Introduction and Physiology of Lupus

Lupus is an autoimmune disease, which means that the immune system erroneously acts against its own healthy tissues. It usually follows a chronic course and hence can also be termed as a chronic disease. It may involve only a single organ, but in its due course, it usually involves multiple organs of the body. There are various types of rashes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the butterfly‐like rash being the most famous. Up to now, many classifications of lupus have been given, but the classification into the discoid lupus and the disseminated lupus is being most widely accepted. From the time of Hippocrates, it was assumed to be present, and after many research studies, it is still a dreaded disease. Females are more affected than males by this disease. In the past, the survival rate of SLE was very poor. Now the survival rate has increased, thanks to the newer drugs and other strategies taken against this disease. The main causes of death from SLE were renal disease, neoplasm, CVD, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory disease and infection. It has been found that various genes cause the disease. In a small fraction of patients, the disease may be attributed to a single gene. But majority of the patients with this disease have multiple genes

Origin and Impact of COVID-19 on Socioeconomic Status

The coronavirus pandemic, known as COVID-19, is an evolving pandemic caused by a coronavirus, the SARS-CoV-2. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) notified this upsurge as an international emergency concerning public health. It was declared a pandemic later in March 2020. By May 12, 2021, 160,363,284 cases had been registered, and 3,332,762 deaths have been reported, caused by COVID-19, characterized as a horrific pandemic in the history of humankind. Scientists have reached a consensus about the origin of COVID-19, a zoonotic virus arising from bats or other animals in a natural habitat. The economic impact of this outbreak has left far-reaching repercussions on world business transactions, along with bond, commodity, and stock markets. One of the crucial incidents that popped up was the oil price war among OPEC countries. It caused plummeting oil prices and the collapse of stock markets globally in March 2020, as the OPEC agreement failed. However, COVID-19 plays a crucial role in the economic recession. The monetary deficit impact on the travel and trade industries is likely to be huge, in billions of pounds, increasing daily. Other sectors have also suffered significantly

Quality Control in Laboratory

The book presents a qualitative and quantitative approach to understand, manage and enforce the integration of statistical concepts into quality control and quality assurance methods. Utilizing a sound theoretical and practical foundation and illustrating procedural techniques through scientific examples, this book bridges the gap between statistical quality control, quality assurance and quality management. Detailed procedures have been omitted because of the variety of equipment and commercial kits used in today's clinical laboratories. Instrument manuals and kit package inserts are the most reliable reference for detailed instructions on current analytical procedures

Age-based Study of Postprandial Lipemia in Hypertensives and Cigarette Smokers

Abstract Background and Objective: In this review, we have mainly examined the effect of age, smoking and hypertension on post prandial triglycerides, since an exaggerated postprandial accumulation of triglyceride promotes the development of atherosclerosis. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that smoking and hypertension are independently associated with postprandial hypertriglyceridemia and indirectly associated with atherosclerosis. Materials and methods: Lipid profiles were studied in 52 hypertensives, 48 smokers and 52 age, sex and body mass index matched healthy controls. Four age groups were made between 31-70 years. Fasting and postprandial triglyceridemia were determined sequentially at fasting and at 1 hr, 2 hr, 3 hr, 4 hr, 5 hr and 6 hr post load in the blood sample. Results: The repeated-measures analysis of triglyceride levels showed a distinct behavior of the age groups throughout the 6 hours in both controls and cases. The differences in behavior were significant (p<0.05). Total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and fasting triglycerides did not differ much significantly over time between the groups. However, the postprandial plasma triglyceride concentration (mg/dL) increased significantly in hypertensives (226.5±82.9) and smokers (210.6±71.8) compared to control group (152±56.9), p<0.05. Increase in postprandial triglycerides was found with age and a positive correlation was found between increase in fasting triglycerides and post prandial triglycerides. Conclusion: Aging, hypertension and smoking has a significant effect on postprandial lipemia in healthy, young individuals revealing a close link between aging, hypertension, smoking, post prandial triglycerides and atherosclerosis

Glucose indices, frank and undetected diabetes in relation to hypertension and anthropometry in a South Indian rural population

Diabetes has emerged as one of the world′s biggest health problems and its prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate. This study was conducted to find out the magnitude of frank and undetected diabetes mellitus, including impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) among persons in rural Karnataka, and its relationship with associated risk factors like hypertension and anthropometry. This was a population-based, cross-sectional study on 1370 participants in the field practice area of KBN Medical College, conducted from April 2009 to March, 2010. Diabetes mellitus was noted among 19.78% of the participants, with an additional 12.04% with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension observed among participants with diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance was 65.13 and 53.94%, respectively. Effective primary prevention strategies have to be intensified among high-risk population groups, to promote awareness through behavior change communication

Stenosis of Carotid Arteries and Concentration of Some Blood Lipid Parameters amongst Tobacco Smokers in Abha: A Case–Control Study

Smoking is well known to be correlated with cardiovascular abnormalities, in particular atherosclerosis and heart diseases. This article investigates the effect and relationship of smoking tobacco on the thickness of the intima–media (IMT) belonging to the common carotid arteries (CCAs), and also blood concentration of the lipid profile (LP), mainly the total cholesterol, High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and also triglycerides. Nineteen male tobacco smokers and thirty-five healthy male non-smoking Saudi participants were involved in this study after obtaining their informed consent. An ultrasound and a spectrophotometer were used to determine the IMTs and lipid parameters, respectively. The thicknesses of the smokers’ right (RCA) and left carotid (LCA) arteries (0.72 and 0.7 mm, respectively) were significantly greater than the thicknesses of the arteries of the non-smokers (0.58 and 0.62 mm, respectively) (p-value = 0.005 and 0.04). Insignificant differences between the means of the other parameters in the two groups were studied. Smoking is a risk factor for stroke, because it significantly increases the IMTs of both the right and left carotid arteries

The Impact of Body Resistance Training Exercise on Biomedical Profile at High Altitude: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background. Obesity causes different diseases, eventually. In our study, the results of resistance exercises were examined on selected biochemical markers in Abha City, Saudi Arabia, which is at the height of 2,270 meters above sea level. Methods. A randomized controlled research was conducted with 60 participants equally divided into three groups, 20 subjects in each group: group 1 was composed of obese people who received resistance training exercise, group 2 was composed of the obese control group who did not receive resistance training exercise, and group 3 was composed of normal individuals who received resistance exercise training. The resistance exercises were done in the 6th and 12th weeks. Biochemical blood tests were done. Results. Comparing to the control group, glucose decreased very little with insulin also showing little difference. It has been seen that TC, TG, and LDL reduced to a reasonable extent after resistance exercise, while HDL was increased (p≤0.01). Plasma urea and creatinine showed no differences. Interleukin-6 and leptin decreased significantly (p≤0.01), while there was a significant elevation in adiponectin and testosterone (p≤0.01) once comparing group 1 with group 2 and group 3. Conclusion. We have seen that resistance exercise helps in reducing lipid profile which will result in a decrease of the cardiac and related risk factors when conducted in obese patients in high-altitude regions. Also, alterations of the levels of interleukin-6, leptin, adiponectin, and testosterone showed that resistance exercise is of benefit and favourable in obese persons in high-altitude regions, which can also pave the way for added development of drugs related to the above parameters