Background: Vitiligo is an acquired multifactorial disorder. Different treatments are used for it and all of them have adverse side-effects. Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease associated with other autoimmune diseases such as hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, and so on. In these diseases, deficiency of vitamin D and B12 are proposed. So in this study, treatment response and remission in patients taking oral vitamin D and B12 was administered.Methods: 60 patients with active vitiligo were randomly divided into three groups. Group I received topical PUVA for 6 months; group II received topical PUVA and 1 cc oral drops of vitamin D3 daily for 2 months, and then topical PUVA alone for following 4 months; and group III received topical PUVA and 1 cc oral drops of vitamin D3 daily and sublingual tablets of vitamin B12 daily for 2 months, and then treated with topical PUVA for following 4months. Cure rate and side effects were evaluated using Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI) at the third and sixth months. Findings: In each of the three treated groups at different times, the average changes in the area and extent of the lesion were not significantly different. Pruritus and erythema occurred in some patients.Conclusion: In this study, the reduction in the extent and area of lesions in the group receiving vitamin D compared to the control group were higher that indicated the role of vitamin D in preventing progression of active vitiligo.

Background: Chronic diabetes is substantially associated with circulatory disorders in lower limbs. Vacuum-Compression THERAPY (VCT) has been commonly used in treatment of peripheral circulatory disorders. VCT is based on intermittent alteration of Positive- Negative pressure phases. The purpose of this study was to determine effects of VCT on diabetic subjects' peripheral blood flow.Methods: In this Before-After and case-series study, 18 type 2 diabetic subjects with diabetic neuropathy and/or peripheral vascular disease (PVD) completed the study. Subjects received 45 min of VCT for 10 sessions three times weekly. Blood flow (calf+foot) was measured via venous occlusion plethysmography.Results: Among Variables of "Arterial Inflow", "Venous Outflow", "Venous Capacity", "Postischemic Reactive Hyperemia" and "Peak Flow of Reactive Hyperemia", only "Venous Outflow" significantly improved after 10 sessions treatment via VCT (P<0.05).Conclusions: Arterial blood inflow, which was the most important determinant evaluated in this study, was not increased via VCT. Additional studies are required to investigate the effective VCT parameters and duration of each session and number of sessions, considering progressive and deteriorative natural history of diabetes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Thiopental sodium is not an ideal intravenous drug for inducing general anesthesia and compared to intravenous anesthetic drugs like propofol has a long standing recovery time. The aim of this study was to compare the recovery duration of propofol and thiopental sodium in ECT (Electroconvulsive THERAPY).METHODS: In a clinical trial, 70 patients aged between 15-40 years old in A.S.A class I & II were selected for ECT.They were randomly divided into two groups of 35 patients. After patient monitoring, 2-3 mg/kg thiopental sodium or 1-1.5 mg/kg propofol (randomly in each patient) and then 0.5 mg/kg succinylcholine were administered. Patients were ventilated with mask and oxygen (%100). After ECT, seizure and recovery durations were recorded. During these procedures, blood pressure and heart rate were recorded before and after anesthetic induction and 1 and 5 min after ECT.FINDINGS: Mean recovery duration of propofol and thiopental sodium were 5.49±2.57 min and 6.4±3.69 min, respectively (p=0.233). Also, seizure duration of propofol and thiopental sodium were 32.06±13.78 sec and 35.06±10.08 sec (P=0.302). Hemodynamic changes (systolic blood pressure) in two groups were not significant except at 1 minute after seizure (p<0.05).CONCLUSION: According to the results, there was not a significant difference between two groups in seizure and recovery duration. But propofol can prevent increasing hemodynamic response to ECT better than thiopental sodium. In patients with hypertension or restriction of thiopental sodium, propofol can be a suitable replacement.

BACKGROUND: Labor pain relief has been considered since many years ago. HEAT as a non pharmacological method of pain relief helps reducing the pain intensity and increases the pain consistency. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of the HEAT THERAPY on the labor pain in primigravida women.METHODS: In this clinical trial study, 64 low risk nulliparous women were randomly divided into two HEAT THERAPY and routine care groups. In addition to the routine cares, warm bag were used for the HEAT THERAPY group for the low back, from cervix dilatation of 3-4 cm to the end of the labor’s first stage and for perinea at the second stage. The pain intensity was determined by McGill pain questionnaire in dilatation of 3-4, 6-7 and 9-10 cm and at the end of the labor’s second stage.Data was analyzed using t-test and chi square test by using SPSS 11.RESULTS: Results of research showed a significant decrease in the pain intensity in the HEAT THERAPY group at the first stage and the second stage of labor and comparing two groups showed significant difference (p<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of this study, it seems that HEAT THERAPY in addition to its beneficial effects, causes the mother to sense the labor pain in a lower pain severity.