Prevalence of zinc deficiency among rural women during childbearing age in Peshawar, Pakistan

Zinc deficiency is a commonly reported health problem throughout the world. This cross sectional survey was conducted in rural Peshawar with an aim to estimate the prevalence of zinc deficiency in women of child bearing age and find its association with age, marital, pregnancy status and parity. Data was collected from 353 women age 15-45 years. EPI INFO version 6.04 was used for data analysis. Overall 98 [27.8%] women were zinc deficient [

Gingival bleeding in relation to oral hygiene practices among school girls in Peshawar

A cross sectional study, performed on 200 apparently healthy girls students, in the age group of 12, 13 and 14 years, 100 each from rural and urban schools of Peshawar is presented. They have been assessed for the gingival bleeding using community periodontal index of treatment need [CPITN]. It has been found out that all the subjects from both the urban and rural schools suffered from gingival bleeding, with a higher mean index for higher age group. Most of the subject 71.5% used tooth paste and 61.5% used to clean their teeth in the morning before break fast. It has been concluded that the common problem of gingival bleeding is due to plaque accumulation, which in turn is due to improper and inefficient cleaning method and unsuitable cleaning time. It is recommended that teachers and parents should give more emphasis on training the children to adapt habit of regular post break fast and post Dinner cleaning schedule, using tooth brush as mechanical device rather than using finger. The situation needs a broad based community screening and assessment using CPITN criterion

Latex agglutination and immunochromatographic screening tests versus reverse passive hemagglutination for hepatitis B surface antigen in serum

Latex agglutination [LA] and immunochromatographic technique [ICT] for hepatitis B surface antigen [HbsAg] testing have been evaluated against Reverse Passive Hemagglutination [RPHA] on 133 serum samples obtained from hepatitis admitted and medical OPD referred patients. LA method has shown same sensitivity as that of ICT and RPHA but has lower specificity, while the ICT is both highly specific and sensitive as compared to RPHA. It has been suggested that positive results obtained with LA method may be interpreted with care keeping in mind the lower specificity of the method. ICT can be used with confidence where Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay [ELISA] and RPHA are not available. It is also recommended that the studies reported earlier on prevalence of hepatitis B virus [HBV] disease using LA technique, should be reviewed. Using the easy, sensitive, reliable and cheap immunochromatographic technique

Pattern of children diseases and their management by consultants in Peshawar

Health care management in children diseases by consultant pediatricians in Peshawar has been thoroughly studied. Results have shown that majority of children brought for specialist consultancy suffer from acute illness like gastroenteritis [G/E], acute respiratory infections [ARI]. malaria, typhoid, malnutrition, anaemia, and acute viral hepatitis [AVH] First level treatment although seems rational in majority of cases but lacks counselling. This has resulted in seeking second consultant opinion within 3-10 days. Polypharmacy is practiced both by general practitioners and specialists. Irrelevant and indiscriminate use of antibiotics and antidiarrheal drugs is still commonly seen in paediatric practice even for acute viral/self limiting diseases. Trend of prescribing investigations for diagnosis has found a good place in paediatric consultant practice but has not reduced the trend of polypharmacy. As a result expenditure on treatment of simple acute illnesses of children has increased many folds. Proper attention to rational prescribing and adequate counselling at first consultancy is emphasised, which will improve the situation a lot

Role of consultant practice in health care

Role of consultation practice in health care at Peshawar has been assessed. Two hundred sixty seven patients/attendants have been studied in detail and their illness record thoroughly checked. Data has revealed that 25% patients sought specialist's advice and consultancy for minor illness as first line whereas 75% sought specialist's advice following previous consultancies and treatment. Previous treatment records where found to be incomplete and limited to a few prescription only proving no help to current consultant. Current consultancy has an average added a monetary burden of Rs. 1300-2000 to the previous average expenditure of Rs. 17, 000/- on the illness episode. Fifteen percent of previously treated patients in this study were properly referred. Patients expressed satisfaction over recent consultancy/advice. Reasons for change of consultants were none or slow improvement. Sixty percent of current prescriptions were found substandard. No or very little difference has been observed in the general and the specialist practice in health care

Estimation of saliva theophylline concentration in the management of asthmatic patients

Plasma and saliva concentrations of theophylline were studied in 91 patients receiving sustained release theophylline preparation. Co-efficient of correlation between saliva and plasma found to be nearly perfect with P-0.906, suggesting that measurement of plasma concentration can be determined by saliva concentration to an extent of about 84%

Nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women in a rural community

A prospective study on nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women in a rural community using dietary anthropometric and haematological indices revealed a high prevalence of chronic malnutrition and anaemia. The diet of the child bearing age women of the community under study has been found to be poor, both in quality and quantity with only 15% energy intake from protein sources. Major factors which were indentified poverty included poverty, education and faulty family norms. Steps for improvement, specially to increase awareness regarding improved nutritional practices, should be undertaken on a priority basis

