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Background In this trial, additive effects of acupuncture to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) treatment for reducing anxiety, were investigated. Methods 112 patients with anxiety disorder were randomly divided into three groups including SSRIs alone (drug group), SSRIs with sham acupuncture (control group) and SSRI with acupuncture (acupuncture group), and treated for 4 weeks. At the beginning of the study and on day 28, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire was completed and serum levels of cortisol were measured. Results 105 patients completed the treatment period. STAI score showed significant differences among the three groups at the end of the study; importantly, changes in STAI score in the acupuncture group were significantly larger than the other groups. A decrease in cortisol levels was observed in all groups; though statistically non-significant, this decrease in the acupuncture group was larger. Conclusion Acupuncture combined with SSRIs can significantly improve anxiety state compared to anti-anxiety therapy using SSRIs alone.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is characterized by clustering of clinical, physiological, biochemical, and metabolic factors that are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Immune response to heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) has been suggested to be implicated in atherogenesis. We aimed to investigate the association between serum anti-Hsp27 antibody concentrations and type 2 diabetes in patients with MetS. This was a cross-sectional observational study on groups of MetS and healthy subjects. The population sample was derived from MASHAD STUDY, a national cross-sectional study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in 2004. Pregnant and breastfeeding women and patients who had cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, or systemic disease were excluded from the 9600 subjects of the MASHAD STUDY population. A total of 933 subjects including 477 women and 456 men were classified as having MetS, diabetes mellitus, or neither. Data including age, gender, and smoking habit collected using a questionnaire. MetS was diagnosed based on the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definition. The serum anti-HSP27 antibody titers were measured by ELISA. There was no difference in serum anti-HSP27 concentrations between subjects with and without MetS, or diabetes mellitus, nor was there a significant difference in anti-HSP27 levels between men and women. There was no significant difference in anti-HSP27 antibody between diabetic MetS patients, normal population, non-diabetic MetS, and diabetic non-MetS patients (p value >0.05). Serum anti-Hsp27 antibody concentrations did not differ between individuals with or without MetS or diabetes mellitus.

Background and objectives Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D or 25OHD) has a key role in the pathogenesis of several chronic disorders. Vitamin D deficiency is a common global public health problem. We aimed to evaluate the risk factors associated with vitamin D deficiency using a decision tree algorithm. Methods A total of 988 adolescent girls, aged 12–18 years old, were recruited to the study. Demographic characteristics, serum biochemical factors, all blood count parameters and trace elements such as Zinc, Copper, Calcium and SOD were measured. Serum levels of vitamin D below 20 ng/ml were considered to be deficiency. 70% of these girls (618 cases) were randomly allocated to a training dataset for the constructing of the decision-tree. The remaining 30% (285 cases) were used as the testing dataset to evaluate the performance of decision-tree. In this model, 14 input variables were included: age, academic attainment of their father, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, zinc, copper, calcium, SOD, FBG, HDL-C, RBC, MCV, MCHC, HCT. The validation of the model was assessed by constructing a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results The results showed that serum Zn concentration was the most important associated risk factor for vitamin D deficiency. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) values were 79.3%, 64%, 77.8% and 0.72 respectively using the testing dataset. Conclusions The results suggest that the serum levels of Zn is an important associated risk factor for identifying subjects with vitamin D deficiency among Iranian adolescent girls.

Background and aim: Musculoskeletal disease, that is recognized in diabetes and diabetes mellitus (DM) has shown a higher prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal complications. This study aimed at assessing the frequency of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders among patients with diabetes type II with normal cases in Mashhad, Iran. Methods: A cross-section of 100 patients with upper limb musculoskeletal disorders were enrolled in this study. The patients were examined by a unique physician considering carpal tunnel syndrome disorder, trigger finger, adhesive capsulitis, and Dupuytren’s contracture at Ghaem hospital, Mashhad, Iran in 2015. All collected data were recorded by using SPSS version 21 and were analyzed through independent-samples t-test for comparing changes, and Chi-square. Results: In this study, the mean age was 51.7±8.7 years old. Gender frequency was 114 (57%) male, and 86 (43%) female. There was no significant difference between groups in cases of gender frequency and mean of age (p>0.05). In evaluation of association between the two groups, there was significant difference for adhesive capsulitis, (p=0.04). Chi-square test showed significant association for age and adhesive capsulitis between the two groups, (p=0.040); but no other diabetes-related disorders, (p˂0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that in patients with diabetes mellitus and musculoskeletal complications such as upper limb musculoskeletal abnormalities, it will lead to an increase in skeletal muscle effects in DM patients. It is recommended that musculoskeletal examination is done periodically in DM patients for identification of these disorders and necessary actions are carried out for prevention of the disorders as soon as possible.

