Early child growth: how do nutrition and infection interact?

It is well known that the relationship between child nutrition and infection is bidirectional, i.e. frequent illness can impair nutritional status and poor nutrition can increase the risk of infection. What is less clear is whether infection reduces the effectiveness of nutrition interventions or, vice versa, whether malnutrition lessens the impact of infection control strategies. The objective of this paper is to review the evidence regarding this interaction between nutrition and infection with respect to child growth in low-income populations. Even when there are no obvious symptoms, physiological conditions associated with infections can impair growth by suppressing appetite, impairing absorption of nutrients, increasing nutrient losses and diverting nutrients away from growth. However, there is little direct evidence that nutrition interventions are less effective when infection is common; more research is needed on this question. On the other hand, evidence from four intervention trials suggests that the adverse effects of certain infections (e.g. diarrhoea) on growth can be reduced or eliminated by improving nutrition. Interventions that combine improved nutrition with prevention and control of infections are likely to be most effective for enhancing child growth and development.

Evaluation of Thyroid Nodules.

This is a brief overview of the initial workup of patients with thyroid nodules. Most nodules are incidentally discovered, benign, and do not require surgery, but the clinician's job is to determine which nodules are concerning and what the appropriate workup should be. Ultrasound examination is the best imaging modality to evaluation thyroid nodules and, when biopsy is indicated, fine needle aspiration is the proper technique to sample thyroid nodules.

National analysis of testicular and scrotal trauma in the USA.

BACKGROUND: To provide a descriptive analysis of scrotal and testicular trauma in the USA. Additionally, we hypothesized that motorcycle collision would have a higher association with scrotal or testicular trauma and subsequent scrotal or testicular operation, compared to a bicycle collision. METHODS: The National Trauma Data Bank (2007-2015) was queried to identify adult male patients with scrotal or testicular trauma. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 8,030 patients (0.23%) had scrotal/testicular injury, with 44.6% involved in blunt trauma. A penetrating mechanism occurred in 50.5% of cases, with assault by firearm (75.8%) being the most common. The median age of the patients was 31 years and the median injury severity score was 8. Most had isolated scrotal or testicular trauma (74.5%), with 48.3% requiring scrotal or testicular operation, most commonly repair of laceration (37.3%). Patients involved in a motorcycle collision had higher risk for scrotal/testicular trauma (OR=5.40, CI=4.40-6.61, p=0.0004) and subsequent scrotal/testicular surgery (OR=4.93, CI=3.82-6.36, p=0.0005), compared to bicycle collision. CONCLUSION: Scrotal or testicular trauma is rare but occurs most commonly after assault by firearm. Most patients only have isolated scrotal or testicular trauma, but nearly half require subsequent scrotal or testicular operation. Trauma patients presenting after a motorcycle collision have a higher association of scrotal or testicular trauma and subsequent surgery when compared to those involved in a bicycle collision.

Bacteruria and Urinary Tract Infections in the Elderly.

Both urinary tract infection (UTI) and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) are common problems among elderly adults and represent a significant health care burden. Despite their frequency, differentiating between ASB and true UTI remains controversial among health care providers. Several challenges exist in the evaluation of urinary symptoms in the elderly patient. Symptoms of UTI are variable; problems are encountered in the collection, testing, and interpretation of urine specimens; and results of urinalysis are often misinterpreted and mishandled. Multiple studies have shown no morbidity or mortality benefit to antibiotic therapy in either community or long-term care facility residents with ASB.