Prostate-specific antigen levels among Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore from a community-based study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the distribution of prostate-specific antigen levels among Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore, taking the effect of age into consideration. The study was carried out as part of the Singapore Prostate Awareness Week from 23-26th February 2004. Men above 50 years old went to four government-restructured hospitals to participate in the study. Participants filled up a questionnaire and provided 5 ml of blood for measurement of PSA levels using the Abbott IMx Total PSA assay (Abbott Laboratories). 3,486 men responded to the study, comprising 92.8% Chinese, 3.0% Malays, 2.5% Indians and 1.8% Others. 92.7% of them had PSA levels of 4 microg/L or less. There were no significant differences (p<0.05) between the mean PSA levels of Chinese (1.60 microg/L), Malays (1.39 microg/L), Indians (1.23 microg/L) and Others (1.70 microg/L). PSA levels were significantly associated with age (Spearman's r= 0.27, p<0.01). PSA levels increased with each 10-year age group and these trends were significant (p<0.0001) across both PSA group levels and age groupings. In the <or=50 and >50-60 years age groups, the prevalence of PSA levels >4 mug/L were 1.1% and 3.7% respectively. This rose rapidly to 11.3% and 23.5% for age groups >60-70 and >80 years respectively. Our study shows that the median PSA levels in the Caucasian population in the USA are higher than those of Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore. PSA levels were positively associated with age. It may be more appropriate to offer PSA testing to men who are >60 years old rather than the current >50 years.

Estudo comparativo cego com cefuroxima e cefaclor no tratamento das infecçöes das vias respiratórias inferiores / Blind comparative study with cefuroxime and ceflacor in the treatment of the inferior duct respiratory infections

A acetil cefuroxima foi comparada ao cefaclor no tratamento de infecçöes das vias respiratórias inferiores. Sessenta e um paciente foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em três grupos e se submeteram aos seguintes esquemas pososlógicos: (1) axetil cefuroxima, 250 mg por via oral cada 12 horas (21 pacientes); (2) axetil cefuroxima, 500 mg por via oral cada 12 horas (21 pacientes); 3 (3) cefaclor, 500 mg por via oral cada oito horas (19 pacientes). Desses 61 pacientes, 80 por cento eram homens, com idade média de 59,5 anos; 56 por cento apresentavam pneumonia aguda enquanto o restante tinha bronquite aguda. Os patógenos causais incluíram patógenos típicos do trato respiratório. Em suma 23 de 27 pacientes com bronquite estavam clinicamente curados ao se concluído o tratamento. Trinta e um dos 34 casos de pneumonia foram clinicamente curados ou melhoraram ao término da terapia; as três falhas terapêuticas em pacientes com pneumonia ocorreram nos grupos tratados com a menor dose cefuroxima (n=2) e de cefaclor (n=1). De modo geral, houve cura bacteriológica em 86 por cento dos pacientes tratados com 500mg de axetil cefuroxima em comparaçäo com 60 por cento dos pacientes que receberam tratamento com cefaclor. Os efeitos adversos foram raros. Baseando-se neste estudo, concluiu-se que a axetil cefuroxima, administrada cada 12 horas, é pelo menos, täo eficaz quanto o cefaclor em termos clínicos; trata-se de uma nova cefalosporina oral que, em comparaçäo com muitos outros agentes mais antigos, apresenta vantagens farmacológicas e de espectro antibacteriano