescent↗

Pakistan embarks on new campaign to reduce fertility.

There was both international and domestic significance in a plea for population stabilization issued by Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his address at the recent Earth Summit conference in Rio de Janeiro. Speaking as both a national leader and chairman of the Group of 77, a coalition of developing countries, Sharif said that to eradicate the abject poverty under which more than a billion people in the world live today "developing countries must assume their full responsibility in limiting population growth to manageable levels." Those words may seem odd coming from the leader of a country that has been indifferent about population problems for the past 2 decades. Until Prime Minister Sharif made a public commitment to a population program last July, the last leader of Pakistan to take such action was the late President Ayub Khan in 1969. With an annual 3.1% growth rate, Pakistan's population of 122 million is projected to double in only 23 years. The average Pakistani woman has 6.1 children in her reproductive lifetime. Reduction of population growth was an issue in the October 1990 election campaign. After his Islamic Democratic Alliance won, the government named Syeda Abida Hussain, a prominent and popular politician, to the cabinet post of Minister of Family Welfare. Hussain, who is now Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, recalls that many experts felt that starting a population program would be "an impossible undertaking, "that" attitudes were not conducive to family planning and government would never support it." In a speech on World Population Day in Rio, organized by the Population Institute, she said she soon found that "the problems were managerial, not attitudinal." She maintained that the relatively low acceptance of contraception among the people of Pakistan, Bangladesh and India is not because of religion or ideology "but because they are too poor to have access to birth control." Shortly after Hussain was names Minister of Family Welfare, she travelled throughout Pakistan to promote a small family norm. Under the new government program, family planning services would be provided along with maternal and child health services. Meanwhile, in an address before a national population conference, Prime Minister Sharif made a strong emotional appeal for a slowdown in population growth. He directed all government ministries and departments to provide all possible support. A recent study in Pakistan showed that the lack of service delivery outlets, rather than lack of awareness of family planning, was the reason behind the weak response to earlier programs. The study further indicated that 60% of married women either do not want more children or want to delay their next birth, but only 20% have access to family planning services. 90% said their desired family size was 4 children, yet they were having 7. The shortage of family planning services is especially acute in rural areas. While 54% of the country's 35 million urban residents have access to services, only 5% of rural people do. In the past, population programs in Pakistan have been handicapped by bureaucratic red tape, inefficiency and corruption. But with the Prime Minister solidly supporting lower population growth as a key to the success of his economic initiatives, top managers of the program are optimistic that this time it will work. "Bringing down the population growth rate in Pakistan is not the world's responsibility, "says Ambassador Syeda Abida Hussain. "It is Pakistan's."

Asia↗

Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Population programme paves the way for better flow of and use of population information.

The population program of DPRK is currently generating census data, a number of demographic and contraceptive research studies, and various IEC materials. However, these have not been widely disseminated. At the same time, policymakers and professionals engaged in population and development activities expressed the need for more information and materials to assist them in their tasks. To address these needs, the government represented by the National Coordinating Committee for Population Programs, proposed the establishment of a Population Information Center that will facilitate the collection, processing, dissemination, and use of population information and materials in order to support the work of the population personnel. In a fact-finding and project development mission undertaken with the assistance of the UNFPA (UN Population Fund), Beijing, UNDP (UN Development Programme) Pyongyang, and CST for East and Southeast Asia Adviser on Population Information, it was agreed upon that a Population Information Center be set up at the Grand People's Study House which serves as the central document information center in the country as well as correspondence university rendering re-education programs for the working people. The project document basically lays the foundation for a nationwide population information networking by building first the centerpiece of the network. It will develop the capability of the Grand People's Study House in collecting, organizing, analyzing, repackaging and disseminating population information as well as in managing a nationwide network. Four activities will be envisaged to achieve this goal. The first requires the establishment of the Population Information Center structure and organization. The rest necessitate the collection of materials and creation of a bibliographic database, the training of personnel in various information-handling tools and techniques and service provision, and facilitating dissemination of information through a repackaging and lecture series program.

Asia↗

The containment of world population growth.

The world has reached the present position of unprecedentedly rapid population growth not by achieving uniquely high fertility but by bringing about extraordinarily low mortality. The high growth rate and the built-in momentum of the age structure are obstacles to achievement of an acceptable standard of living for most of the world's population. Although government population programs have the potential to curb this growth rate, this potential has not been realized, and such programs are too often perceived both by their administrators and the population concerned as an end in themselves rather than a means toward a better standard of living. It is in this latter perspective, and in the context of the total development process, that population programs should be implemented.

