Rural-Urban Comparison of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Assam, India: A Hospital Based Cross-sectional Study.

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder adversely affecting fertility and reproductive health with diverse clinical manifestations in women. Aim: The objectives of the present study are to determine and compare the prevalence of PCOS between rural and urban Assamese women in Guwahati, Assam. Methods: A total of 150 (75 rural; 75 urban) Assamese women aged 18-35 years have been collected at Pratiksha Hospital, Guwahati, Assam. The relevant data were collected through self-administered pre-structured and interview methods. Results: Higher prevalence of PCOS was found in the urban areas living in nuclear families in comparison to rural areas. Recent weight gain and obesity with a higher prevalence of oligomenorrhea were found to be higher among the urban participants. An excess androgen activity evidenced by increased hirsutism was higher in the urban areas as compared to rural areas in association with increased levels of serum insulin. Conclusion: A long-term personalized management program is required for effectively treating individuals with PCOS which may help in regulating the symptoms and various other metabolic complications.

Associations Between Menopausal Symptoms with Socio-economic, Demographic and Lifestyle Variables among Postmenopausal Women of Assam, Northeast India.

Background: Menopausal health refers to the various biological, physiological, and psychological changes and imbalances that occur as a result of the severity of symptoms. However, low oestrogen production causes various changes and declinations in women, which manifest as menopausal symptoms. Objectives: Present study determines the prevalence of menopausal symptoms and associations between socio-economic, demographic and lifestyle variables among postmenopausal women in Assam, Northeast India. Methods: The study was undertaken on 300 postmenopausal women using stratified random sampling. A pre-structured interview schedule was used to collect relevant data on socioeconomic, demographic, and lifestyle variables, as well as menopausal symptoms and related self-reported diseases, through a household survey and interview methods. Results: The mean age of menopausal women was found to be 47.08±2.38 years. Change in sexual desire (96.33%), profuse sweating with hot flush (61.67%), hot flush (60.00%), pain during sexual intercourse (46.33%), difficulties sleeping (37.00%), and lack of energy (39.67%) were the most common menopausal symptoms. There were significant associations recorded between various menopausal symptoms and age, education, first pregnancy age, age at menarche, family size, family type, parity, age at menopause, physical weakness, family income, and house condition (p <0.05). Conclusion: Menopausal symptoms were found to be more prevalent, and to reduce the population's health-related threat, more awareness, knowledge dissemination, and assistance are required, particularly among rural women.

Association of Socio-economic Factors with Fertility and Mortality among Lepchas of North Sikkim, India.

Background: Fertility is the physiological ability to have children or to produce offspring whereas; mortality means death of any member of the population. In demographic study which is basically the study of any population, fertility rate and mortality rate are considered to be important determinants alongside migration which is the settlement pattern of people from one place of origin to another. Objectives: The objective of the present cross-sectional investigation is to analyze the association of socio- economic factors with fertility and mortality among the Lepcha tribal population of North Sikkim, India. Methods: For the present investigation, data was collected from 110 married women aged 18- 60 years from different villages of Dzongu, North Sikkim. Data on fertility and mortality information were obtained from each married woman along with their spouses. Results: The mean age at marriage and age at first child birth were observed to be higher and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Live births and surviving children with respect to education of women is statistically significant, with values for live births (F= 5.088, p<0.01) and surviving children (F=4.040, p<0.05). The number of mothers with infant mortality was observed to be higher in the low-income group (1.29±0.18). Results indicated that 81% from the low-income group have not opted for family planning, but 44.4 % have reported the use of contraceptive methods. Conclusion: The study indicates that socio-economic, socio-cultural and biological factors have an impact on fertility and mortality and has led to its decrease among the Lepcha tribal population of North Sikkim.

Impact of combined exposure of chemical, fertilizer, bio-fertilizer and compost on growth, physiology and productivity of Brassica campestries in old alluvial soil.

Field experiment was carried out during November 2006 to February 2007 under old alluvial soil to evaluate the impact of combined dose of chemical fertilizer, biofertilizer in combination with compost for the yellow sarson (Brassica campestries cv.B9 ) in a randomized block design replicated thrice. Various morpho-physiological parameters viz., plant population, length of shoot and root, leaf area index (LAI) , crop growth rate (CGR ), net assimilation rate (NAR) , yield attributes viz., number of siliquae per plant, number of seeds / siliquae, 1000 seed weight (test weight ), seed yield , stover yield and physiological and biochemical parameters viz., pigment content, sugar, amino acid, protein, ascorbic acid content in physiologically active leaf were performed. The treatment T1 i.e., 40% less N fertilizer, 25% less P fertilizer, K fertilizer constant + 12 kg ha-1 biofertilizer (Azophos) and organic manure (compost) @ 5Mt ha-1, showed the maximum chlorophyll accumulation (10.231 mg g-1 freshweight), highest seed /siliquae (25.143), test weight of seeds (4.861g) and highest seed yield (10.661 tha-1). A comparison between all the morphological, anatomical, physiological and biochemical parameters due to application of chemical fertilizer, bio-fertilizer and compost alone and in combination and their impact on soil microorganism, flora and fauna will throw a sound environmental information.

