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Introduction: Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world. Today there are 100 milion diabetics around the world and in Iran it is about 1.5 milion. The prevalence of symptomatic neuropathy is 15% but with NCV it will increase to 50%. Regarding the suffer produced by neuropathy and that there is no effective treatment for that, this is necessary to investigate new treatment options. Materials and Methods: This is a clinical trial study, done during a 3 months period in vali-e-asr hospital in year 2004. 100 diabetic patients were selected randomly and divided into two equal groups. A complete sensorimotor assessment was performed and a questionnaire consisting history and clinical symptoms including limb pain, murmur and paresthesia and examinations such as pin prink test, position and vibration assessment, was completed. NCV was also done and blood sugar and HbA1c was measured. In case group 2000 micrograms vit B12 was prescribed twice weekly and in control group 10mg nortiptiline every night was prescribed. After 3 months patients were assessed again. Data was analysed using mean and standard deviation and Chi square, K-S, Leven, T and Mann Whitney tests. Results: Based on visual analage scale the difference between pain number before and after treatment was decreased 3.66 (3.66-4.25) in case and 0.48 (0.54-1.13) in control group (P<0.001). Also the difference between paresthesia number before and after treatment was decreased 2.98 (2.51-3.44) in case and 1.06 (064-1.47) in control group (P<0.001). The difference between murmur number before and after treatmat was decreased 3.48 (2.93-4.02) in case and 3.48(2.93-4.02) in control group (P<0.001). There was no significaut difference between NCV, vibration, position and pin prink test results. Conclusion: Changes in clinical symptoms in case group in comparison to those in control group was significant, but changes in physical assessment findings (pin prink, Position, vibration and NCV) was not significamt.

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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a auto-immune disease of central nervous system. The etiology of MS is unknown, but environmental factors such as viruses are involved in the development of MS. In this study, MS patients were assessed for antibodie titers against Human Herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) in Markazi Province. Methods and Materials: In this case-control study, 31 new cases of MS patients and 60 healthy subjects were selected with similar demographic criteria such as sex, age and location. Antibodies titer (IgM and IgG) against HHV-6 were examined by ELISA and Immunofluorescence methods. Data were analyzed using Logistic regression and Odds ratio. Results: Data indicates that 74.2% of case group and 34.2% of control group were identified as positive for IgM against HHV-6. The difference between the two groups in terms of IgM against HHV-6 was statistically significant (p=0.001). Incidence of IgM positivity against HHV-6 was increased more than five times in MS patients compared to control group. Also there was a statistically significant difference between case and control groups in IgG titer (p=0.019). Conclusion: Acute infection of HHV-6 is a risk factor for MS.

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Background: Tension headaches are the most basic reasons for referring to physicians throughout the world. Iron anemia, on the other hand, is the most common type of anemia among women who are in productive age in the world. This study was done to investigate the relationship between vascular headaches and iron anemia and to see the effect of iron tablets administration on the treatment of these headaches in women who are in productive age. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-control study, 50 women in reproductive age who had iron anemia and vascular headaches, referring to the neurologic clinic of Vali-asr Hospital in Arak, were selected and treated with ferrous sulfate tablets for three months. For verifying the treatment, patients' hemoglobin was monitored after one month, and in case of any significant increases in this value, the patients discontinued participating in the study. The number of headache attacks and the number of analgesics used before, through and three months after beginning the administration of ferrous sulfate were noted for all of the patients. Results: The mean number of the headache attacks one month before treatment, during the treatment and three month after the treatment were 19.6±28 , 14.2±11.2 , 13.3±11.8, respectively (p=0.0001) . In addition, the mean number of used analgesics before the treatment, through the treatment and three month after the treatment were 30.1±14.1, 14.3±11.2, 13.1±16.1, respectively (p=0.0001). Conclusion: It seems that using iron tablets can be useful in treatment of vascular headaches.

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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) of unknown etiology. Vitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) has strong immune modulating potential. Nitric Oxide (NO) has been identified as one of the most destructive products of the immune system and is an important factor in demyelination. The effect of short-term vitamin D3 supplementation on NO level was assessed in MS patients. Materials and Methods: The study included 60 MS patients (male and female). Patients were randomized independently, in a double blind design, into one of two treatment groups. Controls (n=30) received current treatment. Vitamin D treated (n=30) individuals received current treatment plus 300000 IU vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 injection was repeated monthly for 6 months. Nitric oxide (NO) production was estimated by Griess reaction. Results: NO levels decreased following vitamin D3 treatment but the differences did not reach significance (12.411.1 μmol/L to 9.88.9 μmol/L). Control group was also associated with an increase in NO levels but not statistically significant (18.417.07 μmol/L to 22.0716.8 μmol/L). Conclusion: Vitamin D3 has not significant effect on the level of nitric oxide. However, further studies should be done to evaluate the potential of vitamin D as an immune modulator in management of MS.

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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease which demyelinates the central nervous system. Vitamin D, is a potential environmental factor which influences this disease. The majority of the biological activities of the polymorphism forms of vitamin D are done through its receptor gene (VDRG). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between BsmI polymorphisms in VDRG and the incidence of MS. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, the BsmI polymorphism in the VDRG was studied in 80 Iranian MS patients and 50 healthy controls of the same genetic background and age through polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method Results: There was a significant difference in the frequency of BsmI VDRG polymorphism genotypes between MS patients and controls (P=0.023). Conclusion: This study indicated that the VDRG BsmI polymorphism is associated with MS in this population.