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Background: In order to create a balanced and sustainable development, it can be of special importance to examine living conditions and peace and prosperity both in cities and in villages. The purpose of this research is to study people's participation in the improvement of rural environments. The context of this study is to investigate the effect of reverse migration on the improvement of rural environments. Method: The research method is ground theory. The data is the result of a semi-structured interview with 15 informed people, including the village council, village trustees and benefactors, school principals in Mehrabad village, Ardestan city. The method of selection is targeted and accessible and determining their number is to reach the saturation stage. Research findings: two central paradigm models "textural-structural changes" and "elderly reverse migration" were chosen as two central phenomena. The selected paradigm of this research is "participatory development". Participatory development means the participants' understanding and lived experience of village improvement and the positive points of the phenomenon of reverse migration. The feeling of belonging to the village and the utilitarian and profit-oriented choice are considered to be the main causal conditions in the phenomenon of participatory development. Providing government support and allocating loans with low interest rates are the conditions that intervene in this phenomenon. According to the participants, the quantity and quality of participation in the improvement of the village can be increased by clarifying the financial sums of participation, as well as by appreciating and thanking and highlighting the participants through the virtual networks of the village. Conclusion: Villagers have a positive view of reverse migration and people's participation in these migrations. According to them, improvement in villages is done by increasing the population and increasing people's contributions, both financially and non-financially, as well as by attracting government support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Proteinuria is a common complication in patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy (DN). The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-proteinuria effect of active vitamin D in patients with type 2 DN. Methods: A double-blind randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 42 DN patients selected by convenience sampling method. After selecting patients based on inclusion criteria, they were randomly divided into control and intervention groups. Patients in the intervention group received 0.25 mg of active vitamin D per day for 12 weeks. The variables evaluated in the patients on the first day of the intervention included fasting blood sugar (FBS), calcium, phosphorus, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and proteinuria. These variables were also evaluated at the end of the first, second, and third month of intervention. Data were collected and analyzed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 22. Results: Around 52.5% of the patients participating in this study were male and 47.5% were female. The mean age of the patients was 55.52 ± 6.58 years. The results of repeated measures analysis showed that active vitamin D significantly reduced proteinuria (P = 0.000) in patients in the intervention group. The changes in FBS (P = 0.235), calcium (P = 0.393), phosphorus (P = 0.694), creatinine (P = 0.232), GFR (P = 0.347), systolic blood pressure (P = 0.615), and diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.115) were not significant in patients in the intervention group. Conclusion: Prescription of active vitamin D can significantly reduce the incidence of proteinuria in patients with DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of comorbidities in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and its effects on the severity of the disease. The coronavirus pandemic has been a challenging problem for health care systems since December 2019. Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study analyzing data related to the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 patients admitted to Razi Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran from November 2020 to February 2021. The data on patient demographic characteristics including age, gender, and underlying diseases were collected from patient records. Patients whose data were unavailable or incomplete were excluded from the study. Results: The mean age of all of the 730 patients studied was 56.30 ± 16.36 years, and 53.7% of them were men. Nearly 40% of the patients reported more than one comorbidity, with diabetes mellitus being the most frequent one (37.5%) followed by hypertension (35.3%) and ischemic heart disease (24.9). In addition, 21.5% of the patients required intensive care unit admission. Finally, 11.9% of the patients had respiratory distress and became intubated, and approximately 13.6% of the patients died. Hyperlipidemia, liver failure, tuberculosis, and elevated inflammatory biomarkers are risk factors for ICU admission and death. Conclusion: We found that male gender, older age, hyperlipidemia, liver failure, TB, having more than one comorbidity, and elevated inflammatory biomarkers were significantly associated with the risk of severe COVID-19 disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background There is no clear and contemporaneous method for screening of idiopathic hirsutism (IH) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at the community level and current estimates regarding their prevalence are limited. We aimed to ascertain the prevalence of IH and PCOS in a randomly selected sample of reproductive aged female participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS). Methods One thousand and