Prevalence of anxiety and its relation to academic achievement among preparatory school students in Port-Said City, Egypt

Childhood anxiety disorders remain vastly under-diagnosed, under-treated and understudied despite their widespread prevalence. If anxiety left untreated children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school. The aim of the study is to recognize the prevalence of anxiety, identification of factors influencing development of anxiety and anxiety impact on academic achievement in our community children. One hundred and eighty one preparatory school students, aged 12 to 15 years, of both sex, in governmental urban and rural schools in Port-Said, Egypt, were interviewed for evaluation of the presence of anxiety and its severity using a standard Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale [HARS]. The Socioeconomic index was evaluated according to scoring system, established by Alexandria Health Institute. The average of mid-year and final-year exams' degrees was used as an assessment tool for students' school achievement. Ninety five out of 181 students had anxiety manifestations, representing an incidence of 52.5%. The more the occurrence of anxiety among preparatory school students the less their achievement in all academic subjects. We concluded that anxiety manifestations are prevalent among teens. Anxiety had its clear impact on school achievement. There was a clear linear relationship between severer anxiety and poorer school achievement

Lipid peroxidation productts and anaemia in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis

Three groups of patients with chronic renal failure [CRF] undergoing hemodialysis [HD] were selected for this study. Twenty healthy individuals were selected as a control group. Plasma malondialdehyde [MDA] and 4-hydroxynonenal [HNE] were measured in these groups of patients and compared with the healthy control group. In conclusion, the present study showed that there are increased amounts of lipid peroxidation [LPO] in HD patients, particularly who showed a poor response to treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin [rhEPO] and a significant decrease in the oxidative stress occurs in patients with a good response to rhEPO therapy

Comparative study between lines of treatment on menopausal osteoporotic women

Menopausal women are at high risk for osteoporosis than adult women. This study was carried on 60 postmenopausal women with age ranged 45-65 years old, and the last menses was at least one year before. Bone densimetry was performed for every case to confirm the diagnosis. These cases were classified into four groups: group I [control]: 20 postmenopausal women without osteoporosis and not on treatment. Group II: 20 osteoporotic postmenopausal women and not on treatment. Group III 10 osteoporotic postmenopausal women and on hormone replacement therapy [HRT]. Group IV: 10 osteoporotic postmenopausal women and on vitamin D, calcium and exercise therapy. Lines of treatment include hormonal replacement therapy, calcium supplements, vitamin D, fluoride therapy, calcitonin and diphosphonates. In this study, the most two common lines of treatment [HRT and calcium, vitamin D and exercise] were used and results compared. The urinary deoxypyridinoline links as a marker for bone degradation showed improvement by both lines of therapy. It was significantly decreased when compared to osteoporotic women on no treatment. It is advisable to use calcium supplements, vitamin D and exercise to avoid the hazards of HRT which may include venous thrombosis, fibromyomas and other complications. The success of calcium, vitamin D and exercise to improve osteoporosis make this line of treatment advisable to be used in women as well as in men who suffer from osteoporosis to avoid any hazards of anabolic steroids

Gastro-oesophageal after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective evaluation

The lower oesophageal sphincter [LOS] function was studied in 20 patients with symptomatic gall stone disease before and after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Nine patients [45%] were still symptomatic 3 - 4 months after surgery. Seven patients [35%] had abnormal pH profile before surgery, increased to fourteen patients [70%] following cholecystectomy [P <0.002]. DeMeester acid reflux score increased from 15.2 to 34.2 post surgery [P<0.001]. The LOS function as assessed by the sphincter function index was significantly reduced in patients with abnormal pH profile [P<0.01]. The mean supine gastric alkaline shift increased from 9.2% to 17.7% [P<0.02]. The incidence of gastritis increased from 4 [20%] to 12 patients [60%]. These data suggest that laparoscopic cholecystectomy results in gastro-oesophageal reflux that appears to be related to compromised lower oesophageal sphincter competence