Featured Issue: African Health Sciences Vol.13 No. 2 & 3

Today we wll be featuring issues 2 & 3 from vol.13 of African Health Sciences. African Health Science is journal that publishes articles quarterly on topics such as public health policy, planning, and the health and science field in Africa and the tropics.

Vol.13 no.2 includes articles on Nodding syndrome, HIV/AIDS, Malaria and sexuality. James K. Tumwine, editor-in-Chief of African Health sciences discusses these issues in his editorial for this issue.

Nodding syndrome, or nodding disease, is a disease that causes physical and mental stunted growth and seizures in children and young adults. This is a recent disease that started in the 1960s and affects areas in Tanzania, South Sudan and Uganda. "Nodding syndrome: origins and natural history of a longstanding epileptic disorder in sub-Saharan Africa" by Spencer, Palmer & Jilek-Aall. This article discusses the first reported case of Nodding syndrome, (amesinzia kichwa in Swahili) in the Wapogoro tribe of Tanzania, where it was observered by Jilek-Aall. The study aims to shed some light on the early years and outcome of Nodding syndrome among the Wapogoro tribe based on data and clinical notes by Jilek-All of 150 patients between 1060 and 1971.

No.2 also includes "Nodding syndrome in Mundri county, South Sudan: environmental, nutritional and anfectious factors" by Spencer et al., which looks at more recent cases of Nodding syndrome in Mudri county, South Sudan.
You can find the complete articles and other articles from this issue here.

Issue 3 of vol.13 includes articles on non-communicable diseases, as discussed in the editorial by James K. Tumwine. One of the articles, "Overnight soaking or boiling of "matooke" to reduce potassium content for patients with chronic kidney disease: does it really work?" aims to find an effective method for removing potassium from bananas, a staple food in Uganda's health facilities for patients with chronic kidney disease. 

For this study, bananas from five different markets in Kampala Uganda were tested. Bananas were soaked in water and the concentration of potassium was measured with a spectrophotometer after the bananas soaked for different amounts of time. The potassium concentrations were also tested in the water and bananas after the bananas were boiled for 60 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius at 10-minute intervals. The results showed that soaking had no affect on potassium levels, but boiling decreased the concentration of potassium in the bananas and increased the concentration of potassium in the water. The results indicated that boiling removes potassium better than the soaking method.

This article and others from this issue can be found here.

Featured Issue: African Health Sciences Vol.13 No.1

This issue of African Health Sciences focuses on the effects of physical activity on mental health and other topics such as nutrition and mental health. You can find an overview of the topics in the Editorial by the Editor-in-Chief, James K Tumwine.

Here are some interesting tidbits about some of the articles in this issue:

The article "Physical activity and health promotion strategies among physiotherapists in Rwanda" by Frantz & Ngambare explores the techniques of physiotherapists to encourage their patients to engage in physical activity. The study employs mixed method research to obtain information from a selection of physiotherapists. You can find complete details of this study here: http://www.bioline.org.br/abstract?id=hs13004&lang=en

"Nutrition status and associated factors among children in public primary schools in Dagoretti, Nairobi, Kenya" by Mwaniki & Makokha investigates the relationship between nutrition and growth of students and the amount of food they consume. The study concluded that calorie intake and the amount of food groups from which food was consumed was an important indicator in malnutrition levels in students. For the full study go to: http://www.bioline.org.br/abstract?id=hs13007&lang=en

The prevalence of suicidal behaviour and depression was investigated in patients with Diabetes mellitus and essential hypertension in the article "Factors associated with depression and suicide among patients with diabetes mellitus and essential hypertension in a Nigerian teaching hospital" by Igwe et al. The study showed that education played a factor in suicidal behaviour--patients with Diabetes mellitus who had no education had a higher rate of suicidal behaviour than those with education. You can find further conclusions and the complete results of this study here: http://www.bioline.org.br/abstract?id=hs13011&lang=en

Featured Issues: African Health Science Vol. 12 No. 3 & 4

This is the first time we are featuring the African Health Science journal on our blog! Here are some highlights from issues 3 & 4 of vol.12:

In issue 3, one article by Emdin & Millson, "A systematic review evaluating the impact of task shifting on access to antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa", reviews articles discussing the effects of shifting antiretroviral therapy initiation and management from physicians to nurses, in hopes that this shift will increase access to HIV treatment. Fun fact: The two authors of this article are from U of T!
For this article and others from this issue, go to: http://www.bioline.org.br/titles?id=hs&year=2012&vol=12&num=03&keys=v12n3

An article titled "Perceived body image and weight: discrepancies and gender differences among University undergraduates" written by Maruf et al. can be found in issue 4. The articles discuss body image (BI) based on factors such as perception, attitude, behaviour and feedback from others. Based off feedback and the degree of acceptance of the feedback, self-evaluation and perception can be influenced.
For the results of this study and other articles from this issue, go to: http://www.bioline.org.br/titles?id=hs&year=2012&vol=12&num=04&keys=v12n4