Oral health status of 6-12 year old children attending a Government Hospital in Kashmir

Background: Dental caries is an irreversible disease, with a likelihood of new lesions that continue to affect humanity Dental caries or tooth decay is an acquired chronic infective disease process caused by the acidic by-products of bacteria inhabiting organized dental plaque or oral bio-film that, if left undisturbed, can dissolve or demineralise the enamel surfaces of the teeth. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the oral health status of school children visiting Department of Pedodontics in Government Dental College, Srinagar. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study involving 543 schoolchildren attending Department of Pedodontics, Government Dental College, Srinagar was conducted in 2015. Oral examination was performed in 543 children to check decayed, missing and filled teeth (deft/DMFT) index and simplified oral hygiene (OHI-S) score. Data were collected via clinical examination. Results: Mean caries experience in deciduous dentition was 3.52 ±4.63. Males presented a higher caries prevalence of 1.59 ±2.05 than the female counter parts who had 1.1±1.17 (p <0.001) which was lower than the caries experience seen in males of the similar age group. Mean defs of the male Behal R, Lone N, Shah AF, Yousuf A, Jan SM. Oral health status of 6-12 year old children attending a Government Hospital in Kashmir. IAIM, 2016; 3(3): 139-146. Page 140 subjects of age 6 was 4.09±5.32 which was much higher than females in similar age group (p <0.001). It was also observed that there was a statistically significant difference in the decayed component of the primary dentition in males and females. (p <0.005) Conclusion: Caries experience was significantly higher in male students as compared to their female counterparts.

Change in perception regarding food advertisements on Indian television following an oral health education intervention program in 7-14 year old Kashmiri children and their parents

Background: Nowadays, electronic mass media such as television influence the behavioral patterns of their audiences, mainly children. The study aimed to investigate the extent of effectiveness of health education intervention among 7-14 year old children and their parents regarding the food advertising to children on Indian television Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 140 children between 7-14 years and their parents attending Department of Pedodontics, Government Dental College and Hospital, Srinagar. Data was collected by administering a pretested and a validated questionnaire among children and their parents. Oral health education intervention in the form of counselling by power point presentations was provided and pictorial self explanatory pamphlets were distributed among the participants. They were recalled after 3 weeks and the same questionnaire was administered again to evaluate the effect of oral health education intervention. Sidiq M, Lone N, Yousuf A, Shah AF. Change in perception regarding food advertisements on Indian television following an oral health education intervention program in 7-14 year old Kashmiri children and their parents. IAIM, 2016; 3(6): 199- 206. Page 200 Results: After oral health education intervention regarding the Food Advertising to children and their parents on Indian television, there was a significant reduction (P<0.05) in the attitudes and practices which were detrimental to oral health. Conclusion: Children are exposed to TV advertisements which affect children’s food preferences resulting in consumption of unhealthy foods that are detrimental to the oral health. Oral Health education intervention to parents is necessary for selecting healthy foods.

Pulmonary function profile in chronic congestive heart failure and the effect of ipratropium bromide.

Twenty-five symptomatic patients of chronic heart failure were subjected to spirometry to detect abnormalities of pulmonary function and to assess the effect of ipratropium bromide in reversing or minimising these abnormalities. All the patients exhibited abnormal pulmonary function manifesting as obstructive (15/25) or restrictive (10/25) ventilatory defect. There was overall improvement in lung functions with ipratropium bromide especially in those with obstructive ventilatory defects and mostly comprised of smokers. Forced expiratory volume in one second increased by 47.7 percent (p < 0.02), forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity ratio by 14.1 percent (p < 0.001) and maximal voluntary ventilation by 40.6 percent (p < 0.05) in these patients. It is concluded that ipratropium bromide can prove as a promising adjunctive therapeutic intervention in improving quality of life in patients of chronic congestive heart failure who are incapacitated by dyspnoea and have clearly documented ventilatory defects.

Immune response in acute coronary syndromes.

Inflammatory response in the atherosclerotic lesions of coronary artery disease, mediated by cellular immune mechanisms is well appreciated. The significance of the immuno-inflammatory processes for the development of acute ischaemic sequelae of these lesions remains unsettled. Fifty patients of acute coronary syndromes were studied for complement components and immunoglobin levels by single radial immunodiffusion method. Twenty-eight patients of acute myocardial infarction showed significantly lower levels of complement components C3 and C4 at admission (C3--69.19 +/- 12.91 mg% compared to 82.40 +/- 9.26 mg% in controls, p < 0.01; C4--14.56 +/- 2.46 mg% compared to 18.53 +/- 2.69 mg% in controls, p < 0.01). Twenty-two patients of unstable angina did not show any significant change (C3--83.14 +/- 8.01 mg% and C4--19.07 +/- 4.47 mg%). Sixteen patients of acute myocardial infarction who were thrombolysed with streptokinase showed a steep rise in the levels of complement components immediately after thrombolysis (C3--69.19 +/- 12.91 mg% before and 100.56 +/- 17.09 mg% after thrombolysis, p < 0.001; C4--14.56 +/- 2.46 mg% before and 21.48 +/- 4.78 mg% after thrombolysis, p < 0.001). Plasma C3 and C4 levels in acute myocardial infarction showed no relationship with peak CPK levels. Plasma immunoglobulins remained unchanged in patients of acute coronary syndromes.

Silent myocardial ischemia and cardiac autonomic neuropathy in diabetics.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) with cardiac autonomic neuropathy in asymptomatic diabetic patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two hundred asymptomatic patients of diabetes mellitus were assessed for evidence of cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Of these, 30 (15 males, 15 females; mean age 44.7 +/- 8.8 years) were found to have cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Thirty (30) age and sex matched diabetic patients (mean age 42.4 +/- 7.6 years) who had no evidence autonomic neuropathy were included in the study as control group. Both the groups of patients were evaluated for SMI by 24 hour ambulatory electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring. RESULTS: Incidence of SMI was significantly higher in patients with autonomic neuropathy 12/30 (40%) compared to those without 3/30 (10%) p < 0.001. Duration of diabetes was more (13 +/- 1.59 years) in patients with autonomic neuropathy compared to the control group (8.66 +/- 1.55 years) p < 0.001. Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly higher in patients with autonomic neuropathy in comparison to control group < 0.05 and < 0.01, respectively. There was no difference in the pattern of SMI in the two groups (p = N.S). CONCLUSION: Cardiac autonomic neuropathy predisposes patients with diabetes mellitus to SMI. Twenty four hour ambulatory ECG monitoring provides useful diagnostic information in early detection and evaluation of SMI in asymptomatic diabetic patients.

Clinical spectrum of infective endocarditis: 15 years experience.

Four hundred and sixty-six patients (277 males, 189 females; mean age 23.2 years) diagnosed as cases of infective endocarditis during the past 15 years were retrospectively analysed. Two-thirds of patients belonged to the 15 to 35 years age group. The most common predisposing cardiac lesion was rheumatic heart disease seen in 73.4 percent patients. Mitral valve prolapse and right-sided endocarditis were infrequent, seen in four patients each. Blood culture positivity was 28.7 percent in adults and 61 percent in children. Commonest organism isolated was staphylococcus aureus in adults (39.3%) and streptococcus viridans in children (48%). Salmonella typhi was detected in 17 patients and showed excellent response to ciprofloxacin and gentamycin. Overall mortality was 13.9 percent and resistant heart failure was the leading cause of death. Our study presents the clinical spectrum of infective endocarditis and highlights the comparison with western studies.