Knowledge and perception regarding prostate cancer among men in Karachi, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the perception and attitude towards prostate cancer and its screening practices in Pakistan. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted at Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi June to October 2019, and comprised male subjects aged >40 years with no prior diagnosis of prostate cancer who were enrolled from the community. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was available in English and Urdu languages. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. RESULTS: Of the 383 subjects, 144(37.6%) were aged 40-49 years, 302(78.9%) were married, 120(31.3%) had received education up to the secondary level, and 204(53.3%) earned. CONCLUSIONS: The level of knowledge regarding prostate cancer and its screening practices was poor, and the attitude towards its screening was negative.

Gender differences amongst board members of endocrinology and diabetes societies.

PURPOSE: Although women's status has shown marked improvement over the years in many areas, women still face a gender bias, especially in the workforce. Despite the best efforts of organizations to promote diversity and equality, women still dominate the lower-paying administrative ranks while men continue to dominate at the executive level. The present study examines gender disparity in the leadership positions in the national and international endocrinology and diabetes societies across the globe. METHODS: We first composed a list of Diabetes and Endocrinology societies from online databases, including the International Diabetes Federation, European Society of Endocrinology, and other similar online directories. The Scopus database author search was used to find the total number of publications, publication range (in years), h-indices, number of citations, and years of active research of each member. RESULTS: Our study included 524 board members of whom 31.3% (164/524) were women. The institutional academic rank of 310 of the total board members was found. The proportion of women in higher-faculty ranks (Assistant Professor, Associate Professors, and Professors) is much lower than males. Female endocrinologists also have fewer publications, citations, and years of active research. CONCLUSIONS: Endocrinology is becoming a female-predominant subspecialty of internal medicine. As women are becoming a more significant portion of the endocrinology workforce, it is imperative to study and mitigate gender differences and disparities to optimize the endocrinology workforce.

Artemisinin: A Promising Adjunct for Cancer Therapy.

Artemisinin is a herb derived from Artemesia annua (also known as sweet wormwood) and is known for its use as effective antimalarial pharmacotherapy. Recent studies have shown that artemisinin has anti-angiogenic and growth inhibition effects, as well as an apoptotic ability secondary to its inherent endo-peroxidase activity.

Comparison of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Educated and Uneducated Adults Regarding Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Karachi, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Despite the high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Pakistan, no prior work has been done to specifically highlight the importance of education as a social vaccine against HIV. Therefore, our study focuses on differences in knowledge and practices regarding HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) among educated and uneducated adults. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was carried out in which data was collected from all over Karachi. An individual was designated as educated if he had received education above primary school level. Individuals who had studied till primary school or less were considered uneducated. The questionnaire was split into four sections that assessed respondents' demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding HIV/AIDS. Chi square test was used as the primary statistical test. RESULTS: Out of the 446 adult participants, 235 (52.7%) were educated and 211 (47.3%) were uneducated. Educated participants were significantly more likely to have heard about HIV (183 vs. 39, p < 0.001) and had better knowledge about the symptoms of HIV/AIDS (p < 0.001). Among the participants who knew about AIDS, a greater percentage of uneducated (n = 28, 53%) than educated individuals (n = 68, 37%) believed that people suffering from AIDS should be isolated (p = o.o16) and that HIV can spread through water (40% vs 20% respectively, p < 0.001). Both educated (n = 49, 27%) and uneducated (n = 46, 89%) adults believed that awareness would help prevent the spread of HIV (p = 0.978) and were willing to educate their children about it (p = 0.696). CONCLUSION: Our study revealed a gap in the knowledge about HIV/AIDS between educated and uneducated adults. There is an urgent need for awareness programs that especially reach out to the uneducated masses that are otherwise uninformed about HIV and are under high risk of acquiring HIV.