Clinical, Laboratory, and Imaging Features of 148 Patients with COVID-19 in Bushehr: A Report from the South of Iran

AimTo investigate clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, and imaging features of patients confirmed with COVID-19 in Bushehr, a southern province of Iran. MethodDuring April 29th to May 30th 2020, a total of 148 patients confirmed with COVID-19 infection were admitted to three hospitals in Bushehr province, assigned by the Iranian Ministry of Health. ResultsThe most common coexisting disease was type 2 diabetes. Levels of ESR, CRP, LDH, and AST among inpatients were higher than the outpatients (P<0.05). There were significant differences in the levels of creatinine and BUN between elderly and non-elderly patients (P<0.05). ConclusionPatients with comorbidities and elderly patients are at increased risk of severe progression of COVID-19.

Periconceptional care and offspring health at birth and long term, from the perspective of Avicenna / 中西医结合学报

Periconceptional care such as lifestyle plays an important impact role in offspring health. The aim of the present study was to clarify the perspective of Avicenna on periconceptional care. Avicenna (980-1037 A.D.) was one of the outstanding Persian physicians, who made great contributions to the field of medical sciences, in particular, obstetrics. In advance, Avicenna's book, Canon of Medicine, was considered to find his perspectives on periconceptional care. Then, his ideas and theories were compared to the current findings by searching the keywords in main indexing systems including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science as well as the search engine of Google Scholar. Current investigations show that gamete quality, pregnancy outcome, and offspring health at birth and long term depend on both parents' lifestyle in pre- and periconceptional period, as well as the intrauterine environment. Avicenna believed that seminal fluid, sperm, ovum, and developing conditions in utero were influenced by the stages of food digestion and the function of some organs. On the other hand, food digestion and function of the organs also depend on each parent's lifestyle and environmental factors. He mentioned 6 principles of healthy lifestyle: exercise, nutrition, sleep and awareness, excretion of body wastes and retention of necessary materials, psychic features, as well as air and climate. Thus, a multicomponent healthy lifestyle should be considered by parents of child-bearing age in an appropriate period before and in early pregnancy as well as elimination of any disorders in parents, to give birth to more healthy offspring.