Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most fatal types of malignancy, is increasing worldwide, and particularly in Egypt where there is a confluence of its contributing factors, including high ...prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, widespread use of pesticides, and diets that are contaminated by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in rural areas. We investigated knowledge, attitudes, and prevention practices related to HCV infection and pesticides use in rural Egypt, where over half of the population resides and agriculture is the predominant occupation.
From two rural villages we recruited 67 residents aged 18-80 years, who completed a 40-item survey that included questions about demographics, knowledge of and protective measures relevant to pesticides use in the home and in agriculture, awareness and perceptions of HCV infection and its treatment and prevention.
Among the 67 study participants, gender distribution was equal, the mean age was 47.2, and one third never attended school. More than 50% reported using pesticides at home, but fewer reported having some knowledge about its health effects. Twelve participants were agricultural workers, and 11 of them applied pesticides in the field and knew about their toxicity; however only one person was correctly using the appropriate protective equipment. Among all the participants, 52 did not know what causes HCV infection, and 42 of those who knew it was a virus mentioned incorrect modes of transmission; and 30 did not know the disease manifestations.
In rural Egypt, there is a significant lack of knowledge of HCV infection and its transmission mode and limited use of protective measures against pesticides despite familiarity with these chemicals.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most fatal malignancies, is particularly prevalent in Egypt, where we previously found deficiencies in knowledge concerning HCC and its risk factors. ...Hepatitis B and C viral infections are highly prevalent in Egypt, pesticides are very commonly used, and diets are often contaminated by aflatoxin, especially in rural areas.
We conducted a study to pilot test a health education intervention addressing HCC, its risk factors, and its main modes of prevention. It included four health education modules: HCC, hepatitis viruses, pesticides and aflatoxin. We used a pre- and post-intervention set of questionnaires to assess knowledge gained by the participants.
A total of 25 participants from a village in the Nile Delta area attended the health education session and completed the questionnaires. The education intervention significantly increased the participants' knowledge on HCC and its risk factors, particularly regarding the use of pesticides at home and aflatoxin contaminated foods (both p < 0.05). Overall, there was a 12% increase in the number of participants who believed that HCC could be prevented, and they reported their intention to practice prevention for HCC risk factors.
We found that the education intervention we pilot tested was feasible and proved effective in increasing participants' knowledge. Future efforts should focus on implementing targeted education programs in high-risk populations in Egypt.
Bladder cancer is the most common male malignancy in Egypt, consists predominantly of urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and disparities in incidence exist between men ...and women regardless of geographic region. Tobacco smoke exposure and Schistosoma haematobium (SH) infection and the presence of GSTM1, GSTT1, and GPX1 genotypes, as modulators of the carcinogenic effect of reactive oxidative species, were hypothesized to modify bladder cancer risk and possibly explain these gender differences.
We evaluated the association between bladder cancer risk and functional polymorphisms in the GSTM1, GSTT1, and GPX1 genes in 625 cases and 626 matched population-based controls in Egypt and assessed for potential interactions between these candidate genes and environmental exposures, such as smoking and SH infection. We analyzed the risk for developing UCC and SCC separately.
None of these functional polymorphisms were significantly associated with bladder cancer risk. There were no significant interactions between genotypes and smoking or SH infection in this population, nor was any difference detected in genotypic risk between men and women.
Our findings suggest that common genetic variations in GSTM1, GSTT1, and GPX1 are not associated with bladder cancer risk overall and that well-known environmental risk factors, such as smoking and SH infection, do not interact with these genes to modulate the risk.
Our data indicate that common genetic variations in GSTM1, GSTT1, and GPX1 were not associated with bladder cancer risk.
Abstract Objective To examine associations between reproductive history and urinary bladder cancer in Egyptian women. Methods We used questionnaire data from an ongoing, multicenter case–control ...study in Egypt. Controls were matched on age and residence area. This analysis focused on female cases with confirmed urothelial (UC) and squamous cell (SCC) carcinoma of the bladder. Results We recruited 779 women (540 controls, 239 cases; >98.0% nonsmokers). Younger age at menopause (<45 y) and older age at first pregnancy (>18 y) were factors significantly associated with increased risk of bladder cancer, even after adjusting for schistosomiasis history and other covariates in the multivariable logistic model; adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were 1.98 (1.41, 2.77) and 6.26 (3.46, 11.34), respectively. On the other hand, multiple pregnancies or use of oral contraceptives were associated with decreased odds of having bladder cancer. Similar associations were observed with UC and SCC when analyzed separately; however, the magnitude of association with SCC was lower than with UC. Conclusion Our data suggest that early estrogen exposure, or the relative lack of it, plays a role in urinary bladder carcinoma development among Egyptian women.
Early life events have been suggested to influence multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility, and to potentially modulate its clinical course. We assessed vitamin D-related exposures from childhood to ...disease onset and their associations with MS progression.
Among veterans in the Multiple Sclerosis Surveillance Registry, 219 reported having the progressive form and met the inclusion criteria. Participants reported their past sun exposure, vitamin D-related intake and age at disability milestones using the Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS). The Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the association between vitamin D-related exposures and time (years) to disability.
