Comparison of an Iranian Traditional Massage (Fateh Method) with Physiotherapy and Acupuncture for Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background : Low back pain (LBP) is currently a major reason for disability worldwide. Therapeutic massage is one of the most popular non-pharmacological methods for managing chronic LBP (CLBP), and the Fateh method is a massage technique based on Iranian Traditional Medicine. Objectives: The current study aimed to compare the effects of Fateh massage with those of acupuncture and physiotherapy on relieving pain and disability in CLBP. Methods : Eighty-four patients with CLBP were categorized into groups that received Fateh massage, acupuncture, or physiotherapy. Each group included 28 randomly assigned patients who completed 10 sessions of therapy. Visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and Roland–Morris disability scores were evaluated at baseline, after intervention, and four weeks later. The findings were analyzed with SPSS software. Results : The baseline VAS and Roland–Morris scores of the three study groups did not indicate significant differences (p > 0.05). All three groups showed significant pre-post improvements in both scores (p 0.05). Improvements in disability and pain between the first and third time points were significant in all three groups (p 0.05). No adverse events occurred in the patients. Conclusion : The effects of Fateh massage were comparable to those of acupuncture and physiotherapy in reducing pain and disability in patients with CLBP

NGLY1 deficiency: Novel variants and literature review

NGLY1 deficiency is a recently described autosomal recessive disorder, involved in deglycosylation of proteins, and for that reason grouped as the congenital disorders of deglycosylation together with the lysosomal storage disorders. The typical phenotype is characterized by intellectual disability, liver malfunctioning, muscular hypotonia, involuntary movements, and decreased or absent tear production. Liver biopsy demonstrates vacuolar amorphous cytoplasmic storage material. NGLY1 deficiency is caused by bi-allelic variants in NGLY1 which catalyzes protein deglycosylation. We describe five patients from two families with NGLY1 deficiency due to homozygosity for two novel NGLY1 variants, and compare their findings to those of earlier reported patients. The typical features of the disorder are present in a limited way, and there is intra-familial variability. In addition in one of the families the muscle atrophy and posture abnormalities are marked. These can be explained either as variability of the phenotype or as sign of slowly progression of features as the present affected individuals are older than earlier reported patients