Cosmetics and health: usage, perceptions and awareness.

Objectives:Cosmetics are a multi-billion dollar industry today. The present study was designed with an objective to know the extent, purpose, type and awareness for cosmetic in people's daily life in Surat city. Materials & Methods:The study was conducted among 500 randomly selected people from the Surat city through convenience sampling. All the participants were interviewed personally, using structured questionnaire. The whole study was conducted from December, to March, 2008.Results;Around 73% of the population used cosmetics for protection purpose, while only 37% used it for attraction and 19% for fashion. Only 31% checked whether cosmetic they used were tested on animals or not. 89% of the people are concerned about the brands of the cosmetic and advertisement is an important source in the selection of the cosmetics. People still prefer ayurvedic products which comprise of 44% of the total population. Only 9% of the people use the expired products suggesting that people are aware that expired products cannot be used. 77% of the people are aware about the side effects of the cosmetics. Conclusion:Overall prevalence of cosmetic product use is increasing among both males and females. Though, associated increase in awareness regarding safe use of the same was not present widely. The use of other cosmetic services like skin specialist visits, contact lenses usage is also increasing slowly.

Issues and dilemmas in career planning of medical students in Surat, India.

Background:In recent time issues of career choices in medical student has been gaining mounting attention. Aim: The current study was planned with an aim to understand issues and dilemmas in career planning of medical students in Surat city, India Methods: This is a cross-sectional study comprising of personal interviews using a self -designed structured questionnaire among 400 simple randomly selected medical students, interns and junior residents of Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research covering issues associated with their career concerns and future life. Data analysis was done with help of Epi Info 7. The study sample comprised of students 46.5%, intern doctors 36%, junior resident doctors 17.5%. Results:Females were more content with either a graduate or a post graduate degree, whereas males were more inclined towards pursuing super specialty degrees (P<0.001). Majority 62% of the respondent stated that given another chance, they would again like to choose for medical studies only. The percentages of females interested in a non clinical career abroad as compared to clinical career in India were lower. Majority 89% of respondents agree that there is more struggle for the students who enter M.B.B.S. from a non medical background. Percentages of males in favor of increasing the postgraduate/super specialty seats far exceeded females (P<0.0001). The vast majority of the respondents wanted the specialty and super specialty seats to increase as they wanted an equal ratio of Undergraduate: Postgraduate seats (70%). Those who did not favor the increase in the seats perceived that the quality of treatment may actually worsen rather than improve if the number of seats increased (60%).Conclusion: Freshly graduating doctors do face a severe dilemma regarding their future career after graduation, which is a very perplexing situation for them and their parents, as there is absence of any career guidance cell; absence of the culture and avenues of campus placement; and there is human need to be materialistically comparable to their counterparts who are already in a job as a engineer.

Reproductive cloning-an act of human rights violation.

People have diverse and strongly held opinions regarding the morality of cloning humans. This debate is usually couched in religious and ethical terms. Theologians and ethicists use different arguments to arrive at the same conclusion. Religious arguments are based largely on the traditions and scriptures unique to each faith. Different religions have different attitudes towards cloning and within each faith there is diversity of opinion. Ethical arguments are based on more general guidelines for behavior that do not stem from any particular religion. Ethics usually vary more by culture than by religion. In general, society does not disagree on what is ethically wrong; rather society disagrees on how to weigh different ethical considerations. There is no consensus on the morality of human cloning, even within particular religious traditions. At the moment, science of human cloning is in the incipient stage; the risks associated with the technology are so great that virtually all people agree that there should be a blanket ban on human cloning.

Unethical relationship between doctors and drugs companies.

Medicine is a noble profession. The primary aim of medical profession is to render service to humanity. Financial gain is a subordinate consideration.[1] But it has been observed globally that medical practitioners in conjunction with pharmaceutical companies are prescribing and thereby promoting unnecessary drugs just for the sake of monetary gains. This article reviews the salient aspects of the relationship between doctors and drugs companies and its future consequences.

Facilitating behavioral change for acceptance of oral polio vaccine.

A child aged 26 months could not be vaccinated initially during pulse polio immunisation due to parental fear of untoward side effects. Owning responsibility of child's welfare, in-depth counseling and involvement of community leaders are crucial in this regard.

Overcrowding and health.

The present study correlates the disease profile of 2536 persons belonging to 542 families with the available per capita floor area (PCFA). It was observed that 91.9 percent individuals were living in overcrowded conditions. As the PCFA decreased, the communicable diseases, infective and parasitic diseases and respiratory disease episodes exhibited a significant increase.

Truck crew and risk of contraction of STDS, including HIV: encouraging the use of condoms by the method of applying theories.

Studies from India conclude that the long distance truck crew are at a high risk of contracting and transmitting STDs and HIV on account of their high risk sexual behaviours. These studies indicate the necessity of changing the behaviour of the truck crew in favour of safer sexual practices. This article addresses this important issue of developing an intervention to decrease the risk of contraction of STDs, including HIV, by encouraging the use of condoms by the method of applying psycho-social theories, which aim at changing behaviours of the target group.

Research skills acquisition by interns: a case study.

This study shows the impact of a holistic structured training programme on the acquisition of research skills by a batch of 13 interns of Pramukhswami Medical College, Gujarat, India, commensurate with their envisaged roles according to the concept of "Essential National Health Research" (ENHR). There was a significant improvement in the knowledge scores of the participants, subsequent to the training programme, as evidenced by an improvement over their mean pretest score of 16.4 +/- 11.0 to a posttest score of 87.1 +/- 19.9. The study also discussions the suggestions and feedback of the participants about the programme.

Research stimulating programme for interns.

The present study shows that acquisition of research skills and competence is lacking in the usual training which is imparted to under graduate medical students. It also shows that the acquisition of these skills can be facilitated by suitable structured training programmes during their internship period. Funds for such activities are often available from various agencies, provided that the individual research study areas chosen are of interest to them.