مجله طب دریا
سال پنجم شماره 1 (پیاپی 18، بهار 1402)

Marine medicine is one of the medical fields that deals with the health and safety of people related to the sea. However, it is an isolated profession which, despite its importance, has received less attention and the skills and competencies required are still debated. By searching and gathering information in published papers in this field, three main areas of marine medicine including marine therapeutic applications, diseases and health problems caused by the marine environment and diseases and health problems caused by marine occupations were identified. Therapeutic applications of the sea include the two main areas of thalassotherapy and marine therapeutic products. In addition to the direct use of climate and sea environment in the treatment of diseases, a variety of products obtained from the sea also have unique properties and can be used to treat many diseases. Diseases and health problems caused by the marine environment include animals related issues, scuba diving related issues and toxins related issues. Animal-related illnesses and health problems include marine animals that cause serious injuries, marine animals that cause severe electric shocks, marine animals that are poisonous, and marine animals that have venomous stings. The most important diseases and health problems related to diving include oxygen poisoning, carbon dioxide poisoning, pulmonary barotrauma, barotrauma of the ear and sinuses, and decompression sickness. Toxins-related diseases and health problems include neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, paralytic shellfish poisoning, amnesic shellfish poisoning and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, ciguatera fish poisoning, edible crab poisoning and mercury poisoning. Also, diseases and health problems caused by marine occupations include health problems and diseases related to safety, physical and mental health. Therefore, in the marine medicine education, the three main areas of marine medicine and the topics related to each of them should be considered.

Marine animals are one of the most important sources of natural products with the origin of biological activities due to their secondary metabolites. These natural compounds can have many nutritional and medicinal uses. In recent years, efforts to find bioactive substances from organisms, especially marine animals, have increased. Echinoderms, including sea urchins (Echinoidea) and sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea) are an ancient and diverse group of marine invertebrates, which are a rich source of antibacterial and anticancer compounds with high activity mechanisms. Despite tremendous progress in medicine, diseases caused by microorganisms are still a major threat to public health. Nowadays, with the increase of antibiotic resistance and the growing of all types of cancers and the side effects of chemical drugs, the use of alternative and new natural treatments seems necessary. Recent research indicates that compounds isolated from different organs of sea cucumber and sea urchin can have antimicrobial and anticancer effects. In this narrative review, the findings of the antimicrobial and anticancer effects of sea cucumber and sea urchin from the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea in the last decade were investigated.

Health literacy is an important element in people's ability to participate in activities related to public health and life satisfaction. The present study examines the impact of socio-economic variables on the relationship between health literacy and general health and the quality of life in inactive staff of Baqerul Uloom Marine Science Training Center.

The present research was carried out by descriptive-correlation method on 285 staffs in in inactive staff of Baqerul Uloom Marine Science Training Center in 2022. Health literacy (HELIA), Goldberg general health (GQH-28) and quality of life (SF-12) questionnaires were used to collect data.

Forty-eight people (37%) of the inactive staffs in Baqerul Uloom Marine Science Training Center were single. 74 people (56%) had an average socio-economic status. The mean health literacy was at borderline level (58.01), general health at moderate to high level (51.42) and quality of life at moderate level (71.61). Considering the socio-economic effects, there was a significant relationship between health literacy and general health and quality of life (p˂0.001).

The findings of this research made it clear that the level of health literacy and its dimensions are necessary for general health and a better quality of life for staffs, and managers of military centers should pay more attention to the relationship between these components in order to improve the quality of life of staffs.

Patients’ rights are their expectations from healthcare organization and hospitals. Protection of patient rights by nurses is possible only when they have the necessary knowledge in this field. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the nurses' knowledge and observance about patients' rights in selected military hospitals.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran during 2022. The research samples included 317 nurses who were selected by convenience sampling method. The data collection tool was a standard questionnaire consisting of three parts, which was completed by nurses in self-report manner; the first part was related to the demographic data, and the second and third parts were related to the patients' legal status (for assessing nurses' knowledge and observance about patients' rights).

49.2% of nurses' knowledge about patient rights was in good status and 47.9% was in excellent status. In other words, about half of the nurses were aware of patients' rights. Meanwhile, in terms of observance of patient rights by nurses, 71% of them were in excellent status. The level of knowledge and observance of patients' rights had a significant relationship with the variables of age, job history and education level (P<0.05).

