Management of Infantile diarrhoea through Unani oral rehydration fluids

Children are the indicators of development of our future, and diarrhoeal diseases among children is still a major health problem in developing countries. In India alone about 1.5 million children die of dehydration due to diarrhoea every year and are indicative of tragic symbol of inefficiency of our health care system. Greater tragedy behind this fact is that most of these deaths arc preventable not by sophisticated or expensive means but by simple and cheap Unani home remedies. Oral re-hydration therapy is considered as the best medical revolution and oral rehydration fluids prepared from homely available Unani drugs can play valuable role not only to control dehydration but also to check diarrhoeal episode, and help decrease needless diarrhoeal deaths. The topic is discussed in the paper at length

Temperament [Mizaj] and blood groups of donors and recipients and their importance in blood transfusion

Blood groups are checked before transfusion to avoid agglutination caused due to the interaction of agglutinogen present in the red cells [khilt-e-dam] of donor and agglutinin present in the plasma of recipient or vice versa. On the basis of agglutinogens present in the red cells, human beings are divided into groups, A, B, AB and O. Unani medical science is based on the concept of four Akhlat [Humours] which remain intermixed in the blood as their name suggests. Each dominating humour in the blood constitutes a particular temperament and accordingly all individuals are divided into four humoural temperaments, sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic. Concluded, blood of all persons are not similar but differ according to temperaments. Observations revealed that in several recipients even after transfusion of compatible blood, jaundice occurred due to haemolysis. This is indicative of incompatibility of temperament of recipient and donor. In this paper it is emphasised that besides blood groups, temperaments of donors and recipients must also be checked before transfusion and be similar, to avoid ill-effects

Assessment of mizaj [temperament] in Unani system of medicine and its relevance to modern theory of blood grouping

Mizaj [temperament] forms the bases of diagnosis and treatment in the Unani System of Medicine. Evaluation and classification of various temperaments are based on the intermixture of four akhlat [humours] in the blood in different proportions and this blood plays and important role in the constitution of Mizaj. Domination of humours e.g., blood, phlegm, bile and black bile in the blood categorises persons in sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic temperaments respectively. Similarly, on the other hand, presence or absence of A and B antigens in the blood classifies persons into four groups, A, B, AB, and O. The study was undertaken to find out the relationship between temperaments and blood groups of 120 healthy temperaments and blood groups of 120 healthy individuals

Prognostic factors in stage-I breast cancer: a retrospective study

We studied the case records of all patients presenting with stage-I breast cancer [tumour < 2 cm, no axillary nodes or distant metastases]. All clinical and pathological features were evaluated and findings were correlated with short term treatment failures [local and distant recurrences within 2 years]. An early recurrence was seen in 28% patients. There was no significant differences in the mean age at presentation [44 vs 47 years] or menopausal status [8 Vs 7 years]. Estrogen receptor status was unknown in all the patients. A positive family history of breast cancer was noted in 40% women with tumour relapse against 6% in the non-relapsed group. Associated fibrocystic mammary dysplasia was found in 80% relapsed cases whereas 60% showed lymphatic invasion and tumour necrosis. Vascular invasion was reported in 40% cases. A poorly differentiated histology fibrocystic mammary dysplasia, lymphatic and vascular invasion and tumour necrosis were poor prognostic factors. It was concluded that adjuvant chemotherapy should be given to all patients presenting with stage-I breast cancer and showing poor prognostic factors regardless of the menopausal status

Two patients with dysgerminoma ovary

Dysgerminoma is a rare malignant germ cell tumour of the ovary. This accounts for about 2-5% of all primary malignant ovarian tumours. In this article two case reports are presented. Case-I is that of a young girl who was diagnosed as stage-IV dysgerminoma ovary and was treated with conventional chemotherapy [VAC regimen - Vincristine, Actinomycin-D and cyclophosphamide]. She went into complete remission after 8 months of treatment. The treatment was continued for one year. Case-II is of a young lady who presented with malignant pleural effusion, and huge abdominal recurrence of a dysgerminoma ovary. She received four cycles of PEB regimen - [Cisplatinum, Etoposide and Bleomycin]. She is now in complete remission. Purpose of this discussion is to emphasize that germ cell tumours are highly chemosensitive and curable even in advanced stages