Association of hypertension with microalbuminuria and lipid profile in the local population of Patan.

There is increasing prevalence of hypertension worldwide. Hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and renal disease which are the leading cause of death in the world. It is, therefore, very important to prevent progression of hypertension into these fatal diseases through appropriate treatment and monitoring. Microalbuminuria and dyslipidemia has been regarded as a predictor for cardiovascular and renal dysfunction in hypertension. In this study, we have included 130 hypertensive and 100 normotensive individuals of age > or = 25 years. Patients with a history of urinary tract infection, hematuria, renal failure, women with menstruation at the time of sample collection were excluded from this study. Measurements of anthropometric parameters; blood parameters like lipid profile, fasting blood sugar (FBS), creatinine after 8 hrs fasting and urine parameters like microalbumin and creatinine were done. The prevalence of microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria is 17.7% and 3.1% respectively in hypertensive patients. Also, there was 9% prevalence of microalbuminuria in normotensive people. There was a significant association of hypertension with microalbuminuria and dyslipidemia, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, microalbumin creatinine ratio (MCR), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist hip ratio (WHR) were significantly higher in hypertensive than in normotensive persons. These higher lipid levels, WC and MCR in hypertensive patient are established risk factors for progressing into diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Hence, monitoring of these parameters would be beneficial for hypertensive patients in preventing the disease progression in this population.

Correlation between gestational weight gain and birth weight of the infants.

Birth weight is an important determinant of infant's well being as low birth weight is known to increase the risk adult onset of diseases like type-2 diabetes and ischemic heart disease. Maternal weight gain is one of the most important independent predictors of infant birth weight. Institute of Medicine of the National Academics, USA has recommended that total weight gain of mothers should be according to their prepregnancy body mass index (BMI). Therefore, this study was conducted to observe the total weight gained by the pregnant women and the correlation between the weights gained by them with the birth weight of their infants. 98 women who delivered full term single baby at Patan hospital were included after taking their verbal consent. The details of the newborn and the history of the pregnant women were taken from the hospital records. The information about the family income, dietary habit, birth spacing and the type of work done by the pregnant women was obtained from the women themselves. The mean weight gain of the mothers was 9.48 (SD = 3.41) kilograms and the mean birth weight of the infants was found to be 2965.66 (SD = 364.37) grams. Multiple Liner Regression Models showed the effect of Gestational weight gain (GWG), Age and Parity on birth weight of the infant. Step-wise multiple regressions gave rise to models that showed effect of GWG and age on birth weight of the infants. This study concluded that gestational weight gain has positive linear relationship (correlation) with the birth weight of infants.

Age at menarche of subpopulation of Nepalese girls.

The present study was carried out to explore the mean age at menarche of school going girls of Western Nepal, Pokhara and to determine the factors influencing age at menarche. The data was collected from five schools located within the Pokhara Valley of Western Nepal. Only the students who had experienced menarche were included in the study. Verbal consent was obtained after explaining the objectives of the study; the students were interviewed for personal and family details and information obtained was recorded. The age at menarche was found to be 12.69 +/- 0.95 years. The mean age at menarche of those attending community schools was significantly higher than that of those attending private schools (12.85 +/- 0.87 vs 12.41 +/- 0.99 years). The mean age at menarche was found to be delayed with increase in number of family members and more siblings. The mean age at menarche of the vegetarians was higher than that of non-vegetarians (12.82. +/- 0.81 vs 12.68 +/- 0.95 years).