ABSTRACT
Introduction:Diarrhoea is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality across all age groups and regions of the world. Electrolyte imbalances are very common with the severity of acute diarrhoea. The aim of present study was to study the Serum Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium levels in patients of acute diarrhea.Materials and methods:This was a descriptive longitudinal study carried out in Department of Medicine, of PRH, Loni. Patients of diagnosed of acute diarrhea of age 18 and above of either gender willing to participate by giving written informed consent were includ-ed in the study. Patients with history of electrolyte abnormalities, history of chronic gastroenteritis, irritable bowel disease, congestive cardiac failure, liver cirrhosis, renal diseases, history of any disease deranging serum electrolyte levels and those on diuretics or any drugs which causes electrolyte imbalance were excluded from the study. Patients included in the study were subjected to demographic profile and serum electrolytes before and after treatment. Re-sults:100 patients were included in the study. Male patients were more in number (56) as compared to female pa-tients. Signs of dehydration were present in 70 patients. The patients suffering from hypokalemia, hyponatremia, hypocalcaemia and hypomagnesaemia were 23, 35, 78 and 84 respectively. Thus electrolyte imbalances are quite common in patients suffering from acute diarrhea. On comparing the serum Calcium, Magnesium and Sodium levels before and after treatment, statistically significant difference was seen. It was not significant for serum Potassium levels. Conclusion:Electrolyte imbalances are quite common in patients suffering from acute diarrhea. The serum electrolytes of patients suffering from acute diarrhea should be routinely examined to rule out electrolyte abnormali-ties and prompt treatment.
ABSTRACT
Asthma and related allergic disorders are reported to be rare in poor and developing countries and their prevalence is expected to rise with urbanisation. Investigation was carried to see the prevalence of asthma and asthma-related symptoms by using a simple questionnaire-based data collection. One hundred and twenty bank employees were studied in the age group 25-55 years in 4 centres of Vellore town. A one-page questionnaire in English regarding asthma and allergic symptoms was used to assess the prevalence and the details of medical care utilisation by those who were asthmatics. The prevalence of self-reported bronchial asthma was 8.3% and that of asthma-related symptoms 15.8%. A significant number of subjects with symptoms suggestive of asthma self-reported themselves as non-asthmatic. There was a significant association between those who had symptoms of asthma and a positive family history of asthma. Most of the asthmatic subjects using allopathic medicines reported a poor quality of life, despite treatment. The prevalence of asthma in Vellore town is more than that reported in other studies carried out at different centres in India. The prevalence may actually be higher since a significant number of subjects with symptoms suggestive of asthma reported themselves as non-asthmatic subjects. As expected, positive family history was forthcoming in subjects with asthma symptoms. Most asthmatic subjects have not experienced a significant improvement in their quality of life, which could indicate sub-optimal management. These findings can form the basis for further studies to investigate factors that lead to these variations.