Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:15 Issue: 3, May & June 2010

Consumption of energy drinks has become widespread among athletes. The effectiveness of Red Bull and Hype energy drinks on selected indices of maximal cardiorespiratory fitness and blood lactate levels in male athletes was examined in this study. Ten male student athletes (age: 22.4 ± 2.1 years, height: 180.8 ± 7.7 cm, weight: 74.2 ± 8.5 kg) performed three randomized maximal oxygen consumption tests on a treadmill. Each test was separated by four days and participants were asked to ingest Red Bull, Hype or placebo drinks 40 minutes before the exercise bout. The VO2max, time to exhaustion, heart rate and lactate were measured to determine if the caffeine-based beverages influence performance. ANOVA test was used for analyzing data. A greater value was observed in VO2max and time to exhaustion for the Red Bull and Hype trial compared to the placebo trial (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found in pre- and post-test heart rate for two drinks (p > 0.05). For blood lactate levels no significant changes were observed before and two minute after the test (p > 0.05). Ingestion of Red Bull and Hype prior to exercise testing is effective on some indices of cardiorespiratory fitness but not on the blood lactate levels.

The goal of this study was to determine the reliability of TCD in evaluation of vertebrobasilar arteries in comparison with brain MRA in patients suffering from acute vertebrobasilar stroke. Samples were patients with definite clinical diagnosis of vertebrobasilar stroke. For all patients brain MRI, MRA and TCD were performed during the first 48 hours of admission. Basilar artery was insonated at the depth of 75 to 85 mm and vertebral arteries were insonated at the depth of 45 to 55 mm. On brain MRA, the degree of stenosis in vertebrobasilar arteries was graded from I (normal) to IV (total stenosis) and the correlation between the grade of stenosis and TCD indices were studied. Spearman correlation test revealed a significant correlation between mean flow velocity (MFV) and MRA grading (correlation coefficient = -0.486) as well as end diastolic velocity (EDV) and MRA grading (correlation coefficient = -0.323) with no significant correlation between pulsatility index, peak systolic velocity and MRA grading (p > 0.05). One way ANOVA analysis showed that there was only significant mean MFV and mean EDV difference between grade 1 and other grades. TCD was only able to differentiate between stenotic and normal pattern and could not assist in the grading of stenosis. On the other hand, in acute vertebrobasilar stroke that TCD performed blindly without visualization of arteries and in a fixed depth it might have limited value in the grading of vertebrobasilar system stenosis

Hospitals have responsibility for responding to legitimate demands for release of health information while protecting the confidentiality of the patient health records. There have always been challenges concerning medical records confidentiality and their disclosure and release type in medical record departments. This study investigated and compared laws and policies of disclosure of health information in Iran and selected countries and tried to identify the differences and the similarities between them. This is a descriptive and comparative study. The scope of study included related laws and policies of disclosure of health information in selected countries such as United States, Australia, England, Malaysia and Iran. Data were gathered from systematic internet search, library resources and communication with health information professionals. Data analysis was done using comparative tables and qualitative method. Study results showed that legislative institutions of each country have ordained laws and policies concerning disclosure and release of health information and in turn hospitals developed policies and procedures based on these laws. In Iran, however, there are few laws and policies concerning disclosure of health information in the form of formal letters and bylaws. There are no specific written policies and procedures for disclosure of health information in the hospitals. It is necessary to develop legitimate and appropriate laws and policies in different levels for information utilization by hospitals, medical universities and others. Meanwhile in all of the selected countries there are ordained limitations for release of health information for protecting health information in regard to patient rights.

Beta-thalassemia is considered to be the most frequent hereditary blood disorder worldwide. Lipid abnormalities have been detected in different types of beta-thalassemia. The aim of this study is to assess the lipid profiles in beta-thalassemia major (BTM) and beta-thalassemia intermedia (BTI) patients in southern Iran. The study group consisted of 55 BTM patients and 50 BTI patients. The control group included 130 sex- and age-matched healthy participants. Serum lipids profiles (total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, and HDL-cholesterol) as well as hemoglobin (Hb) and ferritin, were compared between the three groups. P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. There were no significant differences between BTM and BTI patients regarding age or sex. Mean triglyceride concentration was not significantly different between patients and controls. Total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were significantly lower in patients with BTM and BTI in comparison with controls (p < 0.001). HDL-cholesterol was significantly lower in patients with BTI than in controls (p < 0.03). In patients with BTM and BTI, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were lower than in control participants. The mechanisms that may account for these findings are increased erythropoiesis and cholesterol consumption in BTI, and iron overload and oxidative stress in BTM.

The main purpose of this study was to assess the factorial validity and reliability of the Iranian versions of the personality and behavior system scales (49 items) of the AHDQ (The Adolescent Health and Development Questionnaire) and interrelations among them based on Jessor''s PBT (Problem Behavior Theory). A multi-staged approach was employed. The cross-cultural adaptation was performed according to the internationally recommended methodology, using the following guidelines: translation, back-translation, revision by a committee, and pretest. After modifying and identifying of the best items, a cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the psychometric properties of Persian version using calibration and validation samples of adolescents. Also 113 of them completed it again two weeks later for stability. The findings of the exploratory factor analysis suggested that the 7-factor solution with low self concept, emotional distress, general delinquency, cigarette, hookah, alcohol, and hard drugs use provided a better fitting model. The a range for these identified factors was 0.69 to 0.94, the ICC range was 0.73 to 0.93, and there was a significant difference in mean scores for these instruments in compare between the male normative and detention adolescents. The first and second-order measurement models testing found good model fit for the 7-factor model. Factor analyses provided support of existence internalizing and externalizing problem behavior syndrome. With those qualifications, this model can be applied for studies among Persian adolescents.

There are many filler agents for augmentation of static wrinkles and atrophic scars from synthetic, biosynthetic, cadaver, animal and human sources. The current study presents 20 patients whose facial wrinkles and lines were treated by transplantation of autologous cultured fibroblasts. The fibroblast nature of cells was confirmed by immune-staining and flow cytometry. The mean of improvement for this procedure at the 6 month follow up was 41%. In conclusion autologous fibroblast transplantation can be an effective procedure for correction of wrinkles and atrophic scars.

The present study evaluated the effects of treadmill running on extracellular basal levels of glutamate and GABA at dentate gyrus of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. After 12 weeks of diabetes induction and exercise period, extracellular levels of glutamate and GABA were investigated. The results showed that glutamate levels were significantly decreased in diabetes-rest group comparing to the control-rest and the diabetes-exercise groups. The findings support the possibility that treadmill running is helpful in alleviating neurotransmitter homeostasis and alterations in transmission in diabetes mellitus.

Numerous clinical studies have shown bisphoshonates (BPs) to be useful and cost-effective options for the fractures prevention and postmenopausal bone loss. The use of oral bisphoshonates is an established option for managment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, but many of them complaint from gastrointestinal side effect or frequently dosed oral regimens. To improve upon the suboptimal therapeutic compliance in postmenopausal women, newer, longer-acting intravenous formulations of BPs has been approved for intermittent administration in postmenopausal women. These preparations would become an option for patients who can not tolerate oral BPs or it was ineffective in increasing their bone density.This article proposed to review effectiveness and tolerability of intravenous BPs in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.