مجله دانشگاه علوم پزشکی بابل
سال هفدهم شماره 8 (پیاپی 95، امرداد 1394)

Postpartum pain and painful uterine contractions normally occur after childbirth and are regarded as one of the most common problems after delivery. Postpartum pain is significantly intensified by increased parity. Therefore, mothers are forced to use chemical drugs to inhibit this pain. Considering the side-effects of chemical drugs and the growing tendency towards herbal medicines, we aimed to compare the effects of fennel extracts and mefenamic acid on postpartum pain. This single-blind, clinical trial was conducted on 86 mothers with postpartum pain after vaginal delivery at Baharloo Hospital in Tehran, Iran in 2014-2015. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups (43 cases per group), receiving fennelin (fennel extracts) and mefenamic acid capsules. Postpartum pain was measured two hours after childbirth, using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Volunteers with scores higher than four were included in the study. Pain intensity was measured by VAS before and one hour after each round of intervention. Subjects used the medicines four times a day (with 4-6 hour intervals). The collected data were statistically analyzed (IRCT: 2014020515338N2) The mean score of pain before the intervention was 6.47±0.797 in the mefenamic acid group and 6.35±0.752 in the fennel group. In both groups, pain score significantly reduced one hour after using medicines in comparison with the pre-treatment period (1.90±0.56 and 1.70±0.74 in the mefenamic acid and fennel groups, respectively) (p<0.05). During the study, fennel was more effective than mefenamic acid in pain reduction. The same finding was reported after the study during the fourth round of intervention (88±0.70 and 1.19±0.76 in the fennel and mefenamic acid groups, respectively). According to the results of this study, fennel, similar to mefenamic acid, could be suggested as an effective herbal medicine for pain reduction in mothers with complaints of postpartum pain.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of malignancy among men. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is used to screen for prostate cancer and may vary depending on different factors, such as age. This study aimed to investigate the cut-off value for PSA in patients diagnosed with prostate cancer.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with prostate biopsy diagnosis undergoing transrectal ultrasound during 2011-2014. Data collection was performed using prepared checklists.

In total, 422 patients were enrolled in this study, 180 of whom (42.7%) were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, and 242 (57.3%) had benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Mean age of the patients was 63.03±9.62 years, and the mean PSA was 27.95±64.44 ng/ml. The mean of PSA in patients over 51 years was 28.66±65.51 ng/ml, which was significantly higher than the values of the patients under 50 years of age (p=0.005).

According to the results of this study, the risk of prostate cancer was higher in the men within the age range of 60-80 years. In addition, patients with PSA levels of 10-20 ng/mL need to be fully screened for prostate cancer.

Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) enzymes hydrolyze cephalosporins and penicillins. This study aimed to determine the frequency of Escherichia coli strains producing SHV, TEM and CTX-M β-lactamase genes and their association by inducing antibiotic resistance. In this cross-sectional study, 55 E. coli strains were isolated from urinary samples and cultured on eosin methylene blue (EMB) agar and CHROMagar. After biochemical examinations, antibiotic susceptibility test was performed using the disk-diffusion method according to the guidelines of the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). In addition, the presence of blaCTX-M, blaTEM and blaSHV genes was evaluated using specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers. In this study, the highest antibiotic resistance was observed against penicillin and erythromycin (96% and 94.5%, respectively), while the highest susceptibility was reported for ciprofloxacin and imipenem (67.2%). Out of 55 samples, 26(47.27%) had the TEM gene, and CTX-M gene was detected in 41 (74.54%) samples. Moreover, TEM and CTX-M genes were simultaneously detected in 32.72% of the samples, while in six samples (10.9%), neither of these genes were present. The SHV gene was not detected in any of the samples. According to the results of this study, the production of ESBL was identified in 70% of the investigated E. coli isolates. Therefore, accurate and timely medical care, as well as the use of appropriate antibiotics, is required to prevent the outbreak of ESBL-producing E. coli strains.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is the most common complication among women at the reproductive age, which may adversely interfere with daily activities. Due to the high prevalence of PMS in Iran, identification of rapid and effective diagnostic tools is paramount for the correct recognition of this syndrome. This study aimed to compare the predictive values of the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST) and Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP) in the diagnosis of PMS. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 230 female students above 18 years, who were selected using convenience sampling. PSST and DRSP questionnaires were completed on a daily basis during two menstrual cycles of the subjects. In this study, rate of the correct classification of PMS symptom severity (mild to severe) by PSST was estimated at 83.9%. Sensitivity and specificity of PSST were 66.3% and 85.6%, respectively. In addition, positive and negative predictive values of PSST were reported to be 96.2% and 33%, respectively. Also, there was a moderate, significant correlation between PSST and DRSP (r=0.38, p<0.001). According to the results of this study, PSST could be a proper screening tool to identify normal women in clinical situations and diagnose mild PMS accurately. However, it is not an appropriate measure to predict the severity of PMS. In this regard, use of prospective tools could result in a definitive diagnosis of PMS.

Depression is the most common mental disorder in patients undergoing hemodialysis. This disorder has adverse effects on the course of disease and treatment process and is recognized as an independent risk factor for death in hemodialysis patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the relaxing effects of Benson relaxation technique on depression in patients undergoing hemodialysis. This clinical trial was performed on 65 hemodialysis patients. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups: control group (n=32) and intervention group using Benson relaxation technique (n=33). The intervention group performed Benson relaxation exercises twice a day for 20 minutes over one month. Beck Depression Inventory was completed one month before and one month after the intervention. The control group received usual treatments (IRCT: 2014011115393N2( Overall, 51 patients were male in the present study. The mean age of participants was 48.57±9.18 years in the intervention group and 49.93±8.17 years in the control group. Before the intervention, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the studied variables. The mean score of depression in the intervention group decreased from 32.46±9.86 before the intervention to 23.30±9.23 after the intervention; the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Also, the mean score of depression in the control group changed from 30.58±9.24 before the intervention to 30.83±9.63 after the intervention. The results of this study showed that Benson relaxation technique is effective in reducing depression in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, by applying this technique, we can take a major step towards improving and preventing patients’ psychological problems.

Sound pollution is one of the main causes of stress that could lead to several physiological and mental changes in humans. This study aimed to investigate the effects of sound pollution on the serum levels of corticosterone and other hematological parameters in male rats. In this experimental study, 60 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups of short-term experiment (one-day exposure) and long-term experiment (30-day exposure). Each group consisted of one control group and three experimental groups with 4, 8 and 12 hours of exposure to noise pollution. According to a pre-designated schedule, the animals were exposed to 100 dB sound pressure, and changes in the serum levels of corticosterone and hematological parameters were recorded. In this study, serum levels of corticosterone increased in the long-term exposure group (8 hours: 5.36±3.19 ng/dl, 12 hours: 4.88±1.76 ng/dl) compared to the control group (1.08±0.53 ng/dl) (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively). Number of red blood cells also increased in the long-term exposure group (8 hours: 7.71±0.33 mm3, 12 hours: 8.22±0.69 mm3) compared to the control group (6.24±0.16 mm3) (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). In addition, there was an increase in hemoglobin concentration in the long-term exposure group (8 hours: 16.66±0.68 gr/dl, 12 hours: 16.60±0.81gr/dl) compared to the control group (14.15±0.66 gr/dl) (p<0.05). Moreover, there was a significant increase in the hematocrit in the two groups of 8 hours (40.57±3.28) and 12 hours (40.66±1.76) of long-term exposure compared to the control group (35.69±3.13) (p<0.05). According to the results of this study, long-term exposure to noise pollution could increase the number of red blood cells and other hematological parameters by raising the serum levels of corticosterone.

