Prevalence and Risk Factors for low back pain among Nurses at Benghazi Medical Centre, Libya

Lower back pain (LBP) is recognized as a cause of morbidity in developed nations in different occupational situations. Health care workers (HCWs), in particular nurses, are especially vulne-rable to LBP. About 60­80% of the general people suffer from LBP at some time during their lives. However, there is not enough care about workplace health and safety problems facing the health care workforce in developing nations, such as Libya. Thus, this study aimed to find out the status of low back pain and factors affecting pain among the nurses in Benghazi Medical Centre (BMC), Libya. Cross-sectional study was conducted on BMC in 2018. The data was collected by a self-administered questionnaire. Chi-square was used to determine the association between associated risk factors and LBP prevalence (p<0.05). There is a high prevalence (79%) of low back pain among nurses in BMC. Individual and work-related factors were found as risk factors for LBP. In Libya, nurses are considered as a critical health and safety concern, as a result of the weakness of policies in healthcare organizations. Consequently, a proper no weight lifting policy should be considered. If not, proper manual lifting must be implemented.

Attitudes and Perceptions of Healthcare Professionals towards Pharmaceutical Care Services in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Objective: Pharmaceutical care is a health science discipline in which pharmacists deliver patient care that improves medication therapy and helps health, wellness and disease prevention. An important issue in this area emphases on patient oriented rather than drug product-oriented service. The aim of this study to evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of health care professionals towards Pharmaceutical care services in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A 4-months cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals was conducted in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The survey consisted of two-part demographic information and second part forty-nine questions divided into four domains. It included domain one: It included domain one: Primary or essential information about healthcare providers pharmacists, domain two: healthcare professionals information about the ambulatory care pharmacy, domain three: healthcare professionals information about pharmacist’s relationship and counseling and domain four: Healthcare providers perception of Pharmaceutical care services. All type of healthcare professionals included in the study. A 5-point Likert-type scale was used. There were open and closed-ended questions. The survey was distributed through social media by using what’s App to more than one thousand healthcare professionals overall Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The survey was made in an electronic format and it analyzed domain two: healthcare professional’s information about Pharmaceutical care services through survey monkey system. Results: The total responders were 170 healthcare providers. Of those 150 (93.8%) were Saudi and 10 (6.25%) were non-Saudi. The gender distribution 129 (75.9%) were females and 41 (24.1%) were males. The most of the healthcare professionals were pharmacists 81 (47.65%), followed by nurses 27 (15.88%) and physicians 23 (13.53%). The majority of patient had visited a pharmacy more than 10 times in the past 12-months was 53 (31.36%), while 40 (23.67%) of respondents visited a pharmacy more than 5 to 9 times. The most common performances of pharmaceutical care services were dispensing of prescribed medication 119 (73.91%), medication consultation 89 (55.28%), dispensing of over the counter medications 88 (54.66%) and dispensing of non-medications supplements 74 (45.96%). The highest scores of pharmaceutical care services provides to the patients were at private’s hospitals (3.45) and non-MOH governmental hospitals (3.40). The most current experience of perception and challenges with high propriety scores were few pharmacist and clinical pharmacists, un-available of patient medication counseling privacy and Unclear handwriting prescription. The most Future Perception suggestion with high Propriety and Opportunity scores were Increase awareness of pharmacist role in public health and Implement patient counseling clinic operated by the pharmacy. Conclusion: Healthcare professional’s insight is the dynamic tool to develop pharmacy services. Increase the number of the clinical pharmacist, expand the awareness of pharmacist to the public and implement patient counseling clinic, will change the future vision of pharmacy career in Saudi Arabia.

Healthcare Professional's Perception and Attitude toward Pharmacist during Pharmacy Visit in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To explore the healthcare professional’s perception and attitude toward pharmacist during pharmacy visit in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a 4-month cross-sectional survey of the healthcare professional’s perception toward pharmacist. The survey consisted of two parts: the first part collects demographic information and the second part has 49 questions divided into four domains: (1) the first domain captures information regarding healthcare professionals’ general perception of the pharmacist; (2) the second domain is regarding healthcare professionals’ perception of pharmaceutical care services; (3) the third domain is about healthcare professionals’ perception of visiting ambulatory care pharmacy; and (4) the fourth domain is regarding healthcare professionals perception of pharmacist’s relationship and counseling skills. All type of healthcare professionals included in the study. We used the 5-point Likert response scale system to obtain responses of the participants. There were open- and close-ended questions. The survey was distributed through social media, namely, WhatsApp to more than one thousand healthcare professionals throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The survey was distributed in an electronic format and this study analyzes and presents data regarding domain three, that is, healthcare professionals’ perception of visiting ambulatory care pharmacy through the Survey Monkey system. Results: A total of 170 healthcare professionals responded to the survey. Of them, 150 (93.8%) were Saudi and 10 (6.25%) were non-Saudi professionals. There were 129 (75.9%) female and 41 (24.1%) male responders. Most of the healthcare providers were pharmacists (81 (47.65%)), others (33 (19.41%)), nurses (27 (15.88%)) and physician (23 (13.53%)). Most of the healthcare professional visited the pharmacy in the past 12 months (53 (31.36%)) for more than 10 times, whereas the others 40 (23.67%) visited at least 5–9 times. Most of the patients (143 (87.2%)) spent less than 16 min waiting for the medication from the pharmacy. The average score of healthcare professional’s general perception toward a pharmacist during pharmacy visit was 3.51. The statement “received all medications prescribed to me” received the highest score (4.05), whereas the statement “pharmacy’s waiting area is located at the convenient place” received the lowest score (3.07). The average score of healthcare professional’s perception toward a drug monitoring pharmacist during the pharmacy visit was 2.58. The statement with the highest score was “the patient revived a copy of prescription contained medications” (2.99), whereas the statement with the lowest score was “the pharmacist gives follow-up call to the patient as prescribed” (1.86). The score for general evaluation of pharmacy visit was (3.31) with preference to visit the pharmacy or recommend it to patient’s bothers or friends was (3.26). Conclusion: The healthcare professional’s perception of a pharmacist during the pharmacy visit was good. Pharmacy’s waiting area, medications reconciliation and adherences missed. Improving of healthcare providers’ needs will augment healthcare professional’s perceptions and raise healthcare provider’s satisfaction during pharmacy visit.

Identification of predictive marker of prerenal damage in pregnant women with Preeclampsia and women at high risk- A Prospective study conducted in Riyadh,Saudi Arabia.

Background: Preeclampsia is characterized by development of high blood pressure and proteinuria. It affects 5–8% of all pregnancies and is a major contributor to maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. There is no single test that fulfils all the criteria for a good predictor of preeclampsia and associated renal damage. Aims & Objectives: To evaluate the role of serum and urine biochemical parameters as early predictors of preeclampsia. To investigate the role of BUN: Creatinine ratio in diagnosing preeclampsia and evaluating prognosis of the disease. Material and Methods: In the present prospective study, one hundred and twenty pregnant women divided into three groups: normotensive (control), women at high risk and with preeclampsia were included. Analyses of different biochemical parameters including BUN: Creatinine were carried out. Results: There was significant difference in the mean value of serum uric acid, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, urinary protein and BUN: Creatinine ratio in preeclampsia group compared to control group (p < 0.001). There was significant difference (p < 0.05) in serum uric acid between control and preeclampsia group. However, there was no significant change in haematocrit, serum creatinine and urine protein between control and high risk group. Conclusion: BUN: Creatinine ratio in pregnant women with preeclampsia and also in high risk group was significantly increased (t = 15.55, p < 0.001 and t = 8.66, p < 0.001 respectively) in comparison to the control group. This index could be useful in evaluating the severity of preeclampsia and could be used as a predictor in prognosis of preeclampsia and subsequent early renal disease.

Budd-chiari syndrome with hematemesis at presentation

The deficiency of protein C and protein S has been implicated in the etiology of Budd-Chiari syndrome. We present a case of young man who presented with life-threatening upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The final diagnosis was Budd-Chiari syndrome. We review current information regarding the clinical aspects of this condition

Occurrence of enterotoxigenic staphylococcus aureus in some camel's meat products

Fifty samples of camel's meat products were collected from Cairo and Giza supermarkets which were represented as burger, frankfurter, luncheon, minced meat and rice kofta. The mean values of S. aureus count were detected and were 12.3 x 10[2]/g, 7.7 x 10[2]/g, 10.6 x 10[3]/g, 1.1 x 10[3]/g and 7.01 x 10[3]/g, respectively. The incidence of S. aureus were 40% in burger, luncheon and minced meat while 30% and 60% in frankfurter and rice kofta, respectively. The two enterotoxigenic strains were isolated from minced meat and rice kofta with C and D type, respectively. The public health aspects as well as the hygienic measures were discussed

status of antioxidant defences in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient patients. The role of antioxidants to ameliorate hemolytic crisis

In human, G6PD deficiency is the most common enzymopathy affecting over 400 million people throughout the world. It is associated with higher potential for oxidative damage due to chronic redox imbalance in red cells that often results in clinical manifcstation of mild to severe hemolysis. The NADPH product of G6PD is required for the reductive biosynthetic reactions as well as for the stability of catalase, and the preservation of the reduced form of glutathione [GSH]. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of G6PD in cellular antioxidant defense; the level of glutathione, catalase, NADPH and estimate the level of malondialdehyde which reflect the oxidative stress across the cell membrane. Also to study the effect of antioxidant treatment [vitamins C and E] to ameliorate high sensitivity of red cells to oxidative stress. This study was carried out on fifty G6PD-deficient children during the attack. The children were classified into two groups: Group 1: received blood transfusion only, and considered as an antioxidant-untreated group. Group 2: Received blood transfusion as group I in addition to antioxidant therapy [antioxidant-treated group], and healthy control subjects as control group, Our study proved that hemolytic attack in G6PD deficient patients is due to a concomitant impairment of the two main mechanisms of detoxification of H[2]O[2] in RBCs; GSH system and catalase. The most important finding in this study is the efficiency of treatment with a combination of vitamin E and vitamin C may improve antioxidant status in G6PD deficient patients and in reducing the symptoms of hemolytic crises

