Bone Health Management in Prostate Cancer Patients Receiving Androgen Deprivation Therapy

Purpose. Patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy undergo a rapid decline in bone mineral density during the first 6 to 12 months of initiating therapy. The World Health Organization has developed and implemented the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) to predict the ten year risk of a major fracture & hip fracture. Additionally, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the National Osteoporosis Foundation have developed osteoporosis guidelines. This study aims to characterize the fracture risk (based on the FRAX tool) and the current management of bone health based on national guidelines compliance. Methods. A retrospective chart review of patients receiving a LHRH agonist at our institution was conducted. Data collection commenced upon Institutional Review Board approval and included demographics, past medical history, medication regimen, history of androgen deprivation therapy, bone health and its management. The ten year fracture risk calculated with the collected information using the FRAX tool. Results. A total of 174 subjects included with a mean age of 65.5 years, 71.8% had stage II prostate cancer, 97.7% received the LHRH agonist leuprolide for a mean of 13.8 ± 18.1 months. In addition to ADT, 57% of patients had ≥ 2 risk factors for developing osteoporosis. The risk of sustaining a major facture increased from 4% to 5.6% after the initiation of ADT (P = \u3c0.001). The risk for sustaining a hip fracture rose from 1.3% to 2.2% (P = \u3c0.001). National guideline compliance was found to be 9%, 5% and 3% respectively for obtaining Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scans, calcium supplementation, and vitamin D supplementation. Conclusion. In addition to predisposing risk factors for osteoporosis, ADT significantly increases the fracture risk in the prostate cancer population. There is room for improvement in the management of bone health as some intervention could have been made in over 90% of patients evaluated

Enhanced thermoelectric performance in spark plasma textured bulk n-type BiTe2.7Se0.3 and p-type Bi0.5Sb 1.5Te3

Bulk p and n-type bismuth tellurides were prepared using spark plasma texturization method. The texture development along the uniaxial load in the 001 direction is confirmed from both x-ray diffraction analysis and electron backscattering diffraction measurements. Interestingly, those textured samples outperform the samples prepared by conventional spark plasma sintering (SPS) leading to a reduced thermal conductivity in the ab-plane. The textured samples of n-type BiTe2.7Se0.3 and p-type Bi0.5Sb 1.5Te3 showed a 42% and 33% enhancement in figure of merit at room temperature, respectively, as compared to their SPS counterparts, opening the route for applications. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

Participation of women in post harvest fisheries sector

Women in India are traditionally involved in agriculture, dairying, animal husbandry and fisheries. The fisheries sector makes an important contribution to the national economy with a share of 2.5% of the GDP providing food and employmen

Nutritional status and socioeconomic empowerment of fisherwomen in the coastal ecosystem of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India

This study was carried out in the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. From these states, 13 districts and 28 villages were selected. A total of 5,744 households were covered. Cereal consumption was highest in Andhra Pradesh followed by Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Pulse consumption was high in Kerala when compared to other states. The overall energy intake of the fisherwomen was 1,827 kcal/day; protein intake was 50.6 gm/day; carbohydrate intake was 343.5 gm/day; and fat intake was 27 gm/day. The mean intake of micronutrients was less than the recommended dietary allowance. The mean body mass index was 21.3. The nutritional status of the women was: 49% normal; 17% low normal; 10.5% mildly malnourished; 4% moderately malnourished; and 2.9% severely malnourished. About 11.5% of the fisherwomen were overweight and 4.6% were obese. A subsample of 915 women was clinically observed: 34.8% were diagnosed with angular stomatitis; 31 % with cheelosis; 42.8% with bleeding gums; and 44.2% with dry skin. Some 72% of the women were anemic. An assessment ofthe socioeconomic status indicated that very few households (15.4%) maintained livestock for income generation. About 60% of the fisherwomen carried out post-harvest activities to earn income. Food expenditure comprised 60.7% of the earned income contribvting to the major share of the spending. Debt servicing was a serious problem faced by 44.9% of the respondents who had procured loans mostly from non-institutional sources

Bench mark survey of selected villages

The research project "Studies on fisherwomen in the Coastal Ecosystems of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu" as carried out with an aim to Study the socio-economio, nutritional and health status of the fisherwomen besides imparting them raining, in alternate income generating activities to improve their standard of living. To facilitate the conduct of this project a benchmark survey was conducted and the basic information on different aspeots of the fisherwomen and general features such as physical and geographical, demographical and other related Information were collected. The Infonnation tnus collected reveal that the Andhra pradesh lies on the ess coast, Karnataka and Kerala lies on the wesl coast while Tamil Nadu covers both east and west coas

Nutritional status of pre-school children

In the surveyed south Indian states, it was found that cereal Intake per child was found to be 136 gm., and pulse intake was found to be 10gm. The consumption of vegetables and fruits was found to be Low. Milk consumption was also very low. Fish consumption was found to be 35 gm. The intake of nutrients was also tower than the RD

Socio-economic status of fisherwomen

In India, women constitute about 50 per cent of the population and comprise one third of the labour force. Women account for 32.5 per cent of the total work force of 121.63 million (1993-94) and the figure is still increasing day by day. Among the different sectors of the Indian economy where women contribute significantly, fishery sector is an important one. Out of the 5.4 million active fishers in India, 3.8 million (70.37%) are fishermen and 1.6 million (29.63%) are fisherwomen