South Dakota Medicine : the Journal of the South Dakota State Medical Association

Drowning is currently the second leading cause of injury-related death for children 1-4 years of age in the United States and is the leading cause of death worldwide for boys ages 5-14 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as a public health threat and advocates for reducing drowning deaths by understanding geographical, cultural, and societal risk factors. To these three we added a fourth: historical studies. To that end, we analyzed accidental causes of death between January 1, 1880, and December 31, 1939, in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, based on interment records from the Mt...

From 1920 to 1940 in Minnehaha County there was an apparent striking increase in the incidence of fatal myocarditis and chronic myocarditis. Based on an analysis of the interment records of the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, word frequency studies in two prominent American medical journals and a general review of related medical publications, we explore this increase. We conclude that there was no actual increase in the frequency of inflammatory disorders of the myocardium in Minnehaha County during this period. Rather, it appears that the use of the diagnostic terms was a matter of choice among local physicians that was not supported by contemporaneous clinical and pathophysiologic publications in available journals...

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Inflammatory bowel disease is a term describing a group of diseases, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, that cause chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Both conditions tend to have episodic flares of diarrhea, abdominal pain, fatigue, and unintentional weight loss. This analysis will discuss the etiology, pathophysiology, epidemiology, clinical and histologic features, treatment, and complications of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Though there are many similarities between these two conditions it is important to recognize their differences for accurate diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance for potential long-term complications...

INTRODUCTION: Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face significant health challenges affecting their overall morbidity and mortality. Special Olympics is one of the largest non-profit organizations that focuses on the promotion of health and fitness for individuals with IDD (referred to as athletes) year-round. At the state level, Special Olympics South Dakota (SOSD) hosts an annual Summer Games where athletes are provided the opportunity to obtain free health screenings...

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how children learn about a health topic from an interactive reading session. Due to the large number of children with allergies, the specific topic chosen for this research study was peanut allergies. The goal of the project was to educate children about a leading, medically relevant health topic through a story about a child with a peanut allergy. METHODS: For the purposes of the research project, author Mykayla Vollmer wrote, illustrated, and published the children's book, A Party Without Peanuts: How Food Allergies Affect Friends...

INTRODUCTION: Stigma towards people struggling with depression is pervasive across society- even in health care. Many anti-stigma interventions have been tested across a variety of healthcare professionals in an attempt to decrease stigma levels. These interventions have generally elicited short-term change in stigma levels but failed to produce long-term destigmatization. METHODS: This study sought to determine if literature could be used to decrease stigma levels and increase empathy/ kindness towards patients with depression in medical students at the University of South Dakota, Sanford School of Medicine...

INTRODUCTION: The evaluation of the infertile couple is often complex as multiple factors in both the male and female can contribute, including social history. Previous studies have displayed that male ethanol consumption can disturb sperm motility, nuclear maturity, and DNA integrity, likely resulting in infertility. A previous study primarily looking at vitamin D levels and sperm parameters incidentally demonstrated increased high DNA stainability (HDS), which correlates with immaturity of the sperm nucleus, in males who do not use alcohol...

INTRODUCTION: Post-graduation exit surveys have consistently demonstrated that the subjects of statistics and data analysis are considered a challenging aspect of medical education. This is reflected in student attitudes towards the subjects, which are often neutral to negative. Whether due to a lack of exposure to the subject or decreased retention of their education, practicing physicians often lack advanced statistics and data analysis skills. As data analysis continues to become ever more important for the practice of evidence-based medicine, many medical school curricula only provided a limited education on the subject...

INTRODUCTION: Muscles facilitate most animal behavior, from eating to fleeing. However, to generate the variation in behavior necessary for survival, different muscles must perform differently. For instance, sprinting requires multiple rapid muscle contractions, whereas biting may require fewer contractions but greater force. METHODS: Here, a transcriptomic approach was utilized to identify genes associated with variation in muscle contractile physiology among different muscles from the same individual...

INTRODUCTION: Cataract surgery continues to evolve with increasing levels of precision through the development and introduction of new technologies. Despite these advances, unexpected visual outcomes attributable to residual refractive error still occur. Additional "enhancement" procedures to the cornea can treat this residual refractive error to achieve a satisfactory outcome. Two frequently employed excimer laser enhancement procedures include laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK)...

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have established that geographic location strongly influences health literacy, access to care, and health outcomes across all disease types. There are many well-understood risk factors for the development of melanoma, and likewise various markers of disease severity. However, few studies have been conducted to determine what role locality and access to dermatological care play in both the incidence and severity of melanoma, particularly in South Dakotans...

INTRODUCTION: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increases the risk for multiple comorbid psychiatric disorders, such as substance use disorder. Comorbid ADHD and substance use disorder has been shown to increase the risk of adverse occupational, social, psychological, and physical outcomes. Because of the severe risks of substance use, it is useful to determine the relative comorbidity of ADHD among different types of substance use disorders. This study examined the prevalence of ADHD in residential addiction treatment as well as the relative prevalence of ADHD among mono-substance use, comorbid substance use (2 comorbid substance use disorders), and polysubstance use (3+ substance use disorders)...

INTRODUCTION: Prescription opioid misuse and dependency has been a rising cause for concern in the United States in recent years, and many of these cases began with an initial prescription in the Emergency Department (ED). Prior studies found that patients seen by "high intensity" prescribers, who prescribe greater quantities of opioids than 75% of other ED physicians within the same hospital, are significantly more likely to suffer from long-term opioid use. Other studies have shown that educational interventions on appropriate opioid prescription in surgical settings have resulted in fewer post-operative opioid prescriptions and less variance in prescribing habits by providers...