As part of a larger study to bring attention to smoking and smokeless tobacco use among the indigenous people of Sabah State in Malaysia, the Bajaus were interviewed in a cross-sectional survey. 74.4% of the men smoked compared to 3.3% of the women and 77% of women used smokeless tobacco compared to 4.3% of men. Local handrolled cigarettes called kirais were popular and smokeless tobacco was used as an ingredient in the ritual of betel-quid chewing. Tobacco was also used because it was thought to have medicinal effects. The prevalence of smokeless tobacco use was significantly lower among the better educated women but for smoking, education had no relation with prevalence. Both habits could be easily maintained as they were cheap practices which were socially and culturally accepted. Awareness of the adverse effects of such tobacco habits was poor and intervention programs to curb tobacco use is required.
A survey was conducted to document and bring attention to the use of smokeless tobacco among rural Kadazan women in Sabah, East Malaysia. Of the 472 women interviewed, 59.5% had used tobacco among the ingredients that they habitually chewed. Women with low education were more likely to be chewers. The chewing habit was usually acquired during the teenage years and the practice was perceived mainly as a cultural norm. 73.3% of these smokeless tobacco users were unaware of any adverse health effect of this type of tobacco use as compared to 53.9% of the non-tobacco users. The high prevalence of smokeless tobacco use is easily maintained as tobacco is cheap, locally produced and its use is socially accepted. The low level educational status of the women compounds the problem and intervention programs to curb this form of tobacco use is warranted.
A survey conducted to assess the extent which the urban poor in rapidly expanding Kuala Lumpur utilize maternal and child health services available to them. The sample consisted of 1,380 households with children below 6 years and yielded 1,233 children below 6 years of age. 74% of the children had been delivered in government hospitals and 86% of the pregnancies had antenatal care in governmental establishments. 89.2% had BCG immunization before they were 1 year old but 13.3% had not received DPT by that age. Immunization was mainly done in government clinics. The overall immunization coverage for the whole of Kuala Lumpur is expected to be higher than these figures limited to the urban poor. Health planners should increase health facilities in the city to accommodate the expanding population. There is a need to continually campaign for immunization to improve coverage among the urban poor.
Pepsin-solubilized collagen (PSC) was extracted from the body wall of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) (Acanthaster planci) using pepsin digestion in 0.5 M acetic acid. The electrophoretic pattern of PSC showed that it consisted of two α chains (α1 and α2 chains). In addition, the peptide mapping showed that there were some differences in peptide patterns among PSC, calf skin collagen and salmon skin collagen. This suggested that the primary structure of the PSC was different from calf skin collagen and salmon skin collagen. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) investigation showed the existence of triple helical structure in PSC, suggesting that the triple helical structure was well preserved during the extraction of collagen from COTS. The denaturation temperature of PSC was 33.0°C, which was comparable with mammalian collagen. In addition, the amino acid composition analysis showed that the imino acid content of PSC was similar to mammalian collagen but it was higher than other marine collagen. This suggested that the imino acid content might contributed the denaturation temperature of collagen. The results in this study suggest that PSC from the underutilized COTS has potential to be exploited in various commercial applications.
A survey was conducted to document the blood pressures of two indigenous groups (Kadazans and Bajaus) who reside in rural Sabah in East Malaysia. Their health knowledge status is also recorded. Fifty percent of those surveyed were unable to associate high blood pressure with a risk factor and as high as 38% were unaware of the consequences of high blood pressure. A total of 16.2% had blood pressures > or = 140/or 90mm Hg while 3.9% had blood pressures > or = 160/or 95mm Hg. While these figures are low compared to those of developed countries, lifestyle changes associated with rapid urbanization in Malaysia may be expected to increase hypertension prevalence. The strengthening of health education programs is timely as health knowledge is limited and many hypertensives default treatment.
Non-communicable diseases with dietary implications, ischaemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus and cancers of the breast and colon are discussed in relation to their prevalence and mortality rates in peninsular Malaysia during the past few decades. The mortality rate due to diseases of the circulatory system has more than doubled since 1970, deaths due to ischaemic heart disease being the major cause. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus has risen from 0.65% in 1960 to about 4% currently. The mortality risk for both ischaemic heart disease and diabetes is highest in the Indian compared to Malay and Chinese populations. The Chinese show the highest mortality rate for cancers of the breast and colon. This could reflect, partly, because more people especially in the urban areas are seeking treatment and improved diagnosis. Empirical dietary data indicate an increase in the prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia among urban adults and overweight among urban and rural adults. Aggregate data from food balance sheets indicate increased availability of energy intake from fats and oils, sugar, and animal products, with concomitant decline in available energy from plant products. Continued public health education on the important linkage between diet and disease is called for.
AIMS: The study aimed to optimize the growth and evaluate the production of putative dermal bioactives from Lactobacillus rhamnosus FTDC 8313 using response surface methodology, in the presence of divalent metal ions, namely manganese and magnesium.
