ABSTRACT
Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has association with many comorbidities. Based on the postulated hypothesis from few studies, the primary objective of this study was to assess the occurrence of subclinical interstitial lung disease in moderate-to-severe OSA patients. Materials and methods: It was a prospective observational study, conducted at a tertiary care chest institute of India, 43 moderate-to-severe OSA patients diagnosed by level-I polysomnography were enrolled. All the patients underwent detailed clinical examination with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest, pulmonary function test (PFT), and serum markers MMP-1,7, SP-A, and Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6). Subclinical interstitial lung disease (ILD) was identified based on the two validated measures: high-attenuation areas (HAA), defined as the percentage of imaged lung volume having computed tomography (CT) attenuation between ?600 and ?250 HU and interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA), defined as the presence of ground-glass, reticular abnormality, diffuse centrilobular nodularity, honeycombing, traction bronchiectasis, nonemphysematous cysts, or architectural distortion in at least 5% of nondependent portions of the lung in HRCT chest without respiratory symptoms with preserved lung function. Results: The mean age was 54.33 � 11.5 years with 22 (51%) males. The mean apnea?hypopnea index (AHI) was 42.38 � 27.6 with BMI >30 kg/m2 in 18 (42%) patients. The subclinical ILD was diagnosed in 12 patients. The HRCT finding of ILA was seen in 12 and high-attenuation areas (HAA) in 5 patients. The serum markers were higher in subclinical ILD compared with non-ILD OSA patients, however, only the level of MMP-7 was significantly higher in subclinical ILD patients. Conclusion: It was concluded that subclinical ILD is quite common among OSA patients with HRCT findings seen in nearly 30% of cases. This supports the hypothesis that OSA may be considered as a risk factor of subclinical ILD.
ABSTRACT
Background: Stress is an unavoidable part of our life. Certain amount of stress is needed for our survival. Stress is one of the factors, which affects the health and eating habits of a person. Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the perceived stress among professional and nonprofessional undergraduate students and to find out the relationship between eating behavior and perceived stress of undergraduate students. Methods: A comparative descriptive study was conducted from November 2017 to April 2018, among 400 undergraduate students from selected professional and nonprofessional colleges in Udupi District, Karnataka. Students were recruited using proportionate sampling technique. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire after obtaining informed consent of the study participants. Results: Statistically significant difference was found in perceived stress of professional and nonprofessional students (Z = ?2.397, P = 0.017). There was a weak positive correlation between perceived stress and uncontrolled eating of professional students (?= 0.162, P = 0.022) and nonprofessional students (?= 0.183, P = 0.009). There was no association found between perceived stress and selected demographic variables such as age, gender, study course, year of study, type of family, and occupation of parents (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Perceived stress of professional students is more compared to nonprofessional students. Uncontrolled eating behavior is influenced by increase in stress, and perceived stress is independent of demographic variables.
ABSTRACT
Context: Autism prevalence is increasing, with current estimates at 1/68–1/50 individuals diagnosed with autism. Diagnosis is based on behavioral assessments. Early diagnosis and intervention are known to greatly improve functional outcomes in people with autism. Diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and prognosis of autistic children's symptoms could be facilitated with biomarkers to complement behavioral assessments. Aims: The aim of this study is to compare and evaluate salivary zinc concentration in saliva samples of autistic and healthy children in mixed dentition age group. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional comparative study carried out in dental college and special child school. Unstimulated whole saliva collected for finding a biomarker. Subjects and Methods: Unstimulated whole saliva sample was collected from 10 autistic and 10 healthy children in mixed dentition age group. Diluted saliva sample was then subjected to inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy for the estimation of salivary zinc concentration. Statistical Analysis Used: Mann–Whitney U-test. Results: In children with autism salivary zinc concentration showed a linear equation when compared to healthy children. Conclusions: The low salivary zinc concentration in autistic children can reveal the pathogenesis of autism.
ABSTRACT
We report preliminary results from an ongoing series of experiments on lifespan extension by appropriately modified Ayurvedic rasayanas in animal models. Here data are presented indicating lifespan extensions of 51–55% (up to 70–95% in the pilot experiment) in a standard strain of Drosophila melanogaster (Oregon-K) using a standard rasayana (Ayurvedic herbal formulation for life-extension) suitably adapted for insects. In a first experiment, two groups of 20 unmated D. melanogaster strain Oregon-K kept at 22ºC received either rasayana or standard yeast diet; days of death were recorded. Another experiment investigated possible sex differences; equal sized (N = 30) groups of similar males, females, and controls were compared. Life lengths of all controls were in the strain’s usual range: in Experiment 1, control life lengths were minimum 40 to maximum 53 days; experimental group figures were 81–91 days; groups were completely separated, experimental group minimum life length being 28 days more than control group maximum life length, i.e., about 2.5 full distribution widths – a sign test for the null hypothesis yields p < 2–20, i.e., 10–6 as maximum p. Experiment 2 found no differences between life lengths of males and females; but the maximum life length of 30 controls (60 days in males and 66 days in females) was once again far shorter than the minimum life length of the 60 in the two experimental groups, strengthening the findings of Experiment 1. Despite group sizes being relatively small, results are conclusive: the rasayanas in question increase D. melanogaster strain Oregon-K life length. The complexity of the formulation suggests that multiple mechanisms are involved – worth further investigation.