Asthma: Allergic asthma is an episodic wheezing illness often beginning before the age of 20. It occurs in patients from families with other IgE mediated illnesses such as allergic rhinitis and eczema. Unless specific aggravating factors are present all the time, the patient enjoys normal breathing between attacks. A careful history identifies important etiologic factors. A history of seasonal ...

Substance abuse refers to drug abuse where the drug users become several affected due to the effects of the drugs. Some of the substances that are commonly abused include: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine and inhalants. In adolescents/ youths the individuals may fall back in class, he or she may become antisocial and withdraws from the society and friend’s etc. excessive use of these drugs ...

Drug abuse prevention among adolescents can be more effective if it is based on an accurate knowledge of the cultural context and of how young people actually think about the drugs that are commonly used. A study was undertaken among Navajo adolescents to query their perceptions of using drugs, what the social context of their drug use is and, in particular, their perceptions of inhalants as su...

Illicit drug abuse continues to become more widespread, especially in teenagers. Therefore, it is important for physicians to recognize the signs and symptoms of abuse in their patients. Drug abuse should be considered in differential diagnosis of many physical and nearly all psychiatric complaints. An understanding of the pharmacologic mechanisms and adverse effects of illicit drugs can enhanc...

Methods In 1994, the Canadian Asthma Primary Prevention Study (CAPPS) was established. This high-risk birth cohort has 2 sites, Winnipeg and Vancouver, Canada. Expectant mothers were recruited during the third trimester. Enrollment criteria were a first degree relative with asthma or two first degree relatives with other allergic diseases. Participants were prenatally randomized into control an...

Methods Substance-using probationers (N =194) completed baseline and 2-month follow-up interviews. Probationers averaged 35 years-old and were predominately male (69%) and nonwhite (79%). Measures included demographics (e.g., age), treatment/use experience (e.g., ASI drug score), psychosocial functioning (e.g., self-esteem), and criminal justice experience (e.g., lifetime arrests). Hard drug us...

Using data from the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this chapter investigates the impact of individual drug use on robbery, burglary, theft, and damaging property for juveniles. Using a variety of fixed-effects models that exploit variations over time and between siblings and twins, the results indicate that drug use has a significant impact on the propensity to commit cr...

Methods In the EuroPrevall-INCO survey, primary school children (7-10 years) from randomly selected schools in China (Hong Kong [urban/n=401], Guangzhou [urban/ n=402], Shaoguan [rural/n=349]) and Russia (Tomsk [urban&rural/n=1230]) were first screened by a short questionnaire for self-reported food allergy. Subsequently, cases and randomly sampled controls underwent a more detailed clinical ev...