ABSTRACT
Acute diarrhea is the fourth-ranking cause of death in children under the age of 5 years. after neonatal causes, malaria, and acute respiratory infections. Objectives: To determine the role of Saccharomyces boulardii in the treatment of acute diarrhea. Design: Comparative study. Period: Six months, Mar to Aug 2013. Setting: Pediatric Unit II- Liaquat University Hospital Jamshoro/ Hyderabad. Patients and methods: It consisted of 100 patients, of acute diarrhea with age between 3 months to 5 years reported to pediatric unit and fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Cases were given low osmolar ORS, Zinc and Saccharomyces boulardii 250mg twice daily for three days and controls were given low osmolar ORS and Zinc. P-value =0.05 was considered as significant. Results: The results showed that 51 patients were male and 49 patients were female. 27 male patients were in control and 24 were in case group. 23 female patients were in control and 26 were in case group. The overall mean age of study subjects was 26.73+/-12.65 months. Among reported patients most of the patients 84% were reported on 1st day. All reported patients had a complaint of loose motion with 73% also had vomiting. All patients had watery loose motion. The mean duration was 4.20+/-1.70 days with the mean frequency of 9.82+/-6.16 times. Among the patients 96 patients were hospitalized and 97 patients were given I/V fluid. Among reported patients 10 were without dehyderation, 8 had some dehyderation, and 82 had severe dehyderation. 52 had acceptability of probiotics. The results were evaluated according to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd day post intervention. Among 50 patients of case group, 18 patients were compliance. 49 patients had decrease in duration. The same results were observed in the decrease in frequency. Consistency was improved in 39 patients. The duration of hospitalization was reduced in 36 patients. It was observed that improvement in the duration, frequency, and consistency was mostly observed on 2nd day of post intervention. Conclusions: The role of S. boulardii as a good biotherapeutic agent allowing to prevent and /or treat several grastrointestinal diseases. In comparison to probiotic bacteria, the use of probiotic yeast is beneficial when the treatment is combined to antibiotherapy
ABSTRACT
Among all deaths, 40-50% are due to vascular events and out of these 10% are due to stroke. More than 66% of the global stroke occurrence is in developing countries, where the average age of patients with stroke is 15 years less than in developed countries. Objectives: To determine the correlation between higher total cholesterol level and high Barthel Index score[estimate of functional daily independent activity level] in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Design: Cross sectional study. Period: May 2013 to Apr 2014. Setting: Medical Units of DHQ and Allied Hospital, Faisalabad. Methodology: Sample size of 200 patients was collected and patients were included through Consecutive [non-probability] sampling technique. All patients underwent CT scan Brain from the radiology department of the hospital to determine the respective changes [hypo dense area] of the ischemic stroke. Fasting serum cholesterol was measured in all patients after an overnight fast of 12 hours. Then patients were assessed by using Barthel Index score [BI]. The data was analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0. Spearman Rank correlation coefficient was calculated to BI score in patients with ischemic stroke. Results: The mean age of the patients was noted as 61.76+/-11.55 years. In this study 55.50% were males and 44.50% patients were females. The mean total cholesterol value of patients was noted as 251.58+/-71.15 mg/dl. Out of 200 patients, 111[55.5%] patients had high cholesterol [>200mg/dl] whereas 89[44.5%] patient had low cholesterol of[<200mg/dl].In statical analysis the results showed that the mean value of total Barthel index score was 57.50+/-19.52. The study results described that 51.50% patients had high Barthel index score [>53] whereas 48.50% patients had low Barthel index score [<53]. Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated between high TC and high BI score as r= 0.641. This value was statistically significant i.e. p-value=0.000*. Conclusions: With the help of this study, we found a significant positive relationship between high TC and high BI score inpatients presented with ischemic stroke. Now we can better prognosticate the functional outcome of ischemic stroke in our patients.