Effect of Kangen and reverse osmosis water on dental plaque, salivary pH and salivary Streptococcus mutans counts: a randomized-controlled trial (A preliminary study).

PURPOSE: The present randomized-controlled trial was conducted to assess the effect of Kangen water and reverse osmosis (RO) water on dental plaque, salivary pH and salivary Streptococcus mutans count. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This randomized control trial was conducted for 14 days on 24 randomly selected participants from the pool of undergraduate dental students. Participants were randomly divided into two groups of 12 each: the Kangen water (pH 9) group and the RO water group. Participants in each group were asked to drink allocated water for 7 days. Dental plaque, salivary pH and microbial colony-forming units (CFUs) were assessed after 7 and 14 days. RESULTS: Intragroup comparison showed that all three outcomes showed a significant improvement in the Kangen water group after 14 days, whereas no difference was seen in the RO water group. Intergroup comparison showed a significant difference in plaque score and CFU among the two groups after 7 and 14 days, whereas pH between the two groups did not show a significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: Regular drinking of alkaline Kangen water with pH 9 was found to be effective in reducing plaque and salivary Streptococcus mutans count when compared to RO water.

Assessment framework for the selection of a potential interactive dressing material for diabetic foot ulcer.

Diabetic foot ulcer is a chronic health issue leading to lower leg amputations in approximately 15% of patients with diabetics. There are many factors directly or indirectly involved in the physiology of wound healing but being a multisystem disorder, wound healing in diabetic patients retard or worsen with heavy exudates and severe microbial infections. Wound management is of prime importance and is an emerging area to incorporate wound regenerative materials in natural or synthetic dressing materials along with proper microbial control. The article aim to identify suitable dressing materials which exhibit inherent wound healing properties at the same time flexible to be used as drug carriers for slow, consistent and effective delivery of 'functional drugs' to the wound environment. The authors selected nine materials from the popular and well accepted dressings of patient choice, analyzed them using graph theoretic approach and ranked them on the basis of graph index values obtained. A critical review has also been done on the basis of their ranking, providing insights to the advantages, disadvantage and potential of top 5 ranked candidate materials. Alginate, Honey, Medifoam, Saline, and Hydrogel dressings were the top five candidate materials ranked respectively, even then, the authors suggests that 'modified hydrogels' can have the potential to be used as a future candidate in DFU treatment as it is the only material (among the top ranked ones) which can effectively used as regenerative drug carrier, while providing all other wound healing properties in relative proportions. The proposed framework can be modified and applied in the selection and ranking of materials for any kind of applications both in industry and medical fields by identifying factors influencing the final outcome of study and by listing the characteristics of the materials selected.

A cross-sectional study on determinants of indoor air pollution and its perceived impact among the residents of urban field practice area of AMCH, Salem, Tamil Nadu.

Background: Over the past 20 years, indoor air pollution (IAP) has received much attention as the quality of the indoor air is affected a lot. IAP means the presence of substances which are redundant in the indoor air at concentrations toxic to health. Very few studies have addressed the determinants of indoor air pollutants in places like urban slum areas in Tamil Nadu. To reduce this research gap, this study has been undertaken. Aim: To study the determinants of IAP and its perceived impact on health. Settings and Design: This was a community-based cross-sectional study. Complete information from 440 households consisting of 1606 individuals was collected through a semi-structured questionnaire. Materials and Methods: Residents of an urban field practice area of Annapoorana Medical College and Hospitals (AMCH) were the study participants. The study period was from April 19 to March 2020. The study area was an urban field practice area around Department of Community Medicine, Karungalpatty, AMCH. Frequency, proportions, and Spearman test were used to find out the significance between various household environmental conditions and the respiratory diseases using Epi Info software. Results: Results showed that 52.3% of the participants were using incense sticks at home in the evening during pooja and 17.7% of the houses were using mosquito coil in the evening and at night. Also, 29.5% houses reported overcrowding and 66.4% of the houses were not having chimney or exhaust. Results also showed that 71.4% households were practicing opening their windows while cooking. One hundred and fifty-two (34.5%) female respondents had perceived the symptoms like dizziness (12.3%), eye irritation (10.2%), difficulty in breathing (4.5%), dry cough (3.06%), running nose (1.4%), and nasal congestion (1.1%) due to IAP. Among under-five respondents, 1.6% reported having acute respiratory infections in the last 15 days and 10.5% reported the same in the last 1 year 10.5%.

What can we learn from previous pandemics to reduce the frequency of emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19?

