Study of Relation between Serum Iron and Copper Levels in Pregnant Females of Uttarakhand, India.

Introduction: Copper is an indispensable trace element required for health and also plays a very important role in successful pregnancy completion. There is insufficiency of data on serum levels of copper and its relation with serum Iron levels in pregnant women, especially in India. This loco regional pilot study was done, keeping in mind the limited information about inter relation of these two important minerals and to provide further insight about interaction of these. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study comprising of pregnant women, selected by random cluster sampling was conducted in the Rishikesh (Hill regions of Uttarakhand, India). The duration of the study was from 1st Dec, to 31st March 2012. Sixty pregnant women of 18 -35 years age group were included. Serum values of twenty non-anaemic, non-pregnant women volunteers in the age group of 18-35 years with no other accompanying illness were considered as controls. The blood investigations for haemoglobin and serum values of Iron and Copper were done in all these. A Krusskal I-Wallis H test was performed for analysis, followed by a Dunn’s test for multiple comparisons and a p- value of <0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: The percentage of anemia among pregnant women of present study was 46.62%. In present study 58.3% of the pregnant women were found to have hypercupremia and 71.42 % of the anemic pregnant women had hypercupremia The relatively increased serum copper in iron deficient anaemic mothers could be a compensatory mechanism to counter-act anemia. Conclusions: A thorough biochemical analysis of haemoglobin, iron and Copper during pregnancy would therefore help us access the specific nutrient role and corrective measures thereof to deal with iron deficiency anaemia and successful pregnancy completion.

Comparison of different methods to estimate BMR in Adoloscent student population.

There is a growing clinical emphasis for the measurement of BMR and energy expenditure in clinical and research investigation such as obesity, exercise, cancer, under-nutrition, trauma and infections. Hence, there is a motivation towards calculating basal metabolic rate using standard equations. The objective of the present work is to identify an appropriate equation in Indian environment for the estimation of calorie needs and basal metabolic rate using the measured height, weight, age and skin fold parameters of an individual. Basal metabolic rates of adolescent male and female population aged between 17-20 years were estimated using equations proposed by FAO, ICMR, Cunningham, Harris Benedict, Fredrix and Miffin. Calorie needs were calculated using factorial approach which involves the multiplication of basal metabolic rate with appropriate physical activity factor. Basal metabolic rates estimated by FAO, Cunningham, Harris- Benedict, Fredrix and Miffin are reduced by 5%. These reduced basal metabolic rates and calorie needs are compared with that obtained by Cunningham’s equation which is considered as accurate equation. Comparison of the basal metabolic rates and calorie needs obtained by Cunningham equation with all equations such as Harris-Benedict, FAO, Fredrix and Miffin after 5% reduction and ICMR equation without reduction indicates that Harris-Benedict, Fredrix, Miffin and FAO equations can be used for male and female adolescent populations for Indian environment. In conclusion, Harris-Benedict equation is an appropriate equation for both male and female adolescent population for Indian environment.