AN OVERVIEW OF AYURVEDIC MANAGEMENT OF STHAULYA W.S.R OBESITY

Due to rapid modernization in recent years, presence of nutritional abundance and sedentary lifestyle, metabolic disorders have emerged rapidly. Obesity is one of the nutritional lifestyle disorder affecting both developed and developing countries. Obesity is a disorder characterized by increased body weight and excess fat deposition. Obesity is the root cause of overconsumption of calories and reduced physical activity which lead to serious health complications. Multifactorial in nature in which environmental, lifestyle and genetic factors play an equally important role in its etiology. Ayurveda is one of the most ancient sciences of world describing basic and applied principles of health, disease and its management. In Ayurveda, obesity has been described under the caption Sthaulya. Sthaulya is mentioned under Santarpanjanyavikara (over nourishment of body). Sthaulya is among one of the 8 unwanted diseases mentioned by Acharyas. Using fatty diet, decreased physical activity and hereditary factors contribute to its etiology ultimately causing derangement of Agni of Medadhatu. This produces excess of Meda or fat. Sufficient focus has been given in the management of Sthaulya in form of diet and drugs to control the disease in Samhita. Ayurvedic treatment is addressed by correction of dietary patterns in form of Nidana Parivarjana and Pathya Aahar –Vihara and Aptarpana Chikitsa to correct vitiated Dosha and Agni. Obesity is a preventable lifestyle disorder which can be easily addressed by keeping an initial check on one’s dietary pattern. Medicine usage play a secondary role, keeping at par various metabolic disorders like diabetes, hypertension etc. It fulfills the first and foremost motto of Ayurveda which is prevention of disease being less expensive and more approachable than treatment

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS OF STHAULYA (OBESITY)

In this era of rapid modernisation, lifestyle disorders are on a rise. Obesity is a rapidly emerging disorder of nutritional abundance happening due to sedentary lifestyle and abundance in calorie intake by a person. Obesity is a state of excess adipose tissue deposition and increase weight in a person. Ayurveda which is a holistic life science also describes obesity as Sthaulya under Santarpanjanya vikara (over nourishment disorder). Multifactorial in nature, Sthaulya etiology lies in diet, lifestyle, mental and genetic factors as intake of Madhur rasa, Atisampoorana (overeating), Avyayama (no physical activity), no mental exersion and Bijaswabhava (hereditary factor). Main pathogenesis lies in increase in Guru, Sheeta and Snigda properties in a person in different proportions. Madhura rasa increases all 3 Guna, no physical exertion increases Guru and Sheeta Guna etc. In this article, all Nidana of Sthaulya are critically evaluated to help understand and treat Sthaulya in its primary stage only. It helps in decreasing treatment load of any disease in further stages

EFFECT OF SHIRODHARA ON ISOLATED SLEEP PARALYSIS- A CASE STUDY

Isolated sleep paralysis (disturbed sleep) is a condition in which a person is in a state of consciousness but is not able to move or speak in the bed even if he wants to. It is a dreadful condition for a person, in which he or she even fears to fall asleep. It can occur with or without being a part of a sleeping disorder named narcolepsy. According to Ayurveda conditions of isolated sleep paralysis occurring during rapid eye movements (REM) phase of sleep can be correlated to Tandra and Manovaha Sroto Dushti in a stressed individual (Alpa Satva Purush). Ayurveda has potential to treat sleep related disorders with the help of Panchkarma procedures namely Shirodhara. In modern medicine treatment of conditions like isolated sleep paralysis mainly depends on use of antidepressant and sedative medicines which has many side effects. In this case an effort has been made to treat a young male of 21 years with symptoms of helplessness or muscle atonia during initiation of his sleep hours with heaviness in chest, difficulty in respiration and choking sensation for past 2 years. Treatment given is Shirodhara for a period of 15 days with Brahmi oil and tablet Sarpangdha as an internal medicine. The result shows positive response by decreased frequency of attacks, time duration and other symptoms along with improvement in quality of life

Hallucinations and dyskinesia with pramipexole in parkinson’s disease-a case report

Pramipexole, a dopamine agonist has a tendency to induce psychotic symptoms, when used to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD). In most of the cases, patient’s psychosis developed after addition of Pramipexole and exacerbated after increasing the dosage. However there has been no case report in which Pramipexole has caused psychosis at lowest starting dose without any add on drug. Here we present a case of PD in which dyskinesia and psychosis appeared with first dose of Pramipexole, as low as 0.125mg. The patient was a 76 year old man with a one year history of PD. One year back patient observed tremors in his hand and slowing of movements. The neurologist prescribed Syndopa plus - 125, Benzhexol (schedule also same as Syndopa) and Pramipexole 0.125 mg at bedtime. The patient decided to start all medicines next day except Pramipexole (125mg) which he took at bed time. Within half an hour, patient started having visual and auditory hallucinations, along with abnormal movements and myoclonic jerks of hand, feet and mouth. He could be seen doing movements as if he is inserting needle in thread. According to him, he could visualize thieves trying to steal his car. Dechallenge with Pramipexole led to complete resolve of psychotic symptoms. After 4 weeks of therapy, there was a gradual but steady improvement in dyskinesia and tremors except slurring in speech

Exploring Intention to Adopt Mobile Banking Amongst Indian Youth

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the major factors that influence the intention to adopt mobile banking. It explores the adoption factors using technology acceptance (TAM) and diffusion of innovation (DIT) theory. Major focus of the study is on the young consumer group that is more likely to adopt mobile banking. Analysis of the study is based on responses from college students in the national capital territory (NCT) of Delhi. Data is analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results indicate that constructs viz., perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), compatibility; trust and attitude are significant factors to be considered for determination of intention to adoption mobile banking. The study includes implications for researchers and practitioners in terms of identifying the key indicators of adoption of emerging technologies pertaining to mobile banking. It forms a base for future research to predict technology adoption in the context of developing countries

The assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotic stewardship among healthcare providers in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Antibiotics are the most commonly used drugs often associated with inappropriate use leading to resistance. While knowledge enlightens and provides an insight into the problems faced, behavioral change solely depends on the beliefs and attitude. Aim of this study to evaluate the knowledge and beliefs about antimicrobial prescribing among prescribers in a teaching tertiary care hospitalMethods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Pharmacology, ESIC   Medical College and Hospital, Faridabad. after  Ethical clearance from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Design of this study was a prospective, cross-sectional study carried out in the form of a survey in which a pretested, semi-structured, validated questionnaire of 30 questions was provided to Junior residents, Senior residents and Faculty of different specialties and response was recorded. Questionnaire comprises of 10 questions each in knowledge, attitude and practice section.Results: Out of 132 prescribers 86.5% believed that irrational practice will cause global resistant development. majority (92.3%) were expressing the need that sample culture should be sent before starting antibiotics but only 69.2 % were of the opinion that culture and sensitivity should be done in all infections and 92.3% were expressing the view that hospital antibiotics policy is useful in reducing AMR.Conclusions: The present survey on antibiotic usage gives useful information about the knowledge, attitudes and practices of prescribers and help plan suitable educational interventions that aim at improving the antimicrobial prescribing and minimizing the development of resistance

A cross sectional observational study to find the difference in occurrence of muscle related adverse effects of statins among geriatric and non-geriatric patients

Background: Statins are effectively used for the treatment of dyslipidemias in geriatric patients. The geriatric patients are more vulnerable to experience consequences of drug intensification leading to the manifestation of adverse effects, such as muscle related adverse effects (MRAE) with statins use. The main objective was to find the difference in the occurrence of MRAE of statins among geriatric and non-geriatric users.Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational comparative study in which MRAE associated with statins and relevant patient information was noted. Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels which are considered as a marker for statin induced muscle damage were obtained for all patients. The different parameters were compared among geriatric and non-geriatric statin users.Results: Sixty one patients, 28 geriatric (≥60 years) and 33 non-geriatric (<60 years) statin users were enrolled in this study. Ten (38%) geriatric statin users as compared to 6 (20%) non-geriatric statin users were found to have MRAE (P = 0.207). No significant difference in the occurrence of MRAE among geriatric and non-geriatric statin users was found.Conclusions: The results obtained from the present study suggest that statins are relatively safe, even in older people. There was no evidence to suggest an increased risk of MRAE in geriatric patients receiving statin therapy as compared to non- geriatric patients

Thermocapillary migrating odd viscous droplets

A droplet of a classical liquid surrounded by a cold gas placed on a hot substrate is accompanied by unremitting internal circulations, while the droplet remains immobile. Two identical cells with opposite sense of circulation form in the interior due to the thermocapillary effect induced by the gas and substrate temperature difference. Under the same conditions, a droplet composed of an odd viscous liquid exerts a compressive stress on the cell rotating in one sense and tensile on the cell rotating in the opposite sense resulting in a tilted droplet configuration. A sufficiently strong thermal gradient leads the contact angles to overcome hysteresis effects and induces droplet migration.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

Treatment patterns among non-active users of maintenance asthma medication in the United Kingdom : a retrospective cohort study in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink

The authors are also grateful to Dr Michael Gibbs for providing a review of an early draft of this manuscript. Funding Editorial support was provided by Kate Hollingworth of Continuous Improvement Ltd and funded by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This study was funded by GSK. DCG, BA, JFB, and MF are employees of GSK and hold GSK shares.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Symptoms and medical conditions in 204 912 patients visiting primary health-care practitioners in India: a 1-day point prevalence study (the POSEIDON study)

Background India has one of the highest disease burdens in the world. A better understanding of what ails India will help policy makers plan appropriate health-care services and infrastructure development, design medical education curricula, and identify health research priorities that are relevant to the needs of the country. The POSEIDON study aimed to record the prevalence of symptoms and medical conditions for which patients visit a primary health-care practitioner in India. Methods We randomly selected 12 000 general practitioners, general physicians, and paediatricians from 880 cities and towns and invited them to record demographic details, symptoms, and medical conditions for every patient they saw on Feb 1, 2011. A further 1225 practitioners volunteered to participate and their responses were included. We did simple descriptive analyses of prevalence rates and used χ² tests to study comorbid associations. Through application of systems biology methods, we visualised inter-relations between organ involvement of diseases and symptoms and deciphered how these associations change with age and gender. Findings We included responses from 7400 health-care practitioners, which represented data for 204 912 patients, who presented with 554 146 reasons for visit. Fever (35·5%) was the most common presenting symptom. More than half of all patients presented with respiratory symptoms across all age groups and regions of India. Other common presentations were digestive system symptoms (25%), circulatory symptoms (12·5%), skin complaints (9%), and endocrine disorders (6·6%). Hypertension (14·52%), obstructive airways diseases (14·51%), and upper respiratory tract infections (12·9%) were the most common diagnoses reported. Of note was that 21·4% of all patients with hypertension reported by the primary health-care practitioners were younger than 40 years. Anaemia was the fourth most common disease reported by these health-care practitioners and was most common in women of menstrual age living outside metro cities. Interpretation The POSEIDON study provides insight into the reasons that patients visit primary health-care practitioners in India; our results highlight important social and medical challenges in the developing world