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In this issue of the journal the papers are each
from different parts of the world. A review paper from
the UK discusses the use of drugs in older people. The
authors stressed that as people age they develop
diseases and this leads to more prescribing – both to
prevent disease progression and for symptomatic relief.
The authors discussed “appropriate prescribing” a term
that has been introduced to describe a strategy which
tries to ensure that all older people receive only medications
which are beneficial whilst at the same time potentially
harmful drugs are avoided.
A research paper from Egypt
and Japan investigated the detection accuracy
of head and neck cancer and lymph node metastasis
by FDG-PET compared with CT and MRI, and to validate
the results with the histopathological data. The authors
concluded that compared with CT and MRI, FDG-PET was
found to have the same sensitivity for primary cancer/recurrence
detection, however, it was the most sensitive modality
for detection of lymph node metastasis. Moreover,
the whole-body FDG-PET imaging proves auseful tool
for detection of distant metastasis and synchronous
tumours.
A paper from Pakistan reviewed
psychological issues of older women. The authors stressed
that in our part of the world, social attitudes as
well as cultural practices (Karo Kari, exchange marriages,
dowry, etc.), play a vital role in women's mental
health. Female status in Pakistan and the consequential
effects on their mental health, finds a marked diversity
in the lives of the urban and rural women, be it their
identity, self-image, political awareness, freedom
of expression or social status. It has been observed
that women in Pakistan are physically battered and
their men mentally and verbally abuse them. The author
pointed out as well that factors positively associated
with anxiety and depressive disorders in women of
Peshawar were mainly due to social problems, and cultural
taboos.
A paper from Iran discussed
the status of charitable health organisations in some
Islamic countries. The authors emphasised that charitable
work fills critical gaps in the global socio-economic
infrastructure. Governmental organizations alone cannot
solve every social problem. Without international
charity , more people in the world would die of hunger
, disease and live in poverty . The author points
out that in Kuwait, International Islamic charitable
organization ( IICO) has branches and offices all
over the state. Their strategy is to present an Islamic
model of integrated modern charitable work. More than
sixty countries around the world are benefiting from
IICO charitable work. The author concluded that considering
the successful pattern and strong points of the charities
in other countries, they need help to promote the
status of charity service delivery to the community.
Another combined paper from
Lebanon and Canada attempted to identify the genetic
cause of early onset Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a
large consanguineous Lebanese family affected with
the disorder. The authors report that haplotype analysis
of the recessive PD loci suggested a PARK2
involvement in this family. Mutation analysis of the
PARK2 gene revealed a homozygous deletion of
a guanine at the end of exon 9 (1081delG), which leads
to the predicted introduction of a premature stop
codon. They concluded that a novel causative mutation
in PARK2 was identified in a consanguineous
Lebanese family, which could potentially lead to the
development of a PD diagnostic tool for the Lebanese
population.
A Case report from Ireland
discussed a case of hypothyroidism in an elderly woman.
The authors reported a case of an elderly lady who
presented with severe dementia (mini-mental score
of 8/30), with dramatic improvement, following replacement
of thyroid hormone. Mini-mental score of 30/30 on
discharge. This case showed clearly the importance
of hypothyroid screening in the elderly.
A paper from California discussed
independent grandmothers in an Iranian village
The author presented a model
from "Aliabad," a large village in south-western
Iran, where older widowed women are often deciding
to live by themselves in their own homes rather than
living with sons as was generally the case until recently.
The author presented their research data collected
in Aliabad, interview and participant observation
in other nearby villages and Shiraz, and extensive
fieldwork among Iranian grandparents in California’s
Santa Clara Valley.
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