Role of Pharmacology in self medication practices among undergraduate medical students in a medical college and hospital in North India

Background: Self medication is an important component of primary health care. It involves treatment of common ailments on ones own initiative or on the advice of a pharmacist. With the easy accessibility to information regarding use of drugs, there is an alarming increase in the self medication practices. Medical students, during their course of study gain considerable knowledge of drugs and it may have an influence on their self medication practices. The present study was designed to gather the knowledge, attitude and behavior of medical students towards self medication and whether an increased knowledge of drugs further promoted self medication.Methods: A questionnaire based study was carried out on students of 2nd semester students relating to their knowledge, attitude and practice of self medication.Results: Though the knowledge regarding drugs is quite comparable in both the first and third year medical students, 39% students in group A took the medicine without doctors’ advice in the last month whereas 58% 5th semester students in group B did the same.Conclusions: The frequency of self medication is higher among third year students as they believe that the medical training makes them capable enough to self medicate easily without any harm. Hence, there is need to promote rational self medication practice to bring awareness about irresponsible self medication

Responsibly Including Survivors’ Voices in the Planning and Implementing of Educational Programmes for Healthcare Providers

Survivors’ experiences and input are essential for human trafficking education for healthcare providers yet they remain under-utilised. This article describes a collaborative initiative between two paediatric physicians and a survivor of trafficking, which led to the implementation of an anti-trafficking education programme for healthcare providers. It outlines the process of establishing the collaboration and the main principles of ensuring an equitable partnership. It shares the authors’ reflections of the process and their recommendations for others seeking to establish similar initiatives

Teplizumab: a new glimmer of hope for type 1 diabetic patients

Teplizumab is the first monoclonal antibody used to delay the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). It is a highly selective, a CD3-directed monoclonal antibody, given parenterally that was approved in November 2022, for delaying the onset of Stage 3 type 1 diabetes in adults and paediatric patients aged 8 years and older with stage 2 type 1 Diabetes. It binds to the immune cells that destroy the insulin producing pancreatic beta cells and inactivates them thereby leading to decreased rate of reduction in insulin production and subsequently delay in the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes

Pharmacological evaluation of Jatropha curcas L. extract for Anti-diarrhoeal Activity

The present study provides the pharmacological evaluation of stem bark extract of Jatropha curcas L. for anti-diarrhoeal activity in rats. We made an attempt to study the effect of stem bark extract of Jatropha curcas L. on diarrhoeal disease. The different activities studied were castor oil-induced diarrhoea, magnesium sulphate induced diarrhoea and charcoal meal transit test. The result of the study reflected that methanol extract of the stem bark (100, 300 mg/kg) decreased total no. of faeces, wet faeces and distance travelled by charcoal plug and showed the anti-diarrhoeal activity. Jatropha curcas L. extract demonstrates the anti-diarrhoeal activity in rats

Colony collapse disorder: A peril to apiculture

Apiculture has become a profitable profession due to the high economic importance of honey and various beehive products. Honeybees are tiny social insects that perform a crucial function in the agricultural field and are necessary for good yields. Honeybees are the biological indicators of environmental health. Unforeseen rapid decrease in honeybee numbers characterized by the departure of honeybees from the colonies and accompanied by the total absence of any dead bees in the hive surrounding and inside it suggests a condition called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Pesticides, pathogens, and other ecological stresses such as nutritional deficiency may add to bee extinction or CCD. Besides this, the exposure to low-level radiofrequency and microwave radiations from mobile phones also have profound undesirable effects on honeybees. Research has shown changes in biology and behaviour which includes some undesirable changes in the biomolecules concentration in honeybees because of radiation exposure. Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF- EMF ) also affects honeybee`s immune system and navigation activities. The radiation induces emotional disturbance and genetic disorders in brood which attributes to a decline in the breeding efficiency of bees. The present review is an attempt to compile the causes of CCD and discuss the management practices to be followed by the beekeepers to avoid the devastating loss to them and the planet Earth

Neuroprotective efficacy and therapeutic window of curcuma oil: in rat embolic stroke model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Among the naturally occurring compounds, turmeric from the dried rhizome of the plant <it>Curcuma longa </it>has long been used extensively as a condiment and a household remedy all over Southeast Asia. Turmeric contains essential oil, yellow pigments (curcuminoids), starch and oleoresin. The present study was designed for investigating the neuroprotective efficacy and the time window for effective therapeutic use of Curcuma oil (C. oil).</p> <p>Method</p> <p>In the present study, the effect of post ischemic treatment of C.oil after ischemia induced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in the rat was observed. C.oil (500 mg/kg body wt) was given 4 hrs post ischemia. The significant effect on lesion size as visualized by using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and neuroscore was still evident when treatment was started 4 hours after insult. Animals were assessed for behavioral deficit scores after 5 and 24 hours of ischemia. Subsequently, the rats were sacrificed for evaluation of infarct and edema volumes and other parameters.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>C.oil ameliorated the ischemia induced neurological functional deficits and the infarct and edema volumes measured after 5 and 24 hrs of ischemia. After 24 hrs, immunohistochemical and Western blot analysis demonstrated that the expression of iNOS, cytochrome <it>c </it>and Bax/Bcl-2 were altered after the insult, and antagonized by treatment with C.oil. C.oil significantly reduced nitrosative stress, tended to correct the decreased mitochondrial membrane potential, and also affected caspase-3 activation finally apoptosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Here we demonstrated that iNOS-derived NO produced during ischemic injury was crucial for the up-regulation of ischemic injury targets. C.oil down-regulates these targets this coincided with an increased survival rate of neurons.</p