Considering that about half of the nurses in the selected military hospitals did not have adequate knowledge of the patient's rights, the necessity of training and informing the nurses is becoming more apparent. It is suggested that the education of patients' rights to nurses and patients should be placed at the top of the plans of managers and decision makers of the organization.

Some mortality due to stroke occur outside the hospital. Therefore, the pre-hospital emergency medical services (EMS) plays an important and vital role in the management of stroke patients. The present study evaluated the knowledge of prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in the diagnosis of stroke patients.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in hospitals and pre-hospital EMS affiliated to Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran in 2022. In order to measure the knowledge and awareness of pre-hospital EMS personnel regarding stroke, a researcher-made questionnaire containing 20 questions, as well as demographic data such as age, gender, field of study was collected.

The mean age of 109 pre-hospital EMS personnel was 32.4±6.6 years old. Most of them were graduates of associate degree in emergency medicine. The mean score of knowledge obtained by the pre-hospital EMS personnel was 16.9±3.5 out of 20, which according to the grading, the knowledge level was estimated to be very good. Of course, very weak and weak level of awareness was recorded in 0.9% (n=1) and 1.8% (n=2) of pre-hospital EMS personnel, respectively. No significant relationship was recorded between the mean level of knowledge and field of study.

The findings of the present study showed that the level of knowledge of Ilam pre-hospital EMS personnel in the field of stroke is favorable, however, the knowledge of a very small percentage of them was at a weak or very weak level. It is recommended conducting more studies in this field.

The harsh environment and conditions of serving in prison endanger the mental health of soldiers and affect their level of aggression and life satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to compare the level of life satisfaction and aggression dimensions of soldiers based on the type of sport (water or land) and their marital status.

The statistical population was all soldiers serving in the Mazandaran prison organization, north of Iran, in 2022. The soldiers of 3 prisons, Babol, Sari, and Tonkabon, were selected as the research sample by random cluster sampling (n=169) and finally 153 complete questionnaires were analyzed. Data were collected with three questionnaires; demographic information, Diener's life satisfaction and Makarowski's aggression, and with 3 dimensions going ahead, tripping up, and assertiveness.

The life satisfaction has a significant difference between land and water sports soldiers, and water sports soldiers have higher life satisfaction (P<0.05). The mean aggression dimensions of the water sports group is lower than the land sports group, which is statistically significant (P<0.05) except for the assertiveness dimension. Single soldiers are more satisfied with life than married soldiers, but this difference is not statistically significant (P<0.05). Also, there is no significant difference in the mean dimensions of aggression between married and single soldiers (P<0.05).

According to the current findings that showed water sports soldiers have higher life satisfaction and less aggressive dimensions than land sports soldiers, in order to increase life satisfaction and reduce soldiers' aggression, it is suggested that recreational and educational water sports programs should be part of the soldiers' leisure time programs.

Economic and industrial facilities in Bandar Abbas, the south of Iran, have been more developed in the past three decades, and as a result, industrial pollutants, especially heavy metals, have released to the marine ecosystem. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the degree of toxicity of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, copper and zinc) on macrobenthic communities in North Persian Gulf, Bandar Abbas, Iran.

To evaluate the degree of toxicity of heavy metal pollutants such as lead, cadmium, copper and zinc on sediments and macrobenthic communities, sampling was carried out at 9 stations using a Van Veen Grab device along the Bandar Abbas coastline in Feb and July 2020.

The results of the factor analysis (PCA) suggested a common industrial source for zinc and copper that TOM may be the carrier of these metals. A domestic urban runoff source suggested for lead, and an industrial source different from the common source of zinc and copper suggested for cadmium. The calculated individual indices including geographic accumulation index (Igeo), pollution factor (Cfi) and ecological risk index (Eri) showed that all regions are in the significant to highly polluted range for lead, cadmium and copper and in low pollution in some areas to moderate pollution for other areas for zinc.

The results of this study demonstrated that sediments receiving heavy metals (lead, cadmium, copper and zinc) are toxic for macrobenthic communities and more control should be done by the city management in Bandar Abbas in this regard.