Galen Medical journal
Volume:6 Issue: 3, 2017

idectomy is an impressive surgery that relieves discomfort in patients who suffer from grade 3 or 4 hemorrhoids. This review is designed to investigate useful herbs for managing post-surgery complications by presenting an overview of Avicenna’s view compared to new scientific evidences. The herbs with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-bleeding, antispasmodic, and wound-healing properties may be important for managing patient discomfort. Avicenna’s most frequently prescribed herbs were selected using Bavasir as a keyword (traditional term for hemorrhoids) from volumes 2 and 5 of the Canon of Medicine textbook, and they were investigated in scientific databases including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Cochrane Library to obtain researches that confirmed their efficacy. Among the different herbs, Hypericum perforatum and Portulaca oleraceae were the most supported in scientific databases. Other herbs including Anethum graveolens, Cocos nucifera, Ferula assa-foetida, Myrtus communis, Ocimum basilicum, and Plantago major were next in order, while Artemisia absinthium, Solanum melongena, and Trigonella foenum-graecum exhibited few related pharmacological effects. The results established Avicenna’s claims regarding the importance of these herbs in post hemorrhoidectomy complications. Although there were many in vitro and/ or in vivo researches on the selected herbal medicines, there were no obtained clinical studies on patients after their hemorrhoidectomy surgeries. So, the aforementioned herbs, especially H. perforatum and P. oleraceae, are recommended for future clinical studies. Among the different classes of compounds, flavonoids were the most responsible phytocomponents for displaying pharmacological effects.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) can be described by characteristics like dementia, mental and cognitive dysfunctions, and memory impairment. Nowadays, with progresses of science, attempts to treat many diseases have increased. Laboratory animals help to discover new ways of treating disease. AD induced by chemical drugs in animal models can be useful in better understanding the mechanisms of disease and treatment of AD. In recent decades, many researchers have reported transgenic rat models of AD but this modeling has a great problem and does not contain all kinds of AD. There are two types of AD, including familial (5% of all AD) and sporadic, but the transgenic model does not show the complete model of AD, especially in sporadic form of AD, which is 95% of AD cases. We decided to describe another modeling of AD using chemical drugs such as colchicine, scopolamine, okadaic acid, streptozotocin, and trimethyltin.

Marital satisfaction is one of the common concepts used for assessing happiness and stability in a marriage. It is a multidimensional concept that is affected by several factors. The aim of this study was to review factors influencing marital satisfaction or dissatisfaction. A search through academic electronic databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), Scopus, Wiley Online Library, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and Iranian databases in the period from 2000 to 2015, yielded 250 scientific papers. Related keywords that were used included marital satisfaction, marriage satisfaction, marital adjustment, and couple satisfaction. After reading the titles, 80 papers that satisfied the criteria for inclusion were selected. In general, 80 papers that were eligible to enter the study were reviewed. Following the review of papers, factors deemed to have considerable influence on marital satisfaction were identified as follows: demographic specifications, personality attributes, attachment style, relationship, communication and intimacy, couples’ families, forgiveness and sacrifice, religion, emotional intelligence, personal health, and sexual relations (sex). Family counselors and therapists can benefit from these results to obtain a deeper perception of the foundations of married life and eventually, to help decrease the high divorce rate. Thus, conducting research on marital satisfaction to provide evidence for effecting a management strategy as well as to provide recommendation is indispensable.

Regarding the preventive approaches of traditional Persian medicine (TPM) in the management of chronic diseases such as fatty liver, we evaluated the effect of a TPM-based nutritional style on liver enzymes levels and fatty liver grade in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver.
Patients were randomly assigned to receive either a three-month TPM-based diet as the intervention group or received the low-fat, low-calorie diet as the control group. The primary outcome measure was changes in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. Secondary outcome measures were changes in fatty liver grade (fatty tissue infiltration in liver by using ultrasound imaging) and changes in patients’ body mass index (BMI). All outcome measures were evaluated at the baseline, at six weeks, and at three months after intervention.
Regarding within-group changes in outcome measures’ mean values, there was a significant reduction in ALT serum level, AST, BMI, and fatty liver grade after intervention, compared with baseline in both groups of study (P This randomized open-label controlled clinical trial demonstrated that the traditional Persian medicine-based nutritional style, used as a non-pharmacological remedy, could reduce body weight and improve fatty liver grade in patients suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Regarding the role of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in regenerative medicine, many studies have been conducted to isolate these cells from various sources. In this study, a method was developed which will use only one enzyme and in the shortest time MSCs will be isolated from the amniotic membranes and expanded.
The amniotic membrane (AM) was mechanically separated from the underlying membrane called chorionic. Then, the AM was sliced into tiny pieces and to isolate MSCs, it was digested only using collagens I instead of applying various enzymes. The isolated cells were cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum. The expression profiles of several markers at isolated cells were determined by flow cytometry. To assess the differentiation potential, the isolated cells were cultured in osteogenic and adipogenic induction media.
The results indicated that cells isolated from the AM expressed markers of CD44, CD105 and CD166 mesenchymal cells, but did not express CD34 and CD45 hematopoietic markers. The osteoblastic differentiation of the isolated cells was proven by alizarin red and alkaline phosphatase staining methods, whereas the adipogenic differentiation of the isolated cells was proven by Oil Red-O staining.
The results of the study indicated that the isolated cells were of the MSCs family. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that MSCs can be obtained easily only by spending a short time and using one enzyme.

