Journal of Health Care and Research [ISSN: 2582-8967]

Masters’ Athletics has shown a significant and remarkable role for people’s happiness, physically and psychologically. World Masters Athletics (WMA) Championships started in 1975, and two terms of Veterans and Masters were used. Author Konoike was the president of Asia Masters Athletics (AMA) from 1998 to 2013, and established the International Masters Athletics Federation (IMAF) associated with continuing various competition games and research until now. During World competitions in 2000, he emphasized adequate official terms for Masters instead of Veterans. Japan Sports Masters (JSPO) has been established including lots of sports and “Masters” has become a standard common word for sports.

Cognizance of the implication of Covid-19 pandemic on health and well-being resulted in an upsurge in use of several dietary and herbal supplements (DHS) for the prevention and/or prophylaxis against the new disease.
Objectives: To evaluate the pattern of DHS consumption among Nigerians with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Setting: Adolescents, and adults residing in Nigeria.
Participants: Participants with NCD (n = 165) from a larger study (n=645) were recruited from different geo-political zones and various ethnic groups.
Primary and Secondary Outcomes: Prevalence and determinants of the use of different DHS for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in Nigeria, and sources of information for DHS use.
Results: Hypertension was the most prevalent NCD (63.6%) in the study and both breast cancer and anxiety disorder were the least (0.6%). Overall, 75.2% of the respondents had less than 8 hours of sleep daily and almost all did not smoke cigarette at all. The proportion of male and female hypertensives who believed that dietary supplements are necessary during infectious disease outbreak such as Covid-19 was moderately high (55.2%), higher among asthmatics (65.0%), diabetes (68.4%), those with kidney disease (100.0%) and ulcer (83.3%). All or almost all the respondents with hypertension (96.2%), asthma (95.0%), diabetes (100.0%) and kidney disease (100.0%), consumed supplements more during Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The proportion of those who consumed supplements more during the pandemic in Nigeria was higher among male (56.4%) than among the female (43.6%) hypertensives, though the difference was not statistically significant (χ²=2.93, P-value=0.09). Vitamin C was the commonest vitamin taken by respondents with ulcer (83.3%), kidney disease (83.3%), diabetes (57.9%), asthma (50.0%), hypertension (48.6%) and the two respondents with breast cancer (1, 100.0%) and anxiety disorder (1, 100.0%) respectively. Calcium and zinc were the commonest minerals taken by respondents with ulcer (50.0%, 16.7%), diabetes (10.5%, 5.3%), asthma (30.0%, 10.0%) and hypertension (13.3%, 11.4%) respectively. High proportions (83.3%, 80.0%) of those with kidney disease and with asthma consumed DHS to maintain good health. Health workers were the dominant source of information for most on the use of supplements during Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
Conclusions: The findings showed widespread use of DHS for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 among persons with NCD. The use of DHS in this study was mainly guided by health workers with a marginal role of social media and Mass media. These findings call for a more robust consolidative tactic towards DHS to ensure its proper and safe use.

Research on the meaning of life has shown that the value and worth of each individual’s life hold significant importance, and this is closely associated with the concept of “eudaimonia” from ancient Greek philosophy. More recently, the Japanese word “ikigai” has gained attention as a similar concept, referring to one’s sense of well-being, reason for living, or purpose in life. Through various studies, it has been discovered that ikigai is closely related to factors such as happiness, anxiety, depression, stress, and employment status. In fact, it has been identified as a key predictor of both psychological well-being and physical health. As such, the research on ikigai has important implications for preventative medicine and positive psychology, as it can help individuals lead more fulfilling, successful, and responsible lives on a daily basis.

Non-Hodgkin lymphomas represent the third leading cause of cancer in the pediatric age group. Primary renal lymphoma is an uncommon presentation. We describe the diagnosis and treatment of a 6-year-old boy who presented with bilateral renal involvement, abdominal pain, vomiting, and weight loss. Initial investigations were consistent with presumed non-oliguric end-stage renal disease and anemia. Subsequent imaging demonstrated enlarged kidneys bilaterally. Histology revealed a Burkitt lymphoma that was highly responsive to chemotherapy, including the anti-CD20 monoclonal agent rituximab. Specific treatment was introduced with corticosteroids, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab, resulting in the resolution of acute renal failure within 72 hours and complete response at the second induction with ANHL 1131 protocol.

Objective: To assess gastric pathology in a sample of Iraqi patients in relation to clinico-endoscopic findings, including age, gender, clinical presentation, and endoscopic findings.
Background: Gastric disorders are among the most common problems encountered in clinical practice. The definitive diagnosis is based on histopathological confirmation and is one of the foundations for proper treatment planning.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective study including analysis of 200 cases of gastric biopsies with different clinical presentations and different endoscopic findings collected from the Medical Consultant Office at Al-Nahrain University/ College of Medicine in Baghdad from January 2017 to September 2022. Assessment of histopathological diagnosis in relation to clinical and endoscopic features was done for all enrolled cases.
Results: The majority of cases in this study were female (64%). The most common clinical presentation was epigastric pain (49.5%). Regarding age, 24% of cases were within the age group of 20-29 years, and the most common endoscopic finding was gastropathy (59%). The most common histopathological findings were chronic atrophic gastritis (45%) and chronic superficial gastritis (34.5%) in association with H. pylori (87.5%). The most common polyp type in the present study was hyperplastic polyp (3.5%), whereas fundic polyp was 0.5%. Adenocarcinoma was the most common type of malignancy (4.5%), and diffuse type adenocarcinoma was the most common one.
Conclusion: H. pylori infected more than three-quarters of patients in the recent study with female predominance. Most cases were between 20-29 years, and epigastric pain was the most common clinical presentation. Chronic gastritis was the most common histopathological finding. Adenocarcinoma was the most common malignancy encountered in the present study.

Objectives: Somalia has some of the worst infant, child and maternal mortality ratios in the world and was unable to achieve its Millennium Development Goals of health and nutrition. This study aimed to examine whether the project achieved its intended outcome in fragile Somalia.
Design: The study adopted a quantitative and analysis method.
Setting: Data collection involved household surveys and anthropometric measurements. A pre-and post-intervention data collection and analysis was conducted aimed at comparing the performance of the priority indicators, determining if the change was significant with a 95% confidence interval.
Participants: It was with caregivers, mainly women of reproductive age (15-49 years) and children 0-59 months as the main participants.
Main Outcome Measures: The focus was on Baseline compare to end line, End line Puntland Vs Somaliland and Key indicators to National Targets. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of the household questionnaires was conducted using SPSS data analysis software. Cross-tabulation using the McNemar’s Chi-square test was used to compare key outcomes.
Results: From baseline to end line, there was statistically significant improvement breastfeeding practices, mothers practice for health timing and spacing of pregnancy, mothers practicing the recommended child birth practices care for children under five when sick and a reduction in the utilization of pregnancy care services and practice of vaccination of children. Comparison of Key indicators to National Targets revealed that the project achieved more in appropriate treatment of childhood illnesses, delivery practices, contractive use, infant and young child feeding, but fell short in the immunization services and ANC services.
Conclusions: The health and nutrition care system in Somalia remains weak, poorly resourced and inequitably distributed with the root causes being multipronged. However, the results from this study show that if interventions are appropriately funded, there will always be improvement in the key health and nutrition indicators.