Journal of Arak University Medical Sciences
Year:2013 | Volume:16 | Issue:3 (72)|Papers Count:11

Background: Nowadays, the elderly population is growing all over the world. Diseases and conditions resulting from this evolutionary process can severely affect the quality of life of the elderly.Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of educational programs of healthy lifestyle on the quality of life of the elderly in Arak city.Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental was carried out on 60 elderly subjects in Arak city. The subjects participated in classes on nutrition, exercise, sleep hygiene, and life skills for a month and they were followed for three months after intervention. Data were collected by the short form quality of life (SF-36) in elderly.Results: The mean score of quality of life was 61.06±7.42. The highest mean was associated with social health (74.5±15) while the lowest mean was for physical health (46±17). In terms of quality of life indicators before educational intervention, four categories emerged: poor (13.3%), medium (30%), good (41.7%), and high (15%). After intervention, the majority of the samples fell in the good (38.3%) and high (45%) categories. There was a significant difference before and after the educational intervention (p<0.001).Conclusion: Education to elderly about the healthy lifestyle practices can prevent a lot of problems and help them to improve their quality of life. Therefore, classroom education is fruitful for this group that is often neglected.

Background: Platelet glue is a human plasma product that is rich in platelets growth factors and fibrinogen and has haemostatic and healing properties. In the present study, the effect of fibrin sealant rich in platelet growth factors on healing burn wounds was evaluated.Materials and Methods: This randomized clinical trial was done on 50 burn patients divided into two equal groups and followed for one month. Both groups received antibiotics during the treatment. Granulation tissue formation and epithelialization were the tokens of wound recovery and positive response to treatment. Data analysis was done by Fisher’s exact test, Mann-Whitney test, and t-test using SPSS software version 16.Results: The mean of time to complete healing was significantly different in intervention and control groups (p=0.001). Time to recover 100% was 11.5±2.2 days in the intervention group and 16.2±5.3 days in the control group. The intervention group healed about 1.4 times faster than the control group.Conclusions: Autologous platelet gel can be used as a new therapeutic approach in healing burn wounds. With this product, burn wounds can be expected to heal more quickly.

Background: Nowadays, many patients with cardiovascular diseases require pacemaker implantation that is associated with few complications such as cardiac and valvular insufficiency. This study aims to compare the development of tricuspid and mitral regurgitation in right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) and right ventricular apex (RVA) pacing.Materials and Methods: In this single-blind clinical trial, 164 candidates for permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation due to sick sinus syndrome or atrioventricular block were randomly divided into 2 equal groups to receive either RVOT or RVA pacing. Patients with heart failure or valvular diseases were excluded from the study. Pre and post-procedural echocardiography after 6 months were performed and the results were compared for the development of mitral and tricuspid regurgitation and probable changes in the ejection fraction (EF).Results: Age, gender, pacing mode, and baseline cardiac rhythm did not significantly differ between RVOT and RVA pacing groups. The incidence of mitral regurgitation was significantly higher in the RVA group (p=0.033), whereas the incidence of tricuspid regurgitation was similar in both groups (p>0.05). There was a trend toward less tricuspid regurgitation in the RVOT group; however, it was not statistically significant. Ejection fraction was not significantly different between the study groups.Conclusion: It seems that the incidence of mitral regurgitation in RVA pacing is significantly higher than RVOT although this needs further investigation in future studies.

Background: Today, global concerns about water pollution with chemicals and its adverse impact on health have increased. This study aims to evaluate the physical and chemical quality of water treated through domestic water treatment systems.aterials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, water samples were collected from 60 domestic water treatment systems and parameters, such as turbidity, total dissolved and suspended solid, total hardness and calcium, magnesium hardness, alkalinity, total alkalinity, carbonate, bicarbonate, nitrate, sulfate, nitrite and fluoride, EC, pH, and free chlorine residuals, were examined.Results: The results indicate that the average concentration of chemical parameters in treated water were: chloride=0.1mg/L, nitrate=0.006mg/l, sulfate=5 mg/l, Nitrate=15mg/L, bicarbonate=49 mg/L, calcium hardness=18 mg/L, and fluoride=0 mg/l.Conclusion: The overall results of this study indicated that the use of municipal water treatment reduced Cl2, sulfate, and bicarbonate concentrations than the optimal levels in urban areas water. However, nitrite concentration was significantly higher in the output of these systems than distribution systems, which is a source of concern.

Background: Taxol is a diterpenoid compound that was first isolated from yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) and later from other plants such as Corylus avellana. Studies have shown that some of the endophytic fungi isolated from these plants are also capable of producing taxol. DBAT gene is one of the key genes in taxol biosynthesis pathway that catalyzes the synthesis of Baccatin III, one of the main precursors in taxol biosynthesis. The aim of this study was to investigate taxol production by endophytic fungi isolated from Corylus avellana.Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, endophytic fungi were isolated from hazelnut trees in the Fandoghlo area, Ardabil province, and purified through hyphal tip method.Genomic DNA was extracted using CTAB method. The presence of DBAT gene was examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Taxol production in fungal media was investigated via TLC (Thin Layer Chromatography) method.Results: After purification, 60 fungi were isolated from different organs of hazelnut trees and the presence of DBAT genes in 12 isolates was proved by PCR with specific primers. Investigation of taxol production in culture of these isolates showed that 7 isolates were capable of producing taxol in laboratory conditions.Conclusion: A group of endophytic fungi isolated from hazelnut, grown in the North West of Iran, had DBAT gene, encoding a key enzyme in the taxol biosynthesis pathway, and some were able to produce taxol in vitro.

