Multiple sclerosis

Author(s):  
Elisabeth Gulowsen Celius

This chapter describes the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) and shows the uneven distribution across the world. Despite differences in diagnostic criteria over time and considerable variation in methodology the prevalence is higher in northern Europe, the northern part of North America, Australia, and New Zealand compared to the rest of the world. There is an unexplained increase in both incidence and prevalence across the world. The increased life expectancy correlates with the general increase in life expectancy and is so far neither explained by better diagnostics nor new treatments. Epidemiological studies are essential for our understanding of disease susceptibility and progression, and essential for planning of healthcare. Future studies should be large, methodologically sound, and comparable to enable comparisons across countries and regions.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroko H. Dodge ◽  
Teresa J. Buracchio ◽  
Gwenith G. Fisher ◽  
Yutaka Kiyohara ◽  
Kenichi Meguro ◽  
...  

There is a paucity of data regarding trends in dementia and its subtype prevalence in Japan. Our aims in the current paper are to: (1) summarize epidemiological studies of dementia in Japan including relevant details of study protocol and diagnostic criteria, (2) compare the age-specific prevalence of all-cause dementia among studies, and (3) assess the trends in Alzheimer's disease (AD) versus vascular dementia (VaD) over time. We reviewed diagnostic criteria, all-cause dementia prevalence, and the AD/VaD ratio from 8 large population studies of dementia in Japan. Compared with the Okinawa 1992 study, studies conducted in 1994, 1998, 2005, and 2008 had a higher prevalence of all-cause dementia using Poisson regression models, after controlling for age and sex. In contrast to the US and some European countries, all-cause dementia prevalence is increasing in Japan. The prevalence of AD as opposed to VaD seems to be increasing over time, but large variability in diagnostic criteria, possible regional variability, and differences in prevalence of subtypes of dementia between men and women make it difficult to draw a conclusion about this trend at the national level. Further studies, for example, comparing the population attributable risk of vascular diseases to the prevalence and incidence of dementia could help to clarify the regional variations in etiological subtypes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  

Abstract C. abietis is a microcyclic rust fungus; an obligate parasite completing its life cycle on species of Picea (spruce). Only the current year's needles of Picea are infected and those needles are shed early. Reported from northern Europe and Asia, the fungus is a Regulated Pest for the USA. It is absent from North America, where susceptible species are native, and Australia and New Zealand, where they are introduced. Although usually not a significant problem in its native range, because conditions are not favourable for heavy infections every year (Smith et al., 1988; Hansen, 1997), this rust could be more damaging as an invasive in other temperate areas. Due to the fact that small amounts of infection may be overlooked, accidental introduction could occur through importation of infected seedlings or young trees.


Author(s):  
Sharareh Eskandarieh ◽  
Mohammad Ali Sahraian

Context: Recently, the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) have increased drastically in different regions of the world, including Asia. The present study aimed to systematically review the recent MS epidemiology in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in Medline and Embase databases to retrieve the available studies regarding MS epidemiology in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Results: Most of the studies were performed in hospital settings. The female-to-male ratio in the sample populations varied from 1.5:1 in Turkey to 5:1 in Malaysia. The total mean age at the onset of MS varied from the minimum of 28 years in Hong Kong to the maximum of 36 years in the United Arab Emirates. Among 16 pertinent studies in this regard, seven addressed the incidence rate of MS, and 13 addressed the prevalence of the disease. The highest prevalence rate was reported to be respectively 124.2 and 148.06 in Australia and Iran versus 2.73 in Malaysia (06 per 100,000 population), while a higher incidence rate was estimated at 6.88 and 6.7 per 100,000 population in Kuwait and Australia, respectively compared to the lower incidence rate per 100,000 population in China (0.2 in females, 0.12 in males). Conclusions: According to the results, the prevalence of MS has increased in Asia, while the prevalence of MS in this continent is lower compared to the rates reported in Australia, Europe, and North America.


Author(s):  
C. Booth

Abstract A description is provided for Nectria cinnabarina. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Many species including Ribes and Robinia. This species occurs on conifers and on a wide range of broad-leaved trees and shrubs. DISEASE: Coral spot fungus. Evidence supports the view that this species is a facultative parasite of considerable importance on blackcurrants (48, 3063); it occurs as the cause of cankers of Robinia (54, 1020) and may attack many other woody plants (55, 655). GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: It is very common and widespread in Northern Europe and has frequently been reported from temperate parts of the world, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and also from India and Hong Kong. TRANSMISSION: Because of the slimy nature of the conidia and the fact that they form a hard crust in dry weather, wind is not considered as important as water in their dispersal. Even the ascospores appear to be extruded or discharged only in moist weather (Jorgensen, 1952). Entry is usually through wounds or dead buds (47, 1181; 48, 3063).


2021 ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Sandro Galea

This chapter discusses how the time of the COVID-19 pandemic was also a time when the world, in many respects, had never been better—or healthier. In a number of key areas—from life expectancy, to declines in poverty, to reductions in preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS—it was, and is, a more favorable time to be alive than any other point in recorded history. All these advances was a byproduct of foundational forces unfolding over time, forces like industrialization, global development, urbanization, and political changes. However, the incidental nature of this success has meant that we have yet to fully acknowledge why it occurred, which hinders our ability to advance it in the future. Why do we need to know how we got here? First, our understanding of the causes of health shapes our investment in health. America's investment in healthcare comes at the expense of their investment in the foundational drivers of health. The second reason is that if we do not understand the true causes of health, we will be unable to build a world that is ready for the next pandemic.


1961 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Pratt

Two viruses, clover yellow mosaic (CYMV) and white clover mosaic (WCMV), were separated from mixed natural infections of various clovers by inoculation of differential hosts. The host reactions of four CYMV and two WCMV isolates were studied in detail. Precipitin tests showed that the two viruses are not related serologically. In cross-absorption tests different host reactions characterizing individual CYMV isolates were reflected in serological interactions; with WCMV isolates the relationship was less clearly defined. A comparison of isolates from different parts of the world by serological methods showed that CYMV is common in western North America, while WCMV occurs in Europe, North America, and New Zealand. Pea mottle and pea wilt viruses may be equated with CYMV and WCMV respectively.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Paul Perry ◽  
Polly Yeung

A brief review of the World Values Survey (WVS) is presented. Seven waves of the survey have occurred since the 1980’s, in between 50 and 80 different countries, using a common questionnaire of several hundred items covering a wide range of social and political views.  The WVS in New Zealand is then described, having completed six waves between 1985 and the latest survey in 2019. New Zealand social researchers are urged to make use of the WVS data, which is freely available on the WVS website, for all waves. WVS data can be used for cross-national comparisons, examining issues within New Zealand and to consider changes in social views over time.  Examples of some the most evident social trends over time in New Zealand are presented.  These include increasing environmental concern, social tolerance, support for gender equality, and increasing value placed on the Treaty of Waitangi. Declines can be seen in religiosity, active participation in some types of voluntary organisations, a willingness to fight for the country and the use of traditional media as a source of news. Several illustrative cross-national comparisons are also presented including a dramatic difference in attitudes towards migrants between New Zealand and Australia.


Author(s):  
Fariha Shaikh

During the nineteenth century hundreds of thousands of men, women and children left Britain in search of better lives in the colonies of Canada, Australia and New Zealand and in North America. This demographic shift was also a textual enterprise. Emigrants wrote about their experiences in their diaries and letters. Their accounts were published in periodicals, memoirs and pamphlets. The Introduction argues that emigration literature set into circulation a new set of issues surrounding notions of home at a distance, a mediated sense of place, and the extension of kinship ties over time and space. Emigration produced a monumental shift in the way in which ordinary, everyday people in the nineteenth century, regardless of whether or not they emigrated, thought about relationships between text, travel and distance. Emigration literature has contributed to the shape of the modern world as we know it today, and it provides a rare insight into Victorian conceptualisations of globalization.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Faasse

The amphipod,Ampithoe valida, presumably native to the Atlantic coast of North America, has been recorded from several other parts of the world. Hitherto, the only published records from Europe originate from Portugal. Evidence is presented that this species has been introduced to northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea as well.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 665-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia L. Willard-Mack ◽  
Susan A. Elmore ◽  
William C. Hall ◽  
Johannes Harleman ◽  
C. Frieke Kuper ◽  
...  

The INHAND Project (International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic Criteria for Lesions in Rats and Mice) is a joint initiative of the Societies of Toxicologic Pathology from Europe (ESTP), Great Britain (BSTP), Japan (JSTP), and North America (STP) to develop an internationally accepted nomenclature for proliferative and nonproliferative changes in rats and mice. The purpose of this publication is to provide a standardized nomenclature for classifying changes observed in the hematolymphoid organs, including the bone marrow, thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues, and other lymphoid tissues (serosa-associated lymphoid clusters and tertiary lymphoid structures) with color photomicrographs illustrating examples of the lesions. Sources of material included histopathology databases from government, academia, and industrial laboratories throughout the world. Content includes spontaneous lesions as well as lesions induced by exposure to test materials. The nomenclature for these organs is divided into 3 terminologies: descriptive, conventional, and enhanced. Three terms are listed for each diagnosis. The rationale for this approach and guidance for its application to toxicologic pathology are described in detail below.


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