ABSTRACT
Artificial intelligence (AI) is often being touted as the means to bring about the fourth industrial revolution and its role in almost all sectors of our society is almost certain. This brings about an urgent need for evaluating the benefits and limitations of AI and machine learning (ML) across various sectors. Pharmaceutical industry has pioneered in embracing the use of AI in all its core areas but the success as of now seems very limited. The major advantage of AI is that it reduces the time that is needed for drug development, and in turn, it reduces the costs that are associated with drug development, enhances the returns on investment, and may even cause a decrease in cost for the end user along with improved drug safety. Hence, in this article, we will review the scope and limitations of AI in the pharmaceutical industry along with the brief review of how AI/ML can impact geriatric health care.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate the effect of acupressure therapy as an adjunctive therapy to pharmacological treatment on pain and health-related quality of life (QOL) among knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients.Methods: One hundred KOA patients were recruited from the orthopedic out-patient clinic of the institute. The patients were allocated randomly (flipping-coin simple randomization method) into an intervention group (n=50) and a control group (n=50). Patients in the intervention group received acupressure therapy along with pharmacological treatment. Patients in the control group did not receive acupressure therapy but continued their pharmacological treatment. Changes in pain (visual analog scale, VAS) and QOL (short-form 36-item health survey, SF-36) scores at baseline (A0), during training session (A1), follow-up at the 3rd month after training (A2) and follow-up at the 6th month after training session (A3) were collected and examined. Multiple regression analysis was used to check the relationship between pain and SF-36 domains. Results: The VAS score of participants in the intervention group decreased at A3 (P=0.001). Scores of physical functioning (PF), role limitations due to emotional problems (RE) and mental health (MH) of SF-36 in the intervention group improved more as compared with the control group. Patients in the intervention group with improvement in VAS (pain) score showed greater changes in mean scores of all domains of SF-36 from baseline (all P?0.05). Except bodily pain (BP), the other domains of SF-36 were negatively correlated with pain score. Conclusion: Acupressure therapy with pharmacological treatment can improve health-related QOL and pain among KOA patients.
ABSTRACT
Background: Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice that has been around since ages. With time, people have discovered a number of health benefits associated with yoga.Methods: This longitudinal interventional study intended to evaluate the effect of yoga intervention on physical health and various hematological parameters. Thirty five healthy individuals between the age group of 18 to 45 years participated in the study. After a written informed consent, the individuals underwent various types of yoga exercises for 90 days under supervision of professional yoga trainer. Impact on body mass index (BMI), pulse rate, blood pressure (BP), and various haematological parameters like hemoglobin percentage (Hb %), white blood cell (WBC) count, platelet count, were taken under consideration before and after training. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test.Results: Significant reduction in BMI, BP and rise in Hb % and platelet (p<0.05) was observed. However, although WBC count showed improvement, the difference was statistically non-significant. No adverse events were observed during the study period.Conclusions: The present study findings highlight the importance of yoga in improving physical health and hematological markers.
ABSTRACT
Background: Oral cancer is the second most prevalent cancers among males in Jaipur city. Assessment of risk factors profile of patients will help the policy makers in initiating new ways to curb the usage of tobacco among masses. The present study aims to find out the risk factors profile of oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients at two hospitals of Jaipur city.Methods: It was a prospective and observational study. The patients with histologically confirmed diagnosis of oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were recruited. Data on the demographic profile and clinical information were obtained from hospital and clinical records. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 14 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Chi-square test was performed to analyse the data.Results: Out of 400 oral cancer patients included in this study majority of the patients were in the age range of 40-60years and with a significant male preponderance in all the age groups (P <0.05). The most common habit among males and females was chewing. Buccal mucosa was the most commonly affected site followed by tongue. Both males and females were more likely to be diagnosed in stage 3 (p <0.05).Conclusions: There is a need to reduce the burden of this disease by educating the people about various risk factors which play role in oral cancer development.