Advertising as Topic ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Singapore ; Smoking Cessation ; methods ; Smoking Prevention ; Social Marketing ; Television

Objective: To investigate the rates on prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in population older than 15 years of age in Beijing, 2013-2014. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Beijing between 2013-2014. Stratified multistage random sampling method was used to select representative sample of 13 057 Chinese individuals aged over 15 years, from the general population. Blood pressure was measured for three readings at sitting position after resting for at least five minutes with an average reading recorded. A standardized structured questionnaire was developed to collect history of hypertension and antihypertensive treatment. Results: A total of 4 663 community residents aged over 15 years were hypertensive among the 13 057 individuals, with the standardized prevalence rate as 32.7%, in Beijing area. The age-standardized prevalence rates of hypertension appeared 34.6% in men and 30.8% in women. The age-and sexstandardized prevalence of hypertension rates were 33.3% in urban and 24.6% in rural areas. The prevalence of hypertension increased with age and appeared higher in men than in women, in urban than in rural residents. Among the hypertensive patients, rates of awareness, treatment and control were 66.8%, 64.6% and 31.6%, respectively. Conclusion: High prevalence of hypertension with low rates on awareness and treatment and control, appeared in the general population of Beijing. Related strategies should be developed regarding prevention, control and management of hypertension, to reduce the burden of this disease.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use* ; Asian People/statistics & numerical data* ; Awareness ; Blood Pressure ; Blood Pressure Determination ; China/epidemiology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Hypertension/epidemiology* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Rural Population ; Sex Distribution ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Urban Population ; Young Adult

INTRODUCTIONDuring cataract surgery under regional (retrobulbar, peribulbar or sub- Tenon's) or topical anaesthesia, many patients experience a variety of visual sensations in their operated eye intraoperatively. Between 3% and 16.2% of patients are frightened by their intraoperative visual experiences, which may increase the risk of intraoperative complications and affect patients' satisfaction with the surgery. This study aims to determine optometry students' beliefs and knowledge of visual sensations experienced by patients during cataract surgery under regional and topical anaesthesia.

MATERIALS AND METHODSA nationwide survey of all Malaysian optometry students using a standardised, self-administered questionnaire.

RESULTSAll 129 optometry students participated in the survey, giving a 100% response rate. Overall, 26.4% and 29.5% of the students believed that patients undergoing cataract surgery under regional and topical anaesthesia, respectively, may experience no light perception, while 78.3% and 72.9%, respectively, thought that patients would experience light perception. Many respondents also believed that patients might experience a variety of other visual sensations. Of all respondents, 70.5% and 74.4% of students believed that patients undergoing cataract surgery under regional and topical anaesthesia, respectively, may be frightened by their visual experience and 93.0% and 85.3%, respectively, felt that preoperative counselling might help to alleviate this fear.

CONCLUSIONMany optometry students are aware that patients might encounter a variety of visual sensations during cataract surgery under local anaesthesia. A high proportion of students believe that patients may experience fear as a result of the intraoperative visual sensations and felt that preoperative counselling would be helpful.

Adult ; Anesthesia, Conduction ; Cataract Extraction ; psychology ; Counseling ; Fear ; Female ; Humans ; Intraoperative Period ; Malaysia ; Male ; Optometry ; education ; Sensation ; Visual Perception

INTRODUCTIONType 2 diabetes mellitus is of increasing healthcare concern worldwide, with incidence rising, complications leading to significant morbidity and mortality, posing strain on public healthcare funding. Health-related quality of life of diabetic patients is increasingly being recognised as "the ultimate goal of all health interventions". The aim of our study was to identify the quality of life predictors of diabetic patients in primary care. This study was conducted in 8 public primary care polyclinics from SingHealth Polyclinics.

MATERIALS AND METHODSWe carried out a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey on 699 diabetic patients, administered by medical students on a systematic sample of patients during their routine visit. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics as predictors of quality of life, measured by the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and the EQ-5D self-report questionnaire.

RESULTSHigher quality of life in diabetic patients is associated with younger age, male gender, employed status, higher educational level and exercise. Lower quality of life is associated with comorbidities and diabetic complications. Short-term glycaemic control as measured by HbA1c did not correlate with quality of life. Most interestingly, confidence in doctor and satisfaction in clinic were related to better quality of life.

