Pak J Med Sci
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To determine frequency of hepatitis-C in dialysis patients at start of hemodialysis, seroconversion from HCV negative to HCV positive over study duration and factors affecting seroconversion. ⋯ Frequency of HCV seroconversion among chronic hemodialysis patient is found to be 53.37%. Arteriovenous access, number of dialysis, reuse of dialyzer and blood transfusions are important risk factors.
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To determine the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and lipid profile in patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) attending a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar. ⋯ A significant negative correlation between BMI and HDL-C was observed, while the correlation between BMI and LDL-C was observed to be insignificant. HDL-C was found significantly higher in patients with normal BMI. These results are important to indicate that there is modest impact of BMI on lipid profile. Therefore, assessment and management for altered blood lipids should not be based on a patient's body weight or BMI.
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This study determined whether there is a statistically significant difference between efficient and inefficient Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in terms of health indicators using fuzzy data envelopment analysis (FDEA). ⋯ This study shows the number of physicians was the most important determinant affecting the efficiency of a country's healthcare system. Inefficient countries had a greater mean for number of physicians. Thus, inefficient countries consume more resources than efficient ones.
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Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease and a major public health problem in the Middle East countries including Saudi Arabia. This study has evaluated the seroprevalence of human brucellosis in Wadi Al Dawaser region of Central Saudi Arabia. ⋯ A seroprevalence of 8.6% of human brucellosis was documented from this rural region. This is the first report from Wadi Al Dawaser. Frequent surveillance among risk group, vaccination of livestock, creating awareness and health education among the public and school children are recommended.
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To investigate the correlations of levels of serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) with cytokines including interleukin (IL)-18, IL-6 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and bone material density in patients with osteoporosis d. ⋯ Patients with osteoporosis have decreased level of IGF-1 but increased level of ET-1, and they are closely related to cytokines and bone mineral density and may participate in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis.