Background: Hemodialysis (HD) is one of the treatments provided to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. A few studies have investigated the survival rate of HD patients in Iran. Hence, we decided to investigate the survival rate and it is predictors among Iranian ESRD patients. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study conducted in 165 HD patients in Tuyserkan city (Hamadan province) during 20 years from 1996 to 2015. The checklist used to gather information was comprised of patients' demographic and clinical information. The analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier curves, log-rank test, and cox regression model. Results: The most prevalent cause of ESRD was reported to be high blood pressure (32.7%). The probability of survival rate at the end of 1^st, 5^th, and 10^th year was 0.65, 0.16, and 0.05, respectively. Results of multivariate cox regression showed that old age, catheter vascular access, and high hemoglobin level have a negative significant effect on survival of HD patients (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Overall, the survival of HD patients seems to be low in Tuyserkan as compared to other studies. Age, ESRD cause, vascular access, marital status, and hemoglobin level among other factors are proved to have a significant effect on survival probability.

Background: Smoking has deleterious effects on bone mass and is associated with the subsequent development of osteoporosis, particularly in elderly participants. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of smoking in the elderly male smokers. Methods: All male participants aged 60 years and older of the Amirkola cohort who performed bone densitometry entered the study. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) using the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry method. In statistical analysis, the smokers and nonsmokers were compared according to BMD, frequency of low bone mass defined as BMD T-score <−1 at either LS or FN, and the number of bone fractures. SPSS software version 18 was used for analysis. Results: A total of 203 smokers with mean smoking duration of 21.67 ± 17.7 years and the mean number of 36.4 + 15.8 cigarettes per day were compared with 408 nonsmokers. The mean BMD values in LS (0.90 ± 0.14 vs. 0.94 ± 0.19) and FN section (0.87 ± 0.13 vs. 0.89 ± 0.15) and also the frequency of bone fractures were significantly lower, and the frequency of low bone mass at either LS and FN was significantly higher in smokers (P = 0.014, 0.038, 0.003, and 0.004, respectively). In multiple logistic regression analysis, smoking was independently associated with low bone mass by odds ratio of = 2.27 (95% confidence interval: 1.49–3.44). Conclusions: These findings indicate a significant association between low bone mass and bone fracture at either LS or FN in the elderly male smokers.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a prime risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The convincing experimental and clinical evidence indicated that the onset of DM is closely associated with oxidative stress and that the generation of reactive oxygen species increases in both the types of diabetes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of Teucrium polium (TP) hydroalcoholic extract on the blood glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, and oxidative stress markers of the heart and aorta in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Methods: The male Wistar rats assigned into six groups (n = 8 in each group): Control, diabetic, and diabetic rats treated with TP extract (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) or met and metformin (300 mg/kg) formin (300 mg/kg) group, by daily gavage for 6 weeks. Diabetes was induced by injection of STZ (60 mg/kg, i.p). Serum lipids and glucose, malondialdehyde (MDA) level, total thiol level, and also the activities of Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the cardiac and aortic tissues were assessed. Results: TP extract reduced serum glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol. The MDA levels were reduced significantly in all TP-treated groups and metformin. Total thiol levels were improved in the heart and aorta of TP extract-treated groups and metformin compared to the diabetic rats. The activity of SOD in the cardiac and aortic tissues of TP extract- and metformin-treated groups was higher than diabetic group. Conclusions: The results showed that chronic administration of TP in STZ-induced diabetic rats could decrease blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride and also attenuate the oxidative stress in the aortic and cardiac tissues.

Background: Social determinants of health (SDH) provide a platform in improving health society such as safety. Safety is essential for children because it is directly related to the health and development. The objective of this study was to evaluate the current home safety in the capital city of Iran for children below five years by community-based initiative and its association with common SDH variables. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, considering community- and family-based initiative. According this five domains checklist which was including physical, kitchen, bath, toys, and fi rst-aid kit , 200 family home safety were evaluated. Moreover, the relation between children safety and social determinants of health was assessed. Furthermore, the research team designed an attractive record card for each child that was distributed among families by community volunteers. Results: The result was extracted into two age groups: less and more than 6 months. We designed an attractive card for each child and distributed among families by volunteers. It showed that children of age above 6 months had higher home safety score. We found a positive association between mother's education and total safety score. Conclusions: This study was a part of MAZDAK project which means friendly environment for children in Persian word. It showed that an effective way for promoting children safety in the community would be community engagement and family cooperation. As the family education can help reduce children injuries, MAZDAK as a model can been run in the other places to check the effects of SDH on home safety for children. This was an experience of improving community knowledge and behavior about home safety by the parents themselves to improve their children safety environment, and it is going to continue the efficacy of Intervention.

