Level of Understanding, Information Needs and Practices of Adolescent Girls about Selected Puberty Related Health and Nutrition Problems

Introduction: Adolescents comprise one-fifth of the Indian population.1 Adolescent girls represent one of the most vulnerable sections of the society. Their felt needs pertaining to routine health problems remain unaddressed. Objective: To ascertain the level of understanding, information needs and practices of rural and urban adolescent girls of Chandigarh about puberty-related health and nutrition problems. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study with a sample size of 120 girls (30 from each of the two schools of urban area and two schools of rural area, U.T. Chandigarh). Multi-stage sampling was done. Data was collected by means of a self-administered, structured questionnaire constituting elements on level of information regarding puberty, nutrition and related health problems, practices and needs. Data analysis was done through Epidata and SPSS statistical software. Results: Many respondents (43.3%) reported menstruation as the most disturbing factor followed by changes in body shape (e.g. appearance of pubic hair) and size. Some (28.3% rural and 40% urban girls) reported the problem of acne while fatty body was major problem for rural girls. Excess facial hair growth was also reported by many (21.7% urban and 6.7% rural) girls. More than 70% girls experienced pain during menstruation. Hygienic practices including usage and disposal of sanitary pads were found to be adequate. Conclusion: Hygienic practices and usage of sanitary pads was found to be adequate but the girls got disturbed due to various puberty-related health problems. There were many lifestyle issues that existed among the respondents such as lack of physical activity, obesity, acne, facial hair growth, dysmenorrhea, irregular menses, etc. Also some girls were suffering from low self-esteem due to the above cited problems. Recommendation: A lot has been done on menstruation, its awareness and hygiene. Now, the time is to focus on associated issues and problems

The development and validation of a scoring tool to predict the operative duration of elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The ability to accurately predict operative duration has the potential to optimise theatre efficiency and utilisation, thus reducing costs and increasing staff and patient satisfaction. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy being one of the most commonly performed procedures worldwide, a tool to predict operative duration could be extremely beneficial to healthcare organisations. Methods: Data collected from the CholeS study on patients undergoing cholecystectomy in UK and Irish hospitals between 04/2014 and 05/2014 were used to study operative duration. A multivariable binary logistic regression model was produced in order to identify significant independent predictors of long (> 90 min) operations. The resulting model was converted to a risk score, which was subsequently validated on second cohort of patients using ROC curves. Results: After exclusions, data were available for 7227 patients in the derivation (CholeS) cohort. The median operative duration was 60 min (interquartile range 45–85), with 17.7% of operations lasting longer than 90 min. Ten factors were found to be significant independent predictors of operative durations > 90 min, including ASA, age, previous surgical admissions, BMI, gallbladder wall thickness and CBD diameter. A risk score was then produced from these factors, and applied to a cohort of 2405 patients from a tertiary centre for external validation. This returned an area under the ROC curve of 0.708 (SE = 0.013, p  90 min increasing more than eightfold from 5.1 to 41.8% in the extremes of the score. Conclusion: The scoring tool produced in this study was found to be significantly predictive of long operative durations on validation in an external cohort. As such, the tool may have the potential to enable organisations to better organise theatre lists and deliver greater efficiencies in care

Cultivating Holistic Health and Wellness among the Adolescent Girls through a Padman-Like Initiative in Chandigarh Schools via an Information Booklet

Introduction: Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health.1 Adolescent girls should also be enabled to increase control over their health. We need to mediate on their behalf to ensure easy access to relevant information and care related to health problems of adolescent girls. Objectives: (1) To ascertain the information needs about puberty-related health problems among the adolescent school-going girls of Chandigarh. (2) To develop, validate and introduce an educational booklet among the adolescent school-going girls addressing their healthcare needs in a holistic way. Methodology: A preliminary study was conducted from Jan 2015 to May 2015 in four schools of Chandigarh (30 girls from each school). Based on the results of this study, a comprehensive booklet has been developed, validated and published covering all the puberty-related aspects of girls in a holistic way. The booklet will be introduced in 52 schools of UT Chandigarh - 26 government and 26 private schools. 16 schools have been covered till date. Results: The major problems faced by girls at puberty include irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, excess facial hair growth, obesity and acne. The booklet was developed and validated by 10 experts and 14 respondents with validation score ranging from 8 to 10. The booklet was then introduced among 16 schools and the response was quite good and encouraging. Teachers even asked for extra copies of the booklet and said “Hum library funds utilize karke aur books mangwa lenge”. Conclusion: The girls showed eagerness to know about their health problems. There is a great demand for the information booklet as it seemed to be a handy helpline for girls to solve their many health problems.

