The association of fasting blood glucose (FBG) and waist circumference in northern adults in Iran: A population based study

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) level and Waist Circumference (WC) in men and women among 25-65 years old people in the north of Iran.Material and methods: This was a cross-sectional and analytical research gender that carried out on the 1797 subjects (941 males and 856 females) between 25-65 years old using multistage cluster sampling technique. FBG was measured in the morning after a 12-hour fast and was determined by using laboratory kits (enzymatic methods) and spectrophotometry technique. Central obesity was defined based on World Health Organization criteria: waist circumference ≥102 cm and ≥88 cm in men and women, respectively. The SPSS.16 software was used for statistical analysis.Results: As whole, the mean of FBG in women (98.3 ± 40.1 mg/dl) was higher than in men (94.6 ± 32.2 mg/dl). Also, the mean of WC in men 4.5 cm was lower than in women. In men, the mean of FBG statistically differs between normal and central obese subjects both in 35-45 year-age group (P = 0.001) and in 45-55 year-age group (P = 0.042). As whole, in men, the FBG level increased up 2.82 mg/dl in each 10 cm of WC with the highest rate in 35-45 year-age group. In totally, in women, the FBG level increased up 3.48 mg/dl in each 10 cm of WC and in 25-35 year-age group and it was higher than in other age groups. In men, the regression coefficients were constant with age increasing while in women it was decreased. Constant trend in men and decreasing trend in women with age was shown between FBG and WC. The cut-off point of WC for detecting of diabetes obtained 89 cm and 107 cm in men and women, respectively.Conclusion: The positive correlation was seen between WC and FBG level and it was declined with age in women. Cut-off point for detecting of diabetes in men was less than in women. WC is useable as a predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus risk among adults in the north of Iran. © 2014 Veghari et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Characterization of lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). METHODS: Patients with new-onset iNPH were prospectively evaluated for LUTS via detailed history and physical, and administration of questionnaires from the International Consultation on Incontinence to assess incontinence (ICIq-UI), overactive bladder (ICIq-OAB), and quality of life (ICIq-LUTqol), as well as the American Urological Association Symptom Score bother scale. All patients with moderate-to-severe LUTS were offered urodynamic testing. Sub-analysis was performed based on gender, medical comorbidities, and age. RESULTS: Fifty-five consecutive patients with iNPH completed the initial evaluation and surveys. Total urinary incontinence score was mild to moderate (8.710.64: 0-21 scale) with 90.9% experiencing leakage and 74.5% reporting urge incontinence. The most common OAB symptom was nocturia (2.2 +/- 0.14: 0-4 scale) with urge incontinence the most bothersome (3.71 +/- 0.44: 0-10 scale). Quality-of-life impact was moderate (4.47 +/- 0.4: 0-10 scale) and American Urological Association Symptom Score bother scale was 2.89 +/- 0.22 (0-6 scale). Urodynamics testing revealed 100% detrusor overactivity and mean bladder capacity of 200mL. Several differences were identified based on gender, medical comorbidities, and age. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with iNPH present with mild-moderate incontinence of which nocturia is the most common symptom, urge incontinence the most bothersome, with 100% of patients having detrusor overactivity. Younger patients experienced greater bother related to LUTS. To our knowledge, this is the only prospective evaluation of urinary symptoms in patients with new-onset iNPH

Triglyceride to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholestrol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratios are predictors of cardiovascular risk in Iranian adults: Evidence from a population-based cross-sectional study

Background: The superiority of TG/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratios in predicting  CVD risk is a matter of debates. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare TG/HDL-C and LDL-C to HDL-C ratios in predicting the risk of CVD events. Methods: In a population-based cross-sectional study, 567 representative participants aged 40 years or older were entered in the study in Babol, North of Iran. The demographic data, anthropometric measures, and the cardio metabolic risk factors were measured. The individual risk of CVD events was assessed by ACC/AHA risk model. ROC analysis was applied to estimate the diagnostic accuracy and the optimal cut-off points of TG/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratios. Results: The AUC of TG/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratios were rather similar and both parameters significantly predicted CVD risk in men comparably, and TG/HDL-C at optimal cutoff point of 3.6 produced 75 sensitivity and 39 specificity. However,in women TG/HDL-C with AUC of 0.65( p= 0.091) at optimal cutoff value of 3.4  produced a sensitivity of 82 and specificity of 51. The LDL-C/HDL-C ratio had no discriminative ability in predicting CVD risk in women. The adjusted OR of TG/HDL-C at 2nd quartile was significant (OR=3.22, 95CI:1.25-8.29) and a greater association was found with 3rd and 4rth quartiles Conclusion: Both TG/HDL–C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratios comparably predict CVD risk in men, whereas in women only TG/ HDL-C is a significant predictor but not LDL-C/HDL-C. &#160

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors Levels of Kuwaiti Adolescents: The Study of Health and Activity Among Adolescents in Kuwait.

