Background: Hepatitis B and C are chronic diseases with mental and social impacts which can result in poor quality of life. The routes of transmission and lack of education among the masses may cause stigmatisation of the affected patients. The aim of the study was to document the stigmatisation among chronic hepatitis B and C positive patients. Methods: The 242 patients suffering from hepatitis B and C were included in the study. Stigma experienced from relatives, friends, spouse and health care providers was assessed using a semi structured questionnaire. Results: Majority of the patients were males 174 (72%). The 162 (67%) were hepatitis B infected and 76 (32%) were Hepatitis C infected and 4 were dual infected. Male patients were significantly more affected than females in term of changes in lifestyle (86% versus 61%) and changes in relationship with the spouse (89% versus 16%). Significantly more females than males reported feelings of loneliness and isolation (64% versus 30%). Stigma was marked in terms of disease transmission, with 170 (70%) of patients fearing that they could transmit the infection to others. Marital relationships were affected for 52% of married patients. Around 80% unmarried patients were experiencing delay in getting married. Conclusions: Patients comments showed a sense of family and societal discrimination resulting in feelings of disappointment which could be changed by educational interventions, effective patient and family centric awareness and scientific models of approach.
Background: Preeclampsia is a common complication of pregnancy that put women and their fetuses at significant risk and result in life long sequelae. The pathogenesis of this important disease is complex as such the role of different serum electrolytes is being investigated as they are considered important for blood pressure regulation.Methods: A hospital based cross-sectional study of 100 diagnosed cases of preeclampsia divided into mild and severe according to latest International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (ISSHP) guidelines and equal number of age, parity and gestational age matched women (n=100), that acted as control group, with singleton normal pregnancies. Data was analyzed in SPSS V:26. Statistical tests to find out mean standard deviation and One-way ANOVA test were applied to find the significance of associations.Results: In severe preeclampsia group, the mean values of Na+, K+ and Cl- were 134.50±4.24, 4.28±0.74, 106.48±3.41 meq/l respectively in comparison to control group which had 135.57±3.29, 4.12±0.53, 108.20±3.19 meq/l respectively. Results from one way ANOVA showed that there was statistically significant difference between means of the three groups for systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), potassium and chloride levels with p<0.05. A post hoc analysis was used to distinguish the differences in means of these parameters.Conclusions: Estimation of readily available serum electrolytes of sodium potassium and chloride during the course of pregnancy can help to identify and treat preeclampsia and thus reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality in pregnant women.
Background: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a multisystem disorder that complicates 4-6% of pregnancies and constitutes a major source of morbidity and mortality worldwide. About 10-15% of maternal deaths are directly associated with PE and eclampsia. The aim of this study is to compare the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) values of mild and severe PE with the healthy normotensive pregnant women, in order to study the predictive role of NLR for PE and whether the NLR value has significant difference between normotensive pregnancy, severe and mild PE. Method: A cross-sectional study conducted from January to July 2022 after proper informed consent and ethical clearance. The study population included 194 pregnant women divided into three groups (97 normotensive, 55 mild PE, 42 with severe PE). All the study participants were statistically compared in respect to NLR and the baseline data including age, parity and gestational age. Results: Maternal NLR in mild PE group was statistically increased when compared to normotensive healthy women (p<0.05). Similarly, NLR was significantly higher in severe PE group when compared with normotensive pregnancy group (p=0.00). A statistically significant positive correlation was also seen between SBP (systolic blood pressure) and NLR in PE group (p<0.05). Conclusions: NLR can be used as an inflammatory marker for clinical prediction and disease severity evaluation of PE but further cohort studies are required to determine and establish its role.
Background: Pre-eclampsia is a multisystem disorder of human pregnancy with a genetic predisposition. It occurs more frequently in first pregnancies and leads to elevation in blood pressure and mainly affects maternal renal, cerebral, hepatic and clotting functions. This study evaluated biomarkers of renal and liver function among preeclamptic women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 150 preeclamptic women and 150 normotensive healthy pregnant women in hospital. The baseline data comprising age, gestational age, and blood pressure were obtained. Serum urea, creatinine, and plasma levels of liver enzymes ALT and AST, total protein, albumin, globulin and glucose were measured. Results: The plasma total protein, and albumin in preeclamptic group were significantly decreased (p<0.05) when compared with control. There was statistically significant increase (p<0.05) in urea creatinine, glucose, serum AST, and ALT activities in preeclamptic group. Conclusions: Preeclampsia has harmful effects on renal and liver function as shown by alteration of these parameters.
Background: To evaluate pre diabetes and diabetes in patients with clinical risk factors and or symptoms who have been previously undiagnosed. Methods: A cross-sectional cohort study of 783 patients, carried at a tertiary health care centre using diagnostic tools of oral glucose challenge test (GCT), overnight fat standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and HbA1C estimation, and criteria of standard guidelines applied for diagnosis of individual at risk of prediabetes and diabetes. Results: Among the studied subjects, 588 (75.1%) were hypertensive, 67 (8.6%) had history of vascular disease, 84 (10.7%) had dyslipidemia and 78 (10%) carried family history of diabetes. On GCT, 266 (34%) subjects had levels of plasma glucose more than cut off of 140mg/dl. A high sensitivity (92.59%), specificity (84.56%) was seen among diabetes, while as it was 75.58% and 84.56% among the subjects with pre-diabetes, and HbA1c > 5.5% was observed in 298 (38.1%) patients. The diabetics had mean BMI of 27.75kg/m2 compared to 26.04kg/m2 in pre-diabetics, and mean age for diabetic and pre-diabetics was 52.68 and 51.7 years, respectively. Conclusion: GCT screening would be an accurate, convenient and relatively in expensive way to detect pre-diabetes and previously unrecognized diabetes. Large scale surveys are suggested for better outcome.
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