Title: Primary Dysmenorrhea: Associated Symptoms, Impact and Management among Females in the Menoua Division of the West Region of Cameroon. Cross-sectional Study Running Title: Primary Dysmenorrhea in the Menoua Division

Primary dysmenorrhea, or painful menstruation in the absence of pelvic pathology is a common and often debilitating gynecological condition that affects between 45% and 95% of women at reproductive age. The current study aimed to assess the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and associated menstrual symptoms and their self-management techniques among females. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Menoua Division, which has six subdivisions namely: Fokoue, Dschang, NKongni, Penka Michel, Santchou and Fongo tongo .For this purpose, 668 women aged from 12 to 38 years were considered. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The main results revealed that dysmenorrhea was reported on almost two-thirds of the women (66.17%). In the 442 girls who reported dysmenorrhea Severe pain was reported by 20.71 % of respondents. More than one-third of the respondents (39.75%) reported using pain relief medications with 23.38 % of herbal medicine and 76.54 % of synthetic medicines. The gastrointestinal problems (diarrhoea and vomiting were the most common symptoms experienced. Less than 19.41% of respondents reported having consulted a doctor for their dysmenorrhea, while most of them consulted friends and family.Dysmenorrhea is a very common problem among university students. A number of symptoms were related to dysmenorrhea. Even though it is common, and may not have a pathological cause, few women seek medical advice. Increasing the awareness might help in relieving the burden of this common health problem

An herbal tea blend of hibiscus sabdariffa, zingiber officinale, and mentha spicata: a potent source of antioxidant and anti-obesity properties

© 2024 The Authors. Published by AMO Publisher. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.59324/ejmhr.2024.2(1).10Background: There is an urgent need to find safer and more sustainable solutions to tackle the rising global epidemic obesity and associated complications. The main objective of this study was to develop formulations of herbal tea blend from three plant species and to assess the antioxidant and antiobesogenic properties of the best formulation. Methods: The best formulation (FX) obtained (80% Hibiscus sabdariffa, 10% Zingiber officinale and 10% Mentha spicata) was validated by their better sensory acceptability and antioxidant properties. In vivo study using high-fat diet Wistar rats revealed that FX alleviated oxidative stress and metabolic disorders including those affecting hepatic and renal functions caused by high-fat died. Results: The administration of FX resulted in a reduction in food intake, body weight gain and metabolic efficiency index alongside lower blood content in triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, glucose, and atherogenic index when compared to the control groups. The results were comparable if not better than those obtained from the reference groups treated with a standard obesity treatment medicine, Orlistat. Conclusion: The developed herbal blend showed promising results for use as a safer product for obesity prevention and management as well as other oxidative stress-related health issues.Published onlin

In vitro cytotoxicity studies of sixteen plants used for pregnant women’s health conditions in Menoua Division-West Cameroon

In Cameroon, many plants are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of pregnancy and childbirth complaints. However, toxicological potential of most of these plants have not been investigated. In order to evaluate the degree of safety of their users, in vitro cytotoxic potentials of sixteen of these medicinal plants were subjected to the assay using the brine shrimp lethality assay. From this study, the aqueous extract of plant Rauvolfia vomitoria bark was found to be cytotoxic and that of Ageratum conyzoides stem and leaves slightly cytotoxic, with LC50 values of 17.62 and 99.17µg/ml, respectively. The least toxic plant extracts were Aloe buttneri, Commelina benghalensis, Ipomoea tenuirostrisandNelsonia canescens, (LC50 value > 105 µg/ml). Overall fourteen extracts were found to be non-toxic. Most herbal remedies were non cytotoxic but it would be necessary to complete these cyto-toxicological information by mutagenicity, teratogenicity tests as welle as in vivo toxicological tests on animals

In vitro cytotoxicity studies of sixteen plants used for pregnant women’s health conditions in Menoua Division-West Cameroon

In Cameroon, many plants are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of pregnancy and childbirth complaints. However, toxicological potential of most of these plants have not been investigated. In order to evaluate the degree of safety of their users, in vitro cytotoxic potentials of sixteen of these medicinal plants were subjected to the assay using the brine shrimp lethality assay. From this study, the aqueous extract of plant Rauvolfia vomitoria bark was found to be cytotoxic and that of Ageratum conyzoides stem and leaves slightly cytotoxic, with LC50 values of 17.62 and 99.17µg/ml, respectively. The least toxic plant extracts were Aloe buttneri, Commelina benghalensis, Ipomoea tenuirostrisandNelsonia canescens, (LC50 value > 105 µg/ml). Overall fourteen extracts were found to be non-toxic. Most herbal remedies were non cytotoxic but it would be necessary to complete these cyto-toxicological information by mutagenicity, teratogenicity tests as welle as in vivo toxicological tests on animals