Prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated risk factors in urban primary-school children in Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran

Childhood obesity is a major public health problem globally because of changes in lifestyles. We assessed the prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors in urban schoolchildren in Babol in a cross-sectional study of 1000 schoolchildren aged 7-12 years. Weight and height were measured and data on sports activities and leisure time physical activities were collected by questionnaire. Overweight/obesity were assessed by comparing body mass index [BMI] values to the BMI index for age and sex percentiles set by CDC, Atlanta. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 5.8% and 12.3% respectively. The prevalence was significantly lower in girls compared with boys [age-adjusted OR= 0.69, 95% Cl: 0.50-0.96] and higher among private-school educated children compared with public-school educated students [age adjusted OR = 2.17, 95% Cl: 1.47-3.18]. For each additional score of leisure time physical activity, the age-adjusted OR decreased significantly

[Prevalence of overweight, obesity and physical fitness in Shiraz adolescents]

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity and physical fitness in Shiraz adolescents. This cross-sectional study was performed on 808 [boys] students, 14-16 years old. The subjects were selected via a step wise random sampling. Height and weight of the subjects were measured by standard methods and body mass index [BMI] was calculated. Overweight and obesity were defined on the 85th and 95th percentiles of BMI for age and sex, respectively, as proposed by CDC. Physical fitness of the subjects were measured by sit-up, modified pull-up, sit-and-reach, 540 m running, 45 m running and 4 x 9 m shuttle run test. The prevalences of overweight in 14, 15 and 16 year old students were 13.4%, 9.2% and 7.8% respectively and the prevalences of obesity were 7.8%, 5.9% and 4.4% respectively. The results showed that the physical fitness had a tendency to decrease as body fat percent and BMI increased. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Shiraz adolescents are higher than in some other areas of the Iran and the world and obesity increases among adolescents during the early years. There were inverse relationships between physical fitness levels with body fat percent and BMI, findings that emphasize exercise for overweight and obese adolescents

[Microscopic assessment of the effects of chemoradiotherapy on normal oral mucosa in patients with head and neck cancer]

There are only few studies about effect of chemoradiotherapy based on cellular level. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of such treatment on normal cells of oral mucosa. Seventy patients whose normal oral mucosa was exposed to radiation during the course of chemoradiotherapy were selected. Before starting the treatment, 2 slides from the normal oral mucosa were prepared for each patient, one from keratinized and one from non keratinized mucosa. At the end of treatment 2 other slides were taken from the same area too. After observing the slides under light microscope in blind form, the results of the observation from the first slides were compared with the results of the second one. Statistical analysis was carried out by Mc Nemar, Marginal Homogeneity and Wilcoxon tests. The results revealed changes in nucleus and cytoplasm. and N/C ratio, formation of bizar cells, cellular abnormality, nucleous and cytoplasmic vacuolization in affected cells during treatment. There was statistically significant differences between the groups [p < 0.001]. Keratinization of basal cell mucosa in cytology slide was observed after treatment [P < 0.01] and also there was an increase in number of inflammatory cells [p < 0.001]. Cellular apoptosis, numerous granular cells with large size granules, cells with multiple nucleous and clear nuclei, bacterial colony and candida were observed after treatment. chemoradiotherapy may induce formation of bizar cells, abnormal nocleous and cytoptasm, changes in N/C ratio. Cellular abnormality, and cellular vacuolization

[The degree of unemployment and reasons for not finding appropriate jobs among Iranian physicians]

Unemployment which had been a problem of less educated and unskilled people has become a problem in most of the countries for even the educated and the skilled persons. Unemployment among physicians in Iran has been the subject of discussion during the past so many years, and its severity, causes and ways of combating it has been a focus of discussions in different circles. It is a mail survey conducted on random sample, sized 5482 physicians, from registered physician roster at the Medical Association of Islamic Republic of Iran. The questionnaire included items on employment and unemployment quality and some related factors. The final analysis is based on the 2789 returned questionnaires. Total unemployment has a point prevalence of 9.4% among Iranian physicians [95% CI: 8.3% - 10.5%]. When summed with physicians with qualitative unemployment, this figure reaches 13.7% [95% CI: 12.4% - 14.9%]. Considering quantitative unemployment, the total ratio reaches 25.5%. Half of the unemployed physicians have seeked jobs for more than a year, and they mostly attribute their failure to low income of medical jobs and limited positions for physicians in the governmental sector. Unemployment, in different forms from total to qualitative and quantitative forms affects from one-tenth to one fourth of Iranian physicians. This problem is not limited to Iran, but has been seen in many other countries, especially those that had increased the strength of their medical students in the past. The solution of this problem needs its accurate identification and factors affecting it or related to it. Solving this problem needs finding its accurate fissure and the related factors

Effect of tindurin on immunopathogenesis mechanism of collagen-induced arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the sequestration of various leukocyte subpopulations within both the developing pannus and synovial space. This study was undertaken to examine the therapeutic potency of tindurin in experimental rheumatoid arthritis. Collagen-induced arthritis [CIA] was induced by intradermally immunization of Lewis rats at the base of the tail. The paws and knees were then removed for histopathology and radiography analysis. Using fibrosarcoma cell line the apoptosis process was measured by Terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling [TUNEL] method. Our data showed that the i.p. injection of tindurin to arthritic rats induced a significant reduction in paw edema. Histopathological assessment showed reduced inflammatory cells infiltrate, tissue edema and bone erosion in joints of treated rats. Moreover, our results in radiography were in line with histological findings as well as tindurin was found to induce apoptosis of treated cells in comparison with positive, negative and non-treated ones. Our findings revealed the therapeutic effect of tindurin in experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis in comparison with methotrexate as a choice drug

Lymph node revealing solution: a new useful method for isolation of minute axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the world. The most important prognostic factor in this cancer is the stage of the tumor. Detection of lymph nodes with or without malignancy is essential for determining the stage of the tumor and setting a therapeutic plan. There are different methods for isolating lymph nodes in surgical specimens of breast cancer in the pathology department. The most popular method is routine palpation, but isolation of very small lymph nodes is difficult and time consuming and some may be missed. The main goal of this paper is to describe a new, precise and easy technique for finding nodes in breast cancer specimens. In this study 50 cases of breast cancer were randomly selected. In these cases axillary fat was examined for lymph nodes by traditional method, and then the entire axillary fat was immersed overnight in a lymph node revealing solution [LNRS] composed of various traditional fixatives and fat solvent. After overnight fixation the lymph nodes stood out as white chalky nodules on the background of yellow fat. They were then excised, processed and stained by routine Hand E method. The total number of lymph nodes found by traditional method in these 50 cases was 660. After application of LNRS, 178 additional lymph nodes measuring from 0.5 to 9 mm were found. The LNRS increased the mean number of nodes per case from 13.20 +/- 6.61 found by traditional method to 16.67 +/- 7.64 nodes per case [p value<0.01]. The size of lymph nodes identified by LNRS was significantly smaller than those found by traditional method [p value<0.01]. In 8 cases, tumor stage was increased by application of LNRS in addition to routine palpation. As a whole LNRS is a useful, rapid and good fixative. It significantly enhances the yield of lymph nodes in the axillary fat of breast cancer specimens