Large-scale awareness campaigns are needed to address the ill effects of this seemingly innocuous cultural practice.

Background: Hypertension, a global public health issue, is a major risk factor for NCDs like stroke, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. If Hypertension is detected early it is possible to minimize the risk of cardiovascular diseases, stroke and kidney failure. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of hypertension among the age group of >18 years in a rural community of Salem iii. To determine the association between hypertension and selected variables like age, sex, tobacco intake, alcohol intake, physical activity, Body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio iv. To assess the level of awareness, treatment and control of hypertensionMethods: A Cross-sectional study was done in a rural community of Salem, Tamil Nadu during March-December 2016 among individuals aged ≥18 years. The final calculated sample size was 256. Convenience sampling method was used. Participants were interviewed using a structured interview schedule, their BP was measured and anthropometric measurements were taken. Hypertension was defined according to JNC VIII criteria. Data entry and analysis was done using IBM SPSS version-21 software. Results: Out of the 442 eligible persons approached 420 persons consented to participate. Prevalence of hypertension was 34%. About 16% of the respondents had never measured their BP in their life time. Increase in age, male gender, increase in BMI levels, tobacco and alcohol were found to be significant independent predictors of hypertension. Awareness, treatment and control of hypertension were found to be 31%, 23.2% and 11.2% respectively. Conclusions: Prevalence of hypertension was high but awareness was poor. It is recommended to advice the community about the risk factors of hypertension and regular BP check-up should be done among the community for early detection of hypertension and also for preventing complications.

Background: Cardiovascular disease accounts for approximately 17 million deaths a year and complications of hypertension accounts for 9.4 million deaths worldwide every year. High blood pressure is a major public health problem in India and its prevalence is rapidly increasing. Cardiovascular disease including hypertension was most common among transport workers. Bus drivers have higher rates of mortality, morbidity and absence due to illness when compared to employees from a wide range of other occupational groups.Methods: This cross sectional study was done in south India, during June to December 2018. A total of 450 participants were selected. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data and summarized using descriptive statistics. A p value of <0.05 was considered significant.Results: Out of the total 450 participants, 125 (27.8%) were hypertensives. Among the hypertensives, 98 (78.4%) participants were smokers, 103 participants (82.4%) had consumed alcohol which was significantly associated with the outcome of hypertension. Lack of physical activity 108 (86.4%), excess salt 108 (86.4%) and fat intake 89 (79.2%) had statistically significant association with hypertension. A higher body mass index and waist to hip ratio more than WHO recommended range was also found to be prone to hypertension.Conclusions: The study revealed higher prevalence of hypertension was found among the drivers group compared to conductors and desk workers. Regular periodic examinations with alleviation of the above lifestyle and occupational risk factors among the three groups with special attention to drivers would help achieve apt ergonomics.

The most common cause of an Opaque Hemithorax is Pleural Effusion. It is a rare occurrence to find patients with extensive mass leading to an opaque hemithorax. Thorough search of literature did not yield any case with such a large lung mass leading to opaque hemithorax, without the presence of pleural effusion. Lung cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed worldwide and has predominantly been attributed to tobacco smoke exposure. Of the several types, small cell lung cancer differs from others by its early spread and extensive dissemination leading to metastatic classification at the time of diagnosis. Here, is a case of a 50-year-old female patient who presented to the outpatient department with dry cough, weight loss and appetite loss since five months. Her chest radiograph revealed a right-sided homogeneous opacity involving the entire right hemithorax and left-sided pleural-based homogenous mass. Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) thorax revealed an enlarged hemithorax with evidence of large, ill-defined heterogeneously enhancing multilobulated soft-tissue density mass lesion occupying the entire right hemithorax. Biopsy was suggestive of Small Cell Carcinoma of Lung (SCLC), chemotherapy was given and patient is under regular follow-up.