Torsion of Appendix of Testis - Masquerading as Acute Epididymitis

A case of torsion of the appendix of testis is described in a 11 years old boy. He presented with sudden onset of severe pain in the left testis of 2 hour duration. Emergency exploration of the left testis revealed a torsion appendix of the left testis. The appendix of the testis was excised and the wound was closed. The patient made a smooth post-operative recovery

Incidence and Risk Factors for Retinopathy of Prematurity in Neonates.

We screened 50 neonates fulfilling the inclusion criteria admitted during the study period in a teaching hospital in a north-eastern state of India. Out of 50 neonates screened, 22 (44%) developed retinopathy of prematurity. There was significant association between the birth weight and gestational age of the baby at the time of the delivery with the development of ROP. Multivariate analysis of risk factors for development of ROP using a stepwise method, after controlling for various potential confounders, showed that apnea was a significant risk factor for the development of retinopathy of prematurity.

Need for integration of gender equity in family planning services.

The family planning programme of India has shown many significant changes since its inception five decades back. The programme has made the contraceptives easily accessible and affordable to the people. Devices with very low failure rate are provided free of cost to those who need it. Despite these significant improvements in service delivery related to family planning the programme cannot be said to achieve success at all levels. There are many issues with the family planning services available through the public health facilities in India. Failure to adopt the latest technology is one of these. But the most serious drawback of the programme is that it has never been able to bridge the gap between the two genders related to contraceptives. The programme gave emphasis to women-centric contraceptive and thus women were seen as their clients. The choice to adopt a contraceptive though is ‘cafeteria approach’ in family planning lexicon; it is the choice of the husband that is ultimately practiced. There is not enough dialogue between husband and wife and husband and health worker to discuss the use of one contraceptive over another. The male gender needs to be taken in confidence while promoting the family planning practice. The integration of gender equity is to be done carefully so as not to make dominant gender more powerful. Only when there is equity between genders while using family planning services the programme will achieve success.

Gender-violence and health care: How health system can step in.

Gender-violence also known as domestic violence, domestic abuse, spousal abuse or intimate partner violence, can be broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, friends or cohabitation. It can manifest as physical aggression, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, stalking and economic and food deprivation. In most countries gender violence is a crime; though scope of the domestic or gender violence act and severity of punishment varies considerably between the countries.

Cochlear implantation in India: A public health perspective.

Around 7% of the population of India suffers from profound deafness. More than a million children needs either hearing aid or cochlear implant surgery to restore their hearing power. Many of them had never heard a single word since their birth. Still only 5000 cochlear implant surgery has been conducted in the country, the first being nearly 20 years ago, and most of them in private health facilities where the patient paid out of their pocket. The main reason of such poor penetration of the surgery in masses is the inhibitory cost associated with cochlear implant surgery and the lack of trained man-power to conduct such surgeries. The other reason is being the government engagement with other pressing health needs of the society resulting in the shout of ear care falling on deaf ears. With the advent of National Program for Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD) in 2006, there is renewed interest in tackling this public health disaster.

Are the urban poor vulnerable to non-communicable diseases? A survey of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in urban slums of Faridabad.

BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases have modifiable risk factors, which are easy to measure and can help in planning effective interventions. We established a community-based sentinel surveillance to estimate the prevalence and level of common risk factors for major non-communicable diseases as part of a joint Indian Council of Medical Research/WHO initiative. METHODS: This survey was done from February 2003 to June 2004 and included 1260 men and 1 304 women 15-64 years of age living in urban slum areas of Ballabgarh block, Faridabad district, Haryana. A list of all slums in Ballabgarh block was obtained from the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad. Slums were selected by stratified cluster sampling. All households in the selected slums were visited and men and women interviewed in alternate households. The study instrument was based on the STEPS approach of WHO. It included questions related to tobacco use, alcohol intake, diet, physical activity, and history of treatment for hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Height, weight, waist circumference and blood pressure were measured. To estimate prevalence at the population level, age adjustment was done using the urban Faridabad population structure from the 2001 Census of India. RESULTS: The age-adjusted prevalence of smoking among men was 36.5% compared with 7% in women. Bidi was the predominant form of smoked tobacco used. The use of smokeless tobacco was reported by 10.2% of men and 2.9% of women. While 26% of men reported consuming alcohol in the past 1 year, none of the women did. The mean number of servings per day of fruits and vegetables was 2.7 for men compared with 2.2 for women. Overall, only 7.9% and 5.4% of men and women, respectively took > or = 5 servings per day of fruits and vegetables. Women were more likely to be physically inactive compared with men (14.8% v. 55%); 67% of men and 22.8% of women reported mean physical activity > 150 minutes per week. The mean body mass index (BMI) was lower in men than in women (20.9 v. 21.9 kg/m2). The prevalence of overweight (BMI > or = 25 kg/m2)) was 16% among men and 21.9% among women. The prevalence of hypertension (blood pressure > or = 1 40/> or = 90 mmHg or on an antihypertensive drug) was 17.2% in men and 15.8% in women. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of risk factors for noncommunicable diseases across all age groups in this urban slum community indicates the likelihood of a high future burden of illness. Immediate action for prevention and control is required to prevent the situation from worsening.