Background: World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension (WHO/ISH) charts have been employed to predict the risk of cardiovascular outcome in heterogeneous settings. The aim of this research is to assess the prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk factors and to estimate the cardiovascular risk among adults aged >40 years, utilizing the risk charts alone, and by the addition of other parameters. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in two of the villages availing health services of a medical college. Overall 570 subjects completed the assessment. The desired information was obtained using a pretested questionnaire and participants were also subjected to anthropometric measurements and laboratory investigations. The WHO/ISH risk prediction charts for the South-East Asian region was used to assess the cardiovascular risk among the study participants. Results: The study covered 570 adults aged above 40 years. The mean age of the subjects was 54.2 (±11.1) years and 53.3% subjects were women. Seventeen percent of the participants had moderate to high risk for the occurrence of cardiovascular events by using WHO/ISH risk prediction charts. In addition, CVD risk factors like smoking, alcohol, low High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were found in 32%, 53%, 56.3%, and 61.5% study participants, respectively. Conclusion: Categorizing people as low (<10%)/moderate (10%-20%)/high (>20%) risk is one of the crucial steps to mitigate the magnitude of cardiovascular fatal/non-fatal outcome. This cross-sectional study indicates that there is a high burden of CVD risk in the rural Pondicherry as assessed by WHO/ISH risk prediction charts. Use of WHO/ISH charts is easy and inexpensive screening tool in predicting the cardiovascular event.

a b s t r a c tBackground: Diabetes mellitus and hypertension (HT) are common diseases in adulthood, pre-disposing to many cardiovascular complications, posing a major public health challenge. Few studies have reported increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors and type 2 diabetes in policemen. Hence, this study aims to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, HT, smoking, alcohol intake, and obesity among policemen. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2008e2009 among 256 policemen in Puducherry, South India. Policemen were selected by simple random sampling. Socio-demographic details and some of the risk factors such as alcohol intake and smoking history were obtained using a pretested, structured questionnaire. Presence of stress was measured using the professional life stress score questionnaire. Blood pressure, waist circumference, and hip circumference were measured by standard methods. Fasting blood sugar was estimated using a glucometer. Serum cholesterol was also measured. Lipid profile was measured for a randomly chosen subgroup of 50 participants. Results: Mean age of study participants was 40.9 years (SD AE 10.9). Out of the study subjects, 23% (n ¼ 60) were known diabetic and 16.8% (n ¼ 43) were known hypertensive. Prevalence of diabetes among study participants was 33.6% (CI: 27.8%e39.6%). Prevalence of HT among study participants was 30.5% (CI: 24.9%e36.5%). Seventy percent (n ¼ 178) had at least moderate range of stress in their life related to their profession and 4% (n ¼ 11) had stress as a "problem" in their life. Conclusions: Burden of cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes and HT was high among police personnel of Puducherry.

Most of the participants in the settings had the awareness of hazards of plastic bag usage. However, there is a need for spreading the awareness of using alternative strategies and effective implementation of legislation in order to minimize the usage of plastics in the community.

T2DM incidence was 2% per year in adults in rural Pondicherry, India, with the rate increasing twice as fast in men. Increasing age, obesity, alcohol use and a family history of T2DM independently predicted the development of diabetes. As half of T2DM incidence was attributed to overweight/obesity and alcohol use, health promotion interventions focusing on maintaining an optimal weight and decreasing alcohol consumption may be effective in reducing the rise in T2DM cases.

Objectives:Depression is a mental disorder, affecting the quality of life. Our study explores the efficacy of Pranic Healing (PH), as an adjuvant therapy in treating depressionMethods:In this randomised double-blind controlled trial, 52 participants with a mean age of 34.4 years, with mild to moderate depression were assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating (HAM-D) scale during the 5-week study. Both Medication + PH (MedPH) and Medication + Mock PH (MedMockPH) groups comprising 26 members received Pranic and mock healing lasting 20 minutes per session respectively once a week for 4 weeks, along with the antidepressant drug.Results:The average decrease in HAM-D score in MedPH was median 11 (Interquartile Range (IQR) 7–12) and was significantly higher compared with the MedMockPH group median 6.5 (IQR 3–9). At pre-assessment, both groups had 8 cases of mild and 18 cases of moderate depression. At post-assessment, HAM-D showed that the improvement in depression category was seen in 69.2% of participants in the MedMockPH group and 100% in MedPH group.Conclusions:These results give first the evidence that PH can aid as an adjuvant therapy for depressed people.

Background: Helmet use reduces the risk and severity of head injury and death due to road traffic crash among motorcyclists. The protective efficacy of different types of helmets varies. Wearing firmly fastened full-face helmet termed as effective helmet use provides greatest protection. This study estimates the prevalence and factors associated with effective helmet use among motorcyclists in Mysuru, a tier II city in Southern India. Methods: Cross-sectional road side observational study of 3499 motorcyclists (2134 motorcycle riders and 1365 pillion riders) at four traffic intersections was done followed by interview of random sample of 129 of the above riders. Effective helmet use proportion and effective helmet use per 100 person-minute of observation was calculated. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with effective helmet use. Results: Prevalence of effective helmet use was 28 per 100 riders and 19.5 per 100 person-minute of observation in traffic intersections. Prevalence rates of effective helmet use was higher among riders (34.5% vs pillion riders 18.1%), female riders (51.3% vs male riders 26.8%), and male pillion riders (30.5% vs female pillion riders 13.7%). Riders commuting for work and school and those ever stopped by the police in the past 3 months had significantly higher odds of effective helmet use. Conclusion: Despite helmet use being compulsory by law for motorcyclists, the effective helmet use was low in Mysore. Strict enforcement and frequent checks by the police are necessary to increase the effective helmet use.

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Background:The flexible fibreoptic bronchoscope and bonfils rigid intubation endoscope are being widely used for difficult intubations.Methods:The haemodynamic response to intubation under general anaesthesia was studied in 60 adult female patients who were intubated using either flexible fibreoptic bronchoscope or bonfils rigid intubation endoscope (30 in each group). Non-invasive blood pressure and heart rate (HR) was recorded before induction of anaesthesia, immediately after induction, at the time of intubation and, thereafter, every minute for the next 5 min. The product of HR and systolic blood pressure (rate pressure product) at every point of time was also calculated.Statistical Analyses:Graph pad prism, 5.0 statistical software, independent t test and repeated measure ANOVA test were used.Results:Both bonfils rigid intubation endoscope and flexible fibreoptic bronchoscope required a similar time (less than 1 min) for orotracheal intubation. After intubation, there was a significant increase in HR, blood pressure and rate pressure product (P<0.001) in both the groups compared with the baseline and post-induction values. There was no significant difference in HR, blood pressure and rate pressure product at any of the measuring points or in their maximum values during observation between the two groups. The time required for recovery of systolic blood pressure and HR to post-induction value (±10%) was not significantly different between the two groups (more than 2 min).Conclusion:In female adults under general anaesthesia, bonfils rigid intubation endoscope and flexible fibreoptic bronchoscope require a similar time for successful orotracheal intubation and cause a similar magnitude of haemodynamic response.