Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Sin resumen

A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prescription patterns of general practitioners for non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients in Guadalajara, Mexico. Twohundred and forty medical prescriptions were evaluated. These were indicated by 16 primary care physicians. Results showed that physicians prescribed pharmacologic agents in 93 per cent of the cases, dietary control in 73 per cent, and physical exercise in 48 per cent. A combination therapy of these three measures was employed in 40 per cent of the patients, but the combination regimen of diet and exercise was given only to 3 per cent of the patients. Data showed significant differences in prescribing patterns according to gender of physicians; male physicians prescribed the three measures by more than 10 per cent; On the contrary, female physicians prescribed the drug as the only therapy 27 per cent of the time. The proportion of prescribing diet and exercise measures increased with more years of professional experience. These observations support the findings that prescription patterns by primary care physicians do not meet the criteria currently recommended by international committees for diabetes therapy. We discuss some implications for the metabolic control of the disease and the quality of medical care.

The present work presents the experience of a diabetes self-care group in San Antonio Tecomitl, Milpa Alta, D.F., México. Diabetes is a serious disease posing a public health problem in our country, since it affects a great number of productive age persons, causing, if uncontrolled, deleterious effects on their life quality and expectancy because of vascular and neural complications. We carried out an intervention in six female patients diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus type II, with different stages of the disease; all of them were residents of Milpa Alta municipality, with an average age of 63.6 years. They were receiving different doses of oral hypoglycemic agents. The group of patients met once a week for two-hour sessions in with they received: a) information about diabetes mellitus, b) self-care training and c) profound relaxation techniques. In each session we evaluated glycemia, body weight and blood pressure in each patient. Results from the intervention showed no correlation between body weight and blood pressure, though there was a significant variation in glycemia levels after the intervention.

Our country is presently undergoing a historical, environmental and economic transition, along with an intense industrial expantion. As the rapid industrialization has not run parallel with the strengthening of envorinmental sanitary infrastructure, metropolitan cities have grown anarchically, turning over excesive amounts of air, water and soil pollutants. The harmonic combination of development, environment and health requires the supervision of trained human resources. The scarcity of such resources is a major restriction to overcome. In response to the lack of human resources devoted to environmental issues, the School of Public Health of Mexico established the Speciality of Environmental Health. In coordination with experts and decision makers from the health services, this Speciality was reorganized in a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Health. Several Institutions participated in this Program actively, either with financial support or with human resources. The major obstacle to the continuity of the Program has been the lack of institutional financial support for students to devote fully to the programs. Nevertheless this Master's Degree is expected to undergo intense development in coming years. In the future, this program will have to reduce its epidemiologic focus and adopt a more general one. Efforts will be directed toward a wider national and international projection.

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and feasability of using the Guttman Scale as an indicator of usual dietary intake. Validation was done by comparing the results of dietary intake of a population obtained by using the Guttman Scale with a well-know method for evaluating dietary intake: the dietary history (one week). The study was done in seven communities in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Results from this study showed a weak correlation between the Guttman Scale with socioeconomic status and nutritional status. However, the results obtained with the dietary history method had a significant relationship with socioeconomic status and nutritional status. The conclusions are that the Guttman Scale has limitations when it is used as an alternative to the dietary history method for evaluating the total caloric intake, though it can be useful to determine dietary patterns of the individual.

We present the results of a research work carried out in 1989 in newspaper workers in Mexico City. This research was supported by the worker's Union. The main objetive was to identify health occupational problems related with the use of personal computers (PC). The results of this work intended to be used for promoting preventive measurements to be included in the worker's contract. We found some evidences of an association between the use of PC visual fatigue and muscle pain as well as of an association between myopia and astigmatism, although it was not possible to demonstrate their relationship with PC. However, the chronic evolution of visual fatigue can induce refraction problems. In relation to the presence of stress and its subjective symptoms, we confirmed that the existence of psychological and physiological symptoms were greater in workers that use PC. It was also observed that these subjective symptoms have a very close relationship with the work contents more than with the use of the PC itself.

This article analyzes the role of fhe State and public enterprises in the development of nations, from a particular standing point, and inquires into the privatization issue, reviewing both its concept and the possible mechanisms for its implementation. Also, emphasis is mude on the selling of public enterprises as one of the several ways to privatize. Within this context, some measures for the reorganization of the Costa Rican National Health System are proposed. These measures uphold fundamental values of social justice. This article is based on a theoretical-conceptual framework from an innovative experience in health services management in Costa Rica, in wich a self-managing cooperative society (a nonprofit enterprise) manages, by contract with national health care public institutions, an urban local health cure system.

Institutions such as World Health Organization and United Nations have considered the necessity to establish programs to control and preserve our environment. From the beginning, industrial development has polluted the air, water and soil, in some cases irreversibly affecting the ecosystems. Rampant use of natural resources and inattention to preventive measures have promoted environmental pollution, along with its hereditary effects, producing brain damage, intoxications, cancer, and respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, among other problems. It is necessary to put aside self-serving materialism and individualism and become aware of this problem. It is necessary to implement environmental policies, foster bioethical responsibility in environmental health research, conduct epidemiologic, biomedical and toxicologic environmental health research works if we are to have a worthy life and an optimal environment.

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