Thirty-six consecutive healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies of 20 weeks or more, who were fasting during Ramadan, were included in the study group (group 1).
The control group (group 2) consisted of 29 healthy pregnant women, who were not fasting during the study period. For evaluating Ramadan’s effect on fetus, Doppler ultrasonography was performed on all subjects in the beginning and then once a week until the end of Ramadan for the following measurements: increase of fetal biparietal diameter (BPD), increase of fetal femur length (FL), increase of estimated fetal body weight (EFBW), fetal biophysical profile (BPP), amniotic fluid index (AFI), and umbilical artery systole/diastole (S/D) ratio.
Maternal SB273005 in vitro serum cortisol, triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), and LDL/HDL ratio were also evaluated before and after Ramadan.
No significant difference was found between the two groups for the fetal age, maternal weight gain (kilogram), estimated fetal weight gain (EFWG), fetal BPP, AFI, and umbilical artery S/D ratio. In the fasting group, the maternal serum cortisol levels Entinostat Epigenetics inhibitor on day 20 were significantly
higher than the initial levels obtained 1 week prior to Ramadan (p < 0.05). Although no significant increases were observed in total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the fasting group, these
increases were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). LDL and VLDL levels showed a non-significant decrease at the end of the Ramadan. HDL levels showed a slight increase, but LDL/HDL ratios were significantly decreased in fasting group (p < 0.05).
The results of this study showed that maternal serum cortisol level was elevated while LDL/HDL ratio were decreased in healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies of 20 weeks or more, who were fasting during Ramadan. No untoward effect of Ramadan was observed on intrauterine fetal selleck development.”
“Ireland is unfamiliar with extreme weather conditions. Such conditions occurred in winter 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, with much of the country being affected by snow and ice. We reviewed the effect that these conditions had on the treatment of ankle fractures in our trauma unit.
The study period was from November until February for four consecutive years from 2008-2009 until 2011-2012. We compared two winters with extreme weather with two winters with regular weather conditions. Information from Met Eireann was compared with demographics from patient records to differentiate ice-related injuries from non-ice-related injuries. Ankle fractures were classified using the Lauge-Hansen classification.