Nutritional Status of Households of Rural Field Practice Area of a Tertiary Care Hospital in India

Introduction: In the world as a whole there appears to be a shift from under-nourishment towards over-nourishment making more and more children, adolescents, adults and even elderly to be overweight and obese. Objectives: Study aimed to find out the age and sex wise commonness of over-weight & obesity amongst the families of an overtly different socio-economic environment and its trend in the members of one type of families. Materials & Methods: The undergraduate medical students are supposed to maintain record of individual health (including height & weight) of their own family as well as that of the allotted family. The data collected (record maintained ) by students was utilized to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI). Results: Out of total 291 subjects (males 168; females 123) in students own family 28.9% (28.0%; 30.1%) were overweight and 5.9% (6.0%; 5.7%) were obese. The similar figures for 262 subjects (males 143 & females 119) in the allotted families were 20.2% (18.5%; 20.2%) and 6.5% (4.2%; 8.4%) respectively. The respective percentages of under nourished individuals were 18.6 (17.9; 19.5) and 35.5 (37.8; 32.8). Thus over-nutrition was more common amongst the members of students own families (34.8% vs. 26.7%) and under-nutrition was more common amongst the members of allotted families (35.5% vs. 18.6%) For the years 2000-2003, BMI amongst individuals of students own families the under-nutrition in the age group of 15-24 years amongst males increased from 15.9% to 32.9% and over-nutrition from 13.6% to 20.5%. There was no case of overweight and obesity up to the age of 34 years in the previous analysis which was 2.6% in the present analysis Previous results demonstrated overweight to be more common in males (32.4% Vs. 24.4% in females) and obesity being more common females ( 6.3% Vs. 2.6% in females). Conclusion: Males are increasingly becoming prey of malnutrition (adolescents for under-nutrition and adults & elderly for over-nutrition. More studies covering larger samples are required to be conducted on a more frequent basis

Advancing Women, Changing Lives A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Gap Inc. P.A.C.E. Program

Globally the garment industry is one of the biggest employers of low-skilled women workers. Despite their large numbers in the workforce, relatively few female garment workers advance to higher-level positions as they have limited opportunities to acquire the skills that would enable their professional and personal growth. In response to this need, Gap Inc. initiated the P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement) workplace education program to teach women the managerial, interpersonal, organizational and other practical skills needed to move forward in work and in life. This report summarizes findings from program evaluations conducted by ICRW from 2009 - 2013 at six factory sites where P.A.C.E. is implemented - two in India and one each in Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and China.Research findings from these robust, multi-country evaluations demonstrate that P.A.C.E. is an effective, sustainable and scalable model that yields high returns for women, their families and the businesses where they work

Vesical calculus on the end of forgotten DJ stent: a case report

Double J stent provides a convenient way of draining upper urinary tract. However it is associated with many complications of which forgotten stent and associated comorbidity is an important factor. Careful monitoring of patients could exclude any possibility of a stent being forgotten at all. We present a case report of such complication of forgotten stent with formation of stone at the vesical end of DJ stent

Assessing Diastolic Hypertension in Patients of Primary Hypothyroidism among Adults Visiting a Tertiary Care Hospital in North India

Background: Elevation of diastolic BP has been shown in few studies among patients with hypothyroidism. However, the evidence is still obsolete when it comes to Indian settings. This study intends to evaluate association between hypertension and primary hypothyroidism in North Indian population.Methodology: One hundred primary hypothyroid patients (TSH level >5.5) were subjected to a cross-sectional comparative study in a tertiary care hospital in North India from August 2015 to June 2017. Patients had no thyroid complications and were unknown of their blood pressure status. Sociodemographic profile andclinical and laboratory status was evaluated which included blood pressure measurements; lipid profile, kidney function tests, and other vitals were recorded.Results: Individuals with diastolic and overall hypertension had significantly less serum T3 values and high TSH and serum creatinine values as compared to non-hypertensive individuals. Pearson test showed a significant correlation between serum TSH levels with both systolic and diastolic BP.Conclusion: This study showed that both systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased linearly with increasing TSH. Despite the differing estimated prevalence of hypertension in hypothyroidism, there seems to be a positive association of thyroid with BP

Revisiting the Inner Self in Times of Debilitating Distress: Gateways for Wellness Through Spiritual Tourism

