Noise monitoring during festive period at Nagpur (India).

The unwanted sound is referred to as noise. Prolonged exposure to such noise has ill effects on humans as well as on animals. Also, it is one of the environmental pollutants. The sources of noise pollution are present well within our houses. External factors add to additional noise pollution. It has direct impact on the hearing capacity. Apart from this, it also has adverse effects on the mental state of a human being. Noise pollution is a major problem during various festivals. The present study deals with the monitoring of noise levels at different locations during Ganesh festival. The monitoring was done at commercial, residential and silence zones. The study revealed that the noise level exceeded the prescribed limits at all the locations. Also, the restriction of 10 p.m. for noise was not followed by the general public.

Survey of physical abuse during pregnancy GMCH, Nagpur, India.

INTRODUCTION: Domestic violence is a major health concern for women globally. Violence may commence or escalate during pregnancy and may be more frequent than obstetric complications e.g. preeclampsia or gestational diabetes for which they are routinely screened. No literature is available on abuse during pregnancy from India. OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency and severity of physical abuse during pregnancy and its association with entry to antenatal care and to identify lifetime risk factors. STUDY DESIGN: Cross sectional study. STUDY SETTING: Secondary and tertiary care public hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred randomly selected pregnant women in third trimester of pregnancy (28-40 weeks of gestation) attending routine antenatal clinic were assessed for physical abuse using Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS) developed by McFarlane. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Abuse status, gestational age at first antenatal visit and lifetime risk factors. ANALYSIS: Descriptive, Univariate and MLR. RESULTS: Of the 600 pregnant women interviewed, 152 (25.33%) women reported abuse during non pregnant state, 132 (22%) women reported physical abuse during index pregnancy and 10 (8.33%) women reported increase in abuse during pregnancy. In majority the abuse site was head and neck and 20% reported being hit in the abdomen. Abuse was recurrent in 92% of women. Six (4.54%) women were hospitalized, 5 (3.78%) needed medical assistance and 19.7% women were afraid of partner (husband). Abused women were twice as likely to begin antenatal care after 32 weeks of gestation as compared to non abused women (OR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.1-5.6, p = 0.02). Abused women were more likely to be Buddhist (p = 0.005), of greater parity with unwanted pregnancy, dwelling in slums (p = 0.005), from extended family (p = 0.005), with low level of education to husband (p = 0.009) and with stress to husband (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: There is significant physical abuse during pregnancy in central India. Routine screen by AAS and a cohort study looking at adverse outcome of pregnancy is recommended.

Modulatory effects of diltiazem on inotropic responses to amrinone on rabbit isolated atria.

The effect of pretreatment with graded concentration of diltiazem on the inotropic responses to amrinone were studied on isolated atria of rabbit. The responses to amrinone were modified by diltiazem in a biphasic manner; initial potentiation followed by inhibition. The potentiation is proposed to be due to synergistic rise in cytosolic calcium ion concentration by diltiazem and amrinone. The inhibition by diltiazem in higher concentration may be due to blockade of calcium ion influx and depletion of intracellular calcium ion from storage sites.

Drug utilization in indoor ANC patients of Govt Medical College Hospital, Nagpur.

Drug utilization in the indoor patients of ANC ward of Govt. Medical College Hospital, Nagpur was studied in 42 patients. The prescriptions of these patients were audited to find number of drugs per prescription; prescribing trends and category-wise drug consumption. In most of the prescriptions drugs were prescribed by generic names (68.53%), Dosage form was mentioned, Frequency given, but duration was not mentioned. Dose in recommended units was not mentioned in 69.93% of prescriptions. Even though prescription of drugs was found to be rational, prescription writing was far from desired. The enquiry reveals these findings.

Calcium supplementation and prevention of pregnancy induced hypertension.

In a randomized controlled trial 201 healthy nulliparous women were randomly allocated by means of a computer generated randomization list. From 20 weeks of gestation until delivery they received either 2 g of oral elemental calcium (n = 103) per day or an identical placebo (n = 98). Eleven women (5.47%) were lost to follow-up after randomization. The study groups were very similar at the time of randomization; with respect to several clinical and demographic variables. Treatment compliance was very similar in both groups as was determined by pill count. The rate of pregnancy induced hypertension was lower in the calcium group than in the placebo group 8.24%; vs 29.03%; (RR = 0.28; 95% CI 0.14-0.59). The incidence of gestational hypertension was 6.18% in the calcium group and 17.20% in the placebo group (RR = 0.28; 95% CI 0.08-0.80), and the incidence of preeclampsia was 2.06% in the calcium group and 11.82% in the placebo group (RR = 0.13; 95% CI 0.01-0.64). In conclusion calcium supplementation given in pregnancy to nulliparous women reduces the incidence of pregnancy induced hypertension.