Abstract. To examine the short-and long-term influences of the Marmara earthquake, which occurred on August 17, 1999 in Turkey, on glycemic control and quality of life (QOL), HbA 1c, insulin requirement and QOL of 88 people with type 1 diabetes living in the quake zone were evaluated one year before (PreE), 3 months after (PostE) and one year after (FE) the earthquake. HbA 1c levels and daily insulin requirements increased significantly at PostE (HbA 1c from 7.4 ± 1.3% to 8.5 ± 1.8%, p<0.05; insulin from 0.58 ± 0.2 IU/kg/day to 0.77 ± 0.2 IU/kg/day, p<0.05). Mean total QOL scores at PostE were significantly lower than the scores obtained at PreE (62.7 ± 17.3 vs 74.2 ± 13.4, p<0.001). There were no significant differences between HbA 1c levels and total QOL scores at PreE and FE. People with type 1 diabetes living in the same house after the earthquake and not having enough food supply were reported to have lower QOL than people moving to another house and having enough food supply after the earthquake (p = 0.014, p<0.0001, respectively). The Marmara Earthquake had a negative impact on the glycemic control and QOL of the subjects with type 1 diabetes for the short term but prequake scores might be achieved after a long period.

No abstract

Aim Acute poisoning is one of the major topics in emergency medicine practices. Despite the recent developments in toxicology, technological advances and changing lifestyles reveal new factors, and poisoning cases remain to be a problem. All poisonings should be considered serious and independent from their clinical presentation at the time of admission. Identifying the cause and prompt initiation of treatment is life-saving. Causes of poisoning vary between countries and different regions of the same country. In the present study, cases admitted to the Emergency Department of Internal Medicine at Haseki Training and Research Hospital were evaluated and causes of acute poisoning were investigated. Subject and methods Medical records of 675 cases of acute poisoning were retrospectively evaluated in the present study.Results The mean age of 675 cases included was 29.24± 13.71 years of age of which 66.4% were women. Drugs were the most common cause of poisoning (74.2%), which was followed by carbon monoxide (8.7%) and alcohol (8.4%) poisoning. Poisoning was deliberate in 73.5% and accidental in 25.6% of the cases. Treatment in intensive care unit was required in 6.6% of the patients. Conclusion Knowing the causes of poisonings will be beneficial in management approach and determining prevention strategies. Increased awareness of health professionals and public about regional causes of poisoning and prevention strategies will reduce morbidity and mortality associated with acute poisonings.

group (p=0.006; p=0.039; p=0.003, respectively). UAE was inversely correlated with DLCO, DLCO/VA, DLCO/VA% and DLCO% (p=0.050; p=<0.001; p=0.001; p=0.004, respectively). Conclusion This study demonstrated that alveolar gas exchange capacity is significantly decreased in diabetic patients. Microalbuminuria may be one of the predictors of this decline.

A total of 5,366 pregnant Turkish women were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and 225 (4.2%) of them were found to be positive. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) was detected in 6.2% of HBsAg-positive pregnant women. the overall prevalence of HBsAg and antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs) among the spouses, previous children, mothers and first degree relatives of the HBsAg-positive pregnant women was 56%, 49%, 79% and 74% respectively. The prevalence of HBsAg is thus high in pregnant Turkish women with familial clustering of hepatitis B virus infection.