Aim: This study was conducted to examine the effect of acupressure on severity of pain and FATIGUE in patients with CHRONIC heart failure.Background: Patients with CHRONIC heart failure experience high levels of pain and FATIGUE. Acupressure is a simple, inexpensive and non-invasive method which may reduce the pain and FATIGUE in patients with CHRONIC heart failure.Method: In this single blind randomized clinical trial, 72 patients with CHRONIC heart failure were recruited. Subjects were equally divided into two groups of experimental and placebo, by random allocation method. Then visual analogue scale and FATIGUE severity scale was used to evaluate the severity of pain and FATIGUE in each group. The members of experimental group were under acupressure in KI3 , GV20 and CV6 point for 3 minutes bilaterally. In addition, the participants were instructed to perform acupressure in same point three times a day for four weeks. Subjects in placebo group were trained to touch the points. Four weeks after intervention, the severity of pain and FATIGUE was measured in both groups. The data were analyzed by SPSS.Findings: The study findings showed no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of demographics, and severity of pain (p=1.000) and severity of FATIGUE (p=0.285) before intervention. After four weeks of intervention, a statistically significant relief on severity of pain (p=0.006) and FATIGUE (p≤0.0001) was seen in experimental group compared with placebo group.Conclusion: Acupressure can be effective in decreasing severity of pain and FATIGUE in people with CHRONIC heart failure.

Background: Various infectious agents like Helicobacter pylori and Chlamydia pneumoniae have been suggested for the development of atherosclerosis. The seroepidemiological association between Chlamydia pneumonia infection and coronary artery disease is still controversial. The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between anti-chlamydia pneumoniae antibodies (IgG and IgA) and acute coronary SYNDROME.Methods: 87 patients and 87 controls (matched by age and sex) were recruited into this case-control study from February 2009 to January 2010. Sampling was done and anti-Chlamydia pneumonia antibodies were measured using micro immunofluorescence method. Characteristics of population were recorded and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.Results: The overall prevalence of anti-Chlamydia pneumoniae IgG and IgA were 43% and 10%,respectively.38 (43.7%) patients and 38 (43.7%) controls were positive for IgG (OR=1). 8 (9.2%) patients and 11 (12.6%) controls were positive for IgA (OR=0.69). There was no statistically significant difference between patients and controls in seropositivity of Chlamydia pneumoniae in uni- and multi-variate analysis.Conclusion: There is no association between Chlamydia pneumoniae seropositivity and acute coronary SYNDROME in this case-control study. More investigations are suggested because of controversial results.

Shortly after gulf war (G.W) thousands of war veterans referred with sign and symptoms of an unknown disease called G.W illness. Despite multiple studies undertaken by several non-governmental and governmental centers this illness remains unclassified and can not be coded by international classification of disease (I.C.D). The etiology has not been found and the illness appears to be multifactorial and basically related to use of depleted uranium (D.U) weapons, chemical warfare (C.W) and biological agents. This article reviews this illness and the adverse effects of D.U and B.c.W agents in the G.W battlefields.

Hyper IgE SYNDROME (Job's SYNDROME) is a primary immunodeficiency disease with recurrent infections especially staphylococcal, coarse face, skeletal abnormality and significant increase in serum IgE level (IgE >2000IU/ml). We present a 16 years old boy admitted with CHRONIC cough, dyspnea, eczema and pneumatocele. He had a history of CHRONIC dermal infection since 1 month after birth. The diagnosis of hyper IgE SYNDROME was made according to typical history and significant high serum IgE level.

Palmoplantar keratodermas are a heterogenous group of diseases, one of them is Papillon- Lefevre SYNDROME (PLS). This rare disease is inherited as autosomal recessive and characterized by focal hyperkeratotic plaques on elbows and knees, severe periodontal disease resulting in premature loss of teeth. We report two brothers with PLS who did not have a history of this disease in their family.