[Effect of Depo-Provera on depression rate in the women referring to the health center of Babol city]

In the recent century, rapid growth of population is a threat to human life. Family planning has been of great benefit to family health. Thirteen million women in the world use Depo-Provera as a contraceptive method. Different studies have reported development of depression in Depo-Provera users, and some articles reported that they are ineffective on mood. Therefore assessment of Depo-Provera effects on mood is important. Depression in women can lead to physical, psychological and social reactions. Therefore we decided to assess the effect of Depo-Provera on depression rate in the health center of Babol City. This study was a Quazi-experimental study. 64 women completed a questionnaire consisted of demographic data before Depo-Provera injection and also Beck Standard Questionnaire before and 3 months after Depo-Provera injection at the health center of Babol City. For data analysis we used Wilcoxon and Fisher's exact tests. Mean score of depression symptoms before Depo-Provera injection was 6.50 +/- 8.2 but three month after injection it was 4.50 +/- 6.6 which had a significant difference [p=0.001]. Age, education, satisfaction of husband's job, husband's literacy, husband's aid at home, satisfaction with the marital life, family class, family income, child abortion history, outcome of recent pregnancy, satisfaction in relationship with parents in childhood, satisfaction in relationship with family members, support from the family and relatives, satisfaction in relationship with friends and worrisome events during the last year showed no significant relationship with depression before and after Depo-Provea injections. But satisfaction with husband's family [p=0.034] and history of depression [p=0.026] had a significant relationship with depression before loss of independency and depression before and after Depo-Provera injection [p=0.024, p=0.001]. The results of this study showed lack of deterioration of depression by Depo-Provera injections. Therefore appropriate consultation can lead to increased use of Depo-Provera

[Determination of susceptibility to heat-related disorders and prevention methods among agriculture workers]

Workers employed in outdoor occupations such as farm working, especially during rice harvest, are exposed to hot and humid environments that put them at risk for different kinds of heat-related disorders or heat stress. The aim of this study was to determine the susceptibility to heat-related disorders and prevention methods among a group of agriculture workers in one of the northern cities in Iran. This study is a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study which was done among 340 agricultures workers in a city [Sorkhrood] in Mazandaran province. The samples were collected from 42 villages using two stage cluster-randomized sampling method. The data were collected by means of tailor-made data collection sheet and analyzed using descriptive statistical indexes and Chi- square test, and p<0.05 was considered as significant. The findings indicated that the mean values of age and years of experience were 42.8 and 26 years, respectively. Almost half of the agriculture workers were overweight or obese, 34% illiterate, and 15% encountered chronic illnesses. Ninety five percent of the workers were not informed about prehydration in hot environment and none of them know about the consumption of electrolytes. According to Chi-square test result, there were no significant differences between the prevalence of headache as one of the early signs of heat -related disorders and other related factors. According to the results, agriculture workers based on their age distribution, education, body mass index, health knowledge, drug use and incidence of chronic diseases, are very vulnerable to heat-related disorders. Therefore, training on recognizing the early signs and doing control measures as essential element in heat stress prevention should be seriously considered

Factors affecting the age in normal menopause and frequency of menopausal symptoms in northern Iran

The age in menopause and frequency of menopausal symptoms differ in different societies. This study evaluates the distribution of age at normal menopause, the frequency of menopausal symptoms and the associated factors in Babol, Northern Iran. In a community based study, the Symptom Score Card was used to assess the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms. Data from 1,397 women around 45-63 years old in Babol, northern Iran were enrolled. Subjects were selected using the standard cluster sampling techniques. In urban areas, the median age at menopause was 48 years. The five most prevalent symptoms were irritabilities [72.1%], joint paints [70.6%], backache [61.2%], hot flushes [49.35] and headache [49.25] during the previous two weeks. More than 60% of women experienced hot flushes. Low educational level [OR=0.70;95% CI=0.54, 0.90], early age at menarche [OR=0.76; 95% CI=0.59, 0.99] and oral contraceptive use [OR=0.76; 95% CI=0.54, 0.97] were significantly associated with hot flushes. It could be beneficial to provide evidences to manage menopausal women in Primary Health Care centers as a cost effective method. Emphasis should be placed on practical education of women to raise their knowledge on menopausal symptoms and ways of increasing their understanding on midlife experiences

Maternal hematocrit status affecting pregnancy outcome

Low and high maternal hematocrit can influence outcome of pregnancy.Anemia is frequently observed during pregnancy. This study was performed to determine the maternal hematocrit status affecting pregnancy outcome in babol, northern Iran. The present cohort control study was conducted from Dec 2001 to Dec 2002 and comprised 609 randomly selected pregnant women who attended Yahyanejad Hospital for antenatal care and delivery. Women with hemoglobinopathies such as thalassemia were excluded from the study. Maternal characteristics including hematocrit values were recorded at the first antenatal care visit when 3ml blood collected from each woman was sent to the laboratory for CBC. Anemia marked by hematocrit<34% in the first trimester was associated with a significantly increasing risk of low birth weight [<2500 g] and preterm delievery which was indicated by the gestational age of less than 37 weeks. High hematocrit values [>40%] did not increase the risk of low birth weight or preterm delivery. The risk of low Apgar score, operative deliveries and admittance to the newborn intensive care unit [NICU] were significantly increased in women with high and low hematocrit. Thus pregnant women with abnormal hematocrit are at high risk and due awareness is required of how to prevent complication and dismal outcome of pregnancies by special clinical care

[ comparison between the effect of oral and intravenous prednisolone in prevention of acute rejection during the first two weeks of renal transplantation]

Induction of anti rejection therapy in renal transplanted patients is performed in various forms and there is a great difference in steroid administration. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of oral and intravenous prednisolone [Methyl prednisolone] in prevention of rejection during first two weeks of hospitalization. In this clinical trial study during one year in a randomized trial, 60 patients in two groups [31 for parenteral route and 29 for oral route] were studied for rate of rejection. Also, according to gender, age [less or more than 35 years old], clinical manifestations, time of rejection [first or second week] and the results of isotope scan [DTPA], the findings were assessed. It was found eight cases of rejection in oral group and six cases in parenteral, one without any significant difference. Also, there was no significant difference between two groups for other parameters. The only meaningful difference was for isotope scan that was true for all rejections of the parenteral group but in only 25% of rejections of the oral group, it showed the problem [p=0.049]. In short term, there is no significant difference between two methods. But because sample size was small, this study should be repeated with larger one

Normal uterine size in women of reproductive age in northern Islamic Republic of Iran

To determine the efficacy of ultrasonographic assessment of uterus size in women of reproductive age, we conducted a cross-sectional analytic study of 231 women aged 15-45 years in Babol, northern Islamic Republic of Iran. Mean uterus size was 86.6 mm x 49.6 mm x 40.6 mm overall, 72.8 mm x 42.8 mm x 32.4 mm for nulliparous women and 90.8 mm x 51.7 mm x 43.0 mm for multiparous women. Mean age was 31.7 +/- 9.6 years and mean body mass index [BMI] was 24.7 +/- 4.0 kg/m2. Uterus size was significantly associated with parity and age; but not with BMI. Our findings show a greater mean uterus size than reported by others. Ultrasonographic measurement of uterus size is valuable for predicting pathologies associated with abnormal uterine size

[Hepatitis C in blood products receivers]

Background: Hepatitis C virus [HCV] is a hepatotrop virus which causes chronic hepatitis and some important complications such as hepatocellular carcinoma [H.C.C]. In patients, one of important ways for spreading of this virus is blood products and blood transfusion. In Iran, the donor's blood in Blood Transfusion Organization has been screened for HCV scince 1996. We decided to determine the frequency of this disease in patients who received blood products before 1996 due to an acute illness [not persons who repeatedly received blood products due to a chronic disease]

Methods: This case-control study includes 200 patients [100 cases and 100 controls] between 7-18 years of age, referred to the pediatrics clinic of Amircola Hospital in Babol in 2003. The first 2cc of venous blood sample from each person in two groups was prepared and screened for HCV antibody by Eliza method and then the positive ones were examined by PCR method. Exclusion criteria in our study were age less than 7 and greater than 18 years, immunocompromised patients, who received multiple transfusions for their chronic disease and also patients who P blood products after 1996

Results: In case group, 2 persons [2%] were HCV antibody positive in one of whom [1%], this was confirmed by PCR method, but in control group there was no infected person [P=0.5], In conclusion, infectivity to hepatitis C virus in persons who received blood products for acute illness before 1996 was more than in control group but the difference between the two groups was not significant statistically [P=0.5]

Conclusion: It seems to be necessary to conduct a larger study and a special attention for infectivity of HCV in these persons

[ inhabitants health status in high and low natural background radiation areas in Ramsar, north of Iran]

Background and Objective: ramsar a coastal city in the north part of Iran has among the highest levels of natural radiation known to exist in an inhabited area. This is mainly due to radium-226 and its progenies coming to the earth surface through hot springs. The health effect of low doses of ionizing radiation is not clear and is still under the matter of discussion. The study of the effects of high natural background radiation on human health was the main goal of this investigation. The present article is showing the results of the first phase of our work

Materials and Methods: this cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted on 101 families [402 residents] of high background radiation areas and 98 families [374 residents] from adjacent normal radiation areas. After description of the study and its objectives to the participants, they were asked to participate in interviews and complete questionnaires containing some socio-economic and health items. Some items of questionnaires were determined using the information recorded in local health centers in those areas

Results: overall data showed no significant differences between the frequencies of any mental and physical disabilities as well as death, abortion and mental depression in residents of normal and high background radiation areas. However the frequency of some special diseases such as cardiac diseases and malignancies among residents of high background radiation area in comparison with ordinary radiation level areas was lower [P<0.05]

Conclusion: these preliminary results, showed lack of ill effects and even some positive effects. Among population of high background radiation areas. Although we used census method for getting data, we believe that other radio-epidemiologic prospective studies can improve our knowledge about radiobiology of low doses of ionizing radiation