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Background and Objectives: In recent decades, significant increases in the prevalence of obesity in developing and developed countries suggest that obesity is a complex health problem. Environmental factors such as lack of physical activity, excessive TV watching and sedentary lifestyle, consumption of high-calorie foods and side effects of various drugs can cause overweight and obesity. Obesity is associated with severe health problems such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, asthma, arthritis and decreased life expectancy. Obesity includes profound effects on people's mental health. This study assessed relationships between anthropometric indices and perceived stress levels in working women. Materials and Methods: After ethics committee approval from Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 395 healthy women between 20 and 50 years old participated in the study. Women who worked at Iran University of Medical Sciences completed questionnaires including general information and assessment of the participants' statuses of eating behaviors. Anthropometric variables, including height, weight, body fat percentage and waist and hip circumferences, were measured and body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio were calculated. Then, each participant completed questionnaires of perceived stress, 24-h food recall and physical activity. Results: Anthropometric indices (weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference and hip circumference) were reported lower in people who ate breakfast than those who did not. Waist-to-hip ratio was lower in those with a slower eating speed than those of the fast group (p = 0.034). Weight, body mass index and body fat percentage were significantly higher in those eating during screen watch. No significant relationships were reported between the eating behaviors (speed rate, breakfast or not eating breakfast and eating with or without screen watch) and perceived stress levels. Anthropometric indices increased with increasing food intakes (p < 0.001) and decreasing physical activities, while no relationships were reported between dietary intakes and physical activities with perceived stress levels. Conclusions: Dietary behaviors and physical activities affect anthropometric indices, while perceived stress levels do not affect dietary behaviors or anthropometric indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oligomenorrhoea treatment with hormone therapy and Metformin is not usually well tolerated and is associated with a broad range of side effects. In Persian medicine, the management of oligomenorrhoea can be done with fennel and dry cupping. A clinical trial was conducted on 61 patients with oligomenorrhoea. The patients randomly received treatment for 6 months in two groups: fennel infusion plus dry cupping (Group A); versus treatment with Metformin (Group B). On the days between the two periods, the patients' BMI, pain levels and side effects were assessed. Thirty-one patients (mean age: 26.68) in Group A, and 30 patients (mean age: 28.90) in Group B were enrolled. The mean numbers of days between the two periods after 3 and 6 months in Group A was, respectively, 32.59 and 30.69, versus 40.66 and 431.22 in Group B. The mean pain severity dropped significantly in Group A. Fennel seed infusion plus a dry cupping uses a safe and effective therapeutic intervention in the management of oligomenorrhoea. IMPACT STATEMENT What is already known on this subject? Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women. Some common clinical manifestations of this syndrome include menstrual disorders such as oligomenorrhoea and amenorrhoea. The recommended therapeutic interventions include oral intervention, as well as metformin, which are associated with an increased risk of vascular thromboembolism, digestive complications such as nausea, and dizziness, and vitamin B12 deficiency. Therefore, the use of complementary medicine in controlling and treating PCOS is considered a valuable intervention in conventional medicine. In Persian traditional medicine, medicinal fennel (with the scientific name of Foeniculum Vulgare Mill) is commonly used in this regard. The practice of dry cupping during the monthly period that ends with ovulation is also recommended. What do the results of this study add? The present study concludes that fennel seed infusion plus a dry cupping therapy is effective and safe in reducing the days between two menstrual periods and manages oligomenorrhoea. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? A clinical study is suggested for assessing the effect of fennel seed infusion plus dry cupping on oligomenorrhoea, with a large sample size and a longer follow up time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Malaria can be diagnosed in saliva and urine using mitochondrial PCR detection of Plasmodium DNA. Methods Blood, saliva and urine were collected from 99 febrile patients referred to health centers in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, southeastern Iran, from May to November 2011. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax was targeted in saliva, urine and blood samples using nested PCR. Results Nested PCR proved to be more sensitive than microscopy for the diagnosis of sub-microscopic and mixed-species infections. The results of nested PCR amplifications of saliva and urine samples showed the same specificity of 97% and sensitivity of 91% and 70%, respectively. Nested PCR amplifications of saliva samples and microscopy showed the greatest area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and were more accurate than nested PCR amplifications of urine samples. Conclusion Nested PCR amplification of saliva samples showed good levels of detection of mitochondrial Plasmodium DNA as compared to nested PCR of blood (к=0.84; AUC=0.94), which was used as a reference standard. Based on the results of nested PCR as well as the advantages of saliva sampling, we suggest that saliva could be an alternative to blood, in malaria diagnosis, in cases where repeat sampling is required. Further studies are needed to validate these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women all around the world. Today, in addition to factors including hormones and genetics that are involved in the occurrence of breast cancer, special attention is paid to the role of social and non-medical determinants of health. This study aims to explore the perception of Social Determinants of Health (SDH) in women with breast cancer., Design: Qualitative study design with a conventional thematic analysis approach., Setting: The study was conducted in Tehran, Iran, between December 2021 and February 2023., Participants: 19 women with breast cancer were selected through purposeful and snowball sampling with maximum variation. Sampling continued until data saturation was reached., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: The study categorised the extracted codes from interviews into three main categories and 12 subcategories related to SDH in women with breast cancer., Results: The study identified factors such as personal and family health records, health behaviours and lifestyles and medical screening and follow-up as key themes in the perception of SDH among women with breast cancer. The main categories were also categorised into 12 subcategories, 'including family history', 'environmental factors', 'hormonal and medicinal changes', 'metaphysical factors', 'traditional medicine-related factors', 'stress', 'body weight', 'physical activity', 'nutrition', 'smoking and tobacco use', 'screening', 'self-examination' and 'barriers to medical follow-up'. 'Near the telecommunications tower', 'Improper use of supplements', 'Being subjected to the evil eye regularly', 'Eating cold nature foods', 'Breast weight' and 'Being ashamed of the doctor' were some examples of the codes., Conclusions: Participants identified a number of environmental, personal and cultural factors as contributing to the disease. Woman's screening behaviours were influenced by factors such as fear of disease and death, disbelief in getting sick and shame, depending on cultural context. The study suggests the need for further research to explore the impact of these factors on screening behaviours and outcomes in different cultural contexts., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/ or publication of this article., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)