Background Osteoporosis affects all sections of society, including families with people affected by osteoporosis, government agencies and medical institutes in various fields. For example, it involves the patient and his/her family members, and government agencies in terms of the cost of treatment and medical care. Providing a comprehensive picture of the prevalence of osteoporosis globally is important for health policymakers to make appropriate decisions. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of osteoporosis worldwide. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted in accordance with the PRISMA criteria. The PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Scopus, Magiran, and Google Scholar databases were searched with no lower time limit up till 26 August 2020. The heterogeneity of the studies was measured using the I2 test, and the publication bias was assessed by the Begg and Mazumdar’s test at the significance level of 0.1. Results After following the systematic review processes, 86 studies were selected for meta-analysis. The sample size of the study was 103,334,579 people in the age range of 15–105 years. Using meta-analysis, the prevalence of osteoporosis in the world was reported to be 18.3 (95% CI 16.2–20.7). Based on 70 studies and sample size of 800,457 women, and heterogenicity I2: 99.8, the prevalence of osteoporosis in women of the world was reported to be 23.1 (95% CI 19.8–26.9), while the prevalence of osteoporosis among men of the world was found to be 11.7 (95% CI 9.6–14.1 which was based on 40 studies and sample size of 453,964 men.). The highest prevalence of osteoporosis was reported in Africa with 39.5% (95% CI 22.3–59.7) and a sample size of 2989 people with the age range 18–95 years. Conclusion According to the medical, economic, and social burden of osteoporosis, providing a robust and comprehensive estimate of the prevalence of osteoporosis in the world can facilitate decisions in health system planning and policymaking, including an overview of the current and outlook for the future; provide the necessary facilities for the treatment of people with osteoporosis; reduce the severe risks that lead to death by preventing fractures; and, finally, monitor the overall state of osteoporosis in the world. This study is the first to report a structured review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of osteoporosis worldwide.

Background: Curcumin is herbal compound that has been shown to have anti-cancer effects in pre-clinical and clinical studies. The anti-cancer effects of curcumin include inhibiting the carcinogenesis, inhibiting angiogenesis, and inhibiting tumour growth. This study aims to determine the Clinical effects of curcumin in different types of cancers using systematic review approach. Methods: A systematic review methodology is adopted for undertaking detailed analysis of the effects of curcumin in cancer therapy. The results presented in this paper is an outcome of extracting the findings of the studies selected from the articles published in international databases including SID, MagIran, IranMedex, IranDoc, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science (ISI). These databases were thoroughly searched, and the relevant publications were selected based on the plausible keywords, in accordance with the study aims, as follows: prevalence, curcumin, clinical features, cancer. Results: The results are derived based on several clinical studies on curcumin consumption with chemotherapy drugs, highlighting that curcumin increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiotherapy which results in improving patient's survival time, and increasing the expression of anti-metastatic proteins along with reducing their side effects. Conclusion: The comprehensive systematic review presented in this paper confirms that curcumin reduces the side effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, resulting in improving patients' quality of life. A number of studies reported that, curcumin has increased patient survival time and decreased tumor markers' level.