Screening of wheat varieties and associated bacterial population in old alluvial soil of Burdwan, West Bengal.

In order to screen out the best variety of wheat (Triticum aestivum) out of eight varieties (viz., HP 1633, BW 11, NW 1014, Sonalika, HUW 468, K 9107, HP 1731 and HUW 234), a field experiment was conducted (from Dec. 2002 to April 2003) in a randomized block design replicated thrice at Crop Research and Seed Multiplication Farm, Burdwan University, West Bengal, India. Various morpho physiological parameters viz., plant population, length of shoot and root, leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), leaf area ratio (LAR), leaf area duration (LAD), net assimilation rate (NAR), yield attributes viz., length of panicles, number of grains per panicle, grain yield, straw yield, pigment content in flag leaf (chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll and carotenoid content) were estimated and analyzed statistically Soil bacterial populations were also estimated in the fallow land before sowing of seeds and after harvesting of crop. The HUW 468 variety records higher grain yield, maximum panicle length and maximum chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll content.

Assessment of noise level in Burdwan town, West Bengal.

Cities and towns of the world are now facing enormous rise of noise pollution problem due to very high population rise, transport congestion and associated commercial and industrial activities. Burdwan, a district headquarter (100 km away from Kolkata) is one such town where noise pollution is very frequent. In order to assess noise level, noise data were collected from various places of the town by sound level meter with a duration of 30 minutes/location during specified time like 6.00 am, 10.00 am, 1.00 pm, 4.00 pm and 6.00 pm. Most of the monitoring places either belongs to silence category or commercial category areas. From the tabulated data, it was found that sound level lies within the range of 64-85 dB or above in different time at different places. The locations that belong to the silence zone have the noise level up to 90 dB. Statistically noise level in all these zones differ significantly at their peak hours. Noise pollution adversely affects our environment as well as human beings. Sound causes both pathological and psychological disorders in human beings. Implementation of rules and regulations under section 20, 21J, 41, 68(I), 70, 90, 111A of Environment Protection Act, 1986 and of course various technological methods and public awareness are very essential to check noise pollution in Burdwan town.

Coverage of Maternal Care Services in the state of West Bengal.

Evaluation of the Coverage of Maternal Care Services was conducted during the year 1999 in the entire State of West Bengal, Urban poor localities of randomly selected three Municipal Corporation areas and 'high-risk' urban wards or villages of West Bengal that had reported AFP cases in 1998. It was observed that mothers who had three or more antenatal check-ups varied between 54% to 82% in different study areas. Tetanus Toxoid coverage varied between 83.5% to 93.4% being lowest in high-risk areas. Only a very small section of mothers (12.7% to 23.7%) consumed 100 or more Iron and Folic acid tablets during pregnancy. 'Danger Signs' of pregnancy were informed to only 21.1% to 38.2% of the pregnant mothers. Proportion of home deliveries varied between 16.7% (Calcutta) to as high as 72.7% (high-risk areas). Deliveries conducted by untrained personnel were 60.8% in high risk areas, 38.1% in State clusters and between 14.2% to 29.4% in the three urban areas. Vast majority of mothers (78.8% to 88.4%) received no post-natal check-up.

Risk factors of diarrhoea among flood victims: a controlled epidemiological study.

The concept and practice of 'disaster preparedness and response', instead of traditional casualty relief, is relatively new. Vulnerability analysis and health risks assessment of disaster prone communities are important prerequisites of meaningful preparedness and effective response against any calamity. In this community based study, the risk of diarrhoeal disease and its related epidemiological factors were analysed by collecting data from two selected flood prone block of Midnapur district of West Bengal. The information was compared with that of another population living in two non-flood prone blocks of the same district. The study showed that diarrhoeal disease was the commonest morbidity in flood prone population. Some behaviours, like use of pond water for utensil wash and kitchen purpose, hand washing after defecation without soap, improper hand washing before eating, open field defecation, storage of drinking water in wide mouth vessels etc. were found to be associated with high attack rate of diarrhoea, in both study and control population during flood season compared to pre-flood season. Attack rates were also significantly higher in flood prone population than that of population in non-flood prone area during the same season. Necessity of both community education for proper water use behaviour and personal hygiene along with ensuring safe water and sanitation facilities of flood affected communities were emphasized.