ABSTRACT
Background: Of the various non invasive imaging methods available, arterial intima media thickness measurement obtained by B mode ultrasound is currently recommended by the American Heart Association as being relatively safe, non invasive and inexpensive method of assessing sub clinical atherosclerosis, and being an independent predictor of atherosclerotic events. Aim: To study the correlation between glycemic and lipid levels with carotid intima media thickness among patients with type II diabetes mellitus. Methodology: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted for a period of one year. Patients in the age group of 30 to 70 years with type II diabetes for more than 2 years were included as our study subjects. A total of 100 patients were included as our study subjects. Anthropometric measurements, blood sugar parameters and lipid parameters were measured as per the guidelines. Carotid artery intima media thickness was measured by B mode ultrasound having an electric transducer with a mid frequency of 7.5 MHz. Scans were performed on both the right and left extracranial carotid arteries by trained personnel. The IMT values were measured in six well defined arterial segments- near wall and far wall of distal 6mm of common carotid, the carotid bulb and proximal 6mm of internal carotid artery of both sides. The final IMT considered was the average of the IMT values at the 12 sites examined. Results: A multivariate analysis was performed to assess the various factors influencing the increase in the thickness of CIMT and among that we found a significant correlation had occurred with the factors like BMI, waist hip ratio, fasting and post-prandial blood sugar, HbA1C and among the lipid parameters LDL, total cholesterol and triglycerides had shown a statistical significant correlation (p<.05), whereas factors like age, gender, hypertension status, duration of diabetes and HDL cholesterol among the lipid parameter did not show a statistical significant correlation with CIMT (p>.05). Conclusion: CIMT measurement can be used as a regular screening tool in diabetic patients for the early detection of atherosclerosis among them.
ABSTRACT
Background: Lung cancer remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer cause. Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical profile and the epidemiological trends in lung cancer patients from a single centre with an emphasis on the smoking practices. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 258 consecutive hospital in-patients with a proven diagnosis of lung cancer at a tertiary care oncology centre between 2003 and 2007. Results: The median age of patients in our study was 56 years; the male to female ratio was approximately 3.5:1. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was the predominant histology in 224 patients; the histology in the remaining 34 patients was small-cell carcinoma. Within NSCLC, the most common histology was adenocarcinoma followed by squamous cell carcinoma. One hundred and two patients were never-smokers as compared to 156 patients who were ever-smokers. Among the smokers, the majority of them were found to be cigarette smokers compared to 28.2% bidi smokers. There was a very significant correlation found with adenocarcinoma among nonsmokers, and with squamous cell carcinoma among the smokers compared to non-smokers. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the epidemiology of lung cancer in India is possibly changing, with close to 40% of our lung cancer patients being nonsmokers. More importantly, our study reflects the global trend of rise in adenocarcinoma histology. These observations need to be substantiated in similar studies of larger magnitude, preferably population-based.