Background: β-thalassemia major is a secondary iron load state. The high serum ferritin accounts for abnormal lipid profile. This study was done to investigate the lipid profile in children with β-thalassemia major and to know their correlation with serum ferritin.Methods: Fifty-five (55) children of beta thalassemia major in the age group of 4-20 years from thalassemia unit of tertiary care hospital who were on regular blood transfusion and oral iron chelators were enrolled. Serum ferritin levels and lipid profile of these children were investigated and their correlation was assessed. Results: Out of total 55 children 31 (56.4%) children were of female sex and 48(87.3%) were Hindu by religion. The mean rate of blood transfusion was 157.02±21.33 ml/kg/year with average dose and duration of iron chelation with Desferroxamine was 34.4±26.86 mg/kg /day and 2.34±1.86 years respectively. Mean cholesterol level, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels were on lower side of the range with values of 124.47±19.81 mg/dl, 36.58±12.22 mg/dl, 63.94±4.57 mg/dl respectively. The mean triglyceride level (TG) was on higher side with an average of 142.93±33.7 mg/dl. The average serum ferritin levels were 2130.33±859.85 ng/ml. There was negative correlation of total cholesterol, HDL, LDL with serum ferritin with coefficient of correlation (r= -0.77, -0.55, -0.72) respectively. The serum triglyceride had positive correlation with serum ferritin with coefficient of correlation(r=+0.85).Conclusions: As the serum ferritin increases, there occurs more derangement of lipid profile in form of decreasing serum cholesterol, HDL, LDL and increasing serum TG levels.
Background: Malnutrition is one of the most common global health problem. It produces notable morphological changes in the brains which damage the intellectual potential and leads to reduced brain size, inferred from measurements of head circumference(HC). Aim is to study the impact of malnutrition on head size and development quotient(DQ) in children suffering with malnutrition.Methods: It is a hospital based study on 120 children including 100 moderates to severely malnourished children and 20 healthy controls aged 6-60 months admitted in malnutrition treatment center. Statistical analysis of head circumference and development quotient was done with severity of malnutrition and with each other.Results: Out of 120 children, 80 were severely malnourished (SAM) and 20 were moderately malnourished (MAM) and 20 age and sex matched controls were taken. Mean age was 19.00±8.54 months. 36.25% of severely malnourished, 5% of moderately malnourished children and none in control had microcephaly (HC<-3SD). Mean DQ was 57.46±14.98, 78.35±6.60 and 94.45±3.96 in SAM, MAM and control children respectively. Statistically significant association was found for head circumference and development quotient with severity of malnutrition and with each other.Conclusions: SAM adversely affects the developing brain of children as evidenced in our study by reduced head size and low DQ scores in children suffering from malnutrition. As seen in this study, prevalence of microcephaly and lower DQ scores increases with severity of malnutrition. Therefore, the study emphasizes the importance of early and timely intervention in such children before the severity of malnutrition increases to an extent of irreversible effects on brain and development.
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