Ayurveda's Contributions to Vegetarian Nutrition in Medicine.

Ayurveda is one of the oldest codified traditional systems of medicine on a global scale. Grounded in Indian culture it has developed a sophisticated approach to healthy nutrition and nutritional therapy for the management of diseases within the framework of its whole systems paradigm. Medical interventions have been considered to be ineffective without the support of a balanced diet. Vegetarian nutrition plays a key role in customized preventive and therapeutic Ayurvedic strategies based on an individualized approach to healthcare, while broadly labeling Ayurveda as 'vegetarian medicine' would be an exaggeration. Revolt against animal slaughter, compassion through spiritual practices, and the Ayurvedic understanding of the nutritional properties of the plant kingdom led to the dominance of vegetarianism in India. Ayurveda elaborates on 8 crucial aspects to be considered with respect to a balanced diet. This paper illuminates the complex historic embedding of the Ayurvedic nutritional approach and gives a detailed text-based explanation on why and how vegetarian nutrition can be applied in both prevention and cure of diseases from the perspective of traditional Indian medicine.

Study of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase levels in tobacco chewers and smokers: a pilot study.

CONTEXT: Free radical associated damages play a major role in causation of cancer in tobacco habituates. The free radicals released by tobacco bring about alterations in antioxidant levels in humans and these free radical associated damages are reflected through antioxidant enzyme activities in blood. AIMS: To evaluate the effects of tobacco consumption on the erythrocyte Antioxidant enzymes-Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) as they act as first line of defense antioxidants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case control study comprising of 4 study groups of healthy controls (n = 27), smokers (n = 27), tobacco chewers (n = 30) and combination habit (n = 22) were included. Erythrocyte SOD and GPx enzyme activities were measured by spectrophotometry. The results were statistically analyzed using one way-Anova and Mann Whitney test. RESULTS: The data analysis revealed an alteration in mean SOD levels as it was decreased in cases compared to control group where as mean GPx was seen to be increased in cases compared to controls. When SOD and GPx were compared for the frequency and duration of habit, GPx showed a significant decrease in chewers with increase in frequency and duration of habit. CONCLUSIONS: The present study gave us an insight about the relationship between antioxidant enzyme activity, oxidative stress and tobacco. The altered antioxidant enzyme levels observed in this study will act as a predictor for pre potentially malignant lesions. Therefore an early intervention of tobacco habit and its related oxidative stress would prevent the development of tobacco induced lesions.

Bone scintigraphy in Ollier's disease: A rare case report.

Ollier's disease is characterized by multiple skeletal enchondroma. There are published data regarding Ollier's disease being associated with vascular malformations and non-skeletal neoplasms. We report a case of Ollier's disease in a young male associated with osteochondroma, low grade glioma in the insular cortex of brain and Gilbert's syndrome. Technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate whole body bone scan is a sensitive investigation to ascertain the complete extent of skeletal involvement particularly the asymptomatic sites.

Intraosseous polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma of mandible: A rare entity.

Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma is a rare type of minor salivary gland malignancy. The characteristic features of these tumors are the varied histomorphology and the malignant, albeit indolent behavior. It occurs commonly in the minor salivary glands, with the palate (58.5%) being the most common intra oral site. Maxillary area (2%), mandibular mucosal area (1.5%) and posterior trigone region (0.5%) are the least affected areas. An occasional case has been reported arising from an intraosseous location i.e the maxilla, and only two cases have been reported in the English literature originating from the mandible. One such very rare case of polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma of the mandible, which radiographically has a soap bubble appearance, is reported here.

Developmental defects of enamel in children of Davangere District and their relationship to fluoride levels in drinking water.

To assess the prevalence and severity of developmental defects and their relationship to fluoride levels in drinking water. 739 (406 male and 333 female) schoolchildren aged 13 years formed the study population. We used the ion selective electrode method to estimate the fluoride concentration in drinking water. A modified developmental defects of enamel index was used for recording the developmental defects. The Karl Pearson coefficient for correlation and the chi-square test were used for statistical estimation. The fluoride concentration ranged from 0.64 to 2.64 ppm. The prevalence of developmental defects was 88.5%. The most common type of defect was diffuse opacity in 61.2% of the children. There was a significant positive correlation between the type (r=0.85; P<.001) and extent (r=0.92; P<.001) of developmental defects in relation to fluoride levels in drinking water. The observed prevalence demonstrates the need to ascertain factors other than fluoride levels in drinking water that could contribute to its occurrence.

Comparative study of intranasal midazolam and intravenous diazepam sedation for procedures and seizures.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intranasal midazolam for seizures and various procedures. METHODS: Prospective randomized study. Total 125 children of all ages of either sex, for seizure episode (n-76) and various invasive and non-invasive procedures (n-49) received either intranasal midazolam (0.2 mg/Kg) or intravenous diazepam (0.3 mg/Kg). RESULTS. Mean time from arrival at hospital to starting treatment was significantly shorter in midazolam group compared to diazepam group [2.34+/-0.90; minute vs 4.61+/-1.08 minute p< 0.001]. Mean time to control seizures after arrival in hospital was significantly shorter in midazolam group compared to diazepam group [5.25+/-0.86 minute vs 6.51+/-1.06 minute p. CONCLUSION: Midazolam by the intranasal route provides safe and equally effective non-invasive method of sedation for procedures and seizures.