Journal for Scientific Research. Medical Sciences

There has been an extraordinary recent accumulation of information concerning the neurobiology and neuropharmacology of dopamine (DA) receptors in the mammalian central nervous system. Many new DA molecular entities have been cloned, their gene, peptide sequences and structures have been identified, their anatomical distributions in the mammalian brain described, and their pharmacology characterized. Progress has been made toward developing selective ligands and drug-candidates for different DA receptors. The new discoveries have greatly stimulated preclinical and clinical studies to explore the neuropharmacology of DA receptors and their implications in the neuropathophysiology of different neuropsychiatric diseases including schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of Vipassana meditation on the physical and psychological health in a multi-ethnic population in the city of Muscat. METHOD: The subjects were participants of a Vipassana meditation course taught in a ten-day residential retreat. Self-assessments of health-related parameters and physical and psychological symptomatology were collected from them before and immediately after the course. A control group was tested for a similar time interval...

OBJECTIVE: To study blood pressure and blood pressure reactivity in young offspring of normotensive or hypertensive parents who are consanguineous (first cousins) or are not blood-related. METHOD: Blood pressure, heart rate and body mass index (BMI) were measured in 9-10 year-old male offspring of 19 pairs of first-cousins normotensive, 16 pairs of first-cousin hypertensive and 12 pairs of non-blood-related hypertensive parents. RESULTS: The offspring of first-cousin hypertensive parents exhibited the greatest systolic and diastolic blood pressure reactivity to their first casual blood pressure measurement, while the offspring of first-cousin normotensive parents showed the least reactivity...

OBJECTIVE: To assess aerobic fitness in male and female adolescents using the multistage 20-metre shuttle run test and correlate it with selected fitness variables. METHOD: The subjects comprised 83 girls and 64 boys aged 15-16 years, randomly selected from two segregated government schools in Muscat. After the pupils filled in a short questionnaire on their personal leisure time activities of the preceding week, their heights and weights were measured. Aerobic fitness was assessed by estimating each pupil's minimal oxygen uptake levels (VO2max) using the multistage 20-metre shuttle running test (20-MST)...

BACKGROUND: The newly emerging practice of Pharmaceutical Care requires that pharmacists take responsibility for the outcomes of drug therapy. Improvement in Quality of Life (QoL) represents the final outcome of the care process and indicates the success of interventions. OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of a Pharmaceutical Care specialist asthma service provided by community pharmacists to a sample of patients with asthma, the outcome indicators being changes in health status and QoL...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy of the Kato-Katz technique and to re-evaluate other routine procedures conducted in the Microbiology Clinical Laboratory at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) and to throw light on the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among a small group of food handlers in Muscat. METHOD: Faecal samples collected from food handlers were examined using five parasitological techniques. RESULTS: Out of 100 faecal samples, 53 were positive for one or more of 11 intestinal parasites...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Synchronous carcinomas involving both the ovary and uterine corpus are relatively uncommon. These tumours represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, particularly if they have similar histology. Here we present the case of a 34-year-old woman with bilateral endometrioid cancers of both ovaries and adenocarcinoma of the uterus.

OBJECTIVE: To find the growth trends in a sample of schoolchildren in Benghazi (Libya), and to compare it with international and other local growth charts, as a step for setting the national curves. METHOD: From 25(th) February to 31(st) October 1993, a sample of 2,022 pupils (1,160 boys and 862 girls) were randomly selected from three public primary schools in three different socio-economic areas in Benghazi. A questionnaire consisting of social and scholastic items was distributed to teachers a few days before the examination...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correctness of metered-dose inhaler (MDI) technique in a sample of healthcare providers practising in Oman, considering that poor inhaler technique is a common problem both in asthma patients and healthcare providers, which contributes to poor asthma control. METHOD: A total of 150 healthcare providers (107 physicians, 33 nurses and 10 pharmacists) who were participants in symposia on asthma management conducted in five regions of Oman, volunteered for the study...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the pattern and risk factors of stroke in Saudi nationals and non-Saudis, at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), in the western province of Saudi Arabia. METHOD: All cases of stroke admitted to KAUH in the period between January 1995 and December 1999 were studied. Demographic data of the patients, stroke types, risk factors and mortality were reported. RESULTS: Of the 103 patients studied, 56% were Saudis and 44 % non-Saudis with male predominance and mean ages of 66 and 62 years respectively...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of scintigraphy, ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration in thyroid nodules and to establish the best diagnostic pathway in detecting thyroid cancer. METHOD: Two hundred and sixteen patients with thyroid nodules were examined using high-resolution ultrasonography, (99m)Tc thyroid scintigraphy and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration. Of these, 113 patients subsequently underwent thyroidectomy. The remaining 103 were followed up for two years without any evidence of malignancy...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of asthma in Omani schoolchildren using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC) protocols. METHOD: The ISAAC-written questionnaire was completed by a total of 7,067 Omani schoolchildren (3,893 children aged 6-7 years of which 56% were boys and 3,174 aged 13-14 years of which 51% were boys) from the 10 health regions in the country. RESULTS: The estimated mean national 12-month prevalence of any wheeze, night waking with wheeze, speech limiting wheeze and exercise wheeze were respectively 7...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the occurence of various autoantibodies in the Omani population. METHOD: Sera from 392 healthy Omani individuals comprising 183 pregnant women and 209 blood donors (183 men and 26 women) were investigated. Autoantibodies were detected using immunofluorescence, haemagglutination and latex agglutination techniques. RESULT: Low levels of autoantibodies were detected in approximately 50% of the subjects; very few subjects showed high autoantibody titres...

OBJECTIVE: To develop a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based test for the detection of a common frame-shift mutation (35delG) in the connexin-26 (GJB2) gene, and to investigate the status of this mutation in Oman. METHOD: A PCR test, based on site-directed mutagenesis, was developed for the 35delG mutation. A mutagenesis primer generated an EcoN I site in a short (87 bp) DNA fragment amplified from the connexin-26 gene. The EcoN I site is generated only if the 35delG mutation is present...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The article presents three Omani children with supraventricular tachycardia and discusses the diagnosis and management. Clinical features along with ECG help diagnosis of this common paediatric arrhythmia. Acute management has been facilitated with the introduction of adenosine. However, longterm management continues to be a topic for debate.

The authors report a case of cervical pregnancy successfully treated with combined methods of uterine artery embolization and systemic methotrexate therapy. Unilateral selective embolization may play a role in preserving reproductive functions.

Laparoscopic surgery, which gained prominence in the late 1980s, became an established surgical practice in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) in 1992. Drawing on available literature and the authors' own experiences, this paper gives an overview of various laparoscopic surgical techniques currently available at SQUH, including laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparoscopic appendicectomy, diagnostic laparoscopy and laparoscopic varicocoelectomy. It also highlights the role of surgical endoscopic training centre at SQUH, which provides a laboratory setting for surgical trainees and practising physicians...

OBJECTIVE: To study the psychiatric morbidity in the northern part of Jordan and to determine the frequency distribution of various psychiatric disorders, for planning services. METHOD: All records of 2,335 psychiatric patients attending the only psychiatric clinic in Northern part of Jordan during a ten-year period from 1984 to 1993 were extensively reviewed and subjected to computerized analysis. Diagnosis was made as per ICD-9. RESULTS: Out of the 2335 patients who attended the clinic, 55% were males and 45% were females...