ABSTRACT
Introduction: Adolescence is a significant period in the life of a woman. Menstruation is a naturally occurring physiological phenomenon in adolescent girls and premenopausal women. Menstrual hygiene and management is an insufficiently acknowledged issue and has not received adequate attention. The lack of menstrual hygiene among rural population is alarming, and there is a need for policy-making and awareness programs to be initiated. Aim: Hence the present study was aimed to compare the status of menstrual hygiene among rural and urban adolescent girls. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 250 adolescent girls (rural & urban), aged between 13 to 19 years residing the in field practice area of IIMSR Medical College, Badnapur, Jalna. Data was analyzed by using MS Excel 2010. Results: Out of 250 participants, 48.8% girls from rural area and 51.2% from urban area. The mean age of the menarche was 12.3 ± 1.4 and 12.34 ± 1.43 in rural and urban girls, respectively. Knowledge of menstruation prior to menarche was found to be less in rural girls compared with urban girls. Regarding menstrual hygiene practices during menstruation, out of the total girls residing in rural area 49.18% girl and out of the total girls residing in urban area 62.5% girls were using sanitary pads. Restriction during menstruation was observed more in rural girls than in urban areas. Conclusion: More awareness regarding menarche and menstruation was among urban girls than. Hygienic practices observed by girls were also more satisfactory in the urban area as compared with rural ones.
ABSTRACT
Objective: Because of adverse side effects, caused by NSAIDs, tolerance, and dependence induced by opiates, the use of these analgesic agents has not been successful in all cases. Therefore, alternative analgesic drugs from plant sources are the new target now days. The objective of this study was to evaluate the analgesic activity of ethanolic extracts of stem barks and leaves of Ficus religiosa. Methods: The analgesic activity of ethanolic extract of stem barks and leaves was evaluated in the Swiss albino mice model using acetic acid-induced writing response and Eddy’s hot plate method. Analgesic activity was demonstrated with the percentage inhibition of acetic acid induced writings and the percentage increased in latency time of paw licking. The potency of test extracts was compared with standard drug, Diclofenac. Results: Ethanolic extract of leaves and bark of F. religiosa showed potential analgesic activity from both methods. From Eddy’s hot plate model, it was observed that the percentage of increased latency time at 90 min by ethanolic extract of leaves and stem bark was found to be 70.81 % (8.54 min) and 70.78 % (8.53 min) respectively at a dose of 400 mg/kg. Both of these results are statistically significant (p<0.05) as compared to the test group. Furthermore, both of these extracts showed the dose-dependent and time-dependent increased in latency time and these results are compared to that of standard drug Diclofenac. Similarly, ethanolic extract of leaves and stem at 400 mg/kg significantly inhibited the number of writhings induced by acetic acid. The percentage inhibition of writhings by ethanolic extract of leaves at a dose of 400 mg/kg was 68.47 % which was similar to that of standard drug Diclofenac (68.47 %). However, ethanolic extract of bark showed relatively lower percentage inhibition (60.79 %) as compared to leaf extract and standard, but the result was significant as compared to that of the test group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Ethanolic extracts of F. religiosa stem bark and leaf possess both central and peripheral analgesic properties and these effects may be beneficial for the management of pain.
ABSTRACT
Background: In spite of distinctive improvements in nutritional therapy, malnutrition and growth retardation remained as challenging significances of chronic liver disease (CLD) in children. The present study was done to evaluate the severity and frequency of malnutrition using anthropometry in CLD children.Methods: The study included 50 children with CLD attending the OPD of Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Egmore, Chennai during the period from April 2016 to September 2016. Physical growth and nutritional status in the patients were evaluated using anthropometric parameters and Z-scores.Results: The incidence of malnutrition in the children using height for age was found to be 90%, weight for age- 84%, BMI for age- 40%, MAC for age- 88%, TST for age- 88%. SGA showed 96% malnutrition. Weight for age and body mass index were influenced by this fluid retention (P=0.002 and P=0.007 respectively). Whereas height for age, MAC and TST were not influenced by fluid retention (P=0.321, P=0.371 and P=0.031 respectively).Conclusions: Assessment of nutritional status in CLD children can be easily diagnosed by anthropometric measurements. Early diagnosis of malnutrition will decrease the related morbidity and mortality in children.