Impacts of smoking & ocular activity on Behcet disease & normal control by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in Upper Egypt

Retinal vasculitis and vein occlusions are common causes of serious visual loss in Behcet’s disease. The aim of the current work was the comparison of the OCTA results of BU cases, BD without uveitis cases &normal control was further subdivided to smokers &non-smokers to permit us to recognize retinal micro-circulation variations at the macular level in BU cases even in the nonattendance of preceding angiographic diagnosing of vasculitis & impact of smoking on BD clinical results of Behcet uveitis(BU), Behcet disease with no uveitis cases &normal control by the following parameters; Vessel density of macular area (VD) & foveal Avascular zone (FAZ) using OCTA. The conclusion of this study shows reduction of vessel density of macular area in Behcet uveitis (BU) rather than Behcet disease without uveitis &normal control & Enlarged FAZ in BU rather than BD without uveitis & normal control. The study results revealed areas of hypoperfusion of macular area even in BD without clinical signifacnce. Hazards of smoking on uveitis cases . There is a need to larger samples & lack of stable treatment protocols

The impact of smartphone addiction on attention control and sleep in Egypt—an online survey

Abstract Background The widespread use of smartphones makes it imperative for researchers to study the adverse effect of smartphone addiction. We aimed to study the risk factors of smartphone addiction, insomnia, and attention deficit among smartphone users among a sample of Egyptian adolescents and adults. Methods An online survey was disseminated among Egyptian social media groups. Participants were requested to complete Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scale, and attention control scale (ACS). Results Two-thousand seven-hundred sixteen responded to our survey with a mean age of 31.4 ± 10.3 years. Smartphone addiction was documented in 2386 (87.8%) participants, with a median daily time for smartphone use of 5 h (IQR: 3–7). A significant association was found between smartphone addiction and younger age, higher educational levels, and urban residency (unadjusted or adjusted). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the only factor affecting the probability of moderate to severe insomnia was the higher SAS-SV score, either unadjusted (OR = 1.1, 95% CI: 1.08–1.1) or adjusted (OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.08–1.11). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that higher scores on SAS-SV (P < 0.001) and ISI (P < 0.001), being female (P < 0.001), and being of rural residency (P = 0.025) were associated with lower total scores on ACS. On the other hand, older age (P < 0.001) and longer intervals between smartphone cessation and bedtime (P = 0.004) were found to increase the attention score. Conclusion Smartphone addiction is prevalent in Egypt, which deserves special concern as it may have negative consequences such as insomnia and poor attention control, particularly in younger age groups