The second national survey on blindness in 1995 yielded the following pieces of information: 1) The 10 most common microorganisms frequently isolated in the healthy conjunctivae among Filipinos; 2) There is no regional variations in the flora of the healthy eye; 3) There is no difference in the flora obtained among healthy eyes of males and females of all ages; 4) For ages 50 and above, a rise in the incidence of diphtheroids was observed, other than this, the bacterial flora was not modified by the age of the subjects; and 5) Among the different working and nonworking groups, only the professionals showed isolates that are normally found in the gastrointestinal tract. (Author)
Human ; Male ; Female ; Aged 80 and over ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Adolescent ; Child ; Child Preschool ; Infant ; Infant Newborn ; DATA COLLECTION ; PHILIPPINES ; CONJUNCTIVA ; HUMAN ; MALE ; FEMALE

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of hypertension is 20% in the Philippines, and it increases year after year. It remains a risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart and renal failure. The gravity of complications from hypertension also reflects the effectiveness of the awareness programs in the Philippines. The patient population of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), being a tertiary referral center in the Philippines, has been represented by indigenous groups of Filipino people from the different provinces in the Philippines. In 1966, Dr. Baltazar conducted a study on the pattern of distribution of hypertension in PGH. It showed that essential hypertension was the leading cause of admission in PGH. This study aims to determine the prevalence and distribution of hypertensives admitted to PGH after for decades of improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension in the Philippines.

METHODS: Chart review of all hypertensive patients admitted at the charity wards or intensive care units in PGH in 2005 was performed. The year 2005 was selected due to the limitation of the Medical Records Section in retrieving charts before that year. Data from the Department of Pediatrics was excluded due to the insignificant number of hypertensives seen by the Department.

RESULTS: The information obtained from this study showed a decline in prevalence from 8.4% in 1966 to 4.1% in 2005 with a predominance of pregnancy-related hypertension in 1966 compared with primary hypertension in 2005.

CONCLUSION: This comparative study shows an expected decline in the prevalence of hypertension among admitted patients which can be attributed to heightened hypertension awareness, screening programs, and good quality of care.

Human ; Risk Factors ; Prevalence ; Hospitals, General ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Hypertension, Essential ; Hypertension ; Stroke ; Coronary Disease ; Renal Insufficiency

OBJECTIVE: This study describes the utilization pattern of psychiatric consultation services at the UP-PGH from 1999 - 2008 by reviewing the demographic data of patients referred, describing the Axis I (Clinical Disorders and Other Disorders That May Be a Focus of Clinical Attention) and Axis III (General Medical Conditions) diagnoses of referred patients, and by identifying the sources of, and reasons for the different referrals.
METHODS: Relevant data from the annual census of the Consultation - Liaison (CL) Psychiatry Section from 1999 - 2008 was reviewed according to age, sex, civil status, reasons for referral, DSM-IV TR Multi-axial diagnoses and sources of referrals.
RESULTS: The percentage of referrals to consultation psychiatry has increased from 1.03% in 1999 to 1.77% in 2008. There is equal distribution between males and females. Majority of the consultation referrals were married and belonged to the 21-40 age group. The top five referring services were general medicine, surgery and trauma, obstetrics-gynecology, otorhinolaryngology and orthopaedic departments. The top three reasons for referring patients were mood problems, agitation and restlessness, and suicide attempts/behaviour. Majority of the axis I diagnoses were adjustment disorder, depressive disorders, and psychological reactions to illness. According to Axis III diagnoses, majority of the referrals were associated with poisoning and injury, neoplasms, and endocrine, nutritional, metabolic and immunity disorders.
CONCLUSION: The referral rate to the CL-Psychiatry Section at the UP-PGH has increased throughout the period studied. This may be attributed to programs and activities that improve efficiency in the delivery of psychiatric knowledge and skills, and better personnel supervision. The referral rate of 1.03% to 1.82% was consistent with those in other countries.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Adjustment Disorders ; Attention ; Censuses ; Depressive Disorder ; Diagnostic And Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders ; Gynecology ; Neoplasms ; Obstetrics ; Orthopedics ; Otolaryngology ; Psychiatry ; Psychomotor Agitation ; Referral And Consultation ; Suicide, Attempted

