Crescent Journal of Medical and Biological Sciences
Volume:11 Issue: 1, Jan 2024

In order to increase the awareness of health service providers about the difficulties and consequences associated with the violation of menstrual rights, it is necessary to conduct a review study of existing programs in this area. This study aimed to review the menstrual rights programs and policies for reproductive-aged women and girls.

In this systematic review, we searched international databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science, as well as Iranian ones, such as IranMedex, Magiran, MEDLINE, and Embase, for relevant studies without considering publication year. Finally, of 832 results, including articles, reports, and governmental documents, 27 studies were included in this review study.

“Menstrual rights” is not viewed as a major issue, even in the international vision programs. The results indicate that the programs in this field were mainly focused on four aspects: laws and policies, empowerment in menstruation management, normalization, and support for menstrual justice. Despite the increase in programs to achieve menstrual health, dealing with the legality of these programs has been completely marginalized.

Since instructions and plans can play a vital role in implementing health policies, our findings emphasize the need for an evidence-driven plan to improve women and girls’ menstruation and reproductive health and rights that is consistent with longterm developmental goals. Attracting partnerships from the private sector, charities, and activists in this field can be very beneficial to achieving these goals.

Preeclampsia is one of the main causes of premature birth, growth restriction, and intrauterine death of fetus. Probiotics has the potential to modulate inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers that implicated in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. The aim of the present study is to establish the impact of synbiotic supplements, comprising of probiotic and prebiotic fructooligosaccharide, in comparison to placebo, on the maternal and neonatal outcome outcomes in women afflicted with mild preeclampsia.

This is a study protocol of a randomized, controlled, phase 3, triple-blind, randomized clinical trial. The classification is based on the gestational age at the time of diagnosis of mild preeclampsia (early-onset or late-onset preeclampsia). Participants will be 128 pregnant women with mild pre-eclampsia (systolic blood pressure between 140-160 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure between 90-110 mm Hg, along with other preeclampsia symptoms). Participants will divide into two intervention and control groups using a 1:1 random allocation ratio randomly. They will receive one oral capsule (the concentration of 109 CFU) or placebo daily from admission until delivery. Primary outcomes included mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean gestational age from diagnosis to delivery, and mean birth weight. Also, secondary outcomes included proteinuria, serum creatinine level, the incidence of severe PE, the use of antihypertensive drugs, the rate of natural delivery, incidence of serious complications, maternal blood factors such as platelet count, and serum levels of liver enzymes such as ALT, AST, bilirubin, and LDH.

The present trial can importantly contribute to the selection of an appropriate Synbiotic supplement as safe pharmaceutical adjuvants in the treatment of pregnant women with mild preeclampsia and prevention of maternal and neonatal complications.

This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of domestic violence and severity of depression, anxiety, and stress with some socio-demographic characteristics among women who have sought sanctuary in domestic violence shelters.

This study utilized a cross-sectional design, employing different sampling methods to recruit a total of 46 participants. A convenience sampling method was used for the study group, while purposive sampling was employed for the control group. The primary data collection tool was a standardized questionnaire consisting of three validated scales: the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-42).

The independent t-test analysis reveals highly significant differences between both groups (P≤0.001). The multivariate analysis has revealed significant differences among occupations in stress (P≤0.05), and significant differences were found in Relationship with family for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (P≤0.001).

Psychiatric disorders among domestic violence victims are very common, and the assessment of psychiatric disorders in domestic violence shelters is often overlooked or completely neglected. Physical, psychological, and verbal abuse are dominant types of violence suffered by shelter residents.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the A.F. Genital System® in the detection of vaginal pathogens in patients with obstetrical and gynecological pathologies.

A total of 197 vaginal swab samples were collected from patients presenting with various obstetrical and gynecological pathologies. The A.F. Genital System® and vaginal culture/traditional methods were used for pathogen detection.

The A.F. Genital System® demonstrated a detection rate of 68% for single vaginal infectious agents, outperforming the vaginal culture/traditional methods (52.8%). However, differences in detection rates were observed for specific pathogens, such as E. coli, Gardnerella vaginalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas spp.

