This randomised school-based controlled study aimed to evaluate the baseline results of nutrition knowledge, attitude, and practice (NKAP), health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and parents’ report of parenting skills (PRPS) among overweight and obese children. Methods: This study was performed on three intervention groups and one control group. It was conducted among Year Five students from primary schools who had overweight or obese status and were generally healthy without any chronic diseases. The children completed NKAP and child self-report of Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQoL) questionnaires, while parents completed parent proxy report of PedsQoL and PRPS questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and parametric test in SPSS were utilised. Results: Out of 139 participants involved in the baseline study, 18.7% and 81.3% were overweight and obese respectively. This study revealed a significantly higher knowledge score among boys (p = 0.016) and among those who lived in urban areas (p = 0.019). The children’s selfreport PedsQoL recorded highest score for Social Functioning domain and lowest score for Emotional Functioning domain. A contradictory finding was obtained from the parent proxy report, where the Physical Functioning domain scored the lowest and the Emotional Functioning domain had the highest score. Notably, some of the findings from PRPS questionnaires completed by their parents were unfavourable. Conclusions: This study provided prospective evidence of the current status of NKAP, HRQoL among overweight and obese children as well as findings from PRPS among their parents.

The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and factors associated with psychosis in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. Method: This is a cross-sectional study of 108 PD patients from neurological clinic UKM Medical Centre and Kuala Lumpur Hospital. The patients were recruited from August to December 2004. Psychosis was determined using SCID, the severity of psychosis was rated using BPRS. The cognitive functions were evaluated with MMSE and the severity of depression was assessed with HAM-D. Results: The result shows that the prevalence of psychosis in Parkinson’s disease patients in this sample was 13%. The psychosis was found to be significantly associated with advancing age, duration of illness, severity of depression and cognitive impairment. Multivariate analysis demonstrates that severity of depression (OR = 1.08, 95% C.I. = 1.01 – 1.16) and advancing age (OR = 4.72, 95% C.I. = 1.37 – 16.29) increased risk of psychosis in PD patients. Conclusion: We found that advancing age and severity of depression increase risk to develop psychosis in patients with PD.

Purple urine bag syndrome (PUBS), as the name implies produces purplish discoloration of the urine. It is commonly observed among elderly women with constipation, and individuals with long term catheter in the setting of urinary tract infection (UTI). From the literature research, there were no publications on PUBS in Malaysia; however we believe that it is underreported. We present a unique case of this rare condition occurring in a 68-year-old man, a nursing home resident on long term urinary catheter. The urine cleared after hydration, antibiotic therapy and replacement of the catheter.
Urinary Tract Infections

Electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy (ENB), one of the methods of navigational bronchoscopy is an advanced diagnostic tool allowing tissue sampling at the lung peripheries which were previously accessible only by computed tomography (CT) guidance or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). We report a 53-year-old man who presented with a cough and dyspnea with constitutional symptoms for one month. CT thorax revealed multiple bilateral peripheral lung nodules and there were no endobronchial lesions on flexible bronchoscopy. ENB was performed using a loan machine from Veran navigational technology. Biopsy successfully revealed small cell carcinoma of the lung thus preventing him from undergoing a more invasive diagnostic procedure. This case highlights the utility of ENB in the evaluation of peripheral lung nodules that were inaccessible by conventional bronchoscopy. This is one of the first few successful applications of Veran ENB in Asia.

This study aimed to develop and examine the validity and reliability of a pregnancy symptoms questionnaire. A total of 214 pregnant women aged 19 to 40 years old were purposive randomly recruited from December 2009 to January 2010 in Antenatal Clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Pregnant mothers at second and third trimesters were interviewed to complete the Pregnancy Symptoms Questionnaire (PSQ). The PSQ was developed by experts in nutrition, obstetrics and statistics. The PSQ consists of 38 items on frequency and severity of pregnancy symptoms. Factor analysis was done using Promax rotation method to check for construct validity. A total of 16 items which had poor correlation (<0.3) and less important content were removed during the final revise. The 22 remaining items were found to be loaded on the three components (general, constitutional and somatic pain). The overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.93 and for each three components ranges from 0.70–0.87. The results suggest that the final PSQ consisting of 22 items is valid and reliable for measuring the frequency and severity of the symptoms experienced during pregnancy. It can be used in nutritional studies related to pregnancy and its outcome.

AIM: To study the association between lipid profile and retinal hard exudates in diabetic retinopathy (DR) and the association between oxidized-LDL with systemic diseases among type 2 diabetic patients.another 40 patients without DR. Demographic data was collected and comprehensive ocular examination was performed. Nine mL venous blood was taken for fasting serum cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, ox-LDL, and for HbA1C. Compared to patients without retinopathy 5.0±1.03mmol/L (P=0.001). The mean serum LDL was 3.6±1.69mmol/L in retinopathy group compared to 3.0±1.02mmol/L in the contol group (P=0.005). There was a higher concentration of serum cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL in patients with severe retinal hard exudates compared to those with mild and moderate, however it was not statistically significant (P=0.082, 0.116, 0.218) respectively. The mean serum oxidized-LDL concentration was higher in DR with severe retinal hard exudates compared to mild and moderate. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean oxidized LDL with other systemic diseases or duration of diabetes.and LDL with DR. However there was no association between serum lipid profile with the severity of retinal hard exudates. Serum ox-LDL was also not associated with DR and other systemic co-morbidities in our study.

