Post marketing surveillance on safety and efficacy of IMOD in Iranian patients with HIV/AIDS.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is one of the world's serious health problems. Immune-based therapy is a new approach in the treatment of HIV infected patients. IMOD™ with the ability to correct immune deficiencies has been introduced for the management of HIV infection. In the phase IV trial study the main objectives were to assess the possible side effects, evaluate its effect on CD4⁺ T lymphocyte count and patients' and physicians' satisfactions for 600 HIV infected patients in 13 centers during 2007. The observed adverse events in patients included: headache and vertigo (1.2%), nausea (1.2%), gastritis (1.2%), phlebitis (1%) and mild rash (1%); serious adverse events were not observed in any of IMOD™ recipients. Therefore it was not needed to terminate the treatment in any of patient. The results of this study demonstrated that daily prescription of IMOD™ significantly increases T lymphocyte CD4⁺ and total lymphocyte count in HIV-positive patients. In addition, nearly 90% of the patients and 70% physicians are satisfied by IMOD™ treatment.

The Persian, last 7-day, long form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire: translation and validation study.

PURPOSE: To translate long form, interview-administered International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) from English to Persian and evaluate its validity, reliability and reproducibility. METHODS: A forward-backward translation procedure was followed to develop the Persian version of the IPAQ. A total of 218 respondents (53.7% women, aged 22-76 yr) completed the Persian version in Tehran, Iran. To examine the test-retest reliability, 48 healthy volunteers completed the IPAQ twice during a 7-day period.. The PA indicators derived from the IPAQ were assessed for reliability and were compared with aerobic fitness and body mass index (BMI) for construct validity. RESULTS: In general, the questionnaire was received well and all domains met the minimum reliability standards (intra-class correlation [ICC]>0.7), except for Leisure-time physical activity (PA). Aerobic fitness showed a weak positive correlation with all of the PA results derived from the IPAQ. A significant correlation was observed between the IPAQ data for total PA and both aerobic fitness (r=0.33, P<0.001) and BMI (r=0.26, P<0.001). Performing a known group comparison analysis, the results indicated that the questionnaire was discriminated well between the subgroups of the study samples expected to be different in their physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: The Persian version of the long form, interview-administered IPAQ had an acceptable reliability and validity for assessing total PA in our Iranian sample of individuals. It may be a useful instrument for generating internationally comparable data on PA.

Pre-participation Cardiovascular Screening of Elderly Wrestlers.

PURPOSE: Sudden death of a competitive athlete is a tragedy that is usually caused by a previously unsuspected cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of noninvasive testing in pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation of elderly wrestlers. METHODS: We included 63 Iranian elderly wrestlers who participated in Tehran international elderly wrestlers' preparation camping by census method. A questionnaire including past medical and family history as well as coronary risk factors was filled out and then a complete physical examination of the cardiovascular system was done by an internist for all wrestlers. Electrocardiogram (ECG), complete echocardiographic examination and then symptom limited exercise test were performed and reported by the cardiologists who did not know the other examinations results. RESULTS: Exertional dyspnea and typical chest pain (FC=I or II) were present in 5% and 1.7% of the examinees, respectively. There were one or more risk factors in 64.5% of the cases. Cardiovascular examination revealed abnormal heart sounds in 27.1%. ECG showed ischemic changes in 13.6% and premature atrial contractions and premature ventricular contractions in 11.4%. Echocardiography showed mild left ventricular systolic dysfunction in 3.4%, regional wall motion abnormality in 8.5%, valvular disease in 32.3%, diastolic dysfunction in 45.7%, and left ventricular hypertrophy in 16.9% of the cases. Exercise test results were negative, equivocal, positive and highly positive in 70.4%, 15.8%, 5.2%, and 8.6% of cases, respectively. CONCLUSION: Beside physical examination, pre-participation screening of elderly wrestling athletes with ECG and exercise testing is feasible and recommended in the presence of coronary risk factors or cardiac symptoms. Echocardiography can also be recommended to detect other relevant abnormalities when there is a clue in the standard history, physical examination or ECG.

The effects of a 10-week water aerobic exercise on the resting blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of a 10-week water aerobic exercise on the resting blood pressure in patients with stage 1 or 2 hypertension referring to Tehran University Clinics. METHODS: Forty men with stage 1 or 2 essential hypertension were assigned to two groups of intervention [n = 12; aged 48.33±10.74 years (mean±SD)] and control [n = 28; aged 46.96±11.58 years (mean±SD)]. Subjects in the intervention group participated in a supervised 10-week water aerobic training program of 55 min sessions, 3 days per week on alternate days, while those in the control group were not involved in any regular training program during this period. Blood pressure of the participants was recorded and compared at the beginning and at the end of the study (48 hours after the last training session). RESULTS: Exercise lowered systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure by 11.71 (95% confidence interval: 5.07 to 18.35) and 5.90 (95% confidence interval: 1.17 to 10.63) mm Hg respectively. The lowering effect of exercise on diastolic blood pressure was neither statistically significant nor clinically important (0.55 mm Hg; P. value = 0.8). There was no significant effect of age, baseline body mass index and stage of hypertension on the exercise-induced changes in blood pressure. CONCLUSION: A 10-week course of water aerobic exercise markedly reduced the systolic and mean arterial blood pressure of patients with essential hypertension and is especially recommended for the obese and the elderly who have orthopedic problems or bronchospasm.