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Biomedical subjects

S Gujral

Publications and source records attributed to S Gujral.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Prevalence of xerophthalmia and efficacy of vitamin A prophylaxis in preventing xerophthalmia co-existing with malnutrition in rural Indian children.

Data of 4302 children, 0-6 years old were analysed to study the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency and the efficacy of vitamin A prophylaxis in preventing xerophthalmia co-existing with malnutrition. Manifestation of ocular signs of vitamin A deficiency were seen in 10 per cent children. The prevalence of xerophthalmia was higher in the normal and mild to moderately malnourished children, and lowest in the severely malnourished ones. The ability of vitamin A prophylaxis to curb xerophthalmia was greatest at the extreme ends of the nutritional grade spectrum. These findings have important implications for the existing national Vitamin A Prophylaxis Programme, and suggest that: (a) normal and mild to moderately malnourished children less than 6 years old, should be preferably considered for vitamin A mega dosing; (b) in the management of protein energy malnutrition, vitamin A status of the children should be monitored; and (c) the coverage should be improved as most children are in the mild and moderate degrees of malnutrition.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

Sensory evaluation of and acceptability trials on biscuits prepared from raw and malted wheat (Triticum aestivum)-Bengal gram (Cicer arietinum) mixes with or without a green leafy vegetable.

Biscuits were prepared by varying the amounts of the basic ingredients to arrive at the most acceptable recipe. The final recipe contained 40 g of mix, 40 g of jaggery and 20 g of ghee. Sensory evaluation of biscuits containing 5 or 10% colocasia leaf powder by composite scoring test and hedonic scale showed that the former type of biscuit was preferred over the latter. The acceptability trial conducted on 42, 3 to 6 year old children showed that biscuits from either malted mix with or without 7.5% colocasia leaf powder and raw mix were equally acceptable as shown by the analysis of variance.

Bread↗
PubMed1990

Does growth monitoring work as it ought to in countries of low literacy?

The paper examines various aspects of the growth monitoring (GM) component of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme of India. Data of 3704 rural children, 0-6 years of age revealed that growth of almost half of the children had never been monitored, and monitored inadequately in another 25 per cent of cases. While very few mothers (1 per cent) could interpret growth charts (GC) correctly, 87 per cent of the ICDS functionaries could do this. There was a significant and positive relationship between maternal knowledge and functionary knowledge of the growth chart (GC), and coverage of children for GM. Impact of mothers' GC knowledge on nutritional status of children was determined largely by their literacy status; however, only 17 per cent were literate. Analysis of covariance of the effect of GM on weight-for-age and morbidity controlling for socio-economic status and other programme services showed that GM did not have an impact on the nutritional or health status of children. It is therefore concluded that very high levels of illiteracy amongst mothers may be a major determinant to the success of GM programmes in India.

Child↗
PubMed1990

Agreement between arm circumference, weight for age, and weight for height measures of malnutrition in children.

Agewise agreement between mid-upper arm circumference (AC), weight for age and weight for height assessment of nutritional status was analyzed for 5,509 Indian children 1 to 5 years of age. Sensitivity specificity and positive predictive value of AC are presented. The sensitivity of AC for detecting moderate malnutrition by weight for age or weight for height was found to be low, except in children 13-24 months of age. From 25-58% of the severely malnourished children by weight for age in the age group 25-60 months were misclassified as normal by AC. Specificity of AC was high across the age range indicating that most of the children identified as not malnourished by weight for age or weight for height also had normal AC. The positive predictive value of AC was low for severe malnutrition but high for moderate to mild malnutrition compared to weight for age and weight for height. The findings indicate that AC is not constant over the age range 1 to 5 years, and use of fixed cut-off points for assessing malnutrition from 1 to 5 years is inappropriate. Sensitivity of AC using a fixed-cut-off point clearly decreases with age, and specificity increases with age. Where possible, weight of children is preferable to AC for nutritional status assessment, due to large number of moderately or severely malnourished children likely to be wrongly classified as normal by AC.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1989

Relationship between maternal and infant nutritional status.

