Etiology of strokes and hemiplegia in children presenting at Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad

Strokes in pediatric age group are not common. However diagnosing the cause of stroke will help in providing preventive and curative treatment. Present study was conducted to find etiology of strokes/hemiplegia in children. This study was conducted in Department of Pediatrics, Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad from December 2002 to December 2005.All children from two months to fifteen years of age were included in the study. Children with weakness due to acute poliomyelitis and Guillan barre syndrome were excluded. Investigations were based on findings on history and clinical examination and included full blood count, PT, APTT, Platelets count, ECG, Echocardiography, hematocrit, lumber puncture with CSF analysis and culture and CT-scan skull. Data of all the patients presenting with strokes/hemiplegia was entered on prepared proforma. The main etiology of strokes was intracranial infection causing strokes in 23[56.09%] children and majority of children [78.26%] in this group were below five years. Etiology was un-known in 7[17.07%] children after necessary available investigations. Intracranial infection Infections that is meningitis and encephalitis are commonest etiology of strokes and hemiplegia in paediatrics patients presenting at Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad

Medicinal properties of various species of the phyllanthus

The plants of the genus Phyllanthus are reputed for their medicinal properties and find use in the folk medicinal system. The medicinal properties of the various species of the genus are described

Toxic and non-toxic role of some metals in human body

The metals included in this study were copper, iron, zinc, cadmium and lead. The copper, iron and zinc were selected because of their important biological role in human body while cadmium and lead were selected due to their toxic nature. During the past few years, the assessment of pollution of food resources has become a major subject of investigation all over the world. Human health may be directly affected by ingesting fruits and vegetables, if enhanced amounts of macro-or micro-nutrients are present in such edibles. In addition, the presence of toxic trace elements such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury in general foodstuff can lead to the malfunction of organs and chronic toxicity in humans

Distribution, morphology and medicinal uses of taxus baccata

Distribution of Taxus baccata in various parts of the world is presented. The morphology of the plant is also given. Medicinal uses of various parts of the plant and its chemical constituents are described