Search

Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as a global concern, has affected different economic and social aspects, as well as health costs in various communities. Finding effective and available treatment is an urgent need. A recent study has demonstrated that the ketogenic diet (KD) activates innate immunity and has a protective property against virus infection. Accordingly, we conducted this study to find the effect of oral medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) on COVID-19 and its clinical manifestations. Methods: This was a randomized clinical trial on 195 patients clinically suspected of COVID-19 referred to infectious disease clinics of Kerman. Patients were randomly assigned into two groups. The Control group received standard supportive treatment, the recommendation for carbohydrate avoiding and diet modification. Patients in the intervention group received all mentioned recommendations beside MCT oil. Patients` clinical symptoms, including body temperature, respiratory rate, body pain, and dyspnea, were recorded in a checklist and analyzed. Results: The mean age of patients was 37.78 ± 12.42 years in the intervention group and 40.81 ± 13.23 years in controls (P = 0.231). The patients in the intervention group had lower duration of weakness (P = 0.004), body pain (P = 0.004), dyspnea (P = 0.004), gastrointestinal manifestations (P

Background: Medicinal plants have revealed much attention as an alternative or complementary treatment for opioid withdrawal syndrome. The current review collects all available literature to verify the efficiency of herbal remedies in the management of symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal.Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted from January 1990 to May 2021 on four bibliographic databases (Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science) using the search terms “medicinal plant”, “withdrawal syndrome”, “opioid”, and all their equivalents. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs), published in the English language were included for data synthesis. The search was performed according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to verify the quality of the included clinical trials.Findings: A total of 12 RCTs were collected and used for data synthesis. The results of these studies indicated that herbal medicines were effective in treating opioid withdrawal syndrome and could alleviate the withdrawal symptoms, such as abdominal constrictions, diarrhea, bone pain, perspiration, and insomnia, when compared to conventional medications such as buprenorphine, clonidine, and methadone. However, more than 30% of RCTs were found to be at high risk of bias in the areas of selection, performance, detection, attrition, and reporting.Conclusion: Although several RCTs have proven that herbal remedies are effective in reducing opioid withdrawal symptoms, the findings need to be viewed more carefully. Further RCTs with more participants, longer duration, and less risk of bias are needed in the claimed cases.

Background: Drug addiction is a major health problem for modern human communities. The earliest historicalevidence of opium use can be found in the writings of Theophrastus in the 3rd century BC. Since then, opiumuse and abuse has spread to all corners of the world, specifically the Eastern countries. This study aimed toinvestigate the consequences of opium use and their treatments according to Persian medicine.Methods: In this narrative review, primary sources of Persian medicine and modern medicine databases ofPubMed, Google Scholar, PsycINFO, the American Academy of Medical Sciences, and the United NationsOffice on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) were searched with relevant keywords.Findings: In Persian medicine, the Persian equivalent of the word “Opium” is “Afioon”, which refers to thesap of “Khashkhaash” or Papaver somniferum, traditionally used as a recreational drug as well as a sedative.Opioid use can cause social and psychological anxiety, muscle and tissue degradation, irritability, stomachweakness, loss of skin softness, and change in facial features.Conclusion: Opium addiction is generally harmful to the body’s faculties. The repeated use of opium,disregarding circumstances and dosage of use and without the simultaneous use of its modifiers, can harmthe entire body and even lead to fatality.

