A cross-sectional analysis of the association between diabetes self-care practices and blood glucose regulation among Egyptian diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a main public health issue worldwide, with Egypt among the world's top countries with diabetic patients. Data on the degree of self-care behaviors of Egyptian diabetic patients is not fully reported. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the adequacy of diabetes self-management (DSM) habits among diabetic patients in Egypt and to identify associated socio-demographic factors that could negatively impact the patients' glycemic state, using a structured questionnaire. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional observational study. The diabetes self-management questionnaire (DSMQ) was used to assess diabetes self-care activities, which is a 16-item questionnaire. The statistical analysis was conducted on SPSS software, and the data were significant with a p-value <0.05. RESULTS: A total of 2,164 participants were included. The majority of the patients (83.8%) had type 2 DM. The mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of the study group was 8.44±1.99. Significant differences were found between different glycemic control groups both in terms of the DSMQ sum scores and the subscale scores, with the exception of physical activity. Moreover, there was a significant weak inverse correlation between the total DSMQ sum score and HbA1c ≥9.0% (ρ=-0.116, p<0.01). The overall internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was acceptable (0.756). CONCLUSIONS: The study indicated that patients with controlled blood glucose had significantly higher 'glucose management', and 'total DSMQ sum' scores compared to uncontrolled diabetic patients. All significant correlations between assessed parameters and DSMQ were weak.

The effect of zinc deficiency on granuloma formation, liver fibrosis, and antibody responses in experimental schistosomiasis.

The influence of various dietary zinc levels on the fibrotic aspects of granuloma formation and on the humoral response to schistosome egg antigens was investigated in C57Bl/6 mice by feeding groups of animals zinc-deficient diets. At six weeks of age, control and zinc-deficient mice were exposed individually to 50-60 cercariae of the Brazilian LE strain of Schistosoma mansoni. The animals were maintained on their respective diets for eight weeks postinfection, then all animals were killed and analyzed for body weight, spleen weight, collagen content of the liver, in vivo granulomatous histopathology, and antibody responses to soluble egg antigens. Zinc-deficient mice experienced stunted growth and reduced weight gain. Granulomatous hypersensitivity to schistosome eggs in the liver was measured in liver histopathologic sections using morphometric analysis and was found to be depressed in infected mice fed the moderately and the severely zinc-deficient diets. The low level of zinc in the diet also affected the humoral immune response of the host to schistosome egg antigens.