Counseling and depression among diabetic patients

To determine the level of depression in diabetic patients and investigate the effect of a counseling program on the level of depression. A pre-post experimental study was conducted at the outpatient medical clinics of the Health Insurance Hospital affiliated to the Ministry of Health, Mansoura, Egypt. The study was carried out between June 2011 and September 2011. One hundred and twenty type II diabetic patients were recruited in this study. We used 2 tools for data collection: a] A structured interview questionnaire including socio-demographic and disease related data. b] The Zung self-rating depression scale. We classified the subjects into 2 equal groups of 60 patients each [group A - control and group B - experimental]. Both groups were interviewed after 3 months to assess the level of depression. On initial assessment, depression was found in approximately 57.5% of the control group, and severe depression in 32.5%. On second assessment, the depression rate in the control group increased to 67.5%, while the severe depression rate decreased to 25%. In the experimental group, at initial assessment, it was noticed that the percentage of subjects with no depressions increase to be 39.7% instead of 27%, also, the level of mild and severe depression decrease to be 56.1% post assessment instead of 58.4% and 14.6%.Counseling, as a nursing intervention, is helpful in reducing the level of depression among diabetic patients

Protective efficacy of immunoglobulins Y prepared against Cerastes cerastes snake venom in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

To prepare and evaluate the protective efficacy of immunoglobulin Y [IgY] prepared against local Saudi Cerastes cerastes snake venom. The study was conducted between October 2009 and October 2011 at the Center of Excellence in Biotechnology Research, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study designed as follow; 4 groups of 8 chickens were immunized intramuscularly with Cerastes cerastes snake venoms mixed with Freund's complete adjuvant. Three weeks later, the injections were repeated with the venoms with incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Three boosters were given with the venoms at 3 weeks intervals. The IgY was extracted by ammonium sulphate-caprylic acid method, the antibody titer were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbant assay, and the protective efficacies of the extracted immunoglobulins were performed. Immunoglobulin Y preparation extracted by ammonium sulphate-caprylic acid method showed lack of low molecular weight bands. The bands representing IgY-antibodies, which have molecular weights ranged from 180-200 KD, appeared sharp and clear. Furthermore, evaluation of the prepared protective value of IgY-antibodies revealed one ml of extracted IgY-antibodies containing 15 mg/ml anti Cerastes cerastes; specific IgY could produce 100% protection against 50 LD50. Laying hens could be used as an alternative source of polyclonal antibodies against Cerastes cerastes snake venoms due to several advantages as compared with mammals