Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among the Patients Attending for Master Health Check-up in Family Medicine Department

Introduction: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of MetS is increasing worldwide. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of MetS among patients attending for Master Health check-up at Family Medicine outpatient department, to find out common component and see the association of body mass index with MetS. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was done at family medicine outpatient department over a period of six months. There were total of 854 participants involved in the study and each subject was interviewed, anthropometric measured, biochemical parameter recorded in the Performa. The MetS was diagnosed according to modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) criteria. Results: The MetS was diagnosed in 53.9 %( 95% CI:50.56%-57.24%)of the study population on the basis of modified NCEP-ATP III criteria, with prevalence significantly higher among males (58.3%) than in females (48.6%)(P value <0.01). Abdominal obesity (70.7%) was the most common morbidity followed by increased fasting blood sugar (57.1%), high level of triglyceride (45.4%), high blood pressure (45.0%) and low level of high density lipoproteins (41.0%). Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was significantly (p-value=0.000) high among obesity (82.5%) and overweight (67.6%) individuals than those with normal weight (38.7%) and under-weight (7.1%). Conclusion: The metabolic syndrome was seen in more than half of study population, with significantly higher among males than in females. The most common component in both genders was abdominal obesity. Presence of any one component should alert the primary care physician to look for other components so that definitive diagnosis can be made and timely intervention can be started with dietary measures, regular exercises and medical treatment

Blood Pressure and its Association with Body Mass Index Among the People Attending in a Hospital

Introduction: Systolic and diastolic hypertension has been increasing trend and different factors are associated such as body mass index, diabetes etc. Obesity and overweight are generally associated with high blood pressure. This study aims to identify the prevalence of blood pressure level and its association to body mass index among people attending in civil service hospital, Kathmandu. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among all 1002 study subjects aged above 20 years.Information were obtained from people coming for Master health check-up during study period. Blood pressure and weight weretaken by WHO certified tool. Results: Half of the respondents were overweight and obese. Prevalence of systolic and diastolic hypertension was found to be 171 (17.1%) and 310 (30.9%) respectively. There is significant difference between body mass index to sex. Females are 1.5 times more likely to have high blood pressurewho have high body mass index. Age group (40-59) years are more than two times likely to have overweight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure than other age group. Systolic blood pressure is more than six times more likely to be high in 60+ age group. But it is only 2.6 times in diastolic blood pressure and in body mass index, it is reduced to 1.4 times but it was still statistically significant. Overweight people are 1.4 and 1.6 times more likely to have high systolic and diastolic BP than another category. Conclusions: Half of the respondents were overweight and obese. Male had high overweight and obesity than female. Overweight people more likely to have high systolic and diastolic BP than others. Keywords: Body mass index; blood pressure; civil service hospital; Nepal

Effects of Forest Management Approach on Carbon Stock and Plant Diversity: A Case Study from Karnali Province, Nepal

The mitigation of global warming and conservation of biodiversity are two significant environmental challenges today. Estimating and comparing forest carbon stock and plant diversity under different management approaches provide insight into the choice of management approaches for carbon and plant diversity management. We investigated the variation in carbon stock and diversity of plant species in two forest managements under different approaches: the Kakrebihar protection forest (PF) and Sano Surkhet community forest (CF) in Karnali Province, Surkhet, Nepal. In total, 63 sample plots (30 plots in PF and 33 plots in CF) were laid out systematically across the forests. Dendrometric measurements were carried out for trees, poles, and saplings, and representative leaf litter and herb samples were collected. Soil samples were taken at 10 cm, 20 cm, and 30 cm depths using a soil auger. The existing tree volume equations of tree species of interest were used to estimate tree volume, and species-specific wood density and conversion factors were used to obtain total biomass and carbon content. Soil samples were analyzed using the Walkley-Black method to determine soil organic carbon. PF had higher carbon stock, plant species richness, and abundance at the landscape level than CF; however, the scenario differed at the plot level. At the plot level, PF had significantly higher total carbon stock and biomass carbon stock than CF. However, PF and CF were statistically indistinguishable in term of soil carbon stock. At the plot level, PF and CF were statistically indistinguishable regarding richness, Simpson diversity, and Shannon diversity, but PF had significantly higher plant abundance than CF. In conclusion, the value of PF for carbon stock and plant diversity surpassed those of CF. This study suggests that PF might be a better strategy to enhance carbon stock in forests and maintain habitat for various plant species

Gatifloxacin versus ceftriaxone for uncomplicated enteric fever in Nepal: an open-label, two-centre, randomised controlled trial

Data supporting a publication on the potential benefits of using gatifloxacin to treat Enteric (typhoid) fever, in comparison to cephalosporin ceftriaxone. Data is made available as supplementary material to accompany paper