Influence Of Pharmaceutical Care Activities On Knowledge Attitude And Practice (KAP) Among Diabetic Patients In A Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: To assess the influence of pharmaceutical care activities on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) among type 2 diabetic patients. Methods: A total of about 301 patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus were recruited from a tertiary care hospital. Patients were educated about their disease condition, lifestyle modifications and diet regimen to be followed and were given instructions for improving medication adherence. In the initial session, no pharmaceutical care was given, in the second session patient counseling was given verbally and in the last session patient counseling was given both verbally and non-verbally by means of pamphlet distribution. KAP questionnaire and glycemic levels (glycated hemoglobin, fasting blood sugar and post-prandial blood sugar) of participants were obtained at baseline and at follow up. Results: The baseline values of FBS in patients before intervention was found to be 176.5±74.46 mg/dL and it was reduced to 140.7±43.9 mg/dL after 3 mo. Henceforth, there was also an improvement in the PPBS values which was found to be 254±77.3 mg/dL at the baseline and was 212.9±54.2 mg/dL after intervention. The baseline values of HbA1c is 8.144±1.727% and after intervention, value reduced to about 7.173±2.768%. After the intervention, it was found to be that 30%, 16% and 12% reduction in FBS, PPBS and HbA1c values and the P-value (<0.0001) found to be statistically significant. KAP scores also found to be improved after the intervention and statistically significant. The results clearly indicate that through proper guidance and educating the patients by the pharmacist is beneficial in managing the glycemic levels and reduce further complications. Conclusion: The study concluded that the pharmaceutical care by the pharmacist is highly essentially and useful for the patients to manage the glycemic index and prevent further diabetic complications.

Fluorides in groundwater and its impact on health.

Fluoride is a naturally occurring toxic mineral present in drinking water and causes yellowing of teeth, tooth problems etc. Fluorspar, Cryolite and Fluorapatite are the naturally occurring minerals, from which fluoride finds its path to groundwater through infiltration. In the present study two groundwater samples, Station I and Station II at Hyderabad megacity, the capital of Andhra Pradesh were investigated for one year from January 2001 to December 2001. The average fluoride values were 1.37 mg/l at Station I and 0.91 mg/l at Station II. The permissible limit given by BIS (1983) 0.6-1.2 mg/l and WHO (1984) 1.5 mg/l for fluoride in drinking water. The groundwaters at Station I exceeded the limit while at Station II it was within the limits. The study indicated that fluoride content of 0.5 mg/l is sufficient to cause yellowing of teeth and dental problems.

Conservation of wild animals by assisted reproduction and molecular marker technology.

Wild animals are an integral component of the ecosystem. Their decimation due to abrupt natural calamities or due to gradual human intervention would be disastrous to the ecosystem and would alter the balance in nature between various biotic components. Such an imbalance could have an adverse effect on the ecosystem. Therefore, there is an urgent need to put an end to the ever increasing list of endangered species by undertaking both in situ and ex situ conservation using tools of modern biology, to ascertain the degree of genetic variation and reproductive competence in these animals. This review highlights the development and use of molecular markers such as microsatellites, minisatellites, mitochondrial control region, cytochrome b and MHC loci to assess the genetic variation in various Indian wild animals such as the lion, tiger, leopard and deer. The review also presents data on the semen profile of the big cats of India. Reproductive technologies such as cryopreservation of semen and artificial insemination in big cats are also highlighted.