Background. Healthcare professionals have an important role to play both as advisers—influencing smoking cessation—and as role models. However, many of them continue to smoke. The aims of this study were to examine smoking prevalence, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours among four cohorts physicians specializing in public health, according to the Global Health Profession Students Survey (GHPSS) approach. Materials and Methods. A multicentre cross-sectional study was carried out in 24 Italian schools of public health. The survey was conducted between January and April 2012 and it was carried out a census of students in the selected schools for each years of course (from first to fourth year of attendance), therefore among four cohorts of physicians specializing in Public Health (for a total of n. 459 medical doctors). The GHPSS questionnaires were self-administered via a special website which is created ad hoc for the survey. Logistic regression model was used to identify possible associations with tobacco smoking status. Hosmer-Lemeshow test was performed. The level of significance was P ≤ 0.05. Results. A total of 388 answered the questionnaire on the website (85%), of which 81 (20.9%) declared to be smokers, 309 (79.6%) considered health professionals as behavioural models for patients, and 375 (96.6%) affirmed that health professionals have a role in giving advice or information about smoking cessation. Although 388 (89.7%) heard about smoking related issues during undergraduate courses, only 17% received specific smoking cessation training during specialization. Conclusions. The present study highlights the importance of focusing attention on smoking cessation training, given the high prevalence of smokers among physicians specializing in public health, their key role both as advisers and behavioural models, and the limited tobacco training offered in public health schools.

Data are presented on the occurrence of chloracne, clinical symptoms and biochemical changes in 164 children following environmental contamination by TCDD from an industrial accident in Seveso, Italy. An overall positive association was found between the territorial distribution of chloracne cases and the different levels of soil contamination in the affected area. Individual risk factors such as condition and length of exposure, intake via contaminated foods, etc. were evaluated; no single factor appeared to be associated with chloracne. Disturbances of the gastrointestinal tract were more frequently observed in children affected with chloracne in those from the same areas having no skin lesions. However, no clinically definable systemic disease has been diagnosed.

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The human choroid plexuses in the ventricular system represent the main source of cerebrospinal fluid secretion and constitute a major barrier interface that controls the brain's environment. The present study focused on the choroid plexus of the fourth ventricle, the main cavity of the brainstem containing important nuclei and/or structures mediating autonomic vital functions. In serial sections of 84 brainstems of subjects aged from 17 gestational weeks to 8 postnatal months of life, the deaths due to both known and unknown causes, we examined the cytoarchitecture and the developmental steps of the fourth ventricle choroid plexus to determine whether this structure shows morphological and/or functional alterations in unexplained perinatal deaths (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Sudden Intrauterine Unexplained Death Syndrome). High incidence of histological and immunohistochemical alterations (prevalence of epithelial dark cells, the presence of cystic cells in the stroma, decreased number of blood capillaries, hyperexpression of Substance P and apoptosis) were prevalently observed in unexplained death victims (p<0.05 vs. controls). A significant correlation was found between maternal smoking in pregnancy and choroidal neuropathological parameters (p<0.01). This work underscores the negative effects of prenatal exposure to nicotine on the development of the autonomic nervous system, and in particular of the fourth ventricle choroid plexus that is a very vulnerable structure in the developing CSF-brain system.

A study was set up to compare the drinking habits of women of childbearing age in two cities (Milan and Southampton) in two countries, Italy and the United Kingdom, and to look at the effects of alcohol consumption on the weight of the babies born to these women. The sample consisted of 1516 women in Milan and 996 in Southampton, who were interviewed after delivery; data on their drinking history, before and during pregnancy, were gathered, together with social, demographic and health data. The clinical records of the women and their babies were examined. On average, both groups drank less than one unit/day before pregnancy, but there were differences in drinking habits between the two countries, as well as in the modifications induced by pregnancy. The possible effects of alcohol on birthweight were then considered. After controlling for confounding factors, there was no general association between birthweight and alcohol consumption. The impact on health education policy is discussed.