Protective effect of activated charcoal against progression of chronic kidney disease: A randomized clinical study.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a non-reversible and progressive disease affecting the kidneys, significantly impacting global public health. One of the complications of chronic kidney disease is impaired intestinal barrier function, which may allow harmful products such as urea to enter the bloodstream and cause systemic inflammation. This study aimed to investigate whether supplementation with activated charcoal could reduce uremic toxins in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The study was a randomized clinical trial conducted at the Dialysis Center of al Diwaniyah Medical Hospital in the Diwaniyah Governorate. Eighty-two patients with ESRD on regular hemodialysis were enrolled, with 15 patients receiving oral supplementation with activated charcoal in addition to standard care and 13 patients receiving only standard care. Blood samples were collected at baseline and after eight weeks, and several biomarkers were measured, including estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), creatinine, urea, phosphorus, albumin, and indoxyl sulfate. The results showed a significant reduction in both serum urea and serum phosphorus levels after eight weeks of oral-activated charcoal treatment. However, the other biomarkers were not affected by the treatment. In conclusion, the use of oral-activated charcoal for eight weeks in Iraqi patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis improved urea and phosphorus levels.

Evaluation of General Health Status in Diabetic Patients Using Short Form Health Survey (SF-36).

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to assess the general health of diabetic type 2 patients by using SF-36 and also to find if there was an association between the scores of eight domains of this tool with disease-specific and demographic variables. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the general health of patients with diabetes mellitus type 2. The participants of the present study were randomly selected from rural and urban areas. The diabetic patients visiting community pharmacies in these areas were invited to participate in this study after explaining the goal of the study. A self-reported questionnaire in the Arabic version of the medical outcome survey, the Short-Form (36-item), was conducted. However, uneducated patients were interviewed by trained pharmacists in the community pharmacies. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Two hundred confirmed DM patients were enrolled in this study with a mean age of (50.65 ± 8.914 years). 142 (71%) were male and the remaining 58 (29%) were female. The scores of all domains of SF-36 were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in female patients in comparison to that recorded in men. In addition, diabetic patients aged more than 50 years showed significantly lower scores of most domains of SF-36 (p < 0.05) except for emotional well-being (p > 0.05). The multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that gender, age, and treatment type were independent of health status based on the SF-36 survey, while emotional well-being, social functioning, and pain were exceptional. CONCLUSION: The outcomes of this study showed a negative correlation between diabetes mellitus and the health status as measured by SF-36. Furthermore, excluding emotional well-being, social functioning, and pain domains, the other parameters of gender, age, and treatment type showed a significant correlation with health status.