Osteoporosis knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors among Egyption female students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, believes and behaviors regarding osteoporosis risk factors and preventive health habits such as adequate calcium intake and physical activity. A sample of 494 girls aged between 16-24 years from Faculty of Education for Specific Studies was recruited in the study. Information was gathered through across-sectional survey. A self administered questionnaire was distributed among the students to collect data about osteoporosis knowledge physical activity and calcium intake. Four hundred and thirty five girls [88.1%] had heard of and [48%] had the correct definition of osteoporosis. The main source of information about osteoporosis was television [34%] followed by mothers and relatives [27.1%]. Overall,[22.5%] of girls perceived that they were likely to develop osteoporosis for different reasons. Respondents believed that osteoporosis is more serious [59.6%] than other common causes of morbidity and mortality such as heart disease and breast cancer. More than half of girls were aware of the benefits of exercise in preventing osteoporosis [59.1%], only [42.9%] participate in some sort of sports not on regular basis. Knowledge related to calcium rich food and requirements were poor. In summary, results obtained from this study were used to build on for health education intervention program targeted to this group of girls

Iron enriched bread: interaction effect of calcium, zinc and cupper on iron bioavailability

In the present study, wheat flour [82%] was enriched with iron alone in the form of ferrous sulfate and ferric ammonium citrate at different levels [4, 8 and 15 mg Fe/100g] or with calcium, zinc and cupper in addition to iron. Results obtained revealed a minor effect of added minerals on phytic acid content, which was found to decrease in the dough during fermentation, lonizable iron content of bread showed increased values in bread, especially those enriched with low levels of iron [4 mg Fe/100g] in the form of ferric ammonium citrate, while addition of high levels [15 mg Fe/100g] was found to reduce soluble iron. Addition of calcium, zinc and cupper also reduced the soluble iron. Feeding the enriched bread diets to anemic rats for 6 weeks indicated maximum body weight gain as well as feed efficiency in the rats fed the low levels of iron while those given the high levels as well as those containing calcium, zinc or cupper showed decreasing values for body weight gain and feed efficiency. Hemoglobin levels of all groups of rats fed the enriched diets were significantly increased [15.3 - 17.19 g/dl], whereas hematocrit values indicated non- significant differences as compared with the control

Influence of hot red pepper [capsicum annum] on albino rats: effect of an oral dose on blood parameters and biological aspects

Hot red pepper was administered to mature female albino rats, as feed additive at level of 5 g/10 g body weight for a period of 15, 30 and 45 successively. Hot red pepper did not significantly affect the growth rate, feed consumption meanwhile it increased the feed efficiency ratio. Serum glucose levels, total lipids, total cholesterol, urea and creatinine were significantly increased, while levels of serum total protein, albumin and globulin as well as albumin/globulin ration were not significantly changed. Serum triglycerides were significantly decreased

I- Fortification of bread with iron and amino acids

Fortification of breads [Shamy 72% and Baladi 87% extraction] with iron alone or iron, lysine and methionine were applied P.E.R. values of fortified breads showed higher levels for both of breads fortified with iron and lysine [1.9]. While addition of methionine resulted lower levels of P.E.R [1.4]. Protein content of liver of rats fed the fortified diets as well as non-haem iron and hepatic iron stores, showed higher levels, for rats fed Shamy bread, compared by those of Baladi bread. The highest levels for non-haem iron and hepatic iron stores were given by the diets sup-plemented by iron, lysine and methionine

II- Bioavailability of iron of enriched bread diets with iron and amino acids

Baladi and Shamy bread diets of extraction 87% and 72% were fortified with iron [2 and 4mg/100gm] or with lysine and methionine [30 and 15gm/100gm] in addition with iron. The bread diets were fed to rats which were first made iron deficient. After feeding the depletion diet for 4 weeks; the repletion diets containing bread fortified with iron and amino acids were then given to the rats for 21days. Hemoglobin and hematocrit levels were determined during the regeneration period. The results showed that diets containing Shamy bread [72%] fortified with iron gave relatively higher levels of hemoglobin. The net increase was found to be 5.8gm /100ml compared with the controls [0.42gm /100ml] and with Baladi [87%], 5.5 gm /100ml. Diets containing iron as well as methionine and lysine resulted not increase in hemoglobin 1.8gm /100ml for Shamy bread and 1.06gm / 100ml for Baladi bread. Hematocrit levels of the tested diets revealed that diets containing iron alone showed the highest level 46.6%. Depletion, repletion showed a high increase of gained hemoglobin for Shamy bread [5.9gm /100ml] compared with those of Baladi [5.4gm /100ml]

Effect of dietary phytate and fiber on availability of iron, zinc and calcium of some common foods consumed in Egypt

The metabolie balance technique was followed to measure the availability of iron, zinc and calcium in common foods. Apparent absorption and relative absorption or availability of each metal was estimated. The balance study showed that dietary phytate had a little effect on the absorption of calcium, whereas it markedly decreased both the availability of iron and zinc. Regarding the effect of sodium phytate at doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg/rat on serum iron levels, the results clearly indicated that there is a negative correlation between serum iron levels and the concentration of phytate given. From the results obtained it is seen that dietary phytate fairly inter-fer with calcium, whereas the availability of iron and zinc were affected