Prevalence and significance of thrombophilia markers in adverse pregnancy outcome

Background: Thrombophilia complicates the pregnancy by interfering the physiology of utero-placental circulation which in turn leads to IUGR, IUD, PIH, RPL, abruption placentae. This study is to find out the prevalence and significance of different thrombophilia markers in cases of adverse pregnancy outcome in eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, India.Methods: 54 antenatal women are selected from the cases presented with or previous history of PIH, IUGR, IUD, Abruption or early/late abortion. A thorough family history, history of risk factors, clinical examination were noted. Platelet count, prothrombin time(PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), plasma fibrinogen, factor-VIII assay, LA, ACLA, protein- C, protein- S, TORCH, thyroid profile, blood sugar, USG is done in all patients at the time of first registration. 50 antenatal females without any bad obstetric history was taken as controls.Results: Among 54 cases, 64.8% cases were positive for thrombophilia markers, whereas 6% control had presence of thrombophilia markers. 6.5% thrombophilia positive cases had ≥3 markers present and had ≥2 manifestations of adverse pregnancy outcome in 100% cases. Prevalence of different thrombophilia markers are studied in individual case and association to various outcomes were noted.Conclusions: There was high prevalence of thrombophilia markers in the cases with adverse pregnancy outcome. As treatment was found significantly effective in literature, screening of these markers should be done in patients with bad obstetric history

Mobile phones: Time to rethink and limit usage

Radiofrequency waves generated from mobile phones cause potential public health problems. Short-term effects like changes in sleep, heart rate, and blood pressure, and long-term effects like carcinoma are well documented. The Government of India′s efforts in laying down regulations regarding the safety limits, manufacture, marketing, and mobile use are still in nascent stage. The need for stringent enforcement of laws for prevention of phone usage while driving and guidelines of medical regulatory bodies regarding rules and regulations of phone usage while at class or attending patients is of utmost importance. This should be supplemented by mass media to raise awareness among people regarding the possible health effects of radiofrequency emissions from mobile phones and the guidelines to minimize its exposure. It is the need of the hour to teach young people to be structured, to know when to have the cell phone on, and to avoid becoming the slave of technology instead of its mastery