Development and validation of self-report Mizaj identification questionnaire Based on Persian Medicine for the elders (age over 60).

Background: Introduction: Mizaj is the basis of attention to individual differences in Persian Medicine (PM). Regarding the importance of Mizaj for health preservation and treating diseases, it is necessary to achieve a standard tool for Mizaj identification. The purpose of this study was to design a standard self-reporting Mizaj identification questionnaire for elders. Methods: In this exploratory sequential study, criteria of Mizaj identification were extracted by reviewing PM literatures and interview with PM experts and elders. The primary questionnaire was designed and its validity and reliability were assessed, using weighted Kappa statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) assessment, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and determining the specificity and sensitivity of cut-off points. Results: Among the 101 items in the primary questionnaire, 73 items had acceptable reliability. The final 20-item questionnaire was obtained after the criterion validity and PCC assessment. The sensitivity and specificity of this questionnaire were 83% and 88% for warmness, 49% and 80% for moderate in warmness-coldness, 72% and 91% for coldness, 57% and 78% for wetness, 30% and 79% for moderate in wetness-dryness, and 81% and 67% for dryness, respectively. Conclusion: The standard Mizaj identification is recommended as a supplementary diagnostic tool for clinicians and researchers in PM. Also, the people with age over 60 can use it to identify their own Mizaj and then, choose the suitable PM or Unani medicine lifestyle recommendations based on their Mizaj.

Mizaj assessment and data analysis methods in Amirkola health and aging project (AHAP cohort).

Background: One of the principles of Persian medicine (PM) is the individualized approach that is presented with the concept of Mizaj. In this viewpoint, on the whole body, Mizaj is determined for every person based on 10 criteria, which is a result of the Mizaj of the main organs, including the brain, liver, and heart. There is no standard diagnostic tool for Mizaj assessment yet. The purpose of this study is to explain the method of Mizaj assessment and data analysis in the elderly in one of the biggest health and aging projects in Iran. The second phase of the Amirkola health and aging project (AHAP) evaluated more than 1,700 clinical and laboratory examinations of 2135 elderly people. Methods: In this study, a novel Mizaj assessment method in two phases is presented. In the first phase, 1541 elderly were assessed by a PM expert and typical diagnoses (the high confidence of expert's proficiency) were determined. At the second phase, an expert panel including 5 PM experts evaluated the cases. The data of the elderly whose Mizaj agreed in the expert panel was used to assess its correlation with Mizaj. Also, the Mizaj of the main organs of these cases was evaluated this way. Conclusion: In the lack of valid and reliable questionnaires to assess the personalized viewpoint of PM, a new expert-based method has been introduced that can be used in similar studies. The result of the Mizaj assessment in this way will be used to obtain objective values for the Mizaj assessment.

The prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use in the general population of Babol, North of Iran, 2018.

BACKGROUND: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) have recently become more popular and accepted worldwide. One principal step to identify the status and organize strategies of CAM is evaluating the manner and the prevalence of its usage among people. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of CAM modalities usage by the people of Babol, a central city in the North of Iran, in 2018. METHODS: Using the original International CAM Questionnaire (I-CAM-Q), a questionnaire was redesigned in Persian (Farsi) with some changes such as adding special modalities in Iran and its validity and reliability were assessed. Six hundred households were evaluated using a cluster sampling method in 2018 spring by 12 trained interviewers. RESULTS: Finally, 1770 questionnaires were correctly completed. A total of 110 participants (6.21% of the completed questionnaires) had visited CAM therapists in the last year, 109 persons (6.15%) had received prescriptions from physicians and paramedics to use CAM, and a total of 1032 people (58.30%) used herbs and herbal medicines in the last 12 months. Also, 1265 individuals (71.46%) had used CAM throughout their lives. The most popular methods were herbal medicine (65.76%), Persian Medicine (13.78%), water therapy (10.45%) and music therapy (8.36%). The use of CAM was more popular among women. CONCLUSIONS: The general use of CAM in Babol was similar to other studies, but there were fewer visits by CAM therapists and less frequent adoption of common methods including homeopathy, acupuncture, and energy therapy. It was found that CAM was mostly used for non-serious diseases such as cold and transient gastrointestinal disorders, a pattern that is different from other studies in this field.