Background: The hypothesis that non-secretor status of individuals makes them more susceptible to certain bacterial infections and they might be at a greater risk of metabolic syndromes and autoimmune diseases motivated us to evaluate the relationship between secretor status and risk factors for duodenal ulcer in the present study.Materials and Methods: This case-control study was done on 120 patients with duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, and gastric cancer undergoing endoscopy, and a control group including 120 healthy individuals. Secretor status was determined by saliva and the association of some risk factors with the prevalence of disease was determined by a questionnaire. The results were analyzed by SPSS software version 16.Results: Overall, 27.5% of the patients were non-secretor and 72.5% were secretor, whereas 20.8% of the controls were non-secretor and 79.2% were secretor. There was not a significant relationship between secretor status and the incidence of gastrointestinal diseases. However, some risk factors, such as gender, smoking, and physical activity, were significantly associated with gastric disease.Conclusion: The statistical analysis showed that there was not a significant association between secretor status and prevalence of gastric disease. According to the results, gastrointestinal diseases are more common in men than women and in smokers more than nonsmokers. Furthermore, physical activities reduce the incidence of this disease.

Background: Risky behaviours are defined as behaviours that cause bad and unpleasant outcomes. Risky behaviours result in the incidence of accident in the workplace. The aim of this study was to determine workers’ risky behaviours associated with safety and health in SAIPA Car Manufacturing Company, Iran.Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional study using randomized quota sampling, 302 workers exposed to the incidence of accidents were selected. Data were collected concurrently by trained safety experts using self-fulfilment researcher-made questionnaire and direct observation.Validity and reliability of the data collection tool was determined prior to the study.Results: The findings revealed that low back pain, hand pain, leg pain, and respiratory diseases as the most common diseases with 86.4, 58.9, 40, and 33% prevalence rates, respectively. The maximum prevalence rates of unsafe and unhealthy behaviours were 66 and 57%, respectively. In general, unsafe behaviours were higher among shift workers, especially night shift workers (P<0.001).Unhealthy behaviours were higher among assembling line staff, welders, retouching staff, technicians, wet painters, and production line workers (P<0.001).Conclusion: The relatively high prevalence of unsafe and unhealthy behaviours necessitates intervention for controlling and preventing work injuries and, as a result, reduction of musculoskeletal and respiratory diseases, especially with regards to more prevalent behaviours and related sectors and high risk subgroups.

Background: Brucellosis is a debilitative disease that imposes heavy costs on the economy and society. Therefore, using the most accurate and efficient method to diagnose this disease is essential. In Iran, Brucella melitensis is the common causative agent for brucellosis and BP26 protein of this bacterium has a good level of antigenicity. Thus, the aim of this study is to produce Brucella melitensis recombinant BP26 protein with a PET28a expression vector.Materials and Methods: In this applied-fundamental study, genomic DNA was isolated from bacterial culture through proteinase K (pK) and phenol/chlorophorm protocol. Then, two pairs of primers were designed based on the known sequence in the gene bank for amplification of Brucella melitensis bp26 gene and PCR reaction was set up and optimized. The PCR product was cloned first into PTZ57R/T vector and accessed on the PET28a vector and sequenced. The recombinant vector was transformed and expressed into E. coli BL21 (DE3). Then, the recombinant protein was purified with Ni-NTA column of chromatography against His tag.Results: The size of PCR product was in accordance with the part of bp26 gene size in the gene bank. The bp26 gene without adding IPTG had little expression and 3 hours after adding IPTG with a 1 Mm concentration to culture media, extreme expression was observed.Conclusion: The production of recombinant BP26 protein from isolated Brucella melitensis native to Markazi province was done. Noticing the importance of BP26 protein and its significance for future studies on providing brucellosis diagnosis kits, its production was made possible.

Background: Post-anesthetic shivering is the most common cause of patient discomfort during recovery with a prevalence of 5 to 65%. Post-anesthetic shivering can increase pain, oxygen consumption, and cardiac output. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of various classes of drugs for preventing post-anesthetic shivering.Materials and Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial, patients undergoing elective laparotomy were randomly divided into six groups, 40 each. The patients, respectively, received hydrocortisone, ketamine, tramadol, magnesium sulfate, pethidine, and normal saline. All patients were observed for body temperature and shivering for 20 minutes after arrival to recovery room.Results: Seventy patients in the pethidine group did not have shivering upon arrival to recovery room which was significantly higher than other groups (X2=0.00002). Also, the patients in the pethidine group did not shiver 10 and 20 minutes after arrival to recovery room that was significantly lower than other groups.Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded that pethidine is more effective than other drugs in prevention of post-anesthetic shivering.

Background: Pruritus is the most distressing symptom in hemodialysis patients. Its etiology has not yet been delineated; thus, there are no good therapeutic options. Serotonin has been reported to be a mediator of uremic pruritus while ondansetron is a potent and selective inhibitor of 5-HT3 receptors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ondansetron on uremic pruritus in hemodialysis patients.Materials and Methods: In this randomized double-blind clinical trial, 70 patients undergoing hemodialysis with moderate and severe itching were enrolled. They were randomly divided into two groups: one group received ondansetron 8 mg three times daily and the other group was given loratadine 10 mg two times a day for 2 weeks. Pruritus scores were recorded by the patients and the mean scores were compared before and after intervention.Results: Changes in VAS scores after treatment with ondansetron and loratadin were both significant (P=0.001), but the difference between ondansetron and loratadin was not significant (P=0.8).Conclusions: The results showed that ondansetron was as effective as loratadin in controlling renal itch.