Despite lower sensitivity for specific pathogens, the A.F. Genital System® showed a high correlation with reference tests, suggesting its potential utility as a diagnostic tool for identifying common vaginal pathogens in clinical settings.

Women with endometriosis have a high risk of developing ovarian carcinoma that may occur due to endometriosis lesions. There is few research have so far focused on the clinical factors in patients with endometriosis-associated ovarian cancer (EAOC). Accordingly, this study aimed at comparing the demographic and obstetric characteristics between ovarian cancer with and without endometriosis

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 20 EAOC patients and 140 non-EAOC individuals who had gone under surgery from 2011-17 at Al-Zahra hospital. Clinico-pathological characteristics of the two groups including first group only had malignant epithelial ovarian tumor (non-EAOC) and second group had both malignant epithelial ovarian tumor and endometriosis (EAOC). P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

EAOC cases were significantly younger (P=0.002) and had lower number of pregnancy (P=0.002), parity (P=0.004), and term pregnancy (P=0.005) than non-EAOC patients. A large proportion of EAOC cases had clear cell and endometrioid histopathology in comparison to non-EAOC individuals (P<0.001) and most of the tumors in these cases were unilateral (P=0.01).

We found that age, parity, gravidity, and term pregnancy as well as laterality and histopathologic type of epithelial ovarian cancers vary in EAOC and non-EAOC individuals. Further research is required to identify these differences.

Due to the increase in elective cesarean section and its high complications, epidural analgesia is the gold standard for reducing the pain of vaginal delivery. In contraindication cases, other effective and safe analgesic methods such as remifentanil are suggested. The present study aimed to compare the duration of active phase of labor at stages I and II, as well as neonatal Apgar score following the use of remifentanil analgesia.

In this study, 120 healthy primiparous women who were candidates for vaginal delivery were selected. After matching for age and body mass index (BMI), the participants were assigned into two equal groups (n=60 each) of intervention (receiving remifentanil) and control. We compared the duration of active phase of labor at stages I and II, neonatal Apgar scores, and the cesarean section rate between the groups. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 23).

There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of the duration of active phase in the first and second stages of labor (P=0.84 and P=0.78, respectively), 1-minute Apgar score (P=0.95), 5-min Apgar score (P=0.92), and the rate of cesarean section (P=0.067). Moreover, we observed no maternal complications with remifentanil.

According to our results, remifentanil did not increase the duration of labor, rate of cesarean section, and maternal complications. Hence, it can be a good alternative in cases where epidural analgesia is contraindicated.

This study aimed to examine the choroidal thicknesses (ChT) changes before and after resolution of subretinal fluid in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSR) and in their fellow eyes.

Patients with acute CSR were studied and followed until subretinal fluid resolved. Sixty-eight eyes from 34 CSR cases (24 men and 10 women, mean age of 37.34±6.2, range 27-50) were examined. Their ChT was measured using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). Imaging repeated after sub-retinal fluid resolution. ChT changes were analyzed before and after the resolution of subretinal fluid in both eyes.

Mean ChTs in CSR eyes were 387±97 µm, 414±97 µm, and 384±87 µm in 1 mm temporally away from the center, central sub-fovea, and 1 mm nasally away from the center, respectively; and those in the fellow eyes were 283±55 µm, 303±60 µm, and 282±56 µm in the same order. ChT decreased significantly (P≤0.001) to 305±82 µm, 334±86 µm, and 313±76 µm in CSR eyes and to 242±52 µm, 262±55 µm, and 246±48 µm in contralateral eyes in the temporal, central sub-foveal, and nasal sequences after subretinal fluid resolution, respectively. There was a strong correlation between the ChT in active phase and the ChT in resolved phase in both affected and fellow eyes. There was no detectable correlation between central sub-foveal fluid height and sub-foveal choroidal thickness in the affected and fellow eye (P=0.23).

Nasal and temporal comparison of the affected and fellow eyes before and after fluid resolution showed that the nasal choroid was thinner than temporal choroid (as the average population) in active phase. In the resolution phase, however, it was the temporal choroid that was thinner than the nasal choroid, and the resolution pattern was not asymmetric.