ABSTRACT
Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a public health problem around the world. In 2008, it was estimated that 1 billion persons present with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Vitamin D is obtained through exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) sunlight as well as nutritional sources. Despite the high UVB sunlight exposure in tropical countries, studies suggest Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent. Vitamin D is believed to help improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin, the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar levels, thus reducing the risk of insulin resistance, which is often a precursor to Type-2 diabetes. Aim and objective of the study was to evaluate and compare the Vitamin-D levels in Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Type-2 Diabetic women and to evaluate if their Vitamin-D levels have any co-relation with their glycemic control.Methods: The study was conducted in Government Medical College Jammu and its associated hospital on 60 Type-2 Diabetic women, 30 premenopausal and 30 postmenopausal. Vitamin-D [25(OH) Vitamin D] levels were assessed by Chemiluminescence method in the Biochemistry Lab. of Govt. Medical College Jammu. Blood sugar levels, both fasting and postprandial, were assessed by Glucose oxidase-peroxidase method in the same Lab.HbA1C was assessed by HPLC [High Performance Liquid Chromatography] assay.Results: Vitamin-D deficiency [Vitamin-D levels <20 ng/ml] was seen in 16.67% of premenopausal type-2 diabetics and in 36.67% postmenopausal type-2 diabetics. This was not related to the glycemic control as HbA1C was increased in both the groups.Conclusions: Vitamin-D deficiency is more prevalent in postmenopausal Type-2 diabetics, as compared to premenopausal type-2 diabetics.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Carrying angle (CA) is the angle subtended by median axis of the arm with fully extended and supinated forearm. There is scarcity of evidence in the literature regarding differences between the CA in both sexes depending upon the ossification of arm and forearm bones and comparison of CA between dominant and non dominant limb. Study aimed at comparison of data obtained by measuring CA by manual method between dominant and non dominant limb in age group 18 – 30 years. Material and Methods: CA was measured in 200 individuals of both sexes by clinical method with a manual goniometer. Results: Present study shows the significant gender difference and significant difference between dominant and non dominant limb. Conclusion: Unnecessary x ray exposure to children, young adults and pregnant women can be avoided, by measuring CA by clinical methods.
ABSTRACT
In 1913, no less than Santiago Ramon y Cajal, pioneer of the neuron doctrine, wrote, ‘In the adult brain, nervous pathways are fixed and immutable; everything may die, nothing may be regenerated’ (Cajal 1913/1959, p 750). This stagnant view of the brain lingered in neurology for several decades, and was regularly provided as an explanation when a patient’s recovery from a stroke or brain injury was minimal or elusive. Our current understanding, however, is radically and very importantly different. The human brain – even the adult human brain – is, in fact, remarkably plastic. This enduring neuroplasticity is fundamental to the brain’s mechanisms for coping with disease and injury. As the world’s population ages, this is becoming increasingly evident. The question now emerging in the field, however, lies not in the ubiquity of agerelated disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but in the individual variability of their onset. Alzheimer’s can now be diagnosed with reasonable consistency: several academic centres report up to 90% correlation between clinical diagnoses and autopsy diagnoses of AD (Cummings et al. 1998). However, the relationship between the severity of clinical symptoms and observable neuropathology is far from direct. This was particularly brought to light in 1989, when Katzman et al. performed postmortem analyses of the brains of 137 nursing home patients. The patients’ cognitive abilities had been monitored at the nursing home, and these records were compared with the neuropathology observed during dissection. They unexpectedly found that the brains of 10 of the subjects, who had been assessed as having unimpaired cognitive function throughout their lives, in fact displayed neuropathology that surpassed the criteria for diagnosis of AD. These individuals also happened to have heavier and more neuron-dense brains than controls, which they concluded must have afforded some ‘reserve’ that prevented the symptoms of the disease from manifesting. There are two primary theories that attempt to explain such a discrepancy. Brain reserve (BR) refers to tangible individual differences such