To determine the frequency of raised C-reactive protein in patients of acute pancreatitis

To determine the frequency of raised c-reactive protein in patients of acute pancreatitis. Cross sectional study. This study was conducted at Surgical Department Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre Karachi and Dow University Hospital from January 2013 to June 2014. The patients were selected on the basis of clinical features. Take detailed history regarding epigastric and upper abdomen pain. All the patients of either gender with acute abdominal pain presenting to emergency and diagnosed as acute pancreatitis by serum amylase of 1000 units or more were included in the study. Ranson Scoring and C reactive protein levels on admission were noted. A total of 144 patients, both males and females were included in the study. 17[11.80%] out of 144 subjects were males and rest were females 127[88.19%] cases. The minimum age was 25 years and maximum was 60 years but most of the patients were in the range of 40 to 55 years means age was 43 +/- 6.7 years. The minimum value was found to be 25 mg/L while maximum was 57 mg/L. Mean CRP was foud to be 32.2 +/- 11.43 mg/L for that group of patients. All the patients were also categorized as mild and moderate to severe on the basis of Ranson's criteria. 73% patients were found to have mild disease with rest having moderate to severe disease. Frequency of CRP observed in our study were in 139[96.52%] cases. We concluded that C reactive protein was a useful severity assessment marker in patients with acute pancreatitis and it can be proposed as an important single factor for determining severity of patients presenting with acute pancreatitis

Effects of noise on rickshaw drivers of Karachi city

Hearing loss is the most obvious threat posed by noise pollution. Road noise is a major contributor to perceived environmental noise. The objective of this study was to assess hearing loss in rickshaw drivers of Karachi due to rickshaw noise and to analyze the non-auditory effects of noise that is hypertension and mood changes... It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study was conducted at Patel Paara, Karachi. Fifty one rickshaw drivers who had been driving for at least past 5 years and were below 50 yrs of age were selected. The mean age of rickshaw drivers was 35 years. Questionnaire was filled which was translated into Urdu. Blood pressure was checked and tuning fork tests and proper Audiometry was done in all study subjects Interviews of 51 rickshaw drivers were completed. All subjects were male. They were investigated regarding. sensorineural and conduction hearing loss, blood pressure, effect of duration of driving on hearing and tinnitus. Audiometry results clearly showed that hearing of most of the rickshaw drivers was affected. The hearing loss observed in most of the study subjects was sensorineural in type, while few of the subjects also showed conduction loss. Majority of the subjects was found to be hypertensive on examination. There was loss of hearing and tinnitus among rickshaw drivers that seems to be most probably a result of their noisy occupation. Noise was also found to be a risk factor for developing mild to moderate hypertension. Use of silencers by rickshaw drivers and proper legislation by the government can result in less hearing loss and less noise pollution in the envioronment

Trace metal contents of undecorticated and decorticated drug legumes

Ten different kinds of mature dry legumes such as lentil, mash, moong, lobia, rawan peas, gram, seme and french beans were analysed for five trace metals-iron, zinc, copper, cobalt and nickel, both in the undecorticated and decorticated form. The pulses ere found to be quite rich in these trace elements, more prominent amongst them were moong, lentil and gram. Hulls were found to contain substantial amounts of trace metals which were lost as a result of decortication. The pulses could partly fulfil the daily requirements of these trace minerals. There were distinct varietal differences in the same class of legume. The data under report is in general agreement with other Pakistan, Indian, American results cited in the literature, although, some differences in certain cases do occur