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Harari R, Toren O, Tal Y, Ben-Porat T. Food allergy safety: a descriptive report of changing policy in a single large medical center. Isr J Health Policy Res 2021; 10:32. [PMID: 33941273 PMCID: PMC8091511 DOI: 10.1186/s13584-021-00466-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Food allergy can result in life-threatening anaphylaxis and is considered an increasing public health burden. Hospitalized patients are dependent on the hospital menu to meet their nutritional needs; thus, errors in the meals provided can have a substantial impact on patients’ health outcomes. In Israel, no specific policy protocol exists to ensure food allergy safety in the setting of a hospital foodservice system. Objectives This paper has two aims: 1) to provide an in-depth review of food allergy as a major public health concern and 2) to report actions taken in a single large medical center, as an ongoing project that aimed to ensure patients’ safety, and which ended in developing policy on this matter. Results During the years 2017–2019, we initiated several interventions with the goal of achieving food allergy safety and ensuring quality of care for patients with food allergies at Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center. These included integrating food management safety into the computerized foodservice system, highlighting labels on patients’ food trays, introducing safety checks into the process of food delivery to hospitalized patients; and ensuring the nutritional requirements of patients with allergy restrictions. Moreover, changes were made in specialized menus for patients with various types of food allergy, and specific procedures were implemented regarding enteral feeding, to prevent accidental allergen exposure. All the procedures were incorporated into a written protocol that applies to all hospital employees, and the staff received the relevant training. Conclusions Our experience suggests that methods for food allergy safety should be promoted, and that an established policy and suitable set of guidelines on this matter is required. This clearly mandates collaboration between the various sectors of the hospital, including management and the computer department; and the medical, nursing, dietetics and kitchen staffs. Furthermore, routine ongoing knowledge training programs for medical teams and kitchen staff are crucial for such implementational changes. In a technological world, computerized systems delivering food to hospitalized patients must be adapted such as to create a uniformly safe food environment of healthcare systems, and developing a suitable policy should be prioritized accordingly by hospitals across Israel, with collaboration and synergy between institutions management and the departments of nutrition and patient safety and risk management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rivki Harari
- Department of Diet and Nutrition, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Orly Toren
- Department of Patient Safety and Risk Management, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yuval Tal
- Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Tair Ben-Porat
- Department of Diet and Nutrition, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. .,Department of Human Metabolism and Nutrition, Braun School of Public Health, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
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Ben-Porat T, Weiss R, Sherf-Dagan S, Nabulsi N, Maayani A, Khalaileh A, Abed S, Brodie R, Harari R, Mintz Y, Pikarsky AJ, Elazary R. Nutritional Deficiencies in Patients with Severe Obesity before Bariatric Surgery: What Should Be the Focus During the Preoperative Assessment? J Acad Nutr Diet 2019; 120:874-884. [PMID: 31892499 DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2019.10.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nutritional deficiencies are a well-recognized long-term complication following bariatric surgery. The presence of preoperative deficiencies has been shown to be predictive of postoperative deficiencies. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of micronutrient deficiency in a large sample of patients with severe obesity preoperatively, and to determine whether such deficiencies may be related to patient's sex, body mass index, or ethnic subgroup. DESIGN A cross-sectional study of data collected at the time of the preoperative evaluation. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING Data were collected during the preoperative evaluation of 872 bariatric surgery candidates in a university hospital in Israel between 2011 and 2018. The patients were 72.9% women, with a mean age of 37.9±12.1 years and mean body mass index of 42.4±4.7 MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Nutritional deficiencies according to blood assays. Data on anthropometrics, comorbidities, and demographic characteristics was also collected. STATISTICAL ANALYSES Baseline differences between patient subgroups were analyzed using independent-samples t test, analysis of variance, or χ2 test. RESULTS Deficiencies of vitamin D, iron, folate, vitamin B-12, elevated parathyroid hormone and low transferrin saturation were present in 75.2%, 42.6%, 28.5%, 8.5%, 35.5%, and 70% of patients, respectively. Nutritional deficiencies were significantly more common among women compared with men for iron (45.9% vs 33.5%; P=0.002), low transferrin saturation (77.7% vs 44.6%; P<0.001), vitamin D (77.5% vs 69.2%; P=0.019) and elevated parathyroid hormone level (39.5% vs 22.9%; P=0.002). Iron, transferrin saturation, and vitamin D deficiencies were more prevalent in Arab patients compared with Jewish patients: 59.6% vs 36%; P<0.001, 80.2% vs 62.8%; P=0.003, and 85.1% vs 71.6%; P<0.001, respectively. Vitamin D and iron deficiency were more common among higher body mass index subgroups (P=0.004 and P=0.040, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The results indicate a high prevalence of nutritional deficiencies, mainly of iron and vitamin D in bariatric surgery candidates. Patients at higher risk for nutritional deficiencies include those with higher body mass index, women, and Arabs.
