Neurological burden in Baluchistan province, Pakistan

Total population of Balochistan is about13.16 million, while there are only nine qualified Neurologists in the whole province who look after not only neurological disorders of the province, but also patients from nearby countries like Afghanistan and Iran. The common neurological disorders are Stroke, Neuropathies, Myopathies, Epilepsy, Migraine, SSPE, Multiple Sclerosis, Meningitis, Myasthenia Gravis, Parkinson\u27s disease and infectious diseases especially Tuberculosis, which is very common

A review of brain death protocols across the globe and need for brain death guideline for Pakistan.

The concept of brain death was first formally presented in United States of America in 1968 (Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School to examine the definition of Brain Death, 1968) in part to facilitate organ donation. It is a widely accepted term in most countries but some like Japan do not consider it as death. According toAAN, brain death is defined as death due to irreversible loss of function of the entire brain — comparable to circulatory death, which is defined as irreversible loss of function of the circulatory system. The purpose of our study is to review brain death protocols from various parts of the world to ultimately formulate a concise brain death protocol for Pakistan

Neurological disorders and disability in Pakistan: A cross-sectional multicenter study

Background/objective: The aim of this study is to identify frequencies of various neurological disorders (NDs) and associated disability in patients attending neurologic clinics in rural and urban centers in Pakistan. Methods: This is an observational study conducted in 39 neurological centers in both rural and urban areas, public and private health sectors all over Pakistan. This study was conducted between august 2017 to December 2019. Results: A total of 28,845 adults were enrolled. Mean age of the study participants was 46.2 ± 17.2 years, 15,252 (52.9%) were men and 13,593 (47.1%) were women. Most common comorbid medical condition was hypertension 7622(26.4%) followed by Diabetes 3409(11.8%). Among neurological diagnoses, vascular diseases (20%) were the most common followed by Headache disorders (18.6%), Epilepsy (12.5%), nerve and root diseases (12.4%), Psychiatric diseases (10%), Dementias (8%) and movement disorders (7.9%). Half of the patients 15,503(53.7%) had no neurological disability, while minor disability was present in 10,442(36.2%) of cases. Moderate to severe disability was present in 2876(10%) cases. Headache disorders, psychiatric diseases, muscle pain/muscle related disorders and demyelinating diseases were more common in women. Vascular diseases, movement disorders and Dementias were more common in 46 years and above age group whereas headache disorders, Epilepsy and Psychiatric disorders were more prevalent in \u3c46 years age groups. Conclusion: Vascular diseases are the most common presentation of patients in neurology clinics followed by headache disorders and epilepsies. Minor disability was present in 36% while moderate to severe disability was present in 10% case