Developing countries shoulder most of the burden of diabetes and tuberculosis. These diseases often coexist. Suboptimal control of diabetes predisposes the patient to tuberculosis, and is one of the common causes of poor response to anti-tubercular treatment. Tuberculosis also affects diabetes by causing hyperglycemia and causing impaired glucose tolerance. Impaired glucose tolerance is one of the major risk factors for developing diabetes. The drugs used to treat tuberculosis (especially rifampicin and isoniazid) interact with oral anti-diabetic drugs and may lead to suboptimal glycemic control. Similarly some of the newer oral anti-diabetic drugs may interact with anti-tuberculosis drugs and lower their efficacy. Therefore diabetes and tuberculosis interact with each other at multiple levels – each exacerbating the other. Management of patients with concomitant tuberculosis and diabetes differs from that of either disease alone. This article reviews the association between diabetes and tuberculosis and suggests appropriate management for these conditions.

β-Blockers (BBs) are an essential class of cardiovascular medications for reducing morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure (HF). However, a large body of data indicates that BBs should not be used as first-line therapy for hypertension (HTN). Additionally, new data have questioned the role of BBs in the treatment of stable coronary heart disease (CHD). However, these trials mainly tested the non-vasodilating β1 selective BBs (atenolol and metoprolol) which are still the most commonly prescribed BBs in the USA. Newer generation BBs, such as the vasodilating BBs carvedilol and nebivolol, have been shown not only to be better tolerated than non-vasodilating BBs, but also these agents do not increase the risk of diabetes mellitus (DM), atherogenic dyslipidaemia or weight gain. Moreover, carvedilol has the most evidence for reducing morbidity and mortality in patients with HF and those who have experienced an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This review discusses the cornerstone clinical trials that have tested BBs in the settings of HTN, HF and AMI. Large randomised trials in the settings of HTN, DM and stable CHD are still needed to establish the role of BBs in these diseases, as well as to determine whether vasodilating BBs are exempt from the disadvantages of non-vasodilating BBs.

Background:Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) therapy is a meditation therapy, though originally designed for stress management, it is being used for treating a variety of illnesses such as depression, anxiety, chronic pain, cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, skin and immune disorders.Aim:The aim of this systematic review is to determine the efficacy of MBSR in the treatment of chronic illnesses; it's mechanism of action and adverse effects. It describes an alternative method of treatment for physicians and patients that may help patients cope with their diseases in a more effective way.Materials and Methods:COCHRANE, EMBASE and MEDLINE were systematically searched for data on outcome of treatment with MBSR used alone or in conjunction with other treatments. The data available on prevention of diseases through MBSR was also analyzed.Results:All the 18 studies included in this systematic review showed improvement in the condition of patients after MBSR therapy. These studies were focused on patients with chronic diseases like cancer, hypertension, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, chronic pain and skin disorders, before and after MBSR therapy.Conclusions:Although the research on MBSR is sparse, the results of these researches indicate that MBSR improves the condition of patients suffering from chronic illnesses and helps them cope with a wide variety of clinical problems.

A systematic review of the literature was performed by searching Pubmed and EMBASE databases using the terms “thiamine,” “vitamin B1,” “heart failure,” “systolic dysfunction,” “ventricular dysfunction,” “cardiomyopathy,” “ventricular failure,” and “systolic failure.” Relevant trials and articles were evaluated pertaining to thiamine deficiency in patients with heart failure (HF) and references were searched for further inclusion of articles. A total of 20 articles were reviewed and summarized in detail. While more research is needed to fully elucidate the clinical thiamine deficiency in HF patients, recent evidence has indicated that supplementing with thiamine in HF patients has the potential to improve left ventricular ejection fraction. Thiamine deficiency appears to be not uncommon in patients with HF, and supplementation with thiamine has been shown to improve cardiac function, urine output, weight loss, and signs and symptoms of HF. Therefore, this simple therapy should be tested in large‐scale randomized clinical trial to further determine the effects of thiamine in HF patients.

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