Evaluation of Efficacy of Low-Level Laser Therapy

Introduction: Given the inconsistencies in the literature regarding laser performance in non-surgical treatments, this study investigated the available literature to determine the advantages and disadvantages of low-power lasers in treating non-surgical complications and diseases.Methods: Authentic information from articles was extracted and evaluated to assess low-power laser performance for non-surgical treatments. A systematic search of studies on low-level laser therapy (LLLT) for non-surgical treatments was conducted mainly in PubMed and google scholar articles.Results: Four categories of diseases, including brain-related diseases, skin-related diseases, cancers, and bone-related disorders, which were treated by LLLT were identified and introduced. The various types of LLLT regarding the studied diseases were discussed.Conclusion: Positive aspects of LLLT versus a few disadvantages of its application imply more investigation to find better and efficient new methods

Comparison of physical and psychological symptoms of somatic symptom disorder (cognitive, affective and behavioral) in women and men with somatic symptom disorder

Introduction: Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) is characterized by distressing somatic symptoms which are accompanied by disproportionate thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, has wide gender differences in prevalence, which has been less investigated in researches. Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare the physical (criteria A) and psychological symptom of SSD (criteria B) consist of cognitive, affective and behavioral in female and male patients. Method: This study was a descriptive and causal-comparative research. The participants included 60 Iranian women and 30 men with SSD in the age range of 18-60 years old who participated in the study based on the diagnosis of a psychiatrist by Convenience sampling method in 2021-2022. Data was collected by The Somatic Symptom Disorder-B (2017) Criteria Scale and The Somatic Symptom Scale8 (2014). For data analysis, MANOVA were applied by using SPSS-22. Results: The findings revealed that women with SSD generally showed more psychological symptoms compared to men and in the psychological subscales, affective (P=0.00) and behavioral (P=0.00) was more evident in them, however there was no significant difference between men and women in cognition of psychological subscales (P=0.18) and intensity of physical pain (P=0.13). Conclusion: According of the study, one of the factors of the difference in SSD prevalence can be from less expressing, not less suffering from the disorder in men. Studying the main causes of differences in the affective and behavior of psychological subscales such as cultural origin, can be effective in further studies

marital satisfaction according to spouse’s smoking status

Introduction: One of the key aspects of mental health is one’s overall health and lifestyle. Longitudinal studies have shown that dissatisfaction with life causes long-term health damage and increases mortality, suicide tendency, unintentional injuries, disability at work, and diseases such as those of cardiovascular nature. Amongst all forms of satisfaction, that of marital is of utmost importance. On a separate note, inhalation of cigarette smoke exposes passive smokers to many chemical and toxic carcinogens, and it can negatively affect the non-smokers present. Furthermore, in psychiatric counseling sessions, many women report that they hate smoking. If we can show that inhaling cigarette smoke in men can have an impact on marital satisfaction, it can increase the consistency of family foundations and have positive effects on the health and spirit of family members by informing families. Methods: In this study, 200 housewives, who had smoking husbands that smoked at home, were subjected to pre-determined conditions, alongside 200 housewives who had non-smoking husbands and were therefore not exposed to smoking by their husbands at home. They were divided into two groups and were assessed by Marital Conflict Questionnaire (MCQ). For a closer look at the level of marital satisfaction, the questionnaire results were divided into three subgroups which were marked as low, moderate, and good. Results: After calculating the total score of the questionnaire and statistical analysis, the results showed a higher rate of marital satisfaction in women who had non-smoking husbands compared to those who had smoking husbands and this difference was considered significant at P-value <0.001. Conclusion: Inhaling cigarette smoke in men in the family environment may seem to make a good impression on the smokers, but as the results of our study suggest, it also has adverse effects on marital satisfaction

Neuroprotective Properties of Photobiomodulation in Retinal Regeneration in Rats: Perspectives From Interaction Levels

Introduction: Photobiomodulation (PBM) is known as low-level laser (or light) therapy and is applied in different fields of medicine. However, it is required that its molecular and cellular mechanism be investigated. This study aims to assess the neuroprotective properties of PBM in the rat retina.Methods: GSE22818 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and the regulation of the significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) which are produced by light damage in the rat retina by the pretreatment of PBM application was assessed via network analysis and gene ontology enrichment.Results: The 78 produced DEGs by light-damage in the rat retina were protected via PBM pretreatment action. Among these determined DEGs, 53 individuals were included in the main connected component of the constructed protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Ccl2, Icam1, Cxcl10, Timp1, and Fos were determined as hub nodes. Eight clusters including 26 regulated biochemical pathways by PBM pretreatment were identified. The critical DEGs based on the action maps were introduced.Conclusion: The finding indicates that PBM treatment protects rat retina against light damage via the prevention of Fos, Ccl2, Icam1, Cxcl10, and Myc dysregulation.

Prevalence of Anxiety Disorders in Iranian Men in the Last 10 Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to provide an estimate of the prevalence of anxiety disorders during 2010-2020 among Iranian men.  Methods: We searched international and national databases including PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane library, SID, and Magiran with related keywords. The selected studies were also qualitatively evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) checklist. I2 test was used to measure the heterogeneity of the studies and a random strategy for meta-analysis was considered using the result. Results: We reviewed 782 articles identified through our search. Then, 51 articles were selected according to the inclusion criteria and, data were extracted from 24 articles. After carefully reviewing these articles, 24 articles were ultimately selected for meta-analysis. The overall estimated prevalence of anxiety among men was 12% (95% CI: 0.11, 0.13). The highest prevalence of anxiety was 50% (95%CI: 0.38-0.62) in Tehran and the lowest prevalence of anxiety was 0.014% (95%CI:0.003-0.025) in Shiraz. Conclusions: Anxiety disorders are common and the substantive identified here explain much of the prevalence of mental disorders. These results showed the potential in men to suffer from anxiety disorders

Does Severity of Alzheimer's Disease Contribute to Its Responsiveness to Modifying Gut Microbiota? A Double Blind Clinical Trial

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with cognitive dysfunction. Evidence indicates that gut microbiota is altered in the AD and, hence, modifying the gut flora may affect the disease. In the previous clinical research we evaluated the effect of a probiotic combination on the cognitive abilities of AD patients. Since, in addition to pathological disorders, the AD is associated with changes in oxidant/antioxidant and inflammatory/anti-inflammatory biomarkers, the present work was designed to evaluate responsiveness of the inflammatory and oxidative biomarkers to the probiotic treatment. The control (CON) and probiotic (PRO) AD patients were treated for 12 weeks by the placebo and probiotic supplementation, respectively. The patients were cognitively assessed by Test Your Memory (TYM = 50 scores). Also serum concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), 8-hydroxy-2′ -deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and cytokines (TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-10) were measured. The cognitive test and the serum biomarkers were assessed pre- and post-treatment. According to TYM test 83.5% of the patients showed severe AD. The CON (12.86% ± 8.33) and PRO (−9.35% ± 16.83) groups not differently scored the cognitive test. Not pronounced change percent was found in the serum level of TNF-α (1.67% ± 1.33 vs. −0.15% ± 0.27), IL-6 (0.35% ± 0.17 vs. 2.18% ± 0.15), IL-10 (0.05% ± 0.10 vs. −0.70% ± 0.73), TAC (0.07% ± 0.07 and −0.06% ± 0.03), GSH (0.08% ± 0.05 and 0.04% ± 0.03) NO (0.11% ± 0.06 and 0.05% ± 0.09), MDA (−0.11% ± 0.03 and −0.17% ± 0.03), 8-OHdG (43.25% ± 3.01 and 42.70% ± 3.27) in the CON and PRO groups, respectively. We concluded that the cognitive and biochemical indications in the patients with severe AD are insensitive to the probiotic supplementation. Therefore, in addition to formulation and dosage of probiotic bacteria, severity of disease and time of administration deeply affects results of treatment

Opium-Induced Bowel Dysfunction: A hospital survey in two academic centers of Iran

Background and aim: Opioids abuse is associated with several gastrointestinal side effects. We evaluated the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in OIBD in hospitalized patients in different wards of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) hospitals. This study aimed to investigate patients' frequency symptoms treated with opioids and opium addicts and their derivatives. Materials and Methods: The present study is a descriptive study conducted from April 2018 to October 2018. Direct interviews with the study population were performed for data collection. Their information, symptoms, and complaints were checked. Results: Among the gastrointestinal symptoms, constipation was the most common symptom (59.3%). This pattern is followed by bloating (28.6%), heartburn (27.1%), abdominal pain (25.7%), dysphagia (22.9%), gastroesophageal reflux disease (22.1%), nausea (12.1%), and vomiting (7.9 %) and diarrhea (5 %) were the next prevalent symptoms, respectively. Conclusion: Finally, our study showed that OBID symptoms are present in most opioid users and most of these people suffer from constipation. Also, the type of substance consumed by the person, the duration of continuous use and cigarette smoking play a role in the incidence of these symptoms

Gene Activation Is Introduced as Cell Protection Mechanism Against Gamma Ray Irradiation: Gene Activation Against Gamma-Ray Radiation

Introduction: Gamma radiation is accompanied by prominent biological effects and damages. Cell proliferation and tumorigenesis are highlighted as the main resulted effects of gamma radiation on cultured cells. This study aims to assess the dysregulated mode of gene function after gamma radiation in human Jurkat cells.Methods: Six gene expression profiles from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) were analyzed by GEO2R to find the significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) via gamma radiation. Action map analysis was applied to screen the query DEGs.Results: Among 108 study genes, 20 critical DEGs including AURKA, AURKB, BORA, CCNB1, CCNB2, CCNF, CDC20, CDCA8, CENPA, CENPE, CENPF, KIF18A, KIF20A, KIF23, BUB1, DLGAP5, ECT2, PLK1, SGO2, and TPX2 were introduced as down-regulated genes by the gamma-ray.Conclusion: Activators of the introduced critical genes may be the cell protector against gamma radiation

Demographic characteristics and mental health condition of Tehran Municipality employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global health issue with various effects on the physical and mental state of the societies. The aim of this study was to identify the demographic characteristics and mental health condition of Tehran Municipality employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed on Tehran Municipality employees in 2020–2021. Participants were selected using stratified random sampling and were divided into COVID-19 and uninfected groups. Demographic characteristics, COVID-19 risk behaviors, General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), and Well- Being Social Inventory were filled for all participants. Results A total of 510 participants (363 uninfected participants and 147 participants with COVID-19) were evaluated. The prevalence of female gender was significantly higher in COVID-19 group compared to uninfected group (p < 0.001). There was a significant difference between groups in terms of education level (p < 0.001), prevalence of excess weight (p < 0.001), and working sector (p < 0.001). The uninfected group mainly had low contact with clients (p < 0.001) and few underlying diseases (p = 0.004) compared to the COVID-19 group. The mean GHQ-28 and Well- Being Social Inventory were significantly higher in the uninfected group compared to the COVID-19 group (p = 0.002 and p < 0.001, respectively). The prevalence of no and low contact level was significantly higher in the high infection cluster compared to moderate and low infection clusters (p = 0.024). Conclusions The findings of this study indicated that all workers should be educated about the significance of social distancing and follow the recommendations regardless of their level of contact with clients