Internal Medicine Today
Year:2018 | Volume:24 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:16

Aims: Epilepsy is a brain disorder characterized by repeated and spontaneous attacks which can lead to neuronal decline or death and behavioral disorders, such as anxiety, and numerous studies have shown neuroprotective effects of the lithium. This study evaluated the anxiolytic effect of administration of lithium chloride (LiCl) in penthylentetrazole (PTZ) induced seizure rat model. Materials & Methods: In present experimental study, 50 male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups control, PTZ+Saline, PTZ+Li20, PTZ+Li40 and PTZ+Li80, randomly. To induce convulsions and epilepsy model, repeated doses of PTZ were injected (40 mg/kg, i. p) for 5 consecutive days. After observing the 5 stages of seizures based on Racine’ s scale, test groups, received lithium chloride in three doses (20, 40 and 80 mg/kg/BW, i. p) for 14 days. In order to assess anxiety and exploratory behaviors, elevated plus maze and open field tests were done. Then, the hippocampal level of BDNF was measured using ELISA. The results were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey post hoc. Findings: Our finding showed an increased rate of anxiety with low level of hippocampal BDNF in PTZ receiver rats. Treatment with lithium chloride especially at the lowest dose (20 mg/kg) showed a significant difference in reducing anxiety and increasing of BDNF level compared to the PTZ receiver group. Conclusion: Anxiolytic-like effects of lithium may improve the symptoms of anxiety in PTZ-induced seizure.

Aims: Imbalance between the production of free radicals and the antioxidant defense system leads to oxidative stress. In addition, plants can reduce stressinduced oxidative damage. In this study we evaluated the effects of aerobic exercise with cinnamon intake on serum oxidative capacity in active women. Materials & Methods: 28 female students of physical education with age range 30-20 years, and the average BMI 22/71 kg/m² were voluntarily selected and randomly divided to 5 groups: 1) aerobic exercise 2) aerobic exercise combined with cinnamon 3) aerobic exercise with placebo 4 ) cinnamon and 5) control group. Intensity aerobic exercise was performed for 6 weeks within 65-80% of maximum heart rate and formula was 220-age. Blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the study and the significance level was set at (p<0. 05). Findings: TAC ( Total Antioxidant Capacity), uric acid and bilirubin in the aerobic exercise group with cinnamon consumption showed no significant difference (p<0. 05). Conclusion: Probably sports activities with 65-80% of maximal oxygen consumption intensity more than 6 weeks with the consumption of cinnamon can improve the TAC level in active women.

Aims: Opiate addiction is a chronic illness associated with depression. Since the prevalence of depression among addicts causes more drug use and makes drug rehabilitation treatment more difficult, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of psychodrama on the treatment of depression in improved addicts. Materials & Methods: The present study is a semi-experimental model with pretest and post-test design and control group. The statistical population consisted of improved addicts from Shiraz city who referred to Partou center. From the 60 people who had successfully detoxified by the specialist physician and scored the highest on the Beck Depression Inventory, 30 were selected and assigned to experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, 15 patients received psychodrama treatment for 12 sessions and the control group received no treatment. After the intervention, the two groups again responded to Beck Depression Inventory and data were analyzed using SPSS-20 software and statistical method of analysis of covariance. Differences were considered significant at p<0. 05. Findings: The results of this study showed that psychodrama treatment significantly reduces the level of depression and emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms of depression at the level of p<0. 001 in improved addicts. Conclusion: The treatment of psychodrama reduces the rate of depression and its symptoms in improved addicts and is likely to prevent the recurrence of this disease.

Aims: Type 2 diabetes is increasing as a common global health issue. The aim of this study was to investigate the comparison of the effect of eight weeks aerobic training and vitamin C supplements on antioxidant enzymes in men with type 2 diabetes. Materials & Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 45 men with type 2 diabetes were selected by convenience sampling method. Were divided randomly into 3 equal groups: aerobic training with supplement, aerobic training with placebo and control groups. Aerobic training program included aerobic trainings up to 50-60 minutes at 65%-75% maximum reserve heart rate, three sessions per week which lasted for 8 weeks. Meanwhile, the supplement group took 100 mg of vitamin C before each training session. In this period, the control group did not take part in any physical activity. To make intra and between groups comparison, repeated measure (ANOVA) was used. For all statistical comparisons, the level of significance was set at p<0. 05. Findings: Eight weeks aerobic training with placebo and vitamin C supplements lead to a significant reduction in MDA and increase of SOD and CAT in men with Type 2 Diabetes. The average differences in the MDA, SOD and CAT levels have a statistically significant difference between the three groups. Conclusion: Eight weeks of aerobic training, vitamin C supplements consumption and especially mix of them with together have similar affected on increase of antioxidant enzymes, prevents exercise-induced oxidative stress and thus type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it is recommended to use this method as an effective nonpharmacologic treatment method for prevention of adverse effects of an increased incidence of diabetes mellitus.

