Dental treatment needs in vancouver inner-city elementary school-aged children.

Aims. To examine the dental treatment needs of inner-city Vancouver elementary school-aged children and relate them to sociodemographic characteristics. Methods. A census sampling comprising 562 children from six out of eight eligible schools was chosen (response rate was 65.4%). Dental treatment needs were assessed based on criteria from the World Health Organization. Results. Every third child examined needed at least one restorative treatment. A higher proportion of children born outside Canada were in need of more extensive dental treatments such as pulp care and extractions compared to the children born in Canada. There were no statistically significant differences in dental treatment needs between age, gender, or income groups or between children with or without dental insurance (Chi Squared P > 0.05). The best significant predictors (Linear Multiple Regression, P > 0.05) of higher dental treatment needs were being born outside Canada, gender, time of last dental visit, and family income. Having dental insurance did not associate with needing less treatment. Conclusion. A high level of unmet dental treatment needs (32%) was found in inner-city Vancouver elementary school-aged children. Children born outside Canada, particularly the ones who recently arrived to Canada, needed more extensive dental treatments than children born in Canada.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma and cultural oral risk habits in Vietnam.

OBJECTIVES: In South-Central Asia, 80% of head and neck cancers are found in the oral cavity and oropharynx. In Vietnam, oral cancer is often not being detected until people experience debilitating circumstances to normal oral function. The aims of the study were to explore the patterns of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its risk indicators, the structure of oral health care in Vietnam and trends in prevalence of cultural risk habits in southern Vietnamese patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective clinical study was performed from 1 July 2005 to 1 April 2006 at Ho Chi Minh City Oncology hospital in Vietnam. Of the 161 cases, 147 subjects were diagnosed with OSCC, including 100 male and 47 female adults aged 24-85 years. Data were collected by a structured interview and clinical examination. RESULTS: Over 40% of the women with OSCC reported chewing betel quid and the most prevalent risk habit in males was smoking (91.0%). Daily alcohol use was reported by 79.0% of males and 2.1% of females. Two-thirds of the cases of OSCC were diagnosed at the 2nd and 3rd stage of cancer. The more advanced stages of cancer were observed in males than in females. The prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use in males with OSCC was higher in this study than in the previous Vietnamese studies. CONCLUSION: High frequency of risk habits in both genders was reported in OSCC Vietnamese patients. A trend of increased tobacco and alcohol use was observed in male OSCC patients. A lower prevalence of later staging in Vietnam was observed in this study than in earlier studies.

The energy cost of triglyceride-fatty acid recycling in nonobese subjects after an overnight fast and four days of starvation.

The basal blood glycerol concentration was determined and the rate of glycerol turnover was assessed by a nonradioactive infusion technique in six healthy nonobese adults after an overnight fast and again after four days of total starvation. Simultaneously, estimates of total energy expenditure and net fat oxidation were made from measurements of oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, and urinary nitrogen excretion. The data were combined to provide quantitative estimates of the activity of the triglyceride/fatty acid cycle. The basal concentration of glycerol in venous blood rose from a mean value of 54 +/- 8 mumol/L (SEM) before starvation to 154 +/- 5 mumol/L on day 4 of starvation. Glycerol turnover rates correlated well with the basal blood glycerol concentration (r = .95) and increased from a mean value of 115 +/- 17 mumol/min before starvation (equivalent to mobilization of about 3.95 kJ triglyceride/min) to 304 +/- 20 mumol/min (equivalent to mobilization of about 18.41 kJ/min). The estimated rate of net fat oxidation was 3.00 +/- 0.47 kJ/min before starvation and 4.00 +/- 0.14 kJ/min on day +4 of starvation. The rate of triglyceride energy recycling or rate of deposition of triglyceride energy into fat stores was calculated from the difference in the rate of fat energy mobilization and the rate of energy released during net fat oxidation. The values were found to be 0.94 +/- 0.26 kJ/min before starvation and 6.29 +/- 0.54 kJ/min on day +4 of starvation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Dietary thermogenesis in obesity: fat feeding at different energy intakes.

