Predictors of atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Atherosclerosis is emerging as an important complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with coronary artery disease being projected as the major cause of mortality in these patients.This study was undertaken to evaluate the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis and to identify the risk factors of atherosclerosis in patients with RA.

Patients And Methods: All consecutive in- and out-patients of rheumatoid arthritis (n = 100) irrespective of the disease duration were included in the study.

Effect of Palliative Drug Therapy on Quality of life in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Patients.

Advanced cancer patients are managed by palliative care and its main aim is to provide best possible quality of life to the patients by symptom management. Pain is the most agonizing symptom experienced by advanced head and neck cancer patients. Control of pain hence requires more attention by the caregiver in order to improve their quality of life.

A clinical and demographic profile of the cleft lip and palate in Sub-Himalayan India: A hospital-based study.

Objectives: To study the cleft lip and cleft palate in the poverty stricken Sub-Himalayan Garhwal region of India, being a commonly seen congenital abnormality and scarcity of studies about the demography of cleft in this region.

Design: A prospective cohort observational case series was performed on 4657 cleft patients at a Tertiary care Hospital in Dehradun, India, over a period of 5 years.

Outcome Measures: The authors investigated the differences between age and sex with cleft status and family history of clefts, birth order, religion, socioeconomic status, parent literacy, source of information for treatment, haematological investigations showing the status of infection and coagulation in such children and satisfaction after treatment.

The prevalence of hypertension and hypertension risk factors in a rural Indian community: A prospective door-to-door study.

Background: The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and risk factors for hypertension in a rural community in north-east India.

Materials And Methods: A door-to-door survey was conducted amongst all residents of a village in Uttarakhand province. All residents were interviewed and data were was relating to the demographics of the individuals, dietary habits, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, psychosocial stress, past medical history and drug history.

Dosimetric verification of a high dose rate brachytherapy treatment planning system in homogeneous and heterogeneous media.

Objectives: To verify the dosimetric accuracy of treatment plans in high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy by using Gafchromic EBT2 film and to demonstrate the adequacy of dose calculations of a commercial treatment planning system (TPS) in a heterogeneous medium.

Methods: Absorbed doses at chosen points in anatomically different tissue equivalent phantoms were measured using Gafchromic EBT2 film. In one case, tandem ovoid brachytherapy was performed in a homogeneous cervix phantom, whereas in the other, organ heterogeneities were introduced in a phantom to replicate the upper thorax for esophageal brachytherapy treatment.

Radiochromic film dosimetry of rectal inhomogeneity and applicator attenuation in high dose rate brachytherapy of uterine cervix.

Heterogeneities existing in the patient during treatment are neglected, as the treated subject is considered homogeneous in most of the commercially-available treatment planning systems (TPSs) used for high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy. The choice of a suitable dosimeter for experimental dosimetry near the HDR source is crucial, mainly due to existence of steep dose gradients. The present work aimed to assess the effect of rectal air heterogeneity and applicator attenuation in the HDR Ir-192 brachytherapy treatment of carcinoma uterine cervix by utilizing GAFCHROMIC EBT2 film dosimetry.

Quality of life as an outcome variable in the management of advanced cancer.

Background And Objective: Though well recognized in the West, palliative care and quality of life are relatively newer concepts in a developing country like India. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of palliative care on pain and quality of life and to identify the association between the two.

Study Design: Observational prospective study.

Adiposity: determinant of peak expiratory flow rate in young Indian adults male.

Background: Although several factors such as respiratory muscle strength, lung compliance, resistance to airflow, and even obesity affect the lung functions, the nature of relationship with markers of adiposity is not clear. We hypothesised that central pattern of fat distribution is a significant predictor of decreased peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). The present study was designed with the aim to examine the effects of adiposity on PEFR in males.

Effects of curcumin on the intestinal motility of albino rats.

Curcumin has been used in traditional medicine as a household remedy for various diseases including biliary diseases, cough, hepatic diseases, wound healing. For past few decades, extensive work has been done on biological activities of curcumin. This study was carried out to provide scientific basis for the use of curcumin in gastrointestinal disorders.

Biological response modifiers: current use and future prospects in cancer therapy.

Over the past few decades, considerable success has been achieved in the field of cancer treatment with biological response modifiers (BRM), which are agents that improve the body's ability to fight cancer by immunostimulation. Biological agents, such as interferons and interleukins, provide nonspecific active immunity, whereas the monoclonal antibodies provide passive immunity. Apart from this, other biological agents, such as antiangiogenic agents, matrix metalloprotease inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and tumor vaccines, are also increasingly being used in cancer treatment.

Retrospective analysis of vivax malaria patients presenting to tertiary referral centre of Uttarakhand.

Introduction: despite the high prevalence of Plasmodium vivax (P vivax) malaria, research into its complications has lagged disproportionately as compared to Plasmodium falciparum (P falciparum) malaria.

Material And Methods: the present retrospective observational study was conducted on cases with P vivax mono-infection presenting with severe malaria on the basis of one or more criteria as per the World Health Organization guidelines being used for severe falciparum malaria in children, as well as other manifestations been classified as complicated malaria, during an outbreak of malaria in a single tertiary referral hospital of north India.

Results: seventy-four patients of acute malaria presented during the outbreak, of which 50 cases with P vivax mono-infection were included for the study.

Tobacco smoking-associated risk for tuberculosis: a case-control study.

Tobacco smoking as a risk factor for tuberculosis (TB) is often ignored. This study was carried out to study tobacco smoking-associated risk for tuberculosis. Ninety-five patients with TB, admitted in the Himalayan Institute Hospital, Dehradun, India and 190 controls were randomly selected and questioned regarding their smoking status and type, quantity and duration of tobacco used.

Scrub typhus in Uttarakhand, India: a common rickettsial disease in an uncommon geographical region.

Scrub typhus is a commonly encountered rickettsial disease of the Indian subcontinent. Humans are infected accidentally and the case fatality can be significantly high if the disease is not identified in time. We report nine cases of scrub typhus from the Garhwal region of the newly created north Indian state of Uttarakhand, a region not previously known to harbour the vector.

Anterior craniofacial resection - for paranasal sinus tumors involving anterior skull base.

Management of anterior skull base tumors is complex due to the anatomic detail of the region and the variety of tumors that occur in this area. Currently, the "gold standard" for surgery is the anterior craniofacial approach. Craniofacial resection represents a major advance in the surgical treatment of tumors of the paranasal sinuses involving anterior skull base.

Orbital tuberculosis in childhood with intracranial extension: a case report.

The common causes of orbital masses in pediatric age group include pseudotumour, lymphomas, hemangioma and dermoid cyst. Orbital tuberculosis is rare especially in children. We report a case of 5 year old child who presented with proptosis and gross diminution of vision due to orbital tuberculoma.

Cervical lymphangioma: An acquired idiopathic presentation in an adult.

Lymphangioma is an uncommon benign pathology, usually reported in children and rarely in adults. In the past, the definitive diagnosis was made intraoperatively and was usually an unexpected finding. However, with today's modern imaging technologies, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, the diagnosis can be assumed before intervention, even though the final diagnosis still can be reached only via histopathologic examination.