Diabetes mellitus type 2; an international challenge

It is of great importance, especially for adults, to keep track of their blood glucose level regularly. It is clear that lifestyle could have a great impact on whether someone develops diabetes or not. Regular physical exercise, loss of weight and a well-balanced diet can all contribute to the prevention of acquiring diabetes or at least delay the point of time of someone acquiring diabete

Overview of the epidemiologic research: Editorial Guidelines

Epidemiology can be considered as a very old science. For example, John Graunt, a statistician, published Natural and Political Observations. In the Bills of Mortality in 1662, he analyzed the mortality rolls in London before the Great Plague, presented one of the first life tables, and reported time trends for many diseases. He provided statistical evidence for many theories on disease, and challenged some common beliefs about them. Later, a Greek physician Hippocrates was the first person known to have examined the relationships between the disease occurrence and environmental influences. He believed that the cure to the sickness was to remove or add the humor in question to balance the body; he also mentioned the terms endemic (for diseases usually found in some places but not in others) and epidemic (for diseases seen sometimes but not always). Epidemiology could also be considered as a modern science. Dr. John Snow is indeed famous for his investigations about the causes of the 19th century cholera epidemics in London, and is also known as the father of (modern) epidemiology

World kidney day 2014: Kidney disease and elderly

It is believed that there is an increasing rate of chronic kidney disease to end-stage kidney failure. Nowadays, there is an international awareness on the importance of chronic kidney disease as well as declining the frequency and impact of renal disease and its associated health problems worldwide (1). Each year, there is a ceremony on the second Thursday of March in many countries around the world (1). While, the term of acute kidney injury (AKI) was suggested to reflect the wide spectrum of classic acute kidney failure, however, AKI

Addiction: A big challenge of social security in Iran

Due to special conditions of Iran; i.e., neighboring to major centers of drug production in Afghanistan during the last few decades, it was the passageway of the drug to Europe. Moreover, because of appropriate context of social, economic and cultural situations, there was an increased addiction and drug trafficking in Iran. It is obvious that a lot of people would be involved directly and indirectly with drugs; so the drug has become a major problem in Iranian society, especially in the provinces near Afghanistan and Pakistan borders. The reports have indicated an increasing spread of drug addiction in Iran. Addiction among all social classes and occupational groups, age and sex, are raised. In fact, an important part of social problems, directly or indirectly related to drug dependence. Therefore, prevention of addiction as the basis of many diseases is vital priority for Iran. Fair distribution of facilities and services in society and equal opportunities for all members of society can legitimately, step forward in to deal with social ills such as addiction

Effects of 3-mounth regular consumption of vitamin D-fortified low fat yogurt on quality of life indices in diabetic postmenopausal women: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Background and aims: Diabetes affects all physical, emotional, and psychological aspects of patient’s health. Postmenopausal diabetic women are more susceptible due to their crucial conditions. The emotional regulatory role of vitamin D may be because of the existence of its receptors distributed in brain areas involved in emotional processing and affective disorders. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of 3-mounth regular consumption of vitamin D-fortified low fat yogurt on QOL indices in diabetic postmenopausal women. Methods: Fifty nine postmenopausal diabetic women randomly allocated to the ‘FY’ (received vitamin D-fortified low fat yogurt, containing 2000 IU vitamin D in 100 g) or ‘PY’ (received plain low fat yogurt without additive) treatment groups. The quality of life questionnaire SF-36 which is the most widely used method to assess the QOL was used before and after the intervention. Results: After the 3-month intervention, physical performance, vitality, and mental health scores significantly increased and the score of physical pain decreased in the FY group. In the PY group, physical performance, vitality, and emotional role scores significantly decreased. Final scores of physical performance and vitality significantly increased in the FY group compare to the PY group while physical? Conclusion: Three months daily consumption of 2000 IU vitamin D fortified low-fat yogurt improved physical performance, physical pain, and vitality while the other domains of QOL assessments did not show significant changes

Is Iran threatened by Zika virus?

Zika virus is an Arbovirus identified first time in 1947 in Uganda. Zika epidemic is a threat far greater than the Ebola outbreak. The World Health Organization has urged Asian countries to be vigilant about the risk of spreading Zika virus and preventive measures to control it. In Iran, 64 species of mosquitoes from Culicidea family have been reported three of which belong to the Aedes genus, and one of which is Aedes albopictus. Iran also has suitable climate for endemic transmission of Zika virus. Immigrants from neighboring countries for economic reasons, could increase the risk of disease transmission in Iran. The destination countries of Iranian passengers, especially in East Asia, are at risk or have been reported to have cases of Zika. So, traveling to areas where active Zika virus exists and its transmission is common, could potentially increase the risk of transmission of Zika. Close supervision alongside the borders is necessary when foreign people arrive in the country

Environmental epidemiology: An introduction

Epidemiology is increasingly coping with problems correlated with exposures which may have small relative risks. In fact, many chronic diseases, as the most recent common diseases all over the world, may have unknown etiology but also potentially related to environmental exposures. Environmental epidemiology considers the effect of environmental factors on health. More exposure with increasing number of potential environmental hazards has changed the initial application of environmental epidemiology. As a consequence, nowadays it is strongly emphasized on some fields such as molecular epidemiology, but some others have discussed about the importance of its population dimension and the reintegration of epidemiology into public health.\ud \ud Environmental epidemiology research, as a very substantial scope of epidemiology, can consider risk assessments, development of standards and other risk management activities. In addition, it could estimate the co-benefits and co-harms of policies designed to reduce global environment changes, including policies implemented in other sectors (e.g. food and water) affecting human health. Environmental epidemiology has indeed several unique features that could make these debates very important. Furthermore, a large number of environmental exposures may require prioritization, with usually very low relative risks. However, environmental epidemiology has also a more restricted connotation, referring to those environmental factors that are outside of the immediate control of the individual.The most important difference of environmental epidemiology with general epidemiology is that the first one could focus more on the living/working environment of people rather than on their personal characteristics or lifestyles.\ud \ud During the recent centuries, environmental epidemiology has achieved remarkable positive health gains by efforts on reduction of the population’s exposure to contaminants in air, water, and soil. However, in the last decades, this concentration has been changed to follow the developments in epidemiology and molecular biology. In fact, with increasing focus on individual exposures and his/her own susceptibility as well as potential mechanisms, environmental epidemiologists may lose their traditional population perspective of disease causation and prevention.\ud \ud Generally, environmental epidemiology may concern on the potential health effects of environmental factors, mostly outside the immediate control of the person. In industrialized countries, environmental epidemiologists must mainly assess a large number of low-level inter-correlated exposures, often occurring in complex mixtures. In that respect, environmental epidemiology could be similar to nutritional epidemiology, except for the fact that environmental exposures may usually be involuntary and may not differ significantly among population of one area.6\ud \ud It is worth to note that many of the problems of environmental epidemiology may become especially severe during local field investigations in response to acute public health problems, such as a cluster of cancer in a neighborhood or around a point source. In this situation, the level of exposure is often low and may have happened in the distant past. Most of the time, there is no clear hypothesis; for example, the small number of residents may give sufficient power to detect only relative risks that are unrealistically high in the environmental setting, or the latency period may be insufficient.\ud \ud Environmental epidemiologists may not be ready to consider other health outcomes and issues of public concern, such as psychological effects, aesthetic values, social disruption, or effects on property values which may be the main concern of the public at this moment. Therefore, the large number of environmental exposures should be considered by environmental epidemiology, but it needs to be prioritized the issues to be studied, based on the local environmental problems by (environmental) epidemiologists