Journal of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences
Year:2002 | Volume:4 | Issue:2|Papers Count:12

Nitric oxide (NO) is important for healing of leishmaniasis in human and animal. In this study, 42 mice were infected with Leishmania major by injecting 1x105promastigotes into the base of tail to induce a lesion. Then the effects of garlic extract alone or in combination with vitamin A on healing of leishmaniasis and on NO release were compared with the effects of glocantime. Mice were treated with the drugs two times daily for 45 days. The diameter of lesion was measured on days 1, 10, 20, 30 and 45 following drug administration. Also the rate of NO release in the culture of peritoneal macrophages was measured. The results showed that the diameters of lesions were reduced by aqueous extract of garlic over 30 days of treatment. However, the maximum reduction was achieved when mice were subjected to 10 days of vitamin A ointment, then treated for 45 days with garlic extract. There was a significant correlation between healing level and the amount of NO release.

Multiple cartilaginous exostoses is characterized by cartilaginous excrescence followed by ossification near the ends of the diaphyses of the bones of the extremities. The ribs, forearms, hands and legs may be affected, but the skull is not involved. Also sarcoma may develop in elderly patients. The case was a twenty-three years old man. In radiography, skull was normal but there were extensive deformities in humerses, femurs, legs and left hand carpus. Because this disorder has an autosomal dominant hereditary pattern and its penetrance is complete, the proband's father might have a new mutation.

Cardiovascular diseases are the major causes of mortality in the world and acute myocardial infarction (MI) is the leading cause of mortality among cardiovascular diseases. Thrombolytic therapy can reduce acute MI related mortality especially if provided during the first few hours of the onset of the disease. The current study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and the cause of failure of administration of thrombolytic therapy to acute MI patients admitted to Hajar hospital from June 1999 to Dec. 1999. 62 out of a total of 106 patients (59%) had received thrombolytic therapy. Delay in patient's referral to the hospital was the major cause of the failure of thrombolytic therapy. The cause of untreatment in 15 (19.5%) cases, who needed such a therapy, was unknown. Instructing the general practitioners and accelerating the process of patient referral process t6 hospitals could reduce MI related mortality.

Systemic blood pressure varies with age and height. There is need for standard tables to facilitate interpreting blood pressure values. Since race and diet affect the standard tables, this study was performed on children of rural areas of Shahrekord in summer 2000 to find 90-95% percentile of blood pressure regarding height percentile. Height, systolic and diastolic pressures were measured in 2000 children of 7-12 years old. The sample was divided into two groups of girls and boys and into in six age groups (7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 years). Our results showed that systolic and diastolic pressures in the six age groups had increased with rise in the height percentile. Systolic and diastolic pressures in ages of 7, 8 and 9 years were lower in girls than boys. Systolic and diastolic pressures in ages of 10, 11 and 12 were higher in girls than boys. Systolic and diastolic pressures were lower compared to those of the standard (Task Force) group. Since the children systolic & diastolic pressures were lower than those of the western children, determining the standard criteria for blood pressure is necessary.

This study was performed to determine the effect of educational consultation on family planning among 15-49 years old women covered by health care centers. The sample consisted of 300 women referred to Gynicology. ward of Hajar hospital selected by nonprobable simple sampling. The sample was divided into two groups: case group (150 women) received educational consultation and control group (150 women) with no education. Both groups were followed up for a period of 1 year after their delivery. The results revealed a significant difference between two groups with respect to unwanted pregnancy and choice of contraceptive methods.

Leishmaniasis is a common disease in some parts of Iran. It is a parasitic disease caused by leishmania with a distinctive clinical manifestation ranging from a self-healing coetaneous lesion to a lethal systemic illness. Its cure depends on various factors, including: number, duration and site of lesions as well as age, sex and social condition. Chemical or physical treatments or a combination of both is used for treatment of the disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Cimetidine, Glucantime or combination therapy on the course of leishmaniasis in Balb/c mice. Female Balb/c mice were infected with L. major and when leishmania lesion was developed, the mice were divided into 11 groups of ten. Then treated with three different doses of Cimetidine and Glucantime alone or combinations of both for 20 days. The results showed that lesion size was significantly smaller in the group receiving a combination tnerapy (Cimetidine 80mg/kg/day+Glucantime 20 mg/kg/day).