The global risks report of 2020 stated, climate-related issues dominate all of the top-five long-term critical global risks burning the planet and according to the report, "as existing health risks resurge and new ones emerge, humanity's past successes in overcoming health challenges are no guarantee of future results." Over the last few decades, the world has experienced several pandemic outbreaks of various pathogens and the frequency of the emergence of novel strains of infectious organisms has increased in recent decades. As per expert opinion, rapidly mutating viruses, emergence and re-emergence of epidemics with increasing frequencies, climate-sensitive vector-borne diseases are likely to be increasing over the years and the trends will continue and intensify. Susceptible disease hosts, anthropogenic activities and environmental changes contribute and trigger the 'adaptive evolution' of infectious agents to thrive and spread into different ecological niches and to adapt to new hosts. The overarching objective of this paper is to provide insight into the human actions which should be strictly regulated to help to sustain life on earth. To identify and categorize the triggering factors that contribute to disease ecology, especially repeated emergence of disease pandemics, a theory building approach, 'Total Interpretive Structural Modeling' (TISM) was used; also the tool, 'Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification' analysis (MICMAC) was applied to rank the risk factors based on their impacts on other factors and on the interdependence among them. This mathematical modeling tool clearly explains the strength, position and interconnectedness of each anthropogenic factor that contributes to the evolution of pathogens and to the frequent emergence of pandemics which needs to be addressed with immediate priority. As we are least prepared for another pandemic outbreak, significant policy attention must be focused on the causative factors to limit emerging outbreaks like COVID 19 in the future.

Diabetic keratopathy: Insights and challenges.

Ocular complications from diabetes mellitus are common. Diabetic keratopathy, the most frequent clinical condition affecting the human cornea, is a potentially sight-threatening condition caused mostly by epithelial disturbances that are of clinical and research attention because of their severity. Diabetic keratopathy exhibits several clinical manifestations, including persistent corneal epithelial erosion, superficial punctate keratopathy, delayed epithelial regeneration, and decreased corneal sensitivity, that may lead to compromised visual acuity or permanent vision loss. The limited amount of clinical studies makes it difficult to fully understand the pathobiology of diabetic keratopathy. Effective therapeutic approaches are elusive. We summarize the clinical manifestations of diabetic keratopathy and discuss available treatments and up-to-date research studies in an attempt to provide a thorough overview of the disorder.

Quercetin attenuates lactate production and extracellular matrix secretion in keratoconus.

Keratoconus(KC) is an ecstatic corneal disease leading to corneal-thinning and the formation of a cone-like cornea. Elevated lactate levels, increased oxidative stress, and myofibroblast formation have all been previously reported. In the current study, we assess the role of Quercetin on collagen secretion and myofibroblast formation in KC in vitro. Human corneal fibroblasts(HCFs) and human keratoconus cells(HKCs) were treated with a stable Vitamin C derivative and cultured for 4 weeks, stimulating formation of a self-assembled extracellular matrix. All samples were analyzed using Western blots and targeted tandem mass spectrometry. Our data showed that Quercetin significantly down regulates myofibroblast differentiation and fibrotic markers, such as α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and Collagen III (Col III), in both HCFs and HKCs. Collagen III secretion was reduced 80% in both HCFs and HKCs following Quercetin treatment. Furthermore, Quercetin reduced lactate production by HKCs to normal HCF levels. Quercetin down regulated TGF-ßR2 and TGF-ß2 expression in HKCs suggesting a significant link to the TGF-ß pathway. These results assert that Quercetin is a key regulator of fibrotic markers and ECM assembly by modulating cellular metabolism and TGF-ß signaling. Our study suggests that Quercetin is a potential therapeutic for treatment of corneal dystrophies, such as KC.

Legal control and alcohol in the United States and India.

Arrest data provide an index of public concern regarding alcohol-related activities of certain groups within a society. Any differences in these data may reflect the differences in the extent to which their conduct is viewed and reacted to as problematic behavior requiring legal control. In this paper we compare the official statistics regarding alcohol arrest data of adults and juveniles in the United States, India in general, and a "dry" Indian state, Tamil Nadu. The United States, India, and Tamil Nadu are similar in that the proportion of juveniles arrested for alcohol-related convictions compared to juveniles arrested for all offenses is about the same (i.e., 8%). But proportionately more of the young people, compared with adults, in the United States are subjected to arrest for liquor law violations, although a greater proportion of adults, compared to juveniles, are arrested for public drunkenness. In India generally, and Tamil Nadu in particular, juvenile vis-à-vis adult arrests for liquor law offenses are equal to their proportions in the population. That is, in contrast to India, alcohol law enforcement in the United States is specifically directed at regulating the drinking behavior of young people.