Herbal Combination 'HAGE-101912' Ameliorates Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Rats.

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic, relapsing disorder. In this era of modern and fast-track lifestyle and food habits, the incidence of GERD is rapidly increasing. Currently, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the primary choice of treatment.

Kansa talk: mapping cancer terminologies in Bagamoyo, Tanzania towards dignity-based practice.

This paper reports and examines the results of qualitative research on the use of local cancer terminology in urban Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Following recent calls to unify evidence and dignity-based practices in global health, this research locates local medical sociolinguistics as a key place of entry into creating epistemologically autonomous public health practices. We used semistructured ethnographic interviews to reveal both the contextual and broader patterns related to use of local cancer terminologies among residents of Dunda Ward in urban Bagamoyo.

What Proportion of East African Refugees Report Musculoskeletal Problems? A Cross-sectional Survey.

Background: Musculoskeletal conditions are the leading cause of disability worldwide and disproportionally affect individuals in low-income and middle-income countries. There is a dearth of evidence on musculoskeletal problems among refugees, 74% of whom reside in low-income and middle-income countries.

Questions/purposes: (1) What proportion of refugees in Nyarugusu Camp, Kigoma, western Tanzania, are affected by musculoskeletal problems and what are the characteristics of those individuals? (2) What are the characteristics of these musculoskeletal problems, including their causes, location, and duration? (3) What forms of healthcare do those with musculoskeletal problems seek, including those for both musculoskeletal and nonmusculoskeletal problems?

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among refugees in Nyarugusu Camp, using the Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need tool.

[Principaux facteurs expliquant l'hésitation vaccinale contre la Covid-19 en Tanzanie].

WHO defines vaccine hesitancy as delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services. It is a complex phenomenon that varies through time, place and vaccines. In this comment, we highlight the context-specific variation of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in Tanzania.

Neuroprotective effect of herbal extracts inhibiting soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) and cyclooxygenase (COX) against chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment in mice.

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) is a novel clinical condition characterized by memory, learning, and motor function deficits. Oxidative stress and inflammation are potential factors contributing to chemotherapy's adverse effects on the brain. Inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) has been proven effective in neuroinflammation and reversal of memory impairment.

Governing through big data: An ethnographic exploration of invisible lives in China's digital surveillance of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Introduction/background: Since 2020, China has implemented unprecedented digital health surveillance over citizens and residents in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We explore the implementation of Health Code (), a contract-tracing and risk assessment app for coronavirus disease 2019, in China. By engaging with the concept of 'ocular ethics', we ask why and how some populations become invisible in China's Health Code surveillance system.

HIV testing uptake, enablers, and barriers among African migrants in China: A nationwide cross-sectional study.

Background: African migrants in China face social, structural, and cultural barriers to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing with scarce information on their HIV testing behaviours. This study estimated the prevalence of HIV testing and its social and behavioural correlates to understand how to better provide HIV testing services for African migrants living in China.

Methods: We conducted a national cross-sectional survey among adult African migrants who lived in China for more than one month between January 19 to February 7, 2021.

Good, Bad Religious Leaders: Binary Talk in a Tanzanian Health Project.

NGOs recruit religious leaders as health actors in Sub-Saharan Africa. Program designers both construct religious leaders as opponents of family planning interventions who discourage their congregants from using family planning and as proponents who persuade their congregants to use them. This article investigates a family planning project that recruited religious leaders in Morogoro, Tanzania.

Reasons for referral and referral compliance among Congolese and Burundian refugees living in Tanzania: a community-based, cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: In order to prevent overburdening of higher levels of care, national healthcare systems rely on processes of referral, including for refugee populations which number 26 million globally. The goal of this study is to use data from a population-based household survey to describe patterns of referral services among a population of Congolese and Burundian refugees living in Tanzania.

Design: Cross-sectional survey using cluster randomised sampling.

Social representations of malaria in a southern malian community: an ethnographic qualitative study.

Background: Malaria is one of the prime reasons for medical consultation and the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Mali. To assess and understand the dynamics of social representations of malaria, the anthropological research was conducted in the Wayerema II neighbourhood of the health district of Sikasso, southern Mali.

Methods: This was an ethnographic study conducted qualitatively in 2011 and 2016 through informal conversations, 70 semi-structured interviews, and participant observations with key actors.

Prevalence of pediatric surgical problems among east African refugees: estimates from a cross-sectional survey using random cluster sampling.

Importance: Surgery is a foundational aspect to high functioning health care systems. In the wake of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, previous research has focused on defining the burden of surgical conditions among a pediatric population, however these studies often fail to include forced migrant or refugees. The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of pediatric surgical conditions among refugees in east Africa.

Access to Health Services Among Forced Migrants in Tanzania: A Cluster Randomized Cross Sectional Study of 3560 Congolese and Burundian Refugees.

Despite significant advances in the understanding of the global burden of surgical disease, limited research focuses on access to health and surgical services among refugees, especially in east Africa. The goal of this study was to describe patterns of access to transportation to health services among Congolese and Burundian refugees in Tanzania. We utilized cluster random sampling to perform a large, cross-sectional study in Nyarugusu refugee camp, Tanzania using an adapted version of the Surgeon Overseas Assessment Tool (SOSAS).

Investigation of HPLF-111624 in Modified Experimental Models of Ulcerative Proctitis and Anal Fissure in Rats.