BACKGROUND: There is only scarce number of studies available describing the lifestyle of adolescents living in Arab countries. Hence, we described physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors patterns among Kuwaiti adolescents and the associations with parental education. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from 435 adolescents (201 boys and 234 girls) were collected from the Study of Health and Activity among Adolescents in Kuwait conducted between 2012 and 2013. Outcome variables included PA (ActiGraph GT1M accelerometers) and sedentary behaviors. Exposure variable was parental education. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between parental education and outcome variables. RESULTS: Total sedentary time (minutes per day) was higher in girls [568.2 (111.6)] than in boys [500.0 (102.0)], whereas boys accumulated more minutes in light, moderate, and vigorous PA (all Ps ≤ .001). In total, 3.4% of adolescents spent ≥60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous PA (by accelerometry), while only 21% met the screen time guidelines. Low/medium maternal education was associated with a higher odds of exceeding screen time guidelines (odds ratio = 2.09; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-4.02). CONCLUSIONS: Most Kuwaiti adolescents in this sample were physically inactive and exceeded screen time guidelines. Objective PA was not socially patterned, yet an inverse association between maternal education and screen time behaviors was found

Metabolic syndrome and different obesity phenotypes in the elderly women population: Iran’s Health System on aging

Background: Current literature has been focused on types of obesity with normal BMI (body mass index), but metabolically unhealthy.This study evaluates the prevalence of metabolical phenotypes of obesity. We also identified the best obesity index in predicting the components of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: A cross-sectional study has been conducted on 164 women over 60 years. Anthropometric parameters, body fat percentage (%BF), and biologic criteria were measured to assess the types of obesity. Unhealthy metabolic was defined by modified Adult Treatment Panel III, and obesity based on BMI≥25.ANOVA and logistic regression were utilized for the association of MetS components and obesity phenotypes, and linear regression logistic for finding the best MetS related obesity index. Results: The prevalence of metabolically unhealthy was 45.7%, out of which 33.3% was among the individuals with normal BMI.Logistic regression has shown that triglyceride (TG) (OR=3.30, p<0.001) and high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) (OR=2.15,p<0.01) was independently related to metabolically healthy and normal weight(MHNW) phenotype. Moreover, TG (OR=3.92,p<0.001), HDL-C (OR=2.18,p<0.001), fasting blood glucose(FBG) (OR=1.73,p<0.01) and waist circumference(WC) (OR=3.18,p<0.001) are correlated significantly with metabolically unhealthy and overweight/obese (MUO) and also TG (OR=2.88,p<0.001) and WC (OR=2.67,p<0.001) with metabolically unhealthy and overweight/obese(MHO).WC followed by %body fat (BF) showed to be highly correlated with the prognosis of MetS components. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of unhealthy metabolic among the elderly women,even with normal weight.There were different associations between MetS components and various obesity phenotypes.TG was the most powerful indicator for the prognosis of unhealthy metabolic phenotypes which was independently correlated with the WC, %BF and BMI

Comparison of pathologic characteristics of breast cancer in younger and older women

Background: Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer with high mortality in women all around the world. The present evidence shows that younger patients have poor survival. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the pathologic characteristics of breast cancer in women younger than 40 years compared with older. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which contains 681 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer, who referred to Babolsar Shahid Rajaei Hospital as a referral cancer therapeutic center in the North of Iran. The data included age, residence area, occupation, location, histopathologic characteristics of the tumor, TNM classification and staging. Results: The mean age (SD) of patients was 49.7 (11.9) years, of which 19.5 were under 40. Ductal carcinoma was the most common histopathologic type (90.0) but patients at a younger age had a higher incidence of lobular and other rare carcinoma compared to the older ones (P=0.04). The younger had a greater tumor size (P=0.01), lymphatic node involvement (P=0.04) and higher staging (P=0.004). The younger age was not associated with positive estrogen/progesterone receptors. Conclusion: These findings indicated more aggressive tumor characteristics and serious breast cancer in women less than 40 years compared with older ones

The Correlation Between Morphologic Characteristics of Condyle and Glenoid Fossa with Different Sagittal Patterns of Jaw Assessed by Cone-Beam Computed Tomography

Objective:This study aimed to determine the relationship between the morphologic characteristics of condyle and glenoid fossa in different sagittal skeletal patterns using cone-beam computed tomography.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, the lateral cephalometric and cone-beam computed tomography images of 90 patients were evaluated. The patients were categorized into three equal groups of sagittal skeletal patterns, according to the ANB angle. The greatest anteroposterior and mediolateral diameters of the mandibular condyles, as well as the angle between the long axis of the mandibular condyles and the midsagittal plane, were measured on the axial view of cone-beam computed tomography images. The anterior joint space, superior joint space, posterior joint space, articular eminence inclination, depth of the glenoid fossa, and width of the glenoid fossa were also measured on the central sagittal slices. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey’s post hoc test and chi-square test were performed.Results:Patients with the skeletal Class III had a significantly higher articular eminence inclination, while Class II patients had a lower articular eminence inclination (P = .001). In Class III patients, the depth of the glenoid fossa was greater, and the width of the glenoid fossa was smaller than in the other groups (P < .01). The anterior and posterior joint space did not show any significant differences between the 3 groups.Conclusion:There were significant differences in some morphological characteristics of the condyle and glenoid fossa in patients with different sagittal skeletal patterns; therefore, this relationship should be considered in the treatment of these patients

