Health Science Monitor
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Spring 2024

Premature coronary artery disease (CAD) is common in men and women under 45 and 55 years, respectively. It has been demonstrated that R202Q mutation of MEFV gene may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in individuals with metabolic syndrome. The goal of the present investigation was to evaluate the frequency of MEFV gene mutation R202Q in exon 2 in Iranian patients with premature CAD (West Azerbaijan province of Iran).

A total of 100 patients with premature CAD and 100 healthy individuals participated in this hospital-based study. Cases and controls were selected based on strict criteria, including a minimum of one documented angiography with at least 50% stenosis of the coronary artery. PvuII based PCR-RFLP technique was used for the detection of R202Q mutation in the tested samples.

R202Q mutation was not found in any of the healthy controls; whereas 12 out of 100 patients with premature CAD were heterozygote for R202Q mutation (12%) (12% vs. 0%). Considering the heterozygosity of the R202Q mutation in the patients, the allele frequency was 0.06 (12 out of 200 chromosomes).

Our results indicate that the R202Q mutation in the MEFV gene is frequent in patients with premature CAD. Further studies are necessary to analyze more details regarding variable expressivity or incomplete penetrance of R202Q mutation in the tested population.

Marital satisfaction and the related factors are some of the issues raised in psychology and family. The present study was performed with the purpose of investigating the relative contribution of brain-behavioral systems to the marital satisfaction of married women in Urmia City.

This cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study was performed on 220 married women living in Urmia, selected through cluster sampling. In addition to the demographic variables questionnaire, the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS) and Behavioral Inhibition/Activation Systems Scale (BIS/BAS) were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 statistical software and descriptive statistical tests (mean and standard deviation, frequency and percentage), and analytical methods (Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple linear regression) at a significance level of p ≤ 0.05.

Behavioral inhibition/activation systems have a significant effect (ß = 0.388) on marital satisfaction, and the fitness indices of the model showed the adequacy of the presented model, and marital satisfaction has a negative relationship with age, duration of marriage, and spouse's employment. There was a positive relationship between the age of marriage, the couple's education level, the spouse's illness, and leisure time.

The results of this study indicate that the brain-behavioral system is the most significant contributor to marital satisfaction and plays an essential role in improving relationships between couples. Therefore, it is recommended that psychologists pay attention to the importance and impact of these variables in the treatment and promotion of couples’ marital satisfaction in counseling and awareness programs.

Considering that trauma is one of the important causes of death, especially head and neck trauma, knowledge of the epidemiology of trauma can be of great help in making management decisions. This study examined the 5-year epidemiology of head, neck, and spinal cord injuries in West Azerbaijan province.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 6,336 trauma patients who resided in the province of West Azerbaijan were included between 2019 and 2023. The province's national trauma registration program provided the data collection form. Individuals whose medical records were incomplete were not included.

The mean age of the patients was 33.39 years. The most common cause of trauma was road traffic accidents (38.3%, N = 2429), followed by falls (23.1%, N = 1461). At the moment of the accident, 107 patients were using alcohol, 45 patients had drug abuse, and 56 patients took tranquilizers like benzodiazepine; in total, 443 patients needed transfusion. The mean stay at the ICU and hospital was 8.49 ± 3.76 days and 5.05 ± 1.25 days, respectively. Many of the injured patients had a moderate (46.4%) and minor (31.1%) Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) in the assessment, in which male gender had poor condition in this regard (p < 0.001).

There are many injured individuals with low levels of education, indicating the urgent need to raise awareness among this group to help prevent road accidents. Post-trauma measures are clearly important, particularly in the fields of orthopedics, general surgery, and head and neck trauma.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and its techniques are a rapidly growing field and are being used in various fields, including healthcare and many others. Medical entomology is one of the important sectors in health care. Diseases transmitted through carriers impose a great economic and social burden on the health of society. Mosquito-borne diseases pose major challenges to human health, affecting more than 600 million people and killing more than 1 million people each year. In the current study, we reviewed more than 30 papers in PubMed and Google Scholar that dealt with the application of artificial intelligence techniques in medical entomology. Articles were classified based on the use of AI and its techniques in this field and show that this new tool can play an important role in predicting the risk of contracting vector-borne diseases and the accurate monitoring of insect vector species.

The confirmed cases of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have increased not only in China but also in Iran and around the world. COVID-19 vaccination not only protects the individual but also safeguards those in the community who are unable to be vaccinated. Due to this concern, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between vaccination and its consequences in patients with COVID-19.

This descriptive study was conducted in Asadabad city, in western Iran. The data for this project were collected from the database and records of patients with COVID-19 in Asadabad Health Department. In fact, the sample size included all patients with a positive PCR diagnosis in the year 2022. Nine hundred fifty-one patients were included in the study. The tool used was a checklist based on patient records. SPSS software was used to analyze the data, and a significance level of less than 0.05 was considered.

The mean age of patients with a positive PCR test was 20.8 ± 42.9 years. Of these, 68.5% were vaccinated, and 31.5% were not vaccinated. Among the 951 patients, 30 patients with a positive PCR died, 19 of whom were not vaccinated. There was a significant relationship between the outcome of the disease (death or discharge) and the number of vaccine doses (p value = 0.001).

Due to the effectiveness of COVID vaccination in reducing hospitalization and mortality, it is recommended to design educational interventions to encourage people to increase vaccination coverage.

Nowadays, herbal medicine with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities, such as Arnebia euchroma, has been considered in the treatment of burn wounds. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the healing effect of Arnebia euchroma L on burn wounds in rats by reviewing the results of published studies in this field.

The keywords "Arnebia euchroma", "burn", and "rat", and their synonyms were explored in PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect for English articles, and SID, Magiran, and Irandoc for Persian articles without time limitation until May 4, 2021. Inclusion criteria for this study were laboratory research articles focused on the effect of Arnebia euchroma L on wound healing in rats. Finally, the included studies were reviewed and assessed according to the given criteria.

Amongst the seven articles included in this research, four articles studied the healing effect of the medicine on second-degree burn wounds, one article addressed third-degree burn wounds, and two articles generally studied burn wounds. Arnebia euchroma L has been found to be effective in healing burn wounds in approximately 57% of studies, while the rest of the studies have emphasized its ineffectiveness in accelerating burn wound healing.  

The literature review demonstrated that Arnebia euchroma is effective in both healing and accelerating the recovery of burn wounds. Since there is an insignificant difference between the number of studies that have found this medicine effective and the number of those that have found it ineffective, further studies are required to determine the effectiveness of this medicine.

Mortality and morbidity resulting from injuries caused by animals are increasing globally. Among these injuries, rabies, one of the oldest zoonosis viral diseases, remains one of the most important threats to public health in the 21st century. This study aims to investigate the epidemiology of animal bites and associated factors in Maku city.

In this cross-sectional study, 1,401 cases with animal bites referred to the Maku Rabies Treatment Center were investigated using the census method from 2016 to 2019. The variables included the victims’ demographic information (age, gender, occupation), the types of biting animals (dog, cat, and other animals), domesticated and wild animals, the time of biting based on year and month, the event area (urban or rural), the treatment status, and the anatomical location of the wounds.

The mean incidence rate of animal bites was 387.4 per 100,000 people. In total, 73.7% of the victims were male. Individuals in the age range of 36-50 and 11-20 years were at a greater risk. The majority of the animal bites were from dogs (90.8%), and (95.2%) were from household animals. A total of 82.7% of individuals lived in rural areas. Most victims were students and housewives. The highest prevalence of animal bites (36.2%) happened in the summer.  

These findings suggest a need for increased awareness and preventative measures to reduce the incidence of animal bites in the studied region.

