Consequences of Opioid Abuse and their Treatments in Persian Medicine: A Review Study

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

The efficacy of whey associated with dodder seed extract on moderateto- severe atopic dermatitis in adults: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Atopic dermatitis is a common chronic inflammatory skin condition that is on the rise and adversely affects quality of life of the affected individual. Dry skin and pruritus, major characteristics of this disease, are associated with the dysfunction of the skin barrier. Though mild cases of the disease can be controlled with antihistamines and topical corticosteroids, moderate-to-severe cases often require treatment with immunomodulatory drugs, which have many side effects. It is now more common to use complementary and alternative medicines in the treatment of atopic dermatitis. In traditional Iranian medicine, the use of whey with the aqueous extract of field dodder (Cuscuta campestris Yunck.) seeds in severe and refractory cases of atopic dermatitis is common and has no side effects. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of whey associated with dodder seed extract in the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adults. Materials and methods: The study was a randomized, double-blind placebo control trial that was conducted on 52 patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis for 30 days. In this study patients received freeze dried whey powder with spray dried water extract of field dodder or the placebo for 15 days. At baseline (week zero), after the end of the 15 day treatment period (week three) and 15 days after stopping the drug or placebo (follow-up/week five), patients were evaluated in terms of skin moisture, elasticity, pigmentation, surface pH and sebum content on the forearm with Multi Skin Test Centers MC1000 (Courage & Khazaka, Germany) and the degree of pruritus and sleep disturbance in patients were also recorded. Results: 42 patients completed 30 days of treatment with the medicine and the follow-up period. At the end of the follow-up period a significant increase in skin moisture and elasticity in the group receiving whey with dodder was observed compared with the placebo group (po0.001). There was a significant difference between the two groups regarding the pruritus after 15 days of receiving treatment or the placebo (po0.05), and at the end of the 30-day study period the difference was clearly significant (po0.001). Sleep disturbance showed significant changes at the end of follow-up period (po0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups concerning changes in skin pigmentation, however, a significant decrease was observed in the group receiving whey associated with dodder seed extract over time (po0.001). There were no significant alterations in skin surface pH and the amount of sebum between the two groups. Temporary side effects were reported including anorexia and mild gastrointestinal problems in drug use. It is noteworthy that in this study despite the fact that patients received whey with dodder for just 15 days, moisture and elasticity of the skin continued to increase in the second half of the study (follow-up period). This shows that the effect of whey with dodder is not transient and this drug really helped skin barrier reconstruction and accelerated the healing process of skin. This positively influenced the skin parameters and consequently the improvement of pruritus and sleep disturbance

The effects of 8-weeks concurrent training on necdin levels and insulin resistance index in obese middle-aged men.

Abstract Background: Obesity per se is a major global health problem leading to an increase in morbidity and premature mortality however increasing physical activity often results in a marked weight loss. Necdin has been shown to be an important negative regulator of adipogenesis of the white adipose tissue. We hypothesized that exercise training would impact necdin synthesis inhibiting adipocity and ultimately reducing obesity. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the effects of 8-weeks concurrent training on plasma necdin levels in obese middle-aged men. Methods: Twenty three sedentary obese middle-aged men were randomly assigned to concurrent training group (CTG: n=12) or control group (CG: n=11). The subjects in concurrent training group performed endurance and resistance training on the same days, 3 days a week, 55-65 (mean: 60) min gradually was spent over 8 weeks Results: At the end of the study, there were significant decreases in total body weight (up to 3.5 kg), body mass index (BMI; 1.2 kg/m2), waist hip ratio (WHR; 0.02 unit) and the fasting plasma insulin levels (up to 58%) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR; P<0.05) in CTG group compared with the CG group. However, there were no significant differences in the fasting plasma levels of glucose or necdin between the two groups at the end of the study. Conclusion: Concurrent training is a viable tool in reducing body weight. There seems to be no association between 8-weeks concurrent training-induced weight loss and the total plasma necdin levels in obese middle-aged men

Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis From the Perspective of Traditional Persian Medicine: Presentation of a Novel Therapeutic Approach