Relationship between maternal anthropometry, age, parity, education, work status, and food practices and nutritional status of children 0-6 months post-partum was determined using a cross-sectional design in a univariate situation. Whereas mothers' weight, height, weight for height, and months of lactation were significantly related to the weight for age of the infants, only weight, height, and work status seemed to affect their height for age. In the second stage where stepwise multiple regression analyses were done, maternal height, months of lactation, and weight for height in that order showed a significant relationship (R2 = 0.08) with infants weight for age while mothers' height and working status were the only two factors that affected the height for age of the infants (R2 = 0.04). The findings suggest that there exists a significant relationship between maternal and child anthropometry.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Agreement between haemoglobin estimation and anaemia recognition card in assessment of anaemia in pregnant women.

Sensitivity and specificity of pallor signs were compared to haemoglobin determination for identifying nutritional anaemia in pregnant women. A total of 211 pregnant women were examined for signs of pallor using the anaemia recognition card, and their haemoglobin was determined by the cyanmethaemoglobin filter paper technique. The sensitivity of pallor signs in identifying severe nutritional anaemia in the population was fair, as 67 per cent of the pregnant women identified as anaemic by haemoglobin levels less than 8 g/dl were detected as anaemic by the presence of pallor signs. However, the specificity of the measure indicated that almost half of the pregnant women with haemoglobin level above 8 g/dl were misclassified as anaemic by presence of signs of pallor. Since the sensitivity and specificity of the pallor signs test are fairly low, the anaemia recognition card is an inefficient tool to be used to screen for severe cases of nutritional anaemia.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fine needle aspiration of extramedullary myeloid cell tumor in myelodysplastic syndrome. A report of three cases.

BACKGROUND: Soft tissue tumors are rare in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and the role of fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology in their diagnosis has not been explored. CASES: Two patients with refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation (RAEB-t) developed soft tissue swellings during the course of the illness. In a third patient, soft tissue swelling was a presenting feature. The swellings in all three cases were diagnosed as extramedullary myeloid cell tumor (EMT) on FNA and showed increased blasts (10-14%), dyspoietic changes, Auer rods and monocytosis. CONCLUSION: Soft tissue tumors appearing in MDS are likely to be EMTs. FNA is therefore particularly valuable in their diagnosis as morphology, cytochemistry, immunophenotyping and flow cytometric analysis of hematopoietic cells are best studied on aspirated material. We suggest that FNA be preferred over excisional biopsy for the diagnosis of soft tissue swellings in MDS.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor: extra abdominal and abdominal presentations and the results of treatment.

BACKGROUND: Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a rare malignant neoplasm of adolescent males. Current multimodality treatment prolongs life and rarely achieves cure. AIM: To review the presenting features, histopathology and outcome of 18 patients with DSRCT treated at a single institution. SETTING AND DESIGN: This is a retrospective observational study of patients with DSRCT who presented at the Tata Memorial Hospital between January 1994 to January 2005. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen patients of DSRCT seen during this period were evaluated for their clinical presentation, response to chemotherapy and other multimodality treatment and overall survival. The cohort of 18 patients included 11 males (61%) and 7 females (39%) with a mean age of 16 years (Range 1(1/2)--30 years). Majority (83%) presented with abdomino-pelvic disease. The others, involving chest wall and extremities. There were 6 patients (33%) with metastatic disease at presentation. RESULTS: The treatment primarily included a multimodality approach using a combination of multiagent chemotherapy with adjuvant surgery and radiotherapy as applicable. A response rate of 39% (CR-1, PR-6), with chemotherapy was observed. The overall response rate after multimodality treatment was 39% (CR-5, PR-2). The overall survival was poor except in patients who had complete excision of the tumor. CONCLUSION: 0 Abdomino-pelvic site was the commonest presentation, the disease can occur at other non-serosal surfaces also. Despite aggressive treatment the outcome was poor. However, complete surgical excision seems to provide a better survival.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Follicular dendritic cell tumour of tonsil - is it an under-diagnosed entity?

Neoplasms of follicular dendritic cells are uncommon and while majority of them occur in lymph nodes, they are increasingly recognized at varied sites such as abdominal viscera. Tonsil is the most common extra nodal site for occurrence of FDCT in the head and neck region. We describe three cases of follicular dendritic cell tumour occurring in the tonsil.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Child diarrhea: oral rehydration therapy and rural mother.

