Aim:The purpose of the present experimental study was to assess the antihyperglycemic activity of ethanolic extract of Linum usitatissimum seeds and Glycyrrhiza glabra roots with standard drugs metformin and glimepiride in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats model. Materials and Methods: Total 42 Wistar albino rats were utilized in this study which separated into seven groups with six animals in each group. Negative controls for normal base line reading and was not induced with diabetes were administered 0.9% sodium chloride (NaCl). and positive control i.e. in which diabetes was induced with streptozotocin were administered 0.9% sodium chloride Original Research Article

Introduction: Clinical Health Electives are an important part of academic curriculum in medical universities throughout the world. Electives are useful in developing personal and professional growth among students. Hence understanding the importance of electives among medical undergraduates on their academic life is important. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional based study was conducted among medical undergraduates in Karachi, Pakistan. A total number of 300 students from 3rd, 4th and 5th year of MBBS were taken as a sample. Consent was taken from the participants and questionnaire was filled from everyone. Study population was selected who did at least one clinical elective in their whole academic period. Results: According to our analysed results, undergraduate students from both private and public sector medical institutes perceived clinical electives as an advantage to themselves. Majority of the students saw their clinical and academic performances to be on a higher level. This shows that opting for electives regardless of its type (local or international) have proven to be fruitful for the undergraduates’ personal growth and academic career, allowing more scope for understudies to practice and enhance their skills they have only done a limited number of times, which inevitably leads to a steep learning curve. Conclusion: There was a positive influence of clinical electives observed among the students. Overall the academic and clinical performance of the undergraduates enhanced by opting clinical electives and has positive impact on them.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of coconut oil pulling on chemo-radiotherapy induced oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients with Magic mouthwash. METHODOLOGY: This was a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, total of n=80 patients of chemo-radiotherapy induced oral mucositis of head and neck cancer were randomized into two arms A and B. A= Oil pulling using pure coconut oil and B= commercially prepared Magic Mouthwash. Each arm consisted of n=40 patients evaluated for a total duration of nine weeks using the WHO scale of oral mucositis and four different pain scores including Verbal pain intensity scale, Numeric pain intensity scale, Visual analog scale and FACES scale. Patients were evaluated at baseline 0, week 3, 6 and 9.Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Total of n=72 participants completed the study between December 2017 to August 2018; randomly assigned to Group A (n=36) and group B (n=36).Of these n=48 were male and n=24 female. In both groups there was a reduction in WHO oral mucositis scores over the time of nine weeks; however, the differences were not statistically significant (p=0.633). The two treatments did not differ on the main outcome measure i.e. WHO mucositis scale from baseline, or on any other measure of pain, while followed for the nine weeks of trial period. Adverse effects were similar between the two arms and the most frequently reported side effects were radiation induced rash, mouth fatigue and dry mouth. CONCLUSION: Oil pulling and magic mouthwash was similar in reducing both the severity of oral mucositis and relieving the pain of chemo radiation induced oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients. Oil pulling with coconut oil can be used as an alternative therapy to magic mouthwash for treating chemoradiation induced oral mucositis.

Diabetes mellitus, a silent killer, is a disease which is characterized by altered metabolism of carbohydrate, protein and lipids, classically present as raised blood glucose levels. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in increasing rapidly in both high and low-income countries. Diabetes mellitus is characterized by uncontrolled high blood glucose levels as an outcome of deficient pancreatic insulin release or poor insulin-coordinated utilization of glucose by glucose utilizing cells. Diabetes mellitus is related to a number of metabolic manifestations like atherosclerosis, with further consequences like cardiovascular disease and stroke that can lead to premature death. Numerous therapeutic agents that are available for the treatment of diabetes however these drugs have a number of restrictions, and the whole restoration from diabetes have not been accounted up till now. Herbs have been utilized from old time to cure the humankind because of their presumed lesser adverse effects, relatively high availability and relatively low cost; herbs are admired by general public. This review high lights the role of different herbs in the treatment of diabetes mellitus along with their predicted mechanism of action in relation to clinical investigations.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the association of periodontitis and Myocardial Infarction (MI) and contributes as a potential risk factor for its incidence. Methodology: This multi-centre, case-control study enrolled 125 participants. Case group comprising of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) = 55, control group consisting of non – AMI = 70. Both groups were assessed for presence of periodontitis along with specific risk factors that were recorded in a modified proforma comprising of questions pertaining to demographics, oral hygiene practices and oral eating habits. Chi-square test was used to assess association and p-value was considered significant at ≤0.05. Results: Periodontitis was found to be prevalent in 71% of Myocardial Infarction (MI) patients with an OR 4.125 (95% CI, 1.934 - 8.797) as compared to 37% in Control (non-Myocardial Infarct). Increasing age, male gender, illiteracy, unemployment/retirement, low socio-economic status, being overweight, no dental visits, and smoking (both duration & frequency) were found to be statistically significantly associated with occurrence of periodontitis and myocardial infarction in the study. Conclusion: Periodontitis was found to be prevalent among the MI patients suggesting a causal link between these two conditions that can be reduced by adopting a healthy lifestyle, refraining from smoking, good oral hygiene and visiting a dentist for regular check-up.