March 2009 - Volume 3, Issue 2

Abdul Abyad, MD, MPH, MBA, AGSF, AFCHSE (Editor) Abdul Abyad, MD, MPH, MBA, AGSF, AFCHSE (Editor) Abyad Medical Center & Middle East Longevity Institute Azmi Street, Abdo Center, 2nd Floor PO BOX 618, Tripoli LEBANON Tel & Fax: 961 6 443684/5/6 Email: aabyad@cyberia.net.lb Web: www.amc-lb.com

In this issue we have a number of papers from the region. A paper from Libya looked at a case report of Brown Recluse Spider Bites. The author stressed that spider bite is a special skin incident encountered. She pointed out that severe envenomation by the black widow variants are associated with involuntary muscular spasm, diaphoresis, and hypertension which can be mistaken for an acute abdomen or myocardial infarction.

Prof Md. Abdul Goni looked at Fertility Decline-the Role of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in Bangladesh. The author indicated that recent statistics suggest that despite continued increase in contraceptive use and the functioning of NGO activities the fertility decline has stalled. He stressed that in order to achieve further decline in fertility, therefore, the policy makers should emphasize those policies that actively enhance women's status through education, more access to mass media as well as getting them involved in the workforce in the country and the need to encourage others NGOs to include family planning and education programs.

A paper from Bangladesh looked at primary data on 250 arsenicosis patients from the arsenic affected districts Nawabganj, Bangladesh. The data indicates that most of the patients are young, illiterate, low socioeconomic background and are suffering from various diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, asthma and heart diseases. The finding also shows that arsenicosis disease has changed the socioeconomic status of the patients and women are divorced due to arsenicosis. The multivariate analysis suggests that source of drinking water is the most important factor for arsenicosis. Proper initiatives should be taken immediately for the welfare of mankind.

A paper from Nigeria looked at domestic energy and the health problems of man and animals. The authors stressed that pollutants produced by several types of domestic energy could have adverse effects on the health of living things especially that of man and animals. The health problems found in human beings were that of chronic cough, eye irritation, headache, and others. These were common in individuals exposed to pollutants from coal and firewood. Similar health problems also occur in animals in environments where domestic energy is used. The paper recommends a systematic collection of data on the health problems of living things exposed to chemical residues from different sources of domestic energy in Nigeria.

A second paper from Bangladesh looked at Covariates of Early Childbearing in Bangladeshi Mothers: An Analysis of Teenage Women. The authors present the results of logistic regression analysis of early childbearing. Out of 11 variables, 8 variables influences early childbearing and they are: education of women, place of residence, religion, age at first marriage, father's education, marital duration, women's work status and contraceptive use.