BACKGROUND With the ever increasing prevalence of diabetes, complications of diabetes are encountered across all specialities. Hence, it is imperative that all specialists should have a working knowledge of diabetes mellitus. This study was done to understand the prevalence and complications of diabetes among patients attending a pulmonologist OPD. Knowledge of diabetes and its complications will help pulmonary medicine specialists to identify and manage the complications of diabetes better. MATERIALS AND METHODS All patients attending a pulmonologist's clinic for a period of one month were enquired regarding their diabetes status and patients with known history of diabetes were questioned using a standard questionnaire and their available records examined regarding their complications pertaining to diabetes and the results analysed. RESULTS In this study, 18.7% of patients attending pulmonologist clinic had diabetes mellitus and 13.5% of patients had diabetes of more than 10 years duration. Most of the patients were in the age group of 40 to 60 years and were predominantly male. Among the diabetic patients, 71.9% had complications due to diabetes. Infections were the most commonly associated complication followed by pulmonary and cardiovascular complications. Many cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were observed among these patients. Other respiratory infections observed included pneumonias and flu. Cardiovascular complications like systemic hypertension, coronary artery disease and dyslipidaemia were observed. CONCLUSION With the rising prevalence of diabetes mellitus, such cases are frequently observed across all medical specialities. Hence, it is vital that all specialists should be trained in a management of diabetes, which is a frequent comorbidity observed by all specialists. Knowledge of diabetes, identifying diabetes early and management of complications will go a long way in reducing the morbidity and mortality due to diabetes and also help specialists to manage their case better.

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The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of surgical versus non-surgical treatment in the management of Diabetic Foot Ulcer. A Prospective Observational Study which was carried out in the Department of Surgery of Rajah Muthiah Medical College Hospital a tertiary health care hospital in Chidambaram, Cuddalore District, Tamilnadu in the period of November 2016 to April, 2017 (6 months). The patient demographic, disease, ulcer size, drugs and treatment prescribed were collected in a specially designed data collection form which also included bacterial culture tests. Upon enrolment for the study 65% (39) of the patients diagnosed for diabetic foot were male and 35% (21) were female. The demographic classification suggests that diabetic foot incidence has increased upon ages of people ranging between the mean ages of 45+/-5 years to 60+/-5 years. The bacterial distribution over the patients showed that, out of which Escherichia coli (28.3%) and Staphylococcus aureus (15%) are the most common bacteria. The outcomes mainly depend upon the grading of infection and ulcer size. The superficial ulcers can be treated more effectively with antibiotics and regular dressings, whereas the deep ulcers and gangrene should be intervened with surgical procedures. The assessed study reports that clinical pharmacist intervention by patient education and medication counselling creates a significant influence in medication adherence

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INTRODUCTIONSquamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck primarily comprising of local invasion and subsequent cervical lymph node metastasis is one of the most aggressive cancer types. The mortality rate in a period of 2 years, owing to metastasis is 88%.1 Declining patient survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is closely associated with distal metastasis.2 The invasion is a multistep process that involves the breaching of the basement membrane, migration of the tumor cell through the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the stroma. This is followed by intravasation through the vasculature and subsequent extravasation in the site of metastasis. Protein degradation in the extracellular matrix is one of the key steps that facilitate spreading of the tumor cells. Also, genetic studies have proved that the involvement of genes encoding for angiogenic factors is crucial for the development of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. This is because of the fact that the extent of neovascularization near the tumor is determined by the complex interplay between the negative and positive regulators of angiogenesis.Risk factors like poor oral hygiene, non-vegetarian food, poor dentition, smoking, tobacco chewing, and alcohol ABSTRACT Background: In the present study, nine areas of the head and neck inclusive of five primary sites in the oral cavity and three in the oropharynx and the maxillary antrum were examined in the patients presenting with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Methods: 67 subjects with histologically proven squamous cell carcinoma with varying degrees of differentiation were included in the study. Results: It was found that 20% of the patients were in the age group of 31 to 40 years, 55% were in the age group of 41-50 years, 16.6% were in the age groups of 51 to 60 years and 8.3% were in the age group of 61 to 70 years. In patients with lesions smaller than 2 cm, 44.44% percent subjects had cervical node metastases; whereas in patients with lesion size between 2.1 to 4 cm, 75% had cervical node metastases. However, in subjects with lesion size above 4 cm, 100 % of the patients had cervical node metastases. Patients with large primaries of greater than 4 cm and those with higher histological grade ranging from moderate to poorly differentiated metastases showed a greater prevalence of nodal regional metastases compared to the rest. With decreasing degree of differentiation, an increased prevalence of nodal metastases was observed. Conclusions: This study suggests an early age of occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma in our population and increase in cervical nodal metastases with increasing tumor size and decrease in degree of differentiation.