role of tea drinking in infants anemia

To evaluate the effect of tea drinking on the occurrence of microcytic anemia in infants, 98 healthy infants who underwent routine blood counts at the age of 6-12 months were studied. An overall high frequency of anemia [Hb < 11 gm/dl-83.7%], microcytosis [MCV < 70 mu3-14.3%] and microcytic anemia [14.3%] was found in the whole group. The percentage of tea drinking infants with microcytic anemia [19.4%] was significantly higher than that of the non-tea drinkers [5.6%]. The daily amount of tea drinking was 40-500 ml [median = 150 ml]. The tea drinkers had significantly lower mean level of hemoglobin [9.5 or - 0.8 gm/dl] than that of the non-tea drinkers [10.6 or - 1.3 gm/dl], and significantly lower mean level of mean corpuscular volume [72.6 or - 4.3 mum3] than that of the non-tea drinkers [81.6 or - 9.9 mum3]. Based on these findings, giving tea to infants is not recommended, however, giving foods rich in vitamin C should be encouraged

Random fecal alpha-1-antitrypsin excretion in children with parasitic infections

Random fecal alpha-1-antitrypsin [FA-1-AT] was used as marker of endogenous protein loss in 50 patients with parasitic infections and 20 healthy controls using the radial immunodiffusion technique. Significant loss occurred in all the parasitic cases. mean FA-1-AT was 0.7 [0.2] as compared to 0.2 [0.1] of that of the control group. This assay is non invasive and has been shown to correlate with the fecal excretion of 51-cr-albumin, a more expensive test and requiring the use of radio isotopes. Further studies are needed to determine the effect of intestinal helminthic parasites on endogenous protein loss and its contribution to the development of malnutrition in a population where round worm infections are common

Duodenal ulcer recurrence and its relation to helicobacter pylori

Preliminary evidence suggests that eradication of Helicobacter pylori [H. pylori] may lead to prolonged remission of duodenal ulcer [DU]. The aim of this study is to assess the long-term effect of eradication of H. pylori on the natural history of DU. Twenty-one patients with endoscopically proven duodenal ulcers, who were found to have H. pylori infection on histology and culture, and who were successfully eradicated of H. pylori with combination treatment of colloidal bismuth subcitrate and antibiotics, were studied. All patients were endoscoped at entry, 4 wk after cessation of treatment and again at 1 yr or sooner, if symptoms recurred. At each endoscopy, two antral biopsies were taken and assessed histologically and microbiologically for evidence of H. pylori infection. Recurrence of H. pylori infection occurred in 7 patients [33.3%] and, of these, 4 patients had evidence of recurrent peptic disease. In contrast, of the 14 who remained negative for H. pylori at 1 yr, none developed evidence of recurrent DU. Overall, DU recurrence occurred in 4/21 patients [19.4%], and occurred only in patients reinfected with H. pylori. This relapse rate compares favorably with patients on maintenance H2-receptor antagonist treatment. These results lend further support to the hypothesis that antral reinfection with H. pylori is associated with relapse of DU