Middle East Journal of Rehabilitation and Health Studies
Volume:7 Issue: 3, Jul 2020

“Tiryaq Arba” is a polyherbal Unani formulation in a majoon dosage form that contains four herbal ingredients, namely habbul ghar (Laurus nobilis), juntiyana romi (Gentiana lutea), murr maki (Commiphora myrrha), and zarawand taweel (Aristolochia longa). The medicine has been used as an antidote against different poisons and as a prophylactic medicine before and/or during epidemics. The constituents have been proposed to act as anti-infective, anti-microbial, and antidote against various infectious agents during epidemics (waba). Scientific experimentation of the above-mentioned constituents has also reinforced their beneficial antiviral, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant properties against epidemics of acute respiratory viral infections such as; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), adenovirus, influenza and influenza A virus, respiratory syncytial virus infections, parainfluenza virus, human rhinovirus B, coxsackievirus, parainfluenza virus type 3, Newcastle disease virus, and influenza A virus, which are a greater cause for morbidity and mortality faced by the world, earlier and at present.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a group of pathologies that affect the masticatory muscles, the temporomandibular joint, and related structures and affect more than 25% of the general population.

This study aimed to demonstrate the effect of ultrasounds (US) plus diclofenac gel 10% (phonophoresis) as a physical therapy available for the management of TMD based on pain amelioration and function recovery.

Prospective quasi-experimental one-group before-after study. Outcome measures consist: (1) pain measured by Visual Analog scale (VAS); and (2) mouth opening by measuring lip to lip distance and interincisal distance in millimeters (mm); evaluated at the beginning/end of treatment. Twenty sessions (1 session per day) of continuous Ultrasound to intensity of 1 W/cm2/1 MHz/5 minutes over the affected joint, with Ultrasound gel (5 mL) and 10% diclofenac gel (5 mL) in a proportion of 1:1 as transducer medium.

A total of 50 consecutive patients were analyzed. Phonophoresis protocol was able to improve all outcome measures with a statistical difference. Pain evaluated by VAS was 6.67 ± 0.82 and decreased to 3.48 ± 0.8 points (P = 0.0000). Mouth opening by mean of lip-to-lip distance was 50 ± 8.23 mm that improved to 56 ± 6.2 mm (P = 0.0000) and by mean of interincisal distance was 37.9 ± 7.02 mm and increased to 44 ± 5.5 mm (P = 0.0000).

Diclofenac phonophoresis is an effective physical therapy for the management of TMD, evaluated by pain improvement and function recovery.

The main transmission route of hepatitis E virus (HEV) is fecal-oral by contaminated water and food. Besides, it can be transmitted through infected blood of persons with subclinical infection.

The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence of HEV infection as an emerging virus among thalassemic patients.

In this cross-sectional study, 110 thalassemia patients who were living in Tehran Province were selected. All serum samples were assessed for the presence of total anti-HEV antibodies (IgG and IgM). After RNA extraction from sera, cDNA was synthesized, and RT-PCR was used to determine the HEV-RNA.

The results of the ELISA test showed that 4.5% of thalassemia patients were positive for anti-HEV Ab. Also, the prevalence of HEV-RNA was 0.0% among thalassemia patients.

Our findings may confirm that the risk of HEV infection via blood transmission among thalassemia patients is low in Iran. However, to prevent the possibility of HEV transmission, precautionary measures should be considered in blood recipients.

Female-headed households are one of the vulnerable classes of society that are exposed to serious social problems. Happiness constitutes part of human emotions with different functional consequences in the personal, social, mental, cognitive, and emotional characteristics of female-headed households.

This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of difficulty in cognitive emotion regulation in the relationships of self-differentiation and social intelligence with happiness among female-headed households in Ahvaz city in 2018.

This cross-sectional study included 261 female-headed households, which were selected by a purposive sampling method. The research instruments included the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI), the Tromso Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS), the Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI), and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS).

The results showed that the relationship between difficulties in cognitive emotion regulation and happiness was significant, direct, and negative (β = -0.50, P = 0.000). Also, the relationship between social intelligence and happiness was significant, direct, and positive (β = 0.21, P = 0.000). There was no direct and significant relationship between self-differentiation and happiness (β = 0.04, P = 0.545). Path analysis results showed that difficulties in cognitive emotion regulation had a mediating role in the relationship of social intelligence (β = -0.16, P = 0.000) and self-differentiation (β = -0.03, P = 0.019) with happiness.

The research findings suggest the important mediating role of difficulty in cognitive emotion regulation in the relationships between social intelligence, happiness, and self-differentiation.

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophic factor in the brain associated with the growth, synaptic plasticity, learning, and cognitive processes.

The presence of val66met polymorphism in codon 66 of the BDNF gene disturbs this protein’s secretion. The study investigates the effect of this polymorphism on attention, visuomotor performance, and implicit motor sequence learning.

In the present study, 100 students from the University of Kashan, Iran, with the mean age of 21.60 ± 2.20 years, were enrolled. Following extraction of Genomic DNA, implementation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), analyzing PCR, and DNA sequencing, 46 students were recognized without val66met polymorphism, while 54 students were affected by the polymorphism. In the beginning, participants of each group performed the Stroop color-word test. The Stroop color-word test was performed on one day, and afterward, the serial reaction time test was performed on another day.

The results showed that students with the polymorphism were significantly performed weaker than those without the polymorphism in the Stroop test (P = 0.001), visuomotor performance test (P = 0.001), and implicit motor learning (P = 0.006). However, no significant difference between the groups was observed in the Stroop test score (P = 0.637).

In general, the results show the effect of the polymorphism on visuomotor performance, implicit motor sequence learning, and selective attention. Therefore, this polymorphism in some individuals may weaken their ability, probably through disturbance in BDNF expression.

Staphylococcus aureus is a frequent infectious agent that is responsible for various infections in hospitals and communities.

We aimed to study the nasal carriage rate and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of S. aureus among Syrian civilians in Duhok City, Iraq.

A total of 335 participants were included from Syrian refugees in Duhok City, Iraq. Conventional lab tests such as Gram staining, mannitol fermentation, catalase, and coagulase were used for bacterial identification. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was carried out by using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method and agar dilution assay, according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.

Out of the 355 samples, 140 (39.4%) were confirmed as S. aureus. The highest resistance rate was against oxacillin (35%) followed by fusidic acid (27.86%). The resistance rates against tetracycline, gentamicin, vancomycin, and ciprofloxacin were 22.1%, 17.86%, 11.4%, and 8.57%; respectively. Teicoplanin showed no resistance.

We recommend that the antibiotic profile of S. aureus among Syrian refugees needs to be monitored. We found resistance against most of the antibiotics used in the study, and the highest rate of resistance was against oxacillin.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infectious diseases at the community level, worldwide.

This study aimed to assess the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the main pathogens responsible for male UTI in the community.

Urine samples were collected from 211 subjects with UTI between January 2017 and February 2020. The samples were inoculated directly on MacConkey and Blood agar and then incubated at 37°C for 24 h. Samples with a colony count of ≥ 105 CFU/mL bacteria were considered positive. Bacterial colonies were determined by standard culture and biochemical characteristics, and their susceptibility to different antibiotics was identified by the Vitek-2 compact equipment.

The vast majority of the bacteria were Gram-negative (170 [80.6%]), while 41 (19.4%) of them were Gram-positive. The highest infection was by Escherichia coli (52.6%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14.2%). Staphylococcus spp. were the most common Gram-positive bacteria (13.8%). The highest susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolates was found to imipenem (96.4%), and the highest resistance rate was to ampicillin (96.4%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa was resistant to all commonly used antibiotics, and around 86% was susceptible to ertapenem (86.7%). It was also found that Staphylococcus strains were resistant to benzylpenicillin (100%) and sensitive to linezolid (100%), tigecycline (100%), and nitrofurantoin (100%).

E. coli isolates were the most frequent pathogens causing UTI in males, followed by P. aeruginosa and Staphylococcus spp. The vast majority of isolates were resistant to commonly prescribed antibiotics such as ampicillin, ceftriaxone, cefepime, benzylpenicillin, oxacillin, and erythromycin. This is an alarming situation, and an urgent plan to control antibacterial resistance is required in the region.

Non-specific low-back pain (NSLBP) is a common health problem worldwide, but the perception and coping strategies used by patients are underreported.

The objectives of the study were to evaluate the perception of patients with NSLBP, the ways the pain interfered with their basic life, and coping strategies employed by them.

Twenty patients consisting of 10 males (50%) and 10 females (50%) participated in this study. A qualitative interview was conducted using a three-section modified structured interview guide by Gwenda. Section A contained sociodemographic information, section B was the numerical pain rating scale, and section C asked questions about the pain duration, the ways of pain interference with the patient’s life, and strategies used to cope with pain. The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.

The results showed that 50% of the patients were within the age range of 58 years or above. Ten (50%) patients perceived that NSLBP was caused by work-related activities and 10% perceived that NSLBP was a spiritual problem. Fifty percent reported that the pain interfered with their activities of daily living, and four (20%) mentioned that NSLBP interfered with their sexual function and religious activities. Concerning the coping strategy, 40% used prayer, 15% usually ignored the pain, and 35% used the conventional approach.

It can be concluded that half of the patients with NSLBP perceived NSLBP to be caused by work-related activities. Besides, NSLBP interfered with basic activities of daily living, and about 40% were coping with NSLBP with prayer and spiritual means.

Platelets (plts) are involved in thrombosis. However, intense exercise can affect the number and activation of plts.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of acute high-intensity interval exercise performed in the morning and the evening on plt indices and exercise-induced thrombocytosis.

Eleven healthy young adult active male (70.60 ± 8.26 kg) subjects performed high-intensity interval exercise (40 m shuttle sprints at maximum speed for 20 m in a track) on two distinct experimental days (at 8:00 - 9:00 and 15:00 - 16:00) separated by a three-day washout period. Blood samples were taken before and immediately after each exercise session from the antecubital vein by a repetitive venous puncture in a sitting position.

Data indicated that after high-intensity interval exercise, there were increases in the number of plts in the morning (P = 0.03) and the evening (P = 0.001). In addition, it was observed that mean plt volume and plt larger cell ratio was higher in the morning pre-test and post-test (P < 0.05), while plt distribution width was only higher in the morning pre-test (P = 0.03).

It seems that it may be safer to perform high-intensity interval exercise in the evening due to lower mean plt volume, plt larger cell ratio, plt distribution width, and risk of thrombosis.

Exposure to different frequencies would have a profound effect on the brain tissue extract supernatant’s optical density and hexakis-2-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (99mTc-MIBI) build-up.

This study aimed to investigate the blood-brain barrier permeability after electromagnetic field irradiation.

In this study, 150 male albino rats were randomly divided into 25 groups. They had an intraperitoneal injection of Evans blue 24 hours before experiments. Before 15 or 30-min Electromagnetic Field (EMF) irradiation (900, 1700, and 1900 MHz), 500 μCi (18.5 MBq) of 99mTc -MIBI was injected via the caudal vein. The rats decapitated 15, 30, 45, or 60 min after radiotracer injection to evaluate the brain-specific activity and brain tissue extract supernatant’s optical density.

No significant difference was found between the groups in 60-min post-injection activity after 15-min EMF radiation at 900, 1700, and 1900 MHz. The brain-specific activity with 30-min EMF radiation showed a significant increase in the 900 MHz group compared to others. Brain/whole body-specific activity in all experimental groups after 15-min EMF radiation showed no significant differences. On the other hand, the brain/whole body-specific activity ratio with 30-min EMF radiation showed a significant increase in the 900 MHz group compared to other groups. A comparison between the brain tissue extract supernatant’s optical density in the experimental groups after 15 and 30-min EMF radiation showed no significant difference in Evans blue accumulations in brains.

It may be concluded that mobile phone electromagnetic field radiation may increase the blood-brain barrier permeability. As most humans use mobile phones for daily communications, all users around the world need to be advised of the effects of modern call devices.