Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Mental Health, Physical Activity, and Eating Behaviours Among IT Professionals in India

Governments took preventive measures like lockdown to curb the spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which affected mental health of many, their eating behaviours, and physical activity. This study focused on evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on these aspects among IT professionals considering their change in working patterns. This was a web-based cross-sectional study conducted in Pune city. A total of 103 participants participated in the study by completing an online structured questionnaire shared through various social media platforms. Information regarding their vitals, physical activity, and eating behaviour was collected. The DASS-21 scale was used to assess mental health. The prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression among IT professionals was found as 20.4 %, 44.7 %, and 35.9 %, respectively. Based on their BMI, the majority of the population was obese (63 %), and almost 57 % thought their body weight had increased during the lockdown. Participants doing any kind of physical activity significantly dropped down during the lockdown as compared to the pre-lockdown phase (p < 0.001). Stress levels were significantly higher among the obese participants (p < 0.01). Anxiety was observed to be significantly higher among the 20 to 34 year-old male participants (p < 0.05). Ready-to-eat snacks, instant noodles and easy to cook foods, Indian sweets, and confectionery showed a significant positive correlation with high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (p < 0.05). Thus, a negative impact of COVID-19 and a subsequent lockdown was observed on the mental health and eating patterns among IT professionals

Clinicohematological profile of patients of sepsis admitted in intensive care unit in a tertiary care hospital in Western India

Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening medical condition triggered due to body's response to an infection. If empirical treatment for sepsis and bacteraemia is held up it will increase chances of mortality as well as duration of stay and cost. Hence, there is a need for risk stratification. So, we planned to study the clinicohematological profile of patients of sepsis admitted to this hospital in ICU.Methods: This was an observational study. A total of 50 patients of sepsis were included. All included participants were subject to CBC, RFT, LFT, RBS, Urine RM, ESR, chest X-ray, USG Abdomen.  Laboratory evaluations were performed in the institutional pathology and biochemistry labs. Data was analysed to assess the clinicohematological profile of the patients of sepsis to identify common factors which if taken care of in time can reduce development to sepsis and the morbidity and mortality related to it.Results: Most common presenting complaint was fever (72%), followed by altered sensorium (58%), vomiting (30%), jaundice (30%) and breathlessness (20%). Most noticed signs were pallor (36%), icterus (36%), edema (6%), reduced air entry (34%) and crepitations (26%). Most common source of the infection were abdomen (28%), urinary tract infection (26%) and community acquired pneumonia (24%).Conclusions: Most common presenting complaints were fever, breathlessness, altered sensorium. Most common source of sepsis were urinary tract infection, lung, and abdomen which if adequately treated in time would aid in reducing the number of sepsis patients and thus will control the morbidity, mortality and cost associated with sepsis

Cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test negative in highly suspected case of tuberculosis: a case report

Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is challenging till today. Smear microscopy is the easiest, commonest and widely employed tool for confirmatory diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis, but it has low sensitivity and specificity. Sputum culture can increase the diagnostic yield by 20-40%, but it takes long duration of 2-8 weeks to give result. The role of newly introduced cartridge based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) in the revised national TB control program (RNTCP) is highly promising with a higher yield of bacteriological diagnosis in sputum negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients with detection of rifampicin resistance rapidly. However, it also has some limitations which may result in false negative results. Case of a 50- year-old-male was reported who was initially managed for community-acquired pneumonia in view of negative sputum and CBNAAT but was later confirmed to have TB but by then he had developed cavities in lung and had transmitted the infection to his son

A study of chronic kidney disease patients with no known risk factors coming to tertiary care hospital

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become a major cause of morbidity and. in some parts of the world CKD incidence has increased regardless of hypertension, diabetes mellitus or metabolic syndrome. This study was done to identify the unknown factors which can be contributing to the increased incidence of CKD.Methods: It was a case control study. There were 61 cases and 50 controls. A detailed history regarding residence, occupation, addiction, drug intake, family history, diet and environmental factors was taken. The data was analysed to identify a common factor amongst the CKD patients who did not have history of any known risk factors of CKD.Results: Age of onset of CKD in 48% of cases was 5 years (30%) as compared to controls. Much more cases as compared to controls gave history of mixed diet (46% vs 26%). Much higher proportion of cases had history of heat exposure, excessive heating and sugarcane exposure (72%, 70% and 48% respectively) as compared to controls.Conclusions: This study supports the association of sugarcane exposure, heat exposure and excessive sweating with CKD and reports a changing trend of renal involvement starting at an earlier age. It highlights need of study with sufficient sample size and greater emphasis on family history, smoking, extent of heat exposure and sugarcane exposure to help identifying area of further research and guide policy making

