BackgroundInfertility patients are a vulnerable group that often seeks a non-medical solution for their failure to conceive. World-wide, women use CAM for productive health, but only a limited number of studies report on CAM use to enhance fertility. Little is known about traditional and religious forms of therapies that are used in relation to conventional medicine in Turkey. We investigated the prevalence and types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) used by infertile Turkish women for fertility enhancement.MethodsA face-to-face questionnaire inquiring demographic information and types of CAM used for fertility enhancement were completed by hundred infertility patients admitted to a primary care family planning centre in Van, Turkey between January and July 2009.ResultsThe vast majority of infertile women had used CAM at least once for infertility. CAM use included religious interventions, herbal products and recommendations of traditional "hodja's" (faith healers). Of these women, 87.8% were abused in the last 12 months, 36.6% felt not being supported by her partner and 80.5% had never spoken with a physician about CAM.ConclusionsInfertile Turkish women use complementary medicine frequently for fertility enhancement and are in need of information about CAM. Religious and traditional therapies are used as an adjunct to, rather than a substitute for, conventional medical therapy. Physicians need to approach fertility patients with sensitivity and should be able to council their patients about CAM accordingly.

We aimed to analyze the diagnostic value of mean platelet volume and platelet distribution width, which are also known as the markers of platelet count, in acute and perforated appendicitis. The data of 202 patients who applied to general surgery clinic in Mustafa Kemal University Hospital from 2007 to 2012 with acute appendicitis were analyzed retrospectively. The findings were separated to two groups due to the perforation status (perforated vs. non-perforated). Age, sex, leukocyte, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean platelet volume, and platelet distribution width were examined. The mean age of the patients was 35.8. Twenty-one of all cases were perforated appendicitis (10.4 %), and the rest was acute appendicitis (non-perforated) (n = 181, 89.6 %). The mean platelet volume value was 9.8 ± 2.1 fL; mean thrombocyte count, 340.9 × 10(9)/L; and mean platelet distribution width value, 18.3 %. There were statistically significant differences between sex and age, hemoglobin, hematocrit, leukocyte, mean platelet volume, and platelet distribution width. There was a positive correlation between mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, and platelet. Age, leukocyte, platelet, mean platelet volume, and platelet distribution width were higher in cases with perforation as a comparison with non-perforated cases. We think that mean platelet volume and platelet distribution width may be valuable markers to detect the risk of perforation in early periods of acute appendicitis.

Increased information about fevers geared towards the caregivers of children, particularly mothers, would prevent the unnecessary treatment of children, as well as minimising delayed and insufficient responses to fever.

To evaluate the Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) levels in children diagnosed with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), during attack and attack-free periods. The records of a total of 117 children with FMF, diagnosed using the Tel-Hashomer criteria, have been scanned. The study consisted of 53 patients during an attack (group 1), 64 patients in attack-free period (group 2), and 57 healthy controls (group 3). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, white blood cell count, platelet count, and MPV levels were retrospectively recorded. The MPV and platelet values in FMF patients during attack (group 1) and FMF patients during attack-free periods (group 2) have been found to be significantly higher than those of the health control group (group 3). Positive correlation has been found between the MPV and platelet values in Group 1 and the disease's severity score (r = 0.224, and r = 0.268, respectively). Positive correlation (r = 0.528, and r = 0.485, respectively) has been also identified between MPV and blood platelet count in patients in Group 1 and 2. No correlation was found between the Colchicine treatment period and MPV (r = -0.005). The MPV values in the complete group of FMF diagnosed children have been found to be much higher compared to those in healthy children. As a consequence, we consider the MPV value as a useful marker that demonstrates the risk of early stage atherosclerosis in children with FMF.

This study is designed to observe the effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on doxorubucine-induced cardiac toxicity in rats both histologically and biochemically. Totally 32 rats divided equally into four groups were studied. The first group received only 200 mg/kg NAC intraperitoneal (i.p.) once every 24 h for 5 days (group 1); the second group received 20 mg/kg doxorubucine (DOX) i.p. single dose plus NAC 200 mg/kg i.p. once every 24 h for 5 days (group 2); the third group received DOX 20 mg/kg DOX i.p. single dose (group 3) and the fourth group, which is also the control group, received saline (group 4). Following 24 h of the final dose, blood samples were drawn from a portal vein and heart tissue were obtained. Tissue thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and nitric oxide (NO) levels were highest in the DOX group. In the DOX-treated rats, serum TBARS, NO, aspartate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase levels were highest when compared with other groups. Except for serum superoxide dismutase levels, all other parameters differed significantly between the DOX plus NAC group and the DOX group. In the DOX plus NAC group, general architecture was preserved better than the DOX group and myofibril loss was minimal compared with the DOX group. NAC demonstrated, both biochemically and histologically, to be effective in the prevention of DOX-induced cardiotoxicity in rat models. Evaluation of NAC's effect on DOX toxicity warrants further clinical trials on cancer patients.