Plant products in dental and periodontal disease: An overview.

Dental diseases if left unchecked can lead to major health problems, on the other side periodontal diseases are recognized as a major public health problem throughout the world and is the most common cause of tooth loss in adults. Plant products are recently introduced herbal formulations that are more beneficial than the conventional therapies. There are number of traditional herbal remedies for the treatment and management of diseases related to teeth, gum and oral hygiene. The aim of this review is to present a brief overview of the various herbal formulations and their application in prevention, treatment and maintenance of oral health.

Trier Social Stress Test in Indian Adolescents.

Objective: To test the Trier Social Stress Test for children (TSSTC) in a cohort of Indian adolescents. Design: Cohort study Setting: Holdsworth Memorial Hospital, Mysore, India. Participants: Adolescent children (N=273, 134 males; mean age 13.6 yrs) selected from an ongoing birth cohort; 269 completed the test. Intervention: Performance of 5-minutes each of public- speaking and mental arithmetic tasks in front of two unfamiliar ‘evaluators’. Outcome measures: Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured at baseline and at regular intervals after the TSST-C. Continuous measurements of heart rate, finger blood pressure, stroke volume, cardiac output and systemic vascular resistance were carried out before, during and for 10 minutes after the TSSTC using a finger cuff. Results: Cortisol concentrations [mean increment (SD): 6.1 (6.9) ng/mL], heart rate [4.6 (10.1) bpm], systolic [24.2 (11.6) mmHg] and diastolic blood pressure [16.5 (7.3) mmHg], cardiac output [0.6 (0.7) L/min], stroke volume [4.0 (5.6) mL] and systemic vascular resistance [225 (282) dyn.s/cm5] increased significantly (P<0.001) from baseline after inducing stress. Conclusions: The TSST-C produces stress-responses in Indian adolescents of a sufficient magnitude to be a useful tool for examining stress physiology and its relationships to disease outcomes in this population.

Vitamin B12 deficiency and hyperhomocysteinemia in rural and urban Indians.

BACKGROUND: Low vitamin B12 concentration in South Asian Indians is common, but the exact prevalence is not known. AIM: To investigate prevalence and associations of low vitamin B12 concentration and hyperhomocysteinemia in rural and urban Indian men living in and around Pune, Maharashtra. METHOD: We studied 441 middle-aged men (149 rural, 142 slum and 150 urban middle-class residents, mean age 39 y). Data on lifestyle, socio-economic status, nutrition and medical history were obtained. Circulating concentrations of vitamin B12, folate, ferritin, total homocysteine (tHcy), and haematological indices, and cardiovascular risk variables were measured. RESULTS: Median plasma B12 concentration was low (110 pmol/L): Overall, 67% of men had low vitamin B12 concentration (<150 pmol/L) and 58% had hyperhomocysteinemia (>15 micromol/L). Of the urban middle class, 81% had low vitamin B12 concentration and 79% had hyperhomocysteinemia. Low vitamin B12 concentration contributed 28% to the risk of hyperhomocysteinemia (population attributable risk) while low red cell folate contributed 2%. Vegetarians had 4.4 times (95% CI 2.1, 9.4) higher risk of low vitamin B12 concentrations and 3.0 times (95% CI 1.4, 6.5) higher risk of hyperhomocysteinemia compared to those who ate non-vegetarian foods frequently. Urban middle-class residence was an additional independent risk factor of hyperhomocysteinemia (odds ratio 7.6 (95% CI 2.5, 22.6), compared to rural men). Low vitamin B12 concentration was related to lower blood haemoglobin concentration and higher mean corpuscular volume, but macrocytic anemia was rare. CONCLUSION: Low vitamin B12 concentration and hyperhomocysteinemia are common in Indian men, particularly in vegetarians and urban middle class residents. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings in other parts of India.

Giant cystosarcoma phyllodes tumor of prostate: case report of a rare entity.

Although glandular and stromal proliferations of prostate are very common in adult men, neoplastic proliferations of prostatic stroma are distinctly uncommon. These tumors are now grouped as Prostatic Stromal Proliferations of Uncertain Malignant Potential (PSPUMP). Phyllodes tumor of the prostate is a rare neoplasm in this group with cellular, sarcomatoid stroma and benign hyperplastic glands. It is a locally expansile tumor with clinical course varying from benign to aggressive. We report a case of a 45-year-old man presented with retention of urine and abdominal lump. On laparotomy it was a huge tumor of 4 kg and was histologicaly characterized by cellular pleomorphic stroma and hyperplastic epithelium. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated prostate specific antigen in the glands. It was diagnosed as cystosarcoma phyllodes tumor of prostate. This is extremely uncommon tumor similar in histology to that of breast and it's clinical course varies with the grade. The patient was without recurrence one year after surgery.

Tuberculous osteitis of clivus.

Tuberculous osteitis of clivus is rare. Its diagnosis is difficult because of the rarity of the site and the non-specific nature of the disease. Management consists of confirmation of diagnosis by biopsy and chemotherapy with anti-tubercular drugs. Meningitis may complicate the clinical course, increase morbidity and mortality.

Tuberculoma en plaque: a case report.

A 14 year old girl presented with a 6-month history of headaches and visual blurring. CT showed a right tentorial enhancing lesion. Angiogram showed no enhancement. Histopathological examination of the excised material was consistent with tuberculoma. The presentation of such unusual intracranial tuberculoma is reported and the literature reviewed on the subject.

Thoracic cord compression due to ossified hypertrophied ligamentum flavum.

Ossified ligamentum flavum is increasingly appreciated as an important cause of thoracic myeloradiculopathy. Fifteen patients with age ranging from 30-61 years were studied. Fourteen presented with spastic paraparesis, and radiculopathy was the only complaint in one patient. Routine skiagrams and myelograms showed non-specific changes. Baseline CT and CT myelogram, however, documented the ossification of ligamentum flavum comprehensively. MRI was done in three patients. Multiple levels of the disease were seen in two cases. Four patients had ossified posterior longitudinal ligament. Thickened ligamentum flavum should be considered as an important cause of thoracic cord compression.

Facial nerve neurinoma presenting as middle cranial fossa and cerebellopontine angle mass: a case report.

Facial nerve neurinomas are rare. The tumours arising from the geniculate ganglion may grow anteriorly and superiorly and present as a mass in the middle cranial fossa. Only a few cases of facial nerve neurinomas presenting as middle cranial fossa mass have so far been reported. These tumours present with either long standing or intermittent facial palsy along with cerebellopontine angle syndrome.

Phenology of tree species of tropical moist forest of Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka, India.

Phenological observations on tree species in tropical moist forest of Uttara Kannada district (13°55' to 15°31' Ν lat; 74°9' to 75°10' Ε long) during the years 1983- 1985 revealed that there exists a strong seasonality for leaf flush, leaf drop and reproduction. Young leaves were produced in the pre-monsoon dry period with a peak in February, followed by the expansion of leaves which was completed in March. Abscission of leaves occurred in the post-monsoon winter period with a peak in December. There were two peaks for flowering (December and March), while fruit ripening had a single peak in May-June, preceding the monsoon rainfall. The duration of maturation of leaves was the shortest, while that of full ripening of fruits was the longest. Mature flowers of evergreen species lasted longer than those of deciduous species; in contrast the phenophase of ripe fruits of deciduous species was longer than that of evergreen species.