Poor public awareness on the etiology of chest pain in Jordan

The objective of the study is to assess the level of public awareness on the causes of chest pain in Jordan. A total of 4194 adults [2086 males, 2108 females] from various regions of Jordan were interviewed during the period of July -September2004. The range of the age for the sample was 18- 86 years with a mean of 26.08 +/- 0.16 [SEM] years. Each individual was asked to answer a total of 16 specific questions on the causes of chest pain. Moreover, a brief comment was provided to each person on the disorders mentioned in the questionnaire. A score out of 16 was used to determine the level of awareness on this issue. Our results showed that the overall public awareness mean score was 5.05 +/- 0.09 which was poor according to the study scale. The highest level of awareness in individuals with health-related [9.35 +/- 1.29] and health-unrelated [3.69 +/- 0.51] jobs was detected in the age range of 50- 57 which represents only 3.5% of the sample. When compared with other ethnicities, Jordanians has the lowest percentage [5.2%] of "excellent" scores and almost the highest percentage [18%] of "extremely poor" scores. In all age ranges [except> 57 years], the scores on the level of awareness were significantly higher in individuals with health-related jobs than persons engaged in health-unrelated jobs. It is concluded that public awareness on chest pain in Jordan is poor. Therefore, community education campaigns should be initiated to increase public awareness on the clinical manifestations of chest pain

New antiepileptic drugs a clinical overview

After a gap of approximately 20 years, a new generation of antiepileptic drugs [AEDs] has recently been developed. More than 8 drugs have been licensed in at least one country during the 1990s. While lamotrigine, gabapentin, vigabatrin and oxcarbazepine are widely used in some countries, felbamate, topiramate, tiagabine, levetiracetam, and zonisamide are still used on a narrow scale. A feeling of optimism occurs after the development of these drugs, although only a small number of epileptic patients become free of seizures after the addition of these new AEDs to their regimen. Generally, the safety profile of the new AEDs is only slightly better than that of established drugs and their efficacy is strongly associated with the use of high doses. This article reviews new AEDs by studying their clinical pharmacological effects, mechanisms of action as antiepileptic agents, side effects, drug-drug interactions and the appropriate regimen of their use

Guanosine 3', 5'-monophosphate is not a marker of the proepileptic activity of valproic acid in hippocampal brain tissues

Guanosine 3',5 monophosphate [cGMP] can be used as a marker of the epileptogenicity of proconvulsant drugs. As valproic acid [VPA], at certain concentrations, acts as a proconvulsant agent in hippocampal pyramidal neurons when tested in the veratridine model, this investigation was conducted to study the effect of proconvulsant concentrations of VPA on the basal level of cGMP in hippocampal tissue. Experiments were performed using standard radioimmuonassay techniques in hippocampal tissues from rats. This study was carried out at the Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America between 1996-1997. We found that veratridine [0.3, 1 and 2 micro M, n=3] increased the level of cGMP in hippocampal tissue in a concentration dependent manner. However, VPA at proepileptic concentrations [0.1, 2, 5 micro M, n=3], did not significantly affect the basal level of cGMP when added alone or with veratridine [0.3 micro M]. Guanosine 3',5' monophosphate is not a marker of the proepileptic activity of VPA in brain tissues