The Diet-Heart Hypothesis: Changing Perspectives

The diet-heart hypothesis, i.e. dietary cholesterol and saturated fats raise the serum cholesterol which in turn is a risk factor for coronary artery disease is prevalent since the 1950s. Over the years it had a major influence on the perspectives of nutritionists, medical researchers and the lay public. However, of late, the evidence base supporting the dietheart hypothesis is being increasingly questioned. Besides retrieval and re-analysis of archival data from incomplete studies, study of internal documents of industry reveal that vested interests may have played a role in maintaining the dietheart hypothesis. This brief review gives an overview of the evidence and conflicting views most of which fell by the wayside in the heady days of the diet-heart hypothesis. It puts forth the question whether there is a paradigm shift in the diet-heart hypothesis. Using the key-words "diet-heart hypothesis" an online literature search was made using PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar. Standard texts on nutritional epidemiology and other writings on the subject were reviewed

Authorship pressures, malpractices and ethical issues

The present academic climate in the country as a consequence of regulations requiring minimum number of publications for tenure and promotion has led to fierce competition which is not always healthy. To complicate matters the sequence of authors can decide the fate of one’s academic career. For instance, the Medical Council of India (MCI) accepts only the first and second authors while granting academic credit.1 One who has toiled the maximum for a paper should consider herself lucky if she retains the first or second slot in the final authorship sequence. One of the delicate issues concerns the final list and sequence of co-authors. Though explicit guidelines on authorship exist,2 implementation poses dilemmas for a researcher low down in the academic hierarch

Substance use among females –Study from Rural Western India

Background: Substance abuse is a common health problem which affects individual and takes a toll on not only person consuming it rather all members of society related to that person. Aim & Objective: The purpose of study was to determine the prevalence of substance use among females & to know the reasons for same and association of socio-demographic profile and substance use. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study was conducted among females attending OPD at rural health training centre of a medical college for 6months duration. Total 500 females were interviewed for same by convenience sampling. Methods and Material: After taking informed consent from participants all the information was collected on predesigned and pretested oral questionnaire. Statistical analysis used: Qualitative Data was presented in the form of numbers and percentages. Test of significance such as chi-square was applied. Statistical analysis was done using MedCalc version 19.1 and Epi-info7. Results: Prevalence of substance use was found very high as 74%. Most common form of substance use was tobacco chewing at 77.03%. Abuse was maximum among females educated up to primary level (82.3%). Near about 72.7% were using substance out of curiosity. 84.32% were interested in quitting abuse. Conclusions: Substance use prevalence was very high affecting health of females adversely