Analysis of naming processing stages in patients with mild Alzheimer.

In the evaluation of the nature of naming disorders, there is a rapid increase of anomia with the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is associated with whole brain atrophy. Although numerous studies have investigated this naming disorder, there is limited information on naming procedures in these patients. Reaction time (RT) is highly sensitive to dementia and provides an accurate measurement. The present study investigated the RT of each underlying level of naming in patients with mild AD and identified the nature of anomia in these patients. The study consisted of 24 healthy elderly and 22 mild AD patients who participated in experiments that were designed for evaluating each level of Levelt's model. Responses were divided into three groups of correct, false, and no-response and their RTs were calculated. The statistical analyses showed significant differences between healthy elderly and patients with mild AD in terms of access to the concept and the phonological form of the words. Moreover, significant differences in the type of responses were observed between correct and false responses of both groups. There was a significant difference between the no-response cases except in the case of lemma access for singular and plural names in other tasks. The results suggest that patients with mild AD have problems at the conceptual stage and access to the phonological form of a word.

Association of bone mineral density with biochemical markers of bone turnover in hemodialysis children.

INTRODUCTION: Although some descriptive and cross-sectional studies have been reported about bone mass in chronic kidney disease (CKD) children, only a few studies investigated markers of bone turnover and the bone mass measurements. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between bone mineral density (BMD) and biochemical markers of bone turnover in hemodialysis (HD) children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The children who had received dialysis for at least the preceding 6-month were included. BMD was measured for total body, the lumbar spine and the femoral neck and the blood samples were tested to assess biochemical bone turnover markers. RESULTS: The study group was comprised of 27 patients with CKD, 9 males (33%) and 18 females (67%) with the mean±SD age of the subjects 14.9±4.5 years. Positive significant correlations of parathyroid hormone (PTH) with total body bone densitometry Z-score, lumbar spine and femoral neck Z-score(r=0.43, P=0.06; r=0.41, P=0.08 and r=0.45, P=0.05, respectively) was noted. In addition, positive significant correlations calcium and total body, lumbar spine and femoral neck Z-score (r=0.52, P=0.02; r=0.28, P=0.23 and r=0.36, P=0.12, respectively) was seen. Interestingly, a positive significant correlation between alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lumbar spine Z-score was found (r=0.46, P=0.04), while the correlation of this parameter with total body and femoral neck Z-score was not significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: In our study, majority of patients with CKD had low level of BMD. In addition, lower levels of calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), PTH and 25 (OH) vitamins D in patients with abnormal BMD Z-scores were detected.

Obesity and metabolic syndrome among a representative sample of Iranian adolescents.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) increases the risk of developing many chronic diseases and originates early in life; its prevalence varies by population. The present study investigated the prevalence of MetS and the association between MetS and obesity in a population of adolescents in northern Iran. A total of 450 Iranian high school students (50% boys), aged 15-18 years, were enrolled in the study. Physical examination and biochemical analyses were conducted according to standard protocols; MetS was defined according to the modified NHANES III criteria. The prevalence of MetS among subjects was 3.3%. Eight percent of subjects had a body mass index (BMI) >75th percentile, and 10.5% had a BMI >85th percentile. Overall, 42.1% of students did not have any components of MetS. Waist circumferences (WC), Body Mass Index (BMI), serum level of triglycerides (TG) and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were significantly higher among girls than boys. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and fasting blood sugar (FBS) were significantly higher among boys than girls. The associations between a BMI > or = 85th percentile and MetS (OR 6.97; 95%CI 2.41-20.16) and between a BMI > or = 75th percentile and MetS (OR 6.74; 95%CI 2.10-21.57) were statistically significant. The association between an increased WC and MetS was also statistically significant (OR 21.64; 95%CI 6.7-69.81). This study confirms the high prevalence of components of MetS among apparently Iranian adolescents, even among those not overweight. The high prevalence of MetS among adolescents with generalized and abdominal obesity underscores the need for primary prevention of MetS in early life.