Journal of Vessels and Circulation
Volume:2 Issue: 2, Spring 2021

Hypertension is one of the most significant risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Social support is quite effective in patients with hypertension to adhere to their treatment regimens. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between adherence to treatment regimens and the perceived spousal social support by patients with hypertension.

This research was a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study conducted on 239 patients with primary hypertension referred to urban community health centers in Qom City, Iran, in 2019. The patients were recruited by available sampling methods. The data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire, Hill-Bon medication adherence questionnaire, Sherbourne and Stuart social support questionnaire, checklist for assessing and recording systolic and diastolic blood pressure, measuring with the standard handheld barometer. The data were analyzed in the SPSS software v. 20 utilizing statistical tests.

The findings revealed that more than half of the patients adhered to their treatment regimens, and they also benefited from high levels of social support. In addition, the findings demonstrated a significant relationship between treatment regimen adherence and spousal social support (P=0.004).

Spousal social support should be considered an influential factor on treatment regimen adherence and the systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels of patients with hypertension.

Plasma levels of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) are elevated in various clinical conditions, including cancer, myocardial infarction, autoimmune disease, and pregnancy-associated complications. The aim of this study was to determine the level of cfDNA to assess the potential of cfDNA as a biomarker for screening and diagnosis and also its effectiveness in the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Overall, 40 individuals (20 healthy volunteers and 20 patients with ALL) were examined. For quantitative analysis of cfDNA, plasma purified DNA was subjected to real-time PCR amplification of the beta-globin gene. Quantification of cfDNA levels was performed at the time of diagnosis and after treatment with a common protocol.

At diagnosis, in all samples, plasma levels of cfDNA were significantly elevated compared to those of healthy controls after treatment. The high levels of cfDNA decreased and returned to normal after treatment.

Data showed that despite the significant cfDNA concentration increment in patients than the control group, its detection and treatment potential should be more studied: however, it still can be a useful marker for screening of diseases, such as hematological neoplasms.

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is the main Th2 cytokine, which confers several pleiotropism functions, including induction of fibrosis, and can be induced by CCR5-dependent signaling pathways. Thus, serum levels of IL-4 before and after angiography were explored in this project to clear the roles played by angiography indices, and its related X-ray on the cytokine and CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) delta 32 mutation was explored to find its relation with IL-4 serum levels.

In this project, IL-4 serum levels and CCR5 delta 32 mutation were evaluated in the healthy controls, the Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) patients without vessel obstruction, those with obstruction of one vessel, and those with more than one vessel obstructions using ELISA and Gap-PCR techniques, respectively. The IL-4 serum levels were explored in the three groups before and after angiography.

The results showed that IL-4 serum levels significantly decreased in the patients without, with one, and with more than one vessel obstructions in comparison to healthy controls. Angiography had no effects on the IL-4 serum levels in all groups when it was compared before and after angiography. IL-4 serum levels had a moderate positive correlation with angiography duration in patients who suffered from severe vessel obstruction. The CCR5 delta 32 mutation was not seen in the participants.

IL-4 can be considered an inhibitory factor for the generation of ACS. Due to the lack of CCR5 delta 32 mutation, it appears that the disease and serum levels of IL-4 were not affected by this mutation.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most important cause of death worldwide. The incidence and outcome of risk factors differ by type of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of the present study was to determine the epidemiology and risk factors of patients with ACS in Iran.

This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, which was conducted at the Heart Center Hospital, Iran on patients presenting with ACS for a period of one year. An interviewer collected data using an administered data collection form, and epidemiological patterns and risk factors were analyzed by SPSS. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi-square test were used to analyze the hypothesized patterns.

The sample included 710 patients diagnosed with ACS, with Mean±SD age of 60.4±10.27 years, of whom 509 cases (71%) were men and 201 cases (29%) were women. Regarding the type of ACS, 51% of patients were diagnosed with unstable angina (UA), 22% with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and 27% with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Nearly, 37% of cases with STEMI diagnosis, 22.6% with NSTEMI diagnosis, and 16.3% with UA diagnosis were smokers, which indicates a significant association between smoking and STEMI diagnosis (P=0.003). According to the body mass index, a large percentage of the patients were overweight (49%) and only 20.7% had normal body weight. Almost 60% of cases with UA diagnosis, 57% with NSTEMI diagnosis, and 50.5% with STEMI diagnosis had hypertension (HT) (P=0.455), indicating no significant association between hypertension and UA, NSTEMI, and STEMI. About 59% of patients with NSTEMI, 53.2% of patients with UA, and 52% of patients with STEMI had dyslipidemia (P=0.569), indicating no significant association between dyslipidemia and UA, NSTEMI, and STEMI. About 40% of cases with NSTEMI, 37% with STEMI, and 33% with UA diagnosis had diabetes mellitus (P=0.508), indicating no significant association between diabetes mellitus and UA, NSTEMI, and STEMI.

Regarding the occurrence and effect of risk factors, there are three types of ACS. It is necessary to plan to enhance the health level of these patients. Therefore, patients with ACS need special attention in order to be identified and treated as soon as possible.

Disorders of lipid metabolism threaten human life in all countries with different percentages and causes of cardiovascular diseases and reduced physical activity has accelerated the spread of these complications. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of eight weeks of TRX training and traditional resistance training on some cardiovascular risk factors in sedentary women.

In this quasi-experimental study, 28 inactive women with a Mean±SD age of 21.07±1.41 years and a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 22.52±4.25 kg/m2 were randomly divided into three exercise groups of TRX, traditional resistance training, and control. The experimental groups performed the traditional resistance training protocol and TRX three sessions per week for eight weeks, while the control group did not participate in any training program during the study. Blood samples were taken from all subjects before and 48 hours after the last training session for analysis of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and TC/HDL ratio were used. Data were statistically analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, T-dependence test, and one-way analysis of variance, and the significance level was P<0.05.

In the intragroup evaluation of TC indices (P=0.001), TG (P=0.023), LDL (P=0.024), VLDL (P=0.023), and TC/HDL ratio (P=0.021) in the traditional resistance training group, and TG indices (P=0.001), VLDL (P= 0.001) and TC/HDL ratio (P=0.004) in the TRX group from the pre-test stage to the post-test showed a significant decrease, while the amount of HDL decreased in the traditional resistance group and increased in the TRX group, which this decrease and the increase was not statistically significant. Also, the results of the one-way analysis of variance showed a significant difference in some indicators in both experimental groups than the control group, but no significant difference was observed between the two experimental groups in any of the indicators.

According to the findings of this study, it can be said that regular TRX and traditional resistance exercise both lead to improved lipid profile that is associated with cardiovascular disease and is a useful factor in preventing cardiovascular disease and inactive women. Both TRX and traditional resistance training programs can be used in this regard.

The most prevalent clinical proctological disorder is internal hemorrhoids. Surgical treatment is a common treatment strategy for this disease. However, due to its significant complications, non-invasive methods are usually more on the agenda. This study aimed to evaluate the treatment results of patients with internal hemorrhoids with rubber band ligation and medication treatment and their one-year follow-up.

The current randomized clinical trial was performed on 57 patients with rectal bleeding caused by grade II and III internal hemorrhoids. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of medication treatment and rubber band ligation. The medication treatment with anti-hemorrhoid cream was performed three times a day until complete management of bleeding. The rubber band ligation was performed for another group of patients, and the patients’ need for re-ligation was assessed by monthly examination. Treatment outcomes, recurrence, and complications were compared between the two groups in a 12-month follow-up.

In the medication treatment group, the Mean±SD duration of using anti-hemorrhoid cream for bleeding management was 5.05±2.17 days. In 83.2% of patients, bleeding was controlled well within 6-8 days. The Mean±SD recurrence rate of bleeding was reported 53.3±1.94 times in one year. There was an inverse relationship between patients’ age and recurrence of bleeding (r= -0.78, P<0.001). In the other group treated with rubber band ligation, 25%, 29.6%, and 44.4% of patients required rubber band ligation once, twice, and three times, respectively. Three patients (11.11%) in the rubber band ligation group suffered from complications, including pain (two patients: 7.40%) and minor bleeding (1 patient: 3.70%).

Regarding the minor complications and the remarkable success of rubber band ligation in the eradication of grade II and III hemorrhoids, this method can be recommended as a selective approach of low to moderate hemorrhoids’ treatment, especially treatment-resistant types.