Knowledge about HIV/AIDS among Girls' High School Students in Urban Area.

A cross sectional study was conducted at Kamla Nehru Girls High School, Wardha to assess level of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and awareness of HIV/ AIDS related health resources amongst high school girl students.. All 188 girl students in the age group 14-19 years studying in high school were selected for the study. The mean age of the students was 15.62 ± 1.5 years. 84.04 per cent of the students had heard of HIV/AIDS. 18.99% girls had no knowledge about the possible modes of transmission. Modes of HIV transmission identified by most of the girls included: sex with an infected person 81.01%, use of infected blood 72.78%, unsterile needle 76.58% and 66.46% were aware of the fact that HIV could be transmitted from mother to child. 43.67% of the girls were aware about HIV/AIDS as preventable. 27.22% of the students knew about the availability of treatment for HIV/AIDS. The main source of information about HIV/AIDS to most of the students was the teachers (84.18%), television (38.61%), newspaper (3.16%), health personnel (3.16%), radio (1.27%) and books (1.27%). The knowledge of the students on the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS was poor. There is a strong need that a specific chapter on HIV/AIDS should be included in the school curriculum which could make them aware of the problems of HIV/AIDS and HIV related health resources.

Newly developed WHO growth standards: implications for demographic surveys and child health programs.

OBJECTIVE: To compare estimates of undernutrition based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards ('WHO standards') and the National Center for Health Statistics NCHS/ WHO international growth reference ('NCHS reference') and discuss implications for child health programs and reporting of prevalence of underweight in demographic surveys. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 20 Anganwadi centers under Primary Health Centre, Anji. Total of 1491 under-six year children attending the Anganwadi centers were studied for nutritional status. Nutritional status was analyzed by NCHS standards by using EPI_INFO 6.04 software package and also by newly introduced WHO Child Growth Standards by Anthro 2005 software package. Chi-square test was used to compare the results. RESULTS: According to WHO standards, the prevalence of underweight and severe underweight for children 0-6 year was 47.4% and 16.9% respectively. By NCHS reference, the overall prevalence of underweight and severe underweight for children 0-6 years was 53% and 15% respectively. The prevalence of underweight as assessed by WHO standards was significantly lower when compared with the assessment based on NCHS reference (p< 0.01). But, WHO standards gave higher prevalence of severe underweight than NCHS reference though the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: In the light of newly developed WHO Child growth standards, all the nutrition-related indicators in demographic surveys like NFHS should now be derived using the WHO standards. There is need to reanalyze NFHS - I and NFHS - II data using WHO standards and findings should be made available so that it becomes comparable and trends over the years can be studied.

Relationship of anthropometric indicators with blood pressure levels in rural Wardha.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Overweight and obesity are important determinants of health leading to adverse metabolic changes, including increase in blood pressure. Being overweight is associated with two- to six-fold increase in the risk of developing hypertension. Studies in urban Indian population showed strong relationship between different anthropometric indicators and blood pressure levels. Surprisingly, little is known about these relationships in rural population of India. The present study was carried out to examine the relationship between different anthropometric indicators and blood pressure levels in rural population of Wardha district in central India. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the areas of two Rural Health Training Centres (RHTC) of Department of Community Medicine, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram; namely Bhidi and Anji through house-to-house visits. Two stage sampling method (30 cluster followed by systematic random) was used to reach the respondents' households. Partial correlation coefficients were used for continuous variables. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the influence of different anthropometric indicators on the systolic and diastolic blood pressure. ROC analysis was done to identify optimal cut-off values while likelihood ratios were calculated to identify the odds of having hypertension in comparison to those with lower values of anthropometric indicators. RESULTS: The mean systolic blood pressures were 120.2 and 118.4 mmHg while the mean diastolic blood pressures were 77.7 and 76.3 mmHg in men and women respectively. There was a significant positive correlation of obesity indicators with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. For SBP, the correlation coefficient was 0.23 with BMI, 0.23 with waist circumference, 0.11 with WHR and 0.22 with WHtR. For DBP, it was 0.13 with BMI, 0.12 with WC, 0.04 with WHR and 0.11 with WHtR. Step-wise linear regression suggested that BMI and WC were important predictors of hypertension. The suggested cut-off values for BMI were 21.7 for men and 21.2 for women; for waist circumference, the cut-offs were 72.5 for men and 65.5 for women. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: BMI and WC had strong correlation with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The suggested lower cut-off values of the anthropometric indicators will cover maximum of the population with higher odds of having hypertension and may help in reducing the mean population blood pressure levels.

Nutritional status of adolescents in rural Wardha.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to study the nutritional status of adolescents in rural area of Wardha. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was carried out in two PHC areas of Wardha district with two stage sampling method. In the first stage, cluster-sampling method was used to identify 30-clusters in each Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC) area separately. In the second stage, systematic random sampling method was used to identify 10 households per cluster. All adolescents in the household thus selected were included in the study. The mean body mass index (BMI) for age was used for classifying the nutritional status with CDC 2000 reference. Data thus generated was entered and analyzed using epi_info 2000. RESULTS: Overall, 53.8% of the adolescents were thin, 44% were normal and 2.2% were overweight. The mean body mass index (BMI) for boys and girls was 16.88 and 15.54 respectively. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). The prevalence of thinness was significantly (p<0.05) higher in early adolescence, girls, lower education (<8th standard) and lower economic status. CONCLUSION: Majority (53.8%) of the adolescents in this study area are thin and only 2.2% were overweight.

