ABSTRACT
Background: Smart phones are truly a boon for us in all aspects of our life. It helps mankind to lead a faster and easier life, but the same devices used to get things done are now the gatekeepers of an infinite number of distractions and sources of instant gratification. Even though, there is an ocean full of information a click away, we fail to utilize it for something resourceful. Increased media consumption, multi screening and social media usage reduce the ability to focus on tasks and duties which have a much higher priority.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted with a validated questionnaire among 200 undergraduate MBBS students of a deemed to be medical university.Results: Among the ninety-eight per cent of the students who own a smartphone, all have access to the internet. Seventy-seven per cent of the students use these gadgets on a very regular basis throughout the day and among them only forty-six per cent were found to be using it for academic purposes.Conclusions: Through this study, it has become more discernible that smart phones have paved its way for a reckless future, though if used wisely it would become a blessing in disguise. The ever-changing medical fraternity could really benefit from this discovery but alas, a tool made to make our lives easier is weighing us down with its addictive and time-consuming features.
ABSTRACT
Background: There is a significant worldwide burden of CKD; which is likely to increase further. Cardiovascular diseases constitute major cause of morbidity and mortality in CKD. LV dysfunction may be present despite the asymptomatic phase during the early stages of CKD. Thus, early detection of LV dysfunction and targeted interventions can improve prognosis in CKD.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 CKD admitted patients. Echocardiographic examination was done to determine the systolic and diastolic function of LV. For LV systolic function ejection fraction and % fractional shortening were calculated and for LV diastolic function E/A, E/E’, E deceleration time and IVRT were measured.Results: Among 250 study subjects, 112 (47.8%) had systolic dysfunction and 138 (55.2%) had diastolic dysfunction. The prevalence of systolic as well as diastolic dysfunction increased significantly (P<0.05) with deteriorating renal function (39.1% for CKD stage 1 and 67.8% for stage 5 for systolic dysfunction, 34.8% for CKD stage 1 and 77.8% for stage 5 for diastolic dysfunction).Conclusions: LV systolic and diastolic dysfunctions are significantly prevalent among CKD patients which increase with increasing severity of CKD. Hence, it is important to routinely screen these patients for LV dysfunction. The use of echocardiography can detect LV dysfunction at an early stage among the high-risk population of CKD to help plan appropriate strategies to slow the progression of cardiac dysfunction and improve prognosis.