[Comparison of the quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and control group]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] is the fourth cause of mortality and a leading cause of chronic disability worldwide. Given the nature of the disease and lack of any effective treatment, it can profoundly affect the quality of life [QOL] or patients. Studies about the effect of COPD on QOL have yielded contradictory results: however, most studies suggest that COPD negatively affects QOL. QOL is a concept which is influenced by bio-psycho-social factors. In this study, we assessed the effect of COPD on QOL of a group of Iranian patients. In this case we assessed QOL in two groups, each consisting of 80 COPD patients as cases and 80 healthy persons control group matched for age, sex, marital status and education and comparatively similar socioeconomic and cultural status. The brief WHO-QOL questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed with SPSS10 using control study, we as t-test. The results were expressed as mean and standard deviations and significance level was set at 0.05. Analysis of data showed, that mean QOL score and mean scores of the five aspects of QOL, i.e. disease, independent life, social relations, physical sensations and mental welfare in the COPD group was significantly lower than in the control group [P<0.05]. Our findings are indicative of the negative effect of COPD on QOL in particular. The significantly low levels of QOL in COPD patients demonstrates that COPD affects not only the patients' physical health but also other aspects of their lives, leading to decreased QOL. Thus, in spite of ongoing disease, interventions in these aspects of the patients' lives can improve QOL as a comprehensive and holistic therapeutic goal

Sodium valproate as an adjunctive drug in treatment of schizophrenia

There are controversies regarding sodium valproate's efficacy in psychosis. Although some studies have reported that it is effective in the management of positive symptoms and aggression in acute psychosis, others have not found such an association. Our study aims to investigate the effects of adjunctive In a double blind clinical trial, 32 schizophrenic patients [age 18 - 65], who were in immediate need of admission, were randomly allocated into two groups. The first group was treated by combination of sodium valproate and risperidone and the other by combination of placebo and risperidone. A diagnosis of schizophrenia was established based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. All patients were assessed by PANSS on the 1st, 14th and 28th days of the admission. The collected data were analyzed by Student and Paired T tests through SPSS. Comparison of PANSS mean score in two groups, before and after the trial, showed statistically significant differences. The reduction in PANSS score was significantly higher in the group treated with sodium valproate than in placebo group [p= 0.006]. Although, there was a statistically significant reduction in positive symptoms in both groups after 2 weeks of treatment [p= 0.048], the difference was not significant in the fourth week [p= 0.88]. Our study shows that if used as an adjunct to antipsychotic in the management of acute psychosis, sodium valproate will speed up the recovery of positive symptoms