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Ben-Porat T, Weiss-Sadan A, Rottenstreich A, Sherf-Dagan S, Schweiger C, Yosef-Levi IM, Weiner D, Azulay O, Sakran N, Harari R, Elazary R. Nutritional Management for Chronic Kidney Disease Patients who Undergo Bariatric Surgery: A Narrative Review. Adv Nutr 2019; 10:122-132. [PMID: 30753268 PMCID: PMC6370259 DOI: 10.1093/advances/nmy112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2018] [Revised: 10/19/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Bariatric surgery (BS) may be effective for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients by reducing microalbuminuria and proteinuria, and by facilitating their meeting inclusion criteria for kidney transplantation. However, nutritional management for this population is complex and specific guidelines are scarce. A literature search was performed to create dietetic practice for these patients based on the most recent evidence. For the purposes of nutritional recommendations, we divided the patients into 2 subgroups: 1) patients with CKD and dialysis, and 2) patients after kidney transplantation. Before surgery, nutritional care includes nutritional status evaluation and adjusting doses of supplements to treat deficiencies and daily nutrient intake according to the dietary restrictions derived from kidney disease, including quantities of fluids, protein, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamins. After BS, these patients are at major risk for lean body mass loss, malnutrition and dehydration because of fluid restriction and diuretics. Postoperative nutritional recommendations should be carefully tailored according to CKD nutritional limitations and include specific considerations regarding protein, fluids, and supplementation, in particular calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin D. Nutritional management of CKD and kidney transplant patients undergoing BS is challenging and future studies are required to establish uniform high-level evidence-based guidelines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tair Ben-Porat
- The Israeli Dietetic Association, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Nutrition, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Anat Weiss-Sadan
- The Israeli Dietetic Association, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Nutrition, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Amihai Rottenstreich
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Shiri Sherf-Dagan
- The Israeli Dietetic Association, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Nutrition, Assuta Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Chaya Schweiger
- The Israeli Dietetic Association, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Nutrition, Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tiqva, Israel
| | - Irit Mor Yosef-Levi
- Nephrology and Hypertension Services, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Dana Weiner
- The Israeli Dietetic Association, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Nutrition, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Odile Azulay
- The Israeli Dietetic Association, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Nutrition, Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tiqva, Israel
| | - Nasser Sakran
- Department of Surgery A, Emek Medical Center, Afula, affiliated with Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Rivki Harari
- The Israeli Dietetic Association, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Nutrition, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Ram Elazary
- Department of Surgery, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
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Affiliation(s)
- Y. Perets
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev The Pearlstone Center for Aeronautical Studies Department of Mechanical Engineering Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - R. Harari
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev The Pearlstone Center for Aeronautical Studies Department of Mechanical Engineering Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - E. Sher
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev The Pearlstone Center for Aeronautical Studies Department of Mechanical Engineering Beer-Sheva, Israel
