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The study was conducted to ensure knowledge, attitude, awareness about breast and cervical cancer among the female students of Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University. This study was carried out from July to September, 2015 among the participants of university female halls, different female hostels and different faculty of the university by using a validated questionnaire which was developed for this study. A total 250 female students, at the age of (18 -26) years were participated. Collected information was analyzed using SPSS, Graph-pad Prism and MS Excel. The results showed that about 87.6% participants were undergraduate. Most of them come from village (45.6%) and city (36.0%). About 90% were Muslims and the socioeconomic level of most of the participants was middle (90.4%). In case of food intake patterns, it was observed that 35.6% participants eat chips, soft drinks, popcorn everyday; 40.4% eat meat regularly; 24% eat sugar everyday; 27.6% eat fruits and vegetables every day. Among them, 55.6% girls maintained daily 1 hour physical activity; 37.2% did exercise rarely; 34.8% participants rarely do strenuous exercise. About 84.4% respondents have not any family history of cancer; 6% participants have sister or mother having breast tumor and 7.2% have at least more than one close relative who have cancer. Among the participants, only 0.8% drank alcohol; 1.2% have addiction of smoking cigarette; 15.6% girls wear tight bra; 3.6% have benign breast disease and 2.8% participants have attended in breast or cervical cancer screening programs. The 50moderate numbers of girls have breast cancer screening practice. Among them, only 28.8% participants have ever heard about BSE (Breast self-examination) and 40.4% have not any knowledge about breast cancer treatment. About 50.8% respondents don't have any knowledge about cervical cancer treatment. The village people are the most risky group. About 17.02% girls recognized weakened immune system as a risk factor of cervical cancer. It can be concluded that, knowledge of participants regarding breast and cervical cancer is poor. Targeted education should be implemented to improve the knowledge of respondents about early detection methods and symptoms of breast and cervical cancer.

Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench, commonly known as okra, is one of the most widely used vegetable crops currently used for diabetes treatment as well. It is thought that the large amount of soluble dietary fibers present in okra is responsible for the slowing of the absorption of glucose from the gut. However, its role in concomitant administration with commonly prescribed medications, including metformin (MET) and acarbose (ACR) for diabetes, is unclear. Therefore, this study assessed the effect of A. esculentus pod extract (AEE) administered concomitantly with MET and ACR in the glucose-induced hyperglycemic mice model. The AEE was prepared using green okra pods. In this experiment, each male Swiss Webster mouse was administered a 2.5 gm/kg/BW dose of glucose via gastric lavage to induce hyperglycemia. The experimental animals were divided into five groups: (i) negative control, (ii) positive control, (iii) MET only, (iv) MET and ACR, and (v) MET, ACR, and AEE. The orally administered doses of the MET, ACR, and the extract were 150 mg/kg/BW, 15 mg/kg/BW, and 0.2 mL/kg/BW, respectively. We found that MET only and a combination of MET and ACR reduced glucose levels significantly (p < 0.01) compared to the positive control. On the other hand, when MET, ACR, and AEE were administered simultaneously, the synergistic antihyperglycemic action of the MET and ACR was diminished. After 150 min, the blood glucose level was 4.50 ± 0.189 mmol/L (iv) and 6.58 ± 0.172 mmol/L (v). This study suggests that taking AEE concurrently with MET and ACR would reduce the effectiveness of antidiabetic drugs; thereby, concomitant administration of these antidiabetic agents is not recommended. This study provides an essential basis for decision-making about the consumption of AEE with conventional medicine. Further study is required to find the molecular insight of drug interactions in combination therapy of medicinal plants for diabetes.

Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) is one of the major causes of maternal and neonatal morbidity, mortality and premature birth. 99% of the maternal deaths is occurring in developing countries like Bangladesh. Almost 12% of the maternal deaths is associated with hypertensive disorders such as PIH in pregnancy. It can be prevented by proper knowledge, awareness of the disease and its complications. We investigated the knowledge, awareness of PIH and its related factors during pregnancy among the pregnant women in Tangail, Bangladesh.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study among 200 pregnant women in between March 2021 to June 2021 was conducted by using a questionnaire at Sheikh Hasina Medical College Hospital (SHMC) of Tangail district, Bangladesh. Factors associated with the knowledge and awareness of PIH were investigated separately using Chi square test.Results: In this study, 92.5% of the pregnant women had heard about PIH and 10.5% pregnant women had PIH. Age group 30-35, >35 and post graduate respondents were more knowledgeable and aware than others about PIH and urban respondents were highly knowledgeable and aware to PIH compare to rural respondents. The age of the respondents, area of residence, educations, occupations, socioeconomic status were found to be significantly associated with PIH knowledge and awareness.Conclusions: The study result showed that there is need to increase public knowledge and awareness about PIH. Health educational programs throughout the rural and urban areas need to be intensified to reduce PIH-related deaths among the pregnant women in Bangladesh.

