The relationship between air pollution exposure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Ahvaz, Iran

BACKGROUND: Air pollutants can have harmful effects on human health. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is represented by a spectrum of obstructive airway diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between air pollution exposure and COPD in Ahvaz, Iran. METHODS: The present epidemiological study was performed in Ahvaz city. Data were obtained from the Ahvaz Department of Environment (ADoE). Sampling was performed for 24 hours in 4 stations. Raw data processing was performed using Microsoft Excel software, and after the impact of meteorological parameters, data were converted as input file into the model. Data analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that the annual average PM10 concentration during 2012 was 727 μg/m3. According to the research findings, the two stations of Bureau of Meteorology and the city center had the highest and the lowest PM10 concentrations during 2012, respectively. The results showed a strong correlation between visits to a hospital due to COPD and PM10 emission in Ahvaz city. Approximately, 6.2% of hospital admissions for COPD occurred when the PM10 concentration was higher than 30 μg/m3. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study showed that the total mean of particle matter was higher than the standard concentration. The higher percentage of hospital admission could be the result of the dust storm, higher average PM10, and sustained high concentration days in Ahva

The relationship between air pollution exposure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Ahvaz, Iran

BACKGROUND: Air pollutants can have harmful effects on human health. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is represented by a spectrum of obstructive airway diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between air pollution exposure and COPD in Ahvaz, Iran. METHODS: The present epidemiological study was performed in Ahvaz city. Data were obtained from the Ahvaz Department of Environment (ADoE). Sampling was performed for 24 hours in 4 stations. Raw data processing was performed using Microsoft Excel software, and after the impact of meteorological parameters, data were converted as input file into the model. Data analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that the annual average PM10 concentration during 2012 was 727 μg/m3. According to the research findings, the two stations of Bureau of Meteorology and the city center had the highest and the lowest PM10 concentrations during 2012, respectively. The results showed a strong correlation between visits to a hospital due to COPD and PM10 emission in Ahvaz city. Approximately, 6.2% of hospital admissions for COPD occurred when the PM10 concentration was higher than 30 μg/m3. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study showed that the total mean of particle matter was higher than the standard concentration. The higher percentage of hospital admission could be the result of the dust storm, higher average PM10, and sustained high concentration days in Ahva

Health endpoints caused by PM10 Exposure in Ahvaz, Iran

PM10 emissions are defined as PM emissions that are less than ten microns in diameter. Long exposure of suspended particles as showed in his personal life. PM10 can cause harmful health effects such as the prevalence of bronchitis and reduced lung function in children and adults. Major sources of emissions are causing by human intervention particulate road traffic, stationary combustion and industrial processes. The aim of this study was to evaluate health- effects of carbon monoxide exposure in Ahvaz city (located in south-western Iran), during 2012. PM10 data were collected through Ahvaz Meteorological Organization and the Department of Environment. Raw data processing by Excel software includes (instruction set correction of averaging, coding and filtering) and after the impact of meteorological parameters was converted as input file to the Air Q model. Finally, respiratory mortality, cardiovascular death and hospital admissions respiratory disease of PM10 exposure was calculated. The results showed that the approximately 17% of total respiratory mortality, cardiovascular death and hospital admissions respiratory disease happened when the PM10 concentrations were more than 30μg/m3. The results showed that the concentration of PM10 was related to Ahvaz with an annual average 321 μg/m3. Sum of cardiovascular and respiratory death attributed to PM10 were 1055 and 189 cases in 2012. The higher percentage of these deaths perhaps could be the result of higher average PM10 or because of sustained high concentration days in Ahvaz. Therefore, the higher relative risk value can depict mismanagement in urban air quality

Cardiovascular deaths related to Carbon monoxide Exposure in Ahvaz, Iran

Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas that emitted from combustion. Carbon monoxide can cause harmful health effects by reducing oxygen delivery to the body's organs (like the heart and brain), tissues, fibrinolysis effects, abortion and death at extremely high levels. The aim of this study was to assess health- effects of carbon monoxide exposure in Ahvaz city. Data were collected through Ahvaz Meteorological Organization and Department of Environment. Raw data processing by Excel software includes (instruction set correction of averaging, coding and filtering) and after the impact of meteorological parameters was converted as input file to the Air Q model. Finally, health-effects of carbon monoxide exposure were calculated. The results showed that the concentration of carbon monoxide was 7.41 mg/m3 in Ahvaz as annual average. Sum of total numbers of deaths attributed to carbon monoxide was 16 cases within a year. Approximately 4.3% of total Cardiovascular deaths happened when the carbon monoxide concentrations was more than 20 mg/m3. This could be due to higher fuel consumption gasoline in vehicles, Oil industry, steel and Heavy industries in Ahwaz. Mortality and Morbidity risks were detected at current ambient concentrations of air pollutants

