Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): 10 Questions and Discussion Points for Diabetes and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is now an international concern. COVID-19 is first reported in Wuhan, China on 31 December 2019 and affects different people in different ways. Evidence suggests that people with underlying disease are at higher risk for more severe disease. People with diabetes are not only more likely than the general population to have COVID-19 but also they are among those high-risk categories that can have serious illness if they get the virus

Concomitant Transurethral and Transvaginal-Periurethral Injection of Autologous Adipose Derived Stem Cells for Treatment of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Phase One Clinical Trial

Stress urinary incontinence is a common medical problem among women. The urethral closure complex and/or the supportive mechanisms are responsible for incontinence in the majority of patients. Several surgical procedures with different degrees of invasiveness and outcomes have been reported to treat the problem. Although most of these procedures are reasonably effective, a general trend towards the study of natural and biocompatible tissues is emerging over popular synthetic materials. Here we report our experience of autologous adipose-derived stem cells transplantation into the periurethral region as a new method of stress urinary incontinence treatment. Ten women with symptoms of stress urinary incontinence were treated by injections of autologous adipose-derived stem cells into the periurethral region via transurethral and transvaginal approach under urethroscopic observation. This report presents the short-term outcome of the patients. The outcome measured by pad test results, ICIQ-SF scores, and Qmax. The mean age of the participants was 45.8±8.7 years. Urinary incontinence significantly decreased through the first two, 6 and 24 weeks after the injection therapy. The difference was significant in pad test results (P<0.001) and ICIQ-SF scores (P<0.001), especially comparing results between 2 and 6 weeks and among 6 and 24 weeks, but not for 2 and 6 weeks compared to each other. Surprisingly, Qmax showed improvement after the study period (means 32.6 vs. 35.7; P=0.002). This study showed that injection of the autologous adipose-derived stem cells to the periurethral region is a safe, yet short-term effective treatment option for stress urinary incontinence. Further studies with longer follow up are needed to confirm its long term efficacy

Sarcopenia and its determinants among Iranian elderly (SARIR): study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The elderly populations increase in world because of improved health status in communities, so health and independency of seniors has become and will be one of the main priorities of public health systems.</p> <p>Ageing have been associated with changes in body composition, including loss of muscle mass, loss of bone mass and increase fat mass. Involuntary age related loss of muscle mass, sarcopenia,has been linked to functional impairment and physical disability. Several definitions for sarcopenia have been presented based on the method of measuring body composition, but an internationally accepted definition doesn’t presently exist yet.</p> <p>In 2010, the European working group on sarcopenia developed a new definition for sarcopenia according to measure muscle mass and muscle function. Several studies have been done about sarcopenia in world, but to our knowledge this study is the first in Iran which is one of the largest countries of the Middle East that faces a fast growing elderly population. The aim of this study is to evaluate sarcopenia and related risk factors in Iran according new definition of sarcopenia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study will be conducted in two phase among elderly men and women over 55 years in the 6^th district of TehranThe first phase will be a population-based cross-sectional study to determine the frequency of sarcopenia in the study population, and to conduct case finding for the second phase. The second phase will be a case–control study to comparison the metabolic and inflammatory factors in sarcopenic and non sarcopenic groups.</p> <p>The association between sarcopenia and major dietary pattern will be evaluated using factor analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study is the first study that evaluates sarcopenia and its risk factor in Iranian elderlies.</p> <p>We discuss details of how we collect the data and appropriate instruments to measure muscle mass, muscle power and muscle strength, and suitable cut- off to define sarcopenia in Iranian elderlies. We believe the result of our study can be useful to health policy makers prepare the necessary infrastructure for elderly health improvements and increase the quality of life in geriatric.</p

The Effect of Magnesium Supplementation on Primary Insomnia in the Elderly

Background and Aim: Nearly 50% of the elderly have insomnia, with difficulty in going to sleep, oversleeping, or feeling unrefreshed on waking up. With aging, several changes can occur that place one at risk of insomnia. The objective of the present study was to determine the efficacy of magnesium supplementation -the natural NMDA antagonist and GABA agonist- to improve insomnia in the elderly. Materials and Methods: A double blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 46 elderly subjects, randomly allocated into the magnesium and the placebo group and received 500 mg magnesium and placebos daily for 8 weeks, respectively. Questionnaires of insomnia severity index, physical activity, and sleep-log were completed at baseline and after the intervention period. Anthropometric and dietary confounding factors were obtained using 24h recall for 3 days. Blood samples were taken at baseline and after the intervention period for analysis of serum magnesium, renin, melatonin, and cortisol. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (V. 19) and N4 software P-value<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: No significant differences were observed in assessed variables between the two groups at the baseline. According to the present research magnesium supplementation significantly increased sleep time (P=0.002), sleep efficiency (P=0.03), concentration of serum renin (P<0.001) and melatonin (P=0.007) besides, it significantly decreased ISI score (P=0.006), sleep onset latency (P=0.02), and serum cortisol concentration increase (P=0.008) in the magnesium group. Although total sleep time (P=0.37) , waking up length of time (P=0.08), and serum magnesium concentration P=0.06) did not reveal any significant difference. Conclusion: Supplementation of magnesium appears to improve different measures effective in insomnia in the elderly