Aims: The emotional schema model emphasizes on evaluation and interpretation of emotions and emotion regulation strategies. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Emotional Schema Therapy (EST) on decrease of Post-event rumination and cognitive avoidance in people with clinical symptoms of social anxiety. Materials & Methods: This is a semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group. For this purpose, 32 students with clinical symptoms of social anxiety were screened with the cut-off point of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) and clinical interviews and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The Post Event Processing Questionnaire (PEPQ) and Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) were used to collect data in two conditions (pretest and posttest). Experimental group experienced 10 weeks of emotional schema therapy, while the control group received no treatment. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (ver 23) and Multivariate Analysis Of Covariance (MANCOVA). Findings: The average of post-event rumination and cognitive avoidance were reduced in the experimental group in posttest. After controlling the effect of pretest scores, there were significant differences between the test and control groups in terms of all variables (p<0. 001). Conclusion: Emotional Schema Therapy due to the emphasis on the role of the individual beliefs and strategies about emotions can be used as an effective intervention in order to reduce symptoms of social anxiety, for example the Postevent rumination and cognitive avoidance in the people with clinical symptoms of social anxiety.

Aims: Silver sulfadiazine is widely used for burning wound. Studies have shown that, dressing wounds with placental membrane can accelerate their healing. Our objective was to evaluate the recovery of second-degree burns in male rats that treated with topical Silver sulfadiazine-impregnated placental amniotic membrane. Materials & Methods: In this experimental study, 64 male rats were divided into 4 similar groups. In all rats, the second degree burn was induced under general anesthesia. Wound dressing in the first group (control) included simple dressing, but amniotic membrane in second group, and Silver sulfadiazine in third group and in the fourth group it was Silver sulfadiazine impregnated amniotic membrane. At the end of the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th day, under the general anesthesia, the tissue biopsies were taken from burns and microscopic evaluation was done. Data were analyzed statistically using ANOVA and P less than 0. 05 was considered as significant. Findings: In treated groups, the PMN leukocyte count was significantly lower than control (p<0. 001), also the amount of granular formation and its organization, the number of fibroblasts, and the rate of wound healing were greater than control (p<0. 001). There was no significant difference in measured parameters between the 3 treatment groups. Conclusion: Considering the biological effects of the ammonium membrane, it is recommended to use it as an effective dressing method to accelerate burn wound healing.

Aims: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive and chronic disease of central nervous system with different symptoms and physical-psychological disabling effects, which brings about various problems for the patient. The present study was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy (CFT) on mental health of women with multiple sclerosis. Materials & Methods: The present research was a semi-empirical intervention conducted by pretest-posttest with control group design. The research population included all the women with active case file in MS association of Tehran in 2016. The sample was composed of 30 female patients which were selected by available sampling method and based on exclusion and inclusion criteria of the study and their scores in the questionnaire. The sample were assigned into experimental and control groups (15 individuals per group) by random assignment method. The study tool was general health questionnaire (GHQ) of Goldberg and Hiller (1979). After conducting the pretest for both groups, subjects of the experimental group received eight weekly 2-hour sessions of CFT in a group format. The control group was put in the waiting list. The data were analyzed through univariate covariance analysis (ANCOVA) in SPSS v18. Findings: Results indicated that, after the posttest, there was a significant difference between mean scores of mental health among experimental and control groups. In other words, CFT led to increased mental health in subjects of the intervention group compared to the control group (p<0. 01, F=45. 49). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, the compassionfocused therapy reduces psychological problems and improves mental health of patients with multiple sclerosis through increasing their internal awareness, nonjudgmental acceptance, empathy, and consistent attention to internal emotions. It is recommended that MS associations across Iran would use this therapeutic method for enhancing psychological health of patients.

Aims: Monthly breast self-examination (BSE) is one method for early detection of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior in promoting BSE of women in Gonabad, IRAN. Materials & Methods: In this clinical trial study, 140 married women aged 20– 49 years from Gonabad were chosen randomly and divided into control and experimental groups. Educational needs were determined and the curriculum was developed and presented in 5 sessions. BSE behavior was studied using the constructs of planned behavior theory before, immediately and 3 months after training. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20, using ANOVA, T-test student, Chisquare and multivariate analysis of variance and significant level was set at α =05. 0 Findings: The mean age of the subjects was 37. 27 ± 6. 69 years. After intervention, the average score of BSE skill increased from 17. 89 to 18. 26 and the mean scores of theoretical constructs in the intervention group increased significantly (P<0. 001). The effect of the educational intervention was evaluated three months later, but changes were not significant in the control group (P>0. 05). Conclusion: This study showed that educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior was effective in promoting BSE behaviors. Therefore, it is recommended that educational interventions to be designed specifically for and consistent with the constructs of the theory of planned behavior.

