Visual Functions And Retinal Morphology In Patients With Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy Seen In An Age Related Macular Degeneration Referral Centre Of Malaysia

@#The aim of the present study was to evaluate visual functions and retinal morphology of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy (PCV) patients seen in an AMD referral centre of Malaysia and to further explore association between visual functions and optical coherence tomography (OCT) parameters in PCV eyes. In this single centre, cross sectional study, best corrected distance visual acuity (DVA), near vision acuity (NVA), reading speed (RS), and contrast sensitivity (CS) were measured in naïve PCV eyes. Selective parameters such as integrity of external limiting membrane (ELM), inner segment and outer segment junction (IS-OS), retinal pigment epithelium and Bruch’s membrane (RPE-BM) complex, average retinal thickness (ART) and volume (ARV), central retinal thickness (CT), centre maximum (CTmax) and centre minimum (CTmin) thickness were assessed using spectral-domain OCT. Forty-three new PCV eyes of 42 patients were evaluated. Mean (±SD) DVA, NVA, CS, RS were 0.83 ± 0.35 logMAR, 0.77 ± 0.3 logMAR, 0.69 ±.26 log CS and 59.56 ±14 words per minutes respectively. ART and CT showed good correlation with DVA (r=0.571& 0.546) and CS (r= 0.576 & 0.586). ARV and CTmax showed good correlation with CS (r=0.516 &, 0.513). The mean DVA, NVA and CS between three ELM and IS-OS status were significantly different (p=.002 & .000; p=.012 & .029; p=.005 & .001). In conclusion, present study reports visual functions and OCT characteristics of PCV patients in an AMD referral centre of Malaysia. Many of the quantitative and qualitative OCT parameters showed good association with the visual functions in eyes with PCV.

Assessment of Physical Activity Level among Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus at Cheras Health Clinic, Kuala Lumpur

A cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the physical activity levels among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) at Cheras Health Clinic in Kuala Lumpur. A total of 132 subjects (62 men and 70 women) aged 30 years and above participated in this study. Data was collected using an interview based questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic and health profile information. Physical activity was assessed using a shortened version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Anthropometric measurements and body fat were also taken. Glycaemic status, that is, HbA1c, fasting blood sugar (FBS) and 2 hours post-prandial (2-HPP) were obtained from medical records. Results showed that the mean age of the patients was 51.9 + 5.8 years. The majority of patients had poor glycaemic control based on HbA1c (70.7%), FBS (71.9%) and 2HPP (85.4%). Patients who were unmarried and aged(60 years and above had a lower physical activity level (p<0.05). In the older age group, low physical activity was associated with poor glycaemic control (p<0.05). Patients in the moderate and high physical activity level were motivated to perform physical activity so as to be healthy (68.1%). Low physical activity level among patients was due to lack of time (54.5%) and lack of energy (21.2%). In conclusion, physical activity levels of the patients were unsatisfactory and associated with poor glycaemic control, especially in the elderly. There is a need to encourage diabetic patients to undertake regular physical activity in order to achieve optimal glycaemic control.

Effects of Palm Tocotrienols on Oxidative Stress and Bone Strength in Ovariectomised Rats

Oxidative stress has been associated with postmenopausal osteoporosis which pre-disposes to risk of fracture. Palm tocotrienol is a potent antioxidant and has the poten-tial to be used for treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis. The aim of the study is to determine if palm tocotrienol supplementation could alleviate oxidative stress in ovariectomised rat model and improve its bone strength. The rats were divided into four groups: (i) sham-operated group (SHAM) (ii) ovariectomised-control group (OVX) (iii) ovariectomised and given 60mg/kg α-tocopherol by oral gavage (OVX + ATF) (iv) ovariectomised and given 60mg/kg palm tocotrienols by oral gavage (OVX + PTT). After eight weeks of treatment, blood samples were taken to measure oxidative status (MDA, SOD and GPX) while the femurs were biomechanically tested for strength and resistance to fracture. Ovariectomy was shown to induce oxidative stress as shown by the raised MDA levels and reduced GPX activity. Palm tocotrienols seemed to offer protection against the ovariectomy-induced oxidative stress as shown by the suppression of MDA levels and raised GPX and SOD activities in the OVX+PTT group. In comparison, α-tocopherol was only able to raise the SOD but not as high as palm tocotrienols. The biomechanical tests have shown that ovariectomy has not af-fected the bone strength significantly after eight weeks. Palm tocotrienols supplemen-tation for eight weeks was effective in preventing oxidative stress in a post-meno-pausal rat.