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Introduction To compare the effects of Hypericum perforatum with lifestyle modification and acupuncture for appetite and weight control in obese or overweight patients. Methods The planned sample size is 88. Participants in group I will receive electroacupuncture, Hypericum perforatum, and lifestyle modification; group II, electroacupuncture, placebo, and lifestyle modification; group III, sham electroacupuncture, Hypericum perforatum, and lifestyle modification, group IV, sham electroacupuncture, placebo, and lifestyle modification. The primary outcome is change in serum nesfatin-1 level at week 6 comparing to baseline. Secondary outcomes include appetite score and anthropometric indices. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, week 2, 6, 12 and 24. The statistical analyses will be performed using SAS and SPSS version with a 2-sided P value of less than 0.05 considered statistically significant. Conclusions By implementing placebo for both Hypericum perforatum and acupuncture, this study may help improving the methodology of comparative effectiveness studies of different complementary medicine interventions.

Purpose This study aimed to compare the quality of spinal anesthesia between opium-dependent and opium-naive patients. Design A case-control study. Methods Two groups of subjects including opium-dependent and opium-naive patients (30 per group) were enrolled. Spinal anesthesia was performed using 15 mg of bupivacaine. The level of anesthesia was assessed every minute for 10 min and then every 10 min for 180 min. Motor block was recorded at 10, 60, 120, and 180 minutes. The duration of anesthesia was recorded. Findings The mean duration of spinal anesthesia was significantly shorter in opium-dependent patients (101.45 ± 28.670) than in opium-naive patients (126.14 ± 24.206) (P = .003). The mean onset of sensory block was not significantly different between the two groups (4.14 ± 1.62 vs 3.69 ± 1.36, P = .259). Conclusions Substance abuse affects the duration of spinal anesthesia, so it is recommended to use intravenous medications or higher doses of spinal marcaine for these patients.

Resumen Las verrugas anogenitales (VAG) debidas al virus papiloma humano son una de las enfermedades de trasmision sexual mas comunes en todo el mundo. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar los efectos de las VAG en la satisfaccion matrimonial y en la actividad sexual de los pacientes. Presentamos un estudio transversal que incluyo 74 pacientes consecutivos, de los cuales 37 presentaban VAG y los 37 sujetos restantes eran controles sanos. Todos los pacientes completaron y fueron analizados por la Escala de satisfaccion matrimonial de ENRICH y la Escala Arizona de experiencias sexuales. Los items de la escala ENRICH no mostraron diferencias significativas entre los 2 grupos. La actividad sexual fue menor en las mujeres que en los hombres (p