Oxidative stress is the most common effect of diazinon on living organisms, which leads to the dysfunction and destruction of pancreatic tissues. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Salvia officinalis extracts and optional exercise on histological changes of the pancreas in rats poisoned by diazinon. In this laboratory study, 35 male Wistar rats were divided into five groups, each consisting of seven rats: control, diazinon, diazinon-extract, exercise-extract and exercise-extract-diazinon groups. The exercise groups practiced on a spinning wheel for four weeks. The rats in the experimental groups received 200 mg of diazinon intraperitoneally once during the intervention. In addition, they received 100 mg of the extract for four weeks (five days a week). The rats were sacrificed 24 hours after the final injection. Pancreatic tissue sections were prepared for microscopic studies. The number (4.32±0.67) and diameter (15.84±1.01) of the islets of Langerhans and the number of acinar cells (47.32±4.01) in the diazinon group showed a significant reduction, compared to the control group (6.44±1.38, 16.17±1.2 and 50±7.06, respectively) (p<0.05). However, a significant increase was observed in the evaluated parameters in diazinon-extract, exercise-extract and exercise-extract-diazinon groups, compared to the diazinon group (p<0.05). The findings of this study indicated that Salvia officinalis extracts and optional exercise could reduce pancreatic tissue damages, induced by diazinon injection.

Instability of the lumbar spine is one of the major causes of back pain and is considered as a subtype of non-specific lower back pain. Spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis due to this instability could lead to back pain. This systematic study aimed to review the published articles on the incidence of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. In this study, we searched for English articles in databases of PubMed, Scopus, Elsevier, Ovid, CINAHL and ScienceDirect using key words such as spondylolisthesis, spondylolysis, prevalence, incidence, predisposing factors and epidemiology from 2000 to 2014. In addition, we searched in other databases including SID, IranMedex, Magiran and Medlib for the Iranian articles published during this period. In total, 26 articles with dissimilar size and types of samples focusing on different spinal regions and variables were selected for this study. To assess the prevalence of spondylolisthesis and spondylolysis, 17 articles used plain radiography, seven articles used CT-scan and two articles used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Moreover, the prevalence of these disorders was investigated among children and athletes in four and five articles, respectively. With the exception of three articles on the incidence of cervical spondylolisthesis, other articles evaluated lumbar spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis. The total prevalence of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis was estimated between 3-10% and 2-6%, respectively.CNCLUSION: According to the results of this review, spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis have a high prevalence in different populations. These disorders are more common among athletes and physically active individuals, and the incidence rate is higher among children with osteogenesis imperfecta compared to normal children.

Stomach cancer tends to progress gradually over the years. Considering the relationship between blood type, peptic ulcers and impaired mucus secretion, we aimed to determine the frequency of ABO and Rh blood types in patients with stomach cancer.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 150 patients with stomach cancer, referring to Shahid Beheshti Hospital of Babol for surgical interventions during 2006-2011. Moreover, 150 control patients with no prior history of cancer, referring to the clinics, were included in this study. Data including age and sex were recorded in a checklist. After determining patients’ blood type and Rh, age, sex, blood type and Rh were converted into numerical codes, and the two groups were compared.

The mean age of subjects was 61.25±14.52 years in the study group and 58.37±16.37 years in the control group. The number of male subjects was higher than females in both groups. Among 150 patients with gastric cancer, 36 (24%), 47 (3.31%), 2 (3.1%) and 65 (3.43%) patients had A, B, AB and O blood types, respectively. In the control group, 33 (22%), 36 (24%), 8 (5.3%) and 73 (7.48%) subjects had A, B, AB and O blood types, respectively.

The results showed that the frequency of O blood type was higher in patients with stomach cancer, compared to other blood types.

Currently, trauma is regarded as one of the most serious problems in societies, resulting in irreversible damages and injuries in individuals. Trauma as a result of assault, injury or accident is of grave significance, especially in developing countries. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the frequency and type of injuries to the ears, nose, and throat in patients referring from forensic medical centers to Ayatollah Rohani Hospital in Babol, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, patients referring from Babol forensic medical centers were examined by an otolaryngologist in 2013. In this study, the cause and type of damages, as well as demographic characteristics, were collected and recorded in a checklist. In total, 238 cases were included in this study. The mean age of participants was 35.40±11.58 years. The majority of subjects were within the age range of 18-44 years. Ear damage was one of the common complaints in 146 subjects (61.34%). Overall, 94 cases (39.5%) had left ear injuries, 35 cases (14.7%) had right ear injuries and 17 cases had experienced damages to both ears. Dispute and assault were the major causes of hospital admission in 158 patients. According to the results of this study, the highest incidence of trauma was reported in young individuals because of dispute and assault. Therefore, the dispute and assault are decreased in youths by preventing the effective agents.