COVID-19: The Impact of Social Isolation on Mood, Behavior and Biological Rhythms

Background: A new strain of Corona virus, SARS- CoV-2, emerged in the Wuhan city of China in December 2019. Due to fast and easy transmission of this respiratory virus the world was under a lockdown for a long time. The purpose of this study was to find out changes in behavior, mood and biological rhythm of people as a result of social distancing and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: The study was conducted in the months of April and May 2020. This was the time when the lockdown was at its peak. It used a self-rating web based structured questionnaire formulated on Google forms which was circulated through different platforms for people to fill after giving their consents. Results: Highest numbers of respondents were from India (30.2%), USA (21.5%) and UK (11.5%). Our results showed that 46.3% subjects experienced an increase in problems related to sleep. Even though they were getting sufficient amounts of sleep, it was unstructured, and the quality of sleep was affected. The appetite was seen to be good with 68.2% reporting no changes. There was an increase in substance use in 43.8% of the participants while in the lockdown. Our study revealed that 34.2% participants had anxiety and 15.2% showed depressive symptoms. More than 50% respondent’s perceived lack of motivation, lack of energy, nervousness and irritability, and 13.4% reported having suicidal thoughts regularly. Conclusions: This data shows that social isolation due to the COVID-19 lockdown has caused significant changes in the mood, behavior and biological rhythm of people.

Early detection and prevention of oral cancer: an appraisal

In a bid mitigate the spread of HIV and AIDS since it was diagnosed, several interventions ranging from palliative care, increased access to HIV treatment to manage opportunistic infections and the current drive of improving clinical outcomes through suppression of viral load are all aimed at prolonging survival of HIV and AIDS patients. The authors endeavour to corroborate the effect of viral load (VL) suppression on ART HIV patients. The authors applied a comprehensive search by merging terms for survival of HIV patients to clinical, demographic and socio-economic factors in NCBI and MEDLINE databases. About 15 articles were considered by outlining research questions, generating key words and search terminologies. Only articles published since 2013 during scale up of VL interventions were considered. It is worth noting that unsuppressed VL clinically decisively causes death in HIV/AIDS patients, propelled by a number of associated causes including opportunistic infections (OIs) Tuberculosis (TB), Non communicable diseases (NCDs), age, sex, income, geographic location among others. Whereas there is marked decline in risk of dying among HIV/AIDS patients resulting from VL suppression, other factors including; early detection and timely treatment, managing OIs, NCDs and TB treatment, tackling socio-economic barriers and multi-pronged community focused interventions like Community Client Led ART Delivery CCLAD, Community Drug Distribution Point (CDDP) interventions enhance survival of HIV/AIDS patients on lifelong ART.

Discernment, apropos on dispensation of hospital waste among paramedics: a descriptive study

Background: India is one of the most populated and rapidly growing countries in the world and is the source of humongous amounts of waste every year, including municipal solid waste, hazardous waste, biomedical waste or e-waste. Healthcare is one of the largest sectors in India both in terms of revenue and employment. With growing healthcare, there is a requirement of management of bio-medical waste. This study is conducted to assess discernment, apropos on dispensation of hospital waste by paramedics.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the discernment and apropos of paramedical staff in 3 private hospitals regarding disposal of waste in Bhopal city and convenience sampling was used. A total of 204 individuals were approached for the study. The collected data analysed by using SPSS 21.0 and Descriptive analysis was done.Results: Total 204 paramedical staff participated in the study out of which 125 (61.2%) were males and 79 (38.7%) were males. It showed that there was limited level of knowledge, attitude and practices among class 3 workers i.e., attenders as compared to nurses and technicians.Conclusions: Study concluded that there is lack of knowledge about waste management which leads to improper waste disposal and pointed out that class 3 workers have less knowledge as compared to class 1 and class 2 workers. The technicians and nurses comparatively were having better knowledge and attitude, and also practiced waste management better than the attenders

Assessment of Oral Mucosal Lesions among Eunuchs Residing in Bhopal City, Madhya Pradesh, India: A Cross-sectional Study.

Aim: The present cross-sectional study following the STROBE guidelines was conducted to assess the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions among males, females, and eunuchs residing in Bhopal city, Madhya Pradesh India. Materials and Methods: Based on convenient non-probability snowball sampling technique, all the self-identifi ed eunuchs residing in the city of Bhopal who were present at the time of examination and who fulfi lled the selection criteria were examined. A cross section of the general population (males and females) residing in the same locality where these eunuchs live was also examined. The World Health Organization (WHO) oral health assessment proforma (1997) was used to collect the information on oral mucosal lesions. All the obtained data were analyzed by using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20. Results: Overall prevalence of oral mucosal lesions was 127 (19.9%) among the study subjects. Fifty-nine (28.5%) eunuchs, 56 (25.7%) males, and 12 (5.6%) females were observed to have some oral mucosal lesions. Oral submucous fi brosis (6.4%), leukoplakia (5.5%), and traumatic ulceration (4.2%) were the major oral mucosal conditions observed. Conclusion: The information presented in this study adds to our understanding of the common oral mucosal lesions occurring in the eunuch population. Efforts to increase patient awareness of the oral effects of tobacco use and to eliminate the habit are needed to improve the oral and general health of eunuchs.

Oil Pulling and Oral Health: A Review.

Oil pulling is extensively used as a traditional Indian folk remedy without the scientific proof for many years to prevent decay, bleeding gums, oral malodor, dryness of throat, cracked lips and for strengthening teeth, gums, and jaws. This paper reviewed the literature on oil pulling based on the scientific articles available under the following subheadings: (1) Introduction (2) history (3) procedure (4) mechanism (5) benefits (6) discussion (7) summary (8) conclusion. Oil pulling or oil swishing is the ayurvedic way of maintaining oral health and improving overall immune system. Oil also pulling acts as an excellent detoxifying agent in healing the body inside. Oil pulling is a procedure in which the practitioners rinse their mouth with approximately one tablespoon of an ordinary cooking oil for 3-20 min, then spits it out. This procedure is typically performed daily. In this narrative review, authors try to illustrate different types of oil used for oil pulling and their oral benefits and general benefits on the health. Various oils used for swishing (pulling) the oral cavity-coconut oil, palm oil, corn oil, rice bran oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, etc. Though oil pulling is effective, none of the studies considered it as a replacement for the tooth brushing, but can definitely be a supplemental oral hygiene aid.

Tobacco cessation and counseling: A dentists' perspective in Bhopal city, Madhya Pradesh.

Introduction: Dental team has high potential to help smokers to better oral/general health but to achieve this; they need to be clear about their role. Considering the importance of tobacco cessation, the authors carried out this study aimed at assessing the role, knowledge, current practices, different barriers, and tools to overcome the same as perceived by dentists in Bhopal city. Materials and Methods: A self-administered structured, coded questionnaire was distributed to 200 private practitioners and the teaching staff in all the dental colleges in Bhopal city. Results: Out of 200 dentists to whom questionnaire was administered, 168 responded within a week's time resulting in a high response rate of 84%. A total of 97% of the dentists agreed that it is the duty of every dentist to advice patients about tobacco cessation. A total of 58% strongly agree that formal training will be an effective tool to provide the guidelines to dentists in tobacco cessation and counseling. Conclusion: Monitoring of effective planning and execution of these programs by appropriate authorities at regular intervals is vital for successful achievement of the goal of "Tobacco Free Society."