Study of pulmonary functions in male current smokers and never smokers

Background: Cigarettes smoking is the principal cause of preventable disease, disability, and premature death in the world. Tobacco smoking affects multiple organ systems resulting in numerous tobacco-related diseases. The study aimed to investigate interrelationship of pulmonary functions between current smokers and never smokers. Methods: Asymptomatic, 50 males current tobacco smokers and 50 healthy never smokers aged between 25 to 50 years were selected as cases and controls. Detailed description of the subject’s selection, data collection and methods used for performing the test. Results: Maximum incidence was seen in &gt;31 yrs of age with mean of 38.681±4.5. The study found that never smokers had significantly higher pulmonary functions as compared to current smokers:- FVC in liters (3.43±0.55 Vs 2.44±0.58; p&lt;0.05); FEV1 in liters (2.86±0.57 Vs 1.76±0.32; p&lt;0.05); FEV1/FVC in percentage (82.72±8.67 Vs 73.72±11.40; p&lt;0.05); FEF 25-75 ratio in percentage (3.18±0.91 Vs 1.60±0.45; p&lt;0.05); PEFR in liters per second (6.63±2.00 Vs 3.16±1.26; p&lt;0.05); breath holding time in seconds (25.54±2.14 Vs 21.36±2.10; p&lt;0.05); 40mm endurance test in seconds (22.36±1.58 Vs 17.70±2.01; p&lt;0.05); MEP in mmHg (83.48±5.28 Vs 64.38±5.31; p&lt;0.05) were found significant. Conclusions: The strong relationship between cigarette smoking and respiratory disease has been seen independent of the other risk factors in a number of well-designated epidemiologic studies. Spirometry is an excellent screening test to detect chronic airflow obstruction, but may be useful in detecting restrictive disorders as well to study the effect of tobacco smoking on pulmonary functions

Thrombocytopenia in Plasmodium vivax

Introduction. Thrombocytopenia is frequently noticed with P. falciparum malaria but is less reported and studied with P. vivax. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted in the Department of Medicine, SBKS MI & RC, Pipariya. We included patients who were diagnosed with vivax malaria. The data regarding their clinical and hematological profile was collected and analysed. Result. A total of 66 patients were included. 42 (63%) had platelet count 1.2 gm/dL, 15 (35.71%) had jaundice (s. bilirubin > 1.2), 2 (4.76%) had altered sensorium, 6 (14.28%) had ARDS, 2 needed ventilator support, and 1 expired. Amongst those with normal platelet count, 5 (20.83%) had anemia and 1 had jaundice whereas none had elevated s. creatinine, altered sensorium, or lung involvement. Conclusion. Thrombocytopenia is now being seen more commonly with vivax malaria. Patients with platelet count <1 lac/cumm have more severe disease

Nutritional Aspects related to COVID-19: A Bibliometric Analysis using Scopus Database

Nutrition therapy has lately gained attention as an effective way of combating the novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), especially to address the immunity in an individual and their overall health. The present study is a bibliometric assessment of research conducted to understand the role of nutrition in treating COVID-19 which was carried out since the pandemic\u27s sudden outburst during 2020 and 2021 and published in the Scopus database. A total of 93 publications were found, and the results were studied by evaluating these documents. The present analysis identifies the active countries where the research was conducted, various types of documents wherein the research was published, the most prominent scientific subject areas under which these documents were published, top 10 authors in this research area, their affiliations, publications as per the number of authors, top funding agencies, month-wise analysis of publications and list of active journals which have published the documents. The study examines the content of papers published by listing the top 5 most cited articles and analyzing them using word cloud. The present analysis reveals the current research trend of nutritional therapy to combat COVID-19 symptoms and provides potential hot spots for future research

Are statins worthy for treatment of periodontitis? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Statins are drugs used for locking the synthesis of cholesterol as it inhibits 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase. Besides action on cholesterol, statins also possess multiple pleiotropic actions such as anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, antithrombotic, angiogenesis promotion and increase in bone formation; other new pleiotropic effects of statins are continuously being described, but their clinical relevance has not been established. Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis was planned to assess the effect of systemic or local statin therapy on clinical as well as radiographic periodontal parameters in patients with chronic periodontitis. Methodology: A search was performed in the electronic databases of MEDLINE/PubMed, EBSCO and Cochrane databases for randomised controlled trial on humans, and hand search was also carried out. The included articles were screened for their risk of bias and data extracted in predefined format. The meta-analysis was performed using comprehensive meta-analysis. Software: Random effects model was used for pooled analysis. Results: Six studies were included in systematic review having moderate to low risk of bias. Four studies were included in meta-analysis. Results of meta-analysis for clinical parameters such as clinical attachment level (1.95 mm), probing depth (2.28 mm) and marginal sulcular bleeding index (1.10) as well as for radiographic parameters such as intrabony defect (1.90 mm) were statistically significant for locally applied statins. Conclusion: As statins are effective and safe in short-term use and locally delivered and user-friendly, they can be more widely used in periodontal treatment

Evidence-based medicine for better healthcare

Clinicians in developing countries frequently come across a situation where existing guidelines are not enough for decision making. Very often, patients’ values and circumstances restrict clinicians from following guidelines word to word in all cases and they have to select one most economical, appropriate and effective treatment or diagnostic test in minimal time from data available from different populations. Evidence based medicine is claimed to have an answer to these problems. Although accepted by many, questions continue to be raised about its time consuming process, feasibility and generalisability. Developments like modes of practising EBM, development of CATs and Best Practices have made access to already appraised evidence possible, providing answer for time constraints. Tools of EBM like NNT, likelihood ratio have made it generalisable and applicable to individual patient. This article is written to see the advantages of EBM which have made it more meaningful for developing countries with limited resources for research