PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND EVALUATION OF ANTIDIARRHOEAL ACTIVITY OF BUNIUM BULBOCASTANUM SEEDS EXTRACT IN EXPERIMENTAL WISTAR RATS

Objective: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the antidiarrheal activity of Bunim bulbocastanum seeds extracts, to exploit the medicinal use of plant in the traditional system of medicine scientifically. Methods: The adult Wistar albino rats were divided in four groups, i.e. Group M1 (control group) receiving normal saline, group M2 (test group 1) receiving the 250 mg/kg Bunium bulbocastanum extract, group M2 (test group 2) receiving the 500 mg/kg Bunium bulbocastanum extract and group M4 (reference) receiving 3 mg/kg P. O Loperamide. Each group of mice with a bodyweight of 1 ml/100 g received castor oil. Mice were sacrificed and the distance traveled by the charcoal meal and the total length of the intestine was then measured. The peristaltic index and percentage of inhibition were calculated by using the formula. Results: It was found that in the castor oil-induced intestinal transit method extract produced a significant (p<0.0001) dose-dependent reduction in the distance traveled by charcoal meal comparable to the control peak effect was at the dose of 500 mg/kg (PI=12.06±3.38). Likewise, in the diarrheal dropping test, Bunium bulbocastanum extract causes a significant (p<0.05) dose-dependent reduction in the number of wet feces i.e. the mean wet of feces was decreased from 2.3±0.44 gm to 1.28±0.36 gm i.e. significantly different from that elicited by control (0.80±0.17 gm) (p=0.0081). However, there were no significant differences in inhibition at a dose of 250 mg/kg of extract. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the crude methanol extract from B. bulbocastanum seeds possesses significant antidiarrheal property and the presence of various secondary metabolites. This justified the antidiarrheal use of plant in the traditional system of medicine

Violence against Women Living with HIV: A Cross Sectional Study in Nepal

Background: Violence against Women (VAW) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) both constitute major public health issues and there is an increasing evidence of their intersection. Data are sparse on the intersection of VAW and HIV in South Asia region. We aimed to identify different forms and magnitude of violence incurred by women living with HIV, and analyse causes and consequences. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 43 HIV positive women in three districts of Nepal, in the period of March-May 2008. Data was collected through semi-structured interview questionnaire. Results: The vast majority of the participants (93.02%) had suffered from at least one form of the violence. The prevalence of violence rose up sharply after being diagnosed with HIV positive than before (93.02% vs.53.5%). Forty-five percent of the participants reported their husbands being main perpetrator of violence. Self-humiliation and health and treatment problem were the major consequences of violence as reported by 90% and 77.5% of the participants respectively. Conclusion: Violence was observed to be highly prevalent among women living with HIV in Nepal. Further larger and nationally representative researches are imperative to better understand the cross-section between VAW and HIV. Our finding recommends to prioritizing programs on social aspects of HIV such as violence

Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers' health and well-being: a review of the literature.

Background: The health and well-being of migrant workers from low-income countries is often neglected in travel medicine. This article uses Nepal as a case study to highlight key issues affecting this particular group of international travellers. Methods: This narrative review used a comprehensive systematic literature search to identify relevant studies on Nepal. The included articles were thematically analysed leading to four key themes or risk factors. Results: The search found 18 articles from which we identified 3 key themes related directly to migrant workers: (1) sexual risk taking; (2) occupational health and (3) lifestyles, and a fourth theme related to partners and family of migrant workers who are left behind in Nepal. Of the 18 included articles, 11 articles discussed sexual risk taking and HIV, whilst considerably fewer focused on work-related risk factors and lifestyle factors in migrant workers. Conclusions: Migrant workers who are generally healthy appear to be similar to tourist travellers in regarding sexual health as a key issue related to being abroad. Risky sexual behaviour increases in individuals separated from their usual sexual partners, away from their own communities and families, leading to the so-called 'situational disinhibition'. Considering the recent media coverage of deaths and injuries among migrant workers in the Middle East, it is interesting to see that their sexual health is more prevalent in the research literature. This article argues that travel medicine should provide more emphasis to the health and well-being of migrant workers as a highly vulnerable group of travellers with additional impact on the health of those left behind

Synthesis and Self-Assembling Properties of Carbohydrate- and Diarylethene-Based Photoswitchable Molecular Gelators

Carbohydrate-based low-molecular-weight gelators are interesting new materials with many potential applications. These compounds can be designed to include multiple stimuli-responsive functional groups. In this study, we designed and synthesized several chemically responsive bola-glycolipids and dimeric carbohydrate- and diarylethene-based photoswitchable derivatives. The dimeric glycolipids formed stable gels in a variety of solvent systems. The best performing gelators in this series contained decanedioic and dithienylethene (DTE) spacers, which formed gels in eight and nine of the tested solvents, respectively. The two new DTE-containing esters possessed interesting photoswitching properties and DTE derivative 7 was found to have versatile gelation properties in many solvents, including DMSO solutions at low concentrations. The gels formed by these compounds were stable under acidic conditions and tended to hydrolyze under basic conditions. Several gels were used to absorb rhodamine B and Toluidine blue from aqueous solutions. In this study, we demonstrated the rational design of molecular gelators which incorporated photoresponsive and pH responsive functions, leading to the discovery of multiple effective stimuli-responsive gelators

