PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D Behera

Publications and source records attributed to D Behera.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Radioactive uranium in various Indian tobaccos and consumable products (snuff, chutta, bidi and cigarette).

Tobacco is chewed in the form of snuff and thus its radioactivity--if there is any--goes directly into the body. Besides normal smoking, tobacco is also smoked in reverse manner in the form of "chutta", an indigenously prepared cigar made from the home grown plants of Nicotinia tobacum in South East coastal towns and villages in India. The burnt residue and the radioactive element--if there is any--in the case of chutta smoking will also go directly in the body causing hazardous effects. Uranium traces were determined in commercially available samples of snuff, chutta, bidi and cigarette tobacco using radiation damage etch technique. The analysis showed that uranium levels varied from 7.4 to 19.1 ppm in snuff, 0.16 to 0.37 ppm in chutta, 0.13 to 0.23 in bidi and 0.037 to 0.12 ppm in cigarette tobacco.

Humans↗
PubMed1987

Sarcoidosis in north India: the clinical profile of 40 patients.

Sarcoidosis is being increasingly recognized in India. Over the last 7 years we studied 40 patients. Older males out numbered young females. Thoracic (98%), constitutional (50%) and ocular (40%) involvement dominated the clinical profile. In addition, erythema nodosum (20%), facial palsy (13%), parotid enlargement (8%), lymphadenopathy (42%), hepatomegaly (37%) and splenomegaly (17%) were also observed. Radiologically, 53%, 30% and 15% of patients were in Stage I, II and III respectively at presentation. Kveim test was positive in 45% of those tested. The diagnosis was histologically confirmed in 80% of patients. The remaining eight patients (20%) were relatively asymptomatic, all had bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy and either erythema nodosum or uveitis or both. 88% were tuberculin negative. Systemic steroids were used in 60% and topical steroid eye drops in a further 20%. Response to therapy was excellent except in Stage III disease where radiological and spirometric deterioration was observed in three patients. There were no fatalities. The overall clinical behaviour of north Indian patients with sarcoidosis was quite similar to that of patients in England but different from previously reported Indian patients.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1985

Clinical experience with short-course chemotherapy in patients with tubercular pleural effusion and lymphadenitis.

Twenty-one patients with pleural effusion and 27 patients with lymphadenitis, both tubercular in origin, were administered isoniazid, rifampicin and ethambutol in a daily single dose for 9 months. 100% response was seen in patients with pleural effusion. In the case of tuberculous lymphadenitis the therapeutic response was unsatisfactory, and complete resolution of lymph nodes was achieved in 16 out of 27 patients only (59%). Drug treatment had to be extended for another 3 months which gave 89% response. In view of our present findings, short-course chemotherapy appears not to be the ideal mode of treatment for tuberculous lymphadenitis. There were no side effects from drug therapy in either group of patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Reverse smoking and chronic obstructive lung disease.

Reverse smoking is a popular habit peculiarly prevalent among adults of southeastern coastal towns and villages of India. The smoking device is hand made. A few dried twigs of home grown tobacco are rolled crudely in a semi-dried tobacco leaf. The finished product is called 'chutta'. The average weight of the hand rolled chuttas varies between 1.5 g for the small one and 7.5 g for the big chuttas. During smoking the lighted end of the chutta is kept inside the mouth during inhalation. An average adult may smoke three to four chuttas per day. Reverse smoking was first highlighted by Reddy and Rao (1957) who reported a high occurrence of oropharyngeal carcinomas in chutta smokers. The cancerous changes were attributed to the heat generated inside the oral cavity and burning of tobacco (Reddy & Rao 1957). The present study was carried out to examine the frequency of symptoms of chronic respiratory disease and changes in lung function associated with this form of smoking habit.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acute respiratory distress syndrome complicating typhoid fever.

We report a case of a young female patient with typhoid fever whose clinical course was complicated by hypotension, thrombocytopenia, encephalopathy and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). She recovered with prompt mechanical ventilatory support. ARDS in typhoid fever has generally proved to be fatal in reported cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pulmonary function changes after large volume paracentesis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of large volume paracentesis (LVP) on pulmonary function in patients with cirrhosis of liver and tense ascites. METHODS: Ten patients having alcoholic cirrhosis with ascites were subjected to LVP (mean 6.3 +/- 0.3 L). Pre and post paracentesis spirometry and arterial blood gas analysis were performed and compared. RESULTS: Baseline mean lung volumes and arterial pO2 were reduced from normal predicted values. Air flow was found normal. After LVP, an increase in absolute values of vital capacity, forced expiratory flow in first second (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow was observed; only the improvement in FEV1 was significant p 0.05). Arterial pO2 also showed significant (p < 0.01) improvement after LVP. CONCLUSION: LVP leads to improvement in measured pulmonary function.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Non invasive ventilation in COPD.

