RESUMO
Background: The prevalence of common cold can impose financial burden on the healthcare systems, despite its simple and self-limiting symptoms. Objective: This study examines the behavior of patients suffering from symptoms of the common cold and explores the factors that may influence such behaviors. Methods: A descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019, in Tehran, Iran, using cluster sampling in socioeconomically diverse areas within the city. The participants' behaviors and related factors were evaluated using a 10-item questionnaire. Data collection process involved selecting 5 shopping centers and 404 individuals participated the study. SPSS version 24 was used for analysis. Results: The results showed that 42.1% of the respondents would consult a physician immediately upon experiencing cold symptoms, while 11.4% would consult a pharmacist.In addition, 14.3% would try self-medication, 28.3% relied on traditional home remedies, and 15%indicated not to make use of any remedies or interventions. The study indicated a correlation between people's behaviors concerning the common cold and their level of health self-confidence, knowledge of the common cold, lifestyle, gender, marital status, occupational status, insurance status, and average family spending. Conclusion: The findings of this study are significant in that they shed light on the behaviors of individuals and associated factors related to seeking medical assistance for the common cold. This knowledge can assist healthcare systems in developing strategies aimed at enhancing treatment outcomes, and decreasing costs.
RESUMO
Melatonin is the "clock factor" produced from the pineal gland dominating regular circadian rhythm in mammalians. It is an indoleamine with potent multifunctional pharmacological effects, both receptor dependent and non-receptor dependent effects, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The aim of this review is to summarize clinical evidence related to melatonin's effectiveness in the treatment of liver and pancreas diseases. Databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Cochran Library were searched up to November 2020.Finally, this review has summarized up-to-date clinical evidence to investigate the efficacy and safety of melatonin for the management of liver and pancreas diseases. Melatonin has been demonstrated to have beneficial effects on the management of Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), sleep disturbance of cirrhotic patients, prevention of drug/poison induced liver toxicity,and prevention of post endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (PEP);more data is needed to recommend melatonin administration in the treatment of mentioned disorders.
RESUMO
The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the efficacy and safety of melatonin and memantine in the alleviation of cognitive disorders in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Patients undergoing ECT for treatment of MDD were randomly allocated to the melatonin (3 mg/d) or memantine (5 mg/d) groups. The participants received either melatonin or memantine (tablet) through the ECT therapy, which was started at beginning the first day of ECT and continued to the sixth session. The Modified Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to evaluate cognitive function before and after the intervention. Frothy eligible patients (22 females and 18 males) were studied. There was no significant difference between two groups in terms of demographic characteristics, hemodynamic parameters and baseline MMSE and item 3 MMSE. The Memantine group scored significantly higher at the end of the ECT sessions either by MMSE or item 3MMSE than the baseline (P = 0.04 and P = 0.03, respectively). In the melatonin group, both MMSE and item 3MMSE scores were decreased significantly than the baseline (p = 0.03 and p = 0.02, respectively). No withdrawal was observed due to the drugs' adverse effects. It seems that memantine (5 mg/d) is more effective than melatonin (3 mg/d), to alleviate cognitive disorders induced by ECT.
