BackgroundIn recent times the basic understanding, perceptions and CAM use among undergraduate health sciences students have become a topic of interest. This study was aimed to investigate the understanding, perceptions and self-use of CAM among pharmacy students in Malaysia.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 systematically sampled pharmacy students from two private and one public university. A validated, self-administered questionnaire comprised of seven sections was used to gather the data. A systematic sampling was applied to recruit the students. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied using SPSS® version 18.ResultsOverall, the students tend to disagree that complementary therapies (CM) are a threat to public health (mean score = 3.6) and agreed that CMs include ideas and methods from which conventional medicine could benefit (mean score = 4.7). More than half (57.8%) of the participants were currently using CAM while 77.6% had used it previously. Among the current CAM modalities used by the students, CM (21.9%) was found to be the most frequently used CAM followed by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (21%). Most of the students (74.8%) believed that lack of scientific evidence is one of the most important barriers obstructing them to use CAM. More than half of the students perceived TCM (62.8%) and music therapy (53.8%) to be effective. Majority of them (69.3%) asserted that CAM knowledge is necessary to be a well-rounded professional.ConclusionsThis study reveals a high-percentage of pharmacy students who were using or had previously used at least one type of CAM. Students of higher professional years tend to agree that CMs include ideas and methods from which conventional medicine could benefit.

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Early optimal management of biliary perforations remarkably improved the very high mortality and morbidity that characterised this condition in the past.

Background and objectivesUremic pruritus is a recurrent and delicate manifestation in patients suffering from end-stage renal disease. It is a consequence of multiple factors, primarily comprising of metabolic factors and complement activation along with interleukins. The objective of our study was to find out the associated factors of uremic pruritus in chronic hemodialysis patients. The secondary aim was to obtain cut-off values of all the markers predicting pruritus. Materials and methodsA cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the nephrology department of a tertiary care hospital including 135 patients. The current occurrence of pruritus was diagnosed on the basis of a validated and reliable scale of pruritus among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in the local language. Multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analysis were conducted to decipher the required objectives. ResultsStudy participants had a mean age of 56.29 ± 10.51 years with 56.3% males and 43.7% females. Hypertension was frequent comorbidity (75.6%) followed by diabetes (51.9%). Mean body mass index (BMI), duration of CKD diagnosis, and hemodialysis onset were 26.55 ± 5.37 kg/m 2 , 6.58 ± 3.65 years, and 3.32 ± 2.09 years respectively. Pruritus was reported in 37.0% of the study participants. On multivariate logistic regression, presence of skin allergy (aOR: 8.100 [2.926-22.420], p<0.001), phosphate >4.5 mg/dL .532], p=0.033), female gender (aOR: 3.592 [1.337-9.655], p=0.011), albumin <3.5 g/dL (aOR: 2.987 [1.156-7.716], p=0.024) and potassium >5.1 mEq/L (aOR: 2.934 [1.030-8.355], p=0.044) were found significantly associated with pruritus. ConclusionMany factors were linked to pruritus in hemodialysis patients in the current study. The current study also significantly correlated certain factors with pruritus independently.

Cystic hygroma is the cystic variety of lymphangiomas. Its common site is cervico-facial region, followed by axilla, superior mediastinum, mesentery and retroperitoneal region. Its occurrence in upper extremity is rarely reported, whereas its location at sternum has not been reported before. We report two cases of cystic hygroma occurring at unusual sites.

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Background: Thyroid disorders (hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism) are a widespread thyroid problem, but there are no reports on the incidence and prevalence of thyroid disorders in this part of Western Uttar Pradesh of India.