Soy isoflavones are phytoestrogens with potential hormonal activity due to their similar chemical structure to 17-β-estradiol. The increasing availability of soy isoflavones throughout the food supply and through use of supplements has prompted extensive research on biological benefits to humans in chronic disease prevention and health maintenance. While much of this research has focused on adult populations, infants fed soy protein based infant formulas are exposed to substantial levels of soy isoflavones, even when compared to adult populations that consume a higher quantity of soy-based foods. Infant exposure, through soy formula, primarily occurs from birth to one year of life, a stage of development that is particularly sensitive to dietary and environmental compounds. This has led investigators to study the potential hormonal effects of soy isoflavones on later reproductive health outcomes. Such studies have included minimal human data with the large majority of studies using animal models. This review discusses key aspects of the current human and animal studies and identifies critical areas to be investigated as there is no clear consensus in this research field.

Intestinal failure occurred in a significant proportion of infants with NEC. Predictors for IF among infants with NEC were low birthweight, low gestational age, need for surgical intervention and gram-negative bacteraemia.

Background Timely and accurate communication between primary and secondary care is essential for delivering high-quality patient care. Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the content contained in both referral and response letters between primary and secondary care and measure this against the recommended national guidelines. Methods Using an observational design, senior medical students and their general practice supervisors applied practice management software to identify 100 randomly selected adults, aged greater than 50 years, from a generated list of consults over a 2-year period (2013–2015). All data included in referral and response letters for these adults were examined and compared with the gold standard templates that were informed by international guidelines. Results Data from 3293 referral letters and 2468 response letters from 68 general practices and 17 hospitals were analysed. The median time that had elapsed between a patient being referred and receiving a response letter was 4 weeks, ranging from 1 week for Emergency Department referral letters to 7 weeks for orthopaedic surgery referral letters. Referral letters included the reason for referral (98%), history of complaint (90%) and current medications (82%). Less commonly included were management prior to referral (65%) and medication allergies (57%). The majority of response letters included information on investigations (73%), results (70%) and follow-up plan (85%). Less commonly, response letters included medication changes (30%), medication lists (33%) and secondary diagnoses (13%). Conclusions Future research should be aimed at developing robust strategies to addressing communication gaps reported in this study.