From the Editor
..........................................................................................................................

Abdul Abyad, MD, MPH, MBA, AGSF, AFCHSE (Chief Editor)

Address correspondence to:
Abdul Abyad, MD, MPH, MBA, AGSF, AFCHSE (Editor)
Abyad Medical Center & Middle East Longevity Institute
Azmi Street, Abdo Center, 2nd Floor
PO BOX 618, Tripoli LEBANON
Tel & Fax: 961 6 443684/5/6
Email: aabyad@cyberia.net.lb
Web: www.amc-lb.com

This issue of the journal is rich with a number of papers on maternal health from Bangladesh, Iran and Iraq.

A study from Iraq looked at Malaria that has stalked human history for the past 50,000 years. It is clear that the clinical consequences to mother and child, of malaria in pregnancy, and the magnitude of the problem, are enormous. A study from Bangladesh investigated the utilization of maternal and child health care, using data from the 2004 Bangladesh Demographic and Health survey (BDHS, 2004) over two time spans 1990-1999 and 2000-2004. The analysis revealed that the vast majority of women do not have any care (i.e., antenatal. natal and postnatal care services) and those women who did have antenatal care received that care from doctors.

Akter S, Rahman MM, Khan AR, and Rahman J.A.M.S looked at
Reproductive knowledge as a vital factor in knowing the consciousness of bearing a child. Knowledge of healthy reproductive behavior as well as lower acceptance of family planning procedures by contraception substantially reduces the risk of pregnancy wastage; however giving more births increases this risk. A study from Bangladesh looked at the basic characteristics and their impacts on desired family size using data from a survey of 4500 ever-married women of which 2250 women were in urban areas and 2250 women in rural areas of Rajshahi district. The study shows that the rural respondents are less educated than the urban counterparts. Husbands seem to be better educated than the wives in all areas. This study also reveals that women desire higher family size with increasing number of living sons in rural Rajshahi.

Nourmohammadi,* A. Akbaryan, Sh.Fatemi,** A.R. Meamarzadeh+ and E. Noormohammadi commented on a case-control study, in which serum zinc concentration was measured in a study group consisting of 40 pre-eclamptic Iranian women. Several investigators in recent years have reported that reduced levels of Zn may have a positive association to pre-eclampsia. Similarly, this data provided evidence of a decrease in serum zinc concentrations in pre-eclamptic pregnant mothers. Progressive depletion of zinc during the course of healthy pregnancy due to physiological changes is a normal process. While the findings can be considered consistent with others who have looked into the relation between Zn and pre-eclampsia, the existence of contrary evidence only highlights the obvious need for more prospective documented studies to find the exact cause-effect relationship of Zn imbalance in women at risk for development of pregnancy induced pre-eclampsia.

A study from Iran looked at the abnormal behavior among the youth living in the suburbs. The authors used a ' survey' for measuring the abnormality and used self-reported accounts for data collection . Based on the results obtained from Multiple Regression, association with others, family problems, control failure, labels, alienation, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic status are the significant variables to abnormalities.

A study from Bangladesh looked at health facilities in the World. USA was at the top ranking position in 1990 but in 2000 it came down to 2nd position. The study reveals that Bangladesh was at 36th position in 1990 and increased their facilities for health during 1990 to 2000 but it did not come out from the low ranking group.

A paper from Iraq looked at improving Opportunities for Learning in Postgraduate Physician Training Program. Active participation of learners in any Postgraduate training programs needs to be critically monitored by an internal review process The author suggests that residents should spend more time in outpatient clinics. Journal clubs are an essential strategy.