Islam, as one of the world's major religions, places great importance on human health and well-being and provides rich concepts related to nutrition and health. The main objective of this article was to examine the relationship between health and well-being and nutrition in Islamic teachings and to elucidate the role of Islam in promoting healthy eating.

This study was applied in terms of its purpose, descriptive in terms of data collection method, and qualitative in terms of data nature. Based on this, first, religious teachings related to health, well-being, and their relationship with nutrition were identified and extracted through qualitative content analysis. Then, the extracted religious teachings were analyzed through grounded theory until a contextual pattern was found and theoretical saturation was reached. This analysis was carried out through three coding processes: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding.

A total of 456 open codes were extracted, excluding overlaps. In the next step, 117 common codes were obtained based on overlaps and similarities, and ultimately, 26 themes were identified.

In general, it can be said that nutrition in Islam is a comprehensive and multidimensional concept that, in accordance with the teachings of the Quran and traditions, can contribute to the promotion of human health and well-being. This study can be a useful and credible source for researchers, officials, educators, and the general public.

Visceral leishmaniasis, a potentially fatal disease caused by Leishmania infantum, is prevalent in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. In Iran, it is endemic in the Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, and central regions, with sporadic occurrences elsewhere. This study aimed to ascertain the period prevalence, epidemiological characteristics, and the most common clinical symptoms and laboratory signs of visceral leishmaniasis in North Khorasan Province.

Over a nine-year period from 2010 to 2018, clinical records of visceral leishmaniasis cases were scrutinized to gather demographic and clinical data. Diagnosis was confirmed paraclinically through positive smears for Leishman bodies in bone marrow aspirates. Each patient completed a questionnaire.

A retrospective analysis was conducted on 24 diagnosed patients. Reported case numbers varied annually, with prevalence ranging from 0.0 to 1.1 per 100,000, peaking in 2017 and reaching its nadir in 2011. The majority of patients were hailed from rural areas (83.3%), with age distribution spanning from 8 months to 62 years. Most patients (95.8%) were under 10 years old, and 66.7% were male. Predominant clinical symptoms and laboratory signs included fever (91.7%), splenomegaly (79.2%), anemia (83.3%), thrombocytopenia (58.3%), and leukopenia (54.2%).

The incidence of visceral leishmaniasis in North Khorasan Province surpasses the national average by threefold, indicating its significance as an endemic hotspot for the disease in Iran.

Ensuring the quality of water for hemodialysis is crucial for the safety of dialysis patients. In this study, we evaluated the suitability of water from the reverse osmosis (RO) system for the Khoy Hemodialysis Center, comparing it with the American Medical Equipment Administration (AAMI).

We collected laboratory data related to hemodialysis water samples. These experiments were carried out by the reference laboratory of Khoy Medical Sciences Faculty from 2021 to 2022. Parameters such as pH, total dissolved solids, hardness, nitrate, and various metals were analyzed using SPSS software. Then the results were compared with AAMI standards.

The average concentrations of pH, total dissolved solids, total hardness, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium were determined to be 6.2 ppm, 7.8 ppm, 21 ppm, 0.27 ppm, 0.93 ppm, 3.8 ppm, 3.7 ppm, and 0.07 ppm, respectively. The average concentrations of aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, and arsenic were found to be 3.4 ppb, 2.6 ppb, 5 ppb, 3.7 ppb, and 4.8 ppb, respectively. Importantly, the average concentration of all variables was below the AAMI standard. Statistical analysis tests of Bivariate and Canonical correlation indicated that the removal rate of heavy metals in the RO system was independent of the removal rate of other impurities, such as total dissolved solids. Moreover, residual chlorine, coliform, and heterotrophic plate count were zero in all samples.

Urban water purification using the RO system significantly enhances water quality at the Khoy Hemodialysis Center, aligning it with AAMI standards. However, it is emphasized that continuous monitoring is indispensable to ensure the sustained efficiency of the system.