Ethnomedicinal Plants Used in the Health Care System: Survey of the Mid Hills of Solan District, Himachal Pradesh, India

The study was performed in the mid hills of the Dharampur region in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. At the study site, a total of 115 medicinal plants were documented (38 trees, 37 herbs, 34 shrubs, 5 climbers, 1 fern, and 1 grass). In the study region, extensive field surveys were performed between March 2020 and August 2021. Indigenous knowledge of wild medicinal plants was collected through questionnaires, discussions, and personal interviews during field trips. Plants with their correct nomenclature were arranged by botanical name, family, common name, habitat, parts used, routes used, and diseases treated. In the present study, the predominant family was Rosaceae, which represented the maximum number of plant species, 10, followed by Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, which represented 8 plant species. The rural inhabitants of the Dharampur region in the Solan district have been using local plants for primary health care and the treatment of various diseases for a longer time. However, information related to the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants was not documented. The rural inhabitants of the Dharampur region reported that the new generation is not so interested in traditional knowledge of medicinal plants due to modernization in society, so there is an urgent need to document ethnomedicinal plants before such knowledge becomes inaccessible and extinct

Therapeutic Uses of Wild Plants by Rural Inhabitants of Maraog Region in District Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

The main aim of this study is to document important ethnomedicinal plants from the Maraog region, located in the district of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, India. A total of 110 medicinal plant species belonging to 102 genera and 57 families were reported from the study site. All of the species were collected from wild habitats. The rural people of the Maraog region were surveyed through interview methods, group discussions, and participatory observations. In the current study, data were collected from 88 informants through the snowball method. A total of 110 plant species were collected from the study area, including 64 herbs, 24 shrubs, 9 trees, 5 climbers, 3 grasses, and 5 ferns. Most of the plant species, reported from the study area, belong to the Rosaceae and Asteraceae families, each contributing 12 plant species, followed by the Lamiaceae family with 6 plant species. The most used part of the plant in the preparation of herbal medications is the leaves, which have been reported in 62 plants, followed by roots in 14 plants, and flowers and other aerial parts in 9 plants. The ethnomedicinal data were analyzed using “Use Value,” a statistical quantitative method, with Artemisia vestita having the highest use value (1.00), followed by Cannabis sativa (0.79), Rhododendron arboreum (0.79), and Datura stramonium (0.71). Older people were found to have a vast knowledge of wild medicinal plants, while the younger generation’s knowledge was lacking. As a result, traditional knowledge about the use of plants as a source of medicine has decreased day-by-day.Therefore, there is a need to document traditional ethnobotanical knowledge. The data could serve as a basis for research by pharmacological and nutraceutical industries for the development of novel drugs

Comparison of Neurological Healthcare Oriented Educational Resources for Patients on the Internet.

The internet has become a major contributor to health literacy promotion. The average American reads at 7th-8th grade level and it is recommended to write patient education materials at or below 6th grade reading level. We tried to assess the level of literacy required to read and understand online patient education materials (OPEM) for neurological diseases from various internet resources. We then compared those to an assumed reference OPEM source, namely the patient education brochures from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), the world\u27s largest professional association of neurologists. Disease specific patient education brochures were downloaded from the AAN website. OPEM for these diseases were also accessed from other common online sources determined using a predefined criterion. All OPEM were converted to Microsoft Word (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA) and their reading level was analyzed using Readability Studio Professional Edition version 2012.1 (Oleander Software, Vandalia, OH, USA). Descriptive analysis and analysis of variance were used to compare reading levels of OPEM from different resources. Medline Plus, Mayo clinic and Wikipedia qualified for OPEM analysis. All OPEM from these resources, including the AAN, were written above the recommended 6th grade reading level. They were also found to be fairly difficult , difficult or confusing on the Flesch Reading Ease scale. AAN OPEM on average needed lower reading level, with Wikipedia OPEM being significantly (

Extra operative intracranial EEG monitoring for epilepsy surgery in elderly patients

Object: The objective of the study is to investigate and report our experience with extra operative intracranial EEG monitoring for evaluation of epilepsy surgery among elderly (≥60 years) patients. Methods: After IRB approval, we searched our prospectively maintained epilepsy surgery database to find patients who underwent eiEEG at the age of 60 years or older. Electronic medical records were reviewed to extract clinical and surgery-related information. Patients who underwent resective epilepsy surgery after eiEEG and had at least 1 year of clinical follow-up were assessed for seizure outcome. Categorical and continuous variables were compared using Pearson chi-square and Student's t-test, respectively. Results: A total of 21 patients, with 13 (62%) women, underwent eiEEG in our center at the age of 60 years or older. The mean age at time of implantation was 63.8 ± 2.7 years. Sub-dural grids (SDG) were implanted in five (24%) patients, whereas sixteen (76%) patients underwent stereo-EEG (SEEG) implantation. Median number of contacts in SDG were 106 (56–136) and depth electrodes in SEEG were 12 (9–14). There were 2 complications, including one mortality due to intracerebral hemorrhage. Sixteen (76%) patients underwent respective epilepsy surgery after eiEEG and eleven (69%) achieved Engel class I outcome on the last follow-up [mean follow-up duration of 2.7 (± 1.8) years]. Conclusion: We noticed an increased utilization of eiEEG in elderly patients after the introduction of SEEG at our center. Overall, we found that eiEEG can help achieve good seizure outcomes in the elderly population. However, the one eiEEG-related mortality serves a word of caution about the potential risks in this population. Keywords: Epilepsy surgery, Elderly, Intracranial recording, SEEG, Subdural electrodes, Outcom

Bilateral independent periodic discharges are associated with electrographic seizures and poor outcome: a case-control study

Objective: To identify clinical correlates of BIPDs, their association with seizures and their prognostic significance. Background: Bilateral independent periodic discharges (BIPDs) is an increasingly recognized EEG pattern in the critically ill but its clinical correlates, and association with electrographic seizures and outcome are uncertain. Design/Methods: A retrospective casecontrol study of patients with BIPDs compared to two control groups, one without periodic discharges (?No PDs?) and one with lateralized periodic discharges on only one side (?LPDs?), all matched for age, etiology and level of alertness. Univariate and multivariate statistics were applied. Results: 85 cases and 85 controls were included in each group. The most frequent etiologies of BIPDs were ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke (25%), CNS infections (10%), and anoxic brain injury (10%). 77 (91%) patients with BIPDs had stupor or coma, including 31% in coma. Electrographic seizures were more common in the BIPDs group than No PDs group (45% vs. 8%;