ABSTRACT
Aim. Children with developmental disabilities generally experience more pain than the normal children. Description of pain is generally difficult in children and more so in children with intellectual disabilities. The study aimed at evaluating dental pain in children with intellectual disabilities. Methods. The survey was carried out in an institution caring for intellectually disabled children to determine the oral health status and the treatment needs of the special kids. 236 children were surveyed out of which the test group is comprised of 111 intellectually disabled children and the control group had 125 normal children with age ranging between five to eighteen years. A questionnaire was presented to the caregivers to elaborate about dental pain in their wards using the dental discomfort questionnaire (DDQ+). The children were examined for dental caries and periodontal status based on the WHO indices for oral hygiene status. Result. Results revealed a statistically significant difference between intellectual disability and brushing, chewing, and earache. The frequency of reporting dental pain was lesser in the intellectually disabled group. Conclusion. Children with intellectual disability tended to report dental pain of any nature with lesser frequency than typically developing peers. They also faced greater difficulty in brushing and chewing.
ABSTRACT
This study was designed to investigate the protective effect of curcumin (CUR) against isoprenaline induced myocardial ischaemia in rat myocardium. The effect of single oral dose of curcumin (15 mg kg(-1)), administered 30 min before and/or after the onset of ischaemia, was investigated by assessing oxidative stress related biochemical parameters in rat myocardium. Curcumin pre and post-treatment (PPT) was shown to decrease the levels of xanthine oxidase, superoxide anion, lipid peroxides (LPs) and myeloperoxidase while the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities were significantly increased after curcumin PPT. Histopathological and transmission electron microscopical studies also confirmed the severe myocardial damage occurring as a consequence of isoprenaline induced ischaemia and they also showed the significant improvement effected by curcumin PPT. These findings provided evidence that curcumin was found to protect rat myocardium against ischaemic insult and the protective effect could be attributed to its antioxidant properties as well as its inhibitory effects on xanthine dehydrogenase/xanthine oxidase (XD/XO) conversion and resultant superoxide anion production.
