Birth History and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Youth With Significant Obesity.

Children born prematurely have greater lifetime risk for hypertension. We aimed to determine (1) the association between prematurity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among 90 children with obesity and elevated blood pressure and (2) if dietary sodium intake modified these associations. Multivariable regression analysis explored for associations between prematurity (<37 weeks gestation; early gestational age) and low birth weight (<2.5 kg) with hypertension, left ventricular mass index (LVMI), and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Effect modification by dietary sodium intake was also explored. Patients were predominately male (60%), black (78%), adolescents (13.3 years), and with substantial obesity (body mass index: 36.5 kg/m2). Early gestational age/low birth weight was not an independent predictor for hypertension, LVMI, or LVH. There was no effect modification by sodium load. Our results suggest the increased CVD risk conferred by prematurity is less significant at certain cardiometabolic profiles. Promoting heart-healthy lifestyles to prevent pediatric obesity remains of utmost importance to foster cardiovascular health.

Utilising the dental workforce in England, United Kingdom, to optimise the response to COVID-19.

COVID-19 presents a unique and significant challenge to healthcare systems across the globe. Dental workforce redeployment, in England, during the response to Coronavirus (COVID-19), is the first reported national effort to redeploy a professional body into new clinical environments. The policy decision to facilitate redeployment of the dental workforce, in March 2020, by the Office of the Chief Dental Officer (OCDO), increased flexibility within workforce systems and allowed increasing demand on healthcare services to be managed safely and effectively. This paper outlines how this policy change was achieved via a multi-professional approach, mapping competencies of the dental workforce to high-priority areas of healthcare need. The dental workforce has a varied and often specialised skill set, offering expertise in infection prevention and control, airway management and often, behaviour management. These skills can be an important contribution to tackling a pandemic where expertise in these areas is vital. This increase in workforce supply allows healthcare systems to improve their surge response capabilities. Additionally, redeployment presents an opportunity to create greater and sustained collaboration between the medical and dental professions, leading to greater understanding of the contribution of oral health to wider medical wellbeing.

Why re-invent the wheel if you've run out of road?

The COVID-19 disruption to 'business as usual' presents an opportunity for a profound change in oral healthcare experience for our patients and our profession. While the prospect of change has dominated professional dialogue for years, the post-COVID-19 era offers choices with respect to pace, proximity, preparedness, protection and equity. There is potential for a determined revision of the current activity-driven clinical approach, with the adoption of the minimally invasive oral care philosophy into routine practice and use of technology to remotely support our patients. Throughout COVID-19, the whole of the dental profession has demonstrated adaptability in redeployment and compassion in delivering care in a variety of settings. These vital traits and bold clinical leadership, prepared to make timely choices and act fast, will underpin our successful transition towards the safe resumption of routine dental services. In making the right choices, we have at hand a future integrated dental team care model with time to concentrate on personalised prevention advice, as well as the provision of effective, highly skilled treatment.

An Additive to PMMA Bone Cement Enables Postimplantation Drug Refilling, Broadens Range of Compatible Antibiotics, and Prolongs Antimicrobial Therapy.

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) bone cement is used in several biomedical applications including as antibiotic-filled beads, temporary skeletal spacers, and cement for orthopedic implant fixation. To mitigate infection following surgery, antibiotics are often mixed into bone cement to achieve local delivery. However, since implanted cement is often structural, incorporated antibiotics must not compromise mechanical properties; this limits the selection of compatible antibiotics. Furthermore, antibiotics cannot be added to resolve future infections once cement is implanted. Finally, delivery from cement is suboptimal as incorporated antibiotics exhibit early burst release with most of the drug remaining permanently trapped. This prolonged subtherapeutic dosage drives pathogen antibiotic resistance. To overcome these limitations of antibiotic-laden bone cement, insoluble cyclodextrin (CD) microparticles are incorporated into PMMA to provide more sustained delivery of a broader range of drugs, without impacting mechanics. PMMA formulations with and without CD microparticles are synthesized and filled with one of three antibiotics and evaluated using zone of inhibition, drug release, and compression studies. Additionally, the ability of PMMA with microparticles to serve as a refillable antibiotic delivery depot is explored. Findings suggest that addition of CD microparticles to cement promotes postimplantation antibiotic refilling and enables incorporation of previously incompatible antibiotics while preserving favorable mechanical properties.

Being ready to treat Ebola virus disease patients.

As the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa continues, clinical preparedness is needed in countries at risk for EVD (e.g., United States) and more fully equipped and supported clinical teams in those countries with epidemic spread of EVD in Africa. Clinical staff must approach the patient with a very deliberate focus on providing effective care while assuring personal safety. To do this, both individual health care providers and health systems must improve EVD care. Although formal guidance toward these goals exists from the World Health Organization, Medecin Sans Frontières, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other groups, some of the most critical lessons come from personal experience. In this narrative, clinicians deployed by the World Health Organization into a wide range of clinical settings in West Africa distill key, practical considerations for working safely and effectively with patients with EVD.

Improving the dental fitness of the British Army by changing the strategy for dental care provision for recruits from a vertically equitable model to a horizontally equitable model.

BACKGROUNDd: The dental health of the British Army has been reported as being in decline for the past 10 years, and this is having a significant impact on operations. One of the major factors in the decline is the increasing number of recruits who enlist with outstanding dental treatment needs. The current policy for provision of routine dental care to recruits targets resources toward those with the worst dental health and provides only emergency dental care for the remainder.AIMSs: The goal was to review recruit dental care provision, to determine whether improvements in the overall dental health of the trained Army could be made during recruit training.RESULTSs: It was found that >85% of recruit dental treatment need could be met with the routine provision of 2 hours of dental treatment during training.CONCLUSIONn: A horizontally equitable model of recruit dental care, whereby all recruits access routine dental care during training, has been recommended to and accepted by the chain of command.