Background: L-arginine is an important precursor for the formation of nitric oxide (NO). According to previous studies, NO function is related to gender. Likewise, chronic renal diseases have lower prevalence in female. Gentamicin (GM) is an aminoglycoside antibiotic. According to some studies, males are more sensitive to GM renal nephrotoxicity. This study attempts to find protective effects of L-arginine on GM nephrotoxicity in male and female rats. Methods: Male and female rats were divided into eight groups: Rats were randomly assigned to 8 groups each including both male and female rats. The first and second groups received vehicle (saline), the third and fourth groups received gentamicin (80 mg/kg), the fifth and sixth groups received L-arginine (150 mg/kg), and finally, seventh and eighth groups received gentamicin+ L- arginine. Next, 9 days after administering drugs, blood samples were collected from the heart. After making sacrifices, the level of blood urea, creatinine (Cr), nitrite, and malondialdehyde (MDA) was measured in serums. Likewise, nitrite and MDA were measured in the homogenized kidney tissue. Results: GM significantly increased serum level of urea and Cr in male and female rats (P < 0.05). However, co-administration of GM + L-arginine significantly did not decrease urea and Cr level in male rats, whereas, in female rats, they significantly reduced (P < 0.05). In response to GM, renal MDA level increased in male and female rats (P < 0.05), and in the presence of GM + L-arginine, the level of MDA significantly decreased in both genders (P < 0.05). Conclusions: L-arginine demonstrated some protective effects in female rats but did not protect against GM nephrotoxicity in male rats for unknown reasons, probably related to the effects of sex hormones which needs further studies to be confirmed.

Objectives: The PEP Family Heart Study is a perspective community-based long-term project for the whole family to improve cardiovascular health aiming to assess and to amend risk factors in children and their parents by lifestyle change. Methods: A total of 48,667 subjects (24,927 adults and 23,740 children) from 3,370 families living in 94% of the elementary school districts of Nuremberg (Germany) participated in this observational study from 1993/1994 -2007/2008. The yearly surveys consisting of personal and family histories, structured interviews on leisure time physical activity and tobacco smoke exposition, physical examinations and nutritional intake as documented by seven days weighed dietary protocols and sustained healthy lifestyle counselling were mainly performed at home. Fasting blood collections for biochemical analyses in the study laboratories, cooking courses and seminars on healthy lifestyle were performed on weekends in central school buildings. Results: Here we report some of the main results demonstrating e.g., that at least one CVD risk factor in a child conferred a 2–4 fold higher risk among their parents, that obese children and adolescents had a nearly five times higher prevalence of hypertension than non-overweight youths. Conclusions: Sustained healthy lifestyle behavior can be implemented in daily life of family members which results in amended nutritional intake and improved cardiometabolic risk factors.

Background: Smoking is a modifiable risk factor for noncommunicable diseases with a wide range of harmful health outcomes. Identification of sociodemographic characteristics of smokers can be a guideline to development of effective intervention proportional to target population. This study aimed to determine smoking pattern and its associated sociodemographic factors in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted based on data from the sixth round of nationwide STEPwise approach to Surveillance (STEPS) survey in the 31 provinces of Iran. A total of 10,834 participants aged ≥15 years were selected through a multistage cluster sampling method. Collecting data was performed via three-step questionnaire (ecological, behavioral risk factors, and physical and biochemical measurements). Data analysis was performed via Epi Info and then SPSS version 21 softwares using descriptive methods and analytical tests. Results: Of all participants, 9.6% were current cigarette smokers, which was significantly more frequent among men than women (21.5% vs. 1.1%, respectively, P < 0.001). Smoking was significantly associated with being self-employed and having under diploma education level (P < 0.05). Of all current cigarette smokers, 8.7% were daily smokers. The mean ± standard deviation of systolic blood pressure and history of cardiovascular symptoms in current smokers were higher than nonsmokers (P = 0.005 and P < 0.001, respectively). Coughing for >4 weeks, frequent wheezing, and shortness of breath were significantly more frequent in current smokers than nonsmokers (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: Our results draw a picture of sociodemographic distribution of smoking pattern to determine the specific characteristics of the target population affecting cigarette smoking and identified specific demographic strategies for preventive and control action plan.

Background: According to the last report of Iran cancer registry, stomach, colorectal, and bladder cancers are the most prevalent cancers. The present study focused on separating the latent risk surface into shared and disease-specific components. Methods: In this study, data consisting of stomach, colorectal, and bladder cancers in 30 provinces of Iran during 2004–2009 are considered. These data are analyzed by polytomous logit model. The incidence of stomach cancer acts as the reference category (the surrogate for smoking). Then, the log odds are decomposed into shared and specific structured spatial and unstructured spatial components. These latent components help to detect spatial patterns of shared and disease-specific risk factors. Results: Central, Southern, Eastern, and Southwestern provinces are supposed as high-risk regions for shared risk factor for colorectal and bladder cancers. This shared risk factor is slightly associated more with bladder than with colorectal cancer. Northern, northwestern, and central regions and also three borderline provinces in southwestern are high-risk regions for colorectal cancer. Central, eastern, southern, and western strip of the country except Ilam are found as the high-risk regions of bladder cancer. Conclusions: After considering known shared risk factor of the three cancers, it turns out that colorectal and bladder cancers have unknown shared risk factor. The significant difference in their lifestyle and eating habits could be an assumption of the risk factor.