Prevalence and correlates of hunger among private aided secondary school children in Bangalore

Background: Literacy is an indispensable minimum condition for development of India, but it is far from sufficient. The Gross Enrolment Ratio of class I to X is 94.4 per cent and the dropout rate is 52.8%. There are many reasons for school dropouts, Hunger plays a major role. Hence the present report focus on the prevalence and factors associated with hunger among private aided secondary school children in Bangalore. Methods: This study involved secondary analysis of data from the PhD research project i.e. Effectiveness of Adolescent Health Education Programme on Health among adolescents, which was conducted from 2010 to 2015 at Bangalore, Karnataka, India to estimate the prevalence of  self-reported hunger within the last 30 days among primary and secondary school age group.Results: Total of 204 students data were analysed. The overall prevalence of self reported hunger was 14.7%.  Results revealed that age, dietary pattern and use of soap for hand washing had significant association with hunger.  Conclusion: Hunger among school children is an crucial public health issue in India, which in turn affect the literacy rate, productivity and overall growth of the nation. It is high time for the government and other stake holders to take necessary steps to eradicate hunger from world.Â

A Community Based Study on Menstrual Hygiene among Reproductive Age Group Women in a Rural Area, Tamil Nadu

Background: Women suffer due to their ignorance on hygienic requirement during menstruation. Hygiene‑related practices of women during menstruation are of considerable importance, as it has a health impact in terms of increased vulnerability to reproductive tract infections (RTI). Aims: This study aims to assess the hygienic practices during menstruation and influence of socio-demographic factors on menstrual hygienic practices among women of reproductive age-group. Subjects and Methods: It is a cross‑sectional community‑based study conducted among 200 women of reproductive age group (15-45 years) in a rural field practice area, VMKV Medical college, Salem in Oct–Dec 2013 by using simple random sampling technique. Using structured pretested questionnaire, women were interviewed regarding their sociodemographic history and menstrual hygiene practices. Result: Majority of study population, 36% (72/200) belonged to the 21-30 year age group. About 75% (150/200) were married. Majority of women were unskilled workers 35% (70/200), had primary education 43.3% (86/200), and 54.3% (108/200) belonged to lower middle class. The mean age of menarche among the reproductive age‑group women was 13.15 years. Majority of women 51.8% (104/200) used cloth during menstruation; about 45.7% (91/200) used the same cloth by washing and reusing every month. There was a significant influence of sociodemographic factors and hygienic practices during menstruation (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Most women were found to follow unhygienic practices. Hence, efforts such as improving female literacy and health education regarding the various risk factors should be made by the policy makers to increase menstrual hygiene among rural population. Keywords: Menstrual hygiene, reproductive age‑group women, rural are

Hearing impairment risk and interaction of folate metabolism related gene polymorphisms in an aging study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent investigations demonstrated many genetic contributions to the development of human age-related hearing impairment (ARHI), however, reports of factors associated with a reduction in the ARHI risk are rare. Folate metabolism is essential for cellular functioning. Despite the extensive investigations regarding the roles of folate metabolism related gene polymorphisms in the pathophysiology of complex diseases, such as cancer, cardio-cerebrovascular disease, and atherosclerosis, little is known about the association with ARHI. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the methionine synthase (MTR) A2756G and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T gene polymorphisms on the risk of hearing impairment in middle-aged and elderly Japanese.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected from community-dwelling Japanese adults aged 40-84 years who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Aging biennially between 1997 and 2008. We analyzed cumulative data (5,167 samples in accumulated total) using generalized estimating equations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The MTHFR 677T allele was significantly associated with a reduced risk of hearing impairment only when the subjects were wild-type homozygotes for MTR A2756G. The per-T allele odds ratio of MTHFR for the risk of developing hearing impairment was 0.7609 (95% CI: 0.6178-0.9372) in the MTR AA genotype. In addition, a subgroup analysis demonstrated that the favorable effect of the MTHFR 677T allele on the risk of developing hearing impairment was independent of folate and homocysteine level, whereas plasma total homocysteine level was independently associated with an increased risk of developing hearing impairment. The interactive effect of gene polymorphisms associated with folate metabolism may modify the risk of developing hearing impairment after middle age. These results contribute to the elucidation of the causes of ARHI.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study has found that the MTHFR 677T allele has a favorable effect on a risk of hearing impairment in the middle-aged and elderly population, only when the individuals were wild-type homozygotes for MTR A2756G.</p

Targeting the hypoxic fraction of tumours using hypoxia activated prodrugs

The presence of a microenvironment within most tumours containing regions of low oxygen tension or hypoxia has profound biological and therapeutic implications. Tumour hypoxia is known to promote the development of an aggressive phenotype, resistance to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is strongly associated with poor clinical outcome. Paradoxically, it is recognised as a high priority target and one therapeutic strategies designed to eradicate hypoxic cells in tumours are a group of compounds known collectively as hypoxia activated prodrugs (HAPs) or bioreductive drugs. These drugs are inactive prodrugs that require enzymatic activation (typically by 1 or 2 electron oxidoreductases) to generate cytotoxic species with selectivity for hypoxic cells being determined by (i) the ability of oxygen to either reverse or inhibit the activation process and (ii) the presence of elevated expression of oxidoreductases in tumours. The concepts underpinning HAP development were established over 40 years ago and have been refined over the years to produce a new generation of HAPs that are under preclinical and clinical development. The purpose of this article is to describe current progress in the development of HAPs focusing on the mechanisms of action, preclinical properties and clinical progress of leading examples

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