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Greenshtein-Littman I, Greenberg K, Leiter E, Donchin M, Nubani M, Lotan C, Keidar O, Harari R, Zwas D. Nutrition-based healthy lifestyle pilot program for female hospital employees. Eur J Public Health 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckw174.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Perets Y, Sher E, Harari R. Characterizing the dynamics of a flexible rod wrapped by transverse repeated ribs subjected to axial flow. Nuclear Engineering and Design 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2013.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Colosio C, Harari R, Birindelli S, Campo L, Fustinoni S, Harari H, Somaruga C, Tiramani M, Visentin S, Maroni M. [Occupational exposure to fungicides in floriculture in Ecuador]. G Ital Med Lav Ergon 2003; 25 Suppl:107-8. [PMID: 14979106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Floriculture represents one of the major sources of income in the Ecuadorian Andean Region that can be carried out either in open fields as in greenhouses by using chemical compounds, growing hormones and xenobiotics. Among pesticides, ethylenbisdithiocarbamate (EBDTCs) fungicides represent the most extensively used. The aim of the study was the assessment of exposure to EBDTCs in Ecuadorian floricultural workers by the determination of the urinary excretion of the main metabolite of these compounds, ethylenethiourea (ETU). For this purpose, thirty-six floriculture workers and 7 unexposed healthy subjects were recruited for the study. Median level of ETU excretion in agricultural workers before the work shift was 3.2 micrograms/g creatinine, ranging from 0.4 to 34.5 micrograms/g creatinine. After pesticide application, urinary ETU increased to 6.2 micrograms/g creatinine (1.5-26.5) microgram/g creatinine. Urinary ETU resulted significantly higher in overall workers, taken as pre- and post-shift samples, when compared to controls (0.7, 0.4-2.1 micrograms/g creatinine, p < 0.01). According to jobs, applicators showed the highest levels of ETU excretion whereas growing, post-harvesting and maintenance workers showed similar levels of exposure. Higher level ETU excretion was observed in greenhouse compared to open field workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Colosio
- International Centre for Pesticides and Health Risk Prevention, Ospedale Universitario Luigi Sacco, Milan, Italy
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Abstract
To document the problem of child labor as a health issue, we report here three case-studies in Ecuador: exposure to mercury among gold washers, exposure to organophosphates and carbamates in the fruit-growing industry, and exposure to solvents among shoe cleaners. We measured the relevant biological indicators of exposure (mercury in urine, urinary levels of phenols, and acetylcholine esterase in erythrocytes) among selected samples of 10 children for each working place. In all the case studies, the values of the biological indicators showed elevated exposure to well-known toxicants, which are now rare in developed countries, even among adult workers. The findings meld with a previously reported case study of intoxication from inorganic lead among children employed in the manufacture of roof tiles in Ecuador. This study highlights the need to properly evaluate and control the potential health effects due to exposure to toxic substances among children employed in different occupations in several parts of the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Harari
- IFA, Corporacion para el Desarrollo de la Produccion y el Medio Ambiente Laboral, Quito, Ecuador
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Harari R, Cullen MR. Childhood lead intoxication associated with manufacture of roof tiles and ceramics in the Ecuadorian Andes. Arch Environ Health 1995; 50:393. [PMID: 7574899 DOI: 10.1080/00039896.1995.9935974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- R Harari
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510-2483, USA
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Abstract
There has been a growing volume of research regarding occupational hazards in developing countries during the past decade. Results of this work are increasingly appearing in established journals and forming part of the international database on the health effects of working conditions. However, despite many similarities to research conducted in economically advanced countries, research performed in developing countries are often quite different in their motivations, methodologies, and outcomes. To investigate these differences, the recent occupational health research experience in Ecuador was examined. Based on 15 reports that could be identified since 1980 as having sufficient information to analyze, the authors identified certain persistent themes: the preponderance of cross-sectional study designs; the limited availability of quantitative exposure measures, and the utilization of nonstandard clinical measures of outcome. Each of these limitations could be related to obvious conditions under which investigators were working, and each underscores the potential value of strategic alliances between local investigators and collaborators from developed countries. The review also documented the high importance in Ecuador to studies of "established" relationships between well-known toxicants and health. While such studies could be viewed as unoriginal or uninteresting by outsiders, they may form the basis of the domestic or regional research agenda, which cannot be overlooked or misunderstood if international collaborations are not to be exploitative.