Medicinal plants and herbal drugs are being used increasingly as part of primary health care in most parts of the world. As important adjunctive and alternative treatments for oral health care, herbal products' use may continue to increase and become more widespread. The objective of this study is to present a comprehensive systematic review of the current published literature on the effectiveness of medicinal plants and herbal products employed to improve oral health in adolescents with a health promotion approach. The systematic review was conducted according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The keywords “herbal medicine,” “herbal extract,” “herbal supplements,” “plant extract,” “natural drug,” “pulpitis,” “dental caries,” “oral viral diseases,” and “abscess” were used in combination with the Boolean operators OR and AND. PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched. Quality assessment of the included studies was performed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. The search yielded 49 original research studies. A total of 22 studies had low or unclear risk bias. The geographical distribution of included studies was primarily concentrated on western countries. Overall, studies reported herbal product users' age, ranging from young adults aged 18 years to elderly people aged 75 years or older. Most studies reported multiple compounds, including herbal drugs and herbal extracts. Chamomile and Aloe vera were the most frequently reported herbal compounds. The most commonly described herbal products to treat oral diseases were gels, mouth rinses, and pastes. The studies included a range of people with oral diseases, including periodontal and gingival diseases, recurrent aphthous stomatitis, oral lichen planus, and oral candidiasis. Herbal product interventions were found to be effective and safe alternatives for oral health care. One of the most important goals of the World Health Organization (until 2015) is the oral health index, so it is important that dental services be followed up more seriously. Considering the problems in reaching this goal of the World Health Organization in our country, herbal products have the ability to improve clinical oral health outcomes in adolescents. Limited adverse side effects indicate the overall safety of these treatments for a wide range of oral diseases. Therefore, the use of medicinal plants as well as alternative medicine is one of the useful methods in achieving this important goal of public health.

Background: Alcohol use has always been prevalent in human societies, but in many Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, national laws prohibit the consumption of this substance. Methods: In this study, reference books on traditional Iranian medicine and electronic documents from Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus were searched for entries about the consequences and treatments of alcohol abuse. Findings: Seminal books of traditional Iranian medicine refer to alcoholic beverages using two terms, namely, “khamr” and “sharâb” (wine). These sources indicate that the temperament of “sharâb” is generally warm but may vary depending on color, taste, concentration, and age. Traditional Iranian medicine views wine as a cause of multiple adverse effects on health. Conclusion: Traditional Iranian medicine advocates the beliefs that no level of alcohol use is beneficial for health and that physicians should advise against alcohol consumption even in small amounts. Scholars of indigenous medical practices have long been opposed to the adoption of wine as a remedy or otherwise, as they believe that the benefits of alcohol are dwarfed by its harmful effects.

Background: Mummy is a mineral substance which according to Persian medicine texts, may be useful in treatment of chronic ulcers. Objective: The present study was performed with the aim of determining the effect of mummy on healing of pressure in male patients who had been hospitalized due to cerebrospinal injury in the Intensive Care Unit. Methods: This randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was performed on 75 patients who had pressure ulcer at Shahid Bahonar Hospital in Kerman, Iran, from September 2016 to March 2017. The control group received normal saline and routine wound dressing, while the intervention group received mummy water solution 20% in addition to normal saline and routine wound dressing on a daily basis. Data was recorded based on the PUSH method. In both groups, ulcers were evaluated on days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 for the variables of ulcer surface area, the amount of exudate and type of tissue. Data analysis was done through SPSS 21 and using t-test, Repeated Measure Analysis, Cox Regression and Chi-square. Results: Both groups showed reduction in the average ulcer surface area (3.26 to 0.53 in the intervention group and 5.1 to 3.46 in the control group), the average exudate amount (1.26 to 0.26 in the intervention group and 1.83 to 1.06 in the control group) and the average tissue score (1.36 to 0.23 in the intervention group and 2.13 to 1.26 in the control group). Over the entire study period, the intervention group showed more acceptable signs of healing compared to the control group (p

Background and aim: Post-operative pain is considered an important complication of Intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA) which is gaining popularity especially for surgeries on upper limbs. Methods: The present double blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 60 candidates of upper limb surgeries aged between 20 and 60 years who were of ASA classes 1 or 2. Subjects were randomly assigned to 4 groups: the first group was treated solely with 3 mg/kg of Lidocaine. The second and third groups received the same amount of Lidocaine plus 8 mg of Dexamethasone or 300 mg of Paracetamol respectively and for the fourth group a combination of all medications was used. For all patients, Lidocaine was diluted with normal saline until a total volume of 40 cc was reached. Onset of Sensory and motor nerve blocks, severity of post-operative pain and amount of mepridine consumption in the first 24 h after surgery were assessed. Results: Onset of Sensory and motor nerve block was significantly accelerated in the fourth group (p