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Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease that also causes lipid abnormalities. Limited studies are focusing on metabolic abnormalities in TB patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM). While studying lipid abnormalities in pulmonary TB patients, there were no marked differences between serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and High Density Lipoprotein (HDL). However, it was suggested that increased levels of lipoprotein (a) in patients with pulmonary TB may be a risk for atherosclerosis. Aim: To study the lipid abnormalities in TB patients with DM. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Pulmonary Medicine at a tertiary care teaching institute {PES Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (PESIMSR} Andhra Pradesh, India, between October 2015 to March 2016 (six months). Four groups were made, Group I included 30 patients with TB and no DM, Group II included 25 patients with TB with DM, Group III had 30 patients with DM only and Group IV was control group with 30 healthy individuals. Lipid profile testing was done for all the participants and the values obtained were compared. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was used to compare the means between the groups and Kruskal-Wallis test when data did not follow the normal distribution. The p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Total 25 patients in group II had 18 male and 7 female with mean age of 48.5±11.12 years. The total cholesterol, triglycerides, Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) was high in group III (176.33±43.35 mg/dL, 221.733±39.2 mg/dL, 34.8±17.81 mg/dL respectively). The HDL was lowest in group II (27.88±8.03 mg/dL). However, the LDL values showed no significant difference between the groups (p-value=0.162). group I had Low Body Mass Index (BMI) (18.61±3.6 kg/m2). The atherogenic index was high in group II especially in males. Conclusion: In patients with TB and DM, screening of lipid profile can provide markers of atherogenicity which may help to predict and prevent cardiovascular events. A good nutritious diet is recommended alongside chemotherapeutics in the treatment for TB patient's management and their lipid profile status should be monitored while managing the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Infectious disease burden in India is among the largest in the world. Cephalosporins are being used extensively in the current scenario, both empirically and as definitive treatment. With this information, we tried to evaluate the prescription pattern of drugs for infections in medicine and general surgical wards of a tertiary care hospital and evaluate the utilization of cephalosporins in the same. Methodology: The study was conducted for a duration of 3 months in a tertiary care hospital after approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, and permission of the respective heads of the surgery and medicine departments was obtained. After satisfying the inclusion criteria, participants' demographic details and the prescription notes by the treating doctor were noted and analyzed. The WHO prescription indicators were analyzed and the prescriptions were evaluated for the completeness of them. The utilization of cephalosporins was evaluated based on the institutional standard treatment guideline (STG) – Guidelines for Antimicrobial Therapy and Prophylaxis, 2014. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 600 patients were recruited, of which 350 were male and 250 were female. A total of 4341 drugs were prescribed. On an average, 7 drugs per prescription were found. The generic drugs prescribed were 27% (1163). Among the drugs prescribed, 19% (850) were antibiotics, of which 36.94% (314) were cephalosporins and 81% (3491) were other drugs. Ninety-four percent (565) prescriptions were incomplete (in terms of dose, frequency, duration, or dosage form). After referring to the STG, we found that cephalosporins were prescribed empirically in 40% (126) cases, of which medicine prescriptions accounted for it the most. Conclusion: Cephalosporins are extensively prescribed in medicine and surgery wards of the tertiary care hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breastfeeding plays an important role in the holistic development of a child. Current knowledge and attitude of future parents will significantly influence breastfeeding practices. Therefore, ascertaining current knowledge and attitude of both soon-to-be parents will help to formulate breastfeeding promotion strategies. Research Aim: To ascertain the knowledge and attitude of adolescents towards breastfeeding and its correlates with socioeconomic and demographic factors. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional institutional based study in which participants were recruited from Punjab, state of India. A total of 392 adolescents from January to June 2017 were evaluated on the basis of a pretested, reliable, and valid instrument. The instrument consisted of questions on knowledge and attitude regarding breastfeeding. Results: One-hundred two (26%) participants had good knowledge and 290 (74%) had poor knowledge regarding breastfeeding. A bothersome fact is that only 25% of the participants knew about the age till which a child should be breastfed. There was a statistically significant (OR = 2.93; 95% CI: [1.45--5.93]) association between high knowledge and positive attitude. Conclusion: The level of knowledge amongst adolescents showed variation ranges from 15.82% to 93.11% on various aspects of breastfeeding. Despite this glaring variation, 75% of the participants had a positive attitude towards breastfeeding. Thus, there is a need for implementing modified and improved breastfeeding promotion strategies in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of topics for the Indian Academy of Neurology Conference 2015 (IANCON 2015) including case studies on Snake Bite with Toxic Demyelination, Variant of Miller Fisher Syndrome, and two cases of Non-diabetic Radiculoplexus Neuropathy.