Australasian Medical Journal
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computer vision syndrome in engineering students
No full textIn long term computer user ocular problems occur due to anomalies induced in vergence, accommodation and tear film. Computer science based engineering college students form a good source to study the effect of prolonged use of computers on the eyes. The study showed that computer science based engineering college students had a statistically significant defect in NPA, NPC and tear flow compared to non computer science students. Awareness regarding computer vision syndrome was found to be lacking in more than 50% of computer science based students
Depression and Medical Students in New Delhi
No full textBackground Medical education is associated with various pressures and stresses which can lead to depression. This study was undertaken to discover the prevalence of depression in medical students and various factors contributing to depression. Method This is a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study. Using stratified random sampling, 237 students were selected according to year of study. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), based on PRIME-MD Today, was used to make a provisional diagnosis of depression. Results and conclusions The overall prevalence of provisionally diagnosed depressive and major depressive disorder using PHQ-9 was 21.5% and 7.6%, respectively. Year of study and academic performance of students had a statistically significant association with depression. Other factors, including gender, self-reported past history of depression, family history of psychiatric disorders, type of social support, family structure, number of siblings and education of parents were not found to have any significant association with prevalence of depression in the study. It was also observed that students were reluctant to seek help for depressive symptom
The Business of Doctoring
Get PDFThe core business of medicine is the consultation. During the consultation one human being responds to another in distress. Most doctors spend more time talking with people than performing surgery, prescribing pills or ordering tests. The extent to which the doctor succeeds as a communicator may even govern the ‘success’ of any procedure performed, if we define success as relief from the condition causing distress. As human beings our ability to benefit from what is offered to alleviate our symptoms is limited by the extent to which we feel that we have been heard and supported with empathy. It has been demonstrated that the human body has the capacity to heal and that healers are limited by their capacity to facilitate that process. That is not to say that ‘talking’ can spare us the need for other interventions. In this review the author examines the factors that impact on the medical consultation with particular emphasis on the scope for harm when the consultation is interrupted
Nutritional Support for Head and Neck Cancer Patients
No full textBackgroundRadiotherapy is an effective treatment for head and neck cancers but patients often experience side effects which lead to weight loss. Nutrition intervention in the form of counselling or oral nutrition support (ONS) is frequently needed for these patients. For some patients, tube feeding is required to minimise weight loss during treatment. Method Data was collected on 48 patients who received radiotherapy to the head and neck region over a nine-month period (June 2009-March 2010). Retrospective data collection was commenced in July 2010. Each patient's Diet Therapy Department record was reviewed. Main outcome measures were: 1) type of nutrition support; 2) percentage weight change during treatment; and 3) Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Global (PG-SGA) rating.ResultsOn initial assessment 28 (77.8%) patients were classified as well-nourished using the PG-SGA. Mean weight loss during radiotherapy was 5.74%. Risk factors for the need for ONS and enteral nutrition support (ENS) were older age, presence of nutrition impact symptoms, high-risk tumour sites, advanced disease and chemotherapy. No significant difference was shown in weight loss between ONS and ENS groups. ConclusionThis study identified the need for early dietetic intervention for high nutritional risk groups of head and neck cancer patients to prevent significant weight loss. Pre-treatment nutritional status did not influence weight loss during treatment. ONS alone cannot prevent significant weight loss in patients with multiple nutrition impact symptoms. Early enteral feeding should be considered in this group of patients.
Burkholderia Pseudomallei Osteomyelitis
Get PDFA 52-year-old diabetic man presented to the Emergency Department with a history of fevers and pain in his right thigh. He had recently returned from a 10-month trip to Vietnam. A suspected bacterial abscess in the right thigh did not respond to empirical antibiotics. Subsequent investigations revealed melioidotic osteomyelitis of the femur. This case emphasises the need to consider the diagnosis of melioidosis in patients presenting with fever following travel in endemic areas
Periosteal Chondrosarcoma of Metacarpal Bone
Get PDFChondrosarcomas of the hand are very rare, constituting less than 0.5% of all chondrosarcomas. Metacarpal involvement and juxtacortical location are still rarer. We report a case of periosteal chondrosarcoma of metacarpal bone in a 38-year-old man, who presented with swelling of the left hand. He underwent extended ray amputation with removal of the entire left third metacarpal bone. Histopathological and radiological features of the tumour are described. Recognition of periosteal chondrosarcoma and its differentiation from other surface bone tumours is very important because the prognosis is excellent after adequate local surgery
Supervised nutritional intervention for malnourished children below six years age of migratory workers in Maharashtra, India.
No full textWhole Body DWIBS MRI versus Bone Scan for evaluating skeletal metastases
Get PDFBackground Skeletal metastases in oncology patients are identified by Bone scan and/Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan. But developing countries in the world still lack adequate numbers of these imaging facilities. AimsSince Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is widely available as compared to bone scan or PET scan; a double blind study was undertaken to see if whole body imaging with MRI can give an idea of skeletal metastases. Method Diffusion weighted whole body Magnetic Resonance Imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS) was performed using 1.5 Tesla (T) MRI on histopathologically proven cases of carcinoma of breast within two months of mastectomy and followed up after a year of surgery. Similarly bone scan was also performed in these patients. ResultsDWIBS MRI demonstrated the presence and extent of bone metastases in 10 out of a total 18 patients included in study while bone scan could demonstrate them in only three cases. A highly significant difference between proportions of the skeletal metastases detected by whole body DWIBS-MRI than that by bone scan at one year follow-up. (i.e.