Ageusia associated to treatment with amitriptyline and terbinafine

Ageusia is a rare condition characterized by loss of taste functions of the tongue.A large number of conditions may be responsible for causing ageusia. Adverseeffects of drug therapy are the most common cause for the loss of taste. Ageusiacan have a significant effect on the quality of life of patients and can lead to lossof appetite, weight, and may require discontinuation of drug administration inalready compromised patients. We present two cases of ageusia one associated withamitriptyline in a patient with endogenous depression and the other with terbinafinein patient with tinea unguium

Introduction of case-based learning to teach Pharmacology to second year MBBS students

Background: Our medical education system has various limitations. In the initial few years of medical education, the focus is more on teaching the theoretical aspect of various subjects and not to apply the knowledge gained to practice. It is important to stimulate a student’s analytic thinking and provide them with an opportunity to see theory in practice. In case-based learning (CBL) a case acts as a stimulant of learning. The aim of the study was to introduce CBL in Pharmacology to teach second year MBBS students and see its effect on their performance. The study also aimed to get student and faculty (Department of Pharmacology) feedback on this teaching model.Methods: A total 180 students of second prof. MBBS and faculty of Department of Pharmacology were included in the study. A total of two topics were taken for CBL sessions. The theory lecture of the first topic was conducted. The students were divided into smaller groups of 15 each and a pretest was taken. This was followed by CBL session and after that post-test was administered. The second topic was covered on similar format. At the end of the two sessions the student and faculty feedback were taken on a five-point Likert scale.Results: A total 127 students participated in the study. 90% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that CBL had been useful in understanding the topics and it will be useful for foundation of their clinical years. All faculty members agreed that CBL does improve student teacher interaction but they found CBL to be time consuming. Conclusions: CBL was well accepted by the students and they want that other topics should be taken up by this method. The faculty also believes that it is worth giving a try but at the same time CBL is time consuming and it may be possible to conduct it for only a few topics in a session

Evaluate use of over the counter drugs among medical students in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: In our country there is easy availability of drugs over the counter leading to their unintentional misuse and abuse. Over the counter availability of drugs does offer the benefit of easy access to medicines and allows individuals to become in charge of their own health. It is important to understand that medical education can impact the OTC drug use amongst medical students. In order to observe the pattern of OTC drug use among the first and second professional MBBS students we planned this study. The aim of the study was to evaluate use of over the counter (OTC) drugs among medical students in a tertiary care teaching hospital.Methods: Our study was a cross sectional study conducted on first and second professional MBBS students. Authors administered a self structured, prevalidated questionnaire to the students. The data obtained was tabulated, analyzed and the results calculated in percentages.Results: The use of OTC drugs is common amongst undergraduate students.  All (100%) the students who participated in the study had used OTC drugs at some point in their life. The common conditions prompting use of OTC drugs include head ache, body aches (74%), fever (72%), respiratory conditions such as: cold (60%), cough (28.5%), abdominal symptoms such as: abdominal pain (14%), gastritis (7.5%), diarrhea (6%), vomiting (5%) and allergies (10%). Very few students reported adverse drug reactions with these drugs.Conclusions: From our study we have concluded that OTC drugs are commonly used amongst medical students. So, periodic training and talks on self medication are necessary for them. Student knowledge in this aspect will help them in future counseling of their patients

To study prescription behavior of physician in regard to brand and generic name

Background: Drugs are the chemical substances used for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of a disease. They are prescribed either by using generic name or brand name. The objective of this study was study the preference of registered medical practitioners towards prescribing of drugs by generic name or brand name and to know the reasons for the same.Methods: The questionnaire based observational study was done on 300 registered medical practitioners after satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data collected was evaluated and the response recorded in percentage.Results: Out of 300 practitioners 92% admitted prescribing drug by brand name for fear of substitution by substandard product and did not allow pharmacist to substitute the same, rest 8% prescribe by generic names. 78% considered generic drugs to be less efficacious and 3% had the view that they have more side effects. 83% doctors consider patient affordability while prescribing however only 60% of them informed patients about the cost of prescribed drugs. Other factors influencing prescription behaviour were health care administration policy (10%) and company representative (7%).Conclusions: Majority of physicians prescribe drugs by brand names due to its assured efficacy and they are reluctant to prescribe generic names because of their view of substitution by less efficacious, substandard and counterfeit products. The regulating agencies have to assure the efficacy of generic products. The spurious and substandard drugs available in the market have to be checked and strict action should be taken in order to maintain the quality of these products. This will boost the confidence of the physicians in prescribing the generic drugs resulting in decreased health care cost

Age and gender based prevalence of obesity in residents of Punjab, India

Background: Obesity is recognized as a chronic disease, associated with a variety of metabolic, cardiovascular and neurological complications. Prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, more so in the developing countries. It is affecting both sexes and all age groups. Body mass index BMI along with presence and severity of obesity associated complications are used to identify, successively increasing stages of obesity. The present study aims to study prevalence of overweight, obesity (stage 0,1,2) and morbid obesity in adult residents of Punjab state in an effort to determine burden of this lifestyle disorder in different age groups and sexes, so that a comprehensive action plan can be designed to target appropriate group with specific preventive measures .Methods: 1000 subjects were surveyed and labelled as non-obese, overweight, obese or morbid obese based on their BMI, presence and severity of obesity related complications. Point prevalence amongst different age groups of both sexes were determined and compared.Results: In study population 41.5% subjects were non-obese, 15.9% were overweight, 29.4% were obese and 13.2% were morbidly obese. The prevalence of all the 3 conditions (overweight, obesity and morbid obesity) increased with increasing age in both sexes. The prevalence was more among females of all age groups than males for ‘overweight’ and ‘obesity’. But gender based difference narrowed down with increasing severity of disease, such that female to male ratio reversed (<1) for morbid obesity. Moreover, peak prevalence of overweight and obesity were attained little later in females as compared to males. However, for morbid obesity peak prevalence is seen in same age group (40-49 years) in both sexes.Conclusions: Overweight and obesity are more prevalent among females of all age groups than males with peak prevalence achieved little later in females as compared to males. However, gender based differences in prevalence decreased as severity increased and morbid obesity was more prevalent among males than females

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN