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  Background & Objectives : Urolithiasis is the third common urinary disease. While, relationship between the urinary stones and diet is known to some extent, but there are controversies about it. The aim of this study was to determine the association between food habit, nutrients intake and kinds of urinary stone disease.

  Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive analytical study was performed on 150 patients (91 male and 59 females) with urinary stone disease in Ardabil during 2008-2009. Data of urinary stones analysis, type of stone in the graph, type of stone, preventive emprise and type of drinking water were recorded. Food data were recorded using 24-hour dietary recalls three days in week and food frequency questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS, Food Processor III software, and ANOVA Statistical program .

 Results: Findings showed that the most common and lowest form of urinary stone disease in men and women were calcium oxalate and ammonium phosphate, respectively. There was significant inverse association between beta-carotene intake and the percentage of uric acid stone disease (p<0.05). We observed significant relationship between vitamin A and folacin intake with percentage of uric acid stone disease (p<0.05). There was significant relationship between consumption of cheese and pickles with calcium phosphate stone disease (p<0.05). There was no significant association between other foods and nutrients intake with types of urinary stone disease .

 Conclusion: This study showed the consumption of some nutrients including folacin, vitamin A and some foods such as cheese was associated with the incidence of urinary stone disease. Therefore, taking accurate diet could possibly prevent the incidence of urinary stone diseases.

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Background & objectives: In this study, we aimed to determine the extent of possible genetic influence on cardio-metabolic risk factors and to evaluate the familial aggregation of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a Tehranian population.

Methods: In a cross-sectional observational study, the anthropometry, blood pressure andbiochemical measurements were examined in each member of 566 nuclear families. The role of risk factors in MetS and the Pearson partial correlation between MetS and lipid related factors were calculated.

Results: The prevalence of MetS among the mothers and girls was 78.4 and 12.9%, respectively. Grandmothers had the highest incidence of atherosclerotic risk factors. Four factors were found which explained 77.7% of the overall variance. Recurrence risk ratio among siblings was 5.61 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.15-9.97). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of proband’s MetS status was 1.33 (95% CI: 1.06–1.67) and adjusted OR for the four factors to predict MetS were all significant with the obesity factor having the highest risk (OR: 7.50, CI: 5.91–9.52) followed by dyslipidemia/hyperglycemia factor (OR: 4.86, CI: 4.03–5.87), and blood pressure factor (OR: 4.20, CI: 3.51-5.02).

Conclusion: The present findings confirm the idea of familial aggregation and the recurrence risk ratio in MetS traits. Sibling correlations were higher than other relatives indicating the high genetic factors of these quantitative components in which a high risk of MetS (two-fold) was found

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Background & objectives: One of the most proven trajectories for analyzing the drug consumption patterns in the community is to assess the prescriptions. Using the antibiotics for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases not only leads to the loss of pathogens but also causes various complications, the most important of which is the drug resistance. The aim of current study was investigating the different antibiotics prescript by general practitioners (GPs) for outpatients in Ardabil city.

Methods: This study is designed based on the cross-sectional method. The number of 2,000 copies (according to Morgan) from total of 526000 copies sent to Ardabil health insurance during the 4 seasons of 2013 were randomly evaluated. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, ANOVA and T-Test using spss software. The P ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: In this study the average drug per prescription was 3.6 and 54.9% of the prescriptions included antibiotics so that the cefixime, azithromycin, Co-amoxiclave and penicillin 6.3.3 were the most frequently prescribed antibiotics, respectively. The highest prescriptions belonged to penicillins (39.4%) cephalosporins (27.7%) and macrolides (18.3%). The most expensive antibiotic was cefixime tablet (32% of the total cost). The most of the antibiotics were prescribed to be taken orally (tablets or capsules). The mean price of each prescription was 74539±71050 Rials. The highest rate of antibiotic prescription was related to the autumn and then winter and there was a significant relationship between the the number of antibiotics in different seasons of the year (p = 0.005).

Conclusion: The average drugs of each prescription are in accordance with local statistics, but much higher than the global figures. The frequency of antibiotics prescription was higher than the global, several Middle Eastern and even African countries’ indices but was lower than the average level of some regions in the country. The pattern of prescribing antibiotics among the Ardabil GPs shows the more drugs in number and expensive broad-spectrum. The average price of prescripts was higher than the national average. These findings suggest that prescription and using antibiotics is not desirable in Ardabil.

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Background & objectives: The relationship between dietary patterns and esophageal cancer has not been documented yet. However, recent studies have shown that the Western dietary pattern is associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer. The current study was performed a comparative evaluation of the food habits and serum nitrate level in patients with esophageal cancer and healthy individuals in Gorgan city.
Methods: In a case-control study, 44 patients with esophageal cancer (the case group) and 44 healthy subjects (control group) were selected for one year in Gorgan city. Anthropometric factors were measured, and then demographic and dietary data were recorded using general and food frequency questionnaires (FFQs), respectively. Fasting blood samples from both groups were collected to measure serum nitrate levels. Data were analyzed by independent t-test, Chi-square, Fisher, and Monte Carlo tests.
Results: the mean weight, body mass index (BMI) and serum nitrate levels were statistically lower in the case group than in control group (p<0.05). Salt intake, smoking cigarette or hookah was higher in patients than in control group (p<0.05). Based on nutritional habits , consumption of bread , rice, saturated fats, hot tea, sausages and industrial soft drinks was statistically higher in the patient group than control group, but intake of vegetables, fruits, unsaturated fats, honey and grilled meat was lower in patients  than control group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Consumption of fast foods, hot tea and saturated fats may be associated with esophageal cancer. Serum nitrate levels were lower in patients than control group, probably indicating the need for further research in this field.

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Background & objectives: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a globally widespread infection that spreads mainly through sexual contact, mother to child and intravenous drug use. The disease can vary from an asymptomatic state to advanced immune deficiency and AIDS-related opportunistic infections and complications. Patients may be diagnosed at different stages of the disease. In this study, we aimed to analyze the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with HIV and its consequences during the past 10 years (2005-2014) in Ardabil city.
Methods: In this descriptive and case series study, patients with HIV (including live and dead patients) referring to the Ardabil behavioral counseling center were included during 2005-2014 years. The checklist containing demographic data, modes of transmission, time of diagnosis, clinical and therapeutic problems during this period, etc. was prepared for each patient. In dead patients, the causes of death as well as the interval between diagnosis and death were investigated.
Results: In this study, 60 patients with HIV were evaluated, the mean age was 42.96 years, 76.7% of patients were male and 48.2% were intravenous drug users. In 39.7% of cases, patients have probably been infected through intravenous injection and 33.3% by sexual contact. The mean CD4 + lymphocyte cell count of patients was 252 cells per ml. The most common early symptoms of the disease were fever (63.33%), aphthous stomatitis (35%) and diarrhea (28.33%). In 7 cases (50%), tuberculosis was the most common opportunistic infection. 6 patients (10%) had coinfection with hepatitis B or C. 28 patients (46.6%) died within the time of study. The median time from diagnosis to death was 44.84±39.65 months and cardiorespiratory failure was the most common cause of death among patients.
Conclusion: This study showed that most patients were middle-aged and intravenous drug use was the most common risk factors for HIV. The most common way of transmission was intravenous injection and hepatitis C and tuberculosis were the most important comorbidities, respectively. Raising community awareness about the disease, early diagnosis and appropriate care during illness are basic measures to deal with this global problem.