Aims: Type 2 diabetes is one of the major causes of death. Depression disorder is one of the most common unresponsive problems in these patients which can affect the disease prognosis. The aim of this study is comparison of effectiveness of dynamic-supportive psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy on type 2 diabetes patients’ depression. Materials & Methods: This semi experimental study was conducted with pre-test and post-test design with control group in 2016. In this research there were 30 sample diagnosed with moderate to severe depression selected by randomized sampling in two experimental groups and one control group. The Dynamic-Supportive group is scheduled to undergo 10 sessions of psychotherapy and the drug treatment group that received under the supervision of the psychiatrist will take the prescribed medications. The collected data were analyzed by the covariance test. Findings: The results showed that each of the dynamic-supportive treatments and pharmacotherapy had a significant difference comparing to the control group (p< 0. 001), which was effective in depression treatment, but there was no significant difference between two treatment methods of dynamic-supportive and pharmacotherapy. Conclusion: In type 2 diabetic patients who have to use drug to control their illness, dynamic-supportive treatment can be an appropriate alternative to decrease depression instead of pharmacotherapy.

Aims: Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by impaired individual, physiological and social performance. spiritual intelligence and wisdom can be effective as protective factors in predicting tendency to substance use. This study has aimed to investigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence and wisdom with the tendency to substance use among college student. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, 361 College students in 2015-16 were selected from students of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University using multiple cluster sampling method and Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Scale, Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS) and tendency to substance use questionnaire to be completed. Data analysis was performed by SPSS 20 softwares and Lisrel. Findings: Results showed that Correlation between spiritual intelligence and wisdom with tendency to substance use was significant (p<0. 01). The proposed model was good-fitting model (p<0. 05). Conclusion: as regards spiritual intelligence and wisdom are negatively related with the tendency to substance use, it is concluded that the strengthening of spiritual intelligence and wisdom of individuals leads to reduce their substance use.

Aims: The aim of the current study is to examine the predictive role of Emotion Cognitive Regulation through mindfulness and social support in patients with Type 2 Diabetes. Materials & Methods: In this correlative study, the population consists of 4020 patents with Type2 Diabetes, 221 of which were selected as the available sample. For the purpose of data collection, the researcher has used Granefski et al. ’ s Scale for Emotion Cognitive Regulation (2001), Freiburg’ s Mindfulness Questionnaire (2001), and Philips’ Social Support Questionnaire (1986). Data were analyzed using Pearson’ s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Findings: Findings of the study confirmed a positive relationship between mindfulness and positive strategies for emotion cognitive regulation, a negative relationship between mindfulness and negative strategies for emotion cognitive regulation, a positive relationship between social support and positive strategies for emotion cognitive regulation, and a negative relationship between social support and negative strategies for emotion cognitive regulation. Moreover, results of multiple regression analysis showed that mindfulness and social support can predict emotion cognitive regulation in patients with Type2 Diabetes. Conclusion: With regard to the findings, mindfulness and social support are effective in selecting and applying positive strategies for emotion cognitive regulation in patients with Type2 Diabetes.

Aims: Tuberculosis is one of the oldest known diseases that involves human and one of the important causes of death all over the world. The cause of this disease is mycobacterium tuberculosis, which usually affects the lungs. Extra-pulmonary organs are affected in 1/3 of patients. One of these organs is bone and joints accounting for 10 to 35% of extra-pulmonary disease. The most common form of musculoskeletal involvement is spinal tuberculosis. Patient Profile: The patient is 33 years old and has been referred to the emergency department with a primary complaint of abdominal pain and weakness of the lower limbs without respiratory involvement, and was eventually treated with the diagnosis of osteomyelitis tuberculosis. Findings: Spinal tuberculosis is the most severe neurological complication of tuberculosis. The clinical manifestation of the disease is a form of physical symptoms such as fever, sweating, weight loss, pain and tenderness of the vertebrae and symptoms of pressure on the spinal cord. Regarding the move to severe paraplegia, surgery was performed on anterior orthopedic surgery. Conclusion: Young age, proper nutrition, paraplegia associated with acute illness, slow incidence of neurological symptoms, adequate residual volume of the spinal canal and pushing out during surgery improve postoperative neurological improvement, but along with improved disease, prolonged paraplegia, Rapid progression of paraplegia, spinal cord malocclusion, and the presence of fibrosis and bone tissue (dry lesions) have the potential for worse neurological improvement.