Risk Factors for Stroke In, Bolan Medical Complex Hospital Quetta

Stroke is one of the leading causes of physical impairment and mortality worldwide. Optimizing preventive strategies will help decrease the burden of stroke. The objectives of this study were to determine common stroke risk factors, by analyzing a comprehensive panel of variables in our local population. 200 patients were consecutively enrolled in this prospective observational study at stroke unit (SU) of Bolan Medical Complex Hospital over 6 months from March 2019 to August 2019. Structured questionnaires were prepared History and clinical examination were performed to gather relevant information. CT scan of brain was done to confirm the diagnosis of stroke. Other necessary tests were run. A total of 200 patients were included in the study, of which 98 (49%) were males and 102 (51%) were females. Vascular risk factors were present in 182 patients (91%), of which the most common was hypertension in 121 patients (60.5%) followed by smoking in 89 patients (44.5%), diabetes in 62 patients (31%) and obesity in 58 patients (29%). Dyslipidaemia was present in 17 patients (8.5%), cardiac disease 14 patients (7.0%), ischemic heart diseases in 7 (3-5%), arterial fibrillation in 5 (2.5) and 5 (2.5) had a family history of stroke. Hypertension was the most common stroke identified in this study, likely because of the great pervasiveness of this disease in our region. This study also highlights the prevalence of other vascular risk factors including smoking, diabetes mellitis, obesity, dyslipidaemia, and ischemic heart diseases in our community, which are associated with poor physical activity, low income, and poor health awareness. We suggest numerous community-based awareness programs in Baluchistan to improve local area perception about stroke and its risk factors

Misperception About Epilepsy Among Common Public in Balochistan

ABSTRACT Background and Objective: Epilepsy is a treatable chronic neurological illness that is frequently associated with supernatural activity. The objectives of this study were to determine common myths and misperception about epilepsy by analysing a comprehensive panel of variables in our local population. Methods: We conducted a face-to-face questionnaire interview survey in three different shopping malls. One thousand people were randomly enrolled in this cross-sectional study at Quetta, Baluchistan, during the period of 21 august 2021 to 30 august 2021. Results: A total of 1000 people were interviewed; among them 220(22%) were male and 780(78%) were female. Individuals between the age of 20 years and above were included in the study. Nine-hundred-eighty (98%) respondents had heard about epilepsy. Out of thousand people 419 (41.9%) thought that epilepsy was a brain disease, 488 (48.8%) responded that it was a ghost attack. Twenty-three (2.3%) believed it to be psychosis. The aspects of knowledge tested were on causes, types, and management of epilepsy. Forty-nine (4.9%) people believed that epilepsy was due to head trauma, 488 (48.8%) said it’s ghost attack, 67 (6.7%) said it’s because of evil eye, and 293 (29.3%) peoples believed that epilepsy was caused by black magic. Nine-hundred-twenty-eight (92.8%) people believed that home remedies such as sniffing shoes were effective in epilepsy. Conclusion: This study revealed a lack of awareness about epilepsy in Balochistan, as well as the prevalence of both negative and favourable attitudes about epilepsy. This result was much surprising because in this era of modern medicine and technology, still superstitious beliefs prevail among large population. The study also emphasized to increase public awareness and epilepsy education initiatives to change public opinions and promote the use of standard epileptic treatment

Assessment of Newer Commercial Serological (ICT) Test For the Diagnosis of Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis in TB Endemic Areas

Abstract: We assessed the efficacy of the diagnostic serological test (CTK Biotech Inc and ACON Laboratories, Inc, USA