Fluphenazine (FP) treatment (50 mg/kg bw, ip in saline) 30 min before or 6 or 10 h after CCl4 administration (1 ml/kg ip in olive oil) significantly prevented the liver necrosis produced by the hepatotoxin at 24 h. FP had enhancing effects on the covalent binding of CCl4 reactive metabolites to cellular constituents and on CCl4 induced lipid peroxidation. FP lowered body temperature of the CCl4-poisoned animals during the 24 h observation period. The obtained results are compatible but do not prove the hypothesis that calmodulin (CaM) had participation in late occurring events preceding necrosis. FP lowering action on body temperature, however, might also play a role in the effects of this drug on the onset of CCl4 induced liver necrosis. FP levels in liver tissue as determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry evidenced the presence of the drug in amounts sufficient to inhibit CaM and that suggests that not all preventive effects of FP are due to its indirect actions on the central nervous system via decreased body temperature.
Animals ; Body Temperature Regulation ; drug effects ; Calmodulin ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Carbon Tetrachloride ; toxicity ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; Fluphenazine ; analysis ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Liver Diseases ; drug therapy ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Male ; Microsomes, Liver ; metabolism ; Necrosis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

BACKGROUND: The practice of Unang Yakap or Essential Intrapartum and Newborn Care (EINC) during the COVID-19 pandemic poses a safety concern with regards to a newborn’s exposure to their COVID-19 suspected mother. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to describe the experiences of COVID-19-suspected mothers and explore the factors influencing their decision to allow healthcare professionals to practice full EINC. Specifically, it aims to: 1) describe the experiences of mothers prior to, during, and immediately after delivery, and during postpartum care leading to their decision; and 2) explore the factors that influence the participant’s decision to practice EINC amidst the pandemic. METHODOLOGY: For this phenomenological case study, online interviews with nine (9) participants were conducted using a 13-item questionnaire describing their experience. Thematic analysis using the inductive and semantic approach was conducted to identify the common themes or factors. RESULTS: Of the nine (9) participants, five (5) experienced EINC, while four (4) did not. The COVID-19 status and the choice to undergo Unang Yakap were not a causal relationship. Two main influences, mother-related factors, and hospital-related factors, were identified and were found to have weight in decision-making. The mother-related factors include prior knowledge and perception towards EINC, COVID-19 status, personal beliefs, and information from social media; while the hospital-related factors are hospital facilities, hospital protocols, and HCW-patient relationship. CONCLUSION By delineating the different factors that influence mothers’ decisions, this study allows for the identification of possible bottlenecks in the practice of EINC, as well as effective and efficient means to encourage its practice.
COVID-19

Tobacco use in mental health in general and bipolar disorder in particular remains disproportionally common, despite declining smoking rates in the community. Furthermore, interactions between tobacco use and mental health have been shown, indicating the outcomes for those with mental health disorders are impacted by tobacco use. Factors need to be explored and addressed to improve outcomes for those with these disorders and target specific interventions for people with psychiatric illness to cease tobacco smoking. In the context of bipolar disorder, this review explores; the effects of tobacco smoking on symptoms, quality of life, suicidal behaviour, the biological interactions between tobacco use and bipolar disorder, the interactions between tobacco smoking and psychiatric medications, rates and factors surrounding tobacco smoking cessation in bipolar disorder and suggests potential directions for research and clinical translation. The importance of this review is to bring together the current understanding of tobacco use in bipolar disorder to highlight the need for specific intervention.
Bipolar Disorder* ; Mental Health ; Psychotropic Drugs ; Quality of Life ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Smoking Cessation ; Tobacco Use*

No abstract available.
Glioma ; Third Ventricle

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with lower circulating cortisol levels in specific subgroups, which have also been found in the offspring of people with PTSD. The analysis of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) is a recent methodology which is used to assess long-term systemic cortisol levels. We aimed to study veterans with war-related lifetime PTSD and their respective offspring with regards to HCC. We also studied the influence of lifetime major depressive disorder (MDD), war experiences, and childhood adversities on HCC in these groups. Methods: 31 male veterans with PTSD and 28 without PTSD and 69 adult offspring were studied. HCC were quantified by liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry. Results: No differences in HCC were found between veterans with and without PTSD, or between their respective offspring. Veterans without MDD showed a positive association between total war exposure and HCC. Veterans reporting more frequent childhood physical abuse had lower HCC. Veterans-with-PTSD’s offspring with MDD had increased HCC compared to offspring without MDD. Offspring’s exposure to more frequent childhood physical abuse was negatively associated with HCC in those without MDD. Conclusion HCC did not appear to constitute a marker of intergenerational heritage of war-related PTSD, except in the case of veteranswith-PTSD’s offspring with MDD. Our data suggest that HCC is a marker of adult reported childhood physical abuse.

