Osteoporosis in a Rural Community - Long-Term Effects of a Community Level Program of Calcium and Vitamin D Supplementation - A Prospective Observational Study.

In a defined geographic area in rural India (1,60,000 population), osteoporosis detection and calcium and vitamin D supplementation program was instituted. Of the eligible 15,386 subjects, 5,992 (38%) participated in the program; 2,882 (48%) had osteopenia and osteoporosis; supervised calcium and vitamin D supplementation was instituted; 2,113 (73.3% of those identified) completed 2 years of supplementation. The mean duration of the follow-up was 5 years (range 2-8 years). On follow-up, three groups emerged; those who were regular, those who were irregular, and those who did not take supplements. In those who were regular with calcium and vitamin D supplementation, we found a significant reduction in fractures (RR 0.27, 95% CI 0.09-0.81) compared with those who did not take supplements. There was no significant difference in falls between the three groups. Mortality was significantly lower (RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.31-0.91) in those who were regular with calcium and vitamin D supplements compared to those who did not take supplements. While the reduction in fractures was probably due to calcium and vitamin D supplementation, the reduction in mortality was probably because those who took regular supplements accessed healthcare services more readily for other comorbidities as part of their follow-up program.

Acute Myoclonic Jerk Terminated by A Simple Procedure - A Case Report.

Myoclonic jerks are brief involuntary twitching of a muscle or a group of muscles. It is a medical sign and not a diagnosis of a disease. It occurs in number of secondary conditions like hepatic failure, renal failure, dyselectrolytaemia, etc in addition to the physiologic, epileptic, essential and psychogenic causes. Myoclonic jerks secondary to uraemia usually occur in the end stage renal failure and is resolved by renal replacement therapy. Here we report a case of uremic myoclonic jerk presented to our emergency department which occurred secondary to obstructive uropathy secondary to neurogenic bladder caused by old traumatic paraparesis and it was resolved by simple and timely intervention by bladder catheterization and it prevented the patient from going into uremic encephalopathy.

Biphasic Effect of Rifampicin on Bilirubin- A Case Report.

Drug induced hepatitis is a major problem which a physician encounters in his clinical practice. In view of increasing incidence of tuberculosis in our country a large number of infected individuals are started on Antituberculous (ATT) drugs and rifampicin is invariably part of the regimen. One of the major adverse effects of ATT drugs is drug- induced hepatitis which is characterized by elevation of liver enzymes and bilirubin. Hepatotoxicity is usually idiosyncratic or dose-dependent. Rifampicin causes transient elevation of transaminases in 10-20 percent of individuals and this does not warrant dose adjustments of the drug. Rarely rifampicin can lead to severe hepatitis with hyperbilirubinaemia and marked elevations of SGOT and SGPT and in some patients this can be fatal. The exact mechanism of Rifampicin induced hepatotoxicity is not known but it is postulated to be due to idiosyncratic reaction to rifampicin metabolites which may be directly toxic or induce an immunologically mediated liver injury. Rarely rifampicin may cause hyperbilirubinaemia without enzyme elevation. Here we report a patient with bilateral pulmonary tuberculosis who developed transient severe indirect hyperbilirubinaemia on rifampicin. On review of relevant literature we find that rifampicin can have a biphasic effect on bilirubin, an initial increase in indirect bilirubin and later normalization of bilirubin. We have reported this case because of its rarity in clinical practice.