Urology for People

69Urology Journal    Vol 7    No 1    Winter 2010

What’s Up in Urology Journal, Winter 2010?

Urology for People is a section in the Urology Journal for providing people 
with a summary of what is published in this journal and describing 
urological entities in a simple language. The Persian translation of this 
article is available from www.uj.unrc.ir. 

Important Note. The findings in medical papers are usually not directly 
applicable in clinical practice and patients should consult their physicians 
before any utilization of the results of medical studies.

Urol J. 2010;7:69. 
www.uj.unrc.ir

ELDERLY WITH KIDNEY STONE CAN 
CHOOSE THEIR TREATMENT
There are many surgical treatment options for 
removal of a stone from a kidney, but not all of 
them can be used for all patients. For example, 
the stone can be removed through the instrument 
inserted into the kidney from the flank of the 
patient. But, this surgery accompanies with risks 
in older patients. Extracorporal shock wave 
lithotripsy, fraction of the stone by shock waves 
sent to the body, is another option. However, 
sometimes this does not work for the older 
patients either. In such a situation, the surgeon 
may have no choice but to take the risk! The first 
treatment, which is called percutaneous surgery, 
was attempted in patients older than 65 years 
by Dr Karami and his colleagues in Shohada-e-
Tajrish Hospital, in Tehran. They compared the 
outcome with that in patients younger than 40 
years. And now they can reassure their elderly 
patients that percutaneous approach would be 
safe and effective. Risky operations are sometimes 
inevitable, but in the hands of an experienced 
surgeon, the patient fills safe, especially when the 
surgeon has done research on its safety issues!

See page 17 for full-text article 

KIDNEY TRANSPLANT AND A REMOTE 
ORgAN: THYROID
When the kidneys fail to work properly, almost 
all organs in the body will be affected. The same 
happens when the patient receives a kidney 
transplant. The thyroid gland was the subject 
of a group of kidney transplant in Mashhad. 
They measured thyroid hormones before 

and then during the first days after a kidney 
transplantation. They observed a decrease in the 
levels of thyroid hormones, and the interesting 
finding was that such a decrease was greater in 
those who faced a delayed function of their new 
kidneys. 

Kidney transplant is a very sophisticated surgery, 
and the patient needs extensive care after the 
surgery by a team of experts. Endocrinologists 
should also be involved in this process. The 
thyroid gland is one of the organs that have its 
own reactions to changes in kidney function and 
its substitution. Researchers have to pursue all 
these detailed alteration in the body, in order to 
provide the best care for the patients.

See page 30 for full-text article 

ANTIDEPPRESSANTS ARE NOT ONLY 
FOR YOUR DEPRESSION …
Fluoxetine is now a worldwide famous drug, 
especially among depressed people. But another 
group of patients may know it very well. 
Fluoxetine can also help men with premature 
ejaculation. These men suffer from early 
ejaculation before they can have a complete 
intercourse. This sexual problem usually needs 
medical treatment with fluoxetine. However, 
it fails sometimes. Dr Dadfar and his colleagues 
offered another drug from the same antidepressant 
family to their patients who did not benefit from 
fluoxetine. The opponent’s name is citalopram, 
and indeed, it did well. Dr Dadfar and his 
colleague followed their patients and reported the 
results in an article in Urology Journal.

See page 40 for full-text article