Indian J Med Res
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The human body supports a heterogeneous population of microorganisms. Every microorganism has the ability to contribute to the unique microenvironment around it. ⋯ The identification of these molecular mechanisms in carcinogenesis may lead to better treatment strategies. In this review we have tried to explore the changes in microbial composition between cancer and normal tissues and what molecular mechanisms provide a connecting link between microbial dysbiosis and cancer.
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Venomous snakebite is one of the leading preventable causes of mortality and morbidity with tremendous socio-economic impact on the family and nation. Venomous snakebite has been relisted as a neglected tropical disease after having been removed off the list in 2013. This paper discusses the various reasons which could be attributed to the high mortality and morbidity due to venomous snakes and also provides recommendations on policy decisions, improvement on the quality of venom and anti-snake venom and in promoting awareness on how to avoid snakebite.
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As India and other developing countries are scaling up isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for people living with HIV (PLHIV) in their national programmes, we studied the feasibility and performance of IPT in terms of treatment adherence, outcome and post-treatment effect when given under programmatic settings. ⋯ Under programmatic settings, completion of IPT treatment was high, adverse events minimal with good post-treatment protection. After ruling out TB, IPT should be offered to all PLHIVs, irrespective of their antiretroviral therapy (ART) status. Scaling-up of IPT services including active case finding, periodic counselling on adherence and re-training of ART staff should be prioritized to reduce the TB burden in this community.
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Slow breathing increases parasympathetic activity and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in healthy individuals, also similarly observed in yoga practitioners. Pranayama which is an important component of yoga when practiced at a slow pace was at a respiratory frequency of around 0.1 Hz (6 breaths/min). Therefore, it was hypothesized that yoga practitioners might have adapted to slow breathing. This study was aimed to decipher the role of yoga on cardiovascular variability during slow breathing (0.1 Hz) in yoga practitioners. ⋯ The present study indicated higher parasympathetic activity and BRS with lower SBP variability at rest and during slow breathing in yoga practitioners compared to naive group. Findings indicate that the short-term practice of slow breathing complements the augmented parasympathetic activity and BRS in the yoga group.
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Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death worldwide is responsible for over 17 million deaths globally, of which 10 per cent deaths have been expected due to consumption of tobacco. The association between CVD and chewing of tobacco is limited and remains arguable. The aim of this study was to find out the correlation between urinary cotinine level and cardiovascular autonomic function tests of tobacco chewers. ⋯ Correlation between urinary cotinine levels and autonomic function tests elucidates the linkage involving autonomic nervous system damage which can be considered as an important associated relationship for early diagnosis of CVD health risk factors among smokeless tobacco (ST) users.