Conference Papers
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This collection contains abstracts of conference papers, presented at local and international conferences by the staff of the Faculty of Medicine
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Item Perceived travel constraints of older people and people with disabilities in the Colombo district: A qualitative research study(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2018) Thennakoon, V.; Peiris-John, R.; Wickremasinghe, R.; Amerathunga, S.INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Supportive transport systems allow people to maintain quality of life and meaningful participation in the society. Risks for safe transportation for vulnerable road users such as older people and people with disabilities affect their health and well-being. This study explored perceived risks relating to road safety and challenges for safe transportation among older people and people with disabilities in the Colombo district. METHODS: The community-based qualitative research study involved eight focus group discussions conducted older people (60 years and above) and disabled people (physical, sensory, learning impairment; 12 years and above). Transcribed discussions were coded thematically using NVivo 11. RESULTS: The transport challenges perceived by participants included poor road infrastructure, lack of disability-friendly transport services, negative attitudes of people, psycho-social factors and lack of opportunities to voice transport challenges. Suggestions for mitigating perceived risks included improved infrastructure facilities and user-friendly services, awareness programs for service providers and public, greater visibility of these groups in policy frameworks and effective law enforcement. CONCLUSION: The travel experiences of older people and people with disabilities indicated the need for improved road engineering designs, age-and disability- friendly transport modes and rigorous legislative enforcement. To ensure equitable opportunities and well-being of older people and people with disabilities, it is also imperative to foster meaningful relationships and positive societal attitudes towards them.Item Association between heavy metals and endometriosis; results of a preliminary study(Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2010) Senanayake, H.; Peiris-John, R.; Wickremasinghe, A.R.; Wadugtf, V.OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between heavy metal concentrations in whole blood and ectopic endometrial tissue in endometriosis. DESIGN, SETTING, METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in a tertiary care setting to compare heavy metal concentrations in whole blood among those with and without endometriosis. Endometriosis was confirmed by laparoscopy or laparotomy (n=14). There were 11 age matched controls who had no evidence of the disease. Informed written consent was obtained pre-operatively. Blood samples were collected from all participants. Ectopic endometrial tissue samples were obtained from 10 cases by a single surgeon. After measuring the wet weight, whole blood samples and ectopic endometrial tissues were digested with supra pure 65% HNO3 and analyzed for heavy metals by the Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence (TXRF) technique. Means of the log transformed metal levels were compared using t-tests. RESULTS: Mean (+SD) blood levels of nickel in the cases (2.19±0.45 PPB) was significantly higher than in the controls (0.65±0.14 PPB, p=0.029). The mean (+SD) lead levels in the cases (21.85±1.99 PPB) and controls (17.85 ±1.5 PPB) were similar (p=0.378). Tissue samples had higher mean (+SD) levels of nickel (9.3±15.31 PPB) and lead (18.16 ±1.58 PPB) as compared to blood levels of nickel (0.502±0.406 PPB) and lead (66.60+10.37 PPB), respectively, which were statistically significant {p<0.05 for both nickel and lead). CONCLUSIONS: Nickel is known to exert oestrogenic effects. Patients with endometriosis had higher levels of nickel; there is evidence that nickel accumulates in endometrial tissues. Further studies with a larger sample size are needed to determine if nickel is an aetiological factor of the disease in our population.Item Association between heavy metals and endometriosis(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2010) Silva, N.L.; Senanayaka, H.; Peiris-John, R.; Wickremasinghe, R.; Waduge, V.OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between heavy metal concentrations in whole blood and ectopic endometrial tissue in endometriosis. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. Endometriosis was confirmed by laparoscopy or laparotomy in 14 patients, There were 11 age-matched controls with no evidence of the disease. Informed written consent was obtained pre-operatively. Blood samples were collected from all participants. In 10 patients ectopic endometrial tissue samples were obtained by a single surgeon. After measuring the wet weight, whole blood samples and ectopic endometrial tissues were digested with supra pure 65% HNO3 and analysed for heavy metals by the Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence (TXRJF) technique in parts per billion (PPB). Means of the log transformed metal levels were compared using t-tests. RESULTS: Mean (+SD) blood levels of nickel in the cases (2.19±0.45 PPB) was significantly higher than in the controls (0.65±0.14 PPB, p =0.029). The mean (+SD) lead levels in the cases (21.85±1.99 PPB) and controls (17.85 ±1.5 PPB) were similar (p=0.378). Tissue samples had higher mean (+SD) levels of nickel (9.3±15.31 PPB) and lead (66.60±10.37 PPB) as compared to blood levels of nickel (0.502±0.406 PPB) and lead (18.16 ± 1.58 PPB) which were statistically significant (p=0.003 and p=0.025 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with endometriosis had higher levels of nickel, which is known to exert oestrogenic effects. There is evidence that nickel accumulates in endometrial tissues.Item Accumulation of toxic metals in ectopic endometrial tissue(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2011) Silva, N.; Senanayaka, H.; Peiris-John, R.; Wickremasinghe, R.; Waduge, V.INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Aim of this study was to determine the association between heavy metals and endometriosis. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital comparing 50 cases of endometriosis with 50 age matched controls confirmed by laparoscopy or laparotomy. Blood samples and ectopic endometrial tissue samples were obtained and digested with supra pure 65% HNO3. Samples were analysed for cadmium by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFASS). In a subset of cases (n=30) and controls (n=40) samples were analyzed for nickel, lead and zinc by Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence (TXRF) technique. T-tests and Spearman's correlation coefficient were used for analysis. RESULTS: Cases had significantly higher (p=0.011) mean (+SD) blood nickel levels (1.69+1.18 ug/1) as compared to controls (0.96+0.94 ug/1). Blood levels of cadmium (0.75±0.46 ug/I vs 0.77 ±0.37 ug/1) lead (5.8S±1.25 ug/1 vs 3.45±1.25 ug/1) and zinc (123.02±2.49 ug/1 vs151.35 ±2.46 ug/1) were similar in the two groups (p=0.289, p=0.123s and p=0.339, respectively). Tissue samples had significantly higher (p=0.001, p<0.001, p=0.049 respectively) mean (+SD) levels of cadmium (2.86±0.61 ug/1 vs 0.8±0.48 ug/1) nickel (8.64±0.4.12 ug/Lvsl.58±1.21ug/l) and lead (11.22±4.67 ug/1 vs 5.86±3.38 ug/1) compared to blood levels. Mean (+SD) blood levels of zinc (117.48 ±2.64 ug/1) was higher (p<0.001) than that in tissues (27.54±6.65 ug/1). There was a positive correlation between blood zinc levels and tissue zinc levels (r=0.417;p= 0.034) but there was no correlation between blood and tissue levels of cadmium, nickel and lead (r=0.237,p=0.085; r=0.372,^=0.113; r=0.70,/?=0.067, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Cadmium, nickel and lead but not zinc accumulate in ectopic endometrial tissue.