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Background: Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic diseases, and its prevalence and trends vary among populations. Saudi Arabia shows a greater rise in prevalence than many other countries. We aimed to study the association between several chronic disorders, demographic, and lifestyle factors with increased body mass index (BMI) in the adult population of Jeddah., Methods: Data were obtained from a door-to-door cross sectional study. A three-stage stratified cluster sampling technique was adopted. Individuals in selected households agreeing to participate were interviewed to complete a predesigned questionnaire covering demographic and lifestyle variables, medical history, and family history of chronic diseases. This was followed by anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. A random capillary plasma glucose (RPG) was measured, followed by further testing using fasting plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to verify whether participants were normal, diabetic, or prediabetic. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to adjust for confounding factors., Results: A total of 1419 individuals were included in the study: 667 men and 752 women. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 35.1 and 34.8%, respectively, in men, and 30.1% and 35.6%, respectively, in women. Both overweight and obesity increased in prevalence to 60 years of age, and decreased in the oldest age group in both sexes. After adjusting for age, risk of obesity in men was increased with having a postgraduate degree [odds ratio (OR), 95%CI = 2.48, 1.1-5.61] and decreased with increased physical activity (OR, 95%CI = 0.49, 0.26-0.91). Risk of prediabetes and diabetes was increased in obese women (OR, 95%CI = 2.94, 1.34-6.44, and 3.61, 1.58-8.26 respectively), that of hypertension in obese men (OR, 95%CI =2.62, 1.41-4.87), and that of dyslipidemia in both sexes (OR, 95%CI = 2.60, 1.40-4.83 in men, and 2.0, 1.01-3.85 in women). A family history of dyslipidemia was associated with reduced risk of obesity among women (OR, 95%CI = 0.33, 0.12-0.92), whereas, in people with above normal weight (BMI ⩾25), there was increased risks of prediabetes, diabetes, and dyslipidemia among women (OR, 95%CI = 2.50, 1.21-5.17; 3.20, 1.45-7.03, and 1.88, 1.02-3.49, respectively ), and of hypertension among men (OR, 95%CI = 1.80, 1.00-3.23)., Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Saudi population remain high, indicating ineffectiveness or lack of preventive measures. Risk of prediabetes, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension increased with increasing BMI, with some sex differences in these associations., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s), 2019.)

Adriamycin (Adr) is a cytotoxic anthracycline agent that is utilized to manage many types of tumors, but its clinical use is undesirable due to severe cardiotoxicity. The present study aimed to investigate the cardioprotective effect of Achillea fragrantissima ( A. fragrantissima ) against Adr-induced cardiotoxicity through the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory metabolic pathways. A single dose of Adr was injected in rats to induce cardiotoxicity. Rats are divided into 5 groups, control, A. fragrantissima 800, Adr, A. fragrantissima 400 + Adr, and A. fragrantissima 800 + Adr. 72 h after Adr administration, electrocardiographic (ECG) study was performed for all rats. Serum and hearts were then collected for biochemical and histopathological studies. A. fragrantissima ameliorated Adr-induced ST-segment elevation. It reduced Adr-induced elevation in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- α ), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 β ), and IL-6. It also protected against Adr-induced histopathological changes. Pretreatment with the extract increased heart tissue contents of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) and reduced glutathione (GSH). Phytochemical analysis of the extract revealed that it is rich in phenolic and flavonoid active constituents. The results of this study revealed that A. fragrantissima extract ameliorates Adr-induced cardiotoxicity via an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Further studies are warranted in order to recognize the precise active constituents of this natural extract which are responsible for the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions.

Objectives: To investigate the degree and factors responsible for adherence to a Mediterranean diet among non-diabetic patients attending primary health care centres (PHCCs)., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jeddah PHCCs using a validated self-administered questionnaire which assessed adherence levels to 14 dietary aspects related to the Mediterranean diet. The questionnaire enabled calculation of an adherence score (0-14), where inadequate adherence was assumed for scores ≤7. Factors of adherence included general socio-demographic characteristics, medical history, lifestyle, and cardiovascular risk factors such as body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, and fasting and 1-h postprandial blood glucose levels., Results: Of the 265 participants (50.6% males), inadequate adherence was reported in 74.3%. Adherence scores were higher in married participants than in unmarried ones (6.68 ± 1.74 vs. 6.24 ± 1.79, p = 0.04), as well as in those who engaged in regular physical activity vs. those who did not (6.79 ± 1.90 vs. 6.30 ± 1.63, p = 0.02). Furthermore, Mediterranean diet adherence increased with age (B = 0.02, r = 0.133; p  < 0.001). Interestingly, adherence scores were not associated with major cardiovascular risk factors except for a significantly higher diastolic blood pressure in participants with adequate as opposed to low adherence (77.96 ± 12.20 vs. 74.01 ± 12.24, respectively, p  = 0.022)., Conclusion: One out of 4 non-diabetic patients attending PHCCs exhibited good adherence to a Mediterranean diet without considerable association with cardiovascular risk factors. Further studies are recommended to investigate awareness and knowledge regarding the Mediterranean diet among Saudi populations. Subsequently, awareness programs could be tailored accordingly.

Background: Type 2 (T2DM) is believed to be common in Saudi Arabia, but data are limited. In this population survey, we determined the prevalence of T2DM and prediabetes., Materials and Methods: A representative sample among residents aged ≥ 18 years of the city of Jeddah was obtained comprising both Saudi and non-Saudi families (N = 1420). Data on dietary, clinical and socio-demographic characteristics were collected and anthropometric measurements taken. Fasting plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were used to diagnose diabetes and prediabetes employing American Diabetes Association criteria. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with T2DM., Results: Age and sex standardized prevalence of prediabetes was 9.0% (95% CI 7.5-10.5); 9.4% (7.1-11.8) in men and 8.6% (6.6-10.6) in women. For DM it was 12.1% (10.7-13.5); 12.9% (10.7-13.5) in men and 11.4% (9.5-13.3) in women. The prevalence based on World Population as standard was 18.3% for DM and 11.9% for prediabetes. The prevalence of DM and prediabetes increased with age. Of people aged ≥50 years 46% of men and 44% of women had DM. Prediabetes and DM were associated with various measures of adiposity. DM was also associated with and family history of dyslipidemia in women, cardiovascular disease in men, and with hypertension, dyslipidemia and family history of diabetes in both sexes., Discussion: Age was the strongest predictor of DM and prediabetes followed by obesity. Of people aged 50 years or over almost half had DM and another 10-15% had prediabetes leaving only a small proportion of people in this age group with normoglycemia. Since we did not use an oral glucose tolerance test the true prevalence of DM and prediabetes is thus likely to be even higher than reported here. These results demonstrate the urgent need to develop primary prevention strategies for type 2 diabetes in Saudi Arabia.