Eight obese and eight lean women were studied in a metabolic unit for up to 4 weeks to assess the thermogenic response to fat overfeeding. An extra 4.3 MJ fat were given to both obese and lean groups for 6 days after a preliminary weight-maintenance diet. The fat overfeeding was repeated following a period of semistarvation. The obese women initially had a higher 4-h expenditure (9.9 +/- 1.1 MJ) than the lean (7.4 +/- 0.6 MJ). Fat overfeeding induced a variable increase in energy output (340 +/- 197 kJ in the obese and 612 +/- 147 kJ in the lean) amounting to 7.8 +/- 4.5 percent of the supplement's energy in the obese and 14.2 +/- 3.4 percent in the lean. The response to the fat supplement during semistarvation remained low in the obese at 3.6 +/- 4.9 percent but fell substantially in the lean (8.1 +/- 3.8 percent). These results suggest that there is a flexibility in the normal thermogenic response to fat in lean subjects but a reduced response in those with familial obesity.

Dietary thermogenesis in obesity. Response to carbohydrate and protein meals: the effect of beta-adrenergic blockade and semistarvation.

Four obese and four lean women were studied for 4 or 5 weeks in a metabolic unit to assess their short-term responses to carbohydrate- and protein-containing meals and the effects of beta-adrenergic blockade during both weight maintenance and semistarvation. The study was divided into four periods: a period of weight maintenance; a maintenance diet with propranolol; semistarvation; semistarvation plus propranolol. The low-energy diets contained half the amount of carbohydrate and fat but the protein intake was maintained. The metabolic rate was measured in the fasting state by indirect calorimetry prior to a test meal and then for prolonged periods up to 5.5 h after carbohydrate and 7.5 h after protein test meals. Three lean subjects also spent 23 h in a whole-body calorimeter in each period, when BMR and metabolic rate at different activity levels were measured. Propranolol causes a fall in BMR in both groups on a maintenance diet, but had little further effect on the lower BMR during semistarvation. The protein meal caused a peak increase of 30 percent in oxygen consumption (321 kJ in obese, 257 kJ in lean), two to three times that of the carbohydrate meal (91 kJ) despite the energy intake being 25 percent less in the protein meal. There was no consistent difference in postprandial thermogenesis in obese and lean subjects and the effect was not modified by propranolol or semistarvation. Propranolol caused reduced thermogenesis after a mixed meal in lean subjects.

Energy metabolism during exercise in normal subjects undergoing total starvation.

Energy expenditure and the circulating concentration of various intermediary metabolites, insulin and glucagon, were measured in five lean subjects at rest and during a 20-min period of a standardized exercise (50-75 watts). Measurements were made before starvation, at the end of a 4-d period of total starvation and 24-32 h after refeeding. The respiratory quotient decreased in all subjects during starvation from 0.85 +/- 0.03 (s.e.m.) to 0.70 +/- 0.01 (P less than 0.01), and rose again on refeeding to 0.85 +/- 0.04. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) was not significantly affected by starvation. 'Work efficiency' (mechanical work done X 100 divided by metabolic rate during work - RMR) decreased in all subjects from a mean value of 23.9 per cent before starvation to 22.2 per cent during starvation and rose again on refeeding to 23.9 per cent, but with small numbers these differences did not reach statistical significance. All subjects felt that the work load (assessed on the Borg scale for perceived exertion) was greater during starvation than either before or after starvation (P less than 0.01). During exercise the circulating concentrations of glucose and glucagon remained virtually unchanged whereas insulin tended to decrease. In contrast, concentrations of lactate, pyruvate and alanine increased. The changes in the concentration of lactate, pyruvate and alanine were greater during starvation than before starvation, and are consistent with inhibition of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex by ketone bodies, the circulating concentrations of which were elevated 20-fold during starvation. It is suggested that this inhibition may increase glucose recycling between muscle and liver and cause a small increase in energy expenditure.