Health Expenditures, Institutional Quality and Economic Growth

The study aims to determine the effect of health expenditures on economic growth while taking into account the quality of health institutions, keeping in view the fact that it’s not just the level, rather quality of expenditures or institutions that matters. Our hypothesis was where institutions are better health investment in health brings more economic growth as compared to those with low quality institutions. To attain that objective the standard neoclassical Solow Growth Model at steady-state level was taken as theoretical framework and made a production function adding institutional quality proxied by government effectiveness along with other variables like health expenditure, primary education completion rate, population growth etc. For estimation purposes, data for the sample of 20 South, East Asian and Pacific developing countries was used for the period 1995-2017. It was found that if health expenditures adjusted for the quality of government expenditures increase by 100%, then the economic growth will increase by 5%

Global, regional, and national mortality due to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, 2000–2021: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background Unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning is a largely preventable cause of death that has received insufficient attention. We aimed to conduct a comprehensive global analysis of the demographic, temporal, and geographical patterns of fatal unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning from 2000 to 2021. Methods As part of the latest Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD), unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning mortality was quantified using the GBD cause of death ensemble modelling strategy. Vital registration data and covariates with an epidemiological link to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning informed the estimates of death counts and mortality rates for all locations, sexes, ages, and years included in the GBD. Years of life lost (YLLs) were estimated by multiplying deaths by remaining standard life expectancy at age of death. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) for unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning deaths due to occupational injuries and high alcohol use were estimated. Findings In 2021, the global mortality rate due to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning was 0·366 per 100 000 (95% uncertainty interval 0·276–0·415), with 28 900 deaths (21 700–32 800) and 1·18 million YLLs (0·886–1·35) across all ages. Nearly 70% of deaths occurred in males (20 100 [15 800–24 000]), and the 50–54-year age group had the largest number of deaths (2210 [1660–2590]). The highest mortality rate was in those aged 85 years or older with 1·96 deaths (1·38–2·32) per 100 000. Eastern Europe had the highest age-standardised mortality rate at 2·12 deaths (1·98–2·30) per 100 000. Globally, there was a 53·5% (46·2–63·7) decrease in the age-standardised mortality rate from 2000 to 2021, although this decline was not uniform across regions. The overall PAFs for occupational injuries and high alcohol use were 13·6% (11·9–16·0) and 3·5% (1·4–6·2), respectively. Interpretation Improvements in unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning mortality rates have been inconsistent across regions and over time since 2000. Given that unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning is almost entirely preventable, policy-level interventions that lower the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning events should be prioritised, such as those that increase access to improved heating and cooking devices, reduce carbon monoxide emissions from generators, and mandate use of carbon monoxide alarms.publishedVersio

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Paediatric porphyria and human hemin: A treatment challenge in a lower middle income country

Here, we report a case of a 15-year-old girl who presented to the emergency department with symptoms of abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and seizures. She was diagnosed with acute intermittent porphyria. Treatment was started by removing all porphogenic drugs, providing high glucose intake (oral and intravenous), which initially resulted in good clinical outcomes. However, she deteriorated again and also developed neurological manifestation (paraplegia) for which she required mechanical ventilation because of acute respiratory failure. This time she was initiated on human hemin for four consecutive days. After 2 days of therapy, her porphobilinogen levels decreased to 50% of the initial raised value. Increased lactic acid and blood urea nitrogen were the two side effects observed after the treatment, with no apparent signs of acute kidney injury. To the best of our knowledge, in paediatric population, this is the first reported case of treatment of acute intermittent porphyria with human hemin in Pakistan

Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Fixed Oil in Rodents

The seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris are known as common beans or kidney beans. The dry seeds are eaten as pulse and are enriched with protein, fiber, starch, B vitamins (B1, B6, B9), iron, potassium and selenium. Beans also contain about 1-2 % of fixed oil. Phaseolus vulgaris is linked with anticancer, antihyperlipidemic, hypoglycemic and antioxidant actions. The fixed oil of Phaseolus vulgaris (PVFO) seeds is extracted with hexane and used in this study to assess acute oral toxicity, analgesic (by acetic acid induced writhing, hot plate and tail flick tests in mice) and anti-inflammatory (by carrageenan induced paw edema in rats) actions. Four groups were made (n=6): Group-I: Normal Saline Control (2ml/kg), Group-II: PVFO (2ml/kg), Group-III: PVFO (4ml/kg) and Group-IV: Standard Acetyl salicylic acid (ASA 300 mg/kg). PVFO in 2ml/kg and 4ml/kg dose demonstrated analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities but in hot plate results were unreliable as here significant activity started after 90 minutes. For toxicity test 5ml/kg dose was administered orally in mice and no toxicity symptoms were observed. It is therefore concluded that PVFO is safe for oral use up to 5ml/kg and may possess analgesic and anti-inflammatory actions

A Rare Presentation of Colon Carcinoma Metastasis Within a Meningioma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Colon carcinoma with brain metastasis is a rare presentation. This presentation is more unusual and unique when the single brain metastatic lesion has two different types of tumors. This rare phenomenon is known as a tumor-to-tumor metastasis. A meningioma usually hosts lung and breast cancers within it. However, colon carcinoma metastasis into meningiomas has rarely been reported. An 86-year-old man presented with neurological symptoms and was found to have a brain mass. The search for primary lesions was negative as the chest, abdomen, and pelvis CT scan was insignificant. When the brain lesion\u27s pathology revealed a composite mass of adenocarcinoma and a meningioma, further investigation with a colonoscopy revealed a colonic mass as the primary metastasis lesion. This unique presentation and pathology emphasize the importance of a comprehensive investigative approach to finding the primary lesions and consideration of such a phenomenon in these lesions

A Survey on Biosafety Practices in Lab Personnel in 12 Selected Areas of Karachi, Pakistan

The objective of this study was to realize the degree of biosafety precautions and measures recorded among different Private Hospitals and Diagnostic labs personnel situated in different areas of Karachi, Pakistan. One thirty two private hospital based laboratory technicians were selected from all 12 selected areas in Karachi. The laboratory technicians were interviewed then a survey form was completed by the interviewer. The survey was conducted in 3 months duration from May 2017 to July 2017. The total number of members in this study was 132, of which 85 were males and 47 were females. Results presented that 65% of the laboratory technicians did not use any type of PPE and 35% of the respondents recapped used syringes frequently while 25% recapped occasionally. For avoiding the reuse of syringes, Pakistani governments recommend that they be cut before discarding; however, only 65% of the respondents followed the given procedure. Even though mouth pipetting is considered outdated, 45% of the technicians continue to do so for numerous purposes. Results of this survey established an absence of awareness about good and proper lab practices and lab biosafety measures among lab technicians in Karachi, Pakistan