Adult↗

[Quantitative assessment of individual risk and population screening program on gastric carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To set up a mathematic model for determining individual risk and population risk of gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Based on principles and methods of probability and fuzzy mathematics, a case-control study was quantified and a mathematic model for the screening of gastric carcinoma was set up. Using two different calculation methods of weight coefficients, the thresholds were identified as 0.20 and 0.17, respectively. This mathematic model was then used to examine 63 cases and 693 normal persons. RESULTS: The sensitivities and specificities were 69% and 63%. The different calculative methods of weight coefficients did not affect the results of the identification. CONCLUSION: The sensitivities and specificities were satisfactory indicating that it was convenient, feasible, economic and could meet the contented screening rate. It could be used to determinate the risk for gastric carcinoma both on individual and on population.

Case-Control Studies↗

HIV prevention in Africa: programs and populations served by non-governmental organizations.

The AIDS epidemic in Africa remains an urgent health crisis. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Africa play a critical role in the delivery of HIV prevention services and assistance to persons living with AIDS. African NGOs are conducting numerous HIV prevention programs with several at-risk populations, yet their efforts have only rarely been systematically documented. To address this gap in the literature, the authors surveyed one NGO in each of 29 African countries regarding their HIV prevention activities and populations served. This report provides details concerning HIV prevention activities across the continent and describes in detail innovative programs from Togo and South Africa. NGOs in the present sample operate with modest budgets and small staff sizes, yet conduct programs that reach large segments of their communities. NGOs were most likely to report community-level interventions such as peer-education or community outreach. Faced with an epidemic where the main transmission occurs via heterosexual activity, African NGOs were most likely to direct their attention to the general public and to youth. NGOs in Africa are struggling to implement sustainable, cost-effective programs with few resources. Strengthening the infrastructure and capacity of these key agencies is crucial to fighting the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

Africa↗

How to predict carboplatin clearance from standard morphological and biological characteristics in obese patients.

BACKGROUND: We previously proposed a formula to predict carboplatin clearance (CL) from four patient characteristics: plasma creatinine level, body weight, age, and sex (J Natl Cancer Inst 1995; 87: 573). Its accuracy was studied in a subpopulation of obese patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients (16 male and 9 female, 23 to 82 years old) were studied. They were 20% to 67% (median 36%) over the ideal weight which was calculated according to the Lorentz equation. Their actual CL was obtained individually by the Siphar program. The pharmacokinetic population program NONMEM was used to determine the best value of substitution for weight in the formula. RESULTS: By using the actual weight, CL was significantly over predicted (by more than 20% for 7 of 25 patients). By using the mean value between the ideal and the actual weight, a good prediction of CL was obtained: the percentage of error ranged from -21% to +22%. CONCLUSION: The formula is applicable to obese patients if both ideal and actual weights are taken into account.

Adult↗

A molecular epidemiologic study of thalassemia using newborns' cord blood in a multiracial Asian population in Singapore: results and recommendations for a population screening program.

DNA technology provides a new avenue to perform neonatal screening tests for single-gene diseases in populations of high frequency. Thalassemia is one of the high-frequency single-gene disorders affecting Singapore and many countries in the malaria belt. The authors explored the feasibility of using PCR-based diagnostic screening on 1,116 unselected sequential cord blood samples for neonatal screening. The cord blood samples were screened for the most common reported alpha- and beta-thalassemia mutations in each ethnic group (Chinese, Malays, and Indians) in a multiracial population. The carrier frequency for alpha-thalassemia mutations was about 6.4% in the Chinese (alpha deletions = 3.9%, alpha deletions = 2.5%), 4.8% in Malays, and 5.2% in Indians. Only alpha deletions were observed in the Chinese. The carrier frequency for beta-thalassemia mutations was 2.7% in the Chinese, 6.3% in Malays, and 0.7% in Indians. Extrapolating to the population distribution of Singapore, the authors found a higher overall expected carrier frequency for alpha- and beta-thalassemia mutations of 9% compared with a previous population study of 6% by phenotype. The highly accurate results make this molecular epidemiologic screening an ideal method to screen for and prevent severe thalassemia in high-risk populations.

China↗

Prevalence of dyslipidemias among Lithuanian rural population (CINDI program).

The aim of this study is to describe trends in serum total, low and high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and nutrition habits in Lithuanian rural population between 1987 and 1999. The article presents the data of three screenings of random samples of the population aged 25-64 of five Lithuanian rural regions. Since 1987 the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia has decreased. The greatest decrease was observed in the proportion of persons with elevated level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The prevalence of low level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased more significantly among women compared to men. The most remarkable changes in the prevalence of dyslipidemias were observed between 1993 and 1999. The increasing age was strongly correlated with higher prevalence of hypercholesterolemia in both genders. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was higher among men with higher education, overweight, hypertension and smokers than among those with low education, normal weight, normal level of blood pressure and nonsmokers. In women hypercholesterolemia was associated only with hypertension. The nutrition habits of Lithuanian rural population have changed, especially over the last five years. The consumption of animal fat has decreased and the usage of vegetable oil and margarine has increased. Women increased consumption of vegetables and fruits. The strengthening of favorable trends in nutrition habits in Lithuanian population should be one of the most important strategies in the implementation of cardiovascular disease prevention programs.

Adult↗