Hygiena, 2013 (vol. 58), issue 2

Sixtieth Anniversary of the Charles University Third Faculty of Medicine

Pavel Dlouhý

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):47-48  

Opinions, Attitudes and Behaviour of Parents Participating in the "Non-Smoking is Normal" Programme

Drahoslava Hrubá, Iva Žaloudíková

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):49-55 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0963  

Introduction: In developed countries, child exposure to tobacco smoke at home poses a major health risk. In the school-based educational programme "Non-Smoking is normal", active parental cooperation is requested for the purpose of creating voluntary smoke-free homes. The effectiveness of the programme was tested both in the pilot study involving 10 primary schools in Brno and Frýdek Místek, and in the wider study that comprised 25 primary schools in Brno, Zlín, and smaller regional towns involved in the project. A further 25 schools from the same localities were taken as a control. Methods: During the five-year follow-up semi-longitudinal...

The Connection between Food Preferences and Consumption

Jindřich Fiala, Lubomír Kukla

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):56-61 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0964  

Food preferences belong to significant factors influencing diet. Basic taste preferences are inherited, typically the preferences for sweet and salty tastes or dislike of bitter and sour tastes. Inherited taste preferences together with experience and other influences form the extent of preference of particular foods. Generally it is believed that food preferences belong to strong determinants of food choice, and that people, especially children, eat what they like. The objective of the study was to investigate to what extent and how food preferences are reflected in consumption in a large sample of adolescents. The research involved 1,655 adolescents...

Physical Exercise of Senior Women II: Subjective Perception of Selected Indicators of Quality of Life

Dana Fialová, Věra Vlastníková

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):62-66 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0965  

Two experimental groups (an instructed group exercise program and an individual exercise program, healthy lifestyle education) and a control group (healthy lifestyle education only) were observed in our study. Healthy lifestyle education included lectures on physical activity, healthy diet and mental health and was undergone by all the groups. Questionnaires were used to obtain participants' anamnestic data, data on eating habits, self-reported health status and other selected indicators of quality of life. To assess the influence of education and physical activity on mental state, questions focused on expressing positive and negative feelings were...

Exhaled Nitric Oxide Values in Children Exposed to Traffic Emissions

Josef Richter, Vladimír Svozil, Josef Mašláň, Rudolf Odehnal, Ludovít Filo, Miloš Verner, Vlastimil Král

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):67-69 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0966  

Exhalation values of nitric oxide (eNO) were recorded in a cohort of 117 children with diagnosed respiratory diseases, as defined by the exposure components of traffic emissions prior to, and after, in-patient therapy. A significant increase of eNO values was recorded in exposed children. Following in-patient therapy there was a statistically significant reduction associated findings. We consider this non-invasive method of measuring eNO values to be very beneficial for the evaluation of exposure to environmental pollutants.

Comparison of the Excretion Rate of Selected Biomarkers of Benzene Exposure

Ivica Bajusová, Peter Kolarčik, Michal Ihnatko, Tatiana Kimáková, Ľubomír Legáth

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):70-74 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0967  

Benzene has hematoxic effects, causes damage to the central nervous system and immune system, is classified as a Category 1 carcinogen, and a Category 2 mutagen. Benzene exposure is limited by public health legislation. A total of 99 biological samples of benzene-exposed workers and 19 biological samples of non-exposed patients in a control group were examined. Concentration determination of two selected biomarkers of benzene exposure was performed using two different analytical methods. Trans,transmuconic acid was determined by chromatography and phenol was determined by spectrophotometry. The purpose of the study was to compare their excretion rate...

Issues of Presence of Microorganisms on Non-sterile Examination Gloves

Petra Telekesová, Ladislav Dzan

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):75-78 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0968  

Preface and Task Objective: With respect to economic aspects of providing medical care, the issue of using sterile versus nonsterile "examination" gloves in operations verging on invasivity and in diagnostic procedures has been gaining increasing attention. This article's objective is evaluation of presence of bacterial microorganisms on the surface of nonsterile examination gloves in quantities that allow valid statistical result assessment. Two hypotheses were proposed: H₀: disposable nonsterile gloves may not be considered safe for increased risk of nosocomial infection in examinations or minor surgeries in immunocompetent patients....

Health and Behaviour II. Genes, Behaviour and Complex Diseases

Šárka Kunzová, Drahoslava Hrubá

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):79-85 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0969  

Non-infectious diseases represent a serious health problem in current society. Their etiology is complex as they result from a time-evolving interaction of genetic and environmental factors, a significant part of which are based on individual behaviour and lifestyle. Lifestyle can modify the impact of genetic load; nonetheless, behaviour and lifestyle are themselves determined by genes to a certain extent. Lifelong environmental influences on the genome are largely mediated epigenetically. Epigenetic mechanisms modify the activity of genes and form a base of the phenotype plasticity. Exposure to epigenetic modificators prenatally and in the early post-natal...

The Significance and Use of Natural Substances in Cancer Therapy

Zdeněk Zloch, Pavel Sedláček

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):86-89 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a0970  

Traditional folk medicine offers a wealth of knowledge concerning the favourable effects of certain plant extracts in the prevention of cancer, tumours and as adjuvants to therapy. Current pharmacological research is intensively concerned with evaluation of phytochemical substances, as related to known molecular mechanisms, selection of incipient and evolved tumours and with focus on those natural substances that influence complex changes in the process sof carcinogenesis. Several thousand samples of plant substances were selected, stored and tested for their possible use in cancer therapy. Existing results confirm the advancement of this research...

Legal Actualities during 1.1.2013 - 15.4.2013

Eva Nekvindová

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):90-91  

Opinions of Canadian Health Inspectors

Jaroslav Kříž

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):55  

Predictive, Preventive and Personalized Medicine

Jaroslav Kříž

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):74  

Steam Stones for Water Pipes: The Smoking of Vapor is Expanding from Electronic Cigarettes to Water Pipes

Drahoslava Hrubá

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):89  

Darina Hartlová, M.D., Has Passed Away

Jaroslav Kříž

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):92  

Eva Haladová, M.D., Ph.D., MPH Has Left Us

Ľudmila Ševčíková

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):92  

The Silesian Meeting of Preventive Medicine 2013 - The Conference and Conclusions

Renáta Brablcová

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):92-93  

Jarmila Rážová, M.D., Ph.D., Deputy Chief Public Health Officer of the Czech Republic

Jaroslav Kříž

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):93  

Meeting of the Committee of the Association of Public Health and Community Medicine

Jaroslav Kříž

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):94  

Hygiene Journal: 2012 Report

Jaroslav Kříž, Věra Kernová, Jana Veselá

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):94-95  

Honorary Appreciations for the Journal Hygiena

Redakce

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):95  

Announcement to Authors of Contributions to the Journal Hygiena

Jaroslav Kříž

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):95  

The Health and Economic Assessment of Physical Exercise Activities (HEAT)

Jaroslav Kříž

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):95-96  

The Public Health Service in Russia and Countries of Central and Eastern Europe

Redakce

Hygiena 2013, 58(2):96