Nowadays, acupuncture is widely used to manage pain, and childbirth is a condition requiring appropriate pain management interventions. The efficacy of acupuncture in the management of labor pain has recently been studied, but the results are not satisfactory and conflicts exist. In this study, we investigated the effects of acupuncture on labor pain, serum cortisol level, and duration of labor. We conducted a randomized, single-blind, controlled trial that included 63 nulliparous women: 32 in the study group and 31 in the control group. Acupuncture was performed at the SP-6 and the LI-4 points in the study group, and sham acupuncture was performed at the same points in the control group. Pain scores and serum cortisol levels were measured before and after the intervention. Changes in these measures and in the duration of labor were compared between the groups. No significant variations in pain scores or serum cortisol levels were observed between the two control groups. However, the duration of labor was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in the group receiving real acupuncture. Our results show that acupuncture is significantly associated with a decreased duration of labor, even though it was no better than a placebo for the treatment of labor pain.

Introduction Recent studies have addressed the role of micronutrients in fertilization, such as vitamin D. The present study aims to explore the effects of using calcitriol, an active form of vitamin D, on IVF results in women with vitamin D deficiency. Method This double-blinded randomized clinical trial was done on 180 infertile women, undergone IVF treatment. Out of them, 95 were found to have vitamin D deficiency (blood serum 25-dihydroxy vitamin D <30 ng/ml). Fifty one women in experimental group were treated with two 0.25 µg calcitriol pills daily during 4 weeks (discontinued 8 hours prior to the embryo transfer) and 44 subjects to the placebo group (mean vitamin D deficiency 27.5 ±1.8 in case group vs. 27.6±1.8 in control group, P>0.05). Final analysis includes outcomes of chemical and clinical pregnancy was done on 74 women (including 36 in case and 38 in control group). Results Our study showed that in the experimental group, chemical pregnancy success was significantly higher than that in the control group, 31.4 vs. 18.2% (P<0.05). However, there were no significant differences between the 2 groups in reaching the clinical pregnancy stage (25.5% in case group vs. 13.6% in control group) and continuation of pregnancy into week 20 (9.8% in case group vs. 11.6% in control group) (P>0.05). Conclusion Calcitriol administration by improving the implantation process can significantly increase the chances of successful IVF cycle results in infertile women with vitamin D deficiency.

The study showed preliminary promising hypoglycemic effect of T terrestris in women with diabetes mellitus type 2.

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Background: Sleep disturbance is one of the symptoms of menopause, which occurs due to a decrease in sex hormones and dramatically affects the quality of life. This study was designed to compare the effects of relaxation and Valerian on insomnia of menopause women. Methods: The study was a randomized clinical trial in 129 menopausal women with insomnia that were randomly allocated to three groups valerian, relaxation and control. After 1 month information obtained by demographic questionnaire and sleep quality Petersburg, then data analyzed in the software SPSS20 at a significance level of 0.05. Results:The results showed there was significant difference in the level of education , age of marriage(p<0.05 ).Comparing average scores before and after treatment of sleep disorders were determined in valerian and relaxation group was significant difference (p <0.001) and in the control group no correlation was found (p >0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the herb valerian and relaxation techniques effective for menopausal insomnia and helps to increase the quality of their sleep.

Background:The peers play an important role in choosing the foods and shaping the dietary habits. Obesity and many other diseases result from consumption of unhealthy foods by children and adolescents. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the deleterious effect of junk foods on knowledge, attitude and body mass index (BMI) of school students in Shiraz, southern Iran. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted in two stages and comprised 480 (240 boys and 240 girls) of fifth grade in primary schools from four education and culture districts of Shiraz. The students were selected randomly and divided into two groups of intervention (120 girls and 120 boys in case group) and (120 girls and 120 boys in control group). In the first stage, both case and control groups completed the questionnaire on their knowledge, and attitude, in addition to calculating and recording their BMI. Initially, 3-4 active candidate students were selected from each class and after educating them about disadvantages of junk foods, commissioned them to educate their classmates daily about deleterious impact of such diets. The second stage started after three months when the same questionnaires were recompleted by both case and control groups, while their BMI re-calculated and recorded. The collected data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 15, chi square, paired t test, ANOVA and Post hoc test. Results:The results showed that, before intervention, out of 480 girls and boys, 13.0% were thin, 38.2% had normal weight, and 11.9% were overweight of whom 36.9% were obese. By comparing the average weight and height for girls and boys (case and control group), only in the region-1, there was a statistically significant difference in the mean weight (P = 0.002) and height (P = 0.015) of the girls in control and in the case group. Case groups from all four regions were overweight but without any statistically significant difference (P = 0.381). However, after intervention, a significant difference in overweight was found between case and control groups (P = 0.041). There was a significant relationship (P < 0.05) in comparing the score mean difference of attitude of students' girls and boys (case-control) in four regions before intervention. The attitude score of girls was better than the boys. There was no significant correlation (P > 0.05) between average knowledge scores of girls and boys (case and control) before and after intervention and attitude after intervention. Conclusions: Children spend a long time at schools which are ideal places for education. The peers chosen for this study proved to be highly successful in educating their classmates in cautioning them against unhealthy diets, an approach of potential educational Value.

Background: Sleep disturbance is one of the symptoms of menopause, which occurs due to a decrease in sex hormones and dramatically affects the quality of life. This study was designed to compare the effects of relaxation and Valerian on insomnia of menopause women. Methods: The study was a randomized clinical trial in 129 menopausal women with insomnia that were randomly allocated to three groups valerian, relaxation and control. After 1 month information obtained by demographic questionnaire and sleep quality Petersburg, then data analyzed in the software SPSS20 at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The results showed there was significant difference in the level of education , age of marriage(p