[ effect of short-term use of chamomile essence on muscle soreness in young girls after an exhaustive exercise]

Background: intensive physical activity can lead to muscle soreness

Objective: evaluate the effect of short-term use of of chamomile essence [CE] on muscle soreness in young girls after an exhaustive exercise

Methods: twenty young girls volunteered. They were randomly assigned into two equal groups of experimental and control. The experimental group drank 300 ml of CE twice daily for twelve days. The control group drank water and the chamomile essential oil as placebo during this period. In the eleventh day, exhaustive exercise on a treadmill with a negative slope of 5 degrees for all subjects was conducted. Blood samples were taken on the first and tenth days before the exhaustive exercise, and 1, 24 and 48 hours after exercise. Data were analyzed using independent t-test and ANOVA for repeated measure with a significant level of P<0.05

Results: no significant difference was detected between the two groups in the index of serum creatine kinase. Lactate dehydrogenase index in 1 and 48 hours after the test in the experimental group was significantly decreased compared with the control group. Aspartate amino transferase index in the experimental group increased 24 hours after the exercise, and decreased after 48 hours of the exhaustive exercise compared to the control group. Pain scale in the experimental group was reduced 1 and 24 hours after the test compared with the control group

Conclusion: the results suggested that young girls who want to do exhaustive exercises can drink CE to prevent or reduce the effects of muscle soreness

[ effects of 12 weeks aerobic training with moderate and hard intensity on body composition, appetite and some related hormone level in over weight and obese women]

Introduction: The general aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of 12 weeks of moderate and heavy intensity exercise training and determine the optimal intensity level/rate for maximum weight loss in obese and overweight women

Materials and Methods: Forty one subjects were randomly assigned into the moderate [16 subjects with 64-76% of maximum heart rate], heavy intensity [15 subjects with 80-90% of maximum heart rate] exercise and control [10 subjects groups]. Following two stages blood sampling at rest, and fasting, subjects completed appetite questionnaires. In addition, subjects exercised three times a week, one and a half hour after breakfast

Results: Results showed that calorie expenditure in the moderate intensity group was significantly higher than in the heavy intensity group. The results showed decreased weight [P=0.004] and body fat [P=0.001] in both exercise groups compared to the control group. Exercise had no effect on appetite and plasma acylated ghrelin, leptin and insulin concentrations

Conclusion: Results showed that moderate intensity, individuals can exercise longer with there by increase the energy expenditure and controlling their appetite, fundings which can be used to design exercise programs for the prevention and treatment of obesity

Pre-hospital emergency medical services in developing countries: a case study about EMS response time in Yazd, Iran

Pre-hospital emergency medical services, a subsystem of Emergency Medical Services [EMS], provides early care to critically ill and injured patients in the field. Time is an important factor in pre-hospital care and the length of time it takes to reach care, has a significant impact on patient outcome. This study aims to calculate the response time in EMS stations of Yazd, Iran. During 2008-2009, 11961 run report forms from all 7 EMS stations in Yazd that had been submitted to central station were surveyed. By using Excell statistical software and descriptive statistics [percent, cumulative distribution and standard deviation], we calculated fractile response times for Yazd EMS. 81.15 percent of response times were within 8 minutes as a referenced standard for EMS. The majority of call services in Yazd EMS have been responded in a suitable time interval comparing with reference standards and country's approved EMS response time goal, but there are still rooms for improvement

Knowledge, attitude and preventive practice of women concerning osteoporosis

To determine the knowledge, attitude and preventive practice of women above 45 years old. A total of 770 households in Kerman [southern Iran] were selected for inclusion in the study using cluster sampling from April through August 2005. The interview schedule consisted of 4 parts including questions about knowledge, attitude and practice [KAP] and also demographic questions. The average score for KAP was 9.3 out of 21, 2.6 out of 5 and 1.5 out of 6, respectively. Adequate osteoprotective exercise and sufficient calcium intake were found in 3.8% and 5.5% of subjects, respectively. A significant relationship between the score of preventive practice and all the following parameters was found: level of education, hearing about osteoporosis, knowledge score, perceived barrier to preventive actions and perceived seriousness of osteoporosis. Considering the Iranian women's inaccurate or insufficient knowledge and their negative attitude to the preventive actions and their weak practice in case of prevention, it is the responsibility of health policymakers and medical associations to plan for osteoporosis education and prevention initiatives

Influence of physical fitness training on some immune system markers in athletic students

Purpose: Many researches have been conducted on the relationship between exercise and immune system but few have focused on the effect of physical fitness programs on the system. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the influence of a 12-week program on such markers as IgG, neutrophils, lymphocytes and serum cortisol at rest in athletic students

Method and Materials: In this study, 11 athletic students [age 22.02 +/- 2 years, weight 61.2 +/- 5.3 Kg and stature 174 +/- 4.45 cm] voluntarily participated as the experimental group and 11 nonathletic students [age 22.5 +/- 2.5 years, weight 62.1 +/- 6.2 Kg and stature 173 +/- 3.5 cm] voluntarily participated as the control group. Blood samples were collected at rest from athletic students before physical fitness training. The program included resistance, speed and endurance training with intensity 65-100% maximal HR. After 12 weeks, blood samples were collected from both groups

Results: Dependent and independent t-test analysis indicated that physical fitness training did not significantly change serum IgG and cortisol at rest [p>0.81 and p> 0.65 respectively]. It significantly decreased neutrophils and increased lymphocytes [p<0.001 and p<0.012 respectively]. Athletic and non-athletic students were not different in these markers

Conclusion: Although neutrophils decreased due to the training program but the range of variation was normal. In general, it can be concluded that physical fitness training does not weaken the immune system in athletic students