The Train of Time

This poem evolved over the course of one year and was first written in a spontaneous effort to cathartically release a spectrum of challenging experiences. It details the struggles, triumphs and reflections associated with being a mother in medical school

Neurogenic inflammation and allergy

Egypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2009;7(2):45-5

Diagnostic inflammatory markers for bronchial asthma

Egypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2005; 3(1): 2-

Medicine and Motherhood: The Silent Loads

This poem articulates the challenging and often misunderstood experience of being a mother in medical school It describes a silent load that often takes a toll on mothers in medicine It describes the feeling of simultaneously being pulled in opposing directions, the pain of missing on special family moments and events The poem offers hope and solidarity for mothers who are enduring this unique experience

Effects of intrathecal bupivacaine–fentanyl versus bupivacaine–dexmedetomidine in diabetic surgical patients

AbstractBackgroundDiabetes mellitus is the most common endocrine disorder encountered during anesthesia. Experimental researches showed that the functional μ opioid receptors in the dorsal horn of spinal cord in diabetics are either reduced or impaired in their function. This prospective study was postulated to differentiate between the effects of either opioid like fentanyl versus nonopioid like dexmedetomidine agents added to spinal bupivacaine in diabetic patients.MethodsSixty diabetic patients of either sex were submitted for elective lower limb orthopedic surgery. Patients were randomly allocated into three equal groups (each group 20 patient): bupivacaine group in which patients received 2.5ml of hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% plus 0.5mL of normal saline, bupivacaine–fentanyl group in which patients received 2.5ml of hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% plus 25μg fentanyl in 0.5mL of normal saline and bupivacaine–dexmedetomidine group in which patients received 2.5ml of hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5%, plus 10μg dexmedetomidine in 0.5mL of normal saline. Duration and quality of sensory and motor block were assessed.ResultsThe duration of sensory and motor block as well as duration of effective analgesia was significantly longer in the bupivacaine–dexmedetomidine group as compared with both bupivacaine–fentanyl and control bupivacaine groups.ConclusionAddition of intrathecal dexmedetomidine to heavy bupivacaine 0.5% was more advantageous than fentanyl with special regard to its analgesic properties in diabetic surgical patients

Antineuronal antibodies in autistic children: relation to blood mercury

Background: It was recently suggested that autism, a severe neurodevelopmental disorder, may involve an autoimmune pathogenesis. Mercury (Hg) is a potential risk factor for autoimmunity in autistic children. Objective: We sought to investigate the expression of antineuronal antibodies, as an index of autoimmunity to brain, in autistic children. The potential relationship between blood mercury and these antibodies was also investigated. Methods: Forty autistic children (20 with mild to moderate and 20 with severe disease) were studied in comparison to 40 healthy children. After complete clinical and neuropsychiatric evaluation, serum antineuronal antibodies and blood Hg levels were estimated. Results: Autistic children had significantly higher seropositivity for antineuronal antibodies (67.5%) than healthy controls (5%). Similarly, the former group had significantly higher blood Hg levels than the latter (p < 0.0001). In addition, the two markers were positively associated with some parameters such as the family history of autoimmunity, autistic severity and some important clinical manifestations of autism (mental retardation, behavioral abnormalities and autistic regression) as well as EEG abnormalities. Conclusion: Autism may be, in part, one of the pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders. Such autoimmunity may be triggered by environmental Hg exposure. Further studies are warranted to enforce these concepts. If these assumptions could be proved, routine assessment of serum antineuronal antibodies and blood mercury in autistic children would be mandatory. Studies assessing the role of immunotherapy and Hg chelators as new therapeutic modalities for autism are also recommended.Keywords: Antineuronal antibodies; autism; autoimmunity; children; heavy metals; EEG; mercuryEgypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2007; 5(1): 21-3

Creating Bill of Students Rights and Responsibilities at Helwan University

University is open to all persons who are qualified according to its admission standards unless resource limitations results in the closure of academic programs in which applicants have expressed interest. Students' rights refers to a set of rights, responsibilities, and duties under which a student can seek and receive all educational service, encompass legal and ethical issues in the academic institutions and student relationship, including a student's right to privacy and to equal evaluation. So this study aimed to creating bill of students' rights and responsibilities at Helwan University. Operational design was carried out in the twenty faculties at Helwan University; Quota sampling used a sampling method for gathering representative data from two categories first category was university students consisted of 1200 students enrolled in four levels at academic year 2013 / 2014 representative 60 students from every faculty from twenty faculties studied setting at Helwan University. Second category was academic staff consisted of 40 academic staff 20 were professors and 20 were assistant professors 2 from every faculty study setting at Helwan University. Self-administered questionnaire used for the data collection consisted of two parts; the first part is socio-demographic characteristics served to collect information about age, gender, levels and educational qualification. The second part was 98 items divided into four components about academic, non-academic rights and responsibilities. The researchers developed a bill of students' rights and responsibilities based on students' opinions, and second part is an opinionnaire sheet used for the validity of the created students' bill of rights and responsibilities. The response was 3-point Likert scale from "strongly agree" to" disagree." The results are evident that; Mean Score in total agreements upon students' rights were ''1.57 ± 0.37''. While, Mean Score in total agreement upon students' responsibilities were ''1.53 ± 0.41''. There is a highly statistically significant positive correlation between students' scores of agreement upon rights and responsibilities (p<0.01). In conclusion, there is a highly statistical significant positive correlation between students' score of agreement upon rights and responsibilities. There was negative statistically significant correlations were revealed between students' scores of academic responsibilities and non- academic responsibilities with levels. It is concluded that the proposed students' bill of rights was valid, and effective in almost all items related to academic and non-academic students' rights and responsibilities were highest score; this reflects the importance of increasing students' awareness of their rights as well as their responsibilities and involves the students' rights to be informed about all aspects of the learning process and their involvement in the quality of education. The study recommends disseminating this created bill of rights and responsibilities in all universities at the Ministry of Higher Education in Egypt.Keywords: bill of rights, quota sampling, responsibilities, rights, and students bill of rights