Evidence Based Care
Volume:4 Issue: 2, 2014

Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infections are very common in Iran and worldwide and the risk for resistance to anti-herpetic drugs has increased recently. Alternative antiherpetic agents seem necessary to control and reduce the emergence of -resistant strains. Oriental medicine suggests some herbal options for the treatment of herpes lesions. This study reviews some of the common herbal treatments in oriental medicine for herpes and their availability in Iran. In this narrative review, information on in vitro and in vivo studies and clinical trials was searched via international databases including PubMed and SCOPUS, using herpes, herb, Oriental medicine, Chinese medicine and the names of herbs as keywords, which resulted in 45 related articles; of these, 38 entered this review. The inclusion criteria were the in vitro and in vivo studies, randomized controlled trials and reviews with acceptable levels of evidence. Information regarding those herbs in traditional Iranian medicine, their availability in Iran, and the available pharmaceutical products in this country were investigated through Persian references. Among herbs suggested by Oriental herbal medicine for the treatment of herpes lesions, Melia azedarach, Aloe barbadensis, Rheum palmatum, Salvia officinalis, Melissa officinalis, Melaleuca alternifolia, Hypericum perforatum, Crataegus pinnatifida, Punica granatum and Rheum palmatum, are backed by acceptable scientific evidence, and are available in Iran. Considering the evidence and availability of many of Oriental herbal medicines for herpes in Iran, they can be utilized for treatment and research purposes.

Pain has physiological and psychological effects on a child's life and various body systems. Tactile stimulation affects the central nervous system and releases analgesic drugs resulting in the inhibition of pain. The main purpose of this study was effect of touch on the intensity and duration of pain during venipuncture in school-age children. This clinical trial was conducted on 60 children of school age in the emergency department of Imam Reza (AS) hospital and doctor Sheikh Hospital in 2014. Children were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into two groups, touch and control group. Touch group received intervention for 5 minutes by palms movements and kicks on the site before and during venipuncture by researcher, and then venipuncture was immediately performed by a nurse colleague. The control group did not receive any intervention. FACES instruments were used to assess pain intensity. Pain was measured for 5 min by a chronometer. Data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Chi-square tests, Mann - Whitney and independent t-test using SPSS software version 11. In this study, 65% were boys and 35% girls. The average age of children was 8.3±2.3 years. There was a significant difference between touch and control groups in pain of needle insertion into the skin within the first second (p<0.001). Independent t-tests showed that there was no significant difference between touch (242.0±67.7) and control (278.0±82.3) groups in duration of venipuncture pain (p=0.07). Touch is effective in reducing the intensity of pain during venipuncture in children. This is an easy and practical nursing intervention to reduce negative impact of pain on children.

Jaundice is the most common cause of infant’s hospitalization. Infancy and especially the first few days after birth has important role on human mental and psychophysical Health in the future. To investigate the effects of massage on infants’ physiological jaundice. This single-blind clinical trial was performed at Tabriz Alzahra hospital. In this study, 47 healthy full-term infants, which their first day serum bilirubin was less than 5 mg/dl, were selected with accessibility sampling method. The participants were randomly assigned to case (n=22) and control (n=25) groups. The neonates in the case group were massaged by mother for 4 days from the first day of birth. The control group received routine care only. The main variables of study included skin bilirubin level, number of defecations and time of passage of first meconium. Data analysis was applied by SPSS 13 using chi square, Mann-whitney U and Independent t-test. Within four days of study, there was no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of skin bilirubin and number of defecations (p>0.05). The mean time (95% CI= - 7.53, - 0.10) of passage of the first meconium in case group was less than that in the control group which was statistically significant (P= 0.044). The results show that neonates massage within four days has no effect on skin bilirubin level but it will affect on the incidence of physiologic jaundice by diminishing the time of passage of the first meconium.

Studies have shown that use of olfactory stimuli during painful medical procedures reduces infants’ response to pain. The main purpose of this study was investigating the effect of vanilla on pain response in preterm infants during and after venipuncture. This study is a randomized clinical trial. Ninety preterm infants, who were randomly selected and divided into two groups of control and vanilla odor, were classified into 45 people. Infants in the vanilla group were exposed to vanilla odor from 5 minutes before and up to 30 seconds after sampling, and infants of control group were exposed to smell of distilled water. The pain score was measured using premature infant pain profile (PIPP) score 30 seconds prior, during and 30 seconds after sampling. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS 16 software. Analyses were done by t-test, chi-square and repeated measure analyses. Despite the differences between the pain scores of two groups during and after sampling, statistical analyses showed no significant differences between them (p=0.36). Results of the present study showed that use of vanilla odor has no significant effect on premature infants’ pain during blood sampling.

