ABSTRACT
Background: Quantitative measurement of valproate and lithium induced tremor using hand steadiness tester and their comparison in bipolar disorder. Methods: 200 newly diagnosed patients of bipolar disorder were randomly allocated into two equal groups receiving lithium (300mg twice daily) and sodium valproate (500 mg twice daily) after they fulfilled the inclusion / exclusion criteria of the study. 87 patients from Lithium group and 93 from Valproate completed the study. Hand Tremor was assessed quantitatively at 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 weeks using hand steadiness tester. Anxiety level of the study subjects was assessed to be insignificant using a standardized anxiety scale. Final data was assessed after 24 weeks by using Stat Calc and Z test. P value <0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: No significant difference was found in terms of the development and transition of tremor induced by valproate and lithium (p=0.22). However more men developed tremor with lithium when compared with females (p<0.05) and the mean age of patients who developed tremor appeared to be significantly higher in lithium group (54.7±3.9) than valproate (39.6±5.1). Conclusions: Tremor of hands is a common side effect of lithium and valproate treatment. Timely, objective assessment of onset and extent of tremor has always remained a challenge to the clinicians. Hand Steadiness tester is a simple, portable, inexpensive, non-invasive instrument that can be used to ascertain the development and transition of tremor in a quantitative manner. This would guide the clinicians as when to intervene for better management of such tremors.
ABSTRACT
Background: The abundant resource of drugs and its beneficial properties are hidden in our natural and Indigenous sources, which are under constant evaluation by man. Cholesterol lowering ability of ethanol extract of garlic was evaluated in comparison to atorvastatin, the most frequently used lipid lowering agent in rabbits. Methods: Hypercholesterolemia was induced to the animals with cholesterol powder (50mg/kg) for the study duration (16 weeks). At the end of 4 weeks, they were randomly selected and divided into 3 groups (n=6). Group II received Cholesterol + atorvastatin 10 mg daily; Group III received Cholesterol + 0.1g garlic extract kg b. w. daily while Group I continued with cholesterol powder (to serve as control) for the rest study period. Serum cholesterol, LDL, HDL and Triglycerides were estimated using the enzymatic method at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 weeks in all the groups. The results were tabulated and analyzed statistically using one way ANOVA test. Results: The results indicate that both atorvastatin and garlic extract have a definite role in retarding the rate of weight gain as a consequence to high cholesterol diet in rabbits. Also, there is fewer rises in all the lipid parameters in both the treatment groups when compared to the control group. Conclusion: Though atorvastatin is definitely more effective in reducing the lipid parameters but it also significantly lowers HDL where as Garlic shows promising results when compared to placebo and also has a favourable effect on HDL. Garlic can be recommended as a dietary supplement for long term use without toxic effects for its wide range of medicinal properties in general and therapeutic potential inpatients with CAD in particular.