Effectiveness of Aromatherapy on Ameliorating Fatigue in Adults: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Fatigue is a common symptom in adults that may cause physical and psychological problems and reduce quality of life. Aromatherapy could possibly provide relief for those suffering from fatigue. Here, we evaluated the effect of aromatherapy on fatigue in adults. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature, SinoMed, Wanfang, and Chinese Scientific Journal Database databases for randomized controlled trials of aromatherapy treatment for fatigue in adults from their inception to June 2021. Two reviewers searched independently, extracted the characteristics of the studies, and assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool and Stata v. 14.0. Results: Nineteen studies were included in this systematic review. Aromatherapy had a significant effect on fatigue (standardized mean difference -0.64, 95% confidence interval-1.14, -0.15, I2 94.4%, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis according to aromatic type, substance, frequency, treatment duration, intervention, outcomes measurement, and population type showed that aromatherapy had a significantly greater effect in the intervention group, compared to the control group. Funnel plots and Egger's test indicated no significant publication bias. Conclusion: Our results suggest that aromatherapy ameliorates fatigue in adults who suffer from chronic diseases. A rigorous intervention program and larger randomized controlled trials are needed.

A New Treatment Modality for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Combined Photothermal and Photodynamic Therapy Using Cu7.2 S4 Nanoparticles.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a worldwide inflammatory disease that seriously threatens human health and needs more effective treatment approaches. Near infrared (NIR) light can efficiently penetrate inflamed joints affected by RA, so phototherapy, including photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT), may provide new opportunities. In this work, the unique Cu7.2 S4 nanoparticles (NPs) are prepared for RA treatment enlightened by the fact that copper (Cu)-based nanomaterials can simultaneously serve as PTT agents and photosensitizers (for PDT). Meanwhile, Cu can promote ostogenesis and chondrogenesis. The Cu7.2 S4 NPs combined with NIR (808 nm, 1 W cm-2 ) irradiation not only achieve better bone preservation, including higher bone mineral density (BMD) and bone volume/total volume, but also inhibit inflamed synovial invasion, cartilage erosion, and expression of proinflammatory cytokines in vivo. Moreover, the Cu7.2 S4 NPs can effectively kill clinical pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli to prevent bacterial infection during intra-articular injection. Therefore, the combined PTT and PDT using the multifunctional Cu7.2 S4 NPs could be a novel RA treatment modality with full potential.

Impact of postoperative drainage autologous blood re-transfusion on the coagulation parameters and D-dimer levels of patients after total hip arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative drainage autologous blood re-transfusion (ABT) is an important treatment method that maintains a high haemoglobin (HGB) content and obviates the need for allogeneic blood transfusion in patients after surgery. However, the safety of ABT remains controversial. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: This study aimed to investigate the safety of postoperative drainage ABT in primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). In this randomized, controlled study, patients undergoing THA were selected and randomly divided into two groups. A device for postoperative ABT was used for the 49 patients in the ABT group, whereas conventional postoperative vacuum drainage was used for the 42 patients in the drainage blood (Drain) group without ABT. The coagulation parameters and D-dimer (DD) levels of the two groups of patients were recorded before surgery (T0) and on postoperative days one (T1), three (T2), seven (T3), and 14 (T4). RESULTS: A within-group comparison after THA showed that the postoperative fibrinogen (FIB) and DD levels were higher than those before surgery in both groups (P < 0.01). A between-group comparison showed that, at different time points, the postoperative drainage blood amount and the coagulation parameters were not significantly different between the two groups. Compared with the Drain group, the DD levels in the ABT group were significantly higher at T1, T2, and T3 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Postoperative drainage ABT did not significantly impact the coagulation parameters of patients after THA. However, the DD levels after ABT significantly increased, which may affect the risk of thrombosis.

[Clinical observation of bushen er'xian decoction in treating premature ovarian failure].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect and immune regulatory mechanism of Bushen Er'xian Decoction (BED) on patients with premature ovarian failure (POF). METHODS: Sixty patients with POF were randomly assigned to two groups in the ratio of 2:1, the 40 in the treatment group were treated with BED and the 20 in the control group were treated with artificial menstrual cycle therapy. The clinical efficacy was observed and the changes of serum reproductive hormone and T lymphocytes before and after treatment were observed. RESULTS: The total effective rate in the treatment group was 72.5% (29/40 cases), which was higher than that in the control group, 45.0% (9/20 cases, P < 0.05). Serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) decreased and estradiol (E2) increased in both groups after treatment (P <0.05), but the level of FSH was lower in the treatment group than in the control group (22.57 +/- 12.49 IU/L vs 31.10 +/- 14.50 IU/L, P <0.05). CD4 and CD4/CD8 increased, CD8 decreased in the treatment group after treatment, showing significant difference as compared with those before treatment and with those in the control group after treatment (P <0.01). CONCLUSION: BED is favourable for improving POF, being a good remedy with better clinical efficacy.

[Clinical observation on treatment of infertile patients with severe endometriosis by Kangyi Zhongyu Decoction combined with gonadotropin releasing hormone-a].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of Kangyi Zhongyu Decoction (KZD) combined with gonadotropin releasing hormone-a (GnRH-a) on infertile patients with severe endometriosis. METHODS: Seventy-five infertile patients with the diagnosis of endometriosis confirmed by laparoscope who were scheduled to receive in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) were randomly assigned to three groups, they were treated respectively with KZD (A), GnRH-a (B) alone and combined of both (C), and IVF-ET were applied in the patients after 3 months of treatment. The clinical efficacy and adverse reactions in the three groups were observed and the changes of serum cancer antigen 125 (CA125) and endometrial antibody (EMAb) levels before and after treatment were tested. RESULTS: Score of dyspareunia in Group A and C was obvioushy lower than that in Group B after treatment (P <0.01). Pregnancy rate in Group C was higher than that in Group A and B (P <0.05), with the adverse reactions less than in Group B (P <0.01). The positive rate of plasma EMAb was reduced obviously after treatment in Group C with the level lower than that in the other two groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The combined use of KZD and GnRH-a is a new method in treating infertile patients with severe endometriosis with ideal effectiveness and fewer adverse reactions, and it could advance the successful rate of reproductive assistant technique.