Secondhand smoke and illness: are mother-child pairs from low socio-economic strata at increased risk in Bangladesh?

To examine: 1) whether exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) at home is associated with symptoms of self-reported illness among mother-child pairs (MCPs); and 2) the relationship between low socio-economic status and SHS exposure and the role these play as obstacles to the reduction of risk of illness in MCPs. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Rajshahi District, Bangladesh, from May to July 2017. A total of 541 MCPs were interviewed. The prevalence of SHS exposure at home in our sample data was 49.0%. SHS exposure was found to be associated with a higher likelihood of any self-reported rhinitis, any respiratory symptoms and any reproductive health problems among mothers. SHS exposure in children was found to be associated with a higher likelihood of any self-reported rhinitis and food sensitisation, any respiratory symptoms and otitis media. Our findings also suggested that although SHS had an independently adverse effect on MCPs, wealth moderated the likelihood of illness. MCPs who were both poor and exposed to SHS were uniquely disadvantaged in terms of their poor health conditions than MCPs who were wealthier and exposed to SHS. .

Comparative study of the effect of ethanolic extract of Swietenia mahagoni seeds with rosiglitazone on experimentally induced diabetes mellitus in rats.

The study was performed to compare the blood glucose lowering effect of Swietenia mahagoni seeds with an oral antidiabetic drug, rosiglitazone in experimentally induced diabetic rats. Twentyfour healthy Long Evans Norwegian strain of rats were included in the study and divided into four groups (A, B, C and D) comprising 6 rats each. Group A (control group) received standard rat food for 14 days. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal administration of alloxan 120 mg/kg body weight in Group B, C and D. Group B was given standard food for 10 days and considered as diabetic control. Group C and D were treated with ethanolic extract of Swietenia mahagoni seeds 1000 mg/kg and rosiglitazone 10 mg/kg orally respectively. Administration of ethanolic extract of Swietenia mahagoni seeds in group C and rosiglitazone in group D produced a significant reduction in blood glucose level as compared to diabetic control (group B). Histological examination of pancreas showed destruction of beta cells in Islets of pancreas in group B whereas retaining of islets and few degranulations of beta cells of pancreas found in group C and group D. The observations and results of the present study provide information that ethanolic extract of Swietenia mahagoni seeds has hypoglycaemic effect in experimentally induced diabetic rats which requires further investigation.