Frequency of beta thalassemia trait and carrier in Gorgan, Iran

To determine the frequency of beta-Thalassemia trait and carrier in Gorgan, Iran. In this analytic cross sectional study conducted from March 20, 2003 until March 20, 2004, two thousands six hundred prospective grooms and brides referred to the health center of Gorgan city were studied. Globular criteria included mean corpuscular hemoglobin [MCH] and mean corpuscular volume [MCV] were determined. Hemoglobin A2 [Hb A2] was measured by column chromatography method. The range of MCH was 13.8-35.5 pg.%15.9 of men and%27.6 of women had MCV<80fl. The frequency of beta-thalassemia trait was 9.8%. The range of HbA2 was 1.2-12% with the mean 3.06 +/- 1.5%. The frequency of beta-Thalassemia carrier [minor] was 21.4%.This high frequency of beta-Thalassemia trait and carrier in Gorgan constitutes a real health problem and it necessitates more diligent effort in health care specially education and counseling. Further studies should examine the value of counseling and the prevalence of beta-Thalassemia in the children of those married

[Comparison of therapeutic effects intranasal Desmopressin, Pethidine and their combination in renal colic]

Standard treatment in renal colic is established with narcotics. NSAIDS are alternative choices. Several studies are done on various treatments. This study was done to evaluate the effect of intranasal Desmopressin alone and in combination with parenteral Pethidine in relief of renal colic pain. In this clinical trial study, 150 patients with renal colic were recruited in: Group one received 40 micrograms intranasal desmopressin, group two 25 miligrams intravenous pethidine and in group 3 both drugs were administered. VAS method was used to measure the intensity of pain in first minute and at 10, 20 and 30 minutes after administration. Kruskal-Walis and ANOVA were used to compare the pain severity between groups. Pain intensity had significant decrease after 10, 20 and 30 minutes; in all groups [P < 0.05]. Group 3 showed maximum decrease after 30 minutes. This study determined that combined administration of desmopressin and pethidine can significantly decrease in renal colic intensity. We suggest the use of desmopressin, in combination with other medicines; as a supportive and effective treatment in renal colic patients

[Effect of early iron supplementation on iron deficiency anemia in preterm infants]

Preterm infants have less iron storage compared with the term one. Due to rapid growth they need more iron during infancy. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of early iron supplementation on hematologic indices and incidence of iron deficiency anemia in preterm infants. This experimental study was done on 20-days-old preterm breast-feed infants referred to the Gorgan-North of Iran primary health care services for vaccination, without any underline disease or growth retardation during 2005. They were divided to two groups [n=15 in each] and a questionnaire was completed for each case. Iron drop [2mg/kg] was given in the interventional group. Iron deficiency anemia was assesed in all sample T-student test and chi-square were used to analyze the independent variables and comparing the hematologic indices, after entering in SPSS-13 software and testing the normal distribution with komologrof-smearnoff test. Relative risk index [RR] was used to compare the two groups. The relative risk of iron deficiency anemia in the interventional group was 0.4 folds [RR=0.4,CI%95 for RR=[0.091,1.749]]. No significant difference was seen between the two groups. The finding of this study showed that iron drop supplementation for preterm infant prevent the iron defeciency anemia, although this observation was not significant