Background: Asthmatic respiratory complications appear to be a notable public health consequence and associated with mortality, morbidity and economic burden worldwide. Globally several epidemiological studies have been conducted to assess the prevalence of asthmatic respiratory complications. As far our knowledge very few population based study have been conducted in Bangladesh to assess the magnitude of asthmatic respiratory complications focusing the rural community. Therefore the study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of asthma and related respiratory complications in the rural community of Tangail area in Bangladesh.Methods: This human population based cross-sectional survey study was conducted during the period of August to December 2016 on some villagers of Tangail area in Bangladesh using a pre-standardized questionnaires called "IUATLD -1984 bronchial symptoms questionnaires", designed by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (IUATLD). The demographic data of the study subjects were collected by interviewing the subjects and the data were analyzed using SPSS software.Results: The results demonstrated that a substantial proportion of study subjects showed the main characteristic symptoms of asthma i.e., wheeze last 12 months is about 18.27%, shortness of breath (SOB) without strenuous work were 21.84%, nocturnal SOB 14.70%, morning cough 13.26%, nocturnal cough 17.25% and morning phlegm 10.37%. Overall 9.69% of the subjects were found to be asthmatic. Female study subjects showed more asthmatic complications than male subjects and in the higher aged group asthmatic symptoms were more prevalent.Conclusions: Among the study subjects, asthmatic complications were found to be substantial. Further clinical study is necessary to confirm the findings.

Background: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is a major public health problem throughout the world. In Bangladesh, the reliable data concerning various aspects of CVD is inadequate at present due to lack of national population-based surveys or central administrative health data. Given the rising incidence of CVDs in Bangladesh, an improved understanding of the CVD, symptoms and risk factors is needed. Hence, this study was performed to assess the level of knowledge towards CVD types, warning symptoms of heart attack or stroke, and CVD risk factors.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted from May 2018 to June 2018 using standard questionnaire on a sample of 350 randomly selected Bangladeshi individuals. All the data of the study were input in SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 20.0 software from IBM for windows and the gathered data thus analyzed using SPSS & Microsoft Excel.Results: The respondents’ knowledge about types of CVD, symptom heart attack, symptom of stroke and the risk factors of CVD are 38.9%, 67.7%, 35.7%, and 92.9% respectively. The most common risk factors of CVD found to be known by around than two-third of respondents were unhealthy diet (66.9%), physical inactivity (64.3), obesity (61.4%), and smoking (58.6%).Conclusions: The respondents’ knowledge about types of CVD, symptom heart attack, symptom of stroke and the risk factors of CVD are 38.9%, 67.7%, 35.7%, and 92.9% respectively. The most common risk factors of CVD found to be known by around than two-third of respondents were unhealthy diet (66.9%), physical inactivity (64.3), obesity (61.4%), and smoking (58.6%).

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Background Atherosclerosis is arteries’ thickening and stiffening condition manifested due to plaque formation by oxidized-LDL of abundant and deranged lipid metabolism. Traditionally, Melastoma malabathricum Linn (MM) leaves are used for anti-diabetics, abdominal problems, and high blood pressure. The current experiment unveils the potency of ethanol, acetone, and water MM extracts as antibacterial agents and alternative medicine during hyperlipidemic conditions. Methods A high cholesterol diet (HCD-2500 mg/kg) was provided with regular feeds for 3 weeks to induce hyperlipidemic mice. Afterward, comparing weight with Group-A (normal control), the hyperlipidemic mice were classified into five groups: Group-B (hyperlipidemic control), Group-C (MFA-500 mg/kg), Group-D (MSE-250 mg/kg), Group-E (MSE-500 mg/kg), and Group-F (ATOVAT-20 mg/kg). And the dosages were given orally for 28 days according to their body weight. Fasting blood was collected at the end of treatment, and serum was taken to test lipid profiling and liver enzymes. Results The body mass had waxed significantly (P < 0.001) in all the groups compared with Group-A. Subsequently, orally administered different doses where group-D and group-E demonstrated magnificent anti-hyperlipidemic potency (P < 0.001) compared with group-B. During treatment, rapid upward body mass was tardy in group-E (P < 0.001). However, the liver enzyme expression such as AST, ALT, and ALP was elevated (P < 0.001) in Group-F, they were significantly lessened (P < 0.001, P < 0.01) in Groups-C, D, and E, which indicates these extracts have significant anti-liver damaging potency. Alongside the antibacterial activity of MSE-1500 μg/disc, it exhibited the greatest (16.50 mm) zone of inhibition against Shigella dysenteriae. Conclusion However, in our current experiment, depending on the derived data, we can elicit that the Melastoma malabathricum shoot ethanolic (MSE) extract is a potential resource for developing alternative medicine to manage the hyperlipidemic condition.