Morbidity profile of 2 months-5years children according to IMNCI classification in paediatrics outpatient department of tertiary care hospital, Joka, Kolkata, India

Background: Every year, more than 10 million children die in developing countries before they reach their fifth birthday. Seven in 10 of these deaths are due to acute respiratory infections mostly pneumonia, diarrhoea, measles, malnutrition & combination of these illnesses. The rationale of our study is to assess the profile of childhood illness in the paediatrics out- patient department at ESI-PGIMSR and MC, Joka, Kolkata, India so that the same burden can be minimised & to promote healthy upbringing of children below five years of age.Methods: This was an observational study of cross-sectional design conducted among the mother-child pair (child belonging to the age group of 2 months-5 years) visiting Pediatrics OPD during the study period i.e. 4 weeks. Convenience sampling method was used. The participants whose guardians did not give consent for the study & were seriously ill were excluded from this study.  A pre-designed and pre-tested interview schedule was used. After giving a brief introduction about the topic, verbal consent was taken & face to face interview was conducted in local language. Data was compiled & computed in SPSS software version 20.Results: According to the IMNCI classification, 15.9% of the study subjects had severe pneumonia, 17.8% had pneumonia. 1.9% of the study subjects had severe dehydration. None of the respondents presented with some dehydration. Only 1% of the respondents presented with anemia. 4.9% of the respondents presented with severe malnutrition, 13.8% of them had malnutrition according to IMNCI classification.31.7% of the respondents had primary immunisation.67.3% of them had been breastfed. Among them 41.2% of them were breastfed 8 times & more a day.92% of them had supplementary feeding as rice, 33.3% of them had supplementary feeding as baby food. 69.3% of them had complained of change in food habit during illness.Conclusions: Proper counselling to parents regarding prevention of common morbidities like pneumonia, diarrhoea, malnutrition etc. should be provided at each and every possible hospital contact. Awareness about danger signs & symptoms of urgent hospitalisation should be imparted using pamphlets or other health educational materials. Health workers also should undergo proper training so that proper classification of the conditions as well as efficient management could be provided

ETHNOMEDICINAL, PHYTOCHEMICAL, AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF GENUS ACANTHUS

Acanthus (family Acanthaceae) is a genus of the major group angiosperms (flowering plants) comprising more than 29 species widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical region. The aim of this review is to offer thorough scientific information on ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemical, and pharmacological activities of the plant species belonging to the genus Acanthus. Numerous traditional uses of the genus have been supported in this article from the results, and executed by the extracts and/or pure compounds obtained from pharmacological studies will provide a single platform to help future researches on the genus Acanthus. Furthermore, ethnomedicinal evaluation using fractions or isolation of medicinal principles was extensively explored by databases like Google, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect at the same time.Â

Internet addiction among medical undergraduates in a medical college of West Bengal- a cross-sectional study

Background: The era of 21st century is burdened with internet usage worldwide specially in the developing countries such as India. Internet addiction has been related to physical, social, psychological impairment. Aim& Objectives: To find out the prevalence of internet addiction among the medical students and the effect of internet addiction on health status among them. Settings and Design: This was an observational descriptive study of cross-sectional design conducted in a tertiary medical college of West Bengal. Material & Methods: All the undergraduate medical students were approached and interview was done using interview schedule consisting of sociodemographic characteristics, Young’s criteria of internet addiction test and Duke’s health profile screening test. Statistical analysis used: Data was analysed using SPSS version 20&presented in percentages, mean with standard deviation, ANOVA with Tukey’s Post-hoc test. Results: Total of 201 participants responded giving a response rate of about 50%. The distribution of respondents as per Young’s criteria of internet addiction which showed that majority of the respondents were mild addicted (58.7%) & moderate addicted (15%).Comparison of Duke health profile score across various internet addicts where physical health score differs significantly among the non-addicted (81.42+20.02) vs mildly addicted (67+20.36)& moderately addicted (63.31+ 20.15) participants (p=0.00). Mental health score also differs considerably among the non-addicts (78.16+18.36) vs mildly addicts (67+18.28) & moderately addicts (61.87+18.33) (p= 0.00). Conclusions: A good number of medical students were addicted to internet that requires timely remedial action. Educational institutions had to formulate strategies so that proper action could be taken