Background Metabolic syndrome is characterised by at least three of the following clinical features: abdominal obesity, dyslipidaemia, high blood pressure and glucose intolerance; it has also been associated with depression and anxiety. Cupping has been shown to benefit psychological well-being by alleviating anger, hostility, depression and anxiety. Objectives To investigate the effects of wet cupping on depression and anxiety in patients with metabolic syndrome. Methods Altogether 136 patients with metabolic syndrome (aged 18–65 years) were included. Ten patients were excluded owing to a history of haemophilia, systemic disorder, infectious disease, stroke, heart attack, type 1 diabetes, secondary dyslipidaemia, renal dysfunction, epilepsy and drug therapy. Patients were randomly divided into an experimental group (n=63), which received dietary advice with wet cupping, and a control group (n=63) receiving dietary advice alone. Treatment was administered for 3 months. Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory at 0, 6 and 12 weeks after treatment. Data were analysed using ANOVA. Results There were no statistically significant correlations between depression and anxiety and weight, BMI and lipid profile (P>0.05). However, there was a statistically significant association between the psychological parameters and blood pressure, age and gender (P

Summary Introduction It has previously been reported that increased level of serum heat shock proteins (Hsps) antibody in patients with metabolic syndrome. It is possible that the expression of Hsp and inflammatory markers can be affected by cupping and traditional Chinese medicine. There is a little data investigating the effects of cupping on markers of inflammation and Hsp proteins, hence, the objective of this study was evaluation of the effects of wet cupping on serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and Hsp27 antibody titers in patients with metabolic syndrome. Subjects and methods Serum Hs-CRP and Hsp27 antibody titers were assessed in samples from 126 patients with metabolic syndrome (18–65 years of age) at baseline, and after 6 and 12 weeks after treatment. One hundred and twenty-six patients were randomly divided into the experimental group treated with wet cupping combined with dietary advice, and the control group treated with dietary advice alone using a random number table. Eight patients in case group and five subjects in control groups were excluded from the study. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 software and a repeated measure ANCOVA. Results Serum hs-CRP titers did not change significantly between groups (p > 0.05) and times (p = 0.27). The same result was found for Hsp27 titers (p > 0.05). Conclusion Wet-cupping on the interscapular region has no effect on serum hs-CRP and Hsp27 patients with metabolic syndrome.

Background: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) techniques has been growing. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine places therapeutic touch (TT) into the category of bio field energy. This literature review is aimed at critically evaluating the data from clinical trials examining the clinical efficacy of therapeutic touch as a supportive care modality in adult patients with cancer. Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Scholar Google, and Science Direct) were searched from the year 1990 to 2015 to locate potentially relevant peer-reviewed articles using the key words therapeutic touch, touch therapy, neoplasm, cancer, and CAM. Additionally, relevant journals and references of all the located articles were manually searched for other potentially relevant studies. Results: The number of 334 articles was found on the basis of the key words, of which 17 articles related to the clinical trial were examined in accordance with the objectives of the study. A total of 6 articles were in the final dataset in which several examples of the positive effects of healing touch on pain, nausea, anxiety and fatigue, and life quality and also on biochemical parameters were observed. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, an affirmation can be made regarding the use of TT, as a non-invasive intervention for improving the health status in patients with cancer. Moreover, therapeutic touch was proved to be a useful strategy for adult patients with cancer.