Background Self-medication is defined as taking medications without the physician’s prescription. It is a worldwide public health problem, especially in countries with limited resources. Although self-medication can reduce waiting time and save money, it may carry some potential risks, e.g., antibiotic resistance or inappropriate management with subsequent complication. A limited number of self-medication studies have been conducted in Egypt. Objectives To determine the prevalence of self-medication practices and to identify the factors associated with self-medication Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 patients. The sample was randomly selected from those who attended the El-Mahsama family practice center, Ismailia, Egypt, from November 2018 to February 2019. The center is affiliated to the Suez Canal University and provides preventive and curative services to a rural community. The participants were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire including sociodemographic scale and self-medication knowledge and behavior. Data was analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistical methods. Results Frequency of self-medication among the study sample has reached 96%. More than half of the participants (53.6%) reported that the first reason behind using self-medication was cost saving. Meanwhile, the most prevalent conditions that make them use these medications by themselves were headaches (17%), aches and pain (other than headache) (39.2%), and fevers (11.8%). The most frequent self-administered drugs were analgesics (59.5%) and antibiotics (23.5%). Conclusion Prevalence of self-medication is high among all socioeconomic levels of patients attending the El-Mahsama family practice center, which serves a rural community in Ismailia governorate, Egypt.

Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease with debilitating complications. Patients with diabetes are recommended to take various self-management decisions and carry out complex care activities. Diabetes self-management education (DSME) and support help people with diabetes to take these decisions and activities to improve health outcomes. DSME may serve as the basis to minimize and avoid catastrophic diabetes-related complications and the resulting financial and personal costs associated with this disorder. We aimed to assess the effect of diabetes self-management education program on glycemic control on patients with diabetes. A quasi-experimental pre-post study was conducted at the family medicine clinic in Suez Canal University hospital, Ismailia, Egypt. A total of 116 patients with uncontrolled DM were recruited by a simple random technique after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Participants were subjected to a 12-week health education program (1 session/week). The sessions focused on areas of diabetes self-management based on the American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines. The glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was assessed at baseline and again at the end of the program. Also, self-care activities were evaluated pre-post intervention using the Arabic version of the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) instrument which measured the activities related to diet, exercise, blood sugar testing, foot care, and medications. Results The mean age of participants was 47 years (± 11.54), male patients represented 54%. About two-thirds (67%) were from urban areas and came from a middle socioeconomic level. About half of the participants (51.7%) were diagnosed as diabetics for 5–10 years duration. More than half (52.7%) were on combination therapy of insulin and oral antidiabetic drugs. After the intervention program, there was a statistically significant decrease in HbA1c level (p value < 0.001), and 21% of the participants reached the ADA treatment goal for HbA1c below 7. Conclusion Appropriate DSME programs are practical and have a benefit to patients with diabetes.

Using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection, whole body extracts of the bulb mite, Rhizoglyphus echinopus (Fumouze and Robin), were found to contain the biogenic amines dopamine and octopamine at concentrations of 4.3 +/- 0.6 and 2.3 +/- 1.4 ng g-1 wet weight, respectively. Adrenaline, noradrenaline, tyramine, N-methyldopamine, N-acetyldopamine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine, if present, were below the limits of detectability. This is the initial demonstration of the presence of octopamine in a mite species.

Faba bean (Vicia faba, Giza 40) seedlings were subjected to some stress elicitors such as biotic due to infection with Botrytis cinerea (5x10 5 spores ml-1) and abiotic due to the herbicide metribuzin (1.0 kg ha-1) or sludge (150 g l-1). During the subsequent 11 days, there were differential decreases in fresh and dry weights and in protein content of faba shoots and roots; the magnitude of decrease augmented with the progress of time. The decreases were greatest with B. cinerea while sludge was the least reductive. At the same time, there were significant increases in anthocyanin content as well as in activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), tyrosine ammonia lyase (TAL) and chalcone isomerase (Cl). On the contrary, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione Stransferase (GST) were significantly increased in shoots and roots of treated seedlings. On the other hand, the crude extracts of treated seedlings exhibited an inhibitory action towards some bacterial species; the inhibition was most pronounced towards Bacillus cereus followed by Klebsiella pneumonia, Bacillus subtilis and finally Micrococcus roseus. Nonetheless, the antibacterial activities were more efficient for extracts derived from seedlings stressed with B. cinerea than sludge while metribuzin had a negative effect. These findings suggest that stress elicitors, particularly biotic stress, could induce faba bean to produce some metabolites with antibacterial activities to withstand these harsh conditions.

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