Effectiveness of self-management programmes in diabetes management: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a major noncommunicable disease, which is increasing, and approximately 415 million people are affected around the globe. Since diabetes is a lifelong disease, patients require better understanding and knowledge of the condition to become self-reliant in making diabetes-related decisions. AIMS: This systematic review was performed to assess the effectiveness of diabetes self-management programs in people with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was undertaken to identify all published English language articles through EBSCO discovery services in the following electronic database: Science Direct, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, MEDLINE, and Access Medicine. Studies were published from January 2000 to October 2015. The initial search retrieved 37 566 studies and based on the inclusion criteria, 14 studies were selected for review. RESULTS: Of 14 studies, most findings favoured diabetes self-management. But the overall effectiveness of individual interventions was not conclusive. A wide variety of interventions was used including diabetes education as a major component in self-management programs. CONCLUSION: Interventions used varied strategies in differing composition, and further work is needed to find out the effectiveness of individual interventions.

Fatal measles presenting as acute respiratory distress syndrome in an immunocompetent adult.

Fatal measles is known to occur among immunocompromised adults. We report a rare case of an immunocompetent non-pregnant young lady who suffered from fatal acute respiratory distress syndrome due to measles. Physicians must be vigilant to this deadly presentation of measles even in immunocompetent individuals. We emphasise the inadequacies of vaccination programmes in India reflected not only by the existing high measles-related childhood mortalities, but also an emerging rise in deaths among adults.

Acute hepatitis E complicated by acute pancreatitis and multiorgan dysfunction.

We report this rare case of a 27-year-old man who presented with acute hepatitis E and went on to develop acute epigastric pain. He was diagnosed to have acute severe pancreatitis with shock and acute renal failure due to hepatitis E. Such a phenomenon has rarely been reported in the literature, with patients following a benign course and complete recovery after conservative management and analgesia. Awareness of this potentially life-threatening complication, especially in young men from endemic areas with acute hepatitis E presenting with abdomen pain has been highlighted.