Background: Anaemia is a global public health problem. Adolescents are vulnerable to iron deficiency because of increased iron requirements related to rapid growth. Considerable changes in growth pattern, lifestyle, dietary habits, and behavior are likely to influence the haemoglobin levels among adolescents belonging to high-income group. Aims & Objective: The objective of the study was to determine haemoglobin status and body mass index (BMI) in adolescents and study the correlation between them. Materials and Methods: Three hundred medical students of Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (SGRDIMSAR, Amritsar, Punjab, India) belonging to both the sexes were studied after taking consent on format for anthropometric parameters using standard protocol. BMI of ≥18.5 kg/m 2 was used to define undernutrition status. Haemoglobin level was estimated in g%. Statistical analyses were carried out using mean and standard deviation; Student's t-test was used for measuring the effect of gender on correlation of Anaemia with BMI. Results: In our study, 86 (45.7%) girl students were found to have Anaemia (Hb <12 g%) with only 2 (1.7%) boys had haemoglobin levels <12 g%; 67 (60%) boys were overweight whereas 34 (18%) girls showed undernutrition. A positive correlation of haemoglobin with grades of BMI was found in both in boys and girls; however, none of the correlation showed significance to the levels of <0.05. Conclusion: Nutritional Anaemia and undernutrition prevailed more among girl students rather than boys in spite of being literate and having healthy nutritive diet. We recommend that adolescents be screened periodically for Anaemia, and multisectorial community-based approach should be adopted to combat this serious public health issue.

No abstract

Background: Blood group plays a vital role in the field of transfusion medicine. The relationship between bleeding time, clotting time, and blood group is important in certain clinical conditions such as epistaxis, surgery, and thrombosis. Researchers have shown that epistaxis is more often encountered in patients having blood group O probably due to lower expression of von Willebrand factor, and elevated levels are a risk factor for thrombosis. Thus, earlier studies found prolonged bleeding and clotting time in individuals with O blood group. Aims and Objectives: The objective of the study was to assess the relationship between bleeding time and clotting time among various blood groups and to identify any gender difference among the same. Materials and Methods: Our study included 150 MBBS students in the age group of 17-20 years. The blood grouping was carried out with the standard antisera, and bleeding time and clotting time were estimated by Duke method and capillary tube method respectively. Finally, bleeding time and clotting time of different blood groups were compared and statistical analysis was carried out. Results: Blood group B (40.7%) was the most common blood group in both genders followed by O (27.3%), A (20.7%), and AB (11.3%). Bleeding time was found to be prolonged 44 min in maximum number of group O (22%) followed by group B (18%), group AB (5.9%), and group A (3.2%) but the difference was statistically insignificant (p = 0.509). Similarly clotting time was 46 min in group B (14.8%) followed by group O (14.6%), group AB (11.76%), and group A (9.7%) but the difference was statistically insignificant (p = 0.885). Gender-wise bleeding time was more prolonged in females (15.7%) than males (13.1%) but the difference was statistically insignificant (p = 0.236), similarly clotting time too was prolonged more in females (16.9%) than males (9.8%) but again the difference was statistically insignificant (p = 0.662). Conclusions: In our study, blood group B predominated followed by O, A, and AB. Bleeding time was prolonged 44 min in blood group O followed by B, AB, and A whereas clotting time was prolonged 46 min in blood group B followed by O, AB, and A. Gender-wise bleeding and clotting time were higher in females than males.

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Though fractionated CO₂ laser technology resurface patients with a lower rate of complications than non-fractionated ablative laser treatment, adverse effects can still occur even with the best technology.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> In this retrospective study we evaluated 65 patients for early and delayed complications after laser treatment with Sellas Cis-Fl™ fractional CO₂ laser system of wavelength 106400 nm for various aesthetic indications over the period of 12 months from October 2017 to September 2018<strong>. </strong>Follow up was done for the period of 2 months after the last session to determine the nature and frequency of various complications. Patient’s subjective assessment of the complications was recorded in the form of patient subjective score (PSS) which ranged from 1 to 10.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> In the current study, the most common aesthetic indication for fractional CO₂ laser was post acne scarring (38.4%). The most common early side effects reported were erythema (95.38%) and burning sensation (92.30%) after the procedure. Post procedural dryness and edema was seen in 72.3% and 69.23% patients. Among the delayed complications most frequently observed was persistent erythema (46.15%) followed by post inflammatory hyperpigmentation (44.61%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Though fractional CO₂ laser is relatively a safe procedure, undesirable sequelae may still occur as a result of inappropriate selection of laser parameter, injudicious patient selection, inadequate preoperative counselling and suboptimal postoperative care. Dermatologist should keep the possibility of all the side effects that can occur after fractional CO₂ laser and must take appropriate precautions during the procedure to avoid them.</p>

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Psoriasis is a well-recognized chronic inflammatory papulosquamous disorder characterized by the formation of salmon colored papules and plaques with silvery white scales. The aim of this study was to do a comparative evaluation of the parameters of oxidative stress, namely glutathione peroxidase, malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase in patients of psoriasis with normal healthy subjects</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> 60 subjects in the age group of 30-70 years were included in the study; Group A consisted of 30 newly diagnosed psoriasis patients presenting to the Dermatology OPD and Group B consisted of 30 normal healthy individuals. Thorough history taking and clinical examination were done. The punch biopsy was performed for histopathological examination and markers of oxidative stress were measured in each case and these values were then compared to healthy controls and statistical analysis was performed.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> On comparison of the two groups, the levels of anti-oxidants superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were found to be decreased in psoriasis patients (168.46±51.89 U/ml and 4121.63±1812.53 U/ml respectively) as compared to controls (237±39.30 U/ml and 8435±1397.54 U/ml respectively) which was statistically highly significant (p &lt;0.001) and the level of pro-oxidant malondialdehyde was found to be increased in patients of psoriasis (0.42±0.13 nmol/ml) in contrast to controls (0.08±0.06 nmol/ml)which was also statistically highly significant (p &lt;0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Keeping in consideration the increased oxidative stress in the patients of psoriasis, the anti-oxidant drugs can form an important part of the therapeutic ladder of psoriasis. </p>

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Dermatomycoses affect the outer layers of the skin, nails and hair without tissue invasion and are often caused by dermatophytic molds, candida &amp; non dermatophytic molds. Although not dangerous, they are important as a public health problem particularly in the immunocompromised. There are limited studies on the efficacy of antifungal agents against dermatophytes in North India.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This study was conducted to test the efficacy of 5 systemic antifungal agents viz. voriconazole, itraconazole, terbinafine, fluconazole &amp; griseofulvin using Microbroth dilution technique.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Three different species of dermatophytes which were isolated from the clinically suspected cases were <em>Trichophyton mentagrophytes</em>, <em>T. rubrum</em> and <em>M. gypseum</em>. According to the obtained results, Itraconazole and Voriconazole showed the lowest MIC range while Fluconazole and Griseofulvin had the highest MIC range for most fungi tested.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Despite several treatment options being available for cutaneous fungal infections, due to an inappropriate response, there is an increasing need for determining an antifungal susceptibility profile for specific fungal strains. This will enable the clinician to select an appropriate antifungal agent with minimal side effects to avoid antifungal resistance and treatment failure.</p>

No abstract

No abstract