The effect of bee prepolis on primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized clinical trial

OBJECTIVE: Primary dysmenorrhea typically occurs with no associated pelvic pathology and is common in adolescents and young women. This study evaluated the effect of bee propolis on relief of primary dysmenorrhea. METHODS: The study was performed in 2018 in Hamadan, in western Iran, among female students with primary dysmenorrhea. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, using balanced block randomization, and were administered a placebo or bee propolis capsules for 5 days during two menstruation cycles. The number of participants required was estimated to be 86 in total, with 43 students in each group according to the inclusion criteria. We used the visual analog scale to assess pain severity. The independent t-test was conducted for comparing between two groups, using SPSS 16.0. RESULTS: A significant change was found in the mean pain scores during the first (P<0.001) and second (P<0.001) months after using bee propolis in comparison with placebo. The means of the pain scores in the bee propolis group were 5.32±2.28 and 4.74±2.40 in first and second months after the intervention, respectively, whereas the means of the pain scores in the placebo group were 7.40±1.21 and 7.17±1.24 in first and second months after the intervention, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that the use of bee propolis for two months compared with placebo reduced primary dysmenorrhea during the first and second months after use, with no adverse effects. Therefore, it could be used as an alternative to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for relief of primary dysmenorrhea.

association between maternal serum magnesium level and pregnancy outcomes

Objective: To find out the association between maternal serum magnesium levels and preterm labor, neonatal weight, and the duration of labor

Methodology: This observational study was conducted at the Social Security Hospital in Hamadan City, the west of Iran, from October 2014 to January 2015. The case group included 32 preterm labour women [28 to <37 weeks pregnant women] and the control group included 32 term pregnant women. The maternal serum magnesium level, the duration of the first and second stage of labor were measured in both the groups

Results: The duration of gestational age was significantly lower in cases compared to controls [P<0.001]. The average birth weight was significantly lower in the case group than in the control group [P<0.001]. The mean [SD] level of maternal serum magnesium was 2.12 [0.27] and 1.95 [0.16] in the control and case groups, respectively [P=0.004]. The duration of the first stage of labor was lower in the case group than in the control group [P=0.001]. There was a positive correlation between maternal serum magnesium level and gestational age [0.3305] and neonatal weight [0.2975] and a negative correlation between maternal serum magnesium level and the duration of the first and second stage of labor [-0.0184 and -0.0445, respectively]

Conclusion: Low level of maternal serum magnesium is associated with poor pregnancy outcomes, including preterm labor and low birth weight