The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on our bodies, minds and souls. Having suffered it for more than a year now we know how crucial it is to tackle the pandemic at physical, psychological and spiritual levels. We have well-established Standard Operating Procedures alongside vaccines to deal with it at physical level, but equally crucial are mental and spiritual problems caused by COVID-19 (Chopra, 2020). This paper seeks to explore certain gateways and possibilities of dealing with distress, despair, anxiety, angst, trauma and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in diverse arenas of human activities to ascertain how crucial a role spiritual tourism plays in coping with the challenges we face today. It will also take into account mystical, sufic, yogic, ayurvedic and other meditational practices that represent the richly diverse cultural and spiritual heritage of India. These practices have substantial bearing on the tourism industry by connecting tourists with their deeper, inner selves and thus providing much required spiritual solace. The inclusive and integrative aspect of spiritual and other meditational practices in India will also be underscored to demonstrate how these have been influencing and benefiting the tourism industry in India. Besides enriching the lives of tourists from different countries of the world by providing inner peace and harmony, the tourism industry also equips them with coping strategies to effectively negotiate despair and inner conflicts

Comparison of Eplerenone and Spironolactone in Treatment of Patients with Congestive Heart Failure Visiting a Tertiary Hospital in North India

Background: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a serious clinical condition, with not many established treatment options. Eplerenone (Inspra) is the second aldosterone antagonist commonly used (in preference to Spironolactone) for treatment of hypertension and CHF in the US. Literature for its effectiveness in India is lacking, hence the need for the present study.Methodology: The present cross-sectional, observational study was done among 100 adult patients (>20 years) (50 patients in each study group: Eplerenone and Spironolactone), diagnosed with chronic CHF and poor left ventricle function (ejection fraction <40%) unknown of their blood pressure status. Sociodemographic profile, clinical and laboratory status was evaluated which included blood pressure measurements, lipid profile, kidney function tests, and other vitals. Assessment of parameters was done after 8 weeks of treatment.Results: Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and CK levels showed a significant change over the study duration, with Eplerenone producing a better result than Spironolactone (p<0.05). Remaining parameters showed a non-significant difference.Conclusion: Eplerenone group proved to be associated with a better outcome in hypertension and cardiovascular parameters; however, due to limitations in sample selection, more research is warranted

A robust and forward-Looking industrial production indicator

Against the backdrop of growing criticism of the index of industrial production, which provides information only about the past and sometimes fl uctuates wildly, this article seeks to provide a more robust and forward-looking economic indicator of industrial growth. Such an indicator, based on past IIP numbers, can also serve as a benchmark for future IIP numbers when they are released. Using data on the IIP's three sub-series - manufacturing, mining, and electricity - it seeks to isolate the "noise" from the "signal" in two steps, enabling predictions for the two past months and four months into the future using the latest available IIP numbers in any given month

A retrospective study of antimicrobial resistance pattern of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from urine samples over last three years (2013-2015)

Background: Problem of antibiotic resistance is compounding day by day because of overuse and misuse of antibiotics. There is no systematic national surveillance of antibiotic resistance and insufficient data is available to quantify the problem in our country. This study aims at studying the changing pattern of antimicrobial resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients of urinary tract infections over last three years.Methods: A retrospective, record based study carried out based on the records of C/S (Culture sensitivity) reports of indoor patients, during past three years (2013 - 2015). The types of organisms causing urinary tract infections were noted and the drugs still effective for the Pseudomonas aeruginosa were noted.Results: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is inherently resistant to many antimicrobial agents. Analysis of the results year wise indicated that the lowest percentage of resistance manifested against imipenem was 14%, 24.48% and 20.99% for the years 2013-2015. Resistance for fluoroquinolones decreased over the three consective years from 84.67% (2013) to 78.27% (2015). Over the successive years, the resistance to ceftriaxone tends to increase from 80% (2013) to 92.59% (2015). C/S reports showed on an average 69% were resistant to aminoglycosides. Multi drug resistant pseudomonas percentage resistant to fluoroquinolones, third generation cephalosporines and aminoglycosides were 78% (2013), 78.33% and 80.33% (2015) over the consective years.Conclusions: The antimicrobial resistance patterns are constantly evolving and vary from region to region it has become a necessity to do constant antimicrobial sensitivity surveillance. This will help clinicians to provide safe and effective empirical therapies