The prevalence of diarrhea among children, feeding practices during diarrhea, and knowledge about oral rehydration therapy (ORT) among 2616 mothers and 44 Anganwadi workers (AWWs) of Panchmahals and 2293 mothers and 37 AWWs of Chandrapur districts of Gujarat State and Maharashtra State, respectively, were investigated. The effect of maternal literacy status and nutrition knowledge on mothers' and AWWs' ability to correctly prepare an oral rehydration solution (ORS) was also examined. The prevalence of diarrhea was highest in children less than 2 yr old, and thereafter it showed a consistent decline up to 6 yr. Most of the mothers favored a reduction in the child's food intake during diarrhea, whereas the AWWs favored increasing it. Awareness of mothers about ORT was low, but half of those who were aware could prepare ORS correctly. Maternal literacy status and nutrition knowledge positively affected the mother's understanding of ORT and her ability to prepare ORS. The mother's presence and availability at home positively influenced the utilization of ORS when her child was sick with diarrhea. Thus, poor literacy status, poor nutrition knowledge, and working-mother status appear to limit mothers' ability to utilize ORS to prevent or correct diarrhea-induced dehydration.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of short term vitamin A deficiency on organ weights, blood glucose and lactate levels and, tissue protein and glycogen contents of albino rats: a preliminary study.

The effect of short term dietary vitamin A deficiency in post-pubertal female rats in terms of weight gain, food consumption, organ weights, haemoglobin content, blood glucose and lactate levels and, tissue protein and glycogen contents has been evaluated to gain insight into the possible interrelationship between vitamin A and general metabolism. Significant elevation in blood glucose level and reduction in blood lactate and haemoglobin along with a tendency of reduction in weights of spleen, adrenals and ovaries have been noted. Lowered tissue protein and glycogen contents and reduced body weight gain have also been revealed. Obviously, reduced functional competence of some of the organs and certain alterations in general metabolism especially of carbohydrates are suspected and hence is discussed in relation to supportive evidences available.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Altered lipid profile in liver amoebiasis and its emendation with metronidazole treatment.

Liver amoebic abscess was produced by introducing 16,000 trophozoites of Entamoeba histolytica directly into the livers of growing hamsters. A group of the infected animals received orally 64 mg metronidazole/kg body weight for 5 days from the day of the infection. The treated group was autopsied 7 or 14 days after the treatment. Histologically, liquefaction of large parenchymal areas and biochemically, elevation in cholesterol, triglycerides, bile acids and decrease in phospholipids were observed in infected livers. The infected hamsters exhibited hyperlipidemia and hypocholesterolemia. With metronidazole treatment all the values tended to shift towards control levels. The magnitude of the shift was determined by the post-treatment period.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effectiveness of N-N-bis-P-chlorophenyl-3p-tolyl glutaric acid diamide (SRC-3605) as a hypocholesterolaemic compound in hypercholesterolaemic female weanling and adult rats.

SRC-3605, N-N-bis-P-chlorophenyl 3-p-tolyl glutaric acid diamide, was studied for its hypocholesterolaemic effect on serum and liver cholesterol in hypercholesterolaemic weanling and adult female rats. Weanlings were administered doses of SRC-3605 ranging from 100 to 300 mg/kg body weight for 4 or 8 consecutive days. The greatest hypocholesterolaemic effect was observed with doses of 150, 200 and 250 mg, although a progressive decreases in serum cholesterol was noted with increasing doses. Hepatic cholesterol decreases supported the serum data, but were inconsistent. Hypercholesterolaemic adult animals received 50, 100, 150 or 200 mg/kg body weight of either SRC-3605 or clofibrinic acid for 4 days. A decrease in serum cholesterol levels was observed only with the 200 mg SRC-3605. No clear-cut influence of the either compounds was found on hepatic cholesterol. The results indicated that SRC-3605 possesses the property to reduce both serum and liver cholesterol in hypocholesterolaemic weanling female rats.

Animals↗