Weaning from mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit is an important step in the treatment process. More patients in less than 6 hours after cardiac surgery can be separated from mechanical ventilation and extubated. However, 20-40% of patients after cardiac surgery, due to dysfunctional ventilator weaning response (DVWR), still remain under mechanical ventilation. Therefore, a new method of mechanical ventilation such as volume assured pressure support ventilation (VAPSV) is needed in order to reduce the time of weaning from mechanical ventilation. To compare the effect of pressure support ventilation (PSV) with volume assured pressure support ventilation (VAPS) on time of weaning from mechanical ventilation in patients after cardiac surgery. This clinical trial study was conducted with the participation of 76 patients undergoing cardiac surgery in Imam Reza hospital of Mashhad, in 2013. Patients were randomly divided into two groups of pressure support ventilation (control) and pressure support ventilation with reliable volume (intervention) groups and the duration of mechanical ventilation and reintubation in both groups was recorded. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using t-student test and Mann-Whitney tests. The mean duration of mechanical ventilation in VAPS group (65.7±5.8) significantly decreased compared with PSV (87.1± 5.8) (P = 0.015). Results of our study showed that VAPS method could reduce the time of weaning from mechanical ventilation and due to fewer complications; it can be used as an alternative method for weaning off mechanical ventilation.

Spirituality forms major parts of human life. Sexual need is one of the natural instincts and it is in dimension of spiritual needs, and neglecting it causes family and social problems. Sexual education is weak in our country and must be conform to religious beliefs. Determining the effect of religious-based sex education on sexual function of married women This single-group, semi-experimentalresearch was performed in 1391.Two health centers were randomly chosen among health centers of Mashhad. Thirty referred women were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. They took part in sex education classes combining religious education for 6 weeks. Data was gathered by personal characteristic form and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire. Data was analyzed by SPSS 11.5 software using statistic descriptive, paired T-test and linear regression. The mean age of participants was 33.9±7.2, and 90% of them had secondary school education, and 83.3% were housewives. The total score of Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) increased from 25.86±5.25 to 27.29±5 and there was significant statistical difference in sexual desire (p=0.007) and sexual satisfaction (p=0.01). religious-based sex education to married women can improve sexual function, components of sexual satisfaction and sexual desire.

Multiple Sclerosis is the most prevalent disease of the central nerve system. This disease affects different aspects of patient’s life. Multiple Sclerosis has negative effects on physical and mental health. Cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis and are major targets of therapeutic interventions. To investigate the effects of aquatic aerobic exercise on IL-6 and IL-10 in men with Multiple Sclerosis. In this randomized clinical trial, 30 patients with MS were randomly divided into two control and experimental groups. For experimental group, exercise program was applied for 8 weeks, 3 sessions per week with intensity of 50-60% of maximum heartbeat. IL-6 and IL-10 were analyzed before and after exercises. Analyzing data was done by SPSS ver. 18, and 0.05 significant level of independent T examination. Results indicated that there was significant difference between the two groups in IL-6 (P<0/001) and IL-10 (P<0/004). aerobic training in watercan regulate the inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and adjust IL-6 and IL-10 indexes. Experts can use these exercises as complementary treatment along with medical cure for MS patients.

Sexual relationship plays a decisive role in human’s health and it seems that sexual education can enhance the quality of sexual relationship. Investigating the effectiveness of sexual education focused on cognitive schemas, on the improvement of sexual functioning of female married students. This research was carried out semi-experimentally and a pretest-posttest designed control group was used. A total of 28 persons were selected and put into two groups. Sexual education was offered to the experimental group for eight 90-minute sessions. In both groups, the degree of sexual functioning was measured and registered before and after intervention using women’s sexual functioning index questionnaire (FSFI), and was analyzed with SPSS version 16 and t-test. T-test results showed significant relationship between the two groups in the overall scores of sexual functioning, sexual desire components, psychological arousal, moisture, orgasm and sexual satisfaction, in a way that in all cases the scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p<0.001). However, t-test reported no significant difference between the two groups in terms of sexual pain component The present research demonstrated that sex education with focuse on cognitive schemas was an effective method for improving sexual functioning, and therefore, it is proposed that this matter should be taken into consideration by clinical therapists for enhancing the quality of couples’ relationships.