two women, aged 18-45 years, were randomly selected from among reproductive aged women who participated in the TLGS. Those women with either hirsutism or menstrual dysfunction were assessed for biochemical hyperandrogenemia; whereas those participants with hirsutism per se were further assessed for subclinical menstrual dysfunction. PCOS were diagnosed using the National Institute of Health (NIH) criteria. IH was defined as hirsutism without clinical or sub clinical menstrual dysfunction or biochemical hyperandrogenemia (BH). Results The mean ± SD of age of study population was 29.2 ± 8.7 years. Estimated prevalences of idiopathic hirsutism and pure menstrual dysfunction were 13.0% (95% CI: 10.9%-15.1%) and 1.5%(95% CI: 1.1%-1.9%), respectively. The prevalence of PCOS was 8.5% (95% CI: 6.8% - 10.2%); more than one third of these cases would possibly have remained undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, had we not assessed them for subclinical menstrual dysfunction or biochemical hyperandrogenemia. Conclusions These data from a large representative and non selected population of women confirm the concept that IH and PCOS are the two most common gynecological endocrinopathies among reproductive aged women. The estimated prevalence of these conditions is highly influenced by their screening methods at the community level.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ginger supplementation on inflammatory, antioxidant, and periodontal parameters in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with chronic periodontitis (CP) under non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT). Material and methods: In this double-blind clinical trial study, 46 T2DM patients with CP were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups and received either 4 tablets 500 mg (2 g) ginger or placebo twice a day for 8 weeks. All patients were treated with NSPT during the intervention period. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), hs-C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), periodontal indices including clinical attachment loss (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), pocket depth (PD), and plaque index were evaluated in all subjects pre- and post-intervention. Results: Following 8 weeks of ginger treatment with NSPT, significant reductions were observed in the mean levels of IL-6 (p=0.001), hs-CRP (p=0.03), TNF-α (p=0.007), CAL, and PD (p<0.001) in the intervention group. The mean serum levels of SOD and GPx were significantly increased in the intervention group after the intervention (p=0.001 and 0.002, respectively). At the end of the study, the mean changes of GPx were significantly higher in the intervention group compared with the control group (p=0.04). Also, after the administration of the ginger with NSPT, significant decrease occurred in the mean change of IL-6 (p=0.009), hs-CRP (p=0.049), TNF-α (p=0.049), CAL (p=0.003), and PD (p=0.04) compared with the control group. Conclusion: It is recommended that ginger supplementation along with NSPT may be effective in the improvement of inflammation, oxidative, and periodontal status in T2DM with CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Hypothyroidism is a common endocrine disease affecting up to 5% of the general population worldwide. The present study was aimed to determine the levothyroxine dose to treat hypothyroidism during pregnancy. Methods: It was a clinical trial study which had conducted on 90 pregnant women diagnosed with either subclinical (n = 45) or clinical or overt hypothyroidism (n = 45) referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz city, Iran. At the beginning of the study, all subjects were measured weight least dressed condition, and then, LT4 dosage was calculated according to the patients' weight in µg/kg. The mean daily LT4 dose was compared between the two groups of subclinical and overt hypothyroidism. The data were analyzed with the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences (version 19, Windows) using descriptive statistics and analytical tests (t-test and Mann-Whitney). For all statistical tests, the level of 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The results showed that the mean daily LT4 dose in the overt and subclinical hypothyroidism was, respectively, 2.69 ± 1.78 and 2.17 ± 1.60 µg/kg, indicating statistically significant difference between the two groups (t=-8.662 and P = <0.001). Conclusion: For efficient treatment of hypothyroidism, it is recommended to use appropriate dosage of LT4 according to the stage of the hypothyroidism where subclinical stage needs lower dosage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Depression is a chronic condition comorbid with diabetes type 2 that often remains untreated. Dealing with diabetes is a challenging task for patients and can lead to depression in long term. These two conditions have a negative influence on each other and on the individual's quality of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of group cognitive behavior therapy on depression, quality of life in women with diabetes type 2. Method: We conducted a clinical trial among 30 women with diabetes type 2 comorbid with depression. The women were divided randomly into the two groups of intervention and control. Each group consisted of 15 individuals. The intervention group received 10 sessions of group cognitive behavior therapy while the control group didn't. Results: The results suggested that group cognitive-behavior therapy decreased depression symptoms (F=72.17, p<0.001), and improved quality of life of the patients (F=8.82, p<0.05) of the intervention group compared to the control group. Conclusion: The results shows that group cognitive behavior therapy can affect depression symptoms, and consequently patients' quality of life with diabetes type 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]