Medical Journal of The Islamic Republic of Iran (MJIRI)

  Silicosis is considered to be among the occupational lung diseases and associated with sandblasting, mining, quarrying and tunneling. Acute silicosis is usually progressive diseaseand despite treatment with corticosteroids it leads to cardio-respiratory failure and death. Alveolar silicoproteinosis is one of it’s acute presentations due to exposure to silica dust and lungs filling with proteinaceous material. Here, we have presented a 29 year old male sandblaster with the three conditions of acute silicosis, secondary alveolar proteinosis and pulmonary tuberculosis on four anti tuberculous medications who presented with respiratory distress.

  Background :Asthma is the most common respiratory disease with an increasing prevalence. On the other hand, obesity is also a challenging disease compromising health in human communities. This study sought to assess the correlation of asthma and body mass index (BMI) in occupational setting.

  Methods : This study was conducted in a cable manufacturing company in 2012. A total of 551 workers from the production (exposed group) and non-production (unexposed group) units were studied. A questionnaire specifically designed for this purpose was filled out for study subjects and then all workers with respiratory symptoms suggestive of asthma thoroughly examined by a physician and medical history was taken from them. Complementary diagnostic tests were also carried out.

  Results : A total of 11.6% of our understudy subjects had asthma. The prevalence of asthma in exposed subjects with BMI ³ 25 kg/m² was found to be significantly higher than in exposed workers with BMI< 25 kg/m² (p< 0.01). However, no significant differences existed in prevalence of asthma between the two subgroups of BMI ³ 25 kg/m² and BMI< 25 kg/m²in the unexposed group (p>0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors significant associations were observed between BMI and asthma at cut points of 30 kg/m² and 25 kg/m² (OR: 8.53 and 2.41, respectively).

  Conclusion : Our study results showed that prevalence of asthma might be higher in workers with higher BMI who are exposed to occupational asthmogens. This finding highlights the necessity of offering weight loss recommendations in periodic examinations to workers with exposure to occupational asthmogens.

  Background: Chemicals are among risk factors that can affect women's reproductive system. This study is aimed to investigate the association of occupational exposure to a mixture of organic solvents with menstruation disturbances and hormonal changes among female workers.

  Methods : Female workers of a pharmaceutical company were divided into three groups of non-exposed, low-exposed and highly-exposed to a mixture of organic solvents (formaldehyde, phenol, N-hexane, and chloroform) based on workplace measurements. Menstrual disturbances (in terms of short cycles, long cycles, irregular cycles, and bleeding or spotting between periods) and mean of hormone levels (including follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, prolactin, estrogen and progesterone levels) were compared between these three groups. For investigating associations, logistic regression was performed.

  Results : Our study showed that mean length of cycles, duration of bleeding, and amount of flow and also prevalence of long cycles, irregular cycles, and bleeding or spotting between periods were higher in exposed groups (p≤0.05). Odds ratio for prevalence of menstrual disturbances in the low exposure group and high exposure group were 9.69 (p=0.001) and 3.40 (p=0.002) respectively compared to the reference group. Estrogen and progesterone levels were not affected (p> 0.05), but other hormones levels were significantly disturbed in the exposed groups compared with the non-exposed group (p=0.001).

  Conclusion : Occupational exposure to the mixture of organic solvents may be associated with the increase of menstrual disorders and hormonal changes in female workers. Based on our findings, periodic evaluation of reproductive system of female workers in pharmaceutical companies is recommended.