Low average sun exposure in the fall/winter before disease onset was associated with an increased risk of progressing to a PDDS score of 8 (hazard ratio, HR: 2.13, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.20-3.78), whereas use of cod liver oil during childhood and adolescence was associated with a reduced risk (HR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.20-0.96).
These results suggest that exposure to vitamin D before MS onset might slow disease-related neurodegeneration and thus delay progression to disability among patients with the progressive subtype.
The authors examined the associations between farming and the risk for squamous cell (SCC) or urothelial cell (UC) carcinoma of the urinary bladder among Egyptians. The authors used data from a ...multicenter case-control study (1,525 male and 315 female cases, and 2,069 male and 547 female age- and residence-matched, population-based controls) to calculate adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Men in farming and who never smoked had increased risk for either SCC or UC (AOR 95% CI: 4.65 2.59-8.36 and 6.22 3.82-10.15, respectively). If they ever smoked, their risks were 2.27 (1.75-2.95) and 1.93 (1.58-2.35), respectively. Women in farmer households were at increased risk for SCC (1.40 0.93-2.09 and UC 1.25 (0.82-1.89), although not statistically significant. Occupational and environmental exposures to farming increased the risk for bladder cancer among Egyptians.
Smoking addiction is influenced by cultural and environmental factors and personality traits. We assessed the associations between neuroticism and depression and smoking behavior and motives among ...Egyptian adult men in rural Qalyubia Governorate.
Using a cross-sectional design, we administered questionnaires to randomly selected 201, 278, and 120 adult men aged 18 years or above who were never, current, and former smokers, respectively. We used Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression (CES-D) scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), and Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives scales to assess the associations between neuroticism, depression, and smoking risk.
The mean CES-D and EPI scores were significantly higher among current smokers as compared with never smokers (P=0.02 and 0.006, respectively). The greatest risk for ever smoking was observed among those with both neuroticism and depression adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) were 1.98 (1.23-3.19); 2.56 (1.34-4.88); and 1.82 (1.10-3.03) for ever, former, and current smokers, respectively. Both CES-D and EPI scores were associated with a variety of smoking motives and with the level of severity or intensity of nicotine dependence on FTND.
Neuroticism and depression were associated with smoking behavior and motives among Egyptians, and thus attention should be given to individual needs in designing and implementing smoking cessation interventions.
We examined the associations between pesticide exposure, genetic polymorphisms for NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase I (
NQO1
) and superoxide dismutase 2 (
SOD2
), and urinary bladder cancer risk among ...male agricultural workers in Egypt.
We used logistic regression to analyze data from a multi-center case-control study and estimate adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI (confidence interval)
Exposure to pesticides was associated with increased bladder cancer risk (1.68 (1.23–2.29)) in a dose-dependent manner. The association was slightly stronger for urothelial (1.79 (1.25–2.56) than for squamous cell carcinoma (1.55 (1.03–2.31)), and among participants with combined genotypes for low
NQO1
and high
SOD2
(2.14 (1.19–3.85) activities as compared to those with high
NQO1
and low
SOD2
genotypes (1.53 (0.73–3.25)).
In conclusion, among male agricultural workers in Egypt, pesticide exposure is associated with bladder cancer risk and possibly modulated by genetic polymorphism.
Loffredo, C., Shaker, Y., Jillson, I., Boulos, D., Saleh, D., Garas, M., Ostrowski, M., Sun, X., Chen, X., Shander, B., & Amr, S. (2017). Prevalence and correlates of substance use by Egyptian school ...youth. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 6(1), 37-51. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v6i1.242Aims: Substance use among Egyptian youth is an emerging public health problem, yet there is a paucity of information on the prevalence and correlates of these behaviors. To address this gap, we conducted surveys at 25 schools in Egypt in 2013 and 2014.Design: We calculated associations between substance use prevalence and age, gender, residence area, living arrangement, and employment status, along with adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).Setting: Cairo region and southern Egypt.Participants: School youth ages 12-18 (N=1,415).Measures: Self-administered survey on the use of cigarettes, waterpipes, alcohol, hashish, bango, heroin, Tramadol, other oral medications, injected substances, and glue/petrol sniffing; together with the amount and frequency of each substance used and age at initiation, in addition to demographic characteristics.Findings: Seventy-two percent of participants were male. Tobacco and cannabinoids were the most commonly used substances by both genders. Males reported smoking cigarettes (25%), waterpipes (15%), and hashish (6%), drinking alcohol (16%), and taking Tramadol (3%). Younger age (12–14 years) and residence outside of Cairo were somewhat protective. Among males, but not females, having a job increased the odds of smoking cigarettes (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.3, 2.6), waterpipes (OR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.2, 2.9), or hashish (OR = 2.0, 95% CI 1.1, 3.7).Conclusions: These findings, consistent with reports from other countries, can inform the design and direct the resources of future public health programs targeting adolescents to prevent the onset of substance use and ultimately addiction in Egypt and elsewhere.
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