Possible Controlling Measures of Panic Buying During COVID-19

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction -     

Suicide in Nigeria: observations from the content analysis of newspapers

BackgroundSuicide is a global public health problem and Nigeria is one of the epicentres of suicide in the world. However, there is a dearth of research exploring the epidemiological aspects of suicide in Nigeria.AimTo examine the demographic information and precipitating events for suicides in Nigeria by analysing the contents of newspaper reports of suicide.MethodsWe searched, collected, and analysed published news reports about suicide from 10 English newspapers in Nigeria. A total of 350 suicide reports were assessed between January 2010 and December 2019 after screening and sorting.ResultsThe mean (SD) age of the reported cases was 36.33 (15.48) years. Majority of the reported cases were male (80.6%), married (51.8%), students (33.6%), living in a semi-urban area (40.3%) and among the age group of 25–34 (25.3%). Hanging (48.6%) and poisoning (32.2%) were the most commonly reported methods of suicide. Financial constraints and marital conflicts were most commonly assumed precipitating factors.ConclusionThis study suggests that being male, married, or living in semi-urban areas are associated with suicide in Nigeria. Further community-based studies are warranted to generalise the findings and adopt appropriate preventive strategies.     

Endotoxin-induced hypercoagulability: a possible aggravating factor of alcoholic liver disease

The present experiments were designed to study the effect of chronic ethanol consumption on endotoxin toxicity. The intravenous injection of endotoxin produced a more pronounced increase of serum AST and ALT activities in chronic ethanol-fed rats, when compared to controls. The activities of hepatic mitochondrial enzymes, succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase, were also distinctly decreased by endotoxin treatment in chronic ethanol-fed rats. Consistent with these biochemical alterations, light and electron microscopic examinations revealed severe liver injury after endotoxin injection in chronic ethanol-fed rats. Furthermore, the increase of blood BUN and creatinine levels accompanied by the degeneration of the renal tubulus and slight infiltration of neutrophils into the glomerule were produced by endotoxin treatment and were more conspicuous in chronic ethanol-fed rats than controls. Therefore, the biochemical and histological evidence indicates that endotoxin markedly potentiates organ injury after chronic ethanol consumption. In addition, a more pronounced decrease in blood antithrombin III activity accompanied by an increase in fibrin degradation product level in blood was recognized in chronic ethanol-fed rats receiving endotoxin, when compared to controls receiving endotoxin. This increase of blood fibrin degradation product level correlated well with the decrease of antithrombin III activity (r = -0.6116; p less than 0.005). These findings of blood antithrombin III activity and fibrin degradation product level indicate that the coagulation-fibrinolysis system is more activated by endotoxin treatment after chronic ethanol consumption. Furthermore, the activation of the coagulation-fibrinolysis system was well correlated with biochemical and histological alterations representing hepatorenal involvement.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Management of Young Patients with Temporomandibular Joint Ankylosis—a Surgical and Anesthetic Challenge

Temporomandibular joint ankylosis is a unique disease where fracture of the mandibular condyle or any other cause leading to ankylosis of the joint can lead to multiple problems if not detected and treated early. If affected in early years of life, it may cause facial dysmorphism, restricted mouth opening, and difficulty in eating, speech, and sleep. Early surgery and physiotherapy can restore the joint function to a great extent. Anesthetizing a pediatric patient with this disorder is a definite challenge which needs expertise in difficult airway management.     

Surgery for hemophilia in developing countries

Surgical interventions in patients with hemophilia (PWH) in the developing world are difficult in the setting of limited availability of factor concentrates. Although the adequacy of international guidelines for factor concentrate prophylaxis for PWH undergoing surgery has been established, frequently it is not practical in the developing world. These recommendations were not established based on large clinical trials and fail to define the safe lower limit of factor concentrate prophylaxis for surgery. The need to define these lower limits is essential in the developing world so that the limited resources may be used optimally for the cohort of PWH. There are limited data from the developing world with regard to PWH undergoing surgical procedures. In this article, we outline experience from our institution, a tertiary referral center for hemophilia care in India. We trace the basis on which our current factor concentrate prophylaxis regimen (which is lower than that recommended internationally) was established. In our experience our low-dose protocols are effective, reduce factor consumption by one third, and are not associated with a significantly increased risk of delayed hemorrhage. We hope that this experience will form a framework on which guidelines can be established for developing countries.