Message from discussion
Awful recurring Urinary Tract infections
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From: "Steve Harris" <sbhar...@ix.RETICULATEDOBJECTcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Awful recurring Urinary Tract infections
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 14:26:39 -0700
Organization: MindSpring Enterprises
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References: <bhe61f$ae0$1@slb3.atl.mindspring.net> <20030813162812.13267.00001385@mb-m10.aol.com>
Reply-To: "Steve Harris" <sbhar...@ix.RETICULATEDOBJECTcom.com>
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"doe" <ironjust...@aol.comdoe> wrote in message
news:20030813162812.13267.00001385@mb-m10.aol.com...
> >Subject: Re: Awful recurring Urinary Tract infections
> >From: "Steve Harris" sbhar...@ix.RETICULATEDOBJECTcom.com
> >Date: 8/13/2003 2:09 PM Mountain Daylight Time
> >Message-id: <bhe61f$ae...@slb3.atl.mindspring.net>
> >
> >
> >"doe" <ironjust...@aol.comdoe> wrote in message
> >news:20030813160250.13267.00001381@mb-m10.aol.com...
> >. and the fact malaria has become endemic in areas in
> >> which you and your cohorts have supplemented the people
> >with iron doesn't make
> >> you murderers .. does it .. eh ..
> >
> >
> >What new areas is malaria "endemic in" now, that it
wasn't
> >always endemic?
>
> Seems endemic in and wasn't always .. hasn't been
addressed ..
Well, so much for your theory.
>
> PARASITOLOGY ... Study Confirms Iron Supplements
Increase Malaria
> Parasite Development
>
> Study Confirms Iron Supplements Increase Malaria Parasite
Development
>
>
>
> Iron overload in mice increases the hepatic development
of malaria
> parasites.
>
> The finding might explain why malaria was made worse in
endemic
> regions where iron supplementation was implemented,
suggested J. Goma,
> INSERM, Paris, France, and colleagues ("Iron Overload
Increases
> Hepatic Development of Plasmodium yoelii in Mice,"
Parasitology,
> 1996;112:165-168).
COMMENT:
Oh, I see. Your assertion is based on completely data-free
blue sky hypothesizing from some guy who did one study in
MICE.
Whereas the contrary evidence that iron supplementation is
good for African children in malaria epidemic areas comes
from scientists who actually fed iron to such children, and
*directly* observed the increase in health (motor and mental
development).
As I said, you're a complete moron.
December 15, 2001
IRON SUPPLEMENTS HELP AFRICAN CHILDREN LEARN TO WALK AND
TALK
Study Highlight Severely Anemic Children Not Detected in
Malaria-endemic African Communities
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health, working with the Ministry of Health of Zanzibar,
found that iron supplementation improved motor and language
development in rural African preschoolers, while an
anti-helminth (worm) treatment had a slight but
non-significant positive effect on both motor and language
development. The study, which appeared in the December 15,
2001, issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), was the
first published investigation of the effects of geohelminth
infections on the development of preschool children, and the
first study of iron and early child development in Africa.
Iron deficiency anemia is associated with developmental
delays that lead to poor performance on scales of mental and
motor development among infants and toddlers, as well as on
tests of intelligence and cognitive function among preschool
and school-age children. The study was carried out in a
population exposed to numerous health risks, including
widespread malnutrition and infection by Plasmodium
falciparum (the cause of the most serious form of malaria)
and by geohelminths (worms). In addition, the anemia
suffered by the children in the study was more severe than
that of children in any other similar published study.
"Our results highlight the presence of severely anemic
children in malaria-endemic African communities who are not
detected by the current health care system, and who appear
to be at significant developmental risk," said lead author
Rebecca Stoltzfus, PhD, an associate professor of
international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Health. "Nearly one third of apparently healthy
toddlers in this community were severely anemic. Before
intervention, children with severe anemia showed distinct
delays in both gross motor and language milestones for their
age, and daily oral iron syrup helped to correct those
deficits."
In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial,
614 children in Pemba Island, Zanzibar, were randomly assign
ed to receive over a 12-month period either a daily oral
iron supplement or a placebo. During the same year, these
children also received quarterly doses of either an
anti-worm medication, mebendazole, or a placebo. Motor and
language development were assessed at baseline and at the
end of the experiment by using parents' reports of whether a
child had reached certain age-appropriate gross motor and
language milestones.
At the study's beginning and one year later, blood was
collected to determine levels of hemoglobin, iron, and
erythrocyte protoporphyrin (a precursor of hemoglobin), as
well as the numbers of malaria parasites. Before and after
the intervention, the numbers of helminth eggs were
determined from the children's fecal samples.
Iron supplementation. Younger children benefitted most from
iron. Iron supplementation significantly improved iron
status in the children but the supplement's effect on
hemoglobin levels was small in all but the most severely
anemic children. Iron improved motor and language
development, although iron's effect on motor development was
limited to the most anemic children with very low baseline
hemoglobin.
Language scores at baseline were strongly related to both
hemoglobin and erythrocyte protoporphyrin, and iron
supplementation improved language development significantly
across a wide range of baseline hemoglobin concentrations.
These findings suggest that iron supplementation has
important benefits for children even if other important
causes of anemia, such as malaria, are not corrected.
Mebendazole therapy. Before intervention, infections by
worms were common but moderate. At baseline these infections
were not associated with baseline motor or language scores.
Those children who received mebendazole for one year had
slightly better developmental scores for both motor skills
and language, but these effects were small and did not
approach statistical significance. This could mean that
worms don't affect children's development. But it may also
be true that the developmental assessments used were not
sufficiently sensitive, or that mebendazole did not
completely treat all the worms. As expected, mebendazole
significantly reduced infections by Ascaris lumbricoides
(roundworm) and Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) infections
but not of hookworms.
The authors emphasized that determining the optimal
treatment and follow-regimen for severely anemic children is
a high priority for future research. "Although the best
dose and duration remains to be clarified, long-term
treatment with oral iron may be an important component in
the optimal treatment and follow-up of severely anemic
children, " said Stoltzfus.
Support for this study was provided by the Thrasher Research
Fun, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and AL
Pharma, Inc.
Co-authors of this report: Jane D. Kvalsvig, PhD, director,
Child Development Programme, University of Natal, Durban,
South Africa; Hababu M. Chwaya, MD, PhD, director of
preventive services, Ministry of Health, Zanzibar, Tanzania;
Antonio Montresor, MD, medical officer, Parasitic Diseases
and Vector Control, World Health Organization, Geneva,
Switzerland; Marco Albonico, MD, scientific secretary, Ivo
de Carneri Foundation, Milan, Italy; James M. Tielsch, PhD,
professor, International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md., USA; Lorenzo
Savioli, MD, coordinator, Parasitic Diseases and Vector
Control, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland;
Ernesto Pollitt, PhD, professor, Human Development and
Behavior Research, Department of Pediatrics, School of
Medicine, University of California at Davis, USA.
Public Affairs Media Contact:
Tim Parsons @ 410.955.6878 or paffa...@jhsph.edu
http://www.jhsph.edu/Press_Room/Press_Releases/iron_suppl.ht
ml
