Knowledge, Attitude and Practice between Medical and Non-Medical Sciences Students about Food Labeling

Background: Considering the significant role of consumers’ awareness about food labels in making healthy food choices, this study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and prac-tice of university students about food labeling.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 332 students aged 18-25 yr in five different academic ma-jors (including Nutrition, Public Health, Health Services Administration, Paramedical and En-gineering) were asked to complete an approved questionnaire contained fifteen questions. The chi-square test was applied to examine the differences across various major groups.Results: 89.2% of the students believed that food labels had effect on nutritional awareness. 77.4% were agreed with the usefulness of the food labels and 79.2% did not feel that nutrition claims on food label were truthful. For 84% of students, the expiry date and storage conditions information were the most important informational cues to appear on the food labels. From 47.6% of students who reported the use of nutrition facts label in their often or always shopping; only 32.3% used the information on labels to fit the food into their daily diet. Surprisingly, fatty acids were the least noteworthy items (1.9%) on nutrition facts labels. Regarding students’ major, there was significant difference in their knowledge, attitude and practice about truth of the nutri-tion claims, using food labels and importance of health claims (P<0.05).Conclusion: Food labels were more useful tools for students and had an effect on their nutri-tional awareness. Designing and implementation of the educational programs in order to increase the level of knowledge about food labels is suggested

Serum YKL-40 levels and disease characteristics in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Background: The present study aimed to evaluate serum YKL-40 levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to healthy subjects and to search whether there is an association between YKL-40 levels and disease characteristics in RA. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 60 RA patients based on the ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included. In patients, clinical examination was performed and disease activity score 28 (DAS-28) measure of disease activity was assessed. Serum YKL-40 level was measured using ELISA kit. Results: The mean&#177;SD age of patients and controls was 54.86&#177;11.65 and 50.71&#177;3.72 years, respectively). Serum YKL-40 level was significantly higher in RA patients (951.63&#177;639.98 pg/mL) compared to healthy controls (444.92&#177;150.37 pg/mL) (P&#60;0.001). There was no significant difference in serum YKL-40 level according to the activity of disease (p&#62;0.05). There were significant positive correlations between serum YKL-40 level with disease activity (r=0.347, P=0.007) and rheumatoid factor (r=0.396, P=0.002). There were no significant correlations between serum YKL-40 level with demographic characteristics as well as biochemical measurements including serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide. Conclusion: Our study revealed higher serum YKL-40 levels in RA patients compared to healthy controls, which correlated positively with disease activity. Therefore, YKL-40 can be considered as a novel biomarker for disease activity estimation in RA

Assessment of quality of life in patients with lower limb osteoarthritis

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive disease, which directly influences individual’s quality of life (QOL). In current study, we decided to assess the QOL in patients with lower limb OA to find an association between patients’ QOL and demographic factors. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 203 OA patients aged over 50 years and 200 healthy controls matched with regard to age and gender were included. Short Form 12-item Health Survey (SF-12) was used to evaluate QOL. Results: The mean±standard deviation (SD) age of OA patients and control group was 69.82±11.49 and 68.18±10.54 years, respectively. 63% of patients and 56% of control group were females. Most of SF-12 domains including physical functioning, role physical, general health, social functioning, and role emotional were significantly lower in OA patients compared with the control group (P<0.05). Moreover, bodily pain domain was significantly higher in OA patients compared with the control group (P=0.038). There was a considerable correlation between most SF-12 domains with age and sex (P<0.05); whereas considerable correlation was just noticed between role physical domain with body mass index (BMI) (P<0.001). Additionally, Vitality considerably was associated with marital status (P=0.038). Conclusion: QOL in lower limb OA patients was compared with healthy subjects and this impairment was in association with some demographic factors

Effects of Sesame Seed Supplementation on Lipid Profile and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Background: This study was designed to assess the effect of sesame seed on lipid profile and oxidative stress biomarkers in knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients. Methods: Fifty patients with knee OA were allocated into two groups receiving 40 g of sesame seed daily along with standard medical therapy (n=25) or standard treatment (n=25) for two months. Serum total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde (MDA) and lipid profile (total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides) were measured. Results: After the intervention period two months of study, serum TC, LDL-cholesterol and MDA decreased significantly in the sesame group (P0.05). There was no significant difference in pre and post-treatment values of lipid profile and oxidative parameters between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Current study showed a positive effect of sesame seed in improving lipid profile and oxidative stress in patients with knee OA and indicated the fact that sesame seed might be of help to reduce oxidative stress in OA patients

L-Carnitine supplementation ameliorates serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha and matrix metalloproteinase-3 in knee osteoarthritis women

Seventy-two females with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis were included in this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study. Patients in the intervention group (n=36) received L-carnitine supplement (750 mg/day) for two months. L-Carnitine supplementation led to decrease in serum TNF-? and MMP-3 levels significantly in comparison with the baseline (p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively) and placebo group (p<0.001 and p=0.03, respectively). In addition, physicians global assessment of the severity of osteoarthritis decreased significantly in the L-carnitine group (p<0.001) and placebo group (p=0.012) after supplementation. At the end of the study, a significant difference was observed between the two groups for mean physicians global assessment of the severity of osteoarthritis (p<0.001), adjusted for baseline values and duration of osteoarthritis. L-Carnitine supplementation has beneficial effects in reducing inflammatory biomarkers in knee osteoarthritis patients which subsequently leads to the alleviation of disease symptoms

Evaluation of the Iranian Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form in Community-dwelling Elderly

Background: This study was aimed to assess agreement and diagnostic accuracy of the Iranian version of Mini Nutritional Assessment short-form (MNA-SF) against the original MNA, as a gold standard in community-dwelling elderly. Methods: The full MNA and 9-item MNA-SF comprising questions regarding clinical status, dietary assessment and self-perception of health status and nutri-tion together with mid-arm and calf circumference measurements without in-cluding the body mass index (BMI) were completed for 205 volunteers aged 65 or older recruited from all over Markazi Province (Iran). Correlation, diagnostic accuracy and agreement between the MNA-SF and full MNA were calculated. Results: The MNA and the MNA-SF classified 45.4% and 64.4% of the sub-jects as malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, respectively. Substantial agree-ment between the MNA-SF and full MNA was observed (Kappa=0.633). The MNA-SF correlated strongly with the full MNA (r=0.868, P<0.001). The MNA-SF showed high sensitivity (96.77%) and negative predictive values (95.89%), relatively high specificity (62.5%) and positive predictive values (68.18%) and fair accuracy (Area under curve =0.796). Conclusion: Iranian MNA-SF seems to be an applicable screening tool for quick detection of malnutrition or at risk of malnutrition in community-dwelling elderly especially when BMI is unavailable

Effects of Sesame Seed Supplementation on Inflammatory Factors and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Considering the high prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) and since until now there has not been any human studies to evaluate the effect of sesame in OA patients, this study was designed to assess the effect of administration of sesame on inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with knee OA. Fifty patients with knee OA were allocated into two groups namely control and sesame group. 25 patients in the control group received 40 g placebo powder per day while 25 patients in the sesame group received 40 g of sesame seed daily during two months of study along with standard medical therapy. Serum total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde (MDA), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured. In the sesame group, a significant decrease in serum MDA and hs-CRP were seen after two months of study (P0.05). Serum IL-6 decreased significantly in both groups compared with baseline during the two-month study (P<0.05). There was a significant difference in mean serum IL-6 between two groups after treatment (P=0.001). Sesame seed is a natural and safe substance that may have beneficial effects in patients with knee OA, and it may provide new complementary and adjunctive treatment in these patients