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Background: Falls in elderly persons are one of the leading causes of death. Falls are responsible for 10-15% of all emergency department visits among elderly. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of falls in rural areas and to assess the various socio-demographic factors associated with falls. Methodology: It was a community-based, cross-sectional study conducted in Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC), Devarayanasamudra, Department of Community Medicine, among the elderly persons aged ≥ 60 years. The total sample size was 511, calculated using a previous study using OpenEpi software. The data were collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. The period prevalence of falls was assessed by asking for history of falls in the past 12 months. Chi-square and regression analysis were performed with statistically significant P value defined as less than 0.05. Results: Out of 511 elderly persons aged ≥60 years, females accounted for about 54.8% and most of them were of 60-69 years age-group. The majority of the study subjects were illiterates (77.3%), and most of them were married (77.2%). The prevalence of falls in elderly persons was 46.8%. The elderly aged ≥70 years, females, chronic diseases, and use of walking aid were observed to have a statistically significant association with falls (p < 0.005). Conclusion: Elderly falls are very common. The primary healthcare providers in rural areas play an important role in prevention of falls in elderly. Caregivers, along with elderly, should be given more detailed health education related to fall prevention.
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Objective Prevalence of type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic nephropathy is growing rapidly in Asian countries, affecting low- and middle-income groups. One of the epidemiological issues of Kolar district is fluorosis; advanced glycation end product, carboxymethyl lysine (CML), and a molecule of interest Sirtuin1 are employed in the present study. In the correlation of fluoride with sirtuin1and CML with sirtuin1 of cases lies the important rationale of the study to assess the extent of kidney damage. Materials and Methods This is a comparative cross-sectional study with three groups, each with 70 patients, as follows: G1, control; G2, diabetes with diabetic nephropathy; and G3, type-2 DM without any complications. Informed written consent was obtained from all study patients. All the routine investigations were performed by fully automated Vitro 5, 1 Fs, Vitros. Fasting insulin was analyzed by Vitro eCI and glycated hemoglobin was estimated by BioRad D10. Sirtuin1, CML, and fructosamine were estimated by double antibody sandwich technique. Statistical Analysis The statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 20 (IBM) software. Means of normally distributed data were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA), and not normally distributed data were compared by Kruskal-Wallis test. A p -value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results A decrease in sirtuin1, serum, and urine fluoride of group 2 (34.74 [25.08-53.2], 0.24 [0.2-0.5], and 0.24 [0.16-0.41]) was observed compared with other groups. Increased CML and fluoride act as prooxidant, restricting the effect of sirtuin1 on cellular damage, causing further complications such as increased insulin resistance and decreased insulin sensitivity. Conclusion The alterations in serum sirtuin1 levels indicate the severity of damage due to stress during hyperglycemia and fluoride toxicity; hence, sirtuin1 can be considered as biomarker of aging. Subsequently, the correlation of CML, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and fluoride with sirtuin1 indicates that increasing sirtuin1 may defend the forthcoming damage and could be considered in therapeutics.
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Liver fibrosis occurs in response to different etiologies of chronic liver injury. Diagnosing degree of liver fibrosis is a crucial step in evaluation of severity of the disease. An invasive liver biopsy is the gold standard method associated with pain and complications. Biomarkers to detect liver fibrosis include direct markers of extracellular matrix turnover and indirect markers as a reflection of liver dysfunction. Although a single marker may not be useful for successful management, a mathematical equation combining tests might be effective. The main purpose of this review is to understand the diagnostic accuracy of biomarkers and scoring systems for liver fibrosis. Advances in -omics approach have generated clinically significant biomarker candidates for liver fibrosis that need further evaluation.
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BACKGROUND: Anemia is one of the most common nutritional deficiency disorders affecting the pregnant women in the developing countries. Anemia during pregnancy is commonly associated with poor pregnancy outcome and can result in complications that threaten the life of both mother and fetus. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women and to determine its association with maternal and fetal outcomes. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This study design was a prospective, observational, community-based study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Four hundred and forty-six pregnant women were included in the study from three primary health centers in Kolar district by multistage sampling technique and were followed up till 1 week after delivery. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22; correlation coefficient, Chi-square test, and logistic regression were used. RESULTS: There was a significant overall improvement in the hemoglobin levels of pregnant during the follow-up (10.3-10.72 gm%). About 35.6% of the women had maternal or fetal morbidity. Anemia was one of the main pregnancy-related complications (62.3%), other complications include difficult labor (3%), postpartum hemorrhage, and preeclampsia 1.6% each abortions/stillbirths (3.5%). The fetal complications include low birth weight (25.5%) followed by premature delivery (0.2%) and birth asphyxia (0.5%). CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of anemia in pregnant women apparently increases the maternal and fetal risks. To improve maternal and fetal outcome, it is recommended that the primary health care has to be strengthened, prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of anemia in pregnancy to be given priority.