Dissociative disorder in children and adolescents and their personality profile: a comparative study

Background: Studies demonstrate the change in nature of dissociation in accordance with increasing age but there is dearth of literature studying the differential influence of personality factors in childhood and adolescent dissociation respectively. Personality attributes putatively determine the overt expression of nature of dissociative symptoms in childhood and adolescent dissociative symptoms differentially. Objective: Aim of this study was to compare the personality profiles of children and adolescents onset dissociative disorder.Methods: 60 subjects with diagnosis of dissociative disorders were included in this study with 30 subjects with 8-12 years of age and 30 adolescents with 13-16 years of age. Children in the age group of 8-12 years were given children personality questionnaire (CPQ) and adolescents were given 16 PF (form B) which are a paper-pencil self-administered questionnaires.Results: Both the groups were comparable for various socio-demographic and clinical variables except habitat and education. Children in younger age group were found to be more serious, taciturn, internally restrained, depressed and apprehensive. Adolescents on other hand were more aggressive, stubborn and aggressive.Conclusions: Dissociation in childhood and adolescents is a malleable developmental phenomenon determined by core personality attributes.

Evaluation of Remote Sensing and Meteorological parameters for Yield Prediction of Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) Crop

Abstract In the Agriculture sector, the farmers need a reliable estimation for pre-harvest crop yield prediction to decide their import-export policies. The present work aims to assess the impact of remote sensing-based derived products with Climate data on the accuracy of a prediction model for the sugarcane yield. The regression method was used to develop an empirical model based on VCI, Historical Sugarcane Yield, and Climatic Parameters of 75 districts of six major sugar-producing states of India. The MOD13Q1 product of MODIS on Board Terra Satellite at 16-day intervals was accessed during the growing season of sugarcane crop with 36 meteorological parameters for experimentation. The accuracy of the model was evaluated using R2, Root Mean square Metric (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and mean square error (MSE). The preliminary results concluded that the proposed methodology achieved the highest accuracy with (R2 =0.95, MAE=5.18, MSE=34.5, RMSE=5.87). The conclusion of the study highlighted that the coefficient of determination can be improved significantly by incorporating maximum and minimum temperature parameters with Remote sensing derived vegetation indices for the sugarcane yield

Comparison of computer simulation and graphical illustration for teaching experimental pharmacology to undergraduate students

Background: Nowadays, medical schools all over the world are incorporating newer methods of teaching experimental pharmacology like computer simulation, besides using graphs, charts, didactic lectures. The present study compared the effectiveness and acceptance of two commonly used methods, namely, computer simulation and graphical illustration in teaching experimental pharmacology to undergraduate medical students.Methods: 90 students of 2nd Prof MBBS were divided into 2 groups and were given either computer simulation or graphical illustration via a cross-over design at two settings, which was followed by a post-test for that particular session. Feedback was taken from the students and the faculty. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: The average marks scored by the students in sessions using CAL (67.8%) was significantly high (p=0.008) as compared to teaching by graphical illustrations (60.4%). 71% of students found CAL improved their learning skills better than graphical illustrations. 85% students and 80% faculty agreed that there should be a judicious mixture of CAL and graphical illustrations for a better understanding of drugs.Conclusions: CAL is a beneficial and effective learning tool in teaching experimental pharmacology. For better understanding, graphical illustrations should be used as an adjuvant to CAL

Determination of Nifedipine by Validated RP-HPLC Method in Bulk and Pharmaceutical Dosage Form

The present paper deals with the development and validation of reverse phase HPLC method for the determination of Nifedipine on Nucleosil 100, 5 μm, C8, 250 x 4.0 mm column. A mobile phase consisting of 40 ml 2-propanol: 60 ml phosphoric acid 0.85% was employed in this study. The flow rate was kept at 0.8 ml/min and the injection volume was 10 µl. The separation was performed at 40°C. Eluents were monitored by UV detector set at 237 nm. The developed method was statistically validated for the linearity, precision, robustness, specificity and solution stability. The specificity of the method was ascertained by force degradation studies by acid and alkali hydrolysis, oxidation, heat and photo degradation. The degraded products were well resolved from the analyte peak with significant differences in their retention time values