Women’s Health Bulletin
Volume:1 Issue: 3, Oct 2014

Some diseases may similarly affect men and women; however, the impact is quite different among them. Besides, it''s undeniable that issues including pregnancy, lactation and menopause can in addition affect women’s health. Considering these facts Health Policy Research Center, affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, held the Second Iranian International Conference on Women’s Health. The aim of this conference was to gather national and international scientists and researchers to share their latest views and knowledge on women’s health, while making the event attractive for the participants..

Despite progress in surgical and anesthetic techniques, postoperative nausea and vomiting are among the most common surgical complications. Prevention and suitable treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting can decrease the length of hospital stay, hospitalization cost and increase patient satisfaction.. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of three antiemetic drugs in postoperative nausea and vomiting prevention on female patients who undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomies..Patients and This prospective randomized double-blind clinical trial enrolled 126 women, aged 20 to 65 years, who had American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II classifications and were scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. All patients received the same induction and care with propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia. After general anesthesia, patients were randomly divided into four groups: dexamethasone (5 mg; n = 31), ondansetron (4 mg; n = 32), metoclopramide (10 mg; n = 31), and normal saline (n = 32). The patients were assessed for incidence and severity of nausea and vomiting at intervals of 0-1, 1-6, and 6-24 hours after extubation.. The incidence of nausea was as follows among patients: 72 (20.8%) in the ondansetron group, 23.6% in the dexamethasone group, 25.0% in the metoclopramide group, and 30.5% in the control group. Vomiting was found in 49 patients with an incidence rate of 8.1%, 16.3%, 36.7% and 38.7%, in ondansetron, dexamethasone and metoclopramid groups, respectively. The highest incidence of the initial nausea symptom occurred at the 1-6 hour interval in all groups (P = 0.034). Only ondansetron (P = 0.005) and dexamethasone (P = 0.019) were effective in preventing nausea at the 0-1 hour interval. The severity of nausea in patients who received dexamethasone was less.. Ondansetron was more effective than dexamethasone and metoclopramide in preventing vomiting after laparoscopic cholecystectomy at intervals of 0-1 and 1-6 hours. Ondansetron delayed the interval of the first onset of nausea and vomiting..

Sleep disturbance is common in menopausal women.. This study aimed to measure the rate of self-reported sleep disturbance and to identify its associated factors in 50-60 year-old women..Patients and This cross-sectional study included 700 healthy volunteer women aged 50 to 60 years, who were in postmenopausal period for at least 1 year. The participants were interviewed after obtaining informed consents. The study questionnaire covered two main aspects of personal characteristics and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Data was analyzed using SPSS 14 software.. The frequency of sleep disturbance was 62.5%. A significant association was found between sleep disturbance and characteristics of occupation, education, financial status and husband’s profession. There were no significant association between sleep disturbance and other personal characteristics, such as age, partner’s age, number of children, family size and consumption of tea, coffee or cola.. Sleep disturbance is common in menopausal women. Appropriate interventions based on sleep-related personal characteristics should be performed to improve sleep quality, which is very important for maintaining the quality of life..

Sexually transmitted infections are major causes of morbidity among incarcerated women. However, little is known about the prevalence of these infections among female prisoners in Iran.. This cross-sectional study, assessed the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among a group of women imprisoned in Adelabad Prison, Shiraz, Iran..Patients and Over a 6-month period, we screened 129 female inmates in Adelabad Prison, Shiraz, Iran for sexually transmitted infections by appropriate clinical and routine laboratory assessments. Infected inmates were treated and followed up free of charge by the prison medical staff.. All inmates had evidence of at least one sexually transmitted infection. Chlamydial infection was the most common infection, which detected in 44 (34%) inmates, followed by candidiasis in 34 (26%), trichomoniasis in 26 (20%), syphilis in 8 (6%), and finally gonorrhea in 6 (4.5%) inmates. The least common infection was HIV infection, which was present in only 1 out of 129 subjects. In addition, 1 out of 58 (1.72%) serologically examined prisoners had hepatitis B, and 4 cases from 58 (7%) had evidence of hepatitis C, one of them was a drug addict and the other 3 had histories of past tattooing.. Because of high rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in incarcerated women, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive screening program, treatment, follow-up, and partner notification in order to reduce the frequency of STIs in this high-risk, vulnerable group of females..

Diet is an important component of life and plays a key role in the prevention or development of non-communicable diseases.. The aim of this systematic review was to determine different dietary patterns and their association with non-communicable diseases in Iranian women.. Sources of Information: an electronic literature search was conducted on websites such as Pubmed, Science direct, Google scholar, Sid, and Iranmedex to identify original human studies, published in English and Persian up to August 2013 that included keywords or phrases relevant to the aim of this study.. Studies were classified into eight groups according to their objectives and outcomes, including the relationship between dietary patterns and aspects such as bone mineral density, metabolic syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, markers of inflammation, hypertension, coagulation abnormalities, life style and factor analysis. Compared to healthy dietary patterns, the western and Iranian patterns were positively associated with conditions related to non-communicable diseases. The dietary approach to stop hypertension (DASH) is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and is low in saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, refined grains, and sweets. This diet is associated with greater high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and lower body weight, waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and systolic and diastolic blood pressures.. Adherence to a healthy dietary pattern is expected to secure a protective effect against non-communicable disease..

An increase in maternal body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy can cause overweight during pregnancy, and negatively affect both the mother and the fetus. Non-stress test (NST) is the most common way to evaluate the fetus during pregnancy.. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between maternal BMI and NST parameters as well as the pregnancy outcomes in nulliparous women.. This case-control study, comprised 67 nulliparous women with the gestational age of 24-28 weeks, selected by simple random sampling, who were admitted to Shooshtari and Hafez hospitals from 2011 to 2012. The case group included 35 pregnant women with BMI greater than 26. The control group consisted of 32 pregnant women with BMI lower than 26. NST was applied to groups and evaluated reactive and non-reactive parameters, basal fetal heart rate, and number of accelerations. Chi-square test was used to examine the reactive and non-reactive parameters and type of delivery. Other variables were statistically analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).. Our results indicated that the frequency of NST reactive and non-reactive parameters was 41%, 59% in the case group, respectively and 55%, 45% in the control group, respectively. Besides, a significant difference was found between the case and the control group regarding reactive parameters (P = 0.02). However, no significant difference was observed between the two groups concerning the mean of basal fetal heart rate (P = 0.3). However, the number of accelerations in the case group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P = 0.001). Significant increases were found in the case group regarding the mean of post-delivery weight (P = 0.02), BMI after delivery (P = 0.005), neonatal birth weight (P = 0.001), gestational age (P = 0.001), and caesarian section (CS) delivery (P = 0.01).. This study revealed that the increase in maternal BMI was accompanied by a decrease in non-reactive parameters of NST and the number of accelerations of the fetal heart rate which is the most important index for fetal health. Also, a significant increase was observed regarding maternal BMI one month after delivery, neonatal birth weight, gestational age, and CS delivery..