Impact of oral contraceptive pills on central corneal thickness in young women.

OBJECTIVES: Hormonal changes during oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use may affect central corneal thickness (CCT) values. We aimed to evaluate the impact of OCP use on CCT values in healthy young women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty women subjects who use OCP for contraception (Group 1) and forty control subjects (Group 2) who do not use OCP were included in this prospective study. None of the patients had any history of systemic or ocular diseases. The CCT values measured by ultrasonic pachymeter (Nidek US-4000 Echoscan, Japan) and the intraocular pressure (IOP) values were measured by noncontact tonometer (Reichert 7 CR Corneal Response Technology, USA) at the time of admission to our clinic. The demographic findings and body mass index (BMI) scores of participants were also recorded. RESULTS: The mean ages were 32.8 ± 5.6 for OCP + patients (Group 1) and 31.3 ± 6.9 for OCP-patients (Group 2) (P = 0.28). The mean CCT values were significantly higher in Group 1 when compared to that of the Group 2 (540.9 ± 30.4 µm and 519.6 ± 35.6 µm, respectively) (P = 0.003). The mean IOP value was 14.3 ± 2.5 mmHg in Group 1 and 14.4 ± 2.7 mmHg in Group 2 (P = 0.96). The mean BMI scores were 24.4 ± 5.8 kg/m2 in Group 1 and 24.6 ± 3.5 kg/m2 in Group 2 (P = 0.83). CONCLUSION: Our findings revealed that CCT values were significantly higher in patients with OCP use. Ophthalmologists should be aware of potential elevated CCT levels in these patients.

Evaluation of Inflammation Parameters in Philadelphia Negative Chronic Myeloproliferative Neoplasia Patients.

BACKGROUND: Chronic myeloproliferative diseases are clonal stem cell diseases which occur as a result of uncontrollable growth and reproduction of hematopoietic stem cells, which are the myeloid series source in bone marrow. Recent studies have suggested that chronic inflammation can be a triggering factor in the clonal change in chronic myeloproliferative neoplasia (CMPN). In our study, we evaluated the existence of a chronic inflammation process in our Philadelphia negative (Ph-)CMPN patients using inflammation parameters in combination with demographic, laboratory and clinical characteristics of the patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Demographic characteristics, clinical and laboratorial data, and thrombosis histories of 99 Ph-CMPN patients, who were diagnosed at our outpatient clinic of hematology in accordance with WHO 2008 criteria, were analyzed retrospectively,with 80 healthy individuals of matching gender and age included as controls. Complete blood counts, sedimentation, C reactive protein (CRP), JAK V617F gene mutations, abdomen ultrasound images and previous thrombosis histories of these patients were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Ph-CMPN and healthy control groups included 99 and 80 cases, respectively. PV, ET and MF diagnoses of patients were 43 (%43.4), 44 (44.4%) and 12 (12.1%), respectively. JAK V617F gene mutation was found to be positive in 64 (71.1%) of all cases and in 27(65.8%), 32 (82%), 5 (50%) of the cases in PV, ET and PMF groups, respectively. Thrombosis was determined as 12 (12%) in the entire group, 12.5% in the JAK V617F negative and 15.3% in the positive patients, with no statistical significance (p=0.758). No significant difference was observed between patients with and without previous thrombosis history in respect to hemogram parameters, sedimentation and CRP (p>0.05), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), erythrocyte distribution width (RDW), mean platelet volume (MPV) and sedimentation levels of the patient.

Effects of smoking on healthy young men's hematologic parameters.

OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoking carries higher risks for most of the chronic diseases. It also has chronic and acute effects on the hematologic system. This study explores the effects of cigarette smoking on some blood values of the healthy young male smokers. METHODS: In this study, cigarette smoking and usage of substance, additional diseases, birth places, and education levels of 171 healthy male subjects between the ages of 20 and 30 years were investigated. Anthropometric measurements of the cases were obtained. Thyroid function tests, vitamin B12, folic acid, ferritin, ferrous/iron, total iron binding capacity, leucocytes, platelets, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean platelet volume (MPV), HBs AG, Anti-HBs and Anti-HIV were evaluated. Groups of smokers and nonsmokers were compared. The group of smokers was also sorted into subgroups of "2 year-smokers", "5 year-smokers" and "10 year-smokers" according to their pack-years of smoking. The effects of pack-years of smoking on the blood values were also investigated. RESULTS: The MCV values of the group of smokers were higher than the values of nonsmokers, which were statistically significant (p<0.05). As a result of the subgroup analyses of smokers, the white blood cell (WBC) counts of the individuals smoking for 5 or more years were significantly higher than those with a history of smoking less than 5 years, (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study supports the idea that cigarette smoking and especially longer durations of smoking have adverse effects on the hematologic parameters.