Call to Action: Motivating Moms to Move

The findings published by Flegal and colleagues report a linear increasing trend in overweight and obesity among US women (40%). The recent reported rise in obesity among American women is not only alarming for the many women that will suffer from the adverse health effects brought on by the disease but also for future generations of children that are born to mothers that are overweight or obese.

This worrying trend is not specific to the United States. According to the WHO, approximately 15% of women worldwide are obese and this translates into more women of childbearing age becoming obese.

In England, obesity rates among women have steadily risen affecting approximately half of the population of women of childbearing age. Obesity during pregnancy is related to newborn weight status, which leads to an increased risk of obesity in later years.

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Giant Retrovesical Ectopic Prostate Tissue: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

We report an unusual case of retrovesical ectopic prostate tissue in a 71-year-old man, whose prostate-specific antigen was 10.20 ng/ml. Transabdominal ultrasonography, pelvic computed tomography showed a heterogeneous, solid-cystic, 8 cm × 8.8 cm × 8.5 cm mass in contact with the posterior wall of the bladder.

The patient underwent a laparoscopic pelvic neoplasm resection. Pathological examination confirmed the retrovesical tumor was normal prostate tissue.

Ectopic prostate tissue is a relatively uncommon disease, and most of them were found in the lower male genitourinary tract. However, the ectopic prostate tissue suited in the retrovesical space is rare.

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New Onset of Erectile Dysfunction in a Cohort of Patients Enrolled in Active Surveillance for Low Risk Prostate Cancer

After serum Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) concentration was introduced as a screening test in prostate disease, prostate cancer has been increasingly detected at an early stage and grade. PSA test leads to Prostate Cancer (PCa) over diagnosis and overtreatment.

To overcome overtreatment, low risk PCa patients are enrolled in AS in order to prevent overtreatment, delaying curative treatment according to neoplasm progression. The AS protocols were approved to delay radical treatment and spare treatment.

However AS can influence quality of life related to health defined as “a physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease”. In fact AS consists in repeating rectal examination, serial PSA evaluations and yearly repeated biopsies, that may be associated with side effects: hematuria, haemospermia, infection, anxiety and Erectile Dysfunction.

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Assessment of a Comprehensive New-Born Survival Programme in 14 Districts in the Northern and Upper East Regions of Ghana

The aim is to ascertain the effectiveness of a package of evidence-based neonatal survival interventions focusing on Home-Based Postnatal Care and Facility-Based Integrated Management of New-born and Childhood Illnesses models on reduction in neonatal mortality rate in Northern and Upper East regions of Ghana.

Method: The assessment employed a mixed method design. Baseline and end line neonatal mortality rates were estimated using the 2011 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys respectively, which used similar designs and analytical methods.

The qualitative component consisted of in-depth interviews with key national decision-makers, donor partners, sub-national authorities and service providers, and focus group discussions with mothers or caregivers drawn from project communities.

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A Blue Spotted Baby: A Case Report

The Mongolian spot (MS) is a congenital macula of blue-gray colour usually located on the sacrococcygeal region, but may have atypical locations such as the back and more rarely the limbs. The authors describe a case of an infant male, born from a monitored pregnancy without complications, whose skin objective examination showed a Mongolian spot occupying the entire lower back region and lower limbs with many similar spots of different sizes and locations as well as on the back of the right hand. Further physical examination appeared to be normal. 

The knowledge of normal variants is crucial in clinical practice of the family doctor, particularly in child health consultation. This atypical skin colouration arises with relative frequency in our population and although it does not seem strange in the usual location, the appearance in atypical locations can be a sign of other associated pathologies, and if they had not been observed at birth, they can be an alert for eventual child abuse.