Proper distribution of specialist physicians: a strategy towards realizing justice and equity in access to health care services

Background: Paving the way for having equitable access to medical intervention programs is the most important action that a health system can take in realizing social justice. This study aims at examining proper distribution of specialist physicians as an strategy towards realizing justice and equity in access to and use of health services as well as providing recommendations for policy-makers

Methods: This is a review-narrative and bibliographic research that used databases consisting of Magiran, Irandoc, Iranmedex, SID, PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Direct Science with the key words including Specialists, Health, Equity, Accessibility, Health system and Human resources. The data were collected from 1990 to 2015

Results: There are evidences of regions in the world that still are lacking sufficient number of physician workforce and are not only faced with challenges of recruiting, but also with retention of specialist physicians. In fact, migration of human workforce from deprived regions to more organized and prosperous parts has been a factor influencing workforce shortage in these regions; thereby it adds further problem of recruitment and retention of specialist workforce

Conclusions: Human workforce distribution [Specialist or non-specialists] has direct effects on realizing equity and justice in health system; it also influences economy of a given country indirectly. On the other hand, compensation is one of the important incentives that drives workforce behavior and makes them more inclined towards working in deprived regions. Taking the above mentioned ideas, it is recommended for the health system to use more economic incentives and insure proper distribution that fits individuals' needs. Using various tax policies in deprived, wealthy, and generally different geographical regions is one of the most important incentives available to leverage this purpose

Production, quality control and biological evaluation of [153] Sm-TTHMP as a possible bone palliation agent

Various bone palliative therapeutic agents have been developed and widely used for bone metastasis such as [153]Sm-EDTMP. In this study, production, quality control and biodistribution studies of a newly developed therapeutic compound have been presented followed by imaging studies in wild-type rodents. [153]Sm-TTHMP was prepared starting from [153]Sm-SmCl[3], prepared by neutron activation of an enriched [152]Sm sample [purity >98%], and in-house synthesized TTHMP in 1h at 25[degree sign] C followed by stability tests, partition coefficient determination and biodistribution studies of in wild-type rodents using scarification and SPECT imaging. The radiolabled Sm complex was prepared in high radiochemical purity [>99%, ITLC] and specific activity of 278 GBq/mmol and demonstrated significant ability at 4, 25 and 37 [degree sign] C [in presence of human serum]. Initial biodistribution data showed significant bone accumulation of the tracer in 48h. [153]Sm-TTHMP can be a potential candidate for bone pain palliation therapy in skeletal metastases, although further biological studies in other mammals is still needed

Effect of cinnamon supplementation on blood glucose and lipid levels in type2 diabetic patients

This study was planned to investigate the effects of supplementation of cinnamon on fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles among type2 diabetic patients. 60 subjects with type 2 diabetes from both sexes [30 males and 30 females] were allocated to the intervention and control groups [30 individuals per group]. The doses of 1.5 g of cinnamon were equally administered orally in the form of cinnamon powder into 500 mg per capsule with breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 60 days. Control group received capsules of containing placebo. Blood samples were obtained on the beginning day of the experiment and at the end of 60 days. The fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles including total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C and triglycerides of types 2 subjects were measured. Fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles in intervention group were significantly lower than control group [p<0.05]. The average of fasting blood glucose levels, total cholesterol, cholesterol LDL and triglyceride levels were decreased after consumption of cinnamon powder, significantly[p<0.05]. We observed no significant changes in fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles after consumption of placebo in control group. Conclusion: This study showed that consumption of cinnamon supplementation may be useful in control and decreasing of fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles among type 2 diabetes individuals

[ effect of sex steroid hormones on brain edema and intracranial pressure after experimental traumatic brain injury in rats]

We investigated the role of sex hormones on changes in brain edema intracranial pressure [ICP], cerebral perfusion pressure [CCP] after trauma brain injury [TBI] in ovarectomized female [OVX] rats. In this study female rats are divided into five groups. Control group [Intact] sham group and other groups include: vehicle, estrogen group [1mg/kg] and progesterone group [8 mg/kg] which on all groups TBI was induced by Marmarou method. 30 minutes after TBI, drugs were injected i.p. ICP was measured in spinal cord using a standard procedure. CPP was calculated by the mean arterial pressure [MAP] - ICP. Neurologic scores were measured by motor, eye and respiratory reflex. The results showed after TBI, water content was significantly lower in estrogen and progesterone groups [P<0.001] compared with vehicle group. Analysis showed a stable ICP up to 24 hours. The ICP in estrogen and progesterone groups was significantly decreased at 4 and 24 hours as compared to vehicle group [P<0.001in both cases]. The CPP at 24 hours after TBI, significantly increased in estrogen and progesterone groups compared with vehicle [P<0.001]. Also after TBI, neurologic scores was significantly higher in estrogen and progesterone groups as compared with vehicle [at 1 hours P<0.05, and at 24hours P<0.001 for estrogen], [at 1 hours P<0.01 for progesterone]. Our findings indicated an improvement of ICP, CPP and neurologic scores produced by pharmacologic doses of estrogen and progesterone after TBI in OVX rat. These effects may be contribute to neuroprotective effects of these hormones