Arya Atherosclerosis
Volume:11 Issue: 4, Jul 2015

One of the most important impacts of industrial noise is physiological and psychological effects. The increases in workers’ blood pressure and heart rate were detected during and after exposure to high levels of noise. The objectives of this research were to determine whether the noise exposures have any effects on blood pressure and heart rate of workers in the automotive parts industry. This case study was done in 2011 at different units of an automotive parts manufacturing in Tehran. Sound pressure level was measured at different units of the factory with a calibrated instrument. Demographic features of workers were gathered with an appropriate questionnaire. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured twice in a day in the start time of work day (before exposure to noise) and middle shift hours (during exposure to noise) in the occupational physician office. For analyzing data, chi-square, independent sample t-test, paired t-test, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used. P < 0.050 was considered statistically significant. The average age of workers in the case and control groups was 35.71 ± 8.10 and 33.40 ± 10.41 years, respectively. There was no difference between the average age of case and control groups (P = 0.436). The results of ANCOVA revealed the significant differences between the mean changes of heart rate F (1, 37) = 26.68, P < 0.001, systolic blood pressure F (1, 37) = 21.70, P < 0.001, and diastolic blood pressure F (1, 37) = 26.20, P < 0.001 of workers in the case and control groups. Exposure to industrial noise may increase the heart rate of workers. Although rises in heart rate, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure of workers in the case group were observed after exposure to noise, the values of heart rate, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure were in the normal range. Further experimental investigations are needed to determine the relationships between these variables.

The aim was to translate and develop a patient competence (PC) questionnaire in the context of cardiology and test its validity and reliability. In total, 148 cardiac patients who have inclusion criteria of the study were completed cardiac PC (CPC) questionnaire. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and self-administered instrument European quality of life 5-dimensions were used to further validate the CPC questionnaire. The CPC was translated according to the recommended methodology for translating questionnaires, and psychometric properties including internal consistency, factor analysis, discriminant validity, construct validity, and concurrent criterion validity were tested. Five domains in problem-focused task including search for information, self-regulation, being assertive, independent decision-making, and looking for social services, and three domains in emotion-focused task including stress management, confronting the threat, and avoidance were obtained by factor analysis. The standardized Cronbach’s α of all domains were statistically significant (P < 0.001) and internal consistency for all domains was acceptable. Significant intercorrelations of CPC domains also indicated good criterion validity. As there were no cross-loadings, the domains have demonstrated good construct validity and discriminant validity. The results of this study show that the Persian version of the CPC is a reliable and valid questionnaire. Although further improvement of this measure is clearly required, it suggests being a potential basis for investigating the determinants and health effects of CPC.

Considering the crucial role of appropriate preventative strategies in reducing the rate of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) occurrence and its related morbidity and mortality, the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), ascorbic acid (AA), and normal saline (NS) was investigated in the patient’s undergone coronary angiography. In this clinical trial, 120 patients scheduled for elective coronary angiography with serum creatinine (Cr) level > 1.5 mg/dl or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ≥ 60 selected by convenience method. Selected patients were allocated in three treatment groups randomly to receive oral NAC (600 mg/twice daily) plus NS (100 ml/hour) (Group A), oral AA (250 mg/twice daily) plus NS (100 ml/hour) (Group B) and NS (100 ml/hour) (Group C), respectively. The occurrence of CIN was evaluated based on serum Cr and GFR in three studied groups, before and after angiography procedure. The analysis of variance and paired t-test were used for data analysis by SPSS. The serum Cr increased and GFR decreased significantly during the intervention in three groups (P < 0.010). However, the amounts of these changes were equal between groups (P > 0.050). The study showed that nor the addition of NAC neither the addition of AA to sodium chloride infusion has more beneficial effect than hydration with sodium chloride, in the prevention of CIN.

