Evaluation of Medical Cost Lost Due to Smoking in Chinese Cities

Smoking induces substantial diseases burden on both individual and the whole society.To identify the true smoking-attributable economic loss, we introduce medical cost accounting as a means to calculate disease-speciflc medical cost, including inpatient and outpatient cost of those diseases caused by smoking. Medical cost is defined as health fesource consumption in terms of money. Cost is allocated to departrpent and services according to coeffcient of benefit and operation time. The study in 1988 indicates that total smoking-attributable medical cost is 2.32 billion RMB Yuan in China, 1.70 billion RMB Yuan for outpatient, 0.62 billion RMB Yuan for inpatient. If indirect cost is included, the cost will be greater. Chronic obstructive emphysema has the highest proportion (55.41%) in smoking attributable medical cost

Joint Development of Evidence-Based Medical Record by Doctors and Patients through Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine on Digestive System Diseases

Building the clinical therapeutic evaluation system by combing the evaluation given by doctors and patients can form a more comprehensive and objective evaluation system.A literature search on the practice of evidence-based evaluation was conducted in key biomedical databases,i.e.PubMed,Excerpt Medica Database,China Biology Medicine disc and China National Knowledge Infrastructure.However,no relevant study on the subjects of interest was identified.Therefore,drawing on the principles of narrative medicine and expert opinion from systems of Chinese medicine and Western medicine,we propose to develop and pilot-test a novel evidence-based medical record format that captures the perspectives of both patients and doctors in a clinical trial.Further,we seek to evaluate a strategic therapeutic approach that integrates the wisdom of Chinese medicine with the scientific basis of Western medicine in the treatment of digestive system disorders.Evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of remedies under the system of Chinese medicine is an imperative ongoing research.The present study intends to identify a novel approach to assess the synergistic benefits achievable from an integrated therapeutic approach combining Chinese and Western system of medicine to treat digestive system disorders.

In vitro genotoxicity evaluation and metabolic study of residual glutaraldehyde in animal-derived biomaterials

Glutaraldehyde(GA)is an important additive that is mainly used in animal-derived biomaterials to improve their mechanical and antimicrobial capacities.However,GA chemical toxicity and the metabolic mechanism remain relatively unknown.Therefore,residual GA has always been a major health risk consideration for animal-derived medical devices.In this study,extracts of three biopatches were tested via the GA determination test and mouse lymphoma assay(MLA).The results showed that dissolved GA was a potential mutagen,which could induce significant cytotoxic and mutagenic effects in mouse lymphoma cells.These toxic reactions were relieved by the S9 metabolic activation(MA)system.Furthermore,we confirmed that GA concentration decreased and glutaric acid was generated during the catalytic process.We revealed GA could be oxidized via cytochrome P450 which was the main metabolic factor of S9.We found that even though GA was possibly responsible for positive reactions of animal-derived biomaterials’biocompatibility evaluation,it may not represent the real situation occurring in human bodies,owing to the presence of various detoxification mechanisms including the S9 system.Overall,in order to achieve a general balance between risk management and practical application,rational decisions based on comprehensive analyses must be considered.