Active clinical trials for "Poisoning"

The role of anaerobic bacteria in the pathogenesis of palmer arsenical keratosis is not known. This can be evaluated by administering probiotics. Thirty patients from an arsenic affected area will be provided two probiotics capsules per day orally for 12 weeks and stool samples will be collected for qualitative and quantitative analysis of anaerobic bacteria. Similar number of arsenic exposed controls and healthy volunteers from the same area will be included with similar protocol for comparison. Like aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria may be modulated by probiotics in arsenicosis patients.

The underlying concept behind this feasibility trial is to achieve a reduction in indoor smoke from biomass fuels and minimize changes in cooking practices such that it prompts one of the two improved, ventilated cookstoves to be the selection of choice. Typical fuel sources used in developing countries include wood, dried dung, and agricultural waste. The investigators propose to reduce indoor air pollution by replacing the household traditional cookstove with an improved design that incorporates the following key elements: Burner openings customized to the size and shape of the cooking vessels in the home. Flue designed to draw air into the fire box under the cooking pots and pass it out through a chimney. A chimney with adequate height to create a draft and vented to the exterior. An exterior port that has bidirectional openings to prevent backflow of smoke. An access port for the chimney that permits cleaning of soot. The investigators propose to use two types of improved cookstoves that meet these criteria. As part of piloting activities, the investigators will test several different types of commercially-available cookstoves with a chimney, and we may also want to test a locally-made improved cookstove. The investigators want to evaluate those designs by comparing their ability to reduce indoor air pollution, the reliability between cookstoves of the same type, the functioning over time, the logistics of import/build locally, preferences and cultural compatibility, and costs. The investigators will select two types of improved cookstoves to use in the feasibility trial. The study design will be a crossover intervention trial in which all patients will first have a run-in observational period of 4 months with the traditional cookstove prior to randomization. At baseline, the investigators will obtain sociodemographic information for each household, respiratory outcomes and other health data for the participating women, and cooking times and practices including the types of fuels used. All 40 patients at each site will receive the two types of improved cookstoves, one after the other: 20 will be randomized to receive the first type of cookstove with a chimney and the other 20 to first receive the second type of improved cookstove with a chimney. The patients will be followed for 4 months before the crossover. The investigators will assess cooking behavioral practices and compliance with cookstove use monthly, and respiratory and environmental measures at the mid-point of the 4 month period to minimize carry-over effects. At the end of second 4 month period, the investigators will switch the order of the improved cookstoves and follow all participants for another 4 months. The investigators will assess behavior, compliance, respiratory and environmental measures as above. The study is expected to require 12 months to complete.

A major global public health priority is to identify effective methods for preventing deaths from pesticide self-poisoning. The aim of this work is to determine whether the provision of lockable storage containers to poor households in rural Asia can reduce the incidence of intentional pesticide self-poisoning. Secondary questions include the effect of these containers on unintentional pesticide poisoning in children and overall self-harm.

Childhood Lead Poisoning is a widespread disease that has few effective treatments. The specific aims of this proposed clinical trial are threefold: To determine whether a six-week course of a newly formulated d-penicillamine suspension will effectively reduce blood lead level in children aged 6 months to 16 years with blood lead levels of 15-25 μg/dL. To determine whether d-penicillamine chelation produces a sustained reduction in blood lead level in comparison with succimer and other lead chelators which always produce a significant post-treatment "rebound". To determine whether chelation with d-penicillamine improves the physiologic disturbances that can be measured in children with blood lead levels in this range.

Mothers and young children in rural Ethiopia lack sufficient nutrition, and a compounding factor is presence of high levels of fluoride (> 5-10 mg/day) affecting body functions. Interventions involving chickens to provide eggs and eggshell (a source of calcium) are one solution. The overall purpose is to examine how increasing dietary calcium by using eggshell powder (ESP) reduces fluoride (F) absorption in women. It is known calcium binds F to prevent its absorption but application of this to a community based study has not been tested. The aim is to provide chickens to produce eggs for young children and to provide ESP to women (mothers). For children, an egg a day should improve growth and nutritional status. For women, the ESP provides calcium to reduce fluorosis and therefore improve function without affecting iron and zinc status. For the women, blood samples will be tested in a subsample for F, calcium, zinc and iron; urine samples will be measured for F, calcium and creatinine (to correct spot urine). Hemoglobin will be measured as an indicator of overall nutritional status in women and children. Nutritional status of young children (6-18 mo) and of their mothers prior and after the intervention (by 6 months) will be assessed. between 6 and 12 month there will be monitoring for sustainability of chilckens in the community; for continued use of egg (in children) and ESP (in women); during this time the control group will receive chickens and also undergo monitoring. The study will take place in the Rift valley of Southern Ethiopia. Identification of the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of mothers on egg consumption will be done at baseline and at the end ("endline"). Caregivers will be instructed to give each child 1 egg (cooked) per day in the intervention, and one "bottle cap" of eggshell powder (1000 mg calcium) per day for themselves. Families receiving chickens will be instructed on cage construction. Throughout the study, any problems arising in keeping chickens will be recorded in order to assess the feasibility and practicality of raising chickens as way to mitigate fluorosis and improve nutritional status.

This community-based project, called the Together for Agricultural Safety project, was developed to help farmworkers reduce their exposure to dangerous agricultural chemicals (such as pesticides) through education and social marketing. The project is a partnership of university researchers and the Farmworkers Association of Florida. After collecting extensive data from farmworkers, health providers and farm owners about primary means of pesticide exposure we are collaboratively developing an intervention that will reduce pesticide exposure by educating workers and owners about: the need to have adequate washing facilities; to wash hands frequently; to obey reentry intervals; to change work clothes after work to prevent child exposure and more.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a single 50-μg booster dose of RVEc. Subjects will be recruited from the cohort that received three 50-μg doses of RVEc in a Phase 1 trial (NCT01317667).

The primary purpose of the protocol is to evaluate the StO2 performance measured at the admission to the emergency department to identify hemodynamic failure at the admission or within the first three hours of monitoring patients with drug poisoning. The study hypotheses are: The early detection of hypoperfusion by StO2, essential to prevent the development of collapse. To limit hemodynamic failure effects, reduce morbidity and mortality of drug poisoning, hospital stay and cost.

In some patients, a few days or weeks after recovery from carbon monoxide poisoning, new symptoms develop. These can affect mood, ability to think or remember clearly, and movements. Some people develop movement problems that are similar to Parkinson's disease. This damage to brain tissue is called "encephalopathy," and this study will look at the effect of pressurized oxygen therapy on long term, or chronic, encephalopathy.

Organophosphate (OP) compounds are a major threat as chemical warfare agents or in terrorist act. OPs are also the active ingredient of many insecticides. Ingestion of insecticides is a common cause of death among people who commit suicide in developing countries. OPs poisoning also frequently occurs after accidental exposure to agricultural OPs and in children as a result of unintentional ingestion. The use of competitive inhibitors of acetylcholine other than atropine for patient with organophosphate (OP) poisoning is controversial. Because scopolamines' ability to cross the blood brain barrier is better than atropine, it has been suggested that scopolamine should be used OP poisoned patients who have central nervous system (CNS) manifestations. However there is controversy regarding its potential benefit in the treatment of organophosphate poisoning in humans. To the best of our knowledge there are no randomised controlled studies on the use of scopolamine in humans. This prospective randomised controlled study is aimed to determine whether adding scopolamine to the standard treatment of atropine and oximes in patients with CNS symptoms of OP poisoning improve the outcome.