Evaluation of the Prevalence of Sleep Disorder Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Referring to Ghaem Hospital from 2016 to 2017.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes is the most common metabolic disease in primary health care. The prevalence and severity of diabetes can be influenced through lifestyle modification. This study was aimed to identify the prevalence of sleep disorders as a modifiable lifestyle factor among diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 190 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who referred to the Internal Medicine Clinic of the Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran from 2016 to 2017. A demographic questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Assessment questionnaire (with sleep disorder defined as scores higher than 5) was filled for each subject. Blood tests including haemoglobin A1 C (Hb A1C), fasting blood sugar (FBS) and 2 hour post prandial glucose as well as the assessment of blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) were performed for all patients. Data were analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16. RESULTS: Age of the patients (with male to female ratio being 71/119s) was 56.31 ± 7.37 years. BMI of more than 25 kg/m2was observed in 145 (76.3%) of patients. Mean Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Assessment score was 7.48 ± 4.11. Fifty-one (26.8%) patients were good sleepers and 139 (73.2%) were poor sleepers. There was a significant relationship between sleep disorder and age (p=0.019) and female gender (p=0.017), but no other variables which included level of education, occupation, HbA1 C, FBS, 2-hour post prandial glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. CONCLUSION: Sleep disorders are common among type 2 diabetic patients especially women. It is recommended that sleep disorders should be screened in diabetic patients. Treatment and prevention of sleep disorders through sleep hygiene education including recommendation to have normal nocturnal sleep should be focused by practitioners in type 2 diabetic patients, especially women. Appropriate measures should be taken to manage sleep disorders by weight control in this population.

Efficacy of Aloe vera/ Plantago Major Gel in Diabetic Foot Ulcer: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the most common complications of diabetic patients. Mostly, non-healing DFU leads to infection, gangrene, amputation and even death. High costs and poor healing of the wounds need a new treatment such as alternative medicine. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Aloe vera/ Plantago major gel (Plantavera gel) in healing of DFU. METHODS: Forty patients with DFU enrolled in a double-blind randomized clinical trial. The patients who were randomly assigned into the intervention group (n = 20), received topical Plantavera gel in addition to the routine cares, whereas the patients in the control group (n = 20), received topical Placebo gel in addition to the routine cares. Intervention was done twice a day for 4 weeks in the both groups. Photography and an evaluation of DFU healing were conducted by a checklist and then were scored at baseline and at the end of each week. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS software. RESULTS: At the end of the study, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of total ulcer score (P<0.001) and Plantavera gel significantly reduced the ulcer surface comparing with the control group (P=0.039). However, there was not a significant difference between the two groups (P=0.263) in terms of the ulcer depth. During this study, no side effect was observed for Plantavera gel in the intervention group. CONCLUSION: Topical Plantavera gel seems to be an effective, cheap and safe treatment. Of course, further studies are required to confirm the properties of the wound healing of this gel.