A Review on Venom Enzymes Neutralizing Ability of Secondary Metabolites from Medicinal Plants

Objectives: Medicinal plants are vital sources of bioactive compounds that are useful for the treatment of patients with snake bites or are indirectly applicable for boosting the effects of conventional serum therapy. These plants are being used traditionally by local healers and tribes for the treatment of patients with snake bites and therefore can be used as an alternative against snake envenomation. Scientifically, using the secondary metabolites of plants to neutralize venom enzymes has an extra benefit of being based on traditional knowledge; also, the use of such metabolites for the treatment of patients with snake bites is cheaper and the treatment can be started sooner. Methods: All the available information on various secondary metabolites exhibiting venom neutralizing ability were collected via electronic search (using Google books, Pubmed, SciFinder, Scirus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science) and articles of peer-reviewed journals. Results: Recent interest in different plant has focused on isolating and identifying of different phytoconstituents that exhibit Phospholipase A2 activity and other venom enzyme neutralizing ability. In this support convincing evidence in experimental animal models are available. Conclusion: Secondary metabolites are naturally present, have no side effect, are stable for a long time, can be easily stored, and can neutralize a wide range of snake enzymes, such as phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase, protease, L-amino acid oxidase, 5’nucleotidase, etc. The current review presents a compilation of important plant secondary metabolites that are effective against snake venom due to enzyme neutralization

Corilagin in Cancer: A Critical Evaluation of Anticancer Activities and Molecular Mechanisms

Corilagin (β-1-O-galloyl-3,6-(R)-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-d-glucose), an ellagitannin, is one of the major bioactive compounds present in various plants. Ellagitannins belong to the hydrolyzable tannins, a group of polyphenols. Corilagin shows broad-spectrum biological, and therapeutic activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and antitumor actions. Natural compounds possessing antitumor activities have attracted significant attention for treatment of cancer. Corilagin has shown inhibitory activity against the growth of numerous cancer cells by prompting cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and augmented apoptosis. Corilagin-induced apoptosis and autophagic cell death depends on production of intracellular reactive oxygen species in breast cancer cell line. It blocks the activation of both the canonical Smad and non-canonical extracellular-signal-regulated kinase/Akt (protein kinase B) pathways. The potential apoptotic action of corilagin is mediated by altered expression of procaspase-3, procaspase-8, procaspase-9, poly (ADP ribose) polymerase, and Bcl-2 Bax. In nude mice, corilagin suppressed cholangiocarcinoma growth and downregulated the expression of Notch1 and mammalian target of rapamycin. The aim of this review is to summarize the anticancer efficacy of corilagin with an emphasis on the molecular mechanisms involving various signaling pathways in tumor cells

Beneficial Effects of Dietary Polyphenols on Gut Microbiota and Strategies to Improve Delivery Efficiency

The human intestine contains an intricate ecological community of dwelling bacteria, referred to as gut microbiota (GM), which plays a pivotal role in host homeostasis. Multiple factors could interfere with this delicate balance, including genetics, age, antibiotics, as well as environmental factors, particularly diet, thus causing a disruption of microbiota equilibrium (dysbiosis). Growing evidence support the involvement of GM dysbiosis in gastrointestinal (GI) and extra-intestinal cardiometabolic diseases, namely obesity, and diabetes. This review firstly overviews the role of GM in health and disease, then critically reviews the evidence regarding the influence of dietary polyphenols in GM based on preclinical and clinical data, ending with strategies under development to improve the efficiency of delivery. Although the precise mechanisms deserve further clarification, preclinical and clinical data suggest that dietary polyphenols present prebiotic properties and exert antimicrobial activities against pathogenic GM, having benefits in distinct disorders. Specifically, dietary polyphenols have been shown the ability to modulate GM composition and function, interfering with bacterial quorum sensing, membrane permeability, as well as sensitizing bacteria to xenobiotics. In addition, can impact gut metabolism and immunity and exert anti-inflammatory properties. In order to overcome the low bioavailability, several different approaches have been developed, aiming to improve the solubility and transport of dietary polyphenols throughout the GI tract and deliver in the targeted intestinal regions. Although more research is still needed, particularly translational and clinical studies, the biotechnological progress achieved during the last years opens up good perspectives to, in a near future, be able to improve the use of dietary polyphenols modulating GM in a broad range of disorders characterized by a dysbiotic phenotype