Seasonal variations in the urinary excretion of various metabolites

Seasonal variations in urine output and urinary concentration of various metabolites along with fluid intake and intake pattern have been studied in a group of 8 healthy adult individuals. Results have confirmed the reduced fluid intake by all subjects even in hot summer months. This lower fluid intake consequently resulted in reduced urine output, creatinine clearance and increased blood osmolality. The effects are more pronounced and reach a degree of high significance in the summer months. The effect on blood chemistry are similar i.e. the plasma concentration of calcium, phosphorus, uric acid, urea and electrolytes increase constantly from winter to summer months. It is concluded that although normal kidneys are excreting the waste products of metabolism effectively, however, they have to deal with supersaturated blood leading to reduced renal function

Blood lead levels in school children of Peshawar city

Five hundred school children comprising males and females in the ratio of 3:1 with mean age of 14 and 13.2 years respectively were selected from various schools of Peshawar city and investigated for their blood lead levels. Mean blood lead levels of male and female students have been found to be 21.2 +/- 8.15 and 16.8 +/- 4.81 micro g/dl respectively. 13%of male students showed blood lead level in the range of 31-50 micro g/dl with no female students in this range. Mean blood lead level of students who live near main roads was significantly higher than those living at a distance of more than 1/2 km from the main road. Blood lead levels was found to be significantly higher in males than females living close to main roads. In contrast to Karachi where over 98% of children had blood lead levels over 20 ug/dl, in Peshawar, 32.G% had a level above this limit. The finding that 13% of male children having high blood level in the range of 31-50 micro g/dI and who are at risk of neurophysiologic impairment should be a cause for concern and immediate measures need to be taken to reduce environmental pollution caused by leaded petrol

Prevalence of primary nocturnal enuresis in NWFP

Nocturnal enuresis is a distressing medico-social problem. No clear evidence has become available regarding its etiology. Prevalence varies in different populations with higher prevalence rates in the less socioeconomically developed communities as compared to the more developed ones. Epidemiological data collected from eleven primary sampling units with 315 families and a total population of 2,669 persons in North West Frontier Province of Pakistan [NWFP] has shown the prevalence of primary enuresis in the population to be 6.5%. The condition is more prevalent in boys than girls and in rural than in urban areas. Comparison with other reported prevalence rates shows that the prevalence rate in our population is much higher than that of the Caucasian population of the western countries

Effect of fasting on various biochemical constituents of blood

Thirty healthy volunteers [15 males and 15 females] in the age group 25-45 years were studied for the changes in a group of selected biochemical entities of blood during the month of Ramadan [fasting month of Muslims]. Results showed a non significant reduction in blood sugar, serum total cholesterol and total lipid levels. Serum electrolytes [Na[+], K[+], Cl[+]] remained almost unaffected. An increase in the level of Hb., urea, creatinine, uric acid, serum proteins and triglyceride has been observed in about 80% subjects and can be attributed to the haemoconcentration associated with reduced fluid intake during Ramadan and the change in pattern and frequency of eating

Hazards of asbestos in NWFP magnitude of the problem

Irregularly controlled, small scale mining of asbestos, without any attention to safety measures, is going on in certain areas of North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Asbestos inhalation can cause asbestosis [one of the pneumoconioses], lung cancer and mesothelioma of the pleura. Therefore, some concern has arisen regarding the hazards to the workers and the surrounding community of this uncontrolled mining of asbestos. A survey was undertaken to asses the magnitude of the problem. Consultant physicians, chest physicians, selected general practitioners, oncologists, and histopathologists were interviewed to document the approximate number of cases related to asbestos inhalation seen by them over different periods of time. The records of the histopatholoy departments of the two teaching hospitals of Peshawar and Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine [IRNUM] were checked for the histologically diagnosed cases of mesothelioma over the past 10 years. The results show that 9 cases of mesothelioma were diagnosed over the last 5 years and 4 of the 9 cases belong to the Mardan area where in Tangi mining is being carried out. The report points to the concern regarding hazards of asbestos in NWFP and urgent measures for controlling mining of asbestos

Variations in the excretion of urinary 3-methyl histidine on meat and meat free diet and its relation to body fat free mass

Body fat/fat free mass [FFM] and urinary 3-methyl histidine [3-Me-His] excretion was studied in a group of 20 healthy adult sedentary subjects. Mean 3-methyl histidine on meat and meat free days varied considerably in both sexes. Mean 3 Me-His/Kg FFM/day for males was 3.6 +/- 0.3 micro mol and for females 3.3 +/- 0.3 micro mol on meat free days. Protein break down rate was found to be 0.54 g/kg/FFM/day for males and 0.97 g/Kg/FFM/day for females. Values for fat and fat free mass by two methods, skin fold thickness and densitometery, were in good agreement and it is recommended that in the absence of costly and technically difficult methods, skin fold thickness can be used for body fat mass determination as a valid method

Quality of drinking water in NWFP

The quality of drinking water was studied in various areas of N.W.F.P. most of the sample collected from open wells of Peshawar mardan and swat walley were contaminated with coli form and streptococcus fecalis. The iodine content of water in the study area was between 2.8 to 8.6 micro g/litre and the incidence of goiter was 24.8%