Iodine deficiency status amongst school children in Pauri, Uttarakhand.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the iodine deficiency status amongst school age children in district Pauri, Uttarakhand. METHODS: 2067 children (age of 6-12 years) were included. Clinical examination of thyroid gland of each child was conducted. On-the-spot urine and salt samples were collected from children. RESULTS: Total Goitre Rate was found to be 16.8% and median Urinary Iodine Concentration level was 115 µg/L. Only 40.4% of salt samples had e 15 ppm of iodine. CONCLUSION: There is a mild degree of iodine deficiency in school age children in district Pauri. There is a need of strengthening the National Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Program.

Reproductive factors and risk of breast cancer: A Review.

Breast cancer is one of the most common incident cancer and cause of death from cancer in women. It is known that several factors that influence hormonal status (e.g., age at first child birth) or are markers of change in hormonal status (e.g., age at menarche and age at menopause) are associated with the risk of breast cancer. Reproductive factors are known risk factors for breast cancer that probably act early in life. They point toward endogenous estrogens as likely player in the initiation, progression, and promotion of breast cancer. An attempt has been made in this article to review the scientific data published in Indexed journals on the role of reproductive factors in breast cancer.

Reproductive factors and breast cancer: a case-control study in tertiary care hospital of North India.

BACKGROUND: Clinical, animal, and epidemiological studies have clearly demonstrated that cancer is a hormonally mediated disease and several factors that influence hormonal status or are markers of change in hormonal status have been shown to be associated with the risk of breast cancer. AIMS: To identify the association of various reproductive factors with breast cancer. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A hospital-based, matched, case-control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred and twenty newly diagnosed breast cancer cases and three hundred and twenty normal healthy individuals constituted the study population. The subjects in the control group were matched individually with the cases for their age ± 2 years and socioeconomic status. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was administered to each individual to collect information on identification data, socio-demographic profile, and reproductive factors. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The Chi-square test and unpaired t-test were used. The conditional univariate logistic regression analysis (unadjusted odds ratio and confidence intervals) was used to calculate the significance level of each variable followed by multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The cases had a lower mean age at menarche, higher age at marriage, higher mean age at last child birth, lower mean duration of breastfeeding, higher number of abortions, late age at menopause, history of oral contraceptive pills, and a family history of breast cancer as compared to the controls. The results of the present study revealed a strong association of reproductive factors with breast cancer in the Indian population.

Status of iodine deficiency in district Kangra, Himachal Pradesh after 60 years of salt iodization.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh(HP), India is a known endemic area for iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) since 1956. The present study was conducted in district Kangra, Himachal Pradesh with the objective to assess the prevalence of iodine deficiency in school-age children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 1864 children in the age group of 6-12 years were included. Clinical examination of thyroid of all children was undertaken. 'On the spot' urine samples were collected from 463 children. The salt samples were collected from 327 children. RESULTS: The total goiter prevalence of 15.8% was found. The proportion of children with urinary iodine excretion (UIE) levels <50.0, 50.0-99.9 and ≥ 100 µg/l was 2.2, 14.3 and 83.5%, respectively. The median UIE level was 200 µg/l. About 82.3% of the families were consuming salt with iodine content ≥ 15 ppm. CONCLUSION: The population in district Kangra is possibly in a transition phase from iodine deficient (as revealed by total goiter rate of 15.8%) to iodine sufficiency (as revealed by median UIE levels of 200 µg/l).