Comparison of bladder ultrasonographic and rigid cystoscopic findings in patients with hematuria

Background: Bladder cancer ranks ninth in world-wide cancer incidence and is 2.5-4 times more common in men, and painless gross hematuria is its typical clinical symptom. Cystoscopy is used to evaluate the cause of hematuria in bladder while the use and reliability of ultrasonography is questionable for this purpose. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare abdominal ultrasonography and rigid cystoscopy in the diagnosis of bladder tumors in Babol Shahid Beheshti Hospital. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 60 patients who were candidate for cystoscopy referred to Babol Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Iran in 2017-2018. In this study, rigid cystoscope was used to view the bladder after doing sonography. The numbers, demographic information (age, gender and residence) and clinical characteristics (indication of cystoscopy, history of chronic disease, sonographic and cystoscopic results) of patients were recorded in the checklist. Results: The mean age of patients (37 (61.7)=males) was 58.65&#177;14.26 (19-85) years and 48 (80) of them were &#62;50 years old. The sensitivity and specificity of sonography was 71.43 (95 CI: 29.4, 96.33) and 96.23 (95 CI: 87.02, 99.54) in detecting bladder tumors, respectively. The negative predictive and positive predictive values in sonography were 96.23 (95 CI: 88.76, 98.8) and 71.43 (95 CI: 37.25, 91.33) respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that since sonography has high negative predictive values in evaluating hematuria; therefore it can be replaced with rigid cystoscopy for patients with lower risk of malignancy. &#160

Evaluation of the effects of sodium valproate on plasma homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 levels in epileptic patients

Objective: to investigate the effects of sodium valproate on plasma concentrations of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 levels in epileptic patients with long-standing tonic-clonic seizures compared to newly diagnosed epileptic patients and healthy controls.Material and methods. The study included 90 participants (mean age 36.30±12.83 years, the majority (58.89%) were males) divided into three groups: 30 non-epileptic people (control Group 1), 30 newly diagnosed epileptic patients (Group 2), and 30 patients with long-term tonic-clonic seizures epilepsy (Group 3). In Group 3, patients received sodium valproate therapy. All subjects underwent clinical and neurological examinations. Differences in plasma levels of homocysteine, folic acid and vitamin B12 in three groups were investigated after 6 months of follow-up.Results. Homocysteine level in Groups 2 and 3 was increased; for Group 2 it was significantly higher than for Groups 3 and 1 (p=0.001). Plasma folate level in Groups 2 and 3 was decreased; for Group 3 it was significantly higher than for Group 2 and lower than for Group 1 (p=0.001). Vitamin B12 level in Groups 2 and 3 was decreased, but the difference was not significant (p=0.090). In Groups 1 and 2, a significant correlation was observed between the indicators.Conclusion. Sodium valproate аdministration might disrupt the homeostatic level of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 and cause irregularity of their plasma contents in epileptic patients with long-standing tonic-clonic seizures

Role of scaling combination of risk factors in clinical and imaging findings during pregnancy in predicting placenta accreta spectrum

Background: Placenta accreta is one of the known causes of maternal mortality and morbidity. If diagnosed before delivery, appropriate actions can be taken. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of scaling combination of risk factors in predicting placenta accreta spectrum (PAS). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 120 pregnant women with two criteria and more of placenta previa in their ultrasound, underwent MRI. Clinical scores (history of surgery, cesarean section, previa, etc.) and paraclinical scores (ultrasound and MRI) were recorded and combined. In cases of hysterectomy, pathological examination was performed. The results were compared and analyzed using SPSS Version 22. The significance level was less than 0.05. Results: Of the120 studied patients, 90 (75) women were diagnosed with placenta previa in which, 32(36) patients had placenta accreta and 12 patients had placenta accreta without placenta previa. The mean ultrasound score in women without and with placenta accreta were 0.05&#177;0.32 and 2.43&#177;1.83 (p&#60;0.001). The mean MRI score in women without and with placenta accreta were 0.05&#177;0.27 and 2.07&#177;2.02, respectively. The cut-off point, sensitivity and specificity were 0.50, 100 and 93.4, respectively. The mean clinical score without and with placenta accreta were 1.97&#177;1.32 and 4.89&#177;3.21, respectively. The cut-off point, sensitivity and specificity were 2.50, 70 and 80, respectively. The cut-off point of combination score, sensitivity and specificity were 3.50, 89, 83. Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that the most specific test to confirm the definitive diagnosis of placenta accreta is paraclinical score, alone