Historical applications of Nigella sativa L. [black cumin] in the treatment of Zokam and Nazleh in Persian medicine

Using Nigella sativa L. [Black cumin], in traditional medicine, dates back to Tutankhamen, the pharaoh of Egypt. There are aboundant historical and religious evidence implying the importance of these curative seeds. Traditionally, they have been used for various therapeutic purposes. Zokam and Nazleh [ZaN] are two nasal diseases used to be treated by these medicinal seeds. Traditional Persian Medicine [TPM] classifies each of these diseases into warm and cold types. Comparing symptoms, Warm ZaN resembles Allergic rhinitis and cold ZaN is similar to Rhinosinusitis. Many documents have been found in TPM references that explain different ways for preparing Black cumin seeds for the treatment of cold ZaN, but there is no evidence for treating warm ZaN. In recent years, many original articles have been written to explain the therapeutic qualities of these curative seeds. They exhibit that Black cumin seeds, in addition to increasing the mucociliary clearance, histamine release inhibition and antihistaminic effects, have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antibacterial biofilm formation. Consequently, they confirm the application of Black cumin in the treatment of rhinosinusitis or cold ZaN

Tuberculin skin test among 1,424 healthy employees in Chaharmahal Province, Iran

Tuberculosis is still an important problem in developing countries. The tuberculin skin test [TST] is used for the identification of latent tuberculosis [TB] infection. This study aimed to evaluate the TST results of healthy employees of different departments in Chaharmahal province, Iran. This study was done on 1,424 healthy employees from 49 different departments in Chaharmahal Province. The tuberculin skin test was done with Purified Protein Derivative [PPD] solution. The induration was evaluated 48-72 hours later. Negative PPD test was observed in 346 subjects. A 5-10 mm induration was seen in 276, a 10-15 mm in 292, a 15-20 mm in 212, a 20-25 mm in 72, and a 25-30 mm induration was observed in 14 cases. A total of 212 subjects were absent when reading the induration. Tuberculin skin test can be used for the identification of TB infection. Prevalence of latent TB infection was low in our study. There were no significant differences in PPD test results between medical and non-medical departments

Brain abscess; epidemiology, clinical manifestations and management: a retrospective 5-year study

Infections involving the cerebrum are true neurosurgical emergency that require rapid diagnosis and appropriate surgical and medical intervention to achieve good clinical outcome. Brain abscess is one of most common forms of intracranial pyogenic infections. Bacterial infections of the nervous system are often challenging for the treating physician. In this study we evaluated 41 patients with brain abscess in Loghman hospital during 2002-2009. Demographic features, predisposing factors, clinical manifestations, laboratory data and managements were evaluated. Totally, 53.6% of patients were 15-29, 26% were 30-49 and 17% were 50-70 years old. The most frequently encountered clinical manifestations were headache [92.6%] and nausea and vomiting [73.1%]. Predisposing condition leading to brain abscess were sinusitis [9.2%], otitis [12%], CSF rhinorrhea [2.4%], mastoiditis [7.2%], neurosurgery [17%] and endocarditis [2.4%], and finally 20% had no risk factor. Mean duration of disease was 13 days. For 80% of patients surgical intervention was performe.d mortality rate was 12%. A total of 9.7% of patients admitted with diagnosis of brain abscess were finally diagnosed as acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis [ADEM]. In spite of improvement in diagnosis and treatment of patients with cerebral abscess, mortality is still high. Factors related to patient underlying diseases and the delay in commencement of antibiotic treatment were associated with increased mortality

[Food fortifivation with calcium]

Calcium is an essential element for living cells and plays an important role in muscle contraction, neurotransmitter secretion and blood coagulation. It has been cleared that deficiency in daily calcium intake can increase the probability of osteoporosis, hypertension, colon cancer, post partum depression and premenstrual syndrome. Dairy products are the most important sources for calcium. Calcium requirement is increased during years of growing to reach peak bone mass. It is increased in puberty and also during years after menopause and elderly to prevent osteoporosis and resultant fractures. Nowadays, peoples in the society are consuming synthetic drinks increasingly while liquids like milk and yogurt have been replaced by this type of drinks. With attention to great consumption of this type of drinks, it seems that placing some foods which have been fortified by calcium in daily regimen, could supply daily calcium requirements. The aim of this review article is to insist on calcium importance and food fortification with calcium and also to describe methods of fortification

[Snakebite in Iran: diagnosis, treatment and prevention]

Due to different questions about how to handle snakebite and its mortality, snakebite management is an emergency and it is necessary to be discussed about. Snakes are divided to three categories including poisonous, semi-poisonous and non-poisonous. Poisonous snakes are divided to elapidae, viperidae, crotalidae and hydrophidae, each of them cause specific symptoms. Snakebite can cause local and systemic symptoms. Local symptoms include edema, tissue necrosis and bulla. Systemic symptoms include hemotoxicity, neurotoxicity, myotoxicity, nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity. In this article snakebite diagnosis, prevention and treatment like antivenom, antibiotic, tourniquet, suctioning, etc. has been discussed