METHODS: Following a single day capacity building program on smokeless tobacco / areca nut control, two self-administered questionnaires were used to assess the improvement of knowledge and change of attitudes among 663 GDPs.
RESULTS: Majority had a good knowledge on harmful effects of SLT but not on areca nut. Knowledge of the current legislation on SLT control in Sri Lanka and carcinogenicity of areca nut was not satisfactory. Almost all agreed that proper counseling leads to patient quitting the habit, a formal training is necessary to conduct tobacco control activities and it should be a part of the regular treatment modalities. More than 80% of the participants support strict legislation. Most important factors leading to poor involvement in tobacco cessation activities were lack of expertise and inadequate educational material and not breach of patient privacy and lack of financial incentives. 20.1% dental surgeons had consumed smokeless tobacco / areca nut products in the past and only a few were current users of tobacco and/or areca nut.
CONCLUSIONS: Well planned workshops are efficient in improving knowledge, practices and attitudes of dental surgeons towards SLT/AN cessation.
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METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: A case-control study was conducted involving 57 acne vulgaris patients and 57 age-, gender- and ethnicity-matched controls. All participants were aged 14 and above. The Comprehensive Acne Severity Scale (CASS) was used to categorise patients (grades 2 to 5) and controls (grades 0 to 1). Information such as the demographics, family history, smoking habits and dietary intake were collected using a self-administered questionnaire.
RESULTS: In the patient arm, the gender ratio of male to female was 1.5:1. 43 patients (75.4%) had a family history of acne vulgaris. No significant association was found for acne in patients with a history of smoking. Milk consumption was significantly higher in patients (63.2%, n=36) versus controls (43.9%, n=25), (OR=2.19, p<0.05). In addition, chocolate consumption was also significantly higher in patients (43.9%, n=25) versus controls (24.6%, n=14), (OR=2.4, p<0.05). No significant association was found with the intakes of sweets, potatoes, chips, nuts, yoghurt, ice-cream or carbonated drinks.
CONCLUSIONS: Dietary intake of milk and chocolate may play a role in acne vulgaris. Prospective cohort and intervention studies are recommended to explore whether a causal relationship might obtain.
METHODS: This study includes 373,293 men and women, 25-70 years old, recruited between 1992 and 2000 from 10 European countries in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Habitual intake of nuts including peanuts, together defined as nut intake, was estimated from country-specific validated dietary questionnaires. Body weight was measured at recruitment and self-reported 5 years later. The association between nut intake and body weight change was estimated using multilevel mixed linear regression models with center/country as random effect and nut intake and relevant confounders as fixed effects. The relative risk (RR) of becoming overweight or obese after 5 years was investigated using multivariate Poisson regressions stratified according to baseline body mass index (BMI).
RESULTS: On average, study participants gained 2.1 kg (SD 5.0 kg) over 5 years. Compared to non-consumers, subjects in the highest quartile of nut intake had less weight gain over 5 years (-0.07 kg; 95% CI -0.12 to -0.02) (P trend = 0.025) and had 5% lower risk of becoming overweight (RR 0.95; 95% CI 0.92-0.98) or obese (RR 0.95; 95% CI 0.90-0.99) (both P trend <0.008).
CONCLUSIONS: Higher intake of nuts is associated with reduced weight gain and a lower risk of becoming overweight or obese.
METHODS: The Areca catechu nut collected from Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia was grounded into powder and used for Soxhlet extraction. The chemical analysis of the extracts and their structures were identified using the GCMS-QP2010 Ultra (Shimadzu) system. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Chemistry WebBook, Standard Reference Database 69 (https://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/) and PubChem (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), the two databases used to retrieve the synonyms, molecular formula, molecular weight, and 2-dimensional (2D) structure of chemical compounds. Next, following WHO procedures for larval bioassays, the extracts were used to asses larvicidal activity against early 4th instar larvae of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
RESULTS: The larvicidal activities were observed against early 4th stage larvae with different concentrations in the range from 200 mg/L to 1600 mg/L. The LC50 and LC95 of Aedes aegypti were 621 mg/L and 2264 mg/L respectively; whereas the LC50 and LC95 of Aedes albopictus were 636 mg/L and 2268 mg/L respectively. Mortality was not observed in the non-target organism test. The analysis using gas chromatography and mass spectrometer recovered several chemical compounds such as Arecaidine, Dodecanoic acid, Methyl tetradecanoate, Tetradecanoic acid , and n-Hexadecanoic acid bioactive components. These chemical constituents were used as additive formulations in pesticides, pest control, insect repellent, and insecticidal agents.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed significant outcomes from the extract of Areca catechu nut and it deserves further investigation in relation to chemical components and larvicidal actions between different species of Aedes mosquitoes. Even though all these findings are fundamental, it may have some interesting potentials to be developed as natural bio-larvicidal products.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of nuts with mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
METHODS: The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology study is a large multinational prospective cohort study of adults aged 35-70 y from 16 low-, middle-, and high-income countries on 5 continents. Nut intake (tree nuts and ground nuts) was measured at the baseline visit, using country-specific validated FFQs. The primary outcome was a composite of mortality or major cardiovascular event [nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or heart failure].
RESULTS: We followed 124,329 participants (age = 50.7 y, SD = 10.2; 41.5% male) for a median of 9.5 y. We recorded 10,928 composite events [deaths (n = 8,662) or major cardiovascular events (n = 5,979)]. Higher nut intake (>120 g per wk compared with <30 g per mo) was associated with a lower risk of the primary composite outcome of mortality or major cardiovascular event [multivariate HR (mvHR): 0.88; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.96; P-trend = 0.0048]. Significant reductions in total (mvHR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.69, 0.87; P-trend <0.0001), cardiovascular (mvHR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.56, 0.92; P-trend = 0.048), and noncardiovascular mortality (mvHR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.96; P-trend = 0.0046) with a trend to reduced cancer mortality (mvHR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.65, 1.00; P-trend = 0.081) were observed. No significant associations of nuts were seen with major CVD (mvHR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.81, 1.02; P-trend = 0.14), stroke (mvHR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.84, 1.14; P-trend = 0.76), or MI (mvHR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.72, 1.04; P-trend = 0.29).
CONCLUSIONS: Higher nut intake was associated with lower mortality risk from both cardiovascular and noncardiovascular causes in low-, middle-, and high-income countries.