Additive effects of acupuncture in alleviating anxiety: A double-blind, three-arm, randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: In this trial, additive effects of acupuncture to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) treatment for reducing anxiety, were investigated. METHODS: 112 patients with anxiety disorder were randomly divided into three groups including SSRIs alone (drug group), SSRIs with sham acupuncture (control group) and SSRI with acupuncture (acupuncture group), and treated for 4 weeks. At the beginning of the study and on day 28, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire was completed and serum levels of cortisol were measured. RESULTS: 105 patients completed the treatment period. STAI score showed significant differences among the three groups at the end of the study; importantly, changes in STAI score in the acupuncture group were significantly larger than the other groups. A decrease in cortisol levels was observed in all groups; though statistically non-significant, this decrease in the acupuncture group was larger. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with SSRIs can significantly improve anxiety state compared to anti-anxiety therapy using SSRIs alone.

Home quarantine is a useful strategy to prevent the coronavirus outbreak: Identifying the reasons for non-compliance in some Iranians.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus outbreak has become a worrying issue and some people refuse to stay at home. Therefore, this study aims to identify the reasons behind some Iranian people's refusal to stay at home to prevent further virus transmission. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted on postgraduate students in Iran. A questionnaire was designed based on 50 experts' opinions by using the Delphi method and 203 students completed the designed questionnaire in telegram groups. RESULTS: 35% of participants were upper 30 years of age, 70.4% were female, 74.4% had no coronavirus infection among their relatives, and 54.7% of them were Ph.D. candidates. The relations between "unclear accountability of events by some officials" and age as well as "failure to provide dissenting viewpoints and critical comments" and age were statistically significant (p = 0.027، p = 0.014). Moreover the relation between coronavirus infected relative and "persistent beliefs" was statistically significant (p = 0.014). The Chi-square test showed that gender, degree, resident and education province did not affect questions answering. The greatest agreement with questions is as following: lack of real situation understanding; 89.7%, people's livelihoods, and lack of government planning for low-income groups support; 86.7%, lack of people's knowledge concerning the coronavirus; 80.8%, lack of communicative educations for crisis situations; 79.8%, false assurance as well as minimizes the risks; 78.3%. CONCLUSION: Identifying the non-compliance factors with health recommendations can guide health care providers and managers to implementation of beneficial intervention.

ADAMTS7 and ZC3HC1 Share Genetic Predisposition to Coronary Artery Disease and Large Artery Ischemic Stroke.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and ischemic stroke (IS) are commonly considered distinct disease phenotypes. However, there is some evidence in favor of a degree of overlap between genetic susceptibility to CAD and genetic risk factors for IS. In the present study, we aimed to examine the role of two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs3825807 and rs11556924, located in the ADAMTS7 and ZC3HC1 genes, respectively, associated with CAD in published GWASs in European populations and their possible contribution to the development of coronary atherosclerosis and cerebral LA atherosclerosis in a case-control study of an the Iranian population. The sample size was 400, and the methodology for SNP genotyping was ARMS-PCR. Both SNPs showed strong associations with CAD in the analyses comparing significant CAD and myocardial infarction (MI) with controls. None of them, however, were associated with MI in patients with significant CAD. Our findings further support the role of the ADAMTS7 locus in promoting atherosclerosis in LAs of the brain. Regarding ZC3HC1 rs11556924, our study further supports the observed association of rs11556924 with LA IS coming from previous GWASs. In conclusion, the data showed that common variants in ADAMTS7 and ZC3HC1 genes contribute to an increased risk for both CAD and LA (atherosclerotic) IS.