Menopausal symptoms assessment among middle age women in Kushtia, Bangladesh

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are few menopausal study data available in South East Asia especially in Bangladesh. This study was conducted in a well populated town named Kushtia, which is located in the western part of Bangladesh.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>This study was aimed to document the menopausal-related symptoms among middle age women of Kushtia region of Bangladesh.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>By using modified MRS (Menopause Rating Scale) questionnaire, 509 women aged 40-70 years were interviewed to document symptoms commonly associated with menopause.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The mean age of menopause was 51.14 years. The most prevalent symptoms reported include, feeling tired (92.90%); headache (88.80%); joint and muscular discomfort (76.20%); physical and mental exhaustion (60.90%) and sleeplessness (54.40%) which are followed by depressive mood (37.30%); irritability (36%); dryness of vagina (36%); hot flushes and sweating (35.80%); anxiety (34.20%). However, noted less frequent symptoms were sexual problem (31.20%); cardiac discomfort (19.10%) and bladder problem (12.80%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of menopausal symptoms found in this study correspond to other studies on Asian women however the prevalence of classical menopausal symptoms of hot flushes and sweating were lower compared to studies on Caucasian women.</p

In vitro antioxidant and anticancer activity of young Zingiber officinale against human breast carcinoma cell lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ginger is one of the most important spice crops and traditionally has been used as medicinal plant in Bangladesh. The present work is aimed to find out antioxidant and anticancer activities of two Bangladeshi ginger varieties (Fulbaria and Syedpuri) at young age grown under ambient (400 μmol/mol) and elevated (800 μmol/mol) CO₂concentrations against two human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The effects of ginger on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines were determined using TBA (thiobarbituric acid) and MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide] assays. Reversed-phase HPLC was used to assay flavonoids composition among Fulbaria and Syedpuri ginger varieties grown under increasing CO₂concentration from 400 to 800 μmol/mol.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Antioxidant activities in both varieties found increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) with increasing CO₂concentration from 400 to 800 μmol/mol. High antioxidant activities were observed in the rhizomes of Syedpuri grown under elevated CO₂concentration. The results showed that enriched ginger extract (rhizomes) exhibited the highest anticancer activity on MCF-7 cancer cells with IC₅₀values of 34.8 and 25.7 μg/ml for Fulbaria and Syedpuri respectively. IC₅₀values for MDA-MB-231 exhibition were 32.53 and 30.20 μg/ml for rhizomes extract of Fulbaria and Syedpuri accordingly.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Fulbaria and Syedpuri possess antioxidant and anticancer properties especially when grown under elevated CO₂concentration. The use of ginger grown under elevated CO₂concentration may have potential in the treatment and prevention of cancer.</p

Vulnerable Road Users (VRUS) Safety in Bangladesh

Traffic crashes in Bangladesh result in an unacceptably high socio-economic toll that has been growing due to inadequate attention and under-investment in safety. According to World health Organization (WHO), more than 20,000 deaths from road traffic crashes are estimated to occur annually in Bangladesh, while around 4000 deaths are officially reported. Nearly 70 percent of road traffic fatalities are attributed to Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) - pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and users of informal and unsafe motorized and non-motorized transport. It has been observed from the studies that around 50 percent road deaths are pedestrians alone and in Dhaka city, they represented around 75 percent. Pedestrian-vehicle conflicts are therefore clearly the greatest problem with significant involvement of trucks and busses. Heavy vehicles, especially buses and trucks, are mostly involved in fatal accidents. They are particularly prevalent in crashes involving VRUs. The road environment factors are particularly prevalent and unregulated private/business access to inter-urban highways leads to endless linear settlements resulting in high risks for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users. Several road environmental and behavioral factors force the VRUs to be exposed in high risk situation which eventually results in high number of road deaths. Highways are particularly hazardous for VRUs - rated as 2-stars or less (out of possible 5-stars) for vehicle occupants, pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists as revealed from the results of the iRAP assessment of two busiest highways in Bangladesh. This paper argues that road infrastructure safety improvement is the priority issue for protecting the VRUs’ in Bangladesh and most importantly, for achieving the goals and targets of the Decade of Action. The paper emphasizes on the systematic implementation of a range of affordable cost-effective countermeasures related to road infrastructure within the principles of the Safe System Approach for protecting the legitimacy and safety of VRUs