Postgraduate medical journal
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Data on the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in Indians living in the western part of the country are limited. The authors aimed to study the vitamin D status and dietary intake of calcium and phytates in healthy adult volunteers from a city in the western part of India. ⋯ Hypovitaminosis D, low dietary calcium and high phytate consumption are highly prevalent among young healthy adults in the western part of India.
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The eye is an easily accessible, highly compartmentalised and immune-privileged organ that offers unique advantages as a gene therapy target. Significant advancements have been made in understanding the genetic pathogenesis of ocular diseases, and gene replacement and gene silencing have been implicated as potentially efficacious therapies. Recent improvements have been made in the safety and specificity of vector-based ocular gene transfer methods. ⋯ Gene therapy prospects have advanced for a variety of retinal disorders, including retinitis pigmentosa, retinoschisis, Stargardt disease and age-related macular degeneration. Advances have also been made using experimental models for non-retinal diseases, such as uveitis and glaucoma. These methodological advancements are critical for the implementation of additional gene-based therapies for human ocular diseases in the near future.
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Trigeminal neuralgia is defined as sudden, usually unilateral, severe, brief, stabbing recurrent episodes of pain within the distribution of one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve, which has a profound effect on quality of life. The diagnosis is made on history alone, and time needs to be taken to elicit the key features and differentiate from toothache or one of the trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias. Most trigeminal neuralgia is idiopathic, but a small percentage is due to secondary causes-for example, tumours or multiple sclerosis-which can be picked up on CT or MRI. ⋯ Ablative procedures result in sensory loss, and MVD carries a 0.2-0.4% risk of mortality with a 2-4% chance of ipsilateral hearing loss. Surgical procedures result in markedly improved quality of life. Patient support groups provide information and support to those in pain and play a crucial role.
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Team work, communication, and efficiency in the operating theatre are widely recognised to be suboptimal. Poor communication is the single biggest cause of medical error. The surgical operating theatre is a potentially highly stressed environment where poor communication can lead to fatal errors. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects briefings and debriefings had on theatre start time, list lengths, and the staff's impression of these meetings. ⋯ Briefings and debriefings had a positive impact on teamwork and communication. The lists ran more efficiently and briefings did not delay the theatre start times-in fact, the lists tended to start earlier.