Myths and taboos in dentistry

Background: India, a developing country, faces many challenges in rendering health needs to its countrymen. The influence of culture is seen in every discipline of health and medical practices, and dentistry is no exception. This study was performed to investigate the existence of myths and taboos in dentistry, to assess the variation of these myths across various demographic aspects and socio-economic status, to co-relate the existence of myths with the oral health of the subject and to impart education to the people regarding abolishing the myth as that will be a hindrance towards a healthy life in patients.  Methods: The study had a cross-sectional design, used a structured questionnaire and was conducted to assess the existence of dental myths and taboos and to determine its correlation with the OHIS index of the patients. Statistical analysis software SPSS V 16.0 was used. Descriptive & inferential statistical analysis was performed on categorical and continuous data. Chi-square, independent sample T tests and ANOVA test were used to compare the distribution of caries and OHI-S between different groups. P value less than 0.05 (p<0.05) was considered to be significant. Socioeconomic status was also calculated.Results: In the present study it was found that the there was almost an equal distribution of prevalence of myths in the educated as well as uneducated patients .Also the ratio of existence of myths was found higher in females as compared to males.Conclusions: Existence of myths and taboos regarding dental health has started decreasing among the urban population due to the widespread of awareness regarding dentistry.But still there is prevalence of some myths in the patients having primary education as compared to patients having secondary and tertiary education. If community is educated about proper prevention and cure, the myths relating dental concepts will vanish from the society and over all dental health status of the community will improve

Electron localization in substituted derivatives of poly(aniline)

298-302Aromatic ring substituted and N-substituted derivatives of poly(aniline) have been synthesized. Their electronic spectra, magnetic properties, ESR and electrical conductivity data have been presented and (discussed in terms of electron localization due to substituent in the ring of poly(aniline)

Pilot Study for Correlation of Heart Rate Variability and Dopamine Transporter Brain Imaging in Patients with Parkinsonian Syndrome

Background: Parkinsonian syndrome (PS) is a broad category of neurodegenerative movement disorders that includes Parkinson disease, multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration. Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder with loss of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra and, thus, dysfunction of the nigrostriatal pathway. In addition to the motor symptoms of bradykinesia, rigidity, tremors, and postural instability, nonmotor symptoms such as autonomic dysregulation (AutD) can also occur. Heart rate variability (HRV) has been used as a measure of AutD and has shown to be prognostic in diseases such as diabetes mellitus and cirrhosis, as well as PD. I-123 ioflupane, a gamma ray-emitting radiopharmaceutical used in single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), is used to measure the loss of dopaminergic neurons in PD. Through the combination of SPECT and HRV, we tested the hypothesis that asymmetrically worse left-sided neuronal loss would cause greater AutD. Methods: 51 patients were enrolled on the day of their standard of care I-123 ioflupane scan for the work-up of possible Parkinsonian syndrome. Demographic information, medical and medication history, and ECG data were collected. HRV metrics were extracted from the ECG data. I-123 ioflupane scans were interpreted by a board-certified nuclear radiologist and quantified by automated software to generate striatal binding ratios (SBRs). Statistical analyses were performed to find correlations between the HRV and SPECT parameters. Results: 32 patients were excluded from the final analysis because of normal scans, prior strokes, cardiac disorders and procedures, or cancer. Abnormal I-123 ioflupane scans were clustered using T-SNE, and one-way ANOVA was performed to compare HRV and SBR parameters. The analysis was repeated after the exclusion of patients taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, given the known mechanism on autonomic function. Subsequent analysis showed a significant difference between the high-frequency domains of heart rate variability, asymmetry of the caudate SBR, and putamen-to-caudate SBR. Conclusion: Our results support the hypothesis that more imbalanced (specifically worse left-sided) neuronal loss results in greater AutD. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]