Determinants of Self-Perceived Health in Iranian Children and Adolescents: the CASPIAN IV Study

Background: Health status is an individual’s relative level of wellness and illness. Self-Perceived Health (SPH) is a single item considered as a health indicator for national and international survey. The aim of this study was to evaluate the SPH measure and its determinants in a National sample of Iranian children and adolescents.   Materials and Methods:  This National study was performed as the fourth National survey of a school‑based surveillance program entitled the Childhood and Adolescence Surveillance and Prevention of Adult Non-communicable Disease (CASPIAN‑IV) study. 14,880 students aged 6-18 years old selected from 30 provinces of Iran by a multistage Cluster and stratified sampling method. Two sets of valid and reliable questionnaires were completed for students and their parents.   Results : Overall 13,846 participated in the present studywith 90.6 % participation. In this study, 80.5 % of boys and 79.4% of girls reported good SPH (95% confidence interval (CI), 79.3-81.6 versus 78.1-80.6, respectively). According to the living area, 79.5% from urban and 81.1% from rural area declared good SPH (95% CI, 78.6-80.5 versus 79.2-82.8, respectively). In the multivariate model, the subjects who had healthy weight compared with excess weight had significantly higher SPH (OR: 1.36; 95% CI, 1.17-1.59). Also, the subjects with high Socio-economic status (SES) had higher odds of SPH (odds ratio [OR], 1.23; 95% CI, 1.06-1.41).   Conclusion: Our results showed that SPH can be influenced by both demographic and life style related characteristics among study population. This association was stronger for SPH and academic success, talking with both parents and having normal body image respectively

The association between depression, socio-economic factors and dietary intake in mothers having primary school children living in Rey, south of Tehran, Iran

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>According to the WHO report released in 2000, about 121 million people worldwide suffer from depression. The present study aimed to explore factors influencing depression in mothers from Rey, South of Tehran, Iran; who had elementary school children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The cross-sectional survey was conducted in spring 2010. Four hundred thirty mothers who had elementary school children, were selected through a two stage cluster sampling. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess depression in the mothers and a 24-hour food recall was used to collect information regarding their dietary intake. General information regarding economic condition and socio-economic status were also gathered using a questionnaire. The data was analyzed using chi-square, one-way analysis of variance and simple regression tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In our study, 51.4% of the mothers suffered from depression. There was an inverse correlation between the educational level of the mothers and the heads of household, their occupational status, their marital status, their socio-economic condition and depression. Conversely, any increase in the family size worsened the depression. The daily intake of different macronutrients, except for fat, was lower in individuals of depressed group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study emphasized the fact that more attention should be paid to the educational level and economic condition of the family in order to reduce maternal depression. Family size also plays an important role in this regard.</p

Association of junk food consumption with high blood pressure and obesity in Iranian children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-IV Study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the association of junk food consumption with hypertension and obesity in a national sample of Iranian children and adolescents. METHODS: This nationwide study was conducted in 2011-2012 among 14,880 students, aged 6-18 years, selected by cluster sampling from 30 provinces. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) were measured. Junk food was divided into four categories, including salty snacks, sweets, sweetened beverages, and fast food. Subjects reported how many times they had consumed each item (daily, weekly, and seldom). RESULTS: The intake of sweets was significantly associated with anthropometric indices and BP levels. Moreover, a significant association was found between fast food consumption, BP levels, and anthropometric indices (except for WHtR and WHR). Sweet beverages consumption was significantly associated with anthropometric indices; however, the consumption of salty snacks was only significantly associated with height, HC, and WHR. The risk of general obesity (OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.65-0.87) and abdominal obesity (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.72-0.92) among participants who seldom consumed sweets was less than those who consumed daily. Also, the risk of general obesity (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.74-0.97) among students that seldom consumed sweetened beverages was less than subjects who consumed them on a daily basis. CONCLUSION: It was found that junk food consumption increased the risk of both general and abdominal obesity; therefore, consumption of junk food should be reduced via restricting TV advertisements and increasing taxes on junk foods

Association between cardiometabolic risk factors and COVID-19 susceptibility, severity and mortality: a review

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.The novel coronavirus, which began spreading from China Wuhan and gradually spreaded to most countries, led to the announcement by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, as a new pandemic. The most important point presented by the World Health Organization about this disease is to better understand the risk factors that exacerbate the course of the disease and worsen its prognosis. Due to the high majority of cardio metabolic risk factors like obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia among the population over 60 years old and higher, these cardio metabolic risk factors along with the age of these people could worsen the prognosis of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) and its mortality. In this study, we aimed to review the articles from the beginning of the pandemic on the impression of cardio metabolic risk factors on COVID-19 and the effectiveness of COVID-19 on how to manage these diseases. All the factors studied in this article, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and obesity exacerbate the course of Covid-19 disease by different mechanisms, and the inflammatory process caused by coronavirus can also create a vicious cycle in controlling these diseases for patients