Health sciences review (Oxford, England)最新文献

Diabetes, a chronic condition characterized by an inability to maintain normal glucose levels significantly accounts for enhancing the cost of healthcare expenditure. Managing diabetes using a standard medication protocol more often leads to progressive failure in effectively treating the associated complications. The recent trends involve understanding of diabetes's genetic architecture and its consequences have provided the background for application of precision medicine for customizing protocols for preventing and managing the diabetes therapy. Further, utilizing the electronic health data and genetic information for assisting care and planning therapeutic protocol for monogenic form of diabetes is well-executed example of genomic medicine. The present write-up emphasized recent advances about the causes and effects of diabetes genetics. This also drive to the need for the further investigation for ensuring the appropriate knowledge to enable patients and healthcare providers to make informed decisions for obtaining the best possible outcome.

Smoking during pregnancy is detrimental to the foetus and the mother, but quitting smoking can be challenging for pregnant women. The nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR), the ratio between 3-hydroxycotinine and cotinine, indicates the rate of nicotine metabolism and is associated with smoking behaviours and cessation success in the general population. Our goal was to establish what is currently known about the rate of nicotine metabolism during pregnancy. A search was conducted from inception to January 2024 using PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Medline. Inclusion criteria encompassed pregnant women actively using any tobacco or nicotine-containing products for whom cotinine and 3-hydroxycotinine levels were assessed in maternal saliva, blood, or urine samples. Exclusion criteria comprised non-English articles, passive exposure to smoking, and absence of cotinine and 3-hydroxycotinine measurements. In half of the studies, more than 75% of participants were White. Four studies demonstrated that NMR (i.e. rate of nicotine metabolism) increased during pregnancy. Two studies found opioid use can increase NMR, and higher NMR correlated with greater nicotine dependence during pregnancy. One study found that higher NMR was associated with heavy cigarette use during pregnancy. Similarly, one study revealed pregnant women with higher NMR are less likely to quit smoking. However, one study linked lower NMR to lower birth weight, particularly among African-American populations compared to White populations. NMR tends to increase during pregnancy, complicating smoking cessation. Although race is an important determinant of NMR, the limited range of ethnic backgrounds highlights a need for further research in diverse populations.

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with healthcare offers a viable way to treat difficult issues like children's speech-sound disorder (SSD).AAC, or augmentative alternative communication, has shown great promise in helping people with SSD, and AI-driven methods hold even more promise for improving diagnosis and therapy. This review paper explores the synergy of AI, ML, and AAC in pediatric speech and language impairments. It also highlights current developments and potential future directions. Healthcare providers can improve communication outcomes for kids with speech impairments, increase early detection, and provide personalised therapy by utilizing AI and ML techniques. In addition to encouraging parental involvement, the combination of AI and AAC technologies spurs advancements in speech therapy applications. AI has the potential to transform healthcare and improve the quality of life for people with speech and language problems as it develops and works in tandem with medical knowledge.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a significant public health challenge in low-resource settings owing to limited healthcare access and quality. However, telemedicine can potentially improve healthcare delivery by overcoming geographical barriers. This comprehensive review aimed to provide an overview of the current trends in utilizing telemedicine for MDR-TB control in low-resource settings. A systematic literature search were conducted in PubMed and CINAHL electronic databases and Google Scholar search engine to identify relevant articles on telemedicine and MDR-TB control in low-resource settings. The selected articles were analyzed and synthesized to provide a comprehensive overview of telemedicine's current trends and applications in MDR-TB control. The review results shows that telemedicine allows remote screening and diagnosis, facilitating early detection and timely treatment, provides access to experts through teleconsultation, which ensures optimal treatment outcomes, fosters training and education of healthcare providers, and supports follow-up care through teleconsultation and remote monitoring. Furthermore, telemedicine integration with data collection methods could improve MDR-TB surveillance and intervention. Findings from this review show the potential of telemedicine to improve MDR-TB control and patient health in low-resource settings. This makes it a promising prevention and management option. However, successful implementation requires overcoming limitations such as connectivity, infrastructure, and cultural barriers. Telemedicine can considerably improve MDR-TB control and reduce disease burden in underserved populations by utilizing possibilities and addressing the challenges.

Vitiligo is a prevalent chronic autoimmune skin disorder. However, the data about its prevalence and risk factors in the Middle East (ME) and Africa is scarce. Thus, we decided to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the prevalence and risk factors of vitiligo in the ME and African regions. On the 25th of June 2023 a systematic search of the following database: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences and Cochrane was conducted. All articles were included if they were observational studies that reported the prevalence or risk factors of any type of Vitiligo in one or more ME or African countries with no restriction to the type of vitiligo, age group, or gender. The total number of the included participants was 226,115 from 38 studies. The overall prevalence of vitiligo was 3 % (95 %CI: 2 %-4 %) while the prevalence among males and females were 1 % (95 %CI: 1 %-2 %) and 1 % (95 %CI: 1 %-2 %), respectively. The prevalence among pediatrics was 2 % (95 %CI: 1 %-2 %) while it was 10 % (95 %CI: 7 %-13 %) among adults. The models showed that the prevalence of vitiligo in Africa was 3 % (95 %CI: 1 %-4 %) while the pooled prevalence of vitiligo in Arabian countries was 2 % (95 %CI: 1 %-3 %). Sub-group analysis according to the year of publication showed that the pooled prevalence before 2010 was 3 % (95 %CI: 2 %-4 %). On the other hand, the pooled prevalence after 2010 was 2 % (95 %CI: 1 %-4 %). Clinicians should pay attention to the high prevalence of vitiligo and the characteristics of vitiligo patients. Also, governmental efforts should be taken to increase the awareness about vitiligo in the ME and African countries to increase early diagnosis and management of the disease resulting in better outcomes.

Noise is ubiquitous in daily life and can cause both auditory and non-auditory health problems. Noise effects involve both direct and indirect pathways through which noise affects human health. A direct pathway encompasses the interactions between the central auditory system and other regions of the brain. The indirect pathway involves the cognitive and emotional response to a noise-exposure.

This review begins by summarizing both auditory and non-auditory health effects of occupational and environmental noise exposures. It then guides the reader to adequate mitigation strategies and preventive measures to reduce the consequences of noise nuisance.