OBJECTIVE: The  study  aims  to  compare  the  maximum  sound  output  capabilities  of  different earphone types/music style combinations. The study also intends to assess the preferred listening levels (PLL) of test subjects using different earphone types with background noise accession. The study also seeks to determine the presence or absence of a threshold shift on headphone/music style combination PLLs that exceed the recommended noise limit.
METHODS:
Design: Experimental Study
Setting: Tertiary Government Hospital
Subjects: Thirty (30) hearing healthy volunteers were sampled from hospital staff aged 18-40 years with no known history of ear pathology and/or use of any known ototoxic drugs, with normal otoscopy, audiograms of less than 20dB from 125Hz to 8000Hz and no exposure to loud noise from any source within the previous three days.The sound pressure levels (SPL) delivered by three (3) types of earphones (earbud type, in-ear  type,  supra-aural  type)  were  measured  at  maximum  volume  setting  of  a  personal  media player  (iPod,  Apple  Inc.),  while  playing  different  music  genres. The  test subjects  were  asked  to listen at their preferred listening levels (PLL) using the different types of earphones at increasing background noise accession.
RESULTS: The  earbud  type  averaged  the  greatest  SPL  among  the  earphone  types  and  pop music averaged the greatest SPL among the music styles. Comparison of the maximum output capabilities revealed that there was a significant difference among different brands of earphones of the same type. However, no significant difference were found among songs of similar music style and across different music styles in all earphones except the in-ear type. PLL average was at  90.4dB  in  a  silent  environment  with  increasing  intensity  as  background  noise accentuated. Supra-aural earphones registered the least increase in PLL in a loud environment due to its higher background noise-attenuating capabilities.
CONCLUSION: Having a significant difference among earphone types with regard their maximum output  capabilities,  it  is  recommended  to  check  the  specifications  of  the  earphone  type  one intends  to  use.  In  using  personal  media  players  (PMP),  the  volume  should  be  set  at  the  lowest comfortable  level. While  choice  of  music  style  remains  the  discretion  of  the  listener,  the  choice of  music  style  should  be considered  for  long  periods  of  listening.  Because  the  PLL  of  test subjects  were  alarmingly  high,  the  authors  recommend  intervention in  their  listening  habits.  Background  noise  attenuating  capabilities of earphones  play  a  factor  in  reducing  excessive  sound  energy  from reaching  the  ear  reducing  the  PLL  and  decreasing  the  risk  for  noise-induced hearing loss.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Adolescent ; Mp3-player ; Hearing Loss, Noise-induced ; Noise ; Music ; Malus ; Otoscopy ; Healthy Volunteers ; Hearing Tests ; Hearing ; Auditory Perception ; Sound

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Vitex negundo (lagundi) for the treatment of acute cough of mild to moderate severity among pediatric patients. Methods: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing lagundi to placebo for acute cough of mild to moderate severity in children and adolescents aged two to twenty one years in ambulatory settings was performed. Authors of unpublished clinical trials with existing patent numbers were contacted and permission was obtained to access and include their studies in this review. Results: Seven studies were included, with a total of 308 participants. Lagundi increased the peak exploratory flow rate (PEFR) at the end of therapy compared with placebo but this was not statistically significant (p=0.36). The increase in PEFR was consistent with the results of the mechanistic isolated tissue studies that showed bronchodilating effect of lagundi. Studies using lagundi syrup showed decrease in the frequency of cough by 44–71%. Conclusion Lagundi therapy in acute cough of mild to moderate severity among pediatric patients has a bronchodilating effect and decreases the frequency and duration of coughing, with no serious adverse effects.
Cough