Priority public health interventions and research agendas in post-earthquake Nepal

The occurrence of natural disasters including earthquake is becoming more frequent phenomena worldwide. All these disasters trigger huge damages to infrastructure, economies as well as population health. Nepal’s earthquake in 2015 has multiple effects on population health and health services delivery. Many public health facilities, mostly health posts or sub-healthposts, were damaged or completely destroyed. Priority health services such as immunization and antenatal care were also seriously affected. The earthquake has prompted the need for a disaster-related population-health-research agenda as well as renewed disaster strategy in post-earthquake Nepal. Meanwhile, it also unveiled the gap in knowledge and practice regarding earthquake resilience in Nepal. There is an opportunity for school-based and community-based interventions in both disaster preparedness and resilience. Nepal can build on experiences from other countries as well as from its own. We have discussed possible impacts of the Nepal earth- quake on population health and health system infrastructures. We have also suggested possible public health interventions bestowing active awareness among the population and a research agenda in this regard. We strongly urge for the translation of the National Health Policy (2014) into action, as it prioritizes the need of an earthquake resistant infrastructure as well as the implementation of a disaster response pla

Informed consent in health research: challenges and barriers in low-and middle-income countries with specific reference to Nepal

Obtaining 'informed consent' from every individual participant involved in health research is a mandatory ethical practice. Informed consent is a process whereby potential participants are genuinely informed about their role, risk and rights before they are enrolled in the study. Thus, ethics committees in most countries require 'informed consent form' as part of an ethics application which is reviewed before granting research ethics approval. Despite a significant increase in health research activity in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) in recent years, only limited work has been done to address ethical concerns. Most ethics committees in LMICs lack the authority and/or the capacity to monitor research in the field. This is important since not all research, particularly in LMICs region, complies with ethical principles, sometimes this is inadvertently or due to a lack of awareness of their importance in assuring proper research governance. With several examples from Nepal, this paper reflects on the steps required to obtain informed consents and highlights some of the major challenges and barriers to seeking informed consent from research participants. At the end of this paper, we also offer some recommendations around how can we can promote and implement optimal informed consent taking process. We believe that paper is useful for researchers and members of ethical review boards in highlighting key issues around informed consent

Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action

Approximately 3.5 million Nepalese are working as migrant workers in the Gulf countries, Malaysia, and India. Every year there are more than 1000 deaths and many hundreds cases of injuries among Nepalese workers in these countries excluding India. A postmortem examination of migrant workers is not carried out in most of these countries, and those with work-related injuries are often sent back to home. Uninsured migrant workers also do not have easy access to health care services in host countries due to the high medical and hospital fees. Greater efforts are needed to protect the health and well-being, labor rights, and human rights of migrant workers from Nepal and other South- Asian nations. There is a need to enforce universal labor laws in these countries and to develop accurate records of mortality and morbidity and their causes

Diabetes prevention and management in South Asia: A call for action

Background: Globally, the number of people living with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) has increased by four-folds since 1980. South Asia houses one-fifth of the world’s population living with diabetes and it was the 8th leading cause of deaths in 2013 for South Asians. Aim: To review and discuss the context of diabetes in South Asia with a particular focus on a) contributing factors and impact; b) national health policies around non-communicable diseases in the region and; c) to offer recommendations for prevention and management of diabetes. Method: We assessed relevant publications using PubMed, Scopus and OvidSP. Similarly, the World health Organization (WHO) and relevant ministries of each South Asian country were searched for reports and policy documents. Results: Emerging evidence supports that the prevalence of diabetes (ranges from 3.3% in Nepal up to 8.7% in India) in South Asia follows the global trend over the past decades. Urban populations in the region demonstrate a higher prevalence of diabetes although is also a public health concern for rural areas. Changes in the pattern and types of diet along with increasingly sedentary lifestyles are major causes for diabetes. Overall agenda of health promotion to prevent diabetes has not yet been established in the region and majority of the countries in the region are inadequately prepared for the therapeutic services for diabetes. Conclusion: The early onset of the diabetes, longevity of morbidity and early mortality may have a significant impact on people's health expenditure and health system as well as on the region's demographic composition. There is an urgent need to reduce the diabetes prevalence in the region through evidence-based interventions ranging from prevention and early detection to appropriate treatment and care. We suggest that a multi-sectorial collaboration across all stakeholders is necessary to raise awareness about diabetes, its prevention, treatment and care in the region