Medical imaging services are the key tool to diagnose many diseases and have an important role in monitoring treatment and predicting outcome. The current study conducted to evaluate advanced medical imaging services (CT and MRI) at Governmental Hospitals-Gaza Governorates, Palestine. Triangulated study design was used (checklist, questionnaire and key informant interview). The researcher used arbitrated checklist to evaluate medical imaging facilities. Census study conducted on all Radiologic Technologists and medical imaging departments at three main governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip, which offered advanced medical imaging. In addition, three key informant interviews with Radiologic Technologists manager were conducted. Researcher have directly interviewed 20 participants (75% Males; 80% older than 30; 90% bachelor and master degrees and 80% more than 10 years' experience). Researcher have directly interviewed 20 participants (75% Males; 80% older than 30; 90% bachelor and master degrees and 80% more than 10 years' experience). Each RT at European Gaza hospital is expected to perform 25 cases in the morning shift against 6 and 13 cases at Indonesia and Al-Shifa Hospital, respectively. Both of Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging departments showed that "60%, 78% and 91%" and "86%, 100% and 90%" followed standard regarding to their structures, occupational safety and essential supplies, respectively. An observable shortage in number of radiographic machines and Radiologic Technologists at all advanced medical imaging departments. All departments showed clear defect in structure, design and essential supplies. Critical readings were observed respecting to insufficient radiation protection tools and holding of Thermoluminescence Dosimeters.

Leptin is one of the best known hormone markers for obesity. There is a limited anthropometric data in the Gaza Strip that reveals and arouses the nutritional status among all age groups especially adolescents aged 15-19 years old. The study aimed to assess the effect of Leptin hormone, lipid profiles, Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference among secondary school age students in the Gaza Strip. Methodology: A cross sectional study included 442 cases of teenagers aged 15-19 years old from governmental and private schools in the Gaza strip. Blood samples were collected for analysis of Leptin hormone and lipid profile and measuring waist circumference for the teenager. Results: The mean of serum Leptin was (28.7) higher among cases than controls (28.1), but it was statistically insignificant (P = 0.85). It was found that there is a significant correlation between Leptin hormone and total cholesterol (Chol) (r = 0.24), high density cholesterol (HDL) (r = 0.27) and low density cholesterol (LDL) (r = 0.16). There was no relationship between Leptin hormone and triglycerides (TG) (r = −0.02). There was relationship between Leptin hormone and waist circumference in both males and females (r = 0.519, 0.544), respectively. There was no statistical significant deference noticed between Leptin hormone of obese objects and Leptin hormone of normal BMI objects of the same age (t-test = 0.93, P = 0.85). Conclusion: There are significant correlations between Leptin hormone and total Chol, HDL and LDL except for TG, and there were significant relationships between Leptin hormone and waist circumference which reflect the central obesity among males and females. There is no association between Leptin level and BMI.

Introduction: The increasing number of elderly, and drug use among the elderly, emphasizes the need for continuous monitoring of drug utilization. Chronic diseases are frequent among the older population; the rate of drug related problems and drug-drug interactions (DDIs) with the medical and financial consequences are enormous. Polypharmacy (PP) is defined as the concomitant use of 5 or more medications. We studied PP among chronic elderly patients in Gaza Strip and its distribution among primary health care clinics in different areas. Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive analytical study, analyzing prescription data from general practices during a 3-month time period, to measure the prevalence of PP and medication errors among chronic elderly patients. Data were collected directly from the prescriptions and medical records, which contain personal data for patients like patient age and gender, included the current illness, drug treatment for the current illness, chronic disease/s and drug treatment for chronic disease/s. SPSS software was used to analyze the obtained data. Results: Percent of major PP was the highest among patients aged 60-69 years when compared with other ages categories of study population but not reached to be statisticaly significant (0.012). Major PP was higher in female patients than that in male patients but difference wasn't statistically significant (0.5). The average number of drug per prescription was 3.4 drug; and the minimum value per prescription was 1 meanwhile maximum value was 9 (SD + 1.7). Conclusion: PP (use of five drugs or more) is more prevalent among elderly patients with multiple diseases. Female patients consume more drugs than male do. There were some regional differences in drug utilization not explained by morbidity, suggesting some variations in prescribing behaviors.

The Effect of Atorvastatin on Liver Function among Patients with Coronary Heart Disease in Gaza Strip Mahmmoud H. Taleb1*, Ihab M. Almasri2, Naima I. Siam3, Ahmed A. Najim4, Adham I. Ahmed4 1Department of Pharmacology, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Palestine 2Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Palestine 3Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Gaza, Palestine 4Faculty of Intermediate Studies, University of Palestine, Gaza, Palestine Email: *mahtaleb@hotmail.com Received 16 April 2014; revised 2 June 2014; accepted 27 June 2014 Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Statins, which are inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase, are considered as one of the most important drugs and the drug of choice for reducing an abnormal cholesterol level. Statins are normally used to decrease the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but they tend to be associated with liver adverse effects. The objective of this prospective study was to investigate the effect of atorvastatin therapy on the liver function in patients with CHD. Study comprised of 66 newly diagnosed CHD patients who were selected from UNRWA clinics in the Gaza Strip. The patients were clinically examined and treated with atorvastatin (10 - 40 mg/day). A questionnaire was used to collect the data concerning patient’s characteristics. Total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), liver enzymes tests such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total and direct blood bilirubin were measured before starting treatment and after 3 and 6 months of treatment. The results showed a significant increase in the mean values of ALT, AST, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin levels after 3 months then decreased after the next 3 months, but they were higher than the baseline with insignificant association

The main objective of this study is to explore the nutritional knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of nurses and physicians who are working at major Palestinian hospitals in Gaza Strip. This is a cross-sectional study where 96 nurses and 48 physicians were recruited. The study used a self-administered questionnaire that includes socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of nutritional science, attitudes towards the use of nutrition care in clinical sittings, and nutrition practicing and counseling. The average age of all the respondents was 32 years, ranging from 22 - 54 years. About 14.6% of all participants attended more than 4 weeks of training in nutrition; however, the majority of this training is intended to deal with healthy subjects. The mean score of physicians’ nutrition knowledge was 10.91, which was significantly higher than the nurses ‘nutrition knowledge score of 7.44. No statistical differences observed between nurses and physicians regarding attitude scale and practice. Overall, the obtained percentages of attitude among nurses were 54.2% positive, 22.9% neutral, and 22.9% negative. The obtained percentages of attitudes among physicians were 47.9% positive, 16.7% neutral, and 35.4% negative. Finally, the percentages of good nutrition practices via assessment and counseling were 53.1% for nurses and 52.1% for physicians. It was concluded that nurses and physicians were unable to provide effective nutrition intervention in health care settings and needed to improve their nutritional knowledge, attitudes and practices.