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Background and Objective: Anthropometric indeces are the best methods for determining of malnutrition and obesity in children and young adulescent worldwide. This study was designed to compare the physical growth status between Turkman and non-Turkman in rural area in Gorgan in North of Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross – sectional descriptive was done on 551 children of 2-5 years of age, Turkman and 895 of non-Turkman in the rural area of Gorgan North of Iran during autumn 2005. Height, weight and personal identification recorded by questioners. BMI percentile and under -1sd ,-2sd and -3sd from NCHS used for comparison. Data were analyzed by using Chi-Square and T-student tests. Results: Mean±SD of height in female Turkman and non-Turkman were 95.3±8.1 and 90.5±8.4 cm respectivly means±SD of height were 96.0±7.6 and 90.9±8.6 cm in Turkman and non-Turkman, respectively. Male childrens mean±SD of weight in were 14.5±2.4 and 14.2±2.9 and in male Turkman and non-Turkman children respectively. Also means±SD of weight were 15.0±2.03 and 14.5±2.3 cm in Turkman and non-Turkman male children, respectively. Turkman children are about 426 gram heavier and 4.9 cm taller than non-Turkman in all of age groups (P<0.05). Stunting and underweight were observed in 13.2% and 1.9% in Turkman group less than non-Turkman respectively by -2sd criterion. There was a significant differences between two groups by stunting (P<0.05). Obesity and overweight exist in Turkman group 24.5% and 2.6% less than in non-Turkman respectively. The difference in obesity statistically was significant between two groups (P<0.05). Underweight was shown in female more than male (7.2% vs 4.2%) and obesity in female less than male (25.6% vs 28.9%). Conclusion: This study showed that secular growth in two groups is incompatible and it is better in Turkman group than non-Turkman group. Malnutrition in Turkmans was less than Non-Turkmans children.

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Background and Objective: Hypertension is considered as a major public health problem in most countries due to its association with ischemic heart disease. The aim of this study was to determine people awareness of hypertension in Golestan province of Northern Iran.

Materials and Methods: This cross sectional population based study carried out on 2497 subjects (15-65 years old) including 1500 men and 1247 women in Golestan province- Northern Iran during 2006. The subjects were chosen by proportional-cluster sampling based on sex and age groups. The subjects were interviewed, antropometric indexes and serum biochemical factors were evaluated. Blood pressure was measured three times with 5 minutes interval and defined based on JNC-7 classification. Serum cholesterol and fast blood sugar (FBS) were determined using laboratory kits (enzymatic methods), and spectrophotometery technique. Data was analyzed by SPSS-16 software and Chi-Square test.

Results: In general, the prevalence of hypertension in this region was 23.9%. with higher rate among women urban area by 3.3% and 5% respectively. Only 48.7% of hypertensive patients were aware of their disease and that was significantly more in women than men (P<0.001). Low physical activity, chronical age, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, general obesity, central obesity and illiteracy were the risk factor for hypertension morbidity (P<0.05).

Conclusion: This study showed, in spite of prevalency of hypertension among 20% of subjects in this area only 48.7% of them were aware about their disorder.

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Background and Objective: Hydroalcholic extract of Peppermint is traditionally used for gastrointestinal disorders. This study was done to evaluate the effect of Peppermint extract on the mice colon motor activity following immobilization stress.

Methods: In this experimental study, 30 male Albino mice were randomly allocated into the three groups; including control, stress and stress + Peppermint oil groups (n=10). The second group as a stress group exposed to immobilization stress for four hours during three days. Third group as stress plus Peppermint oil group was exposed to stress in addition to administration of 27 mg/kg/bw Peppermint oil intraperitoneally prior to stress. After three days, intestinal and peristaltic activity was recorded using pressure transducer from in vitro segments of colon (4-5 cm in length. Also, fecal weight, food intake and body weight was measured for each mouse for in vivo condition.

Results: The mean±SD of fecal weight after three times stress immobilization was 1.36±0.71, 1.06±0.6 and 0.47±0.39 gr in control, stress and Stress + Peppermint oil groups, respectively (P<0.05). The mean±SD of internal luminal pressure after three times stress immobilization was 4.47±1.15, 3.48±1.25 and 0.77±0.37 mm/hg in control, Stress and stress + Peppermint oil groups, respectively (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Peppermint oil is a strong inhibitor for colon motor activity following immobilization stress.

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Background and Objective: In the post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era, messages and video calls with loved ones, family, and friends have brought individuals closer together and made social isolation more bearable. Although the utilization of these tools has numerous positive aspects, there are also negative ones. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction among medical students at Golestan University of Medical Sciences and its association with psychiatric disorders.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 189 medical students (73 males and 116 females; mean age=23.35±3.03 years) at Golestan University of Medical Sciences in 2021. A convenience sampling method was used, and all students were taken into account as the statistical population. Data collection tools included Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) short form, which were completed by the students.
Results: Fifty (26.45%) medical students were identified as being at risk of Internet addiction, and 3 (1.58%) students were classified as having Internet addiction. Less than 4% of the students had severe psychiatric disorders, while 9.5% to 19.6% exhibited various psychiatric disorders of moderate severity. Beyond the area of hypochondriasis symptoms, significant positive correlations were found between Internet addiction and increased psychiatric disorders in other areas, including depression (r=0.285, P<0.001), hysteria (r=0.170, P<0.019), psychopathy (r=0.338, P<0.001), paranoia (r=0.384, P<0.001), mania (r=0.336, P<0.001), psychasthenia (r=0.432, P<0.001), and schizophrenia (r=0.415, P<0.001). With increasing Internet addiction, the severity of psychiatric disorders also increased.
Conclusion: The prevalence of Internet addiction among medical students was shown to be at a low level, but the severity of psychiatric disorders increased with higher levels of Internet addiction.