Chemical and biological investigation of fruit volatile oil of the Egyptian platycladus orientalis L

Objectives: To isolate the volatile oil from Platycladus orientalis fruits and evaluate its cytotoxicy against five human tumor cell lines. The antimicrobial activities of the oil were evaluated as well

Methods: The volatile oil was hydrodistilled from P. orientalis fruits. The chemical composition of the volatile oil was monitored by GC/MS analysis. The cytotoxic activity of the oil against five human tumor cell lines was determined using sulorhodamine B assay at concentrations ranging from 1.00- 10.00 micro g/ml. The antimicrobial activity of the oil against sixteen microbial strains was tested using agar diffusion method

Results: The tested oil showed very potent cytotoxic activities against lung carcinoma, brain tumor, breast carcinoma, and liver carcinoma [IC50 = 0.6, 0.7, 0.7 and 0.9 micro g/ml, respectively], and a significant effect against cervix carcinoma [IC50= 2.8 micro g/ml]. The oil had significant antibacterial effects against C. pseudotropicalis [35 mm] and R. minuta [25 mm] and E. coli [27 mm]. The oil had moderate antifungal activities against B. allii [20mm], equal activities against A. niger and A. flavus [15 mm], and the least activity was against M. phasioli [13 mm]. GC/MS of the oil revealed that the monoterpenoids constituted the highest percentage of the oil composition [84.15%]. The sesquiterpenes amounted to 15.78%, while diterpenes was found in a very low percentage [0.07%]. The major compound was alpha pinene [30.89%], followed by 4-terpineol [19.16%] and alpha-cedrol [9.28%]

Conclusion: There is a very potent cytotoxic activity of the oil against all tested human cell lines. The oil had also a significant antimicrobial activity and a moderate antifungal activity

Effect of sodium chloride and milk preacidification on serum phase and chemical composition of soft white pickled cheese

The objective of the present work was to study the effect of milk salting and preacidification with citric or acetic acid on residual coagulant activity, expressible serum and chemical composition of soft white cheese. Also, to produce soft white cheese from unsalted milk with characteristics comparable to those of cheese made from salted milk. The results showed that cheese made from salted milk contained the lowest activity of residual coagulant, while cheese made from milk preacidified with citric acid contained the highest activity. Cheese moisture and soluble proteins in expressible serum were lower in cheese made from unsalted milk than in that made from salted milk. The expressible serum decreased during pickling in all treatments. Preacidification with citric acid to pH6 increased the moisture content in cheese and reduced the amount of expressible serum. Reverse-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography [RP-HPLC] analysis showed that the peptides in the expressible serum from salted milk-cheese were present at higher relative concentrations than in that from the unsalted milk-cheese. The late-eluting peptides of 90 days old cheese were higher in preacidified milk-cheese compared to that innonepreacidified milk-cheese

Tetra chloroethane toxicity on the rat liver and lung with the evaluation of the protective role of the nutritional elements [zinc and silibinin]

Tetrachloroethane [TTCE] is one of the chlorinated hydrocarbons used as an industrial solvent. It is also claimed to be an environmental pollutant that may have multisystem detrimental effects. This study demonstrates some of the biochemical and histological toxic effects of TTCE on the rat liver, kidney and lung. It also estimates the effect of this substance on the DNA content of the cells. The study also evaluates and compares the protective role of the nutritional supplements zinc and silibinin on the observed toxic effects. 60 adult Sprague Dawly rats were used for the experiment divided equally into six groups: a negative control group, a group receiving TTCE, a group receiving zinc and a group receiving silibinin. In addition there were groups of combined treatment of TTCE plus zinc and TTCE plus silibinin. TTCE was given at a dose of 0.01ml/kg, zinc was given at a dose of 30mg/kg and silibinin was given at a dose of 200mg/kg. The duration of the experinent was 4 weeks then biochemical analysis of liver and kidney functions as well as zinc level estimation were performed. Histopathological examination of the liver and lung was done including the estimation of the content of the nuclear DNA. The study revealed the occurrence of elevation in the serum levels of liver enzymes AST and ALT as well as urea and creatinine levels in the group received TTCE. This was associated with a significant drop in zinc level. The liver showed marked dilatation of central vein and blood sinusoids, some liver cells revealed deeply acidophilic homogenous cytoplasm with pyknotic nuclei while other cells showed vacuolated cytoplasm. The lung showed histological changes in both conducting and respiratory protions. There was also a significant increase of the DNA content of the hepatocytes and pneumocytes in this group. Administration of zinc combined with TTCE showed a statistically significant limitation in the degree of toxicity of TTCE. This protective effect was found to be significantly less obvious for silibinin. Zinc plays its protective role via its antioxidant effect that antagonizes the oxidative stress induced by TTCE. The study recommends the use of extra doses of zinc especially in those who are exposed to TTCE in industrial fields