Asthma and other allergic diseases in 13-14-year-old schoolchildren in Urmia: an ISAAC study

We determined the prevalence and risk factors of asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema in 3000 13-14-year-old schoolchildren in Urmia, Islamic Republic of Iran. We used the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood [ISAAC] written and video questionnaires. With the written questionnaire, the prevalence of current symptoms [within the past 12 months] was: wheeze 14.5%, allergic rhinitis 23.6% and eczema 10.1%. Self-reported asthma ever was only 2.1%. With the video questionnaire, the prevalence of wheeze was lower; 7.4% for wheeze at rest ever and 4.6% during the past 12 months. Boys had a significantly higher prevalence for most items examined except for eczema

Urinary iodine/creatinine ratio in patients with stomach cancer in Urmia, Islamic Republic of Iran

We carried out a case-control study is to investigate the relationship between iodine deficiency and stomach cancer. We compared the ratio of urinary iodine to urinary creatinine in 100 patients diagnosed with stomach cancer and 84 people in a control group. Mean urinary iodine levels were lower in the patients with stomach cancer, 61.9 micro g/g creatinine, compared to 101.7 micro g/g creatinine in the control group [P < 0.0001]. More of the cancer patients [49.0%] had severe iodine deficiency [< 25 micro g/g creatinine] than people in the control group [19.1%] [P< 0.0001]. We found the relationship between stomach cancer and iodine deficiency to be significant