Efficacy of hijamat bish shart [wet cupping] in wajauz zahr [low back pain]

Wajauz Zahr [Low back pain] is not a specific disease. It is a symptom that may occur from a variety of different processes. It is a highly prevalent disease and the lifetime prevalence is upto 85%. The high prevalence and huge cost of its treatment make it necessary to search for the effective, safe and low cost treatment, Hijamat bish Shart [wet cupping] has been used from ancient days to treat various painful conditions in Unani system of medicine. Therefore the present study was conducted in order to provide safe and low cost treatment. The present study is an observational clinical study with sample size of 30 patients. It was conducted at Regimenal Therapy Unit of the Hospital of National Institute of Unani Medicine after obtaining ethical clearance. Clinically diagnosed cases of Wajauz Zahr [Low back pain], both males and females, between 25-60 years of age, fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected for the study after obtaining written informed consent. Treatment protocol was followed for 30 days and improvements in VAS [Visual Analogue Scale] were assessed on o[th], 15[th] and 30[th] day by using ANOVA and paired T test. Mean +/- SEM score before treatment in VAS score was found to be 8.0 +/- 0.159 and after treatment it was reduced to 2.60 +/- 0.246 [p<0.001]. This study reveals that the test procedure; Hijamat bish Shart [Wet Cupping] is safe and effective regimen in the management of Wajauz Zahr

Prevalence of URTI and growth retardation in government primary school children of Bangalore

Children are the important part of total community where school children constitute a large pool of children of this age group. Sickness is a major cause of school absenteeism and scholastic backwardness. To know the prevalence of URTI [Upper Respiratory Tract Infections]; and growth retardationin in children of Government primary school of Bangalore a one time observational cross sectional study was conducted in the three primary schools of Kottigepalya. 456 children were included in this study. A complete physical examination of the children was done and deviations from normal were recorded. A large number i.e. 69.96%, school children were found to be sick. The boys had better health status as compared to girls. The nutritional status of boys was better as compared to girls. The prevalent morbidities in the school children were enlarged tonsils [13.60%], tonsillitis [1.10%], nasal discharge [14.69%], otitis externa [1.75%], otitis media [1.54%] [URTIs], underweight [20.39%] and stunting [16.89%] [Growth retardation]. Main emphasis should be given to health education, nutrition education apart from the regular educational activities in the school