Search

Increasing disease incidence and prevalence has led to tremendous increase in the use of medications. The consumers are not able to use all the dispensed medications because of various reasons. The improper disposal of these unused medicines has led to environmental contamination to an alarming extent. The present study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of medical personnel about disposal of unused medicines. The study was conducted on post graduate medical students, MBBS and nursing students of a tertiary care hospital of North India. It was cross sectional, descriptive study based on a structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice about the disposition of left over medications. Descriptive statistical analysis of the results was done. Stockpiling was reported by 100% of the students. The most common reason for stockpiling was excess purchase of medicines (41%). The most commonly procured medicine was NSAID (55.9%). The most common method of disposal was with household waste (69%). Majority of the respondents answered that take back programmes and government interference is the solution to this problem. : Majority of the people are having unused medicines at home and most commonly they dispose it by throwing along with rubbish. Lack of knowledge regarding proper disposal is the main reason behind this. Initiatives should be taken to spread awareness regarding proper disposal methods of unused medicines.

Bell’s palsy, also known as acute peripheral facial palsy of unidentified reason, is caused by the acute onset of problems with the facial nerve’s lower motor neuron. Several case reports and series have described peripheral facial nerve palsy associated with COVID-19. In addition, since the US food and drug administration’s (FDA) emergency use authorization of several COVID-19 vaccines, there have been media reports of Bell’s palsy associated with vaccination. This case concerns a 26-year-old female with Bell’s palsy (confirmed by clinical diagnosis – an acute unilateral facial nerve paresis or paralysis with onset in >72 h) after receiving second dose of Covishield vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19). She experienced decreased sleep, dizziness, and left side eye watering post-vaccination. Next day after vaccination, she noticed muscle weakness on the left side of the face, preventing her from close left eye, drinking fluids, and facial droop accompanied by reduced mobility. The patient was treated with methylprednisolone and eye drops (lubricants).

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic noncommunicable disease, and hypertension (HT) is the most common comorbidity which affects their quality of life (QoL).The aim of the study was to assess the effects of antihypertensive agents (viz., amlodipine, ramipril, telmisartan, and ramipril with telmisartan) on the blood pressure (BP) and QoL.It was an open-labeled prospective intention-to-treat study done in diabetic hypertensive patients (After 24 weeks of therapy, systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were significantly reduced in all groups. In amlodipine, there was a mean percentage fall of SBP by 15.85% (confidence interval [CI]: 21.38-28.13) and DBP by 11.22% (CI: 8.41-12.70); in ramipril - 14.4% (CI: 18.61-25.15) and 12.4% (CI 8.88-13.99); telmisartan - 18.4% (CI: 24.89-10.79) and 14.6% (CI 10.79-16.24); and in RT group, SBP 17.7% (CI: 23.38-29.18) and DBP 12.4% (CI: 9.05-13.02). QoL score increased by 30.56% (CI: 14.30-10.90), 30.94% (CI: 14.21-10.68), 28.07% (CI: 14.89-11.20), and 28.84% (CI: 15.49-11.77), in respective groups (Amlodipine, ramipril, telmisartan, and a combination of RT are equally effective to improve BP and QoL among diabetic hypertensive patients. However, amlodipine and telmisartan lacked in dry cough and more tolerable than the ramipril and RT therapy. Henceforth, amlodipine and telmisartan are better choice to control HT among DM patients.

Objective: The Urinary tract is one of the most common source for life threatening infection. A broad range of organisms may be isolated. Various antibiotics are used for the treatment but rising resistance among pathogenic organisms is one major concern in choosing effective treatment option. The main objective of the study was to check the efficacy and safety of nitrofurantoin (100 mg BD dose) for five days in cases of acute lower UTI. Material and Methods Study design: open label, single arm study. Study population: Seventy patients presenting with clinical symptoms of urinary tract infection were selected which were further confirmed by urine culture in the microbiology department. Protocol: Urine culture and sensitivity testing for nitrofurantoin was done. After confirmation of the causative organism and sensitivity testing patients were prescribed nitrofurantoin (100 mg BD) for five days and were told to revisit the OPD on 7th day. Urine culture was repeated to see the bacterial eradication rate. Results: Sensitivity reported to nitrofurantoin is 84.3%. Among all the pathogenic organism’s highest sensitivity was shown by Proteus (87.5%), followed by E. coli (84.7%), Staphylococcus aureus (83.3%), Klebsiella (70%). The bacterial eradication rate is 91.5%.

Background: Computer assisted learning (CAL) in the classroom as well as laboratory in the medical profession has been rising in the present scenario worldwide. CAL can replace laboratory based animal experiments to a large extent and prevent the unnecessary harm or killing of animals. In India, only few studies have been conducted on CAL till date. Aims and objective of the study was to evaluate the knowledge and perception on CAL among undergraduate medical students.Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out on the medical students (MBBS-Second Professional) in the department of pharmacology at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, Punjab, India. Feedback was obtained from 105 students who had already performed animal experiments in CAL laboratory.Results: It was seen that Computer simulated models (CSMs) are useful for undergraduate teaching (by 98.1%), CAL enrich learning experience about drug effects (by 97.1%), CSMs in CAL is user friendly (by 97.1%) and use of CSMs in teaching is ethical (by 97.1%).Conclusions: CAL is an innovative teaching and learning technique for the medical students. This is an effective mode of teaching pharmacology to the students and it also helps the students to apply their theoretical knowledge of drugs to the practical aspects (without use of animal) on computer simulated models.

Background: Accurate and reliable drug product information is important for the safe and effective use of medicines. But there are variations in the quantity and quality of information mentioned in different drug information sources and a single credible benchmark is lacking. This study was carried out to compare the presentation and completeness of clinical information in package inserts (PIs) marketed by pharmaceutical companies in India with standard medical textbook of pharmacology.Methods: Out of eighty five PIs of different drugs, only 55 were found eligible to be included in this study after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. These PIs and medical textbook were analysed for quantitative and qualitative drug information and were compared using Chi square test of two proportions. The p value of 0.05 was used as cut off to evaluate statistical significance.Results: Quantitatively medical textbook was significantly better statistically in context of treatment of overdose and references. No statistically significant difference was observed in relation to information related to mechanism of action (MOA) and pharmacokinetics (Pk). After qualitative analysis, medical textbook was significantly better statistically in context of size and readability, references related to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and indications and pictures. No statistically significant difference was observed in context of dosing interval, frequency of doses and pharmacokinetic parameters.Conclusions: PIs can be used as a reliable source of drug information by health care professionals in addition to other sources like medical textbooks.