as brain size and dendritic density, as was noticed by Katzman et al. (1989), BR is considered a passive ‘threshold’ model of reserve: once a certain threshold for brain damage is exceeded, symptoms of cognitive decline begin to manifest. Cognitive reserve (CR), on the other hand, is considered an active model: the brain attempts to compensate for cognitive damage by implementing alternate mechanisms in place of the damaged networks. A brain that has engaged in activities that enhance this cognitive flexibility is therefore better equipped to cope with damage than one that has not (Stern, 2002). Barulli and Stern (2013) argue that these theories are complementary rather than competing. Like any complex human trait, resilience against brain damage appears to be constructed of a cocktail of genetics, environment and experience. The greater the resolution with which brain structures can be visualized and molecular pathways leading to plasticity are understood, the more the two theories are liable to overlap. Nevertheless, it remains that the environmental component can be manipulated to favour reserve. As a result, much of the current literature concerning reserve focuses on identifying lifestyle factors that may improve CR. Higher level of education, occupational complexity and physical and intellectual leisure activities have all been found to consistently correlate with increased CR (Verghese et al. 2003; Potter et al. 2008; Valenzuela and Sachdev 2009). Recently, bilingualism as a CR-improving factor has received much attention. The original studies in this area found a highly significant effect of lifelong bilingualism on the onset of AD, and are textbook examples of CR in effect. The first, by Craik, Bialystok and Freedman (2010), retrospectively analysed the medical records of 211 elderly Canadians diagnosed with AD. The records contained detailed language histories, based on which 102 were classified as bilingual and 109 as monolingual. On comparison, the bilingual group showed an onset of AD symptoms on average 5.1 years
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to test the effect of altered thyroid status on the autonomic reactivity in 60 subjects (age group 20-50 years). The para meters recorded and the tests used were pulse rate, blood pressure, orthostasis, cold pressor test, mental arithmetic and QTc interval for assessment of sympathetic activity and valsalva ratio, heart rate response, expiratory-inspiratory ratio (E.I. ratio), heart rate variability, standing-lying ratio (S.L. ratio) and 30: 15 ratio for assessment of parasympathetic activity. Our findings show that the changes in thyroid hormone levels - in both hypothyroids and hyperthyroids are associated with altered sympathetic reactivity, with no significant difference in the parasympathetic activity - in either hypothyroids or hyperthyroids- as compared to euthyroid controls.
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The study was undertaken on 24 human female postmenopausal subjects above the age of 50 years, to test the hypothesis that estrogen exerts regulatory influence on the autonomic nervous system in postmenopausal women. The parameters recorded and the test used were- pulse, blood pressure, orthostasis, cold pressor test, mental arithmetic and QTc interval for assessment of sympathetic activity and valsalva ratio, heart rate response, expiratory-inspiratory ratio (E.I. Ratio), standinglying ratio (S.L. Ratio) and 30:15 ratio for assessment of parasympathetic activity. Our findings show that the changes in sex hormone levels, after menopause may affect the autonomic system response, with increase in reactivity of both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.
ABSTRACT
The study was undertaken on 150 healthy human subjects of both the sexes in the age group of 18- 38 years to assess the effect of graded head-up tilt (HUT) and head-reverse tilt (HRT) on sympathetic nervous system Vs parasympathetic nervous system. The tilt positions used were 00, 300, 600, 300R and 00R. The parameters and test performed were pulse rate, blood pressure, cold pressor test, QTC interval, valsalva ratio and expiratory-inspiratory (E:I) ratio. On graded head-up tilt (600) pulse rate and diastolic blood pressure showed significant increase. Cold pressor test and QTc interval showed significant increase from 300 to 600 tilt. The valsalva and E:I ratios did not show any significant change on graded HUT. On reversal of tilt all the parameters showing significant increase returned to near pre-tilt values. These responses clearly indicate that graded HUT leads to decrease in parasympathetic reactivity but increase in sympathetic reactivity, which is more significant during higher tilt levels (300 to 600). On reversal of tilt both the parasympathetic reactivity and the sympathetic reactivity i.e. autonomic reactivity return to normal pre-tilt level.