Posted by admin on Aug 31, 2018 in |
Introduction: The ear, nose and throat (ENT) infections can be caused by a variety of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. Their treatment involves the use of appropriate antimicrobial agents and inappropriate use is closely linked to antibiotic resistance. Hence, present study was planned to evaluate the prescribing pattern of antimicrobials in the ENT outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted from May 2016 to August 2016. Prescriptions of patients diagnosed with ENT infections were included. The information such as age, sex, type of ENT infections and drug data were noted in preformed case record form and evaluated. Results: Over 3 month study period, 512 prescriptions were analysed. Majority of the study population were in the age group of 21-40 years. Total numbers of males were 274 and females were 238. Among all, most common ear infection was chronic suppurative otitis media (17.19%). The commonest antimicrobial prescribed was Ciprofloxacin (29.18%) followed by Amoxicillin (25.38%). Only one antimicrobial was...
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Posted by admin on Aug 31, 2018 in |
Self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) of Aceclofenac (ACE) was aimed at overcoming the problems of poor solubility. ACE is practically insoluble in water as a result it shows erratic oral absorption and affects the bioavailability. The formulation strategy included selection of oil phase based on saturated solubility studies and surfactant and co-surfactant screening on the basis of their emulsification ability. Ternary phase diagrams were constructed to identify the self-emulsifying region. Labrafac PG 8 (20%) as oil, tween 80 (60%) as surfactant and Polyethylene glycol 400 (20%) as co-surfactant were concluded to be optimized components. The prepared SMEDDS was characterized through its droplet size, zeta potential, emulsification time and rheological determination. The optimized formulation exhibited 98.14 ± 0.34% in-vitro drug releases, which was significantly higher than that of the drug solution. The study confirmed the potential of ACE SMEDDS for oral administration. It was concluded that the SMEDDS formulation approach can be used to improve solubility and dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs such as...
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Posted by admin on Aug 31, 2018 in |
Phytochemicals are bioactive compounds produced by plant through primary and secondary metabolism. Phytochemicals are found to be more effective than conventional synthetic chemicals. Rice is considered as the staple food for most of the people residing in this part of world, i.e., the eastern part of India. There are many varieties of rice cultivated in West Bengal, India and among which Gobindobhog and black rice are common. In the present study, qualitative and quantitative analyses of phytochemicals like flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, riboflavin, ascorbic acid, thiamine, etc. of Gobindobhog and black rice were performed. All the methods followed are standard biochemical and spectrophotometric procedures for detection and quantification of phytochemicals. Qualitative screening of phytochemicals indicated the presence of glycoside, steroid, phenol, protein and carbohydrate in both of the rice varieties, whereas tannin, phlobatannin, terpenoid, alkaloid and flavonoid were identified only in black rice. Quantitative analysis indicated the presence of ascorbic acid, riboflavin and lipid in significant amount in both of these rice varieties. Therefore, it can be concluded that both...
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Posted by admin on Aug 31, 2018 in |
Objective: To know the occurrence, onset and severity of infusion reactions associated with anticancer drug in an oncology hospital. Methods: For the patients who developed infusion reactions, causative drug, cycle of therapy, onset and duration of reaction, associated symptoms were recorded. The adverse drug reaction reporting form (yellow form) was used to report the infusion reaction. On the basis of reported and notified reaction, the severity of reactions was determined in accordance with NCI toxicity criteria, further assessed and evaluated for its causality and severity by using Naranjo’s causality assessment scale, Hartwig’s severity assessment scale. Results: During the study period 24 (0.18%) patients developed an infusion reaction to the anticancer therapeutic agents. Of these reactions, 33.32 % occurred during infusion of taxanes and monoclonal antibodies (MABs), 24.99% occurred during the use of platinum agents. In 54% patients, the infusion reactions occurred within the first hr of the infusion, 14 patients (58.33 %) developed a reaction in the first cycle of treatment. 79.16% ADRs were found to be possible, 12.5%...
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Posted by admin on Aug 31, 2018 in |
WHO’s global health expenditure data base explores internationally comparable data on health spending in all WHO Member States. The report incorporates data analytics for various diseases, health expenditure and death toll etc., globally. Viral diseases have always been a burning issue for morbidity and mortality, worldwide. Viral diseases such as Chickenpox, Malaria, Cholera, Bronchitis, Tuberculosis, Meningitis, HIV, Dengue, and Chikungunya etc. have been challenging the medical practitioners, pharmacists, researchers and consumers since decades. Major out of pocket expenditure goes towards the medication of these diseases. For the medication of viral diseases, numbers of pharmaceutical companies are working in the segment of prescription drugs with focusing on different chemical moieties having antiviral activity. The rising expenditures for the prescription of these drugs are a major problem for public and private payers in many countries. In preview of this fact, an investigation is carried out for prescription drugs on the available parameters of price, chemical moieties and pharmaceutical companies in the domain of viral diseases- Chickenpox, Malaria, Bronchitis, and Tuberculosis diseases....
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