Probiotics: a promising intervention for osteoporosis prevention and management.

Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic skeletal disease that is characterized by low bone mass and increased fracture risk. This article explores the potential of probiotics as an adjunctive approach for the prevention and management of OP. It has been well established that the gut microbiota (GM), a complex community of microbes, plays an important role in bone health.

Countermeasures for Maintaining Cardiovascular Health in Space Missions.

During space exploration, the human body is subjected to altered atmospheric environments and gravity, exposure to radiation, sleep disturbance, and mental pressures; all these factors are responsible for cardiovascular diseases. Under microgravity, the physiological changes related to cardiovascular diseases are the cephalic fluid shift, dramatic reduction in central venous pressure, changes in blood rheology and endothelial function, cerebrovascular abnormalities, headaches, optic disc edema, intracranial hypertension, congestion of the jugular vein, facial swelling, and loss of taste. Generally, five countermeasures are used to maintain cardiovascular health (during and after space missions), including shielding, nutritional, medicinal, exercise, and artificial gravity.

Acute lung injury due to cadmium inhalation--a case report.

Heavy metal inhalation is a rare cause of acute lung injury. Among the various heavy metals, cadmium is more commonly known to cause acute lung injury. A case of accidental inhalation of cadmium fumes in a young male is presented.

Cardiovascular involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus: an autopsy study of 27 patients in India.

Background: Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is recognized as a leading cause of death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in western countries, there is hardly any data regarding Indian subjects with SLE.

Aims: To determine the incidence of cardiac abnormalities and vascular lesions at autopsy and to assess their contribution to the mortality in patients with SLE.

Settings And Design: Retrospective retrieval of reports of autopsies performed on 35 patients with SLE over a 11 year period and analysis of 27 cases with cardiac and/or vascular lesions.

Sino-nasal epithelial tumours: a pathological study of 69 cases.

Background: Epithelial neoplasms are uncommon lesions affecting the sino-nasal tract. There are hardly any reports in the Indian literature.

Aim: To study the incidence, mode of presentation and histological types of sino-nasal epithelial tumours in the surgical pathology material.

Vertical cup-to-disc ratio: agreement between direct ophthalmoscopic estimation, fundus biomicroscopic estimation, and scanning laser ophthalmoscopic measurement.

Purpose: Ophthalmoscopic estimation of the vertical cup-to-disc ratio (VCDR) of the optic nerve head is important in the management of patients with glaucoma or who are glaucoma suspects. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of estimation of VCDR obtained with direct ophthalmoscopy with that obtained with fundus biomicroscopy through undilated pupils. Measurements of VCDR obtained with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT), a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope, were used as a standard.