This study was designed to analyse postural aberrations of the back and lower back region in patients with acute and chronic low back pain and to investigate the accordance of clinical and radiological assessments. Fifty patients with acute and 50 with chronic low back pain and 50 controls were studied and a detailed spinal physical examination was performed. In addition, the angles of thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis and sacral inclination were assessed radiologically. Differences among the three groups, correlations of radiological parameters with each other and with clinical parameters such as age, gender and body mass index, and the accordance of clinical and radiological postural assessments were investigated. It was concluded that there were no statistically significant differences among the groups for angles of thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis and sacral inclination; however, we found significant correlations among all radiological parameters, especially between lumbar lordosis and sacral inclination. Both lumbar lordosis and sacral inclination were increased with body mass index, and lumbar lordosis and thoracic kyphosis were increased with age. Clinical assessments of thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were not in accordance with radiological assessments.

Osteoporosis has recently been recognized as a major public health problem by some governments and health care providers. Despite significant progress in knowledge about osteoporosis, public awareness is required for effective management if precautions are to be taken. The aim of this study was to evaluate the educational status of osteoporotic individuals, and their awareness about the disease and sources of information. We also aimed to compare the variables between the geographical regions of the country, since significant differences exist in socioeconomic status and lifestyle within the same cultural context. This multicenter study was carried out in eight cities located in six different geographical regions between September 2001 and January 2002. To our knowledge, this is the first multicenter study in Turkey evaluating the relationship between awareness of osteoporotic patients and other variables such as educational level and economic factors. Ten centers took part in this study and consecutive patients with either femoral or lumbar T-scores below -2.5 SD were enrolled into the study group. Bone mineral density was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Patients were interviewed using a questionnaire on past medical history, education, awareness about their disease and risk factors for osteoporosis. A total of 540 women (93.8%) and 36 men (6.3%) were included in the study. Fifty-four percent of patients declared that they were aware of osteoporosis. With regard to sources of information, 56.8% of patients reported physicians as the main source of information. Awareness of the patients was negatively correlated with age (P=0.025, r=-0,94) but positively correlated with education (P=0.0001, r=0.327), level of physical activity (P=0.001, r=143), calcium intake (P=0.005, r=119) and modern clothing style (P=0.0001, r=309). Educational status of the patients was negatively correlated with BMI (P=0.0001, r=-283) and positively correlated with physical activity (P=0.0001, r=268), modern clothing style (P=0.0001, r=600) and smoking (P=0.0001, r=273). Regional comparison of female patients demonstrated that significant differences exist in terms of educational status, clothing style, smoking, level of physical activity, calcium intake, and knowledge about osteoporosis. As a result, education has profound effects on awareness about osteoporosis and many aspects of human behavior, such as calcium intake, physical activity, clothing style and smoking. Significant disparities may be observed between the geographical regions of the same country.

INTRODUCTION: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common public health problem. The condition is characterized by a scarcity of biological markers; thus, diagnostic definitions and classifications have relied to a large extent on symptoms, gastrointestinal manifestations of patients. While thyroid disorder should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with IBS symptoms, it is not clear if thyroid disturbances amongst patients with IBS are high enough to warrant routine screening. This study was done to see the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in IBS patients and hence its significance

Study design: Occlusion of the infrarenal abdominal aorta with administration of pentoxifylline was applied to adult rabbits, followed by removal of aortic clamp and reperfusion. Tissue levels of cytokines, lipid peroxides, and antioxidant enzymes were assayed and compared within groups. Objectives: To examine the e ect of pentoxifylline (PTX) on cytokine levels, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant enzymes in a rabbit model of spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury induced by aortic occlusion. Setting: Isparta, Turkey. Methods: Rabbits were randomly allocated into four groups of sham laparotomy (SHAM), sham laparotomy with PTX administration (SHAM+PTX), aortic occlusion and reperfusion (AOR), aortic occlusion and reperfusion with PTX administration (AOR+PTX). An intravenous bolus of 50 mg/kg PTX was given just before aortic cross clamping. An atraumatic microvascular clamp was then placed on the abdominal aorta immediately distal to the left renal artery for 30 min. PTX was infused at a rate of 0.5 mg/kg/min during the aortic occlusion. Animals were subjected to 120 min of reperfusion after removal of the aortic clamp. All animals were sacri®ced at the end of reperfusion. The lumbosacral segments of spinal cords were quickly harvested and stored at 7788C for biochemical assays of IL-6, TNF-a, MDA, SOD, and CAT levels. Di erences among groups were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance followed by a post hoc Tukey's honestly signi®cant di erence test. Results: No di erences in mean levels of IL-6, TNF-a, MDA, SOD, and CAT were noted between SHAM and SHAM+PTX groups (P40.05). There was a signi®cant increase in all biochemical parameters in the AOR group (P50.05). Administration of PTX signi®cantly attenuated the levels of all biochemical parameters in the AOR+PTX group (P50.05). Conclusion: PTX pretreatment attenuated ischemia-reperfusion induced spinal cord injury in a rabbit model, in terms of biochemical parameters of ischemia and reperfusion.

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