zohreh ghaem far

Hypertension (HTN) is one of the primary risk factors for heart disease and stroke worldwide. The present meta-analysis was aimed to systematically review and statistically estimate the prevalence rate of pre-hypertension (PHTN) and HTN in the Iranian child/adolescent and adult age groups.

In this study, four International databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane, as well as three Iranian databases, including SID, Magiran, and IranMedex, were separately investigated for articles published before December 2021. Also, we estimated the pooled effect size for the prevalence of PHTN and HTN in children/adolescent and adult age groups. Stata software (version 14.0) was used for all statistical analyses.

From a total of 1185 articles found in database searches, fifty-one were included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of HTN in the Iranian adult population was 26.26% (25.11 % and 26.22 % for women and men, respectively). Meanwhile, the prevalence of PHTN and HTN in the child/adolescent age group was 8.97% (95% CI 7.33 - 10.61) and 8.98% (95% CI 7.59 - 10.36), respectively.

This study provides information which can be used for various purposes, including study designing. Further nationwide surveys should be carried out to obtain accurate information on the HTN prevalence rate, particularly based on the American College of Cardiology /American Heart Association guidelines in the Iranian population.

To quantify carbohydrates, various indicators such as glycemic load (GL) and glycemic index (GI) were introduced. In order to address the effect of dietary carbohydrate content on lipid profile, we investigated the relationship between dietary GI and GL with lipid profile in adults living in Shiraz, Iran. In a cross-sectional study, 236 participants aged between 20 and 50 years were selected using cluster random sampling in Shiraz, Iran. For assessing the food intake, a 168-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was utilized. Dietary GI and GL were calculated based on food items intake. Higher GI was associated with increased odds ratio (OR) of lowdensity lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C, OR: 2.51; p-trend=0.008), nonhigh-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL, OR: 2.34; p-trend=0.01) and LDL to HDL ratio (OR: 2.13; p-trend=0.02) in crude model. In adjusted model, direct association was observed between GI and total cholesterol (TC, OR: 2.40; p-trend=0.01), LDL-C (OR: 2.50; p-trend=0.01) and non-HDL-C (OR: 2.48; p-trend=0.01). Association was noted between higher GL with TC (OR: 2.50; p-trend=0.01), LDL-C (OR: 2.22; p-trend=0.02), non-HDL-C (OR: 2.49; p-trend=0.005) and LDL-C to HDL-C ratio (OR: 2.29; p-trend=0.01) in crude model. After adjusting for potential cofounder, association remained for TC (OR: 3.97; p-trend=0.01), LDL-C (OR: 4.39; p-trend=0.005) and non-HDL-C (OR: 3.72; p-trend=0.008). Dietary GI and GL may have an association with higher odds of abnormal lipid profile. It seems that a diet with a low GI and GL (which full of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes) can play an effective role in favorable lipid profile.

Infertility affects about 15% of the population and male factors only are responsible for ~25–30% of cases of infertility. Oxidative stress is an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the capacity of the body to counteract their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants. This study aims to access the relationship between non-enzymatic dietary antioxidant capacity and male infertility.

In this cross-sectional study, 270 infertile men aged 18-55 years were selected from Isfahan province in 2018. Semen assessment was performed according to the fifth edition of the WHO laboratory manual and a 168-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) questionnaire was used to determine the amount of dietary intakes of participants. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

There were no significant association between sperm parameters and dietary total antioxidant capacity (DTAC) tertiles in the crude model and after adjustment for potential confounders. The participants in the highest tertile of DTAC had a higher risk of abnormal density and motility in crude model (OR=1.30; 95% CI: 0.65, 2.59; P = 0.46 and OR=1.69; 95% CI: 0.83, 3.44;
P = 0.99) and risk of abnormal density decreased in the adjusted model (OR=0.99; 95% CI: 0.39, 2.50; P = 0.99) and (OR: 1.43; 95% CI: 0.51, 4.01;
P = 0.5).

In this cross-sectional study there was no significant relationship between semen parameters and DTAC tertiles in the crude and adjusted model. Therefore, it is required to conduct more research studies to determine the clear benefits and risks of antioxidant therapy for infertility.

High blood pressure, coronary heart disease (CHD), and anxiety ailments entirely lead to many illness in patients and impose expenses on the health care system. Anxiety can significantly predict future CHD consequences. Spirulina is a known antioxidant that has a role in anxiety. The hypothesis was that Spirulina could alleviate anxiety and positively affect hypertension and its consequences. Nonetheless, there are scarce recently developed investigations on assessing the effect of consuming Spirulina on anxiety in human beings.

The present study assessed the effect of Spirulina on anxiety in 48 Iranian patients with hypertension (female and male) aged 24–65 years in a randomized triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The patients were given either 2 g Spirulina in the form of spirulina-fortified dressing or placebo. Anxiety levels were evaluated for each patient before and after eight weeks following consumption products with the Beck Anxiety Inventory.

Forty-one participants completed the intervention. At the baseline, there was no significant difference in anxiety levels between groups, and they also had the same levels of stress based on the Holmes-Rahe questionnaire. The results showed no significant difference in the level of anxiety between groups after the intervention (P = 0.93).

Although no positive results were seen in this study, this novel issue has a potential for further investigations to make comprehensive decisions.