Aim: To detect lead in breast milk of mothers working in agricultural farms adjacent to Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Study design: Descriptive study Methods: This study was conducted in the Physiology and cell biology department of, University of Health Sciences (UHS), Lahore after obtaining consent from ethical review board of UHS, Lahore. Total 91 lactating female farm workers were selected for this study who had been working in the farm for one year in last three years. Five to six ml of breast milk was obtained from each lady. Samples underwent the process of dry digestion at 500°C for 4 hours. White ash obtained was mixed with deionized solution and inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy was used to detect the lead levels in milk samples of nursing mothers Results: Out of 91 samples, lead levels were detected in 42 samples (46.15%). The mean (mean±SD) values of milk lead (n=42) were 781.49±1034.33µg/l. Family history of intellectual disability was significantly associated with milk concentrations of lead (p = 0.046). Conclusion: Present study concludes that the level of milk lead is found to be considerably higher in nursing mothers working in agricultural farms as compared with the levels reported by others from different countries. Key words: Inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, lead, breast milk, graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry technique

Objective: This study aimed to detect the common organisms by culture and KOH mount microscopy of nail infections.Setting: It was cross sectional study. Three hundred sixty clinically diagnosed cases were collected from 1st July 2018 to 31st July 2021 from Dermatology OPD of Bahawal Victoria Hospital and clinics. The samples were processed in the Microbiology section of the Pathology department of Quaid-e-Azam Medical College Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Method: The nail specimen was directly inoculated on SDA culture media and aerobically incubate at 25 Ć to 30 Ć for 3 to 4 weeks. The growth was identified in colony characteristics by using cotton blue stains. Whereas the nail is immersed in 20% KOH solution. The microscopic study revealed the hyphae or spores and that is considered a positive for the test. Result: out of three hundred sixty cases the culture positivity was 56.94% of the specimen while KOH mount was positive in 60.83% of specimens and the combination of Culture with KOH was 66.67%.Conclusion: The fungal culture and KOH mount microscopy combination are subtle laboratory methods for the detection of organisms causing onychomycosis. The species detection and precise usage of anti-mycological agents to prevent the complications raised public health considerably.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the spectrum of skin disorders in patients attending outpatient Department (OPD) of Dermatology in Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration: Dermatology OPD of Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur from 1st January 2018 to 31st march 2018. Methodology: Total 1816 patients presenting in Dermatology OPD during this period were included in the study after taking informed consent. Patients with undiagnosed dermatosis were excluded from the study. The diseases were categorized into 10 etio-pathological groups and their frequencies were calculated using SPSS version 21. Results: A total of 1816 patients were enrolled in the study. Among the study population, infections and infestations were the most common n=1068 (59%) followed by eczemas n=450 (24.9%) and appendigeal disorders n=268 (14.6%). Conclusion: communicable skin diseases are most common and massive campaigns regarding public awareness and health reforms from the public sector are required to overcome the situation and decrease the health care burden. Keywords: Pattern, skin disorders, infections, infestations

Objective: To find out the frequency of prediabetes in patients of HIV presenting at tertiary care hospital. Study design: Cross sectional study. Place and duration: Department of Medicine, D.G Khan Hospital, D.G Khan. (January 2020 to December 2020) Methodology: Total 187 patients of HIV infection, age 20 years to 60 years both male or female with duration of HIV 10 years were selected and pre-diabetes was studies. Results: Total 187 patients of HIV infection was recruited for this study and prediabetes was assessed. Mean age and mean HIV infection duration was 37.81 ± 12.81 years and 5.31 ± 2.86 years. Prediabetes was noted in 63 (34%) patients. Male patients and female patients were 122 (65.24%) and 65 (34.76%) respectively. Prediabetes was found in 58 (47.54%) males and in 5 (7.69%) females. Prediabetes was significantly (P=0.000) associated with gender. Conclusion: This study showed a higher percentage of prediabetes among HIV infected patients. Most of the cases were belonged to 3rd and 4th decade of life. Males were more victim of HIV infection as compared to females and most of the males were prediabetics. No association of development of prediabetes with duration of HIV infected was noted. Keywords: Prediabetes, HIV infection, diabetes mellitus, IGT

Objective: To assess the frequency of depression in type-II diabetics presenting at tertiary care hospital. Materials & Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan from April 2020 to October 2020 over the period of 6 months. Total 200 type-II diabetics having age 20-65 years either male or female were selected for this study. Depression was assessed in selected by using DSM-IV criteria for Depression. Results: Mean age was 54.37 ± 5.88 years. Out of 200 patients of diabetes, depression was noted in 46 (23%) patients. Most (98,49%) of the patients were between 51-65 years but difference of depression with age group was not statistically significant with p value 0.8958. Total 19 (20.88%) male patients and 27 (24.77%) female patients were found with depression. But depression was insignificantly associated with gender with p value 0.6315. Total 11 (14.29%) patients found with depression having duration of diabetes mellitus ≤3 years and 35 (28.46%) patients found with depression having duration of diabetes mellitus >3 years. Depression was significantly associated with duration of diabetes mellitus with p value 0.032. Conclusion: Our study concluded that prevalence of depression in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was much higher and have shown positive association with extremes of ages and duration of disease. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, depression, socioeconomic status, physical recovery