A 36-year-old lady presented with four episodes of right sided pneumothorax during pregnancy requiring multiple chest drain insertion. It was complicated with persistent air leak despite low pressure high volume suction applied to the chest drainage. She delivered safely through spontaneous vaginal delivery with chest drainage. Further imaging by high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan of thorax done revealed bilateral scattered pulmonary cysts and sub pleural bullae and was later followed up with respiratory unit. She had no further episodes of pneumothorax postpartum. This case highlights the vital importance of prompt recognition and management of pneumothorax in pregnancy as the patient involved is at higher risk for acute respiratory failure leading to maternal and/or foetal mortality. It is essential for early involvement of obstetric team and to expedite the delivery for a better perinatal and maternal outcome.
Pneumothorax ; Pregnancy

INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of this study was to investigate the pattern of muscle injuries and the factors that predict the return-to-play duration among Malaysian athletes.

METHODSThis is a retrospective review of the case notes of athletes who attended the National Sports Institute Clinic in Malaysia. The medical records of athletes with muscle injury, diagnosed on clinical assessment and confirmed by diagnostic ultrasonography, were included for final analysis.

RESULTSFrom June 2006 to December 2009, 397 cases of muscle injury were diagnosed among 360 athletes. The median age of the athletes with muscle injuries was 20.0 years. Muscle injuries were mostly diagnosed among national-level athletes and frequently involved the lower limb, specifically the hamstring muscle group. Nearly all of the athletes (99.2%) were treated conservatively. The median return-to-play duration was 7.4 weeks. Athletes who waited more than one week before seeking medical attention, those with recurrent muscle injuries and female athletes were significantly more likely (p < 0.05) to take more than six weeks before returning to the sport.

CONCLUSIONGrade 2 lower limb muscle injury was commonly diagnosed among national-level athletes in this study. The frequency of weekly physiotherapy sessions did not affect the return-to-play duration. Factors such as initial consultation at more than one week post injury, recurrent muscle injuries and female gender were significant predictors of return-to-play duration among Malaysian athletes. These predictive factors should be kept in mind during clinical assessment so as to aid in prognosticating recovery after muscle injury.

Athletes ; Athletic Injuries ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; rehabilitation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Incidence ; Malaysia ; epidemiology ; Muscle, Skeletal ; diagnostic imaging ; injuries ; physiopathology ; Physical Therapy Modalities ; Prognosis ; Recovery of Function ; Retrospective Studies ; Time Factors ; Trauma Severity Indices ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonography

Aims: The study focused on finding if there is any possible relation between the intestinal bacterial population quantitative and qualitative and the deficiency of the most important iron compounds as haem precursors. Methodology and Results: Blood complete picture and stool analyses were done to 750 volunteer cases whom were asked for these analyses by their physicians. Analyses proved that 560 cases representing 75.2 % were anemic as the RBC(s) based on counts of the total studied cases of less than 263 x 104 and the haemoglobin amount ranged between 7.2 and 11.3 g/dl, while the remainder 24.8 % of the volunteer sample was not anemic. A high male/female ratio of anemic cases, 1:27 was also documented. Considering that all the studied stool samples should be completely free from any parasites or any other anemia-related diseases was a priority. Bacteriological analysis of stool samples of the anemic cases resulted in the detection of high counts of total viable bacteria, exceeded 42 x 109 cfu/g, while it was never more than 26 x 106 cfu/g and decreased to 4 x 106 cfu/g in many cases in this study. Identifying of the 361 bacterial isolates, were found to belong to 12 genera and 19 species, 6 of them; Pseudomonas putrefaciens, Micrococcus luteus, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus coagulans , were found and in high counts in the stool samples of only anemic cases. The ability of these isolates to compete for iron compounds such as ferrous fumarate alone or with glucose and phytate as activators or inhibitors to these abilities was investigated. Results proved 11 species out of the 19 identified species are capable to use and compete on ferrous fumarate as a haem precursor. Sensitivity test for the representatives of the 19 species and 6 of the most commonly used antibiotics in the Egyptian pharmacy, using standard disc method, revealed variable susceptibilities of almost all of them to more than one of the studied antibiotics, except Corynebacterium equatium, which was found very resistant to two antibiotics; colistin sulfate and erythrocin. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The study finally concluded the strong role of intestinal bacterial counts and types as competitors on the haem precursor iron-containing compounds like ferrous fumarate.

Aims: Medicinal plants have recently received the attention of the antimicrobial activity of plants and their metabolites due to the challenge of growing incidences of drug-resistant pathogens. The aims of this study were to determine the antibacterial activities of plant extracts used as ethnomedicinal in Egypt. Methodology and Results: Investigations were carried out to assess the antibacterial efficiency of 11 plant extracts used as ethnopharmacological among Egyptian native people against infectious diseases. Crude methanol, ethanol, chloroform, hexane, acetone and aqueous extract of plants were tested for antibacterial activity in vitro against ten bacterial isolates using the disc diffusion method test. Discs were impregnated with 2 mg/mL of different solvent extracts. Among all the crude extracts, the methanol extract showed the highest activity than other extracts. P. harmala and S. officinalis exhibited highest antibacterial activity against gram positive and negative bacteria while the remaining plants extracts showed less activity. All the plant extracts showed no significant effect against the Bordetella bronchisepta ATCC 4617 except the extracts of M. fragrans and L. sativum. E. coli is the most sensitive microorganism tested, with the lowest MIC value (0.5 mg/mL) in the presence of the plant extract of P. harmala and S. officinalis. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Results obtained herein, may suggest that the ethnomedicinal Egyptian plants possess antimicrobial activity and therefore, they can be used in biotechnological fields as natural preservative ingredients in food and/or pharmaceutical industry.