CONCLUSIONHealth-related quality of life is adversely associated with symptomatic complications of diabetes mellitus, but not with short-term diabetic control. This suggests that the diabetic patient may not appreciate the impact of good diabetic control immediately on his or her health-related quality of life. More effort should be invested into patient education of the importance of glycaemic control to prevent these long-term complications.

Analysis of Variance ; Body Mass Index ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diabetes Complications ; prevention & control ; psychology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; prevention & control ; psychology ; Female ; Glycated Hemoglobin A ; analysis ; Health Status ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Primary Health Care ; Psychometrics ; Quality of Life ; Singapore ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Time Factors

Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; Blindness ; rehabilitation ; Bonding, Human-Pet ; Culture ; Dogs ; Humans ; Locomotion ; Singapore

INTRODUCTIONTo report the sequential changes in corneal topography and astigmatism following limited macular translocation. CLINICAL PICTURE AND TREATMENT: A 45-year-old-man who underwent limited macular translocation for idiopathic subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation in the right eye was evaluated by corneal topography and manifest refraction preoperatively and serially for 1 year postoperatively.

OUTCOMEAn increase in astigmatism with corneal steepening along meridians corresponding to the area of chorioscleral infolding was observed and this persisted for 1 year after surgery. Vector-analysed astigmatic change showed significant surgically induced astigmatism of 2.18 dioptres (D) X 52.9 degrees, 2.17 D X 57.8 degrees and 2.56 D X 59.1 degrees at 2, 5 and 12 months after surgery respectively.

CONCLUSIONSurgically induced corneal changes are evident after limited macular translocation and may remain up to 1 year after surgery.

Astigmatism ; etiology ; Choroidal Neovascularization ; surgery ; Corneal Diseases ; etiology ; Corneal Topography ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures ; adverse effects

Posttraumatic tremor is often one of the causes of disability in head injury patients. Usually, pharmacotherapy for this type of tremor is not effective. Since early 1970s, surgical ablation of the ventral thalamus has been used to treat various types of tremor. Nowadays, deep brain stimulation (DBS) confirms its efficacy in alleviating different forms of tremor, including posttraumatic tremor. Such therapy has been reported achieving around 80% success rate in the treatment of posttraumatic tremor. These successful results suggest that the application of DBS therapy can be considered as one of the alternative treatments for minimizing the tremor occurring from different pathologies.
Adult ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; complications ; Deep Brain Stimulation ; methods ; Electrodes ; Humans ; Male ; Tremor ; therapy

Humans ; Ophthalmology ; Practice Patterns, Physicians' ; Retinal Diseases ; therapy ; Singapore

Aged ; Cardiac Catheters ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Coronary Restenosis ; therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paclitaxel ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; instrumentation ; Stents ; Treatment Outcome ; Tubulin Modulators ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo investigate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its signaling pathway spontaneous response in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) mice to surgery-induced hind-limb ischemia.

METHODSSixty mice were randomly divided into two groups, one was fed with normal chow as control, and another was fed with high fat diet to induce T2DM. Fourteen weeks later, mice were surgically induced to hind-limb ischemia. Blood flow restoration was monitored with laser Doppler perfusion imaging. Tibialis anterior muscle was collected after 3 days of hind-limb ischemia. VEGF mRNA and protein expressions were analyzed using real-time PCR and ELISA; expressions of VEGF downstream signal molecules and receptors were analyzed using Western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively.

RESULTSPerfusion recovery 10, 20, 30 days after ischemia was significantly attenuated in T2DM compared with control group (P < 0.05). T2DM impaired VEGF signaling pathway although VEGF levels increased in T2DM group. After ischemia, T2DM group had a comparable increase in VEGF expression compared with control group, but still had an impaired VEGF signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONVEGF signaling pathway is abnormal in T2DM mice, although VEGF had a response to the ischemic stimulation.

Animals ; Base Sequence ; Blotting, Western ; DNA Primers ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; pathology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hindlimb ; blood supply ; Ischemia ; pathology ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Polymerase Chain Reaction