Biochemical study on early and late pregnancy anaemia with special reference to anaemia associated proteins haptoglobin and transferrin

Anemia associated proteins, haptoglobin and transferrin were measured in 98 pregnant ladies. Women were classified into two groups according to the duration of pregnancy. The first group included 41 ladies in the first trimester of pregnancy, while the second group included 57 women in the third trimester. Anemia [hemoglobin < 11 gm/dl] has been diagnosed in about 51% of the first group compared to about 58% of the second group. Iron deficiency anemia was by far the commonest variety comprising 89% of both groups. The minority of subjects [about 2%] who had hemolytic anemia had significantly lower levels of haptoglobin, which may indicate a diagnostic value to differentiate between iron deficiency and hemolytic anemias. Serum transferrin showed a highly significant increase in both early and late pregnancy iron deficiency anemia. However, the estimation of these proteins is tedious and not available for wide scale use, so that hemoglobin estimation remains a satisfactory method for routine screening for anemia during pregnancy

Attitudes towards breast feeding and contraception after delivery: a comparison between urban and rural women in El-Minia

Two hundreds women were asked about the details of breast feeding, resumption of menstruation and contraceptive practice after the delivery before the last one. 55 women were urban while 145 were rural. Both groups lactated for long periods. No significant difference between the groups was found regarding the duration of lactation and the resumption of menstruation. Urban women initiated food supplementation significantly earlier than the rural group [p = 0.04]. They used contraceptive methods, for a significantly longer duration [p = 0.01]. The commonest contraceptive method used in the two groups was the pill [34.5% and 24.1%] in urban and rural groups respectively. Most of the women [72.3% of the urban group and 80% of the rural group] started contraception after resumption of menstruation, while a small proportion started contraception before resumption of menses. When they were asked about the cause, their belief was that they are infertile during lactational amenorrhea [89.2% and 90%] in the two groups, respectively

Study on cytologic and colposcopic findings of the cervix after oral or vaginal use of combined contraceptive pills

The effect of oral and vaginal use of combined pills on cytologic and colposcopic findings of the cervix were studied in 120 women. They were randomly assigned to either oral use [63 women] or vaginal use [57 women], ethinyl estradiol + norgestrel was given starting from the fifth day of the cycle for 21st day use as well as after three and six months of oral use. Normal and nonspecific infection were the commonest cytologic patterns found in both groups throughout the study; use of pills led to the appearance of ectopy and hypervascularity [insignificant colposcopic findings] with downward migration the transformation zone. However, there was no difference in these changes when the pill was given orally or vaginally

Study of parasitic infections in pregnant women attending an antenatal clinic in El-Minia

To detect parasitic infections routine urine and stool analysis were done for 1220 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of El-Minia University Hospital. Only 41.1 percent of the women were parasite free. The others did have either single or mixed infections. The isolates in a descending frequency were: Entameba histolytica cysts [42.4 percent], Giardia lamblia [14.8 percent], and Schistosoma haematobium [3.4 percent], Ascaris [3.3 percent], Oxyuris [2.9 percent] and Ankylostoma [1 percent]. Forty subjects were randomly chosen from among those having helminthic infestations and 40 women randomly chosen from those who were parasite free. These were furtherly investigated by doing peripheral haemogram and measuring a[1] antitrypsin, a[2] macroglobulin, haptoglobin and transferrin. These proteins are usually considered as acute phase reactants. Haemoglobin was significantly lower, while eosinophils were significantly higher in the parasitic group compared to the controls. There was no difference between both groups regarding acute phase reactants. The study clearly demonstrates the high incidence of parasitic infestation amongst our pregnant population, to the extent that routine urine and stool analysis should be part of antenatal care in a rural area like ours. Moreover, the management of anemia in pregnant women in our rural area should comprise diagnosis and treatment of parasitic infection