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Background: Anemia refers to a condition having low hemoglobin concentration. Anemia is considered a major risk factor for unfavorable pregnancy outcomes. This is the first study describing the pattern of hemoglobin concentration during pregnancy and its relationship to areas of high and low altitudes in Balochistan (the largest of Pakistan’s four provinces). The main objective of this study was to observe hemoglobin levels and prevalence of anemia among pregnant women living in the high or low altitude areas of Balochistan.Methods: A randomized survey was conducted and blood samples were collected from 132 healthy full term pregnant women subjects and 110 unmarried females. The subjects of the current study were selected from two different areas of Balochistan (Quetta and Uthal). Hemoglobin levels of the subjects were analyzed on Microlab 300 by Merck kit. Dietary status of the subjects was assessed based on simplified associated food frequency questionnaire. The factors effecting hemoglobin in full term pregnancy at different altitudes were multi gravidity/parity (increased number of pregnancies/children), age, socio-economic and educational status. Results: Anemia was highly prevalent in low-altitude region (68.33%). We found statistically significant difference in mean hemoglobin level at high-altitude region (11.81 ± 1.02) and low-altitude region (10.20 ± 1.28) in pregnant females of Balochistan plateau (P < 0.001). Higher maternal age (> 35 years) has shown significantly higher anemic frequency at both high (57.89%; p < 0.002) and low (41.46%; p = 0.067) altitudes. A balanced-diet that is rich in meat products has also shown significant correlation with reduced incidences of anemia among pregnant women at both altitudes.Conclusion: Hemoglobin concentration increases in the body with elevated altitudes and, thus, anemia was less frequent at high-altitude region. Factors affecting hemoglobin concentration in full term pregnancy at different altitudes included old maternal age, low body-mass index, education and diet.

Objective:To determine the prevalence of cognitive disorders in patients suffering from breast cancer receiving chemotherapy treatment in Mayo Hospital Oncology ward. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional type of study was conducted in Mayo Hospital Lahore from April 2017 to June 2017 in order to know about the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive dysfunction in female breast cancer patients.The study included 55 participants , all of them were receiving chemotherapy at the time the research was conducted. A questionnaire was formulated and got filled. The final data was analyzed with the help of SPSS having version 21 and the descriptive statistics e.g percentage and frequencies were achieved. Results:Different measures to test the cognitive functions of patients were used.The analysis of data demonstrated significant relation between increasing age and deterioration of words registration functions,verbal functions and clock drawing interpretation functions of brain. (p = .001 , p=.015 , p=.006 respectively) .While financial management skills of the patients seemed to be unaffected by chemotherapy ( p =.066).Conclusion :These results of this study clearly showed serious derangement in cognitive functions of the patients receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer.Moreover age and pre-treatment natural cognitive reserve are the important predictors of magnitude of deterioration.