ELECTRONIC PHYSICIAN
Year:2015 | Volume:7 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

Internet users comprise a mass population, and their numbers increase every year. The development of Internet technologies is also growing, and it has been made more sophisticated the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies’ (ICTs’) research achievements and sciences theories. The uses of the Internet in medicine ensure the four main roles cited in (1), i.e., 1) a support network, 2) a source of information, 3) a place to compare treatment options, and 4) a mechanism for sharing information among those concerned with medical issues, i.e., caregivers, family, and friends. Diverse individuals, groups, and organizations can create online medical information and resources that can be retrieved and used by those involved with providing medical care. Regardless of the important influence and potential of online health information technologies, the actual exploration can prove the existence of problems of inconsistency, such as those detected and cited in, which addressed the concern that online information can be inaccurate, incomplete, controversial, misleading, and alarming to people who are seeking answers to health-related questions. The inconsistency in the online content can have a significant influence on patients’ behaviors. Consequently, it is vital to develop solutions to understand how to identify online information that is inconsistent and contradictory.

Background: In many cases, myocardial infarction leads to arrhythmia. Since antioxidant agents have an important protective role in heart disease, these compounds in medicinal plants are used in traditional medicine. Lemon balm extract, compared to other plants of the lamiaceae family, has been proven to have significant amounts of antioxidant compounds. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the hydroalcoholic extract of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) on CaCl2-induced arrhythmias in rats.Methods: This research is an experimental study; male adult Sprague Dawley rats that weighed 200-250 g were divided randomly into three groups, i.e., 1) control (normal saline, 1 ml/kg/day), 2) extract (100 mg/kg), and 3) extract (200 mg/kg). The normal saline and the extracts were gavaged for 14 consecutive days. After anesthesia, lead II electrocardiograms were recorded for calculating the rats’ heart rates (HRs). Arrhythmia was induced by intravenous injection of CaCl2 solution (140 mg/kg), and the percentages of incidence of ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF), and ventricular premature beats (VPB) were recorded. The results were analyzed by using Fisher’s exact test and one-way ANOVA. P-values less than 0.05 were considered as significant level.Results: Heart rates and percentages of incidence of VPB, VT, and VF were reduced significantly in extract groups (with the highest activity at 200 mg/kg) in comparison with the control group.Conclusion: Melissa officinalis was considered to be an antiarrhythmic agent because it reduced the percentage of incidence of VPB, VT, and VF in the groups that received it. The results indicated that Melissa officinalis had a protective effect on the heart.

Introduction: Particle-emitting, bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals have attracted the attention of the nuclear medicine community over the last three decades for the treatment of the pain of osteoblastic metastases. The objectives of this research were to produce quality-controlled 159Gd-EDTMP in order to provide a new therapeutic radiopharmaceutical for use in clinical applications.Methods: The investigation was an experimental study in which 159Gd (T1/2=18.479 h, Eb (max)=970.60 keV, Eg=363.55 (11.4%) keV] was produced by thermal neutron bombardment of natural Gd2O3 at the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) for a period of 7 d at a flux of 3–4×1013 neutrons/cm2.s. It was then quality-controlled and used to radio-label the in-house prepared ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTM).Results: Complexation parameters were optimized to achieve maximum yields (>99%). The radiochemical purity of 159Gd-EDTMP was checked by radio thin layer chromatography RTLC. It was found to retain its stability at room temperature (>95%). Bio-distribution studies of the complexes conducted in wild rats showed significant bone uptake with rapid clearance from blood.Conclusion: The properties of the 159Gd-EDTMP that was produced suggest then use of a new, efficient, palliative therapeutic agent for metastatic bone pain instead of some other current radiopharmaceuticals.

Background: Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a hepatotrope virus with unknown importance. The genome of the virus has been detected in patients with acute or chronic non-A-E hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine the association between hepatitis G and unknown chronic hepatitis.Methods: This case-control study was performed in Ebne-Sina military hospital in Hamadan, Iran. The cases were 35 military staff with unknown chronic hepatitis. The control group consisted of 59 healthy subjects who had normal levels of serum alanine aminoteransferase (ALT). The data were analyzed by SPSS, version18, using Fisher’s exact test, the Student’s t-test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis.Results: Only one patient in the case group (2.9%) tested positive for HGV antibodies, and no one was infected in the control group. There was no association between HGV infection and unknown chronic hepatitis in our study (P=0.37). A significant association was found between the male gender and unknown chronic hepatitis (OR=14.9, P=0.01).Conclusion: No association between HGV infection and unknown chronic hepatitis was found in our study, so it was not necessary to evaluate these patients for HGV infection.

