Glucocorticoids ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic ; therapy

OBJECTIVESThe purposes of this study are to investigate and analyze the status of reproductive tract infections (RTIs) in married women in rural western China, and to develop effective strategies for improving the ability of married women to prevent RTIs in this region.

METHODSWe conducted in-depth interviews of 142 married women from four villages in three townships. Two questionnaires were used to gather data on married women's health care status, family income, knowledge about RTIs, relevant behaviors, and attitudes toward RTIs. Descriptive, parallel, and logistic regression analyses and the Chi-square test were applied to analyze the relationships between basic conditions and several influential factors.

RESULTSOver 80% of the respondents were of limited income and had with poor knowledge of and a lack of experience in preventing RTIs. Some 83.3% of the married women had experienced menstrual irregularities; 70.3% of those interviewed had experienced malodorous vaginal discharge with or without perineal itching. It was found that 80.7% of the interviewees did not have good personal hygiene habits in daily living regarding RTIs. It was found that the prevalence of RTIs was lower in women who had accurate information about RTIs. Most married women lacked basic knowledge of ways to prevent RTIs, and this, together with the limited support of the health care system and the absence of medical insurance schemes, was responsible for the observed high prevalence of RTIs.

CONCLUSIONSThere is an urgent need to improve the capability of married women in rural China to prevent RTIs, and it is important to find effective ways to prevent these diseases. Three health promotion strategies are presently being implemented to prevent RTIs and to build capacity for disease prevention among married women in rural western China.

AIMTo evaluate the hemodynamic effects of aminophylline and nifedipine in patients with HAPE.

METHODS10 patients with HAPE undergone Swan-Ganz catheter. The parameters of hemodynamics and arterial blood gases in HAPE were measured before and after administration of nifedipine 20 mg sublingually and aminophylline 0.25 g intravenously respectively.

RESULTSAfter administering 0.25 g aminophylline the mPAP and PVR significantly decreased, the cardiac output and the level of PaO2, SaO2 increased obviously, the mSAP, HR did not change so much. After using 20 mg nifedipine, the mPAP, PVR and mSAP also decreased, while the cardiac output, HR and the level of PaO2, SaO2 did not show any changes.

CONCLUSIONBoth of aminophylline and nifedipine can attenuate pulmonary hypertension in patients with HAPE, but the effect of aminophylline was better than the effect of nifedipine.

Adult ; Altitude ; Altitude Sickness ; drug therapy ; Aminophylline ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; drug therapy ; Male ; Nifedipine ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome