1 BEYOND THE VISION: TRANSFORMING THE DISEASE BURDENED SOCIETY (PAKISTAN) IN HEALTHY WELL BEING VIA ENDORSING HEALTH RESEARCH, Shamoon Noushad
More than 130 Millions of people living in Pakistan are suffering from several types of diseases & in most cases the actual cause of the disease & its epidemics is not known no university, research institute or ministry of health in Pakistan have policies regarding the health research & realities.
2 FAILURE OF POLIO ERADICATION IN PAKISTAN, Atif Mahmood & Abira Aftab
The 20th century ranked polio amongst the most feared diseases throughout the globe. According to reports of WHO, polio is now endemic in only three countries of world which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Wild polio virus strains are found in the some parts of Pakistan that includes some areas of Karachi, FATA, KPK and Baluchistan. The three areas mentioned above are different from each other on the grounds of demographics, geography, climate, geo-political situation and to some extent in culture and rituals too. So, these three areas should be considered separately, to help us understand the situation of polio in the country.
3 MOST NEEDED SANITATION OF MINDS!!!!, Sadaf Ahmed
The cerebral cortex can be looked upon as a complex arrangement of tied together circuits which try to resynchronize the activity delivery of its essentials. Cerebral self-optimization can be disturbed by incoming nervous activity and the cortex will compensate for it by reorganizing the state of the soma, thus producing behavior. This simple concept would not explain mental processes that run within the cortical brain. It by all means related to initiated mental practice to somatic activities. Sentiments, illustrations, imaginations, beliefs, reminiscences, and anticipations could be perceived from the activity of cardio, respiratory, facial, and ocular muscles and these do not usually differ from sensations we received
4 THE COMING REVOLUTION IN LITERACY EDUCATION, Robert V, Rose & Rand Nelson
we are on the brink of an educational revolution that will change the history of the world. In recent decades, the solution to literacy education was considered to lie in the realm of “phonemic awareness”, and “segmenting” and “blending” of graphemes and phonemes was considered to be the problem that prevented children with “learning disabilities” from learning to read. Reading “disability” was the main reason for “learning disability”, and the reason for education failure in the West.
5 SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF PATIENTS WITH DIABETES, Amyna Jaffar & Ali Zabrani
life shatters when a person hear that he has got diabetes which is a lifelong disease and a person has to fight till he dies. Many people are unwilling to share the diagnosis with their friends just because of shame they feel. Diabetes is the group of metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from deficiency in insulin secretion and action. It is associated with long term damage of organs such as eyes, kidneys and heart. The majority cases of diabetes fall into two categories. Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Major symptoms include weight loss, more urine formation, increases in thirst and food intake. Long term complications include renal failure, problem in vision and foot ulcers.
6 LIFE CONGRUENCE WITH DIABETES –LET FOOD BE YOUR MEDICINE AND MEDICINE, YOUR FOOD, Bint-e-Musharraf
Diabetes mellitus is the most common chronic disease accounts for 31% worldwide, which gradually impacts on our systems. By the time diabetes is diagnosed half of the people are in the complications of may be heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, depression, nerve damage or amputations leading to disability and premature mortality. All the complications are more or less caused by hyperglycemia which is either because of impaired production of insulin by ?-langerhan cells of pancreas, designated as Type 2 Diabetes, or because of severe lack of insulin production due to specific destruction of pancreatic ?-cells, designated as Type 1 Diabetes. In order for glucose to be transferred from the blood into the cells, the hormone - Insulin is needed which is produced by the ?-cells in the pancreas.
7 FACTORS BEHIND THE ABUNDANCE OF FEMALE STUDENTS IN MEDICAL COLLEGES IN PAKISTAN, Atif Mahmood & Abira Aftab
when I enter the jam packed auditorium of a renowned public sector medical university, at one glance, it gives me a feeling as if I have mistakenly arrived in some women university, but a very small number of boys occupying the back benches make me think otherwise. This might not come as a surprise for anybody now, because it is a general perception nowadays that the field of medicine is only dedicated to girls these days. Although, this does not seem to be a very significant issue but it can have tremendous implications on the future of medical profession. There are several social and financial aspects involved in the reasoning of this unusual pattern. In this article, we will try to focus on all the factors that have led to this growing trend and also on the consequences which will be produced by it.
8 MicroRNAs: Small RNAs, Big IMPACT!! A short commentary on miRNAs with special reference to cancers, Kanwal Tariq
The human genome is approximately 3 billion base pairs (bp) in size whereas every human contain two sets of this genome in most of their body cells, hence 6 billion base pairs. The Human Genome Project revealed that there are around 20,000-25,000 protein coding genes which relate to only 1.5% of the genome. The rest of the DNA, previously called junk DNA, is now known to play important part in gene expression. Some of this also code for non-coding RNA molecules which are important for regulation of the function of several genes in normal as well as diseased conditions. These include microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and many others.
9 CHRONIC STRESS; LEADING CAUSE OF ILL-BEING, Syed Zain Azher
Chronic stress above an individual’s capacity to cope, it affects the brain the immune system and endocrine system which ultimately caused chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, gastrointestinal disease, metabolic Syndrome and chronic pain however these diseases are the major causes of death worldwide.
10 DENGUE FEVER: A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE, Zohra Asif Jetha & Neelam Saleem Punjani
Dengue is one of the tropical diseases, included in the list of top 13 neglected tropical diseases, recommended by World health organization (Hansen, Chaingnat, 2013, p.136). Word tropical suggest the humid, damp environment which is similar to Pakistan. “Dengue virus, presents amongst the most important arthropod-borne infections… transmitted to man by the bite of a domestic mosquito, Aedes aegypti, being the principle vector” (Shakoor, Ayub, & Ayub, 2012).
11 PAIN; A HEALTH BURDEN, A RESEARCH AMBIGUITY!!!, Sadaf Ahmed & Shamoon Noushad
To alleviate the burden of uncontrolled pain is an essential public, health and economic challenge. Chronic pain is often difficult to diagnose and manage, hitting millions of people and families as a chronic illness that not only raise healthcare expenses but also produce a huge burden of pain-related disability
12 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE - VARYING PERSPECTIVES THE MYTHS, SCIENCE AND CONCEPTS OF EMOTIONS IN RELATION WITH HEALTH VISUALIZED, Mahnoor Nadeem
Avast amount of studies have been carried out far and wide on the impact and development of emotional intelligence in an individual. At first it was not counted as a form of intelligence at all, it was merely considered a myth concerning the arts and even now, after numerous studies, some criticism remains. However, despite the criticism the impact of emotional intelligence in one's daily life cannot be denied. It is there, it is important, the developments are being studied and a great many health and social issues are related to it.
13 EPIGENETICS- A GIFT FROM NATURE, LET’S EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITY!, Binte Musharraf1&
Socio-economic habitat is considered as the milestone for changing the aspect of disease. We say that if you are living near industry you would probably be very near to encounter lung diseases or genetic mutations leading to cancer, or if you are living under stress you would put yourself under the umbrella of chronic diseases. Sometimes, people cope with their hereditary diseases and sometimes, they worsen their conditions; Why does that happen? How could we control our diseases? Or can we really control them? These are the questions ringing the bell of researchers’ minds for so long. Therefore, lets know about our gene and how it works and how we can control it.
14 Plagiarism; An academic crime, Syed Zain Azher
To steal some one?s idea or work without giving a proper acknowledgement is counted as plagiarism but the dilemma is that most of the young researchers are not focusing on this point. For the avoidance of plagiarism; young researchers mostly focus on paraphrasing. Although it?s also an essential step in reducing plagiarism but without knowing the proper citation technique we are unintentionally doing plagiarism.
15 Plagiarism; An academic crime, Syed Zain Azher
To steal some one?s idea or work without giving a proper acknowledgement is counted as plagiarism but the dilemma is that most of the young researchers are not focusing on this point. For the avoidance of plagiarism; young researchers mostly focus on paraphrasing. Although it?s also an essential step in reducing plagiarism but without knowing the proper citation technique we are unintentionally doing plagiarism.
16 EMOTIONAL FEELINGS & BEHAVIOUR: A MATTER OF WELL BEING , Shamoon Noushad & Sadaf Ahmed
Being expressive via behavioral reactions and emotions may also serve to either promote or reduce the feelings. As avoiding a situation, any imbalance between mind, body and soul is connected to emotional well-being of individual and Each related emotion can occur in variety in intensity or levels of stimulation both external(social and environmental) and internal (psychological and physiological)
17 SHOULD TOBACCO INDUSTRY BE BANNED IN PAKISTAN? , Shams Ul Huda
Tobacco is one of the revenue generating industry in Pakistan; it has provided employment to thousands of people in different sectors. Meanwhile, tobacco is the major cause of different Non-Communicable Diseases, which ultimately increase the burden on our health care system. Tobacco kills 100, 000 people every year in Pakistan, more than people killed through terrorism. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the issue in light of literature respecting different point of view on the issue. I have concluded that dis-advantages of tobacco industry surpass advantages of it, and recommended strategies to decrease consumption as well production of tobacco to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG).
18 SIGNIFICANCE OF DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH RADIOGRAPHER, Saima Khan
The central intent of Research is to provide the development of a research environment and a fabric to guide radiography managers and radiography education providers, in the growth of their own strategic policies centered around research and evidence based exercise. Unavoidable and increasing demand of advanced imaging tests demonstration results in developing areas of healthcare as rapidly as radiology in both terms as clinical applications and technological advances.
19 HEALTHY MOMS, HEALTHY CHILD, HAPPY YOU , Unzela Ayub & Sadaf Ahmed
Food is always important for a healthy life but a healthy child is always dependent on maternal nutrition so the root cause of child malnutrition is the state of maternal nutrition which means if a mother is malnourished her baby will automatically become malnourished. The threat of malnutrition begins in the womb and continues throughout the life cycle. Nowadays malnutrition has emerged as a huge problem in South Asian region which is affecting females and children at higher rates (Anwar, 2014).
20 EBOLA THREATENS THE WORLD; VIRUSES DON’T NEED VISA , Mahnoor Nadeem
Ebola disease, also known as severe hemorrhagic disease is caused by a virus, Ebola. This organism has been termed as requiring Biosafety level 4 by WHO, which means that studying this virus would require the highest possible amount of safety measures. Laboratories which work with all the safety equipment’s and techniques are very few in number in the entire world and currently there is no cure available for the disease caused by Ebola virus. The signs and symptoms may not appear up till around two weeks of being infected with the virus. The symptoms include fever, nausea, vomiting, headache, muscle ache and severe cases may reach the stage of excessive bleeding (WHO, 2014). Once the infection establishes itself, the chaos starts and no cure is yet available.
21 IMPLEMENTATION OF IMCI IN PAKISTAN; A SUCCESS STORY OR A FAILURE?, Atif Mahmood & Abira Aftab
Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) is a program of world Health Organization (WHO), which is designed with an aim to save the under-five and neonatal population of the world from easily preventable diseases which are responsible for an average seven out of ten deaths in the pediatric population. Nearly nine million children under five years of age die each year out of which 6.6 million children under 5 years of age had died in 2012 only, mostly from preventable causes
22 MERS, EBOLA AND CHIKUNGUNYA: THE VIRAL OUTBREAKS OF 2014 , Kanwal Tariq
Since the early days, mankind has been plagued by diseases, which had for some time been considered incurable. In the past few decades, we have encountered numerous epidemics caused by all types of pathogens. The viral infections, however, have been the most notorious ones. These infections can be more severe and often highly fatal if not treated appropriately. The reason can be attributed to the distinct nature of viruses and their still obscure mechanisms
23 NUTRITIONAL HASSLE; WHY WE NEED SOLUTIONS??? , Sadaf Ahmed & Shamoon Noushad
Modern life is considered to steal from our brain and body the nutrients needed. Even if take a diet loaded with fruits and vegetables, we will still come up nutritionally petite. Health is a complete status of body and mind fitness and is the capacity of our brain to perform what’s required to remember, concentrate, focus, solve problems and make decisions. In short, helps in clear and quick thinking. But all fitness is impossible without brain health as an unhealthy brain can simply not do what you expect of it.
24 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN PAKISTAN: A META ANALYTIC REVIEW OF PUBLISHED RESEARCHES , Bakhtawar Ali
Domestic violence against women is recognized as one of the most serious issues that women face all over the globe. Research indicates that one out of every three women have experienced it once in their life time. The term domestic violence includes all kinds of verbal, emotional, physical and sexual violence. Although, the problem has been faced by women all across the globe for centuries and it has been associated with worst health outcomes, but, it’s been only thirty years since it has been recognized as a major problem for women. Thus, scarce research literature is present on this topic ( Kishor, 2004).
25 CRIMINALS OF RESEARCH , Shamoon Noushad & Sadaf Ahmed
The main purpose to write this editorial is to stipulate the errors extant in research & development sector in Pakistan. When we talk about health care research these blunders are not considered booboos because these lead towards many deadly or adversarial outcomes & eventually making the researcher criminal.
26 ROLE OF NEUROPROTEINS IN THE PROGRESSION OF THE ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE , Sadaf Mumtaz
Neuroproteins are present in the brain cells account as one of the leading cause of Alzheimers disease. These proteins are Beta-amyloid protein and tau proteins, usually involved in the formation of microtubular system. As the disease progresses, the both neuroproteins form the plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the CSF disrupts the entire microtubular system. The first symptoms of the disease appear at enhanced level of predictive markers of the disease after reaching at certain threshold level. The total brain size shrinks with Alzheimer's - the tissue has increasingly fewer nerve cells and connections.