Correction to: Health risk assessment on human exposed to heavy metals in the ambient air PM10 in Ahvaz, southwest Iran

Heavy metals (HM) are one of the main components of urban air pollution. Today, megacities and industrial regions in southwest of Iran are frequently suffering from severe haze episodes, which essentially caused by PM10-bound heavy metals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the health risk assessment on human exposed to heavy metals and Zn) in the ambient air PM10 in Ahvaz, southwest Iran. In this study, we estimated healthy people from the following scenarios: (S3) residential site; (S2) high-traffic site; (S1) industrial site in Ahvaz metropolitan during autumn and winter. In the current study, high-volume air samplers equipped with quartz fiber filters were used to sampling and measurements of heavy metal concentration. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was utilized for detection of heavy metal concentration (ng m−3 ). Also, an estimate of the amount of health risk assessment (hazard index) of Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn of heavy metal exposure to participants was used. Result of this study showed that the residential and industrial areas had the lowest and the highest level of heavy metal. Based on the result of this study, average levels of heavy metal in industrial, high-traffic, and residential areas in autumn and winter were 31.48, 30.89, and 23.21 μg m−3 and 42.60, 37.70, and 40.07 μg m−3 , respectively. Based on the result of this study, the highest and the lowest concentration of heavy metal had in the industrial and residential areas. Zn and Pb were the most abundant elements among the studied PM10-bound heavy metals, followed by Cr and Ni. The carcinogenic risks of Cr, Pb, and the integral HQ of metals in PM10 for children and adults via inhalation and dermal exposures exceeded 1 × 10−4 in three areas. Also, based on the result of this study, the values of hazard index (HI) of HM exposure in different areas were significantly higher than standard. The health risks attributed to HM should be further investigated from the perspective of the public health in metropolitans. The result of this study showed increasing exposure concentrations to heavy metal in the studied scenarios have a significant potential for generating different health endpoints, while environmental health management in ambient air can cause disorders in citizenship and causing more spiritual and material costs

Inhibition of PHLPP1/2 phosphatases rescues pancreatic β-cells in diabetes

Pancreatic β-cell failure is the key pathogenic element of the complex metabolic deterioration in type 2 diabetes (T2D); its underlying pathomechanism is still elusive. Here, we identify pleckstrin homology domain leucine-rich repeat protein phosphatases 1 and 2 (PHLPP1/2) as phosphatases whose upregulation leads to β-cell failure in diabetes. PHLPP levels are highly elevated in metabolically stressed human and rodent diabetic β-cells. Sustained hyper-activation of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is the primary mechanism of the PHLPP upregulation linking chronic metabolic stress to ultimate β-cell death. PHLPPs directly dephosphorylate and regulate activities of β-cell survival-dependent kinases AKT and MST1, constituting a regulatory triangle loop to control β-cell apoptosis. Genetic inhibition of PHLPPs markedly improves β-cell survival and function in experimental models of diabetes in vitro, in vivo, and in primary human T2D islets. Our study presents PHLPPs as targets for functional regenerative therapy of pancreatic β cells in diabetes

An evaluation of hospital admission respiratory disease attributed to sulfur dioxide ambient concentration in Ahvaz from 2011 through 2013

There is no doubt that air pollutants have adverse impacts on human health. The main objective of this study was to evaluate hospital admission respiratory disease (HARD) attributed to sulfur dioxide levels in Ahvaz during three successive years. Data was taken from Iranian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The AirQ2,2,3 model is used to quantify the impact of SO2 on inhabitants of Ahvaz and in terms of hospital admission respiratory diseases. This is a kind of statistical model which is based on some epidemiological indices such as relative risk, baseline incidence, and attributable proportion. Sampling was already performed for 24 h in four stations during 2011–2013. Four stations are good representative for residential, high traffic, industry, and background sites which cover the whole area of the Ahvaz city. Regarding to gravimetric scale, raw data of sulfur dioxide was processed using Excel software. Encoding, filtering, and processing were conducted to prepare input file for the Air Q2,2,3 model. After running model,1 Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2 Environmental Technologies Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 3 Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran 4 Razi Teaching Hospital, Clinical Research Development Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 5 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonology, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 6 Nutrition&Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 7 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Yasuj, Iran 8 Research Center for Environmental Pollutants, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran 9 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran 10 The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran 11 Hyperlipidemia Research Center, Department of Laboratory Sciences School of Paramedical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IR, Iran 12 Environmental Research Institute, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Rasht, Iran 13 Department of Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 14 Occupational Hazards Control Research Center and Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health Environmental, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 15 Faculty of Food Science & Technology, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran 16 Student Research Committee, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Environ Sci Pollut Res DOI 10.1007/s11356-016-7447-xoutputs presented in term of hospital admissions respiratory cases. Based on our result, the highest mean and maximum of seasonal and annual levels for sulfur dioxide were observed in 2013. We concluded that obnoxious quality of fuel and some deficiencies in maintenance and operation of industries lead to worse quality of ambient air especially in 2013. Cumulative cases of HARD attributed to sulfur dioxide level at central of relative risk (RR) were estimated 24, 25, and 30 persons for 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively. The finding of this study showed that total mean of sulfur dioxide was higher than standard concentration. We also noticed that wintertime concentrations of sulfur dioxide during three successive years were higher than of those levels in summer