This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 4732 patients referred to the emergency department of Khalili hospital in Shiraz over a 4-month period in 1998. Data was collected by interview and medical examination. Our results showed that 97.5% of the cases were out-patients and the rest were hospitalized. Most of the patients were male (79.7%). The average age of the out-patients was 24.5± 14.9 and that of the in-patients was 15.5 ± 14.9 years. The majority of the inpatients were children (70.7%), from them 46.4% had injuries at home and 56.1 % were injured while playing. The most common causes of trauma in out-patients were chemical or biologic at agents and ultraviolet radiation (41.4%) and in-patients were projectile objects (63.7%). Patients with severe injuries were hospitalized for an average of 8.4 days. 51.2% of the operations were performed on cornea, conjunctiva and sclera and an average of 2.1 operations were performed on each eye. The annual incidence of ocular trauma in Shiraz and surrounding area was 1315 per 100,000 out-patients and 24.4 per 100,000 in-patients. Our data showed that children due to ignorance and adults during works are more prone to eye trauma, and implementing appropriate protective measures could be effective in preventing many eye injuries.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Early detection of breast cancer is effective in reducing its mortality rate, and the best method of its screening is breast self-examination. The purpose of this study was to determine the KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice) rate of women employees of Education Organization of Shahrekord about breast self-examination. The sample consisted of 340 cases selected through cluster random sampling. Data was collected by a questionnaire with a reliability of more than 85%, consisting of questions about demography and KAP. For data analysis one-way and two-way ANOVA were used. The results showed that, 7% of the cases hold a high school Diploma or less, 40% an Associate Curriculum, 48% a Bachelor of Science, and 4.5% a Graduate Degree or more. More than 75% of the cases were less than 40 years old. 14% had a family history of cancer and 0.89% had cancer themselves. The knowledge of 8.24% of women was weak and of 17% was good. There was a significant relation between knowledge level and marital status, education, family and personal histories. 10.95% and 13.53% of sample had weak and good attitude about breast cancer respectively. There was no significant relation between attitude level and marital status but there was a significant relation with educational level, personal and family histories. Practice of 61.17% of women was weak and it was good in 4.41%. It had no significant relation with marital status but it had a significant relation with educational level, personal and family histories. N-way ANOVA showed that personal and family histories were the most important effective factors on KAP. Therefore, knowledge and attitude of the majority of the cases were intermediate, but the practice was low.

Osteoarthritis is a common joint illness affecting both sexes, all ages and races. It causes pain, physical impairment, and decline of competence in daily life. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of osteoarthritis, demographic characteristics, radiologic signs and involved joints in Al-Zahra and Kashani hospitals of Esfahan during the year 1999. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed on 3340 patients selected by simple sampling. Age, sex, weight, job, type of physical activity, involved joints, duration, radiologic changes, treatment type, background diseases and type of osteoarthritis were recorded for every patient. The results showed that 70% of the cases were female, more than 50% were over 55 years old. More than 50% had idiopathic osteoarthritis, and most of them had common activity. Knee joint involvement was the most prevalent and the joint sac narrowing was the most frequent radiologic sign. Most of them had received nonsurgical medical treatment. It seems that feminine sex, aging, inappropriate use of joints and high level activity are the risk factors of osteoarthritis and in most patients nonsurgical medical treatment is enough.

Infective inflammatory diarrhea is caused by bacterial invasion of the colonic mucosa and it has a high frequency during summer in Shahrekord. This survey was performed on 154 in-patients (63% females and 37% males) with invasive diarrhea. Following initial work up, stool culture and rectal swab culture and antibiogram was performed for each of the cases. Most of the patients were over sixty years old. 86% had a body temperature higher than 37.5 Cº and a bloody stool. Abdominal pain was present in 63% and tenesmus in 43% of the cases. 9% of them were resistant to outpatient therapy. 31 cases (%20) had a positive stool culture consisted of 17 cases of Entropathogenic E.coli (mostly EP2), 12 cases of Shigella (mostly dysenteriae) and 2 cases of Salmonella type D. All the bacteria were resistant to ampicillin and doxycycline. Sensitivity of E.coli, Shigella dysenteriae and Salmonella to cotrimoxazol was 13%, 25%, 0%, to nalidixic acid was 67%, 91%, 50% and to gentamicin was 81%, 80%, 0%, respectively. Therefore, nalidixic acid was suggested as the drug of choice and the efficacy of gentamicin requires further investigation.