Reducing salt in bread: a quasi-experimental feasibility study in a bakery in Lima, Peru

Objectives: To explore salt content in bread and to evaluate the feasibility of reducing salt contained in ‘pan francés’ bread. Design: The study had two phases. Phase 1, an exploratory phase, involved the estimation of salt contained in bread as well as a triangle taste test to establish the amount of salt to be reduced in ‘pan francés’ bread without detection by consumers. In Phase 2, a quasi-experimental, pre–post intervention study assessed the effects of the introduction of low-salt bread on bakery sales. Setting: A municipal bakery in Miraflores, Lima, Peru. Subjects: Sixty-five clients of the bakery in Phase 1 of the study; sales to usual costumers in Phase 2. Results: On average, there was 1·25 g of salt per 100 g of bread. Sixty-five consumers were enrolled in the triangle taste test: fifty-four (83·1 %) females, mean age 58·9 (SD 13·7) years. Based on taste, bread samples prepared with salt reductions of 10 % (P = 0·82) and 20 % (P =0·37) were not discernible from regular bread. The introduction of bread with 20 % of salt reduction, which contained 1 g of salt per 100 g of bread, did not change sales of ‘pan francés’ (P=0·70) or other types of bread (P =0·36). Results were consistent when using different statistical techniques. Conclusions: The introduction of bread with a 20 % reduction in salt is feasible without affecting taste or bakery sales. Results suggest that these interventions are easily implementable, with the potential to contribute to larger sodium reduction strategies impacting the population’s cardiovascular health.
Source: Public Health Nutrition
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/555477

Atypical presentation of Gorham-Stout syndrome. Case report

Gorham-Stout syndrome is an extremely rare pathology, of unknown etiology. It is characterized by proliferation of vascular channels that causes destruction and reabsorption of the bone matrix. We present a nine year-old male patient with an acute episode characterized by fever, chest pain, respiratory distress and dyspnea. The patient was submitted to computed tomography scan and a biopsy. The findings in the biopsy were multiple lytic lesions, osteolysis, and a mediastinal lymphangioma (lymphangiomatosis). The diagnosis was Gorham-Stout syndrome with atypical presentation.
Source: Archivos argentinos de pediatría 
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/555429

Pediatric musculoskeletal disorders: Inclusion of Manual Therapy

Sr. Editor

Nos es grato saludarle. Hemos leído con sumo interés la carta: Prevención de dolor lumbar en niños en etapa escolar,¹ ya que nos parece de vital importancia el trabajo interdisciplinario en la prevención y atención primaria de estas disfunciones, por ende las felicitaciones del caso por la propuesta y las ideas planteadas.

De tal manera creemos importante abordar esta temática ya que las disfunciones musculoesqueléticas son un problema frecuente en la salud pública, siendo uno de los principales motivos por el que se solicita asistencia sanitaria, siendo la prevalencia en niños y adolescentes comparable a la de adultos,² además de añadir que varios autores han informado que el dolor de espalda, consecuencia de estas disfunciones, en la infancia y adolescencia se asocia con dolor de espalda en un futuro.²

Por lo antes mencionado, brindamos una alternativa, que vendría a ser la Terapia Manual Ortopédica, ya que viene brindando mucha eficacia en el abordaje de estas disfunciones, además no solo en estas, sino también en disfunciones de diversos sistemas.² Esta especialidad de la Fisioterapia y/o Kinesiología, establece un parámetro básico y de suma importancia que es el razonamiento clínico, cuya principal premisa es el abordaje biopsicosocial del paciente,³ este se refiere al manejo integral de la disfunción y las causas que llevaron a esta, es decir, que no solo brinda un análisis de la zona disfuncional sino que analiza todos los factores biomecánicos implícitos en esta, analizando concienzudamente las estructuras y diseñando un plan específico para la función que realiza el paciente, siendo principalmente en esta población la relación entre la postura en sedente y el mobiliario escolar (mesa y silla).¹

Esta propuesta de abordaje en pacientes pediátricos y adolescentes, está recibiendo mayor atención en esta última década, tenemos además demonografías y comentarios, muchas ideas presentadas en publicaciones que tratan esta temática⁵ y su consecuente trabajo interdisciplinario, orientado siempre a mejorar los abordajes en pos del paciente.

Por consiguiente, el trabajo de atención primaria del Pediatra con el Fisioterapeuta de la especialidad, sería bastante benéfico para el paciente y sus implicancias a largo plazo tales como las disfunciones posturales y su consecuente dolor músculo esquelético, pudiendo lograr una educación adecuada del paciente, familiares y su entorno, fomentando la prevención de disfunciones mas complejas y degenerativas en los pacientes pediátricos, trayendo así cambios a mediano y largo en la salud pública de su país.

Fuente: Archivos argentinos de pediatría

URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/555444

An unidentified cluster of infection in the Peruvian Amazon region

Introduction: Bartonella bacilliformis is the etiological agent of Carrion’s disease, which is a neglected disease linked to people in low-socioeconomic populations in Andean valleys. An outbreak of B. bacilliformis was reported in a rural area of the Peruvian Amazon region. The aim of this study was to characterize this outbreak using molecular techniques. Methodology: Fifty-three blood samples from patients diagnosed with Carrion’s disease were analyzed by molecular tools, using both a Bartonella-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and an universal PCR, both based on 16S rRNA gene amplification. Additional water samples from the area were also analyzed. Results: Unexpectedly, the samples were positive only when the universal PCR was used. Although environmental contamination cannot be ruled out, the results showed that Sphingomonas faeni was the possible causative agent of this outbreak, and that water was the most feasible infection source. Conclusions: Diagnosis by clinical criteria or microscopy may lead to misdiagnosis. There is a need to include molecular tools in the routine diagnosis of febrile syndromes, including Carrion’s disease.
Source: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/555445

Prevalence of ideal cardiovascular health in Peru: The cronicas cohort study

Background: American Heart Association 2020 Impact Goal focuses on promotion of health and control of cardiovascular risk. We aimed to determine the prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Peru. Methods: Ideal Cardiovascular Health is the presence of 3 ideal health factors (untreated total cholesterol <200 mg/dL, untreated blood pressure <120/ <80 mm Hg, and untreated fasting plasma glucose <100 mg/dL) and 4 ideal health behaviors (never smoker, body mass index <25 kg/m2, high physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption >3 times/day). Data from the CRONICAS longitudinal study, an age-and-sex stratified random sample of participants aged 35 years or older in four Peruvian settings. Results: 3058 of 3618 (84.5%) of the CRONICAS cohort participants had complete information for analysis. Figure 1 shows the agestandardized prevalence estimates of ideal, intermediate and poor health metrics. No one had all 7 metrics; only 48 (15.7%) had 6 ideal health metrics and 650 (21.3%) had ≤ 1 ideal health metric. Compared to urban Lima, living in rural Puno was associated with more Ideal Cardiovascular Health (OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.49-2.91) and rural Tumbes was less ideal (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.39-0.76) after adjusting for sex, age, education and wealth index. Conclusion: There is an alarmingly low prevalence of Ideal Cardiovascular Health in Peru and the metrics with the greatest potential for improvement are health behaviors, including diet quality, physical activity and body weight.
Source: The Journal of the American College of Cardiology
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/555446