Weight and sight: Association between body mass index and visual efficiency skills of university students.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and visual efficiency skills of university students. METHODS: This study adopted an analytical and descriptive methodology whereby a comprehensive screening of 385 university students was conducted. Ultimately, 116 subjects were selected to ensure judicious distribution of subjects across the four categories of BMI. These 116 subjects were subjected to visual efficiency testing parameters, as referenced from "Clinical Management of Binocular Vision," by Scheiman and Wick. RESULTS: BMI and visual efficiency anomalies were observed to be correlated with statistical significance to each other as indicated by a P = 0.018 and χ2 = 15.22. It was also observed that the obese category exhibited the highest prevalence of accommodation and vergence anomalies, followed by the underweight category, as discerned from a detailed analysis of subjects classified according to the BMI categories. These findings imply a noteworthy and potentially deleterious impact of BMI on the visual system and underscore the importance of regular screening for visual efficiency skills in individuals across various BMI categories. CONCLUSION: This study established a compelling association between BMI and visual efficiency skills anomalies. Consistent with prior research, the findings of this study suggest that individual with higher BMI is more prone to experiencing such anomalies.

Visual Perception and Attentional Skills in School-age Children: A Cross-Sectional Study of Reading Proficiency in the Hearing Impaired.

Background: Auditory impairment is one of the common sensory deficits that occur in humans. Hearing loss affects students' ability to communicate and read, which eventually causes social and scholastic stigma. Reading relies heavily on phonics as well as visual attention. Students with normal hearing read by transforming phonic sounds into words. Hearing impaired has little to no phonic ability, making them visual readers who rely on visual cues while reading. Present study sought to investigate factors that affect reading skills in hearing-impaired children. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in hearing- and hearing-impaired schools of Ludhiana, Punjab, India. After vision screening among all students, sixty students were enrolled via convenient sampling. Higher order of visual perception, attention, and reading ability was investigated. Results: A total of 60 students were evaluated (30 hearing impaired and 30 age-matched hearing). The hearing group was statistically better than the hearing impaired (p = 0.001), Hearing impaired were better in visual attention (p = 0.001), whereas a correlation was found between reading ability and visual perception, attention skill of hearing- and hearing-impaired students (r = 0.80, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Present study concludes that hearing-impaired students exhibit issues with visual-motor integration, visual-spatial relationships, and visual sequential memory. Higher visual attention was demonstrated by hearing-impaired students. The results of the current investigation revealed a correlation between visual perception and attention skills and reading competency. Thus, the present study demands that the newly enrolled hearing-impaired students must undergo a thorough ocular evaluation.

Pancreaticobiliary tuberculosis diagnosed by endoscopic brushings.

CONTEXT: Isolated pancreaticobiliary involvement with tuberculosis is extremely unusual. Clinical manifestations include abdominal discomfort, weight loss, obstructive jaundice or pancreatitis. Mass/cystic lesions are seen on imaging studies and are often mistaken for pancreatic malignancy. Diagnosis is by demonstration of caseation necrosis or the presence of acid-fast bacilli on Ziehl Neelson staining in the aspirated or biopsied specimen. CASE REPORT: A 35-year-old man presented with pain in the upper abdomen of two-month duration associated with significant weight loss. Investigation showed elevated alkaline phosphatase. Imaging studies revealed a mass in the region of the head of the pancreas with dilated intra-hepatic biliary radicles. The diagnosis of pancreaticobiliary tuberculosis was confirmed by cytology from biliary brushing. Biliary brushings taken during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography have never previously confirmed the diagnosis of pancreaticobiliary tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report where the diagnosis was made on the basis of biliary brushings.

High altitude and the eye: a case controlled study in clinical ocular anthropometry of changes in the eye.

Tribal natives of two spatially separate districts of Lahaul-Spiti (mean altitude = 3300 m) and Kinnaur (mean altitude = 1,700 m) in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh have lived for centuries as closed isolated groups, marrying within the local community up to the recent past. Studies on highland natives in the Andes have shown differences in chest diameters, lung volumes, hematocrit, and the like, in those living at high altitudes. We wanted to study whether stay at high altitude for generations confers any change in the ocular anthropometry. No study of this nature is available in the literature. We studied the ocular parameters using Snellen's charts, Standard Royal-Air-Force Rule, A-2,500 Sonomed A-Scan, Goldmann's aplanation tonometer, and S-7,000 Autorefractometer on 50 healthy volunteers at the Indira Gandhi Medical College Out Patient Department at Shimla (mean altitude = 2,100 m). Those living at higher altitudes in Lahaul-Spiti [LS] (n = 10) had significantly wider nose bridge width (p < 0.05); inter-inner canthal distance [IICD] (p < 0.05); inter-outer canthal distance [IOCD] (p < 0.05); and interpupillary distance [IPD] (p < 0.05) than the group living at Kinnaur (n = 40) at lower elevation. The LS group also had narrower palpebral fissure length in the vertical dimension (p = 0.05) and a lower IOP (p = 0.002) than the Kinnaur group. The axial length, lens thickness, and anterior chamber depth were comparable in the two groups. It appears that the eye and its adnexa respond to hypoxia, ultraviolet radiations, and persistent snow cover at high altitude by altering its anthropometry in a subtle but discernible manner. This was a hitherto unexplored area in the literature. Further studies to elucidate and substantiate the findings of the study are indicated.