Relationship Between the “Quality of Life” and Symptoms of Depression Among Older Adults

Objectives:&nbsp;With regard to increasing aging population in Iran, depression severely decreases the &ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; in this age group and successively seclusion and getting away from society and social activities will ensue. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between &ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; and depression among the retired older people.&nbsp; Methods & Materials: &nbsp;This cross-sectional and correlational study included 200 retired elderly people who worked in Ahvaz Oil Industry, Iran using convenience sampling method. The data were collected by the quality of life questionnaire (SF-12) and depression questionnaire (GDS) and then analyzed by the Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA, and regression analysis using SPSS version 16.&nbsp; Results: It was found that the older people in the age range of 61&ndash;65 years had the highest frequency (46.5%) and the older people in the age ranges of 71&ndash;75 and 76&ndash;80 years had the lowest frequencies (0% and 5%, respectively). In this study, the mean (SD) age of the participants was 65 (4) years. The older people in different age groups expressed pretty similar &ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; and depression signs and symptoms, and there were no significant differences among them with respect to dependent variables (&ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; and depression) (P>0.05, F=1.57). In terms of education, the highest frequency was seen in the under diploma group (44%), and the lowest frequency was seen in the postgraduate group (1.5%). With regard to the history of internal diseases, the elderly with hypertension had the highest frequency (37%). The mean (SD) score of &ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; among the old subjects was 27.9 (6.4) and depression signs and symptoms was 4.35(4.2). There is a significant and negative relationship between depression and &ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; among the elderly (P<0.001). Moreover, the prediction of depression signs and symptoms is significant based on the dimensions of &ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; (physical and mental dimensions) (P<0.05, F=1.57). There were significant differences between normal elderly people and sick elderly people who suffered from diabetes, hypertension, or cancer with respect to &ldquo;quality of life.&rdquo;&nbsp; Conclusion: Our study results showed a significant relationship between depression and &ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; in the old age. Therefore, the relevant factors to the &ldquo;quality of life&rdquo; among the older people must be considered. The self-confidence in the elderly people can be increased by establishing peaceful relations, involving them in constructive activities, and by promoting hope for their future. Prevention and reducing the causes of depression a well as its treatment can improve the quality of life for the older people.&nbsp

Refusing to Report the Medication Errors and It\'s Effects on Patient\'s Safety in Razi Teaching Hospital during 2014-2015

Background & Aims of the Study: one of the most important health aspects health care systems is patient safety and medication errors can threaten this safety. The purpose of this research was evaluation of refusing to report the medication errors and effect on Patent safety in Razi teaching hospital after healthcare reform during 2014-2015. Materials and Methods: This study is cross-sectional study that has been accomplished in way of descriptive-analytical. The environment of research is Razi teaching hospital of Ahwaz. The population studied consisted of nurses working in different wards of selected hospital. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. The results were analyzed by Excel and SPSS 16.0. Results: The results showed 60% of medication errors report by nurses. The results showed that the most important reasons for not reporting medication errors were related to the managerial factors (3.85 &plusmn; 1.512). This factor can be very important on patent safety. Factors related to the fear of the consequences of reporting 3.80 &plusmn; 1.301 and process of reporting were 3.21 &plusmn; 1.231, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the management factors was important reason not reporting medication errors. Encourage nursing, good drug administration, Training of appropriate, using instruments suitable and decrease direct contact with patient can increase causes report errors. Increase the report of medication errors can help to management these errors and reduction of injures to patients

Letter to the Editor: Applications Air Q Model on Estimate Health Effects Exposure to Air Pollutants

Epidemiologic studies in worldwide have measured increases in mortality and morbidity associated with air pollution (1-3). Quantifying the effects of air pollution on the human health in urban area causes an increasingly critical component in policy discussion (4-6). Air Q model was proved to be a valid and reliable tool to predicts health effects related to criteria&nbsp; pollutants (particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO)), determinate&nbsp; the&nbsp; potential short term effects of air pollution&nbsp; and allows the examination of various scenarios in which emission rates of pollutants are varied (7,8). Air Q software provided by the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health (ECEH) (9). Air Q model is based on cohort studies and used to estimates of both attributable average reductions in life-span and numbers of mortality and morbidity associated with exposure to air pollution (10,11). Application