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Background: There is a definite paucity of Indian studies looking into the caregiver burden, psychological well-being, and the interface between them. Objectives: This work aims to study the correlation between these variables. Materials and Methods: The study sample included 100 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and their caregivers, randomly selected from the patients admitted in the male and female wards of psychiatric center, Jodhpur, as per inclusion and exclusion criteria. Burden Assessment Schedule and Psychological General Well-Being Index were used for the study. Results: Eighty percent of the caregivers experienced moderate levels of burden. The burden was higher among older (r = 0.334) caregivers and spouse (p o 0.0001). Psychological well-being was low in older caregivers (r =-0.44) and those with lower educational status, and higher in the siblings (p = 0.002). A strong negative correlation was found between burden and psychological well-being (r =-0.81). Conclusion: Quality of care given to the individuals with schizophrenia depends on their primary caregiver. It thus becomes essential to plan interventions that would reduce their burden of care and thus improve their psychological well-being.

Background and Aims: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a long standing debilitating medical condition. CKD patients who are undergoing hemodialysis commonly experience depressive and anxiety symptoms because of various physical and psychosocial factors. The present study aimed to assess psychiatric morbidities i.e., depression and/or anxiety in patients with CKD undergoing hemodialysis. The objective of study was to evaluate depressive and anxiety disorders and their relation to socio-demographic factors in patients with CKD. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Nephrology department of a tertiary care institution on 100 CKD patients undergoing hemodialysis; who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Diagnosis of depression and anxiety disorder was made as per WHO (ICD-10) criteria. Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) was applied to study severity of the disorders. Data collected was subjected to suitable statistical analysis (mean, standard deviation and Chi-square test). Results: Majority (54 percent) of the CKD patients belonged to age group of 41 to 60 years, were Hindus, married and had low monthly income. The prevalence of depressive disorder and anxiety disorder among CKD patients was around 66% and 61%, respectively. Depression and anxiety were significantly associated with gender, occupation, income and duration of haemodialysis in these patients. Conclusion: Depression and anxiety are highly prevalent in CKD patients and have varying relations with different socio-demographic characteristics of patients. Clinicians should focus on these morbidities while managing such patients and provide holistic treatment using multidisciplinary approaches to improve the overall quality of life.

l-arginine, being a natural precursor of nitric oxide, is one of the more commonly used adjuvants to regular medicines in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Objectives: Here, in this review article, we aim to highlight various studies and the research studies done on l-arginine in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Method: Reviewing the databases such as Medline (PubMed), Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica dataBASE, Trip, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, and the British Nursing Index. Results: l-arginine has been studied alone as well as in combination with various other molecules for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, but the studies are very limited in number and have very small sample sizes. Conclusion: Positive evidence is available for the efficacy of l-arginine and its various combinations. Further research with larger sample sizes and standardized tools are required to recommend the routine use of these products in erectile dysfunction.

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