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Background: Female sexual dysfunction in the postpartum period is one of the major health problems of women. The aim of this study was to determine the postpartum sexual dysfunction and its related factors in Iranian women. Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis study, Iranian articles published at PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Magiran, Scientific Information Database (SID), IranMedex, IranDoc were searched by keywords related to "postpartum sexual function". The inclusion criteria were as the studies, which used standard tools to measure sexual function, and included observational studies (from 1990 to 2019). Egger statistical test was used to investigate the probability of bias in the publication bias. Data were analyzed using STATA 14 software. Findings: Finally, after quality assessment by Newcastle Ottawa instrument, 12 articles were analyzed. The overall mean score of sexual function after sensitivity analysis was 22.30 [95% confidence interval (CI): 21.8-22.8], the lowest score was in the sexual desire dimension as 3.52 (95% CI, 3.2-20-3.84), and in the sexual satisfaction dimension, it was 4.28 (5 95% CI: 4.4-4.03). Factors related to sexual function included individual and demographic factors, medical factors, and emotional and psychological factors. Conclusion: The postpartum sexual function in Iranian women is influenced by several factors; so it is recommended to pay attention to the sexual dimension of women's postpartum counseling, and to plan interventional measures in this regard.

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome and primary headaches are common health problems in women around the world. Some evidence indicates that these two disorders may share some risk factors. This narrative review study was performed aimed to investigate the common pathways involved in the simultaneous occurrence of these two disorders. Methods: In this narrative review study, the relevant keywords such as polycystic ovary syndrome and primary headache (migraine, cluster headache and tension headache) were searched in databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar with English language limitation and no time limit until Nov 2019. Inclusion criteria were observational, experimental, and review studies, and the articles which presented findings appropriate to the objectives of this review study. Findings of this study were presented qualitatively. Results: In this study, 60 extracted articles were assessed. Polycystic ovary syndrome and primary headaches like migraine have some common risk factors and clinical consequences, but the possible overlap between these two disorders has not yet been identified. Numerous evidences have suggested that lifestyle and psychological factors are important factors that contribute in the development and progression of both disorders. In addition, other possible common pathological pathways include hormonal disorders (sex hormones, thyroid hormone, and prolactin), risk factors for metabolic abnormalities (insulin resistance, hypertension, and lipid disorder), obesity, and inflammatory factors. Conclusion: The available evidence mainly indicates common pathways including hormonal, metabolic, and inflammatory abnormality in the development of polycystic ovary syndrome and primary headaches including migraine.

Introduction: Premenstrual syndrome is one of the most common menstrual disorders in women at reproductive age. This syndrome affects women’s quality of life and reduces their efficiency. On the other hand, the main cause is not known, various factors such as lifestyle, type of nutrition, and hormones affect it. Since vitamins and minerals have been suggested as possible factors affecting the severity of symptoms of this syndrome, so this study was conducted with aim to investigate the effect of vitamins and minerals on the symptoms of the syndrome. Methods: In this narrative review study, to find the related studies, databases of SID, PubMed, and Google Scholar were searched according to the keywords including premenstrual syndrome, premenstrual syndrome symptoms, minerals, and vitamins from 1980 to 2020. The clinical trial and review studies which were published and the language of them was English or Persian were selected. Results: Some vitamins such as vitamin E, B6, D and some minerals such as magnesium, zinc, and calcium have a positive effect on the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Conclusion: Since the optimal consumption of vitamins and minerals promotes general health, the results of this narrative review by identifying the challenges in this area, leads to the recognition and use of effective minerals and vitamins to reduce the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Keywords:

Background: Some studies have investigated the effects of iron on breast carcinogenesis and reported different findings about the association between Fe and breast cancer risk. This study was conducted to estimate this effect using meta-analysis method. Methods: A total of 20 articles published between 1984 and 2017 worldwide were selected through searching PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. Keywords such Breast Cancer, Neoplasm, Trace elements, Iron, Breast tissue concentration, Plasma concentration, Scalp hair concentration, toenail concentration and their combination were used in the search. Results: The total number of participants was 4,110 individuals comprising 1,624 patients with breast cancer and 2,486 healthy subjects. Fe concentration was measured in the various subgroups in both case and control groups. There were significant correlations between Fe concentration and breast cancer in breast tissue subgroup (SMD: 0.67 [95% CI: 0.17 to 1.17; P=0.009]). Whereas, there was no meaningful difference in Fe status between women with and without breast cancer related to scalp hair and plasma subgroups; (SMD: -3.74 [95% CI: -7.58 to 0.10; P=0.056] and (SMD:-1.14[95% CI: -2.30 to 0.03; P=0.055], respectively. Conclusion: The present meta-analysis indicated a positive and straight association between iron concentrations and risk of breast cancer but because of high heterogeneity we recommend more accurate future studies

Introduction: The spontaneous onset of labor and delivery are influenced by several factors. However, labor sometimes does not start on the due date. This would result in increased maternal and fetal complications and costs. Many studies have investigated the effective treatments for labor induction. The present study was performed to systematically review the studies examining the effective interventions to induce labor in Iran. material: This systematic review was conducted on the clinical trials published in the Persian and English languages. The searching process was performed in several databases, including Google scholar, Scopus, IranMedex, SID, Medlib, Magiran, IRCT, and PubMed, using the following English keywords and their Persian equivalents: “Labor”, “Labor induction”, “Delivery”, “Initiation of labor”, “Clinical trial”, and “Labor pain”. The articles, which obtained the score of ≥ 3 based on Jadad criteria, were entered to the study. The data were analyzed through qualitative methods. Results: The searching process resulted in the inclusion of 29 clinical trials, 23 and 6 cases of which investigated pharmacological treatments (including 17 chemical drugs and 6 herbal drugs) and non-pharmacological treatments, respectively. According to the results of the reviewed articles, misoprostol was found to be a more effective treatment for the induction of labor than other methods. In addition, among the herbal remedies, Peganum harmala, Descurainia sophia, chamomile, and castor oil and among the non-pharmacological methods, Laminaria were reported to have a positive effect on labor induction. Conclusion: There are many types of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments for the induction of labor. Misoprostol was reported to be more effective in labor induction in the majority of the retrieved articles, revealing positive results in this regard. Furthermore, the use of Peganum harmala, Descurainia sophia, chamomile, castor oil, and Laminaria were proposed as effective methods for the induction of labor. However, the confirmation of the efficacy of these methods requires the implementation of further studies with a stronger methodology.