Background Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular autoimmune disorder characterized by weakness and disability in the voluntary muscles. There have been several preliminary studies on the epidemiology of myasthenia gravis in different parts of the world and the effectiveness of common drugs in its treatment, but there has been no comprehensive study of the efficacy of common drugs in the treatment of myasthenia gravis. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the epidemiology of myasthenia gravis globally and the effectiveness of common drugs in its treatment using systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods Research studies were extracted from IranDoc, MagIran, IranMedex, SID, ScienceDirect, Web of Sciences (WoS), ProQuest, Medline (PubMed), Scopus and Google Scholar based on Cochran's seven-step guidelines using existing keywords extracted in MeSH browser. The I2 test was used to calculate the heterogeneity of studies, and Begg and Mazumdar rank correlation tests were used to assess publication bias. Data were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (Version 2). Results In the search for descriptive studies based on the research question, 7374 articles were found. After deleting articles unrelated to the research question, finally, 63 articles with a sample size of 1,206,961,907 people were included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of MG worldwide was estimated to be 12.4 people (95% CI 10.6–14.5) per 100,000 population. For analytical studies on the effectiveness of common myasthenia gravis drugs, 4672 articles were found initially, and after removing articles unrelated to the research question, finally, 20 articles with a sample size of 643 people in the drug group and 619 people in the placebo group were included in the study. As a result of the combination of studies, the difference between the mean QMGS score index after taking Mycophenolate and Immunoglobulin or plasma exchange drugs in the group of patients showed a significant decrease of 1.4 ± 0.77 and 0.62 ± 0.28, respectively (P < 0.01). Conclusion The results of systematic review of drug evaluation in patients with myasthenia gravis showed that Mycophenolate and Immunoglobulin or plasma exchange drugs have positive effects in the treatment of MG. It also represents the positive effect of immunoglobulin or plasma exchange on reducing SFEMG index and QMGS index and the positive effect of Mycophenolate in reducing MG-ADL index, SFEMG and Anti-AChR antibodies index. In addition, based on a meta-analysis of the random-effect model, the overall prevalence of MG in the world is 12.4 people per 100,000 population, which indicates the urgent need for attention to this disease for prevention and treatment.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases could be preventable; as a result, understanding the risk factors was regarded as the major priority for healthcare providers. Objective: The main objective of this research was to achieve a deeper insight into the effect of long-term use of low-dose oral contraceptive pills (OCP) on the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. Materials and Methods: This research was a retrospective cohort conducted (historical and prospectively) conducted on 100 women with normal menstrual cycles aged 15 to 35 yr, who were referred to the healthcare centers in Yazd, Iran. The participants were categorized into two groups: The OCP group was consuming the pills for 3, 4-23, and 24-36 months, and the non-OCP group. Participants were followed up for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of six months. Results: The highest level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), homocysteine, cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and systolic blood pressure was observed in the OCP group in the duration of 24 to 36 months. The Tukey’s test demonstrated that there were comprehensible differences in the LDL (p = 0.01), cholesterol (p = 0.01), triglyceride (p < 0.001), and homocysteine levels (p < 0.001), also systolic blood pressure (p = 0.04). Conclusion: It was realized that the long-term consumption of low-dose OCP can augment the incidence of some risk factors (systolic blood pressure, homocysteine levels, cholesterol, LDL-c, and triglyceride) and lead to developing cardiovascular diseases amongst the healthy women. Key words: Birth control pills, Homocysteine, Nitric oxide, Dyslipidemias, Coronary artery diseases.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of two doses of cyclohexane extract of walnut leaves on total homocysteine, lipids profiles, and indices of oxidative stress including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal (IP) injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg BW). Twenty‐eight male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups, group I: control (received sesame oil as vehicle), group II: diabetic control (received sesame oil), group III and IV: diabetic rats treated by 150 and 250 mg/kg body weight (BW) per day extract of walnut leaves, respectively. All groups were treated for 28 days via oral gavage. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) level and body weight measured before injection, 3 days after injection, and on days 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 of treatment. At the end the 28th day of the experiment, blood samples collected via heart puncture and the sera were used for estimation of the above‐mentioned parameters. The results showed a decrease in FBS, TC, TG, LDL‐c, VLDL‐c, homocysteine, and MDA level and increase in the level of HDL‐c in diabetics treated by walnut leave extracts in a dose‐dependent manner after 28 days. The activity of antioxidant enzymes significantly increased in treated groups compared with diabetic control. It can be concluded that cyclohexane extract of walnut leaves has an overall beneficial effect on body weight, fasting blood glucose, lipids profile, antioxidant enzyme activities, and homocysteine.

Background: Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in the older adult and one of the most common risk factors for suicide in the older adult. Studies show different and inconsistent prevalence rates in Iran. This study aims to determine the prevalence of severe depression in Iranian older adult through a meta-analysis approach. Methods: The present meta-analysis was conducted between January 2000-August 2019. Articles related to the subject matter were obtained by searching Scopus, Sciencedirect, SID, magiran, Barakat Knowledge Network System, Medline (PubMed), and Google Scholar databases. The heterogeneity of the studies was evaluated using I 2 index and the data were analyzed in Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Results : In a study of 3948 individuals aged 50-90 years, the overall prevalence of severe depression in Iranian older adult was 8.2% (95% CI: 4.14-6.3%) based on meta-analysis. Also, in order to investigate the effects of potential factors (sample size and year of study) on the heterogeneity of severe depression in Iranian older adult, meta-regression was used. It was reported that the prevalence of severe depression in Iranian older adult decreased with increasing sample size and increasing years of the study, which is significantly different (P<0.05). Conclusion : Considering the high prevalence of severe depression in Iranian older adult, it is necessary for health policy makers to take effective control measures and periodic care for the older adult.

Single long scleral technique was efficacious with no occurrence of tube exposure in relatively long period of follow-up. In this method, there is no need to harvest any additional material, and in situations with limited access to patch grafts, it is performable with the minimal facilities.

Background: RLS is known as one of the most common movement disorders during pregnancy, which is most aggravated in the third trimester of pregnancy and can affect up to one-third of pregnant women. This study intends to determine the total prevalence of RLS in the third trimester of pregnancy through a systematic review. Methods: The present study was conducted via meta-analysis method up to 2019. The papers related to the subject of interest were obtained through searching in SID, MagIran, IranDoc, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science (ISI), PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases. Heterogeneity of the studies was examined via I 2 index, and the data were analyzed in Comprehensive meta-analysis software. Results: In investigating 10 papers capturing 2431 subjects within the age range of 25-39 years, the total prevalence of RLS in the third trimester of pregnancy based on meta-analysis was obtained as 22.9% (95% CI: 14.7-33.8%). Further, as the sample size increased, the RLS prevalence diminished, while with increase in years, this prevalence increased, where this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Prevalence of RLS in the third trimester of pregnancy is high, healthcare policymakers should organize educational classes to improve the life dimensions among this group of pregnant women.