ETHNOMEDICINAL, PHYTOCHEMICAL, AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF GENUS ACANTHUS

Acanthus (family Acanthaceae) is a genus of the major group angiosperms (flowering plants) comprising more than 29 species widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical region. The aim of this review is to offer thorough scientific information on ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemical, and pharmacological activities of the plant species belonging to the genus Acanthus. Numerous traditional uses of the genus have been supported in this article from the results, and executed by the extracts and/or pure compounds obtained from pharmacological studies will provide a single platform to help future researches on the genus Acanthus. Furthermore, ethnomedicinal evaluation using fractions or isolation of medicinal principles was extensively explored by databases like Google, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect at the same time.Â

Prevalence and risk factors of hypertension with thyroid dysfunction among indian adults: Synthesis from national family health survey (2015-16)

Background: Thyroid dysfunction (TD) is considered a common cause of secondary hypertension (HT). Therefore, correcting TD may help in quicker and sustained achievement of desired blood pressure goals. However, there is a paucity of literature from India which estimates the relationship of HT with TD. Objectives: The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of TD with HT and to identify associated factors among Indian population. Materials and Methods: The survey data of the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4), conducted in India during 2015–2016, were analyzed using R statistical software for estimating the relationship between a history of HT and TD among women (N = 687246) aged 15–49 years and men (N = 108492) aged 15–54 years. Descriptive statistical tests and logistic regression were applied. Results: Among the persons suffering from the TD, the prevalence of HT was 32.8%, which was significantly higher than the prevalence of HT (21.9%) in euthyroid individuals. Further, the prevalence of TD was higher among hypertensive adults (2.5%) compared to nonhypertensive (1.5%). Conclusions: The study reported a higher prevalence of TD among the hypertensive persons and higher prevalence of HT among cases of TD. Therefore, screening for thyroid disorders should be routinely considered for better management of HT

Evaluation of bioavailability of three extracts of a less known ethno-medicinal plant, Thottea tomentosa from Assam

Plants of the genus Thottea have been established as wild ethno-medicinal plants. The plant, Thottea tomentosa also has the illness recuperative property. However there are no such reports so far on the solvent polarity base performances of the plant.  Hence, the current work deals with the assessment of bioavailabilities like qualitative phyto-chemical screening, antioxidant efficiency, total phenol contents, total flavonoid contents and antimicrobial activity using various solvents of diverse polarities like hexane, chloroform, and methanol. Qualitative phyto-chemical screening exposes the stem part contains more phyto-chemicals than that of the leaf. In addition, phenolic compositions of methanol extract of stem and leaf; 374.99 ± 3.84 and 260.55 ± 4.00 mg GAE /g extract respectively comprises with a correlation between antioxidant activities of methanol extract of the stem and leaf (DPPH; IC50 202.39 ± 0.92 and 254.37 ± 1.47 µg/ml respectively). Thus, probable antimicrobial activities of methanol extract of stem and leaf were also study, than that of other extracts. Methanol stem extract against the microbes; Bacillus subtilis (MTCC 1427), Escherichia coli (MTCC 1195), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 1688), Staphylococcus aureus susp.aureus (MTCC 1430), Streptococcus pneumonie (MTCC 2672),  Aspergillus niger (Lab isolates) and Candida albicans (MTCC 4748) exhibited highest zone of inhabitation (ZOI); 17.66 ± 1.45, 15.66 ± 0.88, 18.66 ± 0.66, 17.66 ± 1.45  19.33 ± 0.66 mm, 15.00 ± 1.15 and 14.66 ± 1.20 mm, respectively at concentration 20 mg/ml. Therefore, these results indicate that T. tomentosa can be satisfying the dietetic demand for the food and drug production