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Background: The association between Helicobacter pylori (HP), as one of the most prevalent infections, and serum glucose level was inconsistent with previous studies. Moreover, there are contradictory reports about the relationship between HP infection and lipid profile. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between HP infection with glycemic and lipid profiles in elderly people. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,300 subjects over 60 years in Amirkola Health and Ageing Project. After using a standard questionnaire, the venous sampling was done to determine FBS, triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and IgG anti-HP after a 12-h overnight fast. The information about the individuals was analyzed using SPSS-17. The P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of HP infection in diabetic and nondiabetic subjects was 77.5% and 75.7%, respectively, which had no statistically significant difference. Also, there was no significant difference between the serum lipid level including TG, LDL and HDL cholesterol with levels of anti-HP antibodies. The rate of HP infection in patients with hypertension was 75% and 78.3% in healthy patients, in which the difference was not statistically significant. In terms of body mass index (BMI), the prevalence of infection in the group with normal BMI was 77.3% and for the overweight and obese elderly population, it was 74.7%, and 77.5%, respectively (P = 0.445). Conclusions: The findings revealed that in a large population of elderly in the northern part of Iran, HP infection is not associated with BMI, serum glucose and lipid profile as well as blood pressure.

Background: Smoking has deleterious effects on bone mass and is associated with the subsequent development of osteoporosis, particularly in elderly participants. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of smoking in the elderly male smokers. Methods: All male participants aged 60 years and older of the Amirkola cohort who performed bone densitometry entered the study. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) using the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry method. In statistical analysis, the smokers and nonsmokers were compared according to BMD, frequency of low bone mass defined as BMD T-score

Background: The aim of the present study is to assess the elementary schoolchildren′s nutritional status based on anthropometric indices due to the sudden spread of obesity in children and adolescents in both developed and developing countries. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 3647 children with an age range of 7-11 years of primary schools in Babol using cluster random sampling method in 2012. Children younger than 7 years or older than 11 years, children with chronic diseases, pupils treated with corticosteroids or growth hormone replacement therapy and children with chromosomal abnormalities were excluded from the study. Anthropometric indices were measured by medical students and evaluated according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standard percentiles. Data were analyzed using statistical software SPSS version 18 with Chi-square and independent samples t-test. Results: The body mass index of 26.1% of children was greater than the 85 th percentile, and 4.7% was less than the 5 th percentile. The prevalence of obesity among boys was significantly higher than girls (P = 0.007). Moreover, urban children (P = 0.0001) and children who studied in private schools (P = 0.0001) had a significantly higher proportion of obesity and overweight than the urban and private schoolstudents. The highest prevalence of obesity and overweight belonged to 18.0% of the students among fifth graders and 15.3% of schoolchildren among third graders, respectively (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The results showed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the study was higher. It seems it is necessary to implement the intervention programs to prevent overweight and obesity among schoolchildren.