Metabolic risk factor-profile in patients on treatment with second generation antipsychotics.

The second generation antipsychotic agents, although exhibit superior safety profile, is associated with metabolic adverse effects including weight gain, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia. These adverse effects are not only the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus but may also impair patient's adherence to treatment. However, different member of second generation antipsychotics differ. in their extent of metabolic adverse effects. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between olanzapine, risperidone or quetiapine treatment and body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidaemia in patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. Forty-four cases of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder diagnosed with DSM-IV criteria were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Body weight, body mass index and blood pressure were measured at baseline, at the end of 4th, 8th and 12th weeks of treatment. Blood samples were collected to measure blood glucose and serum lipid profile at baseline and at the end of 4th, 8th and 12th weeks in the study group receiving treatment (olanzapine 20-30 mg/day, risperidone 4-16 mg/day and quetiapine 300-800 mg/day) after overnight fasting. Therapeutic use of olanzapine and risperidone in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder for a period of 4th, 8th and 12th weeks was associated with significant increase in body weight and body mass index. Quetiapine did not cause significant changes in body weight and body mass index after 4 and 8 weeks. However, after 12 weeks treatment, body mass index increased significantly. Olanzapine, risperidone and quetiapine increased the blood glucose level significantly after 8 and 12 weeks treatment. Olanzapine and risperidone elevated the serum cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein levels significantly after 4, 8 and 12 weeks. But quetiapine showed no significant change in lipid profile. However, olanzapine and risperidone significantly increased triglyceride level after 8 and 12 weeks. Amongst three drugs, quetiapine treatment increased high density lipoprotein level. Our study revealed that quetiapine treatment is associated with less risk of dyslipidaemia.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Undergraduate Medical Students of Bangladesh Regarding COVID-19 and its Vaccination.

Medical students are one of the socially active, reliable, and persuading population of information, prevention and control, and incentive of vaccination to stop the current pandemic situation. Consequently, knowing the status of medical students' knowledge, about symptoms, and transmission of disease, prevention of COVID-19 and their attitudes towards a vaccine is important. This multi-center cross-sectional descriptive study was one of the first ones in Bangladesh among the undergraduate medical students who completed pathology, microbiology, and pharmacology. The study was conducted from March to April 2021, using a convenience sampling method in twelve government and non-government medical colleges. Among 1132 who completed the questionnaire, and 15 students from different centers were excluded from the pre-testing and face validation. The age of the 1117 respondents were 22 to 23 years, of which the majority of the respondents were female 749 (67.0%), and 368 (33.0%) were male. Almost all participants had correct knowledge (84.1%) about the symptoms of COVID-19. But 59.2% had wrong knowledge about transmission of disease by an afebrile person. Above 60.0 % of the participants have worn a facial mask when contacting people, refrained from shaking hands, washed hands, avoided people with signs and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, and avoided crowded places as a practice of prevention. 37.6% of medical students showed positive attitudes about the participation of management of a COVID-19 patient. Most of the participants' decided to have a vaccine depending on its availability. But 31.5% had trust in natural immunity rather than vaccination. Most undergraduate Medical college students understood the basic information, possessed a positive attitude, and presented good practice towards the COVID-19 and vaccination. They play a crucial role in motivation and acceptance of vaccines among the general citizen to fight back against the pandemic in the country with limited resources.