مجله طب نظامی
سال بیست و ششم شماره 1 (پیاپی 125، فروردین و اردیبهشت 1403)

COVID-19 pulmonary manifestations vary from mild pneumonia to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Regarding the lack of specific treatment, its wide range of clinical manifestations, and especially the similarity of manifestation to different types of pneumonia in Persian medicine references, this research wants to review pneumonia from the viewpoint of traditional Persian medicine.

In this review study, the keywords of “zat-alrrieh”, and “awram-e-rieh” were searched in the most important Persian medicine references. The results were classified and concluded.

In traditional Persian medicine references, diagnosis of diseases is mainly according to clinical manifestations of each patient. In those references, pneumonia is considered as hot inflammation of the lung. There are different clinical manifestations and treatments concerning the pathologic Khelt (Humor) and stage of the disease. The goals of treatments are regulating Mizaj (Temperament), excretion of pathologic Khelt, and body empowerment. In addition to diet modification and oral medication, topical medication such as anointment, poultice, enema, cupping, gargling, and aromatherapy and manual therapies such as bloodletting are recommended to treat pneumonia.

Due to the similarity of manifestations of pneumonia especially emerging COVID-19 pneumonia to described pneumonia in Persian medicine references and the reports of successful experiences in the application of traditional treatment, clinical trials to evaluate the effect of Persian medicine treatments especially as a treatment package are recommended.

The recent review of research conducted in the field of air pollution and sports shows that there is a serious impact of air pollutants as well as the new pollutant of dust particles, and it is imperative to pay attention to this issue. This research aims to investigate the effect of regular exercise on lung function and amino acid arginine-alanine in traffic police of the provinces affected by dust particles in Iran. Forty traffic police officers (age: 23.62±6.4 years; body mass index: 27.44±4.7 kg/m2) were voluntarily selected from the centers of Khuzestan, Ilam, and Kermanshah provinces and randomly assigned to two control and regular physical activity groups. Regular physical activity included: 30 sessions, circuit training three times a week including hanging from the chin up (20 seconds), jumping over obstacles (knee height) at a distance of one meter for a total of 540 cm, Sit-ups (30 seconds), chest press (70% 1RM -8 repetitions), leg press (70% 1RM -8 repetitions), back extension (15 repetitions), calf raise (70% 1RM -8 repetitions), zigzag jump (20 repetitions), six to ten reputation Illinois Agility Test with a 30-second rest interval. Before the study, 48 hours before the occurrence of dust particles, and after the study fat percentage, amino acids, WBC, and FEV1/FVC were measured. To examine the research data, we used the mean and standard deviation as well as repeated analysis of variance (P≥0.05). It was found that time (pre-test- May 12, 2023) had a significant effect on amino acids arginine-alanine, maximum oxygen consumption, body fat percentage, and FEV1/FVC in the training group (P<0.05). In the control group, there was no significant difference in the amino acid arginine-alanine, maximum oxygen consumption, body fat percentage, or FEV1/FVC (P>0.05). However, the effect of time was present in the control group only for white blood cells (P<0.001). In terms of body fat percentage, there was a significant difference between the control and exercise groups (P=0.01), as well as maximum oxygen consumption (P=0.01). This study has demonstrated that regular exercise training can improve lung function, aerobic fitness, body fat percentage, and levels of amino acids involved in the immune system, as well as increase muscle mass and anti-inflammatory effects that reduce dust particle damage in those exposed to dust particles.

COVID-19 vaccine production in Iran faced various challenges. This study was conducted to evaluate the obstacles affecting the design and manufacture of a recombinant vaccine in Iran. The present study was a mixed study conducted in 2022 to identify and analyze the barriers affecting the designing and manufacturing of the recombinant vaccine in Iran. The study sample included eight policymakers, decision-makers, and specialists involved in vaccine design and manufacturing, who were selected purposefully by the snowball sampling method. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data. The brainwriting technique was used to identify factors affecting vaccine design and manufacturing, and the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation (DEMATEL) technique was used to analyze the systematic relationships between components. In the qualitative stage (Brainwriting), three themes, including individual barriers, organizational barriers, and environmental barriers, were extracted. Also, organizational barriers with coordinates C: [6.66, 0.66] and individual barriers with coordinates C: [5.2, -0.6] in the hierarchy of the interactive model are known as the most influential and impressible components, respectively. According to the upstream documents in the field of science and technology and emphasis on the manufacture of recombinant drugs and vaccines and Biological threats in the future and the existence of appropriate equipment and human resources in the field of vaccine production, by removing the barriers, can create a big step in the field of drug and vaccine production.

Occupational exposure to vibration can significantly contribute to the development of issues such as anxiety and sleep disorders among workers. Chronic exposure to vibration can induce damage to the peripheral nervous system, which is considered a significant risk factor for symptoms associated with the nervous system. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of anxiety and sleep quality in workers exposed to whole-body vibration (WBV) in a foundry industry. Additionally, the study examined the effect of occupational exposure to WBV on general health and the impact of demographic parameters on the level of anxiety, sleep quality, and general health of workers.

The population studied included all active workers in the casting section of an auto parts manufacturing industry who were exposed to whole-body vibration (WBV). The inclusion of subjects was based on the calculations related to the sample size, taking into account the inclusion criteria and the completion of the consent form (n = 162). All participants were required to fill out the demographic information worksheet, general health questionnaire, Spielberger anxiety questionnaire, and Petersburg sleep quality questionnaire. The measurement of WBV, in accordance with the ISO 2631 standard, was conducted at the body-device contact point using a calibrated vibration meter. The effect of exposure to vibration on the studied parameters was determined through univariate analysis of variance.

