https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/38616 2026-04-14T18:42:19Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/21656 Title: It-Tabib tal-Familja : issue 5 Editors: Soler, Jean Karl Abstract: Editorial -- Mario R. Sammut - How to add ten years to your patient's life : help him/her quit smoking -- Marc Formosa & Mark P. Brincat - Infertility : part 2 -- Charles Savona-Ventura - Anaemia in the Maltese Islands -- E.C. research fellowships in general practice -- Evaluation of the winter, spring and autumn 1993 CPD meetings -- European General Practice Research Workshop. 1993-12-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/21652 Title: Anaemia in the Maltese Islands Abstract: During its early development the earth's atmosphere was, in chemical terms, a reducing environment and produced an abundance of ferrous iron which therefore became the form used in early biological molecules. Later, increasing amounts of oxygen became available, iron converted to the ferric form and organisms had to evolve various mechanisms to utilize it. Bacteria synthesise high-affinity chelating agents to extract iron from their surroundings; plant roots exude a substance which facilitates iron absorption; while mammals have evolved a specific "shuttle" protein - transferrin - in the upper intestinal tract. These mechanisms work well for bacteria, plants and many mammals, but humans appear to have difficulty in maintaining an adequate iron balance. Besides iron, erythropoicsis requires an adequate regular·supply of other nutrients, notably folate and vitamin B 12. The relative deficiency of these minerals and nutrients results in various forms of anaemia. 1993-12-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/21651 Title: Infertility : part 2 Abstract: The incidence of tubal disease in an infertile population varies worldwide. In the UK it is estimated at 15%, in Singapore 11.7% while in Cameron 88% (HuH M.R. et al, 1985). In the UK there are about 8,500 new cases of tubal disease per year. 1993-12-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/21639 Title: How to add ten years to your patient's life : help him/her quit smoking Abstract: WHAT IS SMOKING? • PSYCHO SOCIAL HABIT 20 cigarettes a day mean 200 hand-to-mouth movements and puffs a day; 6,000 a month; 72,000 a year; or more than 2,000,000 for a 45-year-old smoker who started at 15. • PHARMACOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE Nicotine reaches the brain within 7 seconds of inhaling tobacco smoke, twice as fast as if it were injected intravenously. Due to the short half-life nicotine has in the body, craving occurs with in minutes of finishing a cigarette. Habitual cigarette smoking fits the WHO criteria for addiction: • The compulsion to take a drug (nicotine) 'on a continuous basis (200 shots a day) • in order to experience its effects (small doses stimulate, large doses sedate), 'or to avoid the discomfort of its absence (anxiety, irritability, tremor, loss of concentration, memory impairment, insomnia, constipation, weight gain, craving). (WHO definition of addiction as adapted by Dr Chris Steele). THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF SMOKING Smokers smoke for the effects of nicotine, but suffer the morbid and mortal effects of carbon monoxide and smoke condensate (tar), the latter containing 4,000 different chemicals, including 300 known carcinogens. 1993-12-01T00:00:00Z