A significant number of cancer cases are afflicted by gastrointestinal cancers annually. Lifestyle and nutrition have a huge effect on gastrointestinal function, and unhealthy habits have become quite widespread in recent decades, culminating in the rapid growth of gastrointestinal cancers. The most prevalent cancers are lip and mouth cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver and bile duct cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer. Risk factors such as red meat consumption, alcohol consumption, tea, rice, viruses such as Helicobacter pylori and Ebstein Bar Virus (EBV), along with reduced physical activity, predispose the gastrointestinal tract to damage and cause cancer. According to the rapid increase of cancer incidence and late diagnosis of gastrointestinal malignancies, further epidemiological researches remain necessary in order to make appropriate population-based preventive policies. In this study, we reviewed clinical symptoms, risk factors, preventative measures, as well as incidence and mortality rates of gastrointestinal malignancies worldwide with focus on Iranian population.

Background and Objectives:Many diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, are associated with circadian rhythm. This study was performed with the aim of assessing blood pressure in individuals with metabolic syndrome and association of metabolic parameters of this syndrome with blood pressure rhythm. Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients referred to the clinics of Shahid Beheshti and Vali-asr hospitals in Qom city. Among them, 109 patients were selected using census method from April 2014 to completion of the sample size. Data collection was performed using a demographic characteristics checklist and results of 24-hour blood pressure monitoring. data were analyzed using t-test and chi square. Results:In this study, the age range of patients was between 30 to 85 years old with the mean of 53.08±13.82, which 65.1% (71 subjects) were female and 34.9% (38 subjects) were male. Among the woman, 76.1% (54 subjects) and among the men, 71.1% (27 subjects) had nondipper blood pressure (p=0.569). The mean of fasting blood sugar in non-dipper group was 108.39±32.66 and in dipper group was 104.35±18.74 (p=0.537). The prevalence of non-dipper hypertension in patients with diabetes (87%) was significantly higher than non-diabetic patients (65.1%) (p=0.015). Conclusion:The findings of this study showed that distribution of age, sex, and metabolic syndrome parameters, such as blood glucose, obesity (BMI) and plasma lipids in the non-dipper group, were not significantly different from the dipper group, but the prevalence of non-dipper hypertension in diabetic patients was higher.

Background and Objectives: Nutritional awareness and other factors affecting blood pressure, and also perception of self-care in hypertension are important factors for controlling blood pressure. This study aimed to determine the factors affecting self-care in patients with hypertension. Methods:In this descriptive analytical cross-sectional study, 315 hypertensive patients in Qom city, were selected from patients referring to health centers using multistage sampling. The data collection tool was a two-part questionnaire: demographic information and self-care. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA, and Duncan's test. Results:The mean age of the patients was 53.59 years and the duration of the disease was 7.54 years. Only 5.1% of the patients had removed salt from their diet during the whole week, and 27.9% of the patients had performed no sport activities during the week; 4.1% had never used their medicines on time; Self-care status was reported to be poor in 27.9% of the subjects, in 68.6% moderate, and in 3.5% good. The mean self-care score was not significantly different from gender and marital status, and family history, but had a significant difference with education, occupation, family history of high blood pressure, and history of receiving educational program (p<0.05). Moreover, there was a significant reverse correlation between age and self-care (r=-0.273, p<0.001) and between the duration of high blood pressure and self-care (r=-0.28, p=-0.041). Conclusion:According to the results, the status of self-care behaviors in patients with hypertension is not at appropriate level. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize the severity and seriousness of these behaviors and possible complications in the educational program with taking into account the above issue.

Background and Aim: The Coronavirus causes severe contamination and disease by targeting cell antigens. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of ABO blood groups in patients with COVID-19. Materials and Methods: A total of 343 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Ali Ibn Abi Taleb in Rafsanjan City, Iran, in the first half of 2020 were selected upon their availability. The study included a demographic checklist, blood group, pulmonary involvement by high-resolution CT scan, and severity of the disease based on clinical symptoms. Chisquare tests and logistic regression were used to analyze data with a 0.05 significant level. Results: Of 343 patients studied, 108 patients (31.5%) had blood group B, 102 patients (29.7%) blood group O, 98 patients (28.6%) blood group A, and 35 patients (10.2%) had blood group AB. Regression analysis showed that disease severity in patients with blood group O was 31.9% compared to patients with blood group A. Also, in comparison to blood group A, the pulmonary involvement in patients with blood group B was 16%, blood group AB was 20.6% more, and blood group O was 39.8% less. Conclusion: The non-significant odds of COVID-19 severity were lower in blood group B and higher in blood group O in comparison to blood group A. Also, the severity of pulmonary involvement was lower in blood group O and higher in blood group AB in comparison to blood group A.

Background & aim: One of the most common complications in acute cholecystitis surgery is to identify the risk factors for converting laparoscopic cholecystectomy to open surgery. As a result, the aim of the present study was to determine and evaluate preoperative laboratory findings in predicting the severity of cholecystectomy. Methods:In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 122 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and laparoscopic surgery in Shahid Beheshti, Nekouei and Forqani hospitals from September 2016 to September 2017 were performed. Prior to surgery, patient information such as age, gender, and laboratory findings such as: WBC, ALT, AST, T Bill were registered in the checklist. Finally, the difficulty of the operation was divided into two easy degrees (less than 60 minutes and without complications) and difficult (above 60 minutes with complications such as bleeding or open surgery) and all the information was entered into SPSS software version 22. And was analyzed using Mann-Whitney test (due to lack of normal data distribution). In this study, a significance level of less than 0.05 was considered.Results: 28 patients(22.4%) were male and 97 patients(77.6%) were female. The mean age of patients was 44.66 ±13.85 years. The number of difficult operations was 35(28%) and easy operations were 90(72%) and conversion to open surgery occurred in 3 cases. There was a significant relationship between preoperative laboratory findings between AST(p= 0.34), T Bill(p= 0.008), WBC(p=0.0001) and operative severity, but between ALT(p=0.065). no significant relationship was found with the difficulty of cholecystectomy. Conclusion:The results indicated that preoperative laboratory findings could provide valuable data in predicting the difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Conversely, in a significant number of cases, the matching of preoperative laboratory findings with surgical findings is unsatisfactory. In this group of patients, the difficulty of the operation and the need for open surgery can only be assessed during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.