Non invasive ventilation refers to the technique of providing ventilatory support without a direct conduit to the airway. It is a promising new technique, which is particularly useful in patients with COPD. Patients with COPD are prone to develop acute exacerbations, which pushes them into acute respiratory failure. Under these circumstances, tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. A number of well conducted studies support the fact that non invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in these circumstances reduces rates of intubation, mortality, complications and duration of hospital stay. The biggest advantage of these techniques is their simplicity, ease of implementation and improved patient comfort allowing them to retain important functions like speech, cough and swallowing. NIPPV should be instituted early in the course of acute respiratory failure due to COPD before irreversible fatigue sets in. The current thinking is that NIPPV rests the respiratory muscles allowing other therapies time to be effective. Facilities for NIPPV should be available in all hospitals admitting patients with respiratory failure. Patients with severe, stable COPD who are hypercapnic and are deteriorating despite maximal conventional treatment should definitely be offered a trial of NIPPV. In such patients NIPPV has been shown to improve quality of life, reverse blood gas abnormalities, improve exercise tolerance and reduce hospital admissions. Physicians must familiarize themselves with this promising new ventilatory technique.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of exposure to domestic cooking fuels on bronchial asthma.

The effect of indoor air pollution due to domestic cooking with biomass fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on the course of bronchial asthma was examined in one hundred non-smoking female asthmatics. The parameters for evaluation were symptoms, emergency visits, and drug requirements. The patients also measured peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) at home five times daily over a period of one week and the levels of carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) were estimated randomly during clinic visits. The COHb levels (%) were 4.1 +/- 0.9 and 3.5 +/- 0.6 in the two groups with 22-30% of the subjects reporting increased symptoms during cooking. The number of emergency admissions and the daily requirement of steroids were comparable in both the groups. The PEFR values were lower than the predicted values in both the groups at all times. Further, the readings after exposure to cooking fuels were lower than those before cooking in both the groups (p < 0.01) and these values were similar to those observed during early morning records at 6 AM, which were the lowest. It was concluded that exposure to biomass fuel and LPG affect pulmonary function (PEFR) in asthmatics and both types of fuels affect the airway function and symptoms of bronchial asthma in a similar manner.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nitric oxide derivative in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown aetiology with a number of inflammatory cells playing a role in its pathogenesis. In this study, we have attempted to find out the possible role of nitric oxide in its pathogenesis by way of measuring the nitrite and nitrate levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Ten patients of histologically proved idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and 10 controls (5 with normal chest skiagrams and 5 with sarcoidosis) were included in the study Bronchoalveolar lavage was carried out in these cases. The levels of nitrates and nitrites were increased in cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (0.77+/- 0.36 and 8.93 +/- 2.63 nmol/mg of protein) compared to those in controls (0.38 +/- 0.06 and 3.80 +/- 1.11, respectively for sarcoidosis patients); (0.39 +/- 0.13 and 6.56 +/- 1.61 for subjects with normal chest skiagrams). These differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05 to 0.01). These findings suggest a possible role of nitric oxide in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Radiographic patterns in lung cancer.

Three hundred seventy three previously diagnosed patients with lung cancer, attending the Lung Cancer Clinic at this institute were studied. Chest radiographs were interpreted in all cases. Radiography was compared in different cell types. Squamous cell carcinoma 158 (42.4%), followed by small cell lung cancer 122 (32.7%), was the commonest histological subtype. Upper zone was involved in maximum number of cases 158 (42%), followed by mid zone 122 (32.7%), lower zone 60 (16%) and the entire lung 33(8.8%). Adenocarcinoma presented as a peripheral mass in 37 (61%) cases and in 23 (38.3%) as a central lesion. Presentation as a central mass (114, 72.2% cases) was more common among squamous cell carcinoma than as a peripheral lesion (44, 27.8% cases). Similarly, small cell cancer also presented more commonly as a central lesion (102, 83.6% cases) than as a peripheral lesion (20, 16.4% cases). Isolated pleural effusion was present in 3.8% in squamous cell lung cancer, 22% in adenocarcinoma and only 4% in small cell lung cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hepatitis B and C virus--prevalence and prevention in health care workers.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B and C viruses are important causes of liver related morbidity and mortality. We aimed at determining the presence of hepatitis B and C virus infections in the health care workers (HCWs) and their compliance for the HBV vaccination. METHODS: Three thousand five hundred and fifty six health care workers were screened for HBsAg and 115 for anti-HCV by ELISA. HBsAg negative individual were offered HBV vaccination and record of their compliance was kept. Anti-HBs titers were determined one month after 2nd or 3rd dose of vaccine in 273 subjects. RESULTS: Out of 3556 health care workers, 61 (1.7%) were found to be positive for HBsAg. One out of 115 HCWs (0.87%) was found to be positive for anti-HCV. Fifteen percent of HCWs received only one dose, 26% received two doses 59% received three doses and 2.5% also received the booster dose of the HBV vaccine. All those tested had anti-HBs titers more than 10 mUI/ml. CONCLUSION: In HCWs, HBsAg and anti-HCV prevalence was found to be 1.7% and 0.87% respectively. HCWs in our hospital, despite the awareness on HBV and HCV infection are noncompliant for HBV vaccination.

Adult↗