There is a strong current trend for using complementary and alternative medications to treat atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is a common, chronic, pruritic, and inflammatory skin disease. It can have a profound, negative effect on patients’ quality of life. Mild cases of atopic dermatitis can be controlled by the application of moisturizers and topical corticosteroids. However, in severe cases, application of immunosuppressive medication is unavoidable but it can have adverse effects. In traditional Persian medicine, diseases similar to resistant atopic dermatitis are treated with whey in combination with decoction of field dodder. Both whey and field dodder have anti-inflammatory properties. Consumption of whey can also aid skin repair, mitigate pruritus, and help combat the high level of stress experienced by patients. Therefore, it is hypothesized that consumption of traditional medicinal treatment of whey with decoction of field dodder can be applied as a complementary treatment for atopic dermatitis

Herbal therapy in opioid withdrawal syndrome: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials

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

Diagnostic Performance of Ultrasonography for Identification of Small Bowel Obstruction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Introduction: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is known as a common cause of acute abdominal complaints in the emergency department (ED). The modality of choice for the diagnosis of SBO has not yet been established. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the accuracy of ultrasonography for the diagnosis of SBO. Methods: Systematic search was performed on five electronic databases including Medline, Scopus, Web of Sciences, Embase, and Cochrane Library, and the retrieval period was from the inception of each database to November 2023. The quality of the included studies were investigated using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 (QUADAS-2). The pooled values of diagnostic characteristics for ultrasonography were estimated using meta-Disc and Stata statistical software. Results: Twenty-one studies with a total of 1977 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled estimate for sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under the summary ROC curve of ultrasonography for diagnosing SBO were 0.93 (95% CI: 0.91–0.95), 0.8 (95% CI: 0.77–0.83), 5.69 (95% CI: 3.64–8.89), 0.1 (95% CI: 0.07–0.16), 83.51 (95% CI: 18.12–182.91) and 0.96, respectively. Conclusion: The findings of this meta-analysis showed that the utilization of ultrasonography holds promise as a diagnostic imaging for SBO with high accuracy. However, additional worldwide studies are essential to get more evidence on the value of ultrasonography for the diagnosis of SBO

Effects of Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) Diet on Rat Reproduction and Sex Ratio of Offsprings

Abstract: Background & Aims: Apple (Malus domestica Borkh. from Rosaceae family), a rich source of phytoestrogenes has not been thoroughly tested for its reproductive effects. In this study, we investigated the effects of apple diet on rats' reproduction. Method: Nine groups of NMRI rats (n= 10 females + 2 males) with different apple diets (free- apple diet and apple diet in every other day and every tow days intervals) were studied for pregnancy outcome (number of offsprings and sex ratio). Statistical analysis was done by one way ANOVA. Results: Sex ratio of offsprings in none of the groups changed, but the total number of offsprings in the group that had apple diet every other day, showed a significant increase in comparison to the control group (p <0.05). Conclusion: The obtained results show that parents, every other day apple diet causes significant increase in the total number of offsprings without any change on sex ratio. Keywords: Malus domestica, Diet, Rat, Reproduction, Sex rati

Efficacy of a traditional herbal formula against drug-resistant childhood epilepsy

In about one-quarter of childhood epilepsies, there is no complete response to the routine, available antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). In traditional Persian medicine (TPM), Paeonia lactiflora and Anacyclus pyrethrum have been known for their anticonvulsant effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of a combined herbal formula consisting of the dried root of P. lactiflora and A. pyrethrum in childhood drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). This single-arm before/after clinical trial was conducted on 46 children with DRE. The patients were observed for three months before as well as thirteen weeks after the administration of this traditional herbal preparation at a dose of 15 mg/kg/day. The frequency and duration of seizures were evaluated using the Hague seizure severity scale (HASS). There was a statistically significant reduction in both the frequency and duration of seizures after treatment with the herbal preparation (p-values were &lt;0.001 and &lt;0.05, respectively). A statistically significant response to the herbal formula started after eight weeks of treatment. The traditional formula of P. lactiflora and A. pyrethrum could be considered as a complementary medicine for treating childhood DRE. However, further studies are needed to provide more evidence of its benefits and possible harms and also determine the precise mechanisms of action of this formula as a medicinal remedy for epilepsy