Aurigena Antunes de Araújo Ferreira

A dor e a perda dentária: representações sociais do cuidado à saúde bucal

The objective of this study was identify the social representations of the oral care on daily activities to understand how the common sense works with the oral health, we realized the research with Brazilian northeast people. Thirty residents of Cidade da Esperanca District, Natal, RN, Brazil were analyzed. The data was obtained from a semi-structured interview. The interviews were analyzed by Technique of Content Analysis (Bardin1) as well as by Alceste 4.5 software. The categories were Toothache and Tooth Loss. The Toothache shows how the public health service is restrict. The Tooth Loss shows how the dentistry practice resolved the toothache, and how the prosthetics is limited by the social condition. The Social Representations of the oral care on daily activities show the negative consequences of the dentistry practice and the necessity of the new paradigm to the organization of the public health service taking into consideration the common sense about the oral care on daily activities.

Os fatores associados à tuberculose pulmonar e a baciloscopia: uma contribuição ao diagnóstico nos serviços de saúde pública

OBJETIVO: Verificar os principais fatores associados a tuberculose pulmonar e os resultados da baciloscopia. DESENHO DO ESTUDO: Trata-se de um estudo seccional de base secundaria. METODOLOGIA: A coleta de dados foi realizada com 189 prontuarios de pacientes com idade acima de 25 anos atendidos no Hospital Giselda Trigueiro em Natal/RN, Brasil, no periodo de 2000 a 2002. Os fatores associados identificados e os resultado da baciloscopia foram apresentados atraves da distribuicao percentual. RESULTADOS: A media de idade dos pacientes variou entre 43,5 + 18,5 anos, sendo 73% do sexo masculino. Os principais fatores associados foram etilismo e tabagismo (20,6%), tabagismo (19,8%), etilismo (16,7%), contagio direto (10,3%), diabetes mellitus (8,7%), pneumonia nao tratada (6,3%), abandono de esquema (6,3%) e outros fatores (11,1%). A baciloscopia foi realizada em 84,1% dos pacientes. Em 44,7% deles, o diagnostico foi negativo, enquanto que em 55,3% foi positivo. CONCLUSAO: Os fatores associados contribuem para o diagnostico da tuberculose pulmonar na medida em que a baciloscopia apresenta uma baixa sensibilidade.

Gentamicin induces renal morphopathology in Wistar rats

Debido a su importante rol en la funcion de excrecion mayor, el rinon es especialmente propenso a la toxicidad por los antibioticos bactericidas. La acumulacion de los antibioticos aminoglicosidos en la corteza renal tiene como consecuencia efectos en las celulas renales y en la funcion renal y cuando son reabsorbidos por los tubulos renales, pueden conducir a toxicidad renal. Nuestro objetivo fue mostrar alteraciones morfopatologicas renales causadas por la administracion de gentamicina, a traves de metodos histoquimicos de rutina con acido periodico de Schiff (PAS) y tincion inmunohistoquimica para la expresion de la proteina P53, la cual es considerada como un marcador para la apoptosis celular, permitiendo la deteccion precoz de lesiones tubulares. Los resultados morfopatologicos renales fueron apoptosis celular, interrupcion de la membrana basal, proliferacion de celulas mesangiales y disminucion del espacio de Bowman. Los resultados mostraron claramente que la administracion de gentamicina induce alteraciones morfopatologicas renales.

Anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of Phyllanthus niruri spray-dried standardized extract

Phyllanthus niruri L., Euphorbiaceae, spray-dried standardized extract was studied for its anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities in adult albino rats and mice. The anti-inflammatory effect of spray-dried standardized extract was observed in carrageenan-induced paw edema and thioglycolate-induced leukocyte migration, while antinociceptive effects were observed using Randall & Selitto, tail flick, and hot plate tests. This study showed that intraperitoneal spray-dried standardized extract at 100, 200, 800, or 1600 mg/kg reduced the vascular response in the inflammatory process of paw edema induced by 1% carrageenan. Oral spray-dried standardized extract at 100 or 200 mg/kg inhibited leukocyte migration to the site of inflammation induced by 3% thioglycolate. In rats, at 100 and 200 mg/kg intraperitoneally, the extract exhibited a marked peripheral analgesic effect in a Randall & Selitto assay and showed significant central analgesic activity in a hot plate and tail flick assay. In conclusion, this study suggested that Phyllanthus niruri spray-dried standardized extract has potent inflammatory and antinociceptive activities and that these activities are not modified by standard drying process, making it feasible to use the dry extract standardized to obtain a phytotherapic preparation and thus validating its use for the treatment of pain and inflammation disorders.

Tendência temporal da esquizofrenia: um estudo realizado no âmbito hospitalar

OBJETIVE: To find out the variation range according to gender, age, number of admissions, and stay length in hospital for schizophrenic patients. METHODS: The study was performed in Doutor Joao Machado Hospital, Natal/RN - Brazil from 1999 through 2005. The number of cases, the stay length in hospital, the gender, and the age of the mentioned group were collected. This data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney Test with a 5% significance level. RESULTS: Over that time, 12,732 people were admitted. The schizophrenic patients corresponded to 35.35% (4,501). The stay length in the hospital was 44.33 ± 36,9 days, compared to 29.5 ± 61.6 days for non-schizophrenic patients (p < 0.0001). The average age was 38.7 ± 13.5 years and most patients (65.78%) were male. In 1999, 39.8 out of 100 admitted patients were schizophrenic; in 2005 this ratio was reduced to 30.1. Paranoid schizophrenia was the most prevalent type, reaching 1,829 (40%) patients during the study time. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows a trend to reduced number of patients admitted due to schizophrenia, as well as a reduced stay length in the hospital.