Introduction of need for Dental Insurance in Dental Colleges of India

Health is a fundamental human right . The colossal economic inequality in the form of income of individuals in India is the main reason for lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter in addition to the healthcare and education to the poor. These people, who cannot afford to meet their both ends in a day, cannot afford for their basic healthcare including dental health. On the contrary, in the developed countries these are ensured through the various health care insurances. In India, the insurance policies featuring Dental treatment by famous insurance companies are very sparse and insufficient. To understand the existing basic policies available in India for financing any dental treatment, a study has been conducted of various health insurance companies with various pros and cons. It has been found that in India unlike developed countries, the policies are not strong enough to cater to the requirement of dental health care. With a view to above, an effort has been made to devise a policy in Manav Rachna Dental College, Faridabad which shall help the patients to realize the basic medical needs including dental treatment at a very affordable cost through the financing with the assistance of famous insurance company to benefit both the policy holder as well as the practitioner (college doctor students). The exact policy adopted in college has not been articulated in this article, however every college must make an effort to devise its own policy for the benefit of its patients and the dental doctor students, keeping in view their opportunities and limitations. &nbsp

Evaluating Genetic Modifiers of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Disease Progression Using Modeling and MRI.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscle degenerative disorder with a well-characterized disease phenotype but considerable interindividual heterogeneity that is not well understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dystrophin variations and genetic modifiers of DMD on rate and age of muscle replacement by fat. METHODS: One hundred seventy-five corticosteroid treated participants from the ImagingDMD natural history study underwent repeated magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the vastus lateralis (VL) and soleus (SOL) to determine muscle fat fraction (FF). MRS was performed annually in most instances; however, some individuals had additional visits at 3 or 6 monthss intervals. FF changes over time were modeled using nonlinear mixed effects to estimate disease trajectories based on the age that the VL or SOL reached half-maximum change in FF (mu) and the time required for FF change (sigma). Computed mu and sigma values were evaluated for dystrophin variations that have demonstrated the ability to lead to a mild phenotype as well as compared between different genetic polymorphism groups. RESULTS: Participants with dystrophin gene deletions amenable to exon 8 skipping (n = 4) had minimal increases in SOL FF and had an increase in VL mu value by 4.4 years compared with a reference cohort (p = 0.039). Participants with nonsense variations within exons that may produce milder phenotypes (n = 11) also had minimal increases in SOL and VL FFs. No differences in estimated FF trajectories were seen for individuals amenable to exon 44 skipping (n = 10). Modeling of the SPP1, LTBP4, and thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) genetic modifiers did not result in significant differences in muscle FF trajectories between genotype groups (p > 0.05); however, trends were noted for the polymorphisms associated with long-range regulation of LTBP4 and THBS1 that deserve further follow-up. DISCUSSION: The results of this study link the historically mild phenotypes seen in individuals amenable to exon 8 skipping and with certain nonsense variations with alterations in trajectories of lower extremity muscle replacement by fat