Background: Although ulcerative proctitis (UP) and anal fissure (AF) are common anorectal diseases, there are no appropriate experimental models to screen the drugs intended for these conditions. In this context, existing experimental models mimicking these diseases were modified and the polyherbal formulation, HPLF-111624 was evaluated in these models.

Objective: To establish animal model for UP and AF and to evaluate polyherbal formulation, HPLF-111624 in these disease models.

Untreated Surgical Problems Among East African Refugees: A Cluster Randomized, Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of surgical conditions among refugees in East Africa.

Background: Surgery is a foundational aspect to high functioning health care systems. In the wake of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, previous research has focused on defining the burden of surgical conditions in low- and middle-income countries.

"I let others speak about condoms:" Muslim religious leaders' selective engagement with an NGO-Led family planning project in rural Tanzania.

In the past two decades, religious leaders have garnered increased interest from health ministries and NGOs as promoters, educators, and implementers of sensitive health programs such as family planning in several African countries. While religious leaders' role as public health actors has been well-documented, there are few ethnographic accounts of how religious leaders engage with public health programs, especially family planning. Informed by twelve months of ethnographic study in three rural and peri-urban locations in Kilombero district in 2014-2016, this article examines how Muslim religious leaders experienced and negotiated their role as implementers of family planning services.

Immunomodulatory Effects of a Concoction of Natural Bioactive Compounds-Mechanistic Insights.

Natural bioactive compounds derived from plant-based products are known for their biological immunomodulatory activities. They possess systemic pleiotropic effects, minimal side effects, and very low toxicities. Plant-based bioactive compounds have tremendous potential as natural therapeutic entities against various disease conditions and act as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-mutagenic, anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-tumour, anti-allergic, neuroprotective, and cardioprotective agents.

Turmeric based oral rinse "HTOR-091516" ameliorates experimental oral mucositis.

Background: Prevalence and incidence of oral mucositis (OM) are rigorously increasing and there is no effective treatment. The herbal formulation "HTOR-091516" containing , and honey were evaluated for the treatment of OM.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of HTOR-091516, employing cellular model, human gingival fibroblasts-1 (HGF-1), and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced mucositis model in rats.

Who are CHWs? An ethnographic study of the multiple identities of community health workers in three rural Districts in Tanzania.

Background: Numerous studies have examined the role of community health workers (CHWs) in improving the delivery of health services and accelerating progress towards national and international development goals. A limited but growing body of studies have also explored the interactions between CHWs' personal, communal and professional identities and the implications of these for their profession. CHWs possess multiple, overlapping roles and identities, which makes them effective primary health care providers when properly supported with adequate resources, but it also limits their ability to implement interventions that only target certain members of their community, follow standard business working days and hours.

Pharmacological investigation of 'HIM-CHX': A herbal combination in the experimental muscle wasting condition.

Muscle wasting diseases are gradually increasing with the increase in global life expectancy. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of HIM-CHX, a herbal combination of Boswellia serrata, Cissus quadrangularis, and Withania somnifera, on Sarcopenia. The effects of HIM-CHX on parameters such as muscle mass, grip strength, motor coordination, gait, locomotor activity and endurance were measured in rats.

Correction: A clinical and computational study on anti-obesity effects of hydroxycitric acid.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C9RA01345H.].

A clinical and computational study on anti-obesity effects of hydroxycitric acid.

Hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a major active ingredient of extracts, is known to suppress body weight gain and fat synthesis in animals and humans. But the underlying mechanism of HCA action is not fully understood. Clinical study on 100 obese individuals for a period of 3 months was performed followed by a computational study aimed to investigate the effects of HCA treatment on human subjects at anthropometric and plasma lipid profile levels.

Effect of "DXB-2030," a Polyherbal Formulation, on Experimental Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Associated with Hyperandrogenism.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate "DXB-2030," a polyherbal combination of , , , , and extracts in an experimental model of testosterone propionate (TP), induced polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in female rats. Thirty animals were divided into 3 groups of 10 each; group 1 served as normal control; group 2 was administered with TP and served as positive control; along with TP, group 3 was treated with "DXB-2030" at a dose of 100 mg/kg p.o.

Studies on mosquito biting risk among migratory rice farmers in rural south-eastern Tanzania and development of a portable mosquito-proof hut.

Background: Subsistence rice farmers in south-eastern Tanzania are often migratory, spending weeks or months tending to crops in distant fields along the river valleys and living in improvised structures known as Shamba huts, not fully protected from mosquitoes. These farmers also experience poor access to organized preventive and curative services due to long distances. Mosquito biting exposure in these rice fields, relative to main village residences was assessed, then a portable mosquito-proof hut was developed and tested for protecting these migratory farmers.

Prevalence and assessment of malnutrition among children attending the Reproductive and Child Health clinic at Bagamoyo District Hospital, Tanzania.

Background: Malnutrition has long been associated with poverty, poor diet and inadequate access to health care, and it remains a key global health issue that both stems from and contributes to ill-health, with 50 % of childhood deaths due to underlying undernutrition. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among children under-five seen at Bagamoyo District Hospital (BDH) and three rural health facilities ranging between 25 and 55 km from Bagamoyo: Kiwangwa, Fukayosi, and Yombo.

Methods: A total of 63,237 children under-five presenting to Bagamoyo District Hospital and the three rural health facilities participated in the study.