Journal of Archives in Military Medicine
Volume:9 Issue: 1, Mar 2021

 The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) between asthmatic patients and healthy individuals.

 PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies on NLR among asthmatic patients and healthy people. Review Manager (RevMan) software was used for statistical analysis.

 Six studies, including 1584 patients, were analyzed in this study. NLR was significantly different between asthmatic patients and healthy people.

 NLR in the peripheral blood of asthmatic patients was higher than that of healthy people. This result has certain clinical value in distinguishing asthma patients from healthy people.

Context:

 Numerous studies have indicated that vitamin D can modulate the immune system and plays an important role in regulating immune cells’ functions. Some clinical studies have assessed the effect of vitamin D supplementation on cytokine markers in multiple sclerosis (MS) as a disease in which the immune system’s function is disrupted.

Evidence Acquisition:

 This study was designed to assess randomized clinical trial studies evaluating the overall effect of vitamin D on the levels of IL-10, IL-17, and IFN-γ in MS patients.

 We searched PubMed and Scopus online databases up to November 2020 for relevant randomized clinical trial studies by using certain keywords. Eight studies from 273 articles, with a total sample of 443 participants, were considered

 The meta-analysis indicated that vitamin D consumption did not significantly change the levels of IL-10 (WMD : -174.56, 95% CI: -373.10 to 23.98), IL-17 (WMD : -0.11, 95% CI: -0.54.10 to 0.33), or IFN-γ (WMD : 61.47, 95% CI: 43.96 to 78.98) in MS patients.

 Further clinical trials are warranted to evaluate the effects of vitamin D supplement on IL-10 and IL-17, and INFγ levels in MS patients.
 

Context: 

Military organizations like civilian communities are under considerable threat due to COVID-19 and other re-emerging infectious diseases, which may impair their operations and training. The aim of this review was to discuss the application of RT-PCR technology for detecting and surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 among armed forces to successfully halt COVID-19 transmission.

Evidence Acquisition:

 Relevant literature was collected from PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar

 By combining both detection and quantification of pathogens, RT-PCR provides a reliable and sensitive method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 via targeting the viral ORF1ab, E, and N genes. Military surveillance plays an important role in the early detection and identification of positive cases, isolating infected patients, contact tracing, and quarantine to contain the spread of the disease among personnel. This technology emerges as a suitable tool for disease surveillance in the military and early detection and control of diseases.

 The COVID-19 disease has spread into different parts of the world and may affect military training and operations. So, there is a need for active disease surveillance and preparedness plans in the military. Accordingly, RT-PCR, as a standard tool for SARS-CoV-2 detection, can be used for the surveillance and monitoring of military personnel to successfully curtail COVID-19.
 

 Depression and anxiety as the most common psychiatric problems in survivors of traumatic events pose a significant burden on health systems and families.

 This study was conducted to determine the impact of group cognitive-behavioral therapy on the anxiety and depression of war veterans.

 This was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test and a control group. The statistical population included all men with war disabilities who visited Sadra Psychiatric Hospital in Tehran. By convenience and purposive sampling, 116 people were selected and randomly assigned to two groups. Therapeutic interventions (group cognitive-behavioral therapy and Jacobsen's progressive muscle relaxation technique) were applied to each group for 12 sessions, 2 sessions per week and 2 sessions each. Beck’s Depression Scale (Beck, 1961) and Spielberger’s Anxiety Scale (Spielberger, 1970) were used to collect the data. Data was analyzed using analysis of covariance.

 The mean scores of anxiety and depression in the post-test phase decreased compared to the pre-test phase (P < 0.05). Therefore, group cognitive-behavioral therapy improved the psychological symptoms of the participants.

 Cognitive-behavioral therapy improved cognitive flexibility and diminished anxiety-depression symptoms in war veterans; thus, it can be considered a useful treatment strategy to improve the psychological status of war veterans.

 Stomach cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the world and first cancer in Iran. The northern and northwestern regions of the country are areas with a high prevalence of gastrointestinal cancers, especially gastric cancer. Different factors are effective in the incidence of this cancer.

 The present study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology of gastric cancer.

 This research was a cross-sectional study. All patients referred to Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj between 2012 and 2018 were examined. Data were extracted using patients' medical records. Descriptive information was collected through SPSS software, and the results were analyzed.

 The number of patients in this study was 553. The mean age was 66.9 years, and the highest age group was 60 - 80 years. Four hundred twelve patients were male, and 141 were female. In 50% of patients, the location of the cardiac tumor was gastric. Chemotherapy was the most common treatment in more than 60% of patients.

 The results of this study show that smoking is unfortunately high in patients in this province. An educational intervention to quit smoking is recommended. Smoking is an important risk factor for gastric cancer, and this intervention may also be effective in reducing the incidence of this disease.