No abstract

This study showed that the adapted Arabic HHIE-S is a valid and reliable questionnaire for the assessment of handicapping hearing impairment in Egyptian elderly patients.

COPD has a complex spectrum of comorbidities. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy in elderly male patients with COPD correlated with hypercapnia, but not hypoxemia or the disease severity.

Objectives: to analyse in-hospital outcomes and prognostic implications of reduced sodium serum level (S-Na) in patients with acute coronary syndrome including ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non ST elevation myocardial infarction (non-STEMI). Design: A cross sectional study was conducted on elderly patients. Participants: One hundred patients aged > 60 years, both males and females. Setting: Participants were recruited from cardiology intensive care unit in Ain Shams University hospitals. Measurements: All patients had a sodium level determined at time of admission and after 48 hours, serial ECG and cardiac enzymes (creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and CPK-MB fraction) levels. Results: Of 100 patients, 52 patients were admitted with STEMI and 48 with NSTEMI; 73 were hyponatremic (S-Na <135 mEq/L) and 27 were normonatremic (S>or=135 mEq/L). Patients who had hyponatremia were more likely to die or have recurrent myocardial infarction in the next 30 days (p <0.05). Hyponatremia, hypotension on admission, left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), mean level of cardiac enzymes were significantly associated with adverse outcome. On multivariate analysis, hyponatremia was a strong predictor of adverse outcome (odds ratio 2.4, 95% confidence interval). In conclusion, hyponatremia is associated with 30-days adverse outcome in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome.

Medicinal plants represent an important source of novel pharmaceutical products. More than 25% of current medicines are derived from natural substances, and another 25% are structural changes of major substances from natural sources. It is estimated that only 15% of higher plants have been investigated for potentially useful biological activity. In recent years, the search for new therapies has been directed to endophytes, as these microorganisms have produced several new and interesting bioactive metabolites for a variety of uses. Endophytes are organisms that colonize the internal tissues of plants without apparently damaging the host. Endogenous mushrooms from medicinal plants are potential antioxidant resources. The overall goals of the work proposed in this application evaluating antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agents from endophytes isolated from some wild plants in Saudi Arabia.