correlation between the frequency of oral lesions and the amount of smokeless tobacco usage in patients referred to oral medicine department of Zahedan dental school

Statement of Problem: The increasing use of smokeless tobacco in the last 15 years has motivated researchers to evaluate its impact on its user's health

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of oral lesions related to smokeless tobacco and any possible correlation between the frequency of oral lesions and the amount of usage in patients referred to Zahedan Dental School

Materials and Method: A total of 90 [77 male and 13 female] cases, all snuff consumers, were surveyed in this cross sectional study which was accomplished by employing questionnaires. The questionnaire included demographic information, type and amount of smokeless tobacco used and the location where it was placed in the mouth. The completion of the questionnaires was followed by oral clinical examinations of patients. The location of any lesion found in soft tissue, was recorded in questionnaire

Results: The mean age for men and women was 47.7 and 55.61, respectively. A total of 38 cases [29 males, 9 females] were found to have oral lesions. 26 patients were using the snuff one pack per day. The common site of lesions was lower buccal sulcus. From 38 lesions, 32 lesions were found at the site of snuff placement. Most of the lesions were degree 1 and white in color. After taking biopsy from 32 lesions, 26 cases were detected as hyperkeratotic and 6 cases as epithelial dysplasia

Conclusion: This study showed that use of snuff is very common in Zahedan and usage of this material can produce oral lesions. There is not a significant correlation between the frequency of oral lesions and the amount of usage

[Perceived benefits and barriers of preventive behaviours of relapsed myocardial infarction]

Cardiovascular diseases are among 46% of deaths in Iran. Changing lifestyle is very important for the disease control. If the patients perceive the benefits of preventive behaviours, the barriers to those behaviours will decline and the probability of engaging in the behaviours will increase. This study carried out to determine perceived benefits and barriers of preventive behaviours of relapsed myocardial infraction. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 patients with a history of myocardial infraction referred to Yazd Cardiovascular Research Center during 2007. A questionnaire was used for data collection which measured perceived benefits of, barriers to preventive behaviours of myocardial infraction relapse and status of those behaviours. Data was analyzed using SPSS-13 and Pearson coefficient and regression tests. Subjects earned a mean score of 30.24 [out of 36] in perceived benefits and 22.07 [out of 68] in perceived barriers and 24.48 [out of 37] in preventive behaviours. Preventive behaviours was positively correlated with net benefit and negatively with perceived barriers. This study showed that in spit of suitable level of perceived benefits of myocardial infraction, but still the perceived barriers are significant enough and therefore removal of barriers to such behaviour are essential

Comparative evaluation of fast enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [fast-ELISA] and standard-ELISA for the diagnosis of human hydatidosis

Fast enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [Fast-ELISA] was compared with the standard ELISA for the diagnosis of human hydatidosis. Seventy serum samples including 30 from hydatidosis patients [surgically confirmed], healthy control individuals not infected with any parasitic diseases [n=/20] and from others with different parasitic infections including, toxocariosis [n=5], fasciolosis [n=5], trichostrongylosis [n=5], and strongyloidosis [n=5] were analysed for anti-hydatid IgG antibodies using sheep hydatid cyst fluid antigen. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, as well as validity of the test were found as 96.7%, 95.2%, 93.7%, 97.5% and 96% for conventional ELISA, while these paramters for fast-ELISA were respectively as follows: 100%, 97.5%, 96.7%, 100% and 98.8%. Regarding standard-ELISA 3microg/ml of antigen, serum dilution of 1:500, conjugate dilution of 1:3000 and 30 min incubation were found optimal, while for fast-ELISA 3microg/ml of antigen, serum dilution of 1:125, conjugate dilution of 1:1000 and 5 min incubation were utilized. The present study indicates that fast ELISA can easily be performed in place of the standard ELISA for the serodiagnosis of human hydatidosis with the advantage of minimising consumed time and manpower hours. Moreover, this test can be utilized in screening tests to diagnos human hydatidosis