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BACKGROUND: The growing international movement legislating medical marijuana has brought renewed interest to the role of marijuana smoking on fertility potential. Although studies have identified that sperm quality can be compromised by marijuana use, little focus has been placed specifically on those trying to conceive. In this study, we aimed to clarify the impact of marijuana use in semen quality in men being investigated for assisted reproduction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study at a university-based facility in Jamaica. Routine semen analyses were performed on 229 men ages 23-72 years who were new clients. Logistic regression analyses were performed in order to independently predict quantifiable measures of the impact of marijuana use. The main outcome measures were sperm motility, total motile spermatozoa and morphology. RESULTS: Overall, 47% of the participants reported marijuana use with 21% of these men reporting recent use. Regression analyses showed that recent use and users of large quantities of marijuana were 2.6 times (aOR = 2.6; 95% CI, 1.0-6.8, p = 0.044) and 4.3 times (aOR = 4.3; 95% CI, 1.1-15.9, p = 0.030) at greater risk of being diagnosed with abnormal motility (asthenozoospermia). Additionally, moderate quantity users were 3.4 times (aOR = 3.4; 95% CI, 1.5-7.9, p = 0.004) more likely to be diagnosed with abnormal morphology (teratozoospermia). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Recent use of marijuana as well as moderate to large quantities had an impact on sperm motility and morphology in men being investigated for infertility. We recommend therefore that men undergoing fertility investigations be routinely asked about their recreational use of marijuana and in particular recent and heavy users counselled to stop.

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Male attitude about masturbation may influence early diagnosis and treatment of infertility and may be of particular burden in developing countries. We sought to explore attitude about masturbating and examine comfort/discomfort with masturbating and sexual history, pregnancy history and sperm quality in men investigating fertility potential. The study consisted of 83 male volunteers, 23-61 years, attending a fertility management unit in Kingston, Jamaica. Comfort with masturbation was assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. Participants also completed the unit's standard intake form for infertility investigations and produced a semen sample. T-tests, Mann-Whitney U-test and chi-square were used to compare differences in comfort level with outcome variables. We found 59% were comfortable masturbating although requiring external stimulation to produce a sample (48%); 6% (n = 5) failed to produce a sample after repeated attempts. A higher percentage of men uncomfortable with masturbating reported sexual problems (P < 0.05) and spending a longer time trying to have a baby (P < 0.05). Semen quality was not associated with masturbating comfort. Producing a sample by masturbation is standard for many assisted conception treatments. As comfort with masturbating may influence delay in infertility investigations and fertility outcome, efforts to improve men's comfort level with semen production should be considered in pre-treatment fertility counselling.

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Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen in both community and healthcare associated pneumonia. We describe a case of severe pneumonia caused by the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clone USA 300 in a 44-year old post-partum woman and the subsequent vertical transmission of this virulent organism to her neonate.

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Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen in both community and healthcare associated pneumonia. We describe a case of severe pneumonia caused by the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clone USA 300 in a 44-year old post-partum woman and the subsequent vertical transmission of this virulent organism to her neonate.

El estafilococo dorado (Staphylococcus aureus) es un patógeno importante tanto en la atención a las comunidades como en el cuidado de la salud en relación con la pulmonía. Se describe un caso de pneumonia severa causada por el clon USA 300 del estafilococo dorado resistente a la meticilina (EDRM) en una mujer de 44 anos en periodo de post-parto, y la posterior transmisión vertical de este virulento organismo a su neonato.

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OBJECTIVE: To determine whether an association exists between reported birth weight and oedematous forms of severe protein energy malnutrition (PEM). METHODS: Severe PEM continues to be a major public health problem worldwide. However, the causes of oedematous PEM (OPEM) have not yet been elucidated. Recently, birth weight was reported to be associated with risk of ischaemic heart disease and Type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults. It is possible that the examination of the relationship between birth weight and OPEM in children may give clues, not only about the mechanisms underlying the developing of OPEM, but also about the mechanism by which associations between birth weight and adult disease may arise. As part of a larger project to create a database containing information on children admitted to the ward of the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, the authors reviewed the clinical records of 884 children. Children were categorised as having either OPEM or non-OPEM. Multiple logisitic regression was used to examine the relationship between reported birth weight and the odds ratio (OR) for having OPEM. RESULTS: In this sample of children, the OR for having OPEM was 1.40 (95 percent CI 1.15 - 1.70) for each increase of 1 pound in birth weight. Birth weight remained significant even after inclusion of gender, mother's age and birth rank in the mutliple logistic regression model. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that among children with severe PEM, higher birth weights are associated withan increased risk of oedematous malnutrition. Replication of this result in a large sample is required.(Au)

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