Journal of Inflammatory Diseases
Volume:26 Issue: 3, Autumn 2022

No evidence exists for the lowest effective dose of magnesium on menstrual pain.

To determine and compare the effects of two different doses of magnesium on pain intensity and menstrual blood loss in students with primary dysmenorrhea.

Sixty dysmenorrhea patients were randomly assigned to one of two therapeutic groups and one placebo group (receiving one tablet a day of 300 or 150 mg magnesium sulphate or placebo from the 15th cycle day until no pain existed on the following cycle). Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Hjgham collected data for two cycles before and two cycles after the intervention. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and ANCOVA tests. 

No significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of baseline characteristics. Both intervention groups outperformed the placebo group in terms of pain intensity (adjusted differences of -2.9, 95% confidence intervals of -3.3 to -2.4 and -1.9, -2.4 to -1.5, respectively) and menstrual bleeding (-20.0, -26.0 to -14.0, and -13.0, -19.0 to -7.0, respectively), as well as the secondary outcome, i.e. rest duration and ibuprofen consumption. In terms of pain alleviation and menstrual bleeding, participants in the 300 mg magnesium group outperformed those in the 150 mg magnesium group. No significant difference was observed between intervention groups regarding secondary outcomes.

Both magnesium levels are useful in alleviating pain and reducing menstrual bleeding, although 300 mg of magnesium was more effective.

Hypothyroidism has been associated with complications such as increased inflammation, and oxidative stress.

This pilot study was created to assess the impact of Illicium verum (I. verum) on serum levels of thyroid hormones as well as depression, anxiety, and stress in hypothyroidism patients given the detrimental effects of oxidative stress on thyroid function and considering the antioxidant properties of I. verum.

In this double-blind clinical research with a placebo group, which was performed as a pilot, 20 hypothyroid individuals were recruited. Participants were randomly allocated to a capsule containing 1.5 g of I. verum (per day) (n=10) or a placebo (n=10) for 8 weeks. Thyroid hormones, including free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured at the beginning and end of the study. Furthermore, depression and stress were assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) survey. Quantitative analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 20.

No discernible difference was observed between the blood thyroid hormone levels at the baseline. TSH levels in the intervention group decreased significantly at the end of the study, while FT3, FT4, T3, and T4 levels increased significantly (P<0.05). Compared to the study’s initial findings, the intervention group experienced considerably lower mean changes in terms of depression, anxiety, and stress scores. (P<0.05). 

The I. verum supplement can be helpful as a dietary supplement with antioxidant properties in patients with hypothyroidism. This herbal supplement can increase the effectiveness of medication in patients with hypothyroidism.

Influenza is a respiratory infection that causes a wide range of symptoms, from mild symptoms to a significantly impaired disease. 

This study aims to examine demographic characteristics, clinical features, and underlying medical conditions in children and adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza.

This was a retrospective comparative study on 333 adults and 102 children hospitalized with symptoms of acute respiratory tract infection and seasonal influenza confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in three university hospitals, in Qazvin City, Iran, during two influenza seasons (March 2017 and February 2019). 

Most clinical manifestations of influenza were similar among adults. A significant difference was observed among the two groups in terms of 1) a greater proportion of male patients in children (66.7%) and female patients in adults (58.6%); 2) adults were more exposed to risk factors than children (median 1 vs. 0); 3) a greater proportion of children presenting influenza-related encephalopathy (38.2% vs. 26.7%) and upper respiratory signs compared to adults; 4) a greater proportion of adults presenting lower respiratory signs and symptoms compared to children. The most common underlying conditions were asthma and diabetes mellitus (DM) in adults and diabetes mellitus (DM) and cancer in children. The duration of hospitalization had a significant relationship with the number of risk factors (r=0.219, P<0.001).

In summary, influenza-related encephalopathy and upper respiratory signs are more prevalent in children, and in contrast, adults are more likely to have underlying medical conditions than children with seasonal influenza.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease, has been known as a worldwide pandemic involving many countries, including Iran. Meantime, the analyses of clinical and demographic features of the fourth surge in COVID-19 patients provide a better overview of disease management and mortality reduction.

This study aimed to identify the effective clinical and demographic hallmarks of the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Ardabil Province, Iran.

We carried out a population-based analytical cross-sectional study using clinical and demographic characteristics of COVID-19 from February 2021 to May 2021 among confirmed COVID-19 patients who were admitted to the hospital during the fourth surge. Predictors of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death were evaluated by controlling for intervening variables.

We evaluated 500 patients, of whom 54.5% were men, and 45.5% were women. Among them, 35.1% of patients had hypertension as the main comorbidity, followed by diabetes (21.4%), cardiovascular disease (8.4 %), renal diseases (2.4%), and others. The findings indicated that increasing age has increased mortality among patients with COVID-19. Moreover, our results showed that among the analyzed items, age, sex, and cerebral vascular accident (CVA) were indicated as predictors of ICU admission.

This evaluation demonstrated that old age and comorbidities are two major risk factors for reducing the probability of recovery and increasing admission to the ICU. Therefore, elderly individuals with at least one co-morbidity are at higher risk of becoming infected.

The demand for home care services has increased not only due to the increase in the elderly population but also due to consumer preference and technological advances that allow for the provision of sophisticated home care. Home healthcare services aim to help people improve their performance, live a more independent life, improve their well-being, and help them stay at home, and avoid hospitalization. 

This study was conducted to compare the quality of life (QoL) of COVID-19 patients under home care at a hospital in Qazvin City, Iran.

his study was a cohort study. The samples included two groups of patients, hospitalized patients due to COVID-19 and patients with COVID-19 who received medical and nursing care at home. Patients were matched for age, underlying disease, and severity of the COVID-19 disease. In this study, a 3-month follow-up on changes in QoL compared to before hospitalization and receiving care at home was performed using a QoL questionnaire (SF-12).

The mean score of QoL in the home care group was 32.36±2.15 and in the hospitalized group, it was 29.70±2.94, which shows a statistically significant difference, and the quality of home care patients reported to be higher than hospitalized patients (P<0.001, t=7.20)

Receiving hospital care at home increases the QoL for patients with COVID-19. This finding can be generalized during different epidemics, and home care can be an excellent alternative to hospitalization for some patients.

The COVID-18 pandemic severely affected people older than 65 years, especially those with age-related comorbidities, causing a disproportionate death burden in this age group. The reasons for this difference from other respiratory virus pandemics have been attributed to the aging-induced changes in the immune system, and their effects on the pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia. In this brief review, I summarize some of the recent findings throwing light on the relationship between aging, immunity, and the severity of COVID-19.