During the 12-month period from September 1982 to August 1983, 9,317 live births and 58 maternal deaths were recorded in Melanda and Islampur upazilas in the Jamalpur district of rural Bangladesh, giving a maternal mortality rate of 62.3 per 10,000 live births. Maternal mortality was positively related to maternal age and parity, with the mortality risk rising very sharply beyond age 35 years, and beyond parity four among women aged 25-34 years in particular. The most common causes of maternal death were eclampsia (20.7 percent), septic abortion (20.7 percent), postpartum sepsis (10.3 percent), obstructed labor (10.3 percent), and antepartum and postpartum hemorrhage (10.3 percent). These findings indicate that family planning, by decreasing the likelihood of pregnancy after age 35 and parity four, can help reduce the proportion of women at risk of maternal mortality.

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Mortality rates from indigenous abortion practices have not been described previously. From September 1982 to August 1983, traditional birth attendants, under medical supervision, collected data on all identifiable pregnant women and pregnancy outcomes in a geographically defined population in rural Bangladesh. Of 9,906 pregnancies, 9,317 ended in live birth, 412 in induced abortion, and 177 in spontaneous abortion. All abortions were induced by indigenous health practitioners. The abortion-to-live-birth ratio was 44.2 per 1,000. Ten women died after induced abortion, yielding a death-to-case rate of 2.4 percent. The death-to-case rate was highest for women 35 and older and women of parity five and higher. The authors conclude that improved distribution of safe, acceptable means of fertility regulation may save many mothers' lives.

An experimental biochemical study was made on rabbits to demonstrate the possible role of aqueous extract of garlic as an antilipidaemic agent in the prevention of hyperlipidaemia. Untreated rabbits on atherogenic diet showed worse lipidaemic status than the normal control ones, as evident in higher serum cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level. On the otherhand the rabbits on atherogenic diet treated with aqueous extract of garlic showed significantly better lipidaemic status. It is suggested that aqueous extract of garlic is an important determinant of serum lipid level, which is an antilipidaemic agent against the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2007; 1(1): 16-20 Key words: Garlic; Cholesterol; hyperlipidaemia doi: 10.3329/imcj.v1i1.2890

This article reports on women admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for incomplete, illegally induced abortion. Women with low complication rates more often had abortions induced by medical practitioners. These women were younger, of lower parity and better educated than women having abortions initiated by other practitioners. Poorly educated women from slum areas almost always had an abortion induced by a non-medical practitioner through the insertion of a solid object. These women experienced high complication rates and often required hysterectomies. This group also had high mortality rates. The drain on hospital resources needed to treat these abortion patients was great.