Awareness and health seeking behaviour of rural adolescent school girls on menstrual and reproductive health problems.

A study was conducted on 130 girl students aged 13-17 years in Haryana to assess their awareness and health seeking behaviour regarding menstrual and reproductive health. Mean age at menarche of the girls was 13.6 +/- 0.83 years. Awareness about the process of menstruation was poor. Commonest reported menstrual problem was dysmenorrhoea (40.7%) followed by irregular menses (2.3%) of which only 5.3% consulted a doctor and 22.4% took over the counter medications from the chemist shops. Knowledge about normal duration of pregnancy and need for extra food during pregnancy was poor. Most of the girls knew about importance, duration of child spacing and need for three medical examinations during pregnancy. Major sources of information were television (73.1%), radio (37.1%) and parents (36.1%). Girls preferred to consult parents (49.2%) and doctors (44.6%) for help at times of having reproductive health problems. This study highlights the need for educating school girls about adolescent health, pregnancy and reproductive health problems through schools and parents by the health professionals.

Gastrointestinal leiomyomas in a developing country.

Twenty one consecutive patients with leiomyoma of the gastrointestinal tract were studied. Recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding was found in 18 (85.7%) and recurrent intestinal obstruction in 3 (14.3%) patients. The commonest site of the lesion was the stomach followed by ileum, jejunum and duodenum. Barium meal examination and gastrointestinal endoscopy were suggestive of the diagnosis in 8 and angiography in 2 patients. The remaining patients were diagnosed peroperatively. All patients underwent excision and remained asymptomatic on follow up except two patients who had a recurrence of the tumor as leiomyosarcoma.

Effect of fenfluramine on serum T3, T4 and TSH levels in obesity.

A prospective, randomised case-control trial of an anorectic drug, fenfluramine was conducted on 30 patients of simple obesity. The study revealed that the drug was well tolerated, non-toxic and effective in reducing the body weight and normalising the thyroid profile. Reduction in body weight, rise in serum thyroxine (T4) and fall in serum triiodothyronine (T3) was highly significant (p less than 0.01) in drug treated group as compared to controls (p less than 0.05) after 12 weeks of therapy. There was also fall in serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels but without any statistical significance.

Sublingual nifedipine in hypertensive emergencies with special reference to cerebrovascular accident.

Effect of sublingual nifedipine was evaluated in 39 cases of hypertensive emergencies (diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 120 mm Hg with impending organ failure, loss of vital function or death). It was found to be effective (95%), safe, with prompt (with 15 minutes) and predictable response (lowering of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure by 30% at the end of 3 hours), and few adverse effects. Its use in patients of cerebrovascular accident (24 cases) was found to be effective and safe without any significant clinical problem or increased mortality.

Growth hormone response to clonidine in obese children.

Basal and stimulated serum growth hormone (GH) levels after exercise, insulin induced hypoglycemia (IIH) and oral clonidine were evaluated in 20 (16 M, 4 F) normal statured obese (body mass index greater than or equal to 25 kg/M2) children. Basal serum GH levels (mean +/- SEM, 2.0 +/- 0.38 ng/ml) were not different from basal levels in non-obese children. The mean peak levels were 3.16 +/- 1.17 ng/ml, 2.15 +/- 0.36 ng/ml and 3.15 +/- 1.12 ng/ml (+/- SEM) after exercise, IIH and oral clonidine, respectively. The positive responses (peak level of serum GH greater than 7 ng/ml) were seen in 10% with exercise, in 10% with clonidine and in none with IIH test. These observations suggest that GH response to oral clonidine is subnormal in obese children.

Liver trauma (management in 105 consecutive cases).

One hundred and five consecutive patients who sustained liver trauma during the period from Jan 1986 to Dec 1988 are reviewed. Of these, 82 cases suffered from blunt abdominal injury while the rest had penetrating trauma. Simple hepatorrhaphy and use of topical hemostatic agents were the only modes of treatment for 76 cases, hepato-omentorrhaphy was used in 12 cases and hepatotomy with selective vascular ligation and resectional debridement were carried out in remaining 17 cases. Mortality was 36.2% (38/105), 30 patients died of shock in the perioperative period. Uncomplicated recovery occurred in 50 cases.

Purgative and anthelmintic effects of Mallotus philippinensis in rats against tape worm.

A resin isolated from Mallotus philippinensis (Kamala) caused a significant purgative effect after an oral dose (120 mg/kg) in rats as assessed from the weight of faeces as well as from the surface area of blotting paper soaked by liquid faeces. The anthelmintic effect of the resin was evaluated in albino rats found to be infested with tape worms. The resin in 60 and 120 mg/kg dose had a lethal effect on 35.69% and 78.21% population of tape worms respectively, in small intestine.

Acetylcholine content of the brain and visceral organs of the teleostean fish; Heteropneustes fossilis and Clarias batrachus.

The acetylcholine content of various organs of two teleostean fish, Heteropneustes fossilis and Clarias batrachus has been estimated biologically on the eserinized frog rectus muscle. The acetylcholine content in the stomach of both the fish was 0.341 and 0.22 mug/g, respectively. Values were lower than those of other parts of the alimentary tract. The ilia contained the most acetylcholine, being 0.644 and 0.551 mug/g respectively, for the two fish. In the brain, heart, kidney and liver of both the fish, a considerable amount of acetylcholine was detected. Acetylcholine was not found in the spleen of Clarias batrachus, but it was present in the spleen of Heteropneustes fossilis.