The mean exposure level of WBV acceleration (65.65±1.0 m/s²) was higher than the occupational exposure limit (0.87 m/s²) (P = 0.001). About 33% of the participants experienced a severe level of State, and the effect of exposure to WBV on it was incremental and statistically significant (P=0.031, B=1/600). The mean score of the sleep quality questionnaire (15.36±9.80) indicates that the sleep quality of the study participants was poor. The effect of exposure to WBV on the score of inappropriate sleep quality was found to be increased and statistically significant (B=0.050, P=0.990). The mean score of the general health of the people (47.80±13.31) indicates a lack of overall health among the participants. The effect of WBV exposure on the general health disorder score was found to be incremental and not statistically significant (B=0.650, P=0.080). There was no significant effect of demographic parameters on the scores of the studied questionnaires.

The effect of WBV exposure on State and Trait level scores is incremental and statistically significant for State one. The effect of WBV exposure on the score of inadequate sleep quality was found to be incremental and statistically significant. The effect of WBV exposure on the general health disorder score was not statistically significant.

Exercise training and supplementation with Ginkgo biloba are used to improve body composition and metabolic, cardiovascular, and neurological disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with Ginkgo biloba supplementation on changes in plasma irisin and some inflammatory and stress indices in overweight men. Following the screening, 40 overweight young men were randomly divided into four groups: placebo, Ginkgo biloba supplement, HIIT, and supplement+HIIT. Blood samples were taken 48 hours before and after eight weeks of HIIT exercise as well as immediately after the aerobic exhaustive test to study the indicators above in the population. Two-way ANOVA was used for inter-group comparisons, and Tukey's post hoc test was used to determine the difference between the groups. The results showed that after eight weeks of intervention with HIIT and Ginkgo biloba supplementation, GPx, SOD, CAT, and irisin values increased significantly in all three groups. TAC values increased only in the supplement and exercise+supplement groups. Also, a significant decrease was observed in the values of MDA, IL-6, and hs-CRP in all three groups (P<0.05). The use of HIIT combined with Ginkgo biloba supplementation can lead to combating the destructive effects resulting from exhaustive activity by increasing plasma irisin and anti-inflammatory effects and improving oxidative stress. Therefore, it seems that combining HIIT with this supplement can have significant protective effects.

High-intensity functional training (HIFT) is an exercise modality that emphasizes functional, multi-joint movements that can be modified to any fitness level and elicit greater muscle recruitment than more traditional exercise. Therefore, this research aims to compare eight weeks of HIFT with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on some factors of physical fitness, time to exhaustion, and lactate levels in officer students. In this semi-experimental research, 30 officer students with an average age of 20.04 ± 0.84 were randomly divided into 15 HIIT and HIFT groups. All the tests were done before and after the implementation of exercise protocols. Both HIIT (running-based) and HIFT (bodyweight-based functional movements) protocols were performed for 8 weeks, 3 days per week, at the intensity of 85-90% of the maximum heart rate. Basic evaluations included body composition evaluation, fatigue test, muscle strength and power test, and Army physical fitness test. The findings of this research showed that HIFT and HIIT increased respectively aerobic fitness (15.69%, 9.61%), back and leg muscle strength (16.02%, 5.02%), vertical jump (25.31%, 5.14%), push-up (19.61%, 9.39%), sit up (18.24%, 9.83%), time to exhaustion (16.21%, 14.41%) and reduced body fat percentage (18.38%, 12.18%), and lactate levels (22.89%, 14.77%). Also, HIFT was more effective than HIIT in increasing aerobic fitness (P=0.0001), back and leg muscle strength (P=0.0001), leg muscle power (P=0.0001), abdominal and shoulder girdle muscle (P=0.0001) endurance, time to exhaustion (P=0.0001), and reducing body fat percentage (P=0.002). It seems that high-intensity training, especially HIFT can improve several factors of physical fitness at the same time, and it is more suitable for tactical athletes (soldiers, firefighters, etc.) who need high physical fitness to perform their duties.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine endows non-specific immunity against other respiratory tract infections (RTIs) such as Coronavirus. According to the lack of sufficient evidence in this field, the present study was to determine the correlation between BCG vaccination with frequency and the severity of the pandemic in Iran. This was a cross-sectional study. The study participants were comprised of all hospitalized patients with suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in selected military hospitals in Tehran. Convenience sampling was also operated with regard to the inclusion criterion in the study. The data collection tool was a demographic-clinical information form. Also, checking the vaccination scar on the upper arm, interviewing, and asking patients or their companions to self-report the history of vaccination were the techniques to confirm BCG vaccination in the patients. The data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics (v.22.0) software package. In this study, 400 patients completed the questionnaires. The results of this study showed that most of the patients were male. The mean age of the participants was 52.35±6.98 years. The majority of the participants were infected with COVID-19 and other underlying diseases. The test results showed no significant relationship between the history of BCG vaccination and COVID-19 infection, but a significant correlation was detected between BCG vaccination and the disease severity (P=0.015). The test results also showed a significant relationship between age and COVID-19 severity (P=0.034). A significant relationship was further spotted between the COVID-19 severity and the history of underlying diseases (P=0.031). Considering that BCG vaccine is one of the most common strategies applied across the world; it was suggested to use it to prevent severe types of respiratory tract infections. Future studies should be conducted on different types of human populations such as children and pregnant women.