Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is an important cause of visual impairment. It is preventable with proper screening and treatment of diabetes. Therefore, it is necessary to assess awareness of the disease in the population and educate them. Our study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding diabetes and DR in India.Methods: We conducted a knowledge, attitude, and practice study of 1152 participants belonging to various economic backgrounds across India, using a validated questionnaire from Shri C. H. Nagri Eye Institute, Ahmedabad. We divided the study population into diabetics and non-diabetics. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20.Results: Out of 1152, 121 (10.5%) were diabetics and 1031 (89.5%) were nondiabetics. Mean age of diabetics (55.71) was higher than non-diabetics (37.55) (p<0.001). Only 34% of non-diabetics and 55% of diabetics knew about DR. There was a positive co-relation between knowledge of diabetes (r=0.262, p<0.001) and DR (r=0.096, p=0.031) with the level of education. Only 20% admitted that diabetics were at a higher risk for eye problems. A significant portion of participants (40%) said they were never counselled for DR and 54% never had a fundus examination.Conclusions: The There is a clear lack of knowledge regarding diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. An alarming percentage of patients were never told about the complications and need for regular fundus examinations. There is an urgent need to increase its awareness. A collaborative approach of general-practitioners, ophthalmologists, diabetologist as well as health-policy makers is required to provide needs-based, context-specific comprehensive diabetic care in India.
Introduction: Occupational lung illness is a significant problem among textile factory workers. Occupational cotton dust exposure has been linked to lung involvement in many epidemiological studies of cotton industry workers. The maximum oxygen intake is one of the measures used to estimate functional capacity (VO2 max) of cardiopulmonary efficiency. The integration of the ventilatory, cardiovascular and neuromuscular system is necessary for attainment of VO2 max. Aim: To assess the VO2 max among women employees in cotton textile industry and to study the correlation between VO2 max and anthropometric parameters like Body Mass Index (BMI), Body Surface Area (BSA), fat percent (fat %) and Lean Body Mass (LBM). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2021 to June 2021 at Nootan Medical College and Research Centre/Nootan General Hospital, Visnagar, Dt. Mehsana, North Gujarat, India, which included study and control group which comprised 50 female workers of cotton industry and 50 age matched females respectively (n=50 each) who had never worked in the cotton industry or been exposed to cotton dust. The labourers of cotton industry were chosen from the Mehsana district’s numerous cotton factories. Physical examinations (resting heart rate, resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and a standardised proforma were used to gather data. VO2 max and anthropometric measurements such as BMI, BSA, fat % and LBM were measured by standard procedure. The statistical analysis was done by using Student’s t-test and Pearson correlation test. The correlation between BMI, BSA, fat percent and LBM with maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) was assessed by using Karl-Pearson’s correlation with level of significance was considered statistically significant if p<0.05. Results: The mean value of VO2 max in study and control group was 35.62±0.34 mL/kg/min and 36.80±0.58 mL/kg/min respectively. It was decreased significantly (p<0.001) in study group. The r values of BMI, BSA, LBM and body fat % were 0.262, 0.132, 0.236, 0.224 respectively. In the present study correlation between BMI, BSA, LBM, body fat % with VO2 max was reported as weak positive correlation which was not statistically significant. Conclusion: VO2 max was significantly decreased in cotton industry workers compared to non exposed control subjects. More studies on the effects of cotton dust on VO2 max should be conducted in future in both genders.
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in India. Ten percent of all patients with TB have CNS involvement. Delayed diagnosis of this disease is associated with increased mortality. This study assesses the socio-demographic profile as well as outcomes in patients with various forms of CNS TB. Methods: A prospective observational study conducted at V.S. Hospital, Ahmedabad, between December-2016 and February-2018. Each patient was assessed from admission to 3- month follow up. The diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and tuberculoma was done as per the Ahuja and Rajashekhar criteria, respectively. Neurological status and functional outcome were graded based on modified Rankin score (mRS). Results: Our study had 56 patients with a mean age of 35.01±11.46 years. We observed that increasing age was associated with higher mRS (p=0.002). Fever was the most common symptom in patients with TBM (96. 15%), unlike seizures (100%) in patients with tuberculomas with or without TBM. Patients with either isolated TBM or tuberculoma had improvement in outcomes. On multivariate analysis, it was found that CN palsy (HR=0.38, p=0.003), duration of illness (HR=0.35, p=0.005) and age (HR=0.33, p=0.008) were the most significant predictor of worse outcomes. Conclusions: Identification and evaluation of focal signs like seizures and focal neurological deficits along with certain non-focal signs like headache and fever should raise high level of suspicion for TB in tropical regions at the primary care levels for early diagnosis and treatment.
Background The Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), also known as acute idiopathic polyneuritis, is a critical acquired condition associated with preceding nonspecific infection or triggering factors like trauma, surgery, or vaccination. GBS is currently the most frequent cause of acute flaccid paralysis in India. This study evaluates the short-term and in-hospital outcomes in different subtypes of GBS. Methods A prospective observational study was conducted at V.S. Hospital, Ahmedabad, from September 2015 to December 2017. Patients above the age of 12 were included. Patients having other underlying neurological conditions, as well as immunodeficiency disorders, were excluded. The patients were classified into different subtypes of GBS, and functional outcomes were recorded on admission and discharge according to Hughes Scoring System. All statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS software. Results Out of 50 patients, 35 (70%) were males. The mean age was of 37.18 +/− 18.35 years. 25 (50%) patients had a preceding infection. 88% of patients presented with cranial nerve (CN) involvement had a Hughes Score of >/= 3 (p = 0.0087). They had less improvement of Hughes Score on discharge (0.13 +/− 0.04) as compared to the patients without cranial nerve involvement (0.38 +/− 0.08) (p = 0.008). Respiratory involvement was associated with a higher Hughes Score (p = 0.005) on admission. 85% of patients diagnosed with an axonal subtype of GBS had a Hughes Score of >/= 3 (p = 0.06) compared to 74% patients with demyelinating subtype. Axonal subtype required double period (11 +/− 2.34) to show improvement as compared to demyelinating subtype (6 +/− 1.2) (p = 0.020). Irrespective of the subtypes, in two different treatment cohorts (PLEX vs IVIG), there was no difference in short term functional outcomes measured by improvement in the Hughes scores (p = 0.89). Conclusions Early cranial nerve and respiratory involvement in patients presenting with GBS are associated with poor outcomes warranting immediate critical care involvement. In our study, amongst all the subtypes, axonal had poor clinical outcomes. Further clinical trials on the Indian subpopulation will help us evaluate the impact of different treatment modalities on this disease.
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