A study of prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus using ankle-brachial index and its correlation with coronary artery disease and its risk factors

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is one of the macrovascular complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). There is significant difference in the reported prevalence of PAD and its associated risk factors between Indian and Western studies. The purpose of this study was to examine the PAD complicating T2DM, in particular the influence of PAD on the risk of CAD.Methods: Randomly selected 100 T2DM patients presented to Guru Nanak Dev hospital were included. In addition to a detailed history and physical examination, anthropometric parameters like body mass index was measured. CAD in patients was diagnosed by a history of angina, ECG changes, any past history of CAD or any treatment taken for CAD. Ankle brachial index (ABI) was measured. Data was collected systematically and analyzed according to the standard statistical methods.Results: The prevalence of PAD was 15%. CAD was present in 31%. PAD was found to be significantly correlated with age, duration of diabetes, smoking, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, prevalence of BMI >25 kg/m2, HbA1c and serum HDL ≤40 mg%. Old age, high HbA1c level, and dyslipidaemia were found to be significant independent predictors of CAD.Conclusions: Using ABI authors found evidence of PAD in 15% patients of T2DM. The prevalence of CAD was higher in patients with PAD. So, there is definite and strong correlation between PAD and CAD. Thus, the early diagnosis of PAD should alert the clinician to a high probability of underlying CAD

Sikh self-definition and the Bhagat Bani

Bibliography: p. 119-124

The Reverberation of the Sacred Gurbani’s Vibrations at the Darbar Sahib: The Issue of Its Television Broadcasting

This essay will examine the contemporary issue of the television broadcasting of the sacred Gurbani from the Darbar Sahib to set the stage for understanding the historical context of the musical sessions (chauṅkīs) of devotional singing, followed by the process of decolonizing the musical performances in modern times, including religious aesthetics and sacred time and the processional chauṅkīs in the Darbar Sahib Complex. The continuous singing of the Guru’s hymns (Gurbani kirtan) resounds inside the Darbar Sahib (“the Divine Court”), popularly known as the Golden Temple of Amritsar. This special mode of worship consists of singing and listening to the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs. The heart of Sikh devotional experience lies in the performance of scriptural hymns in a congregational setting. Notably, different sessions of devotional singing go on day and night from 2.45 a.m. to 10.45 p.m. at the Golden Temple, following a celebrated tradition established more than four centuries ago by the Fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan. Even during the four-hour period of cleaning the sanctum sanctorum at midnight, the devotees recite hymns from memory, thereby making the Darbar Sahib a unique place where vibrations of sacred sound reverberate continuously for twenty-four hours a day

Introduction to Special Issue: Exploring Sikh Traditions and Heritage

It was quite an exciting moment when the Religions Editorial Office reached out to me to be a guest editor of a Special Issue (SI) on a broad theme of “Exploring Sikh Traditions and Heritage” for the celebrated Open Access Online Journal, Religions [...

How Avoiding the Religion–Politics Divide Plays out in Sikh Politics

This article looks at the intersection of religion and politics in the evolution of the Sikh tradition in the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods in the Indian subcontinent. The Sikh notion of sovereignty is at the heart of the intersection of religious and secular domains, and this relationship is examined empirically and theoretically. In particular, the conception of mīrī-pīrī is presented as a possible explanation for understanding the ‘new developments’ in contemporary Sikh politics in India