Browsing by Author "Dundar, Bumin"

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The Effects of Electromagnetic Field on the Endocrine System in Children and Adolescents
(2015) Sangun, Ozlem; Dundar, Bumin; Comlekci, Selcuk; Buyukgebiz, Attila; 0000-0002-9079-4574; 26841641; C-3882-2008
Children are exposed to various kind of non-ionizan radiation in their daily life involuntarily. The potential sensitivity of developing organism to the effects of radiofrequency (RF) signals, the higher estimated specific absorption rate (SAR) values of children and greater lifetime cumulative risk raised the scientific interest for children's vulnerability to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). In modern societies, children are being exposed to EMFs in very early ages. There are many researches in scientific literature investigating the alterations of biological parameters in living organisms after EMFs. Although the international guidelines did not report definite, convincing data about the causality, there are unignorable amount of studies indicating the increased risk of cancer, hematologic effects and cognitive impairment. Although they are less in amount; growing number of studies reveal the impacts on metabolism and endocrine function. Reproductive system and growth look like the most challenging fields. However there are also some concerns on detrimental effects of EMFs on thyroid functions, adrenal hormones, glucose homeostasis and melatonin levels. It is not easy to conduct a study investigating the effects of EMFs on a fetus or child due to ethical issues. Hence, the studies are usually performed on virtual models or animals. Although the results are conflicting and cannot be totally matched with humans; there is growing evidence to distress us about the threats of EMF On children.
The Effects of Six-Month L-Thyroxine Treatment on Cognitive Functions and Event-Related Brain Potentials in Children with Subclinical Hypothyroidism
(2015) Sangun, Ozlem; Demirci, Serpil; Dundar, Nihal; Pirgon, Ozgur; Koca, Tugba; Dogan, Melike; Dundar, Bumin; 26316431
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive status of children with subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) before and after L-thyroxine (L-T4) treatment using event-related potentials (ERPs) and neuropsychological tests. Methods: This prospective study was conducted on a series of 20 children with mild SH (free T4 normal and thyroid-stimulating hormone level within 5-10 mu IU/L) who underwent clinical and cognitive assessment before L-T4 treatment and 6 months afterwards. The recordings of ERPs were done at the time of diagnosis and after 6 months of euthyroid state. Neuropsychiatric tests for attention, perception, close and remote memory were performed on all patients and on the control group which consisted of 20 healthy children of normal intelligence. Results: While pretreatment verbal memory (VM) and verbal recall (VR) scores of the SH group were significantly lower than those of the control group (p=0.004 and 0.012, respectively), no significant differences between the post-treatment and control groups were found in these scores after 6 months of L-T4 treatment. Post-treatment VM and VR scores were significantly higher than the pretreatment scores in the SH group (p=0.008 and p=0.0001). There were no significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment values of electrophysiological evaluation in N1, P2, P3 latencies or P3 amplitude (p>0.05), although there was a significant decrease in N2 latency in the post-treatment group (p=0.03). Conclusion: SH affects cognition in children and L-T4 replacement therapy leads to normalization of cognitive functions. Neuropsychological tests can be used as complementary measures in the evaluation of children with SH. Determining the association between ERPs and SH would contribute to the comprehensive evaluation of these children.