Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of traditional wooden toothbrush usage on most severe constipation, which usually occurs in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. Methods: In a quasi-experimental study, 61 SCI patients were selected who had injuries in different spinal levels (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar), and severe constipation from one defection in a few days to 3 weeks. They were recommended to use traditional wooden toothbrush for 5 min twice a day, after breakfast and dinner, over a 6 weeks period. Two proper standard scales, called neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD), and “Constipation Assessment Scale (CAS),” were used for evaluating the changes in patients' gastrointestinal (GI) habits during the period of using the wooden toothbrush. Through these scales (NBD and CAS), the therapeutic effects of traditional wooden toothbrush usage on the severity of constipation before and after intervention were measured. Results: The mean of NBD and CAS scores were reduced significantly, from 8.95 ± 0.78 and 3.34 ± 0.28; respectively, to 3.03 ± 0.57 and 1.74 ± 0.25, after 6 weeks using traditional wooden toothbrush (P < 0.0001). There was a significant difference in terms of NBD scores in patients with different levels of injury (P < 0.01), particularly in patients with thoracic injury, before (10.52 ± 0.88 ) and after (3.13 ± 0.78) treatment, respectively (P < 0.0001). Eventually, all symptoms of bowel problems improved significantly after the intervention (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The use of traditional wooden toothbrush lead to the improvement of bowel and defecation problems in SCI patients. Yet more studies, particularly randomized control clinical trials are needed to investigate the effect of using wooden toothbrush on other GI reflexes. In addition, if some clinical trials are devised to study the effects of wooden toothbrush on both conscious and unconscious patients in ICU, best results are expected to be found on keeping their mouth and teeth hygiene, as well as, getting rid of their constipations.

Background: This research was to examine the effects of synbiotic intake on minerals, liver enzymes, and blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: This randomized, cross-over clinical trial was performed among 62 diabetic patients. Persons were randomly assigned to intake either a synbiotic (n = 62) or a control food (n = 62) for 6 weeks. A 3-week washout period was applied following which persons were crossed over to the alternate intervention arm for an additional 6 weeks. The synbiotic was consisted of Lactobacillus sporogenes (1 × 10⁷ CFU), 0.04 g inulin (HPX) as prebiotic. Persons were asked to consume the synbiotic and control foods 27 g a day. Blood pressure was measured, and blood samples were taken at baseline and after 6-week intervention to assess calcium, magnesium, iron, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and total bilirubin. Results: The consumption of a synbiotic food, compared to the control food, resulted in a significant rise of calcium (0.66 vs. −0.14 mg/dL,P= 0.03) and iron (5.06 vs. −9.98 mg/dL,P= 0.03). The decrease of total bilirubin (0.08 vs. −0.04 mg/dL;P = 0.009) was also seen in the synbiotic group compared with the control group. Conclusions: Overall, synbiotic in T2D patients had beneficial effects on calcium, iron, and total bilirubin concentrations.

Background: Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) provides the capability of monitoring oxygenation levels in cerebral microscopic vessels, enabling the operator to observe the spontaneous changes in the levels of hemoglobin concentration in tissue and interpret the resulting fluctuations. The current study tried to investigate whether brain's autoregulatory mechanisms in premature newborns have the potential to prevent the adverse effects caused by asynchronous changes of pressure in the rib cage. Therefore, NIRS method was applied to newborns that were alternatively shifted from nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) to nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) and vice versa. Methods: This study was done as a crossover randomized clinical trial on 30 very low-weight newborns under nCPAP, who had received surfactant as a result of respiratory distress syndrome diagnosis, from April 2015 to April 2016, in Isfahan Shahid Beheshti Educational Hospital. The newborns were 72 h old, experiencing continuous distending pressure (CDP) = 4–6 cmH₂O with FiO₂ = 30%–40%. The respiratory support would alternate from nCPAP to NIPPV and vice versa (with indicators of expiratory PAP (EPAP) = CDP and inspiratory PAP = EPAP + 4 cmH₂O), and the cerebral regional oxygen saturation (CrSO₂) was monitored using NIRS. Results: The study results indicated that newborns significantly showed higher levels of CrSO₂₍84.93,P= 0.005) and oxygenation (94.63,P= 0.007) under nCPAP rather than NIPPV (82.43 and 93.43, respectively). The respiratory rate was also meaningfully slower when newborns were under nCPAP (P = 0.013). Conclusions: This study revealed that applying NIPPV may have an unfavorable effect on the premature newborn's brain tissue perfusion. However, more studies are needed to ensure solid outcomes.