BACKGROUND Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of the study is to analyze and compare the level of awareness among the diabetic patients and their non-diabetic care takers. Even though various studies have analyzed the awareness levels of the disease and its complications in diabetic patients, there is yet a need to assess the awareness of the disease among the patients' care takers. METHODS It is a cross sectional study. A self-designed questionnaire was given to 500 study participants (both diabetic patients and their non-diabetic care takers) above the age of 18, attending the SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Center. The obtained data was assessed and compared by using SPSS Ver. 15. RESULTS Of all the diabetic patients, 47% knew about the disease process and causative factors and only 38% knew about its complications. Of the total non-diabetic care takers, 53% had the knowledge about the disease process and its cause and 39% knew about the complications. p value was not significant in our study which implied both the groups were inadequately aware of the disease and its complications. CONCLUSIONS The level of knowledge and awareness about diabetes and its complications is insufficient in both patients and their care takers which indicates the need to educate them about the disease to combat the morbidity and mortality of the disease.

Background: Acute kidney injury is a multiplex disease with severe morbidity and mortality. The trends of acute kidney injury vary according to the regions and the population under study. The aim of this study is to evaluate the trends of acute kidney injury and its outcome in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: The study was a prospective observational study conducted at a tertiary care hospital in a metropolitan city. A total of 102 patients of acute kidney injury were selected based on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes guidelines of acute kidney injury. The main trends of acute kidney injury presentation and its outcome were assessed.Results: Of 102 patients admitted, 42 had a sepsis related diagnosis (42.41%), 17 patients (17.16%) had cardiovascular disease related acute kidney injury and 12 patients (12.12%) had developed acute kidney injury due to drugs and poisons. According to RIFLE (risk of renal failure, injury to kidney, failure and loss of function and end-stage kidney disease) category, 43.96% of patients belonged to the risk category and 30.77% to the injury category. Of 34 patients in failure category, 23 recovered and 11 did not recover. Authors compared the trends of acute kidney injury in patients who recovered and who deteriorated. The mean serum creatinine values were 3.42 mg/dl in patients who didn’t recover from acute kidney injury and 2.05 mg/dl in patients who recovered. In patients of the recovered group, the mean urine output value is 783 ml/day; in deterioration group, 445 ml/day.Conclusions: Most common etiologies of acute kidney injury in this study include sepsis, drugs and poisons, cardiovascular diseases and diarrheal diseases in order of occurrence. High serum creatinine at admission and oliguria were the most common factors that contributed to deterioration in acute kidney injury.

Background:  The aim of this study was to determine as well as to compare the salivary glucose levels in the diabetic and non-diabetic population and correlate the values with their fasting blood glucose and HbA1c (glycated Haemoglobin) levels. Many researchers have proposed the possibility of using salivary glucose estimation for screening and monitoring of effect in general population and in resource poor settings. But studies on this subject in Indian population are limited.Methods: The current study was an analytical cross sectional study of a group of 100 diabetic patients and 100 healthy controls, conducted in the Department of General Medicine, SRM medical college hospital. The mean difference in the salivary glucose between diabetic and non-diabetic population was compared using unpaired t-test.Results: There was a strong positive association between FBS (fasting blood sugar) and salivary glucose in the overall population. There was a strong positive correlation between FBS and Salivary glucose in FBS <200. There was a moderate positive association between FBS and salivary glucose in people with FBS value between 200 to 300 mg/dl. There was a weak positive association between FBS and salivary glucose in people with FBS value >300 mg/dl, which was statistically not significant. There was a strong positive correlation between HbA1c and salivary glucose in the overall population.Conclusions: There appears to be a strong positive association between fasting blood sugar and salivary glucose value in both study groups. But the correlation seems to be relatively weak in fasting blood sugar range above 300 mg/dl. Considering this positive association, further studies are needed to explore the possibility of utilizing salivary glucose for monitoring glycemic control.