An elevated plasma homocysteine level is suggested to be a risk factor for reversible atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Psoriasis and lichen planus are two chronic inflammatory skin diseases associated with an increased risk of thrombosis and cardiovascular disease.
We conducted this descriptive analytical study in 2015 on 30 psoriatic patients and 30 patients with cutaneous-oral lichen planus (selected via a simple randomized method) who were referred to the outpatient department of dermatology at Bouali Sina training and therapeutic hospital in Sari, Iran. We evaluated the serum homocysteine, vitamin B12, and folic acid levels in all patients. Data were evaluated using descriptive statistics and an independent t-test. Logistic regression was used for controlling confounding variables.
Nine (30%) patients in the psoriasis group and 11 (36.66%) in the cutaneous-oral lichen planus group had abnormally high blood homocysteine level (P = 0.001). Serum vitamin B12 level in the psoriatic group was significantly higher than in the cutaneous-oral lichen planus group (P = 0.034). Both mean and maximum serum folic acid levels in the psoriatic group were higher than in the cutaneous-oral lichen planus group, but the difference was not significant (P = 0.296). As psoriasis and cutaneous-oral lichen planus are chronic inflammatory skin diseases, in these groups, the serum homocysteine levels were higher than in healthy control subjects, but there was no significant differences between the two groups.
Further studies are recommended about the course of treatment in patients with psoriasis and lichen planus diseases before therapeutic intervention.

Since there is no agreement on the best approach of teachers’ evaluation, this study was conducted to determine medical teachers’ evaluation methods and clarify the viewpoints of Iranian faculty members toward them.
A mix method study was conducted in two phases, systematic review and survey, in Tehran University of Medical Sciences on 400 faculty members. In phase one, 24 studies were analyzed among 1520 and based on that, the viewpoints of faculty members about 14 methods were assessed through a validated questionnaire. Independent t-test and one-way ANOVA were used for data analysis.
The participants’ age mean was 48.62.23 and most of them were assistant professors (121/36.01%). About 280 participants (83.3%) chose “mixed method rating” as the best way of evaluation; 68.7% of the participants though “student rating” cannot be an appropriate indicative for evaluating teachers’ performance. The findings indicated statistical relationships between the average of some evaluation methods (student rating, peer evaluation, self-ratings, teaching scholarship, teaching awards) and the faculty members’ gender (P None of the evaluation methods can be sufficient to show a correct status of teachers’ performance. It is obvious that mix method evaluation as a combination of different measures and methods can be considered as a comprehensive approach; it is recommended to be applied in this university, and then compare teachers’ satisfaction and performance before and after this transition.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases among the elderly living in nursing homes in Tehran during 2009 and 2015.
Samples were selected and evaluated from among the elderly population living in nursing homes in Tehran in two time periods of 2009 (n=310) and 2015 (n=310). Data were collected using a researcher-developed questionnaire through a face to face interview and measurement of variables of blood pressure, body mass index, blood sugar and blood cholesterol and triglycerides.
The prevalence of heart disease, physical inactivity, overweight, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, hypertension, diabetes and smoking were significantly increased during a 7-year period, respectively by 19.9, 24.7, 20.8, 17.1, 13.6, 6.7, 4.7, 3 and 1.1% (P = 0.000).
In this study, it was found that the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and its risk factors is high and is on the increase in geriatric sanatoriums in Tehran. Therefore, a detailed and comprehensive planning seems necessary in order to identify, prevent and control the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.

Onion (Allium cepa) is a plant with anti-diabetic and antioxidant properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of red onion ethanolic extract on learning and memory impairments in animal model of diabetes.
Material and For induction of diabetes, streptozotocin (55 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally to male Wistar rats. Thirty two male Wistar rats were randomly divided to 4 groups (n=8). Diabetic rats located to 3 groups including 2 treatment groups with onion ethanolic extract (125 and 250 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks and one diabetic control group. In addition, the fifth group was considered as health control group. Finally, learning and memory changes were evaluated in the Morris water maze and passive avoidance tests.
Our finding showed that escape latency and traveled distance was significantly increased in diabetic control compared with health control. The administration of onion extracts at 125 and 250 mg/kg significantly decreased the escape latency and traveled distance. In addition, the induction of diabetes caused a significant impairment in memory consolidation compared with health rats. However, animals received extract at 125 mg/kg spent longer time and traveled greater distance in target quarter compared with diabetic control. Our data in passive avoidance test also showed that diabetes reduced step-through latency in animals. However, administration of onion ethanolic extract onion ethanolic extract led to increased step-through latency in diabetic rats.
Our finding showed that oral administration of red onion ethanolic extract improves learning and memory performances impaired by streptozotocin in diabetic rats.

Acute apical abscess is a prevalent complication in dentistry on the basis of root canal infection. Diagnosis and treatment plan depend on the level of dental involvement.
Case Report: A 28-year-old female patient presented with preapical abscess. She received a herbal preparation of oregano for two days. The abscess removed finally without any surgical intervention or post-treatment complication.
Using complementary and alternative methods as a noninvasive choice for dental problems could offer a noteworthy opportunity for patients.