Barriers to breast cancer screening among a sample of Egyptian females

Breast cancer [BC] is usually diagnosed in late stages in countries with limited resources. Early detection of BC is likely to improve the outcome of the disease for women in these areas. The aim of this study was to understand the possible personal, economic, and systems barriers to BC screening in a sample of Egyptian women. A cross-sectional study was conducted in family health centers representing the seven districts of Alexandria governorate, Egypt. A total of 612 women were randomly selected from the chosen centers. In this sample of Egyptian women, the most frequently identified potential barriers to BC screening were the following: 81.8% would not seek care until they were ill, 77% were unwilling to have a mammogram until it was recommended by the doctor, 71.4% blamed the, lack of privacy, 69.2% thought that medical checkups were not worthwhile, and 64.6% blamed the cost of services. The study further revealed that women of lower education, women in the lower income category, women who did not do paid work, those who had poor knowledge of the risks of BC, and women with no family history of BC were more likely to perceive different screening barriers compared with their counterparts. Many potential personal, economic, and health system barriers were identified. Addressing these barriers by increasing the awareness of BC and dealing with the misconceptions that the women have can help the policy makers to design more culturally relevant strategies to motivate women to utilize screening services

Prevalence and risk factors for spousal violence among women attending health care centres in Alexandria, Egypt

We conducted a cross-sectional survey to determine the prevalence of, and factors affecting, spousal violence among 3271 ever-married women attending 12 randomly selected family health centres in Alexandria Governorate. More than three-quarters of the participants [77%] reported experiencing spousal violence during their marital life. Emotional violence was the most common type reported [71.0%], followed by physical [50.3%], economic [40.8%] and sexual [37.1%] violence. The study confirms the high prevalence of spousal violence across all socioeconomic strata. Logistic regression analysis indicated large family size, divorce or separation, low educational attainment of husband, smoking habit and drug use in husband, husband's psychological status and history of exposure to physical violence during adolescence were associated with spousal violence. This high rate of spousal violence highlights the urgent need for government and civil society to address the issue, which hinders progress toward Egypt's development goals

Daily interruption of intravenous sedative infusions for patients with acute respiratory failure in intensive care unit

Objective is to determine whether daily interruption of sedative infusions would decrease the duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of stay in the intensive care. A prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Setting: Intensive care unit in El-Minia University Hospital. Forty-five adult patients presenting with respiratory failure [acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] who were receiving mechanical ventilation and continuous infusion of sedative drugs. In the intervention group, the sedative infusions were interrupted until the patients were awake, on a daily basis; in the control group, the infusions were interrupted only at the discretion of the clinicians in the intensive care unit according to the condition of the patient The mean duration of mechanical ventilation was 4.6 +/- 1.2 days in the intervention group, as compared with 7.3 +/- 1.5 days in the control group, and the length of study in the intensive care unit was 5.8 +/- 2.2 days as compared with 9.4 +/- 2.6 days respectively. The wake up time was significantly shorter in patients who received propofol infusion [of both groups] as compared with patients who received midazolam. The triglycerides level were significantly higher in patients who received propofol sedation [of both group] with insignificant changes in patients who received midazolam Adverse events [e.g. removal of the endotracheal tube by the patient] occurred in two patients of the intervention group and three patients in the control group. The daily interruption of sedative drug infusions decreases the duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of stay in the intensive care unit

Microalbuminuria in type 1 diabetes: relation to duration, glycemic control and other microvascular coplications: a crosssectional and longitudinal study

Without early detection and specific intervention, about 80% of patients with type 1 diabetes who develop sustained microalbuminuria enter into overt nephropathy over a period of 10-15 years. With the aim of studying the prevalence of microalbuminuria and its risk factors and the role of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, this retrospective and prospective study was done at the Diabetic Endocrine Metabolic Pediatric Unit, Cairo University over period of 5 years A total of 500 patients with duration of 3 years or more were included in the study. Their mean age was 13.95 +/- 4.96 years and mean duration of diabetes 6.99 +/- 4.21 years. Longitudinal study included only 100 patients of them who were-compliant and accepted to be followed up for 5 years. Albumin excretion rate [AER] by radioimmunoassay was estimated at the start of the study while albumin/creatinine ratio by nephelometry was later on, assessed. Microalbuminuria was considered positive f in two of three samples in 6 months time: AER is >30 mg/d or>20 ug/min, or album in/creatinine >30 mg/mg. Patients were also screened for other diabetic complications as neuropathy, retinopathy and cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy. Prevalence of microalbuminuria in this study varied between 13.7% at the start of the study to 9.8% at the end. Twenty-five patients, had positive microalbuminuria, all were pubertal. They showed significantly higher mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, higher incidence of neuropathy as well as cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy [p=0.03, 0.03, 0.01 and 0.01 respectively] than patients with microalbuminuria. In the longitudinal study, 9 patients with positive microalbuminuria were followed up on caplopril therapy and strict metabolic control, 7 regressed and 2 persisted. Another five cases developed microalbuminuria during follow up and then regressed later, on the same regimen. Metabolic control was highly correlated to the progression as well as regression of microalbuminuria [r=0.35, p=0.02]. Screening for microalbuminuria is recommended in diabetics with duration more than 3 years. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors together with strict metabolic con trot can cause regression of microalbuminuria

Effect of nigella sativa seed's oil on alloxan induced diabetic rats a histological study on pancreatic beta cells

In order to evaluate the potential effect of Nigella sativa seed's oil [NSO] on experimentally induced diabetes, alloxan was injected intra- muscularly in a single dose of 175 mg/kg in adult male albino rats. A group of animals was kept diabetic for fifteen days, another group for three months and a third group was injected with alloxan then after four days were treated daily with NSO for fifteen days. A fourth group was treated with NSO after three months of alloxan injection. The fifth group was kept as control. Alloxan caused degranulation and massive destruction of beta cells, especially after three months of diabetes induction. Treatment of early stage of diabetes [after four days of alloxan injection] with NSO prevented the subsequent changes by alloxan. NSO had no role in the treatment of chronic diabetes [at late stage]. As regard these findings, the anti-diabetic effect of NSO was clearly observed only in the treatment of early stage of diabetes rather than after three months of the diseases. It was concluded that the anti- diabetic effect of NSO may be through its protective effect on beta cells, especially in early stage of the disease