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Biomedical subjects

O Parshad

Publications and source records attributed to O Parshad.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Role of yoga in stress management.

The state of the mind and that of the body are intimately related. If the mind is relaxed, the muscles in the body will also be relaxed. Stress produces a state of physical and mental tension. Yoga, developed thousands of years ago, is recognized as a form of mind-body medicine. In yoga, physical postures and breathing exercises improve muscle strength, flexibility, blood circulation and oxygen uptake as well as hormone function. In addition, the relaxation induced by meditation helps to stabilize the autonomic nervous system with a tendency towards parasympathetic dominance. Physiological benefits which follow, help yoga practitioners become more resilient to stressful conditions and reduce a variety of important risk factors for various diseases, especially cardio-respiratory diseases.

Humans↗

Effect of aqueous neem (Azadirachta indica) extract on testosterone and other blood constituents in male rats. A pilot study.

Effect of oral administration of crude aqueous neem extract on serum testosterone and other blood constituents was studied in the male Wistar rats for 10 weeks. The neem treatment resulted in significant decreases (p < 0.01) in total testosterone, total bilirubin and K+ in serum. There were also increases (p < 0.05) in packed cell volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, red blood cell, white blood cell and lymphocyte counts without showing any cytotoxic effects in the body.

Administration, Oral↗

The mechanism of low testosterone levels in homozygous sickle-cell disease.

Significantly lower testosterone levels are common in male patients with homozygous sickle-cell (SS) disease and have been attributed to either abnormalities of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis or primary testicular failure. The mechanism has now been investigated by observing the response to gonadotropin-thyrotropin releasing hormones (GnRH-TRH) in 10 male patients with SS disease and in 10 matched male sibling controls without sickle-cell disease. Mean basal levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) and thyrotropin (TSH) were significantly elevated but prolactin (PRL) levels were within the normal range in the SS group. All hormones increased following GnRH-TRH, and proportionate increases over baseline were similar for FSH and TSH in SS and AA subjects, but SS patients showed a lesser percentage increase in LH at 30 minutes, and a higher percentage increase in PRL at 60 minutes. These observations are more consistent with primary testicular failure than with abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis.

Adult↗

Ethics and law in the medical curriculum--a university of the West Indies perspective.

The Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS), University of the West Indies, recognizes that ethics and law are not currently given adequate importance in the training of health professionals. FMS also recognizes the rapid advancement of technology, such as transplants, artificial organs, in vitro fertilization, life-sustaining equipment and euthanasia, as well as the ever-increasing prevalence of malpractice. Thus, two conferences were held to consider the implementation of ethics and law in the medical curriculum. The conferences recommended an increased input into the curriculum of ethics and law, and that this programme be taught and examined in all the medical years. The article discusses implementation strategies.

Bioethical Issues↗

Thyroid-gonad relationship in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Thirty women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were examined to assess the thyroid-gonad relationship. Significant decreases in mean serum tri-iodo-thyronine and testosterone levels and increases in mean serum estradiol and luteinizing hormone levels were observed in SLE patients as compared to control subjects. The serum levels of thyroxine, thyrotropin, tri-iodo-thyronine uptake, free thyroxine index and prolactin were, however, not significantly different in both groups. The interpretation of these findings is unclear but SLE could be regarded as one of the nonthyroidal systemic illness since low serum tri-iodo-thyronine with normal thyrotropin levels were observed in our patients. Furthermore, high levels of estradiol and low levels of testosterone in our female patients may indicate involvement of sex steroids in the pathogenesis of SLE.

Adolescent↗

Abnormal thyroid hormone and thyrotropin levels in homozygous sickle cell disease.

Male patients with SS disease had significantly lower T3 and higher TSH levels than a comparison group. Stimulation with TRH in 10 male sibling pairs showed highly significant increases in T3 and TSH in both patients and sibling controls although the increase in TSH was significantly greater in SS disease. The interpretation of these findings is unclear although the thyroid indices indicate an abnormal pituitary-thyroid axis most consistent with a modest primary thyroid failure.

Adolescent↗

Thyroid-gonad relationship in chronic schizophrenia.

The effects of the severity of psychiatric illnesses on thyroid function and their relationship to serum testosterone levels were studied in 38 men of African origin, suffering from chronic schizophrenia. Significantly lower levels of serum T4, T3, FT4I and testosterone in acutely psychotic patients indicated decreased thyroid-gonadal activity. Higher serum T4 and FT4I and lower serum TSH, testosterone and cortisol levels were observed in patients whose illnesses were in remission. Levels of both FT4I and testosterone in clinically stable patients, however, were not significantly different in comparison to controls, suggesting recovery from the illness. No significant differences either in thyroid or gonadal hormones were observed between patients exhibiting depression or elated affects; among disorganized, catatonic, paranoid and undifferentiated types; and among patients treated with different psychotropic drugs. The possible mechanisms involved in such thyroid-gonad relationship are discussed.

Adult↗

Plasma arginine vasopressin response to water load during labor.

To find out whether plasma vasopressin (PAVP) response to a water load during pregnancy is inappropriately high, as had been speculated, we measured PAVP by radioimmunoassay in 30 women at the time of delivery. Ten women had received infusion of aqueous glucose solution during labor for hydration (GW group); another ten received infusion of glucose solution as a vehicle for oxytocin (OT group), and ten women did not receive any intrapartum intravenous fluid therapy (controls). Serum sodium and osmolality were also determined in all the subjects. PAVP levels were significantly lower in GW (0.70 +/- 0.4 pg/ml) and OT groups (0.7 +/- 0.6 pg/ml) (P less than 0.05). Significant negative correlation was seen between the amount of glucose solution infused and levels of PAVP (r = -0.66; P less than 0.01), while a significant positive correlation was seen between PAVP and serum sodium (r = 0.61; P less than 0.01). These findings suggest that during labor, the physiological relationship between serum osmolality and PAVP is intact, and that infusion of a water load in the form of aqueous glucose solution is attended by an expected lowering of PAVP. We infer that inappropriate ADH response is not the cause of water retention and hyponatremia often seen in women receiving aqueous glucose solution during labor.

Arginine Vasopressin↗