The purpose of the present study was the analysis of the trends in case fatality rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Isfahan, Iran. This analysis was performed based on gender, age groups, and type of AMI according to the International Classification of Diseases, version 10, during 2000-2009. Disregarding the Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA), this cohort study considered all AMI events registered between 2000 and 2009 in 13 hospitals in Isfahan. All patients were followed for 28 days. In order to assess the case fatality rate, the Kaplan-Meier analysis, and to compare survival rate, log-rank test were used. Using the Cox regression model, 28 days case fatality hazard ratio (HR) was calculated. In total, 12,900 patients with first AMI were entered into the study. Among them, 9307 (72.10%) were men and 3593 (27.90%) women. The mean age in all patients increased from 61.36 ± 12.19 in 2000-2001 to 62.15 ± 12.74 in 2008-2009, (P = 0.0070); in women, from 65.38 ± 10.95 to 67.15 ± 11.72 (P = 0.0200), and in men, from 59.75 ± 12.29 to 59.84 ± 12.54 (P = 0.0170),. In addition, the 28 days case fatality rate in 2000-2009 had a steady descending trend. Thus, it decreased from 11.20% in 2000-2001 to 07.90% in 2008-2009; in men, from 09.20% to 06.70%, and in women, from 16.10% to 10.90%. During the study, HR of case fatality rate in 2000-2001 declined; therefore, in 2002-2003, it was 0.93 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.77-1.11], in 2004-2005, 0.88 (95% CI = 0.73-1.04), in 2006-2007, 0.67 (95% CI = 0.56-0.82), and in 2008-2009, 0.69 (95% CI = 0.56-0.82). In Isfahan, a reduction was observable in the trend of case fatality rate in both genders and all age groups. Thus, there was a 29.46% reduction in case fatality rate (27.17% in men, 32.29% in women) during the study period.

The present systematic review aimed to express the clinical anti-lipid effects of different types of herbs, as well as described studied interactions between herbal remedies and prescribed drugs for hyperlipidemic patients which were based on in vitro experiments, animal studies, and empirical clinical experiences. For this systematic review, we explored 2183 published papers about herbal drugs interactions from November 1967 to August 2014, fulfilling eligibility criteria by searching in some databases such as Web of Science, Medline, Scopus, Embase, Cinahl, and the Cochrane database. The main keywords used for searching included: herbal medicine, herbs, statin, lipid, and herb-drug interaction. Among published articles about herb-drug interactions, 185 papers met the initial search criteria and among them, 92 papers were potentially retrievable including a description of 17 herbs and medicinal plants. In first step and by reviewing all published manuscripts on beneficial effects of herbs on serum lipids level, 17 herbs were described to be effective on lipid profile as lowering serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol as well as increasing serum high-density lipoprotein level. Some herbs such as celery could even affect the hepatic triglyceride concentrations. The herbal reaction toward different types of statins is varied so that grapefruit or pomegranate was interacted with only some types of statins, but not with all statin types. In this context, administration of herbal materials can lead to decreased absorption of statins or decreased the plasma concentration of these drugs. Various types of herbs can potentially reduce serum lipid profile with the different pathways; however, the herb-drug interactions may decrease pharmacological therapeutic effects of anti-hyperlipidemic drugs that should be considered when approved herbs are prescribed.

Abnormal separation of right coronary artery (RCA) from the left coronary system is an extremely rare variation among coronary artery anomalies. The compressions on the anomalous route of this artery may lead to arrhythmia, chest pain, or left ventricular dysfunction or may enhance formation of atherosclerotic plaques.CASE REPORT: Here, we have reported a patient presented with heart failure who had an anomalous atherosclerotic RCA originating from left anterior descending artery. Interestingly, neither the anomalous origin nor the atherosclerosis was the cause of the patient’s problems and she suffered from a hypertensive cardiomyopathy. This reminds that encountering an anomaly should not solely be interpreted as the cause of cardiac disease.

Anabolic-androgenic steroids have been associated with several side effects range. This experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effects of nandrolone decanoate (ND, an anabolic steroid) on lipid profile and liver enzymes in rats in Iran. Forty adult male and female of Wistar strain rats were randomly assigned to four groups of 10 animals each: male control, female control, ND - male treated (15 mg/kg b.w./day), and ND - female treated (15 mg/kg b.w./day). Serum concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were measured in all studied groups. Treating rats with ND (case group) resulted in a significant elevation of TC (69.4 ± 8.7), TG (101.6 ± 32.9) and ALT (72.2 ± 13.8) and significant reduction of LDL (6.4 ± 2.6) and AST (138.7 ± 19.4) as compared to control group in female rats. ND supplementation (case group) significantly increased TC (64.4 ± 6.2), AST (255.0 ± 32.0), and ALT (84.3 ± 3.8) in comparison with the control group in male rats. Overall, our result indicated that the ND use can cause a negative effect on lipid profile and liver enzyme in rats.