Abstract:
Khat (pronounced "cot") is a natural stimulant from the Catha Edulis plant
is cultivated in the Republic of Yemen and certain areas of East Africa. Khat
produces a modest degree of euphoria and slight hypomania. It results in insomnia
and appears to improve the users' alertness and concentration. That is why some
students use it and believe that it enhances their memorization and preparations
before examinations.
The main objective of this study was to determine ultrasound findings of
urinary bladder in khat chewer Yemeni higher education students.
50 khat chewer student volunteers from higher education level were
selected randomly serving as cases, and 20 non-khat chewer student volunteers
from university level serving as control. All of them were taken ultrasound urinary
bladder scan.
This study revealed high frequency of students who chewed khat was from
Dhamar governorate and that may due to prevalence of khat agriculture in this
governorate.
The study showed broad distribution of cases according to the post voiding
residual urine and that reflected the normal variation which were stated in previous
study, however this distribution was in the normal range of post voiding residual
urine volume (less than 50ml) according to consensus recommendations from the
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Health Care
Policy and Research (AHCPR), which were published in 1992.
This study also revealed normal distribution of cases according the urinary
bladder wall thickness which was in normal range(less than 3mm) using known
standards of ultrasound imaging measurements except one case which showed
thickened wall of urinary bladder which represents 2% of cases.