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Affiliation(s)
- MR Cullen
- Yale University School of Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, 135 College Street, 3rd Floor, New Haven, CT 06510-2483, USA
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Abstract
Transient renal tubular acidosis may complicate acute renal failure (ARF). To clarify this phenomenon, the present study examined tubular H+ ion secretory capacity in an ischemic model of ARF. Clearance studies were performed in dogs subjected to 60 minutes, unilateral renal artery clamping. The contralateral kidney served as control. One hour after release of clamp, mean glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was reduced by 50 to 70 percent in the ischemic kidney. Bicarbonate reclamation (mEq/liter GFR) was comparable in both kidneys. However, ischemia resulted in impaired distal acidification as judged by three separate maneuvers: minimal urinary pH following sulphate infusion was higher in ischemic than in control kidney (6.61 +/- 0.39 vs. 5.39 +/- 0.26, P less than 0.01), mean urine to blood PCO2 difference (U-B PCO2) was significantly lower during phosphate infusion (ischemic: 13.8 +/- 4.1 mm Hg, control: 37.2 +/- 6.8 mm Hg, P less than 0.01) and was completely abolished during isotonic NaHCO3 infusion in the ischemic kidney (-1.9 +/- 3.4 mm Hg) compared to control (40.1 +/- 14.8 mm Hg, P less than 0.05). Urinary potassium excretion was intact following ischemia and was appropriately suppressed by amiloride. Administration of 0.7 M NaHCO3 solution at a rate sufficient to produce maximally alkaline urine resulted in a similar U-B PCO2/UHCO3 relationship in both kidneys in the face of impaired distal acidification in the ischemic kidney. This suggests either that the defect may be reversed by massive bicarbonate infusion or, alternatively, that U-B PCO2 difference may be related to other factors in addition to distal H+ secretion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Pratt H, Brodsky G, Goldsher M, Ben-David Y, Harari R, Podoshin L, Eliachar I, Grushka E, Better O, Garty J. Auditory brain-stem evoked potentials in patients undergoing dialysis. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1986; 63:18-24. [PMID: 2416531 DOI: 10.1016/0013-4694(86)90057-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Auditory brain-stem evoked potentials (ABEPs) and pure-tone audiograms were obtained for 38 patients with renal failure, undergoing dialysis, before and after a dialysis session, and for 40 healthy normal subjects. Blood chemistry was also evaluated for each patient before and after dialysis. ABEP abnormality (using 10/sec click rate) was observed for 24% of the patients, rising to 44% when 55/sec measures were included. Abnormalities included prolongations of peak latencies for both click rates, and prolongation of interpeak latency differences. Pre-dialysis calcium was significantly different between patients with or without ABEP abnormality. In addition to this chronic effect on ABEPs, an acute effect of the dialysis session was found. Blood chemistry data, ABEP latencies and I-III interpeak latency differences were significantly different before, as compared to after dialysis. The acute effect of dialysis on blood calcium levels correlated with its effect on latencies of peaks III and V at 10/sec click rate, and on peaks I and V latency at 55/sec. These results may indicate the types of dysfunction revealed by increased stimulus rate measures.
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Harari R. [Jacques Lacan: The turn of the Obligado or the return of the unavoidable]. Acta Psiquiatr Psicol Am Lat 1976; 22:211-24. [PMID: 983751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
"La Vuelta de Obligado" (Obligado bend of Paraná river) is the name of a battle fought by local rebels against the colonial invading navy. The victory was due to a witty device: the patriots stretched a cable across the river and succeded in stopping the foreign float. The event is the paradigm of the everlasting fight of under-developped countries against powerful colonial metropolis. The author examines the conditions of local fight against colonizing cultural and scientific ideas, being his main content that scientific advancement needs not be an instrument of scientific imperialism. He analyzes in detail several factors currently impeding the use of scientific discoveries and improvements, focusing into concrete "obstacles" (in Bachelard's meaning) to betterment of Psychoanalytic knowledge. The obstacles are: 1. All-pervading transference. The rule adapted from Melanie Klein theories emphasizing hic et nunc validity of materials from the patient, neglects the fact that the analyst is also moved by desire, and that the patient's productions are not fragments of behavior able to be reduced to the present situation, but vectorial motions, always open and always re-opening into something defined since the beginning as forever lost. 2. Increasing activity for the analyst. The current hypothesis concerning the possibility of analyzing everything, encouraging the analyst's hyperactivity, does not allow for theoretical evaluation of the means and ways of manifestation of unconscious drives through gaps in the discourse. 3. Pan-counter-transference. The conception of counter-transference as an instrument is against Freud's contention, defining it as a reciprocal transference that must be fought in the same way as the patient's. 4. Belittling of theory. The thesis against theory, on the grounds that Psychoanalysis deals with affects and the affective life of patients, forgets that there is always some system for understanding the world and, for want of a theory, an ideological system is always ready to provide the grid underlying all concepts used. 5. Not-analyzing. The automatic "translation", lacking the search for new links to replace the ones that analysis dismantles, leads to denaturalizing the practice and keeping intact the patient's imaginary consistent universe. 6. Intergrationism. Other theories cannot be integrated to Psychoanalysis as they have different objects and different frameworks. Conversely, Psychoanalitic concepts cannot be formulated in other theories conceptual corpus for the same reason. The exception are the sciences having similar fields and methods of analysis, such as Semiotics or Linguistics. In their case the articulation of concepts becomes possible, but still requires the previous command of Psychoanalytic Theory in its full depth. 7. Communicationalism. The most common of all integrations with other sciences is the one linking Psychoanalysis with Communications Theory...
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