prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in female medical students of different medical colleges of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Pakistan

Objective: Iron deficiency anemia [IDA] is very common in adolescent and adults, especially female. In medical students, it is caused by a number of causes, "including overwork, decrease appetite due to stress and unnecessary dieting". Very little data is available at national level about these health conscious medical students. This "descriptive, cross sectional study, was conducted in public and private Medical colleges of KPK". The main objective of the study was "to determine the Prevalence of IDA in female medical students of KPK"

Study Design: Observational / descriptive study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the department of Pharmacology, Khyber Girls' Medical College, Peshawar From December-2015 to May-2016

Materials and Methods 390-female medical students aged 19 to 24 years have participated in this study'. After formal consent and recording of their demographic information, "Hemoglobin [Hb] and Mean Corpuscular Volume [MCV] was done using digital Sysmex XT-4000i hematology analyzer". Serum ferritin [S-Ferritin] was done using Architect I-2000 analyzer. The identity of all students was kept confidential. All students with, "Hb<12g/dl, MCV<76um [3] and S-Ferritin <11ng/ml were labeled as having IDA and students having Hb>12g/dl, MCV>76um [3] but S-Ferritin<11ng/ml were labeled as having Iron deficiency [ID], but not IDA"

Results: Complete data of all "390 students were available for further analysis". The mean age of the students was 21 +/- 1 years. IDA was present in 6.66% [n=26/390] students, while ID was present in 41.54% [n=162/390] students. Normal iron status was found in 51.80% [n=202/390] students

Conclusion: It is concluded that "ID and IDA are very common in female medical students of KPK. All female medical students should be encouraged to take extra iron to replenish their iron store"

Cutaneous manifestations in obesity

To study the frequency of various dermatoses in obese patients and their comparison with the control group of normal weight individuals. The duration of study was one year starting from March 2011 to March 2012. A total of 93 obese [BMI >30kg/m2] and 93 normal weight [BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2] individuals were included in the study. All the individuals underwent a complete medical and dermatological evaluation. All of them were evaluated for the presence of metabolic syndrome, as well. Common dermatoses seen in obese patients were acanthosis nigricans, striae, acrochordons, and various infections. Out of these acanthosis nigricans, acrochordons and striae had statistically significant relationship with obesity as compared to control group [p<0.05]. All the manifestations were also compared for diabetes, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. Obesity is associated significantly with certain dermatoses. Understanding and thorough knowledge of these disorders is necessary both for the physicians as well as for a dermatologist, as many of these conditions are treatable, leading to an improved life quality. Early recognition of these lesions may also warn the patients for a need of weight reduction

Frequency of dyslipidemia in patients with psoriasis

To determine the frequency of dyslipidaemia in psoriatic patients. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Dermatology, Jinnah hospital, Lahore for the duration of six months. A total of 120 patients suffering from psoriasis, of any severity, belonging to either sex and with age between 15-70 years were included in the study. All patients in the study were investigated for total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins and high-density lipoproteins after 12-14 hours of overnight fasting. The mean age of the patients was 38.59 +/- 13.86 years. There were 78 [65%] male and 42 [35%] female patients. The mean duration of psoriasis was 5.46 +/- 4.49 years. The mean PASI score was 14.98 +/- 8.95. There were 67 [55.8%] patients having dyslipidaemia and 53 [44.2%] patients had normal lipid levels. 34 [28.3%] patients had raised total cholesterol [>200mg/dl], 32 [26.7%] raised low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol [>130 mg/dl], 44 [36.7%] hypertriglyceridemia [>150mg/dl] and 35 [29.2%] patients had reduced high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol [> 130 mg/di], 44 [36.7%] hypetriglycerideia [> 150 mg/d] and35 [29.2%] patients had reduced high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels [< 40 mg/dl] it is concluded from this study that patients of psoriasis have a high incidence of dyslipidaemia, as it was found in 55.8% of psoriasis patients

Cutaneous manifestations in patients of dengue fever

To observe the spectrum of cutaneous changes in patients of dengue fever. The study was carried out from April 2010 till October 2011. Three hundred cases of dengue fever were enrolled from the outpatient and inpatient departments of Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. Patients meeting the inclusion criteria were subjected to detailed history, physical examination and relevant investigations. The data was recorded on a pro forma and later analyzed. Out of 300 patients with dengue fever, 67.3% were males and 32.7% were females. The mean age was 35 years with an age range of 2 to 80 years. Cutaneous manifestations were present in 65% of patients. Commonest skin manifestation was pruritus which was present in 69.2% patients. This was followed by burning of extremities which was present in 64.6% patients. A skin rash was present in 42.9% patients. This rash was macular in 31.7% and papular in 11.2% patients. A petechial eruption was seen in 20% patients, while ecchymosis was seen in 13.8% patients. Mucosal involvement was seen in 40.66% patients. Skin manifestations are a common feature of dengue fever and were seen in 65% of our patients

case of Kindler syndrome with florid scarbies

Kindler syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by congenital blistering and photosensitivity combined with progressive poikiloderma and cutaneous atrophy. The genetic defect has been localized to chromosome 20 and the syndrome results due to mutations in the KIND 1 gene. We report the case of a 12-year-old boy with classical features of blistering since infancy, progressive poikiloderma, photosensitivity and characteristic atrophic cigarette paper-like appearance of the skin. In addition he had florid scabies with quite a few burrows on palms and in finger webs and numerous popular and pustular lesions on trunk and genitalia