Awareness about symptoms and role of diet in renal stones among general population of Albaha City

Background: nephrolithiasis is an extremely common disorder in Saudi Arabia. Certain dietary changes and practices can influence the development of renal stones

Aim of the work: the aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness about the symptoms and proper diet of renal stones among general population of Albaha city in Saudi Arabia

Methods: a questionnaire was distributed among the general public in Albaha City, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was consisted of two sections: section 1 included personal data and section 2 explored the awareness and knowledge about the most common symptoms and complications of renal stones

Results: 417 participants were recruited. Most of the respondents were females, aged between 34 to 49 years, married and had high education. About one third of respondents had previous information about renal stones. Nearly half the respondents recognized only one risk factor and only one identified all the eight factors listed [0.2%]. There was lack of knowledge about some symptoms and false beliefs about some foods [fish and sea food, greens and spinach]

Conclusion: some misconceptions were revealed about risk factors and symptoms of renal stones. There was a lack of sufficient knowledge about the role of diet in medical management of renal stones. Educational programs should focus on these points of defect in knowledge and attitude. We recommended providing the health information concerning renal stone disease through the Internet [being the source of information used by most participants] and ensuring the inclusion of these information in the routine instructions and health education of patients

Chronic hepatitis C treatment: a systematic review

Background: Chronic hepatitis C [CHC] infection affects almost 3% of the global population and can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma in a significant number of those infected. Thus, there is a compelling need to develop and introduce new therapeutics with a direct-acting antiviral effect in order to target various stages of the HCV lifecycle for HCV eradication without concomitant interferon

Study Objective: to provide treatment recommendations for chronic HCV for specialists and generalists based on published evidence

Methods: A literature search of Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, Agricola, Cochrane Library, Cinahl Plus, Google Scholar, and Oaister was conducted from 1990 to 2016, records were filtered according to the Inclusion criteria and 27 hits were yielded

Results: Hepatitis C virus genotype 1 is more difficult to cure than genotype 2 or genotype 3. Patients with HCV genotype 1 should receive treatment with sofosbuvir + pegylated interferon + ribavirin because of the shorter duration of therapy and high rates of SVR [89%-90%]. Simeprevir + pegylated interferon + ribavirin is an alternative for patients with HCV genotype 1 [SVR, 79%-86%]. Patients with HCV genotypes 2 and 3 should receive therapy with sofosbuvir + ribavirin alone [SVR for genotype 2, 12 weeks' duration: 82%-93%; SVR for genotype 3, 24 weeks' duration, 80%-95%]. Patients with HIV-HCV coinfection and patients with compensated cirrhosis [ie, cirrhosis but preserved synthetic liver function] should receive the same treatment as HCV-monoinfected patients

Conclusion: A growing body of evidence suggests that recently developed HCV combined treatment modalities have transformed chronic HCV into a routinely curable disease being relatively available and well tolerated,which can potentially reduce the need for liver transplantation and reduce HCV-related mortality. Treatment protocol for genotype1 is based on a combined regimen of Pegylated interferons with ribavirin and sofosbuvir or simeprevir while Sofosbuvir with ribavirin alone should be used to treat patients infected with HCV genotypes 2 and 3. Patients coinfected with human immunodefiency virus and HCV genotype 1 should be treated for HCV with pegylated interferons, ribavirin, and sofosbuvir by a physician with experience in treating this particular group of patients and familiar with potential drug interactions

Dysmenorrhea among female medical students in King Abdulaziz University: prevalence, predictors and outcome

Objective: To determine the prevalence, predictors and outcome of dysmenorrhea among female medical students in King Abdulaziz University [KAU], Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 435 medical students at KAU, Jeddah selected through stratified random sample method. A pre-constructed, validated, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect personal and socio-demographic information. Data about menstrual history, stress, smoking were also collected. The severity of dysmenorrhea was scored by the "Visual Analogue Scale [VAS]". Descriptive and analytical statistics were conducted

Results: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 60.9%. Logistic regression showed that heavy period was the first predictor of dysmenorrhea [aOR=1.94; 95% CI: 1.29- 2.91], followed by stress [aOR=1.90; 95% C.I.: 1.19-3.07]. The prevalence of severe dysmenorrhea among the sufferers was 38.6%. Depressed mood was the commonest [80.8%] symptom accompanying dysmenorrhea. Regarding the outcome of dysmenorrhea, 67.5% of the sufferes reported emotional instability, while 28.3% reported absenteeism from the university

Conclusions: A high prevalence of dysmenorrhea was prevalent among medical students in King Abdulaziz University [KAU], Health promotion, screening programs, and stress management courses are recommended