METHODS AND RESULTS: A central composite design matrix (alpha value of ± 1.414) was generated with two independent factors, namely manganese sulphate (MnSO(4) ) and magnesium sulphate (MgSO(4) ). The second-order regression model indicated that the quadratic model was significant (P < 0.01), suggesting that the model accurately represented the data in the experimental region. Three-dimensional response surfaces predicted an optimum point with maximum growth of 10.59 log(10) CFU ml(-1) . The combination that produced the optimum point was 0.80 mg ml(-1) MnSO(4) and 1.09 mg ml(-1) MgSO(4) . A validation experiment was performed, and data obtained showed a deviation of 0.30% from the predicted value, ascertaining the predictions and the reliability of the regression model used. Effects of divalent metal ions on the production of putative dermal bioactives, namely hyaluronic acid, diacetyl, peptidoglycan, lipoteichoic acid and organic acids in the region of optimized growth, were evaluated using 3D response surfaces generated. Evaluation based on the individual and interaction effects showed that both manganese and magnesium played an important role in the production of these putative bioactives.
CONCLUSIONS: Optimum growth of Lact. rhamnosus FTDC 8313 in reconstituted skimmed milk was achieved at 10.59 log(10) CFU ml(-1) in the presence of MnSO(4) (0.80 mg ml(-1) ) and MgSO(4) (1.09 mg ml(-1) ). Production of putative dermal bioactive and inhibitory compounds including hyaluronic acid, diacetyl, peptidoglycan, lipoteichoic acid and organic acids at the regions of optimized growth showed potential dermal applications.
SIGNIFICANT AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This research can serve as a fundamental study to further evaluate the potential of Lactobacillus strains in non-gut-related roles such as dermal applications.
Soy protein isolate (SPI) gels were produced using single cross-linking agents (SCLA) of microbial transglutaminase (MTG) via incubation for 5 or 24 h (SCLA-MTG). When powdered SCLA-MTG gels were heated for 2 h with ribose (R2) (2 g/100 mL), dark brown gels were formed, and these were designated as combined cross-linking agent (CCLA) gels: MTG5(R2) and MTG24(R2). The results showed that the levels of Maillard-derived browning and cross-links of MTG5(R2) and MTG24(R2) gels were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than a control gel produced without MTG (SCLA-R2) even though the percentage of ribose remaining after heating of these gels was similar, indicating that a similar amount of ribose was consumed during heating. epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)lysine bonds formed during incubation of SPI with MTG may have reduced the free amino group of SPI to take part in the Maillard reaction; nevertheless, ribose took part in the Maillard reaction and initiated the Maillard cross-linkings within the CCLA gels.
The nutritional status of 896 Kadazan children below 6 years of age from 23 villages of Tambunan District were studied. When stunting and wasting were defined as those who were below two standard deviations of height-for-age and weight-for-height (Waterlow et al, 1977) and based on the National Center for Health Statistics reference population, 67.6% of boys and 66.8% of girls were stunted while 12.3% of boys and 8.3% of girls were wasted. Weaning foods and toddler feeding practices were unsatisfactory. The role of health education on child care and feeding practices is emphasized.
This study documents the prevalence of Hepatitis B serological markers among STD patients who have had multiple sexual partners in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and compares the rates with those of a sample of the population with single or no sexual partners. A total of 336 Chinese STD patients (multiple partners group) and 234 Chinese control subjects (non-multiple partner group) were screened. Those with a history of blood transfusion or parenteral drug abuse had been excluded from the study, and all study subjects were heterosexuals. The overall carrier rate was 9.2% for the multiple partner group (MP group) and 6.8% for the non-multiple partner group (NMP group). Infection rates were 64.3% for the MP-group and 38.9% for the NMP group. After adjustments for age and sex, there was no significant difference in carrier rates between the two groups, but infection rates were significantly different with the MP group, being 3.2 times more likely to acquire infection than the NMP group. The study concludes that in heterosexuals, those with multiple sexual partners have increased chances of acquiring HBV infection.
This study aimed to determine the gaps of knowledge and practices of care of neonatal jaundice among Malaysian mothers. It was a cross sectional study of 400 mothers who attended the obstetric clinics or were admitted to the obstetric wards of a general hospital. They were surveyed with a structured set of questionnaire. The results showed that a majority (93.8%) of them knew about neonatal jaundice, and 71.7% knew that jaundice lasting more than 2 weeks was abnormal. However, only 34.3% of them were aware that jaundice appearing during the first 36 hours of life was abnormal. Less than 20% knew about glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency and that fetal-maternal blood group differences could cause jaundice. Although 71.7% and 69.7%, respectively, of the mothers knew that severe jaundice could cause death and brain damage, only 38.4% of them were aware that severe jaundice could result in hearing impairment. A very low proportion (27.1%) of them was aware that putting jaundiced infants under the direct sun could result in dehydration and worsening of jaundice. Out of a maximum score of 15, the mean maternal knowledge score was 7.4 (95% confidence intervals: 7.1, 7.7). Majority (83.1%) of the multiparous mothers with a past history of having children developing neonatal jaundice (n = 154) practiced placing their infants under the direct sun. This study revealed that there was a wide knowledge gap among Malaysian mothers on care of neonatal jaundice. Placing infants under the direct sun was still a common practice.
Study site: Obstetric clinic, Hospital Tuanku Jaafar, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia