Demographic and Habitual Factors of Periodontal Disease among South Indian Adults

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a set of sociodemographic and habits measures on estimating periodontal disease among south Indian adults. This cross-sectional study was carried out among 288 individuals above 18 years old in Tamil Nadu, India. The outcome of the study was periodontal disease, measured by WHO criteria. The covariates were age, ethnicity, smoking and alcohol habit. The assessment of factors predicting periodontal disease was carried out by multiple logistic regression analysis using R version 3.6.1. The demographic factors like age group (AOR = 3.56; 95% CI 1.69–7.85), ethnicity (AOR = 6.07; 95% CI 2.27–18.37), non-alcoholic (AOR = 0.31; 95% CI 0.13–0.64) and non-smoking (AOR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.15–0.67) were found to be associated with the outcome. The maximum log likelihood estimate value was −30.5 and AIC was 385 for the final model, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the periodontal disease was 0.737. We can conclude that sociodemographic factors and habits were useful for predicting periodontal diseases.

A STUDY OF CLINICAL FEATURES IN THE METAL SHEET FACTORY WORKERS, WHO SUSTAINED TRAUMA DUE TO ACCIDENTS

Work related injuries occurring in the metal sheet factory in Hyderabad are studied. Both minor and major trauma occurred in almost equal proportion. Significantly higher proportion of major injuries occurred in sites other than limbs The first accident of a worker was highly likely to be a major one. Higher proportion of major injuries occurred in sites other than limbs. Smoking habit is associated with more major injuries. Alcohol habit also is seen like wise. Corrected visual acuity and deafness prevented major injuries. Musculo skeletal system had shown predominantly more major injuries.

mTORC1 In the Orbitofrontal Cortex Promotes Habitual Alcohol Seeking

The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORCl) plays an important role in dendritic translation, synaptic plasticity, and learning and memory. We previously showed that heavy alcohol use activates mTORC1 in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) of rodents. Here, we set out to determine the consequences of alcohol-dependent mTORC1 activation in the OFC. We found that although inhibition of mTORC1 in the OFC does not alter rat alcohol intake per se, it attenuates alcohol seeking. We then tested whether mTORC1 in the OFC is required for goal-directed or habitual alcohol seeking. To do so, rats were trained self-administer alcohol under a random ratio (RR) or a random interval (RI) schedule of reinforcement, which biases toward goal-directed or habitual responding, respectively, and tested whether mTORC1 inhibition alters lever presses following alcohol devaluation. We found that pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1 or knockdown of the adaptor protein, Raptor, did not affect goal-directed alcohol responding but restored sensitivity to devaluation in RI-trained rats. In contrast, habitual responding for sucrose was unaltered by mTORC1 inhibition. These data suggest that mTORC1 in the OFC drives alcohol habit. We then elucidate the mechanism by which mTORC1 is activated by alcohol, and found that the recruitment of GluN2B during alcohol withdrawal stimulates mTORC1 in OFC cFos-positive neurons. Finally, we show that inhibition of GluN2B in the OFC attenuates both alcohol seeking and habitual responding for alcohol. Together, our data suggest that alcohol withdrawal promotes an NMDAR-dependent activation of mTORC1 which in turn drives habitual alcohol seeking.

A Study On Sociodemographic Pattern And Side Effects Of Anti-Tubercular Drugs Among Tuberculosis Patients In Pokhara Valley

Introduction: Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs. Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in most developing countries. The SAARC region accounts more than 32% of global burden with 0.6 million deaths every year and 2.5 million new cases annually. The main aim of our study was to determine the socio-demographic patterns among tuberculosis patients in Pokhara Valley and side effects of anti tubercular drugs. Methodology: This study was conducted among 199 tuberculosis patients at Western Regional Tuberculosis Center, Pokhara, Nepal. These patients diagnosed as new as well as retreatment pulmonary tuberculosis cases were interviewed. Study variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, side effect encountered during the treatment, smoking and alcohol habit, socioeconomic status were statistically analyzed. Results: Among the 199 patient enrolled, 167(84%) patients were found to have one or more side-effects. Signifi cant relation was found between smoking and alcohol intake, socioeconomic status and disease occurrence. Prevalence of tuberculosis was higher among Gurungs. Conclusion: Socio-demographic factors also signifi cantly infl uence the occurrence of tuberculosis. The side effects of anti-tuberculosis drugs are more prevalent among the age group 19 to 65 years as compared to age group of 66 years and above. SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS; 2013; X(2); 41-44 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/saarctb.v10i2.9712