Comparison of the efficacy of ranitidine and quince syrup on gastroesophageal reflux disease in children.

INTRODUCTION: Since the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms in children is of the utmost importance, the current study is aimed to evaluating the efficacy of quince syrup and ranitidine in the management of pediatric patients with symptomatic GERD. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was performed on 96 children suspected of suffering from GERD. The patients referred to the gastrointestinal clinic of Ghaem Hospital, Iran, during 2017. The participants were randomly categorized into two groups (ranitidine and ranitidine plus quince syrup). The GERD symptoms, including the severity and frequency of vomiting, refusal of eating, difficulty in swallowing, choking at the time of eating, burping or belching, and abdominal or belly pain, were gathered before and after the intervention (4 weeks) using standardized Global Severity Questionnaire (GSQ-YC). RESULTS: The comparison of two groups in terms of vomiting, refusal of eating, burping or belching, and abdominal or belly pain showed a significant difference 4 and 6 weeks after the intervention (P< 0.05). However, the comparison of difficulty in swallowing and choking at the time of eating between the two groups showed that there was no significant difference after 2, 4, and 6 weeks of the intervention (P > 0.05). The comparison of the total scores between the two groups showed that there was a significant difference 2 (17.8 ±â€¯2.6 vs 23.4 ±â€¯4.0; P < 0.05), 4 (11.5 ±â€¯2.3 vs 18.8 ±â€¯3.6; P< 0.05), and 6 (12.2 ±â€¯2.3 vs 21.1 ±â€¯4.1; P<  0.05) weeks after the intervention. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the administration of ranitidine plus quince syrup was useful to improve pediatric GERD. However, it is recommended to conduct the future studies with a larger sample size and different dosage.

Comparative effect of thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen on primary dysmenorrhea: A triple-blind clinical study.

BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhea is one of the most common medical problems in gynecology causing several problems in the personal and social life of women. This study was conducted to compare the effect of thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen on the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea Methods: This clinical study was conducted on 84 students of Babol University of Medical Sciences with primary dysmenorrhea. The students were randomly assigned to three groups receiving thymus vulgaris, ibuprofen and placebo. In all three groups, with the beginning of pain, 200 mg capsules and 25 drops of essential oil were given every 6 hours for two consecutive cycles. Pain intensity used the visual scale before and one hour after each dose for 48 hour after starting medication. The data were collected and analyzed. This study was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trial (www.irct.ir) with registration number ID: IRCT201101245683N1 RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 20.5±1.8 years. Both thymus vulgaris and ibuprofen were effective to reduce the pain severity of dysmenorrhea. Before treatment, the mean pain intensity in thymus vulgaris, ibuprofen and placebo groups were 6.57±2.02, 5.30±2.23 and 6.18±1.78, respectively and after treatment decreased to 1.21±1.06, 1.48±1.62 and 3.54±2.26, respectively. Reduction of pain severity was not statistically significant between the two medications, however it was significant for each drug compared with placebo (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that thymus vulgaris as well as ibuprofen can be effective in reducing the severity of pain and spasm in primary dysmenorrhea.

Comparison of the efficacy of prednisolone versus prednisolone and acyclovir in the treatment of Bell`s palsy.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of 2 regimens of prednisolone versus prednisolone and acyclovir in the treatment of Bell`s palsy. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on 496 Bell`s palsy patients attending Yahyanejad Hospital, Babol, Iran from 1995 to 2004, divided in 2 groups. The first group was treated with regimen one (oral prednisolone), and the second group was treated with regimen 2 (oral prednisolone plus oral acyclovir) for 2 weeks. All cases were followed for 6 months. RESULTS: Two hundred and forty-eight cases (108 males, 140 females) were treated with regimen one, and 248 cases (113 males, 135 females), were treated with regimen 2. Both groups had a mean age of 20-39 years. At the end of therapy, the recovery rate with regimen 2 was 95.6% (237 patients), whereas regimen one showed a recovery rate of 91.2% (226 patients) (p=0.047). CONCLUSION: This study showed acyclovir plus prednisolone to be more effective than prednisolone alone in the treatment of Bell`s palsy.