Quality of life of alcohol dependent patients attending a deaddiction centre in Kannur district

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is individuals' perceptions of their position in life. QOL of alcohol dependent patients is an area that has received relatively less attention compared to other alcohol related problems.Methods: A deaddiction centre based cross sectional study was done on 370 individuals using a predesigned questionnaire during the period of 2012-2013. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. Spearman抯 rank correlation test was used to find association between the study variables.Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 38.08�46 years. The mean duration of drinking was 12.62�47 years. The overall score of the QOL and the perceived health in alcohol dependent patients was 3.19�89 and 3.01�98 respectively. The mean of the transformed scores of physical, psychological, social and environmental domains are 69.12�.82, 57.84�.81, 58.52�.05, 68.62�.23 respectively. Statistical analysis of age with physical, environmental and social domains showed a significant negative correlation; literacy status with QOL, perceived health, physical, psychological, social and environmental domains showed a significant positive correlation; socio economic status with QOL and psychological domain showed a significant positive correlation; duration of drinking with QOL, perceived health, physical and psychological domain showed a significant negative correlation.Conclusions: Harm from alcohol use is a major public health problem. Reducing the level of social and health harms from alcohol requires preparation and planning.

Spectrum of congenital heart defects associated with Down Syndrome in high consanguineous Omani population.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the pattern of congenital heart defects (CHD) in children with Down Syndrome (DS) in an Omani population, and compare it with CHD in children without DS and with historical cohorts from populations with low prevalence of consanguinity. SETTING: Open-access Paediatric Echocardiography Clinic at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman. DESIGN: Prospective study. METHODS: All children with DS referred to the Clinic from 1995-1998 formed the subjects (Group I). Children without DS or other known associations of CHD seen at the clinic during the same period served as controls (Group II). Two-dimensional echo-Doppler studies were performed on both groups and the results compared. RESULTS: CHD were detected in 54/90 (60%) children in Group I, compared to 698/2122 (32.9%) in Group II (P<0.001). The common CHD in Group I included secundum atrial septal defect (ASD; 18/54), atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD; 15/54) and ventricular septal defect (VSD; 14/54), and in Group II included ASD (175/698), VSD (175/698), patent ductus arteriosus (123/698), pulmonary stenosis (PS; 76/698) and AVSD (35/698). AVSD was more common (P <0.001) and PS less common (P = 0.03) in Group I. Aortic stenosis, coarctation of aorta, transposition of great arteries and complex heart diseases were not detected. Compared to several studies from populations with low prevalence of consanguineous marriages, our study showed a higher frequency of CHD in DS (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: A high frequency of CHD was documented in DS-children from a population with widely prevalent consanguinity. AVSD was most frequent in DS. An interesting observation was the relative rarity of some CHD in the DS population studied.

Isolated hypoplasia of right ventricle with atrial septal defect: a rare form of cyanotic heart disease.

Isolated hypoplasia of right ventricle is a rare kind of congenital heart disease that can present with cyanosis in childhood. We evaluated the clinical profile, diagnosis and management strategy of isolated hypoplasia of right ventricle in children. During 1993-1997, six children were diagnosed to have isolated right ventricular hypoplasia in our institution. Two patients were referred because of cyanosis, while cardiac murmur was the reason for referral in the remaining four. Besides clinical evaluation, all these patients had chest radiography, electrocardiography and echo-doppler studies. At echocardiography the valve diameters were measured and the degree of hypoplasia was quantified as standard deviation units. Cardiac catheter studies and angiography, and surgical intervention were carried out where indicated. Both operated and unoperated patients were followed up for 3-5 years. Cyanosis (severe--2, mild--4) and a soft ejection systolic murmur at the left sternal border were present in all patients. The second sound was normal. On two-dimensional echocardiography, all had hypoplasia of right ventricular (trabecular portion) and bi-directional shunt across atrial septal defect. Cardiac catheterisation was performed in four patients, which confirmed the echo findings and revealed normal right heart pressures. These four patients underwent surgical procedures. Simple closure of atrial septal defect was sufficient in two patients. Two others required bi-directional cavopulmonary anastomoses, and atrial septal defect closure was tolerated only by one of these two patients. Complete correction is not always feasible and adequacy of right ventricle to receive the entire venous return should be accurately assessed prior to, as well as during surgery.

Synthetic peptides: a modern approach to vaccination.

For induction of humoral or cell-mediated immunity, development of synthetic peptide vaccines present a novel approach and a better alternative to conventional vaccines. Construction of synthetic peptides that mimic antigenic sites is the basis of this approach. In this article various methodologies involved in the peptide synthesis are discussed. This is followed by a discussion on the strategies involved in rendering poor or non-immunogenic peptides immunogenic. These include coupling to large carrier proteins, polymeric presentation and incorporation of an identified Th cell epitope into the peptide.

Distribution of malarial parasites: effect of gender of construction workers.

The city of Mangalore in South India was having increasing number of malaria cases from 1990. Concerned over the import of cases through migrant construction workers, a screening was done among them using clinical and parasitological methods. This demonstrated 6.28% slide positivity rate with statistically insignificant difference in prevalence of infection between males and females. There were many asymptomatic individuals reporting positive only on peripheral smear examination. Yet, clinical symptoms like fever were found to have good predictive value on logistic regression. It was more so with the P. falciparum which is a relatively new entrant to Mangalore.