Re: Toxic lead exposure via an unusual source

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 61, No. 4, May 2019, Page 160 Letters
By: H.C. George Wong, MD, FRCPC

In the Jan/Feb BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) article [BCMJ 2019;61:41], authors refer to an ayruvedic herbal remedy as an unusual source of toxic lead exposure. In fact, ayruvedic herbal medicine has been well documented to contain toxic lead levels.[1,2] The BCCDC article serves as a reminder of the importance of inquiring into a patient’s use of complementary and alternative medicine as an integral part of history taking. The use of ayruvedic medicine and potential lead poisoning can be readily identified, and that identification may have saved many emergency room visits, medical visits, and extensive investigations in this patient’s case. Ayruvedic herbal medicine from India and Chinese herbal medicine are the two most common complementary and alternative medicines that may contain lead and other heavy metals. In addition, some children’s costume jewelry has been reported as an unusual source of toxic lead exposure.[3]
—H.C. George Wong, MD, FRCPC
Vancouver

This letter was submitted in response to “Toxic lead exposure via an unusual source: New BC reporting regulations may prevent similar cases.”

References

1.    Gair R. Heavy metal poisoning from ayruvedic medicines. BCMJ 2008;50:105.

2.    Gunturu KS, Nagarajan P, McPhedran P, et al. Ayurvedic herbal medicine and lead poisoning. J Hematol Oncol 2011;4:51.

3.    Wong HCG. Trouble in toyland: Potential source of lead. BCMJ 2010;52:10.

H.C. George Wong, MD, FRCPC. Re: Toxic lead exposure via an unusual source. BCMJ, Vol. 61, No. 4, May, 2019, Page(s) 160 - Letters.


Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply