Crescent Journal of Medical and Biological Sciences
Volume:10 Issue: 1, Jan 2023

According to Persian medicine (PM), the uterus is an important organ in women, responsible for purifying the blood and nourishing the fetus. Each organ has a specific temperament distinct from the whole-body temperament based on PM. Dystemperament occurs when body or organ Mizaj (Persian word for temperament) deviates from what is considered normal, resulting in malfunction. Many gynecological disorders described in PM and conventional medicine, including infertility, recurrent miscarriage, oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea, hypermenorrhea, vaginitis, cervicitis, urinary incontinence, and pelvic pain, are considered to be associated with uterine dystemperaments. Hence, proper management of such disorders requires precise diagnosis and treatment of uterine dystemperaments. Accordingly, this review study aimed to collect and categorize these symptoms from PM texts and other relevant articles.

In this study, we reviewed 10 well-known PM references, including Canon in Medicine (Al-Qanun Fi al-Teb), the Great Panacea (Exir-e A’zam), the Treasure of Kharazmshah (Zakhireh Kharazmshahi), the Perfect Book of the Art of Medicine (Kamel alSana’a al-Tebbiya), Akbari’s Medicine (Tebb-E-Akbari), Gharshi’s Commentary on Canon of Medicine (Sharh-e Qarshi bar Qanun), Commentary on Hippocrates’ Aphorisms (Sharh-e Fosul-e Boqraat), Summary of Experiences (Kholasa-tut Tajarob), Description of Signs and Symptoms (Sharh-e Asbab va Alamat), and Aghili’s Treatments (Mo’alejat-e Aghili). Moreover, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, SienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases were queried with the keywords ‘mizaj’, ‘temperament’, ‘uterus’, ‘uterine’, ‘cold/hot or warm’, and ‘dry/wet’, while Persian databases of Magiran, Iran Medex, and SID were searched using keywords ‘mizaj’, ‘rahem’, ‘garm’, ‘sard’, ‘tar’, and ‘khoshk’ to extract signs and symptoms associated with uterine temperament and dystemperament.

Five indicators were specified in the articles and PM sources for determining the temperament and dystemperament of the uterus as follows: 1) Menstrual blood characteristics (including amount, temperature, color, odor, flow rate, and consistency); 2) Uterine discharge characteristics (including amount, consistency, color, odor, and accompanied symptoms, especially burning and itching); 3) Fertility and pregnancy status (including infertility, abortion, etc.); 4. Other characteristics of the female reproductive system (including pubic hair, menarche age, sexual desire and quality of intercourse, and vaginal and cervical condition on vaginal examination); and 5) General symptoms (including the ten PM indicators of whole-body Mizaj).

PM sources have described the characteristics of uterine temperament and dystemperament in detail. These indices can be used for more effective diagnosis, treatment, and even prevention of gynecological diseases, as well as designing and validation of standard tools for determining uterine temperament and dystemperament.

Educational status affects all aspects of life, including sex life. Regarding the relationship between women’s sexual satisfaction and their education level, contradictory results have been obtained so far. This systematic review aimed to summarize the existing knowledge in this area.

In this study, three electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for all the related articles published from 1 January, 2000 to 28 June, 2022. The MeSH keywords including “educational status”, “education”, and “sexual satisfaction” were combined with Boolean operators of AND and OR. There were no geographical constraints in this study. Inclusion criteria were all observational articles evaluating the relationship between the educational status of heterosexual, nonpregnant, and non-sick women with sexual satisfaction. The quality of articles was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS) and the data were analyzed qualitatively.

Out of a total of 4984 retrieved articles, nine studies with a sample size of 10488 women were included in this systematic review (2003-2021). In subjects with sexual dysfunction and mental health problems, as well as those affected by economic pressure, sexual satisfaction was predicted by the mentioned factors and not by the education level. Generally, in the studies where it was possible to compare the participants with all levels of education (illiterate to academic) and there was no sexual dysfunction, mental health problems, and economic pressure, women’s level of education was the predictor of their sexual satisfaction.

According to our results, education was the most effective predictor of women’s sexual satisfaction in stable conditions without sexual dysfunction. Education can improve women’s educability, knowledge, and attitudes towards sexual issues, thereby increasing their sexual satisfaction. However, for a more definite conclusion, high-quality and larger studies are needed to measure the relationship between sexual satisfaction and women’s education.

The semiology of liver dystemperament can help in predicting susceptibility to some diseases and improving the treatment process of the liver or general disease such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Therefore, the aim of this study was to explain the wet liver dystemperament concept in Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) based on a hybrid concept analysis.

The literature review of this qualitative study focused on evaluating 11 major academic textbooks from the 3rd to 19th century and some databases. In-depth, semi-structured, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 16 ITM experts with a minimum of five years of clinical experience and maximum variations in terms of gender, age, and clinical experiences for empirical data gathering. Data were analyzed with MAXQAD10 and conventional content analysis.

In this study, wet liver dystemperament was classified into three main themes of systemic, local, and Para-clinical symptoms and 10 categories.

This manuscript explains wet liver dystemperament as a disorder in general temperament and determines more important diagnostic criteria.

According to the evidence, 35% of women have experienced sexual violence worldwide. This study aimed to develop and validate an electronic scale for sexual violence experiences (SVE) in Iranian women.

In this mixed-method study, we conducted an item pool by reviewing the existing sexual violence scales in the literature and sent the items to the expert team for initial consensus. Then, we measured the validity and reliability of the developed scale. The samples included 808 women (age range: 15-45 years) in Kerman province from October to December 2020.

The final scale consisted of 43 items. Face validity was achieved by applying the views of the target community. The content validity results were acceptable. The correlation coefficient between the Sexual Experience Questionnaire (SEQ) and the Domestic Violence Questionnaire (DVQ) with the SVE was 0.68 and 0.51, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (χ2 =27973.72, df=903, and P=0.001) identified eight factors. The results also showed good reliability (Cronbach’s alpha=0.9, Pearson’s correlation r=0.9, P=0.001).

Since the SVE had good validity and reliability, the scale can be regarded as a suitable tool for measuring sexual violence among Iranian women.

The purpose of this work was to explore cervical position sense and electromyographic (EMG) responses of cervical muscles during head repositioning movements in students with and without upper trapezius muscle trigger points.

Forty-six right-handed men and women subjects without upper extremity disorders participated in this study. The maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) was measured three time before the fatigue test. A force gauge was used to measure force while recording with a monitor. Measurement was initiated with a MVC force before and after fatigue pain and head positioning were measured. When the protocol was accomplished, the subjects showed signs of exhaustion; however, they were not subjectively evaluated for fatigue. As the protocol aimed at assessing muscle fatigue, a force level of 80% MVC was induced.

These findings support the argument that the precision of the neck position sense can be reduced by the fatigue of the neck muscle. Fatigue impaired balance in the trapezius muscles. After removing vision this resulted in an increased center of pressure excursions on a force platform. Motor control did not change significantly in this study.

Fatigue had a more significant effect on cervical kinematics in the healthy subjects, probably due to the fact that altered neck motor control in volunteers implied that these individuals were not completely able to make up for fatigue of the neck muscle. Significant pain and head positioning changes were identified following fatigue applied to the pre-determined myofascial trigger points, but the changes were insignificant in the sham control group.

In this research, we evaluated the protective effect of hydroalcoholic extracts of Galega officinalis and Cornus mas on spermatogenesis and oxidative stress associated with diabetes in the testes of adult rats.

In this experimental study, a total of 64 adult male Wistar rats were divided into eight equal groups (n=8 in each) as follows: (1) control group, (2) diabetic control group, (3) diabetic group receiving Galega extract daily at a dose of 50 mg/kg, (4) healthy group receiving Galega extract daily at a dose of 50 mg/kg for 14 days, (5) diabetic group receiving Cornus mas extract daily at a dose of 100 mg/kg, (6) healthy group receiving Cornus mas extract daily, (7) diabetic group receiving Cornus mas and Galega daily, and (8) healthy group receiving Galega and Cornus mas extract daily. Diabetes was induced by single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg). At the end of treatment period, all animals were anesthetized and blood samples were taken to measure the serum levels of insulin, glucose, and oxidative stress markers. Finally, the testicles and epididymis were removed and sperm parameters were assessed.

Galega and Cornus mas extract significantly reduced the oxidative stress, sperm parameters, glucose, and insulin plasma levels (P=0.001). Furthermore, the malondialdehyde (MDA) level was increased in diabetic rats. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) enzymes decreased in testicular tissue (P=0.001). Administering Galega and Cornus mas extract significantly improved these parameters (P<0.05).

Our results confirmed the antioxidant effect of administering Galega extract and Cornus mas extract on improving the sperm parameters and testicular oxidative damage caused by diabetes.

The use of a biomaterial scaffold can improve the healing process of bone defects. Using radiologic and ultrasonographic methods, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of zeolite/collagen nanocomposite and nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) bone scaffolds on the healing process of bone defect in rabbit femur.

Twenty-eight mature male New Zealand white rabbits were classified into four equal groups (n=7 in each). In the first group, the defect was made, and the wound was closed with no treatment; in the second group, the nHA was implanted into the defect; in the third group, the nanocomposite of zeolite/collagen was implanted; and in the fourth group, the defect was filled using autograft. Radiologic (Sedecal Veterinary X-Ray System, Model No. A6544-2) and ultrasonographic (Mindray Z5 Veterinary Ultrasound Scanner) examinations were done on days 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 postoperatively.

There were no healing effects on days 0 and 7 in any of the studied groups in the radiologic examination. The highest and lowest healing effects were related to treatment with zeolite/collagen nanocomposite and control group on day 60 after operation, respectively. There was no angiogenesis on day 0 in any group in the ultrasonographic examination. The highest and lowest levels of angiogenesis were related to rabbits treated with zeolite/collagen nanocomposite and the control group on day 30 after operation, respectively. Also, bone filling and angiogenesis in rabbits treated with zeolite/collagen nanocomposite were higher than other groups.

Zeolite/collagen nanocomposite scaffolds bear a crucial capability in the reconstruction of bone defects and can be used in bone fractures.