Social class, coronary risk factors and undernutrition, a double burden of diseases, in women during transition, in five Indian cities.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the association between social class and coronary risk factors in women. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted in six-twelve urban streets in each of five cities from various regions of India following a common study protocol and criteria of diagnosis. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We randomly selected 3257 women, aged 25-64 years inclusive, from the cities of Moradabad (n=902), Trivandrum (n=760) Calcutta (n=410), Nagpur (n=405) and Bombay (n=780). Evaluation was by questionnaires validated at Moradabad. All subjects, after pooling of data, were divided into social class 1 (n=985), social class 2 (n=790), social class 3 (n=674), social class 4 (n=602) and social class 5 (n=206), based on various attributes of socioeconomic status. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, family history of coronary disease, obesity, central obesity and sedentary lifestyle were significantly associated with higher social classes and tobacco consumption was not associated with social class. Oral contraceptive intake and postmenopausal status were also more common among higher social classes, which may be due to more education and a longer lifespan among the higher social classes, respectively. Mean total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean body mass index and waist-hip ratio showed significant association with higher social classes. Mean age, body weight, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and 2-h blood glucose were significantly positively correlated with social class, as assessed by Spearman's rank correlation. Higher social classes 1-3 were more common in Trivandrum and Bombay than in Moradabad. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and being overweight (body mass index >25 kg/m2) were also more common in Trivandrum and Bombay compared to Moradabad. Undernutrition was negatively associated with higher social classes and was more common in Moradabad and Nagpur than Trivandrum. CONCLUSIONS: Higher social classes among Indian urban women have a higher prevalence of coronary risk factors, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, being overweight, central obesity, sedentary lifestyle, family history of coronary disease, oral contraceptive intake and postmenopausal status. Mean concentrations of total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol were also significantly associated with higher social classes.

Preliminary clinical study of sharbat - e - unsul in zeequn - nafas - balghami.

Sharbat-e-Unsul, a Unani medicine was found to cure zeequn - nafasbalghami or "difficulty in breathing due to narrowing or obstruction of air passage". The drug did not cause any adverse effect.

Pattern of leukemias: a ten-year incidence study of 242 cases.

This paper presents an analysis of data collected from 242 cases of acute and chronic leukemia observed during a 10-year period. The incidence of childhood leukemia was 26.45%. In the present series, it was 35.95% for ALL, 21.9% AML, 38.4% CML and 2.89% CLL. The incidences of ALL and CML were found comparable to other series from Bombay. The geographical variations in the pattern of leukemias as observed in India are discussed.

Immuno-reconstitution by thymic transplant in DiGeorge's syndrome.

Persistent hypocalcaemic tetany in a breast-fed neonate made us suspect DiGeorge's syndrome, particularly as the baby had an abnormal facies, and a ventricular septal defect. Immuno-reconstitution was successfully achieved by thymic transplant. Evidence of immuno-reconstitution on the basis of the histology of the post-transplant thymus has not been previously recorded.