Background: The mortality and morbidity from the diseases which contribute to the deaths among children can be reduced if early intervention is made in terms of appropriate care and treatment. Thus, utmost care should be taken to prevent diseases, recognize the danger signals, and treat them urgently. Thus, healthcare-seeking behavior is of prime importance and is pivotal in the well-being of the individual as well as the community. The aims of this research were to determine the possible factors that affect the healthcare-seeking behavior of mothers for their children in a tribal community of Narmada district and to determine the reasons for not seeking curative care for children who are perceived to be sick.Methods: A cross-sectional, community-based study of 405 mothers of the Dediyapada Block in Narmada District Gujarat, India, was undertaken, using a two-stage, cluster-sampling technique. The study was conducted from June through August 2011 using the questionnaire method. The chi squared test was used to determine the association between various factors and the healthcare-seeking behaviors of mothers.Results: The mothers were in the age range of 17 to 44 years, with the mean (+SD) being 26.2+3.2 years. Ninety-one percent of the children, irrespective of gender, had completed their primary immunization. Regarding curative healthcare-seeking behavior, 16.5% of the males and 42% of the females received no treatment. Joint family structure (P<0.05, df=1, X2=41.39), mass media exposure (P<0.05, df=1, X2=16.42), literacy status (P<0.05, df=1, X2=60.76), socioeconomic status of the mothers (P<0.05, df=1, X2=56.08), and gender differences among children (P<0.05, df=1, X2=21.18) were found to be associated significantly with the healthcare-seeking behavior of the mothers.Conclusion: Increased maternal education, generation of intensified awareness through the mass media approach, implementing gender-sensitive interventions, and counseling may have positive implications in the future, leading to better health outcomes and favorable health indicators.

Background: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) varies among ethnic groups. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus, impaired fasting glucose (IFG), and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) for the first time in an ethnic population, specifically Zoroastrian citizens in Yazd, Iran whose ages were 30 or older.Methods: In a cross-sectional study, participants aged≥30 years were selected using systematic random sampling. An inventory, including socio-demographic data, was completed. Weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and blood pressure (BP) were measured using standard methods. Also, blood levels of glucose, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), urea, creatinine (Cr), and uric acid were measured. The latest criteria established by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) were used to diagnose DM.Results: The mean age of the participants (n=403) was 56.9±12.8 years. The total prevalence of diabetes, including previously diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes, IFG, and IGT was 26.1%, 18.6%, 7.5%, 34.7% and 25.8%, respectively. Participants with diabetes had higher fasting blood sugar (FBS) (P<0.001), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (P<0.001), urea (P=0.019), BMI (P=0.001), systolic blood pressures (P<0.001), TG (P=0.007) and lower HDL (P=0.034) than patients with IFG, IGT, and normoglycemic subjects.Conclusions: The current study showed a high prevalence of T2DM in the Zoroastrian population of Yazd, Iran. One-third of the total cases with diabetes were undiagnosed.

Background: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) systems are very effective in detecting strokes, and they also have shown significant promise in the detection of fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver. However, such systems have the disadvantages of poor reproducibility and noise, which can diminish the accuracy of the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) provided by the DWI process. The main aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the age and gender of healthy adults in terms of the ADC values of the spleen measured by DWI.Methods: Sixty-nine subjects selected for this study from people who were referred to the Tabesh Medical Imaging Center in Tabriz, Iran, in 2013. Each subject underwent echo-planar DWI for her or his ADC values of the spleen with b-values of 50, 400, and 800 s/mm2, and the resulting ADC values were evaluated.Results: No significant differences were observed in ADC values of the spleen among the female and male participants or those from various ages (P>0.05).Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the effect of age and gender on the spleen’s ADC values can be omitted from the spleen-diagnosis procedure. In other words, the spleen’s ADC values are not related to the age or the gender of healthy adults.

Background: Recent studies have reported an association between periodontitis and cardiovascular diseases. Atherosclerosis is also a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. IL-6 and CRP are important inflammatory markers that are important because they have been shown to be higher when a patient has periodontitis, and they are related to atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between periodontitis and CRP and IL-6 in atherosclerotic patients.Methods: The study population in this case control study was atherosclerotic patients in Bandar Abbas, Iran in 2014. The participants included 30 individuals with periodontal diseases and 30 individuals without periodontal diseases, and they were allocated into two groups according to probe depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL). Inflammatory markers, including CRP and IL-6 were measured in the two groups. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 21 statistical software. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared, independent samples t-test, and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze the data.Results: Individuals with abnormal CRP had significantly higher PD and CAL than individuals with normal CRP (P<0.001). Although PD was not significantly different in individuals with normal and abnormal IL-6 (P=0.124), CAL was significantly higher in individuals with abnormal IL-6 than in the other individuals (P=0.005).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that CRP and IL-6 are associated with periodontal diseases in atherosclerotic patients. Treatment of periodontal diseases is recommended in atherosclerotic patients.