27 HOSPITAL ACQUIRED INFECTIONS , Atif Mahmood & Abira Aftab
A hospital is a health care setting that provides care and treatment to patients through trained staff and specialized equipment. Recovery from diseases and attainment of health is crucial for everybody. Therefore, health care professionals gain core position in the treatment of diseases and prevention of other health hazards like Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI). The HAI is one of those hazardous conditions which adversely affect patients thus further contributing to ill health. This term paper defines this scorching issue in depth. It reviews the prevalence of nosocomial infections in relation to the globe and specifically in Pakistan. Furthermore, the paper also explains some of the causes which lead to hospital acquired infections. In addition, the paper also discusses its therapeutic management based on different pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. The pharmacological approaches include antibiotics and non-pharmacological include awareness about universal precautions to limit and eliminate hospital acquired infections. Moreover, it provides strategies and recommendations to treat and preclude these infections. It also highlights some of the data gaps needed to be explored in future in order to prevent and alleviate the sufferings from HAI. Hence, implementation of these strategies would not only help in declining the burden of nosocomial infection in our country but also throughout the world.
28 COLOR PERCEIVING; A PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF COLORS, Sadaf Ahmed & Saima Khan
Color has a profound effect on our mood and a nonverbal form of communication. In clothing, interiors, landscape and even natural light, a color can change mood from sad to happy, from anxiety to relaxation, from fear to confidence. Some colors are articulate while others are very quiet, some indicates that you have traveled or are well-read. Yet others create a desire for closeness, intimacy and love (Elliot, 2007). An awareness of the emotions generated by different colors is helpful in planning personal palettes, but it must be also understood that this information is not unlimited. The effects of colors on ones mood vary from individual to individual.
29 CANCER: A VITAMIN B17 DEFICIENCY? (MYTH OR REALITY), Ushba Sohail
Cancer is a disease caused by uncontrolled cellular division in the body. It has been about 300-500 years to the diagnosis of cancer. And now heaps of its types are being discovered annually. Cancer is not just a single seizure. It is not like polio or some other virus which can be conducted by vaccination. Cancer is the installation of a whole new world of diseases and opening of a whole new dimension of diseases .Each possessing a different way of affecting the human body.
30 ARE UNDERGRADUATES A VULNERABLE RESEARCH SUBJECTS? - AN ETHICAL CONCERN, Sadaf Ahmed & Shamoon Noushad
It’s been 13 years I have been involved in basic & Clinical research in University setting while in these years I have learnt many sorrows in research, we usually hear and talk about research ethics, codes & conducts etc. But these ethics are not the part of reality as there are many of contemporaries from various academies involved in unethical practices. Though many times people like me raised questions but eventually the strong partisan system in our academia clogged these opinions. This article is based on the factual practice of research specifically in Karachi, Pakistan & the major focus of this article is towards the selection of participants (students & employees) for sample or data collection without any ethical consideration.
31 EVERY DARK SIDE HAS SOME SILVER LINING TOO , Amna khan
“Try to take what I am saying at face value and do not try to read into it. I am not capable of that kind of phrasing” Many of us might have seen people with some awkward or strange facial expression and we might have come across with people who may have difficulty in understanding nonverbal communications, social interactions and in sequencing the objects. Such people are supposed to have Autism. Autism is acknowledged as complex developmental disability which is mostly said to appear in first three years of a child not every child be a victim of it but if you observe a child with abnormal facial expression or unsocial behavior then he might be at risk of autism. Historically the traces of autism were prevailing earlier in 1943 but it was Leo Kanner who first clarified the details of autistic behavior. Prior to his explanation autism was named as childhood schizophrenia. Kanner observed that such affected individuals were showing difficulty in understanding other’s feelings and they are obsessive. Such infants might face visual hindrances. Autism spectrum disorder is another wide term used for lifelong complex neurological disorder with no known cause in many cases but it is portrayed by three spheres of influence mostly communication, interaction and monotonous behaviors.
32 HEALTH BENEFITS & CURATIVE PROPERTIES OF CAMEL MILK, Syed Zain Azher
Persons with diabetes have started drinking camel milk in Karachi. The Reason behind is that it helps to reduce blood sugar level or insulin level and it is one of those rare functional foods that help to manage diabetes better. But the Question arises is that; Are these reasons scientifically correct? To explore these reasons, first we should know about how insulin maintains sugar level in human body and what are the similar properties present in camel milk insulin are.