Mohammad Al Mamun

Social Media in Communicating Health Information: An Analysis of Facebook Groups Related to Hypertension

Introduction We studied Facebook groups related to hypertension to characterize their objectives, subject matter, member sizes, geographical boundaries, level of activity, and user-generated content. Methods We performed a systematic search among open Facebook groups using the keywords “hypertension,” “high blood pressure,” “raised blood pressure,” and “blood pressure.” We extracted relevant data from each group’s content and developed a coding and categorizing scheme for the whole data set. Stepwise logistic regression was used to explore factors independently associated with each group’s level of activity. Results We found 187 hypertension-related Facebook groups containing 8,966 members. The main objective of most (59.9%) Facebook groups was to create hypertension awareness, and 11.2% were created primarily to support patients and caregivers. Among the top-displayed, most recent posts (n = 164), 21.3% were focused on product or service promotion, whereas one-fifth of posts were related to hypertension-awareness information. Each Facebook group’s level of activity was independently associated with group size (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.03), presence of “likes” on the most recent wall post (AOR, 3.55, 95% CI, 1.41–8.92), and presence of attached files on the group wall (AOR, 5.01, 95% CI, 1.25–20.1). Conclusion The primary objective of most of the hypertension-related Facebook groups observed in this study was awareness creation. Compared with the whole Facebook community, the total number of hypertension-related Facebook groups and their users was small and the groups were less active.

Cardiovascular diseases among patients with schizophrenia.

The presence of comorbid physical illnesses especially, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in schizophrenia is a growing area of concern in recent years. In order to reduce disease burden, to improve quality of life and to provide holistic care, it is important to know about the relationship between schizophrenia and CVD. The objective of this review is to explore the extent of CVD problems, relevant risk factors and potential measures for early diagnosis and prevention of CVD among patients with schizophrenia. Worldwide studies show that patients with schizophrenia have a higher mortality and lower life expectancy than the general population. CVD is the leading cause of increased mortality in schizophrenia. Common CVD risk factors in schizophrenia include metabolic syndrome, sedentary behaviour, tobacco smoking, effects of antipsychotics, long chain omega-3 fatty acid deficiency and shared genetics between CVD and schizophrenia. The potential methods for early detection and prevention of CVD in schizophrenia are also discussed. Though the patients with schizophrenia form a high risk group for CVD, consensus guidelines for early detection and prevention of CVD in schizophrenia are lacking. Comorbidity of CVD in schizophrenia needs more serious attention by clinicians and researchers.

Burden of Cardio- and Cerebro-vascular Diseases and the Conventional Risk Factors in South Asian Population

Similar to most populations, South Asian countries are also witnessing the dramatic transitions in health during the last few decades with the major causes of adverse health shifting from a predominance of nutritional deficiencies and infectious diseases to chronic diseases such as cardio and cerebrovascular disease (CVD). We summarized the available information of the burden of CVD and risk factors in the South Asian populations. The prevalence of conventional cardiovascular has been increasing among all South Asian populations. Extensive urbanization, shift in dietary pattern and sedentary daily life style is contributing towards the worsening of the CVD risk factor scenario. The burdens of the chronic cardiovascular risk factors are much prevalent in the South Asian populations. These are also rising alarmingly which ought to influence the already existed heavy CVD burden. Similar to the rest of the world, management for the conventional cardiovascular risk factors is very important for the prevention of CVD in South Asia.

YouTube as a source of useful information on diabetes foot care

Diabetes foot care related videos were identified in YouTube to assess their usefulness as a source of information. Two physician reviewers evaluated the videos and categorized those as very-useful (11.2%), moderately-useful (14.6%), somewhat-useful (24.7%) and not-useful (49.4%). YouTube videos on diabetes foot-care contained a variety of content ranging from very useful to not useful.

User-driven conversations about dialysis through Facebook: A qualitative thematic analysis.

As one of the most popular social networking sites in the world, Facebook has strong potential to enable peer support and the user‐driven sharing of health information. We carried out a qualitative thematic analysis of the wall posts of a public Facebook group focused on dialysis to identify some of the major themes discussed.

Emerging Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases in Bangladesh

As a result of an epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases for last few decades, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are being considered as an important cause of mortality and morbidity in many developing countries including Bangladesh. Performing an extensive literature search, we compiled, summarized, and categorized the existing information about CVD mortality and morbidity among different clusters of Bangladeshi population. The present review reports that the burden of CVD in terms of mortality and morbidity is on the rise in Bangladesh. Despite a few non-communicable disease prevention and control programs currently running in Bangladesh, there is an urgent need for well-coordinated national intervention strategies and public health actions to minimize the CVD burden in Bangladesh. As the main challenge for CVD control in a developing country is unavailability of adequate epidemiological data related to various CVD events, the present review attempted to accumulate such data in the current context of Bangladesh. This may be of interest to all stakeholder groups working for CVD prevention and control across the country and globe.

Social Networking Sites for Peer-Driven Health Communication: Diabetes-Related Communities in Google+

AbstractObjectiveGoogle+ is one of the most actively used Social Networking Sites in the world. The aim of our study is to characterize the Google+ communities related to diabetes and identify the factors associated with the activity level of these communities.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search for diabetes-related Google+ communities. We categorized the principal objective of eligible communities into six themes: (1) awareness creation, (2) providing support and sharing experience, (3) product or service promotion, (4) diet-related topics, (5) exercise-related topics, and (6) others. The themes for the posts were: (1) asking for information, (2) providing information, (3) expressing emotion, and (4) advertisement.ResultsWe included 145 Google+ communities and 378 posts for analysis. Majority (80.0%) of the communities were focused on “General Diabetics”, 11.8% were focused on “Type 1 diabetes”, 6.2% were focused on “Type 2 diabetes”, and 2.1% were focused on “Gestational diabetes”. Majority of the communities (35.2%) had the principal objective “Provide support and share experience”. Regarding the user-generated posts, 29.6% posts had at least one “+” (“+” is similar to “like” in Facebook), 17.7% posts had comments, and 89.2% posts had external links. Majority of the posts (69.6%) were focused on “General diabetes”, 16.9% were focused on “Type 1 diabetes”, 12.4% were focused on “Type 2 diabetes” and 1.15 were focused on “gestational diabetes”. The top two themes of the posts were “Providing information” (72.8%) and “Advertisement” (31.5%).ConclusionOur study revealed that major activity of diabetes-related Google+ communities was related to providing support and information. However, the accuracy and effectiveness of the information in the communities need to be scrutinized further from clinical perspective.

Ramadan fasting is not usually associated with the risk of cardiovascular events: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Over one billion Muslims worldwide fast during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan fasting brings about some changes in the daily lives of practicing Muslims, especially in their diet and sleep patterns, which are associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Over the years, many original studies have made the effort to identify the possible impact of the Ramadan fast on cardiovascular diseases. This systematic review and meta-analysis is an attempt to present the summary of key findings from those articles and an appraisal of selected literature. A systematic search using keywords of “;Ramadan fasting” and “;cardiovascular diseases” was conducted in primary research article and gray-literature repositories, in combination with hand searching and snow balling. Fifteen studies were finally selected for data extraction on the outcomes of stroke, myocardial infarction, and congestive heart failure. The analysis revealed that the incidence of cardiovascular events during the Ramadan fast was similar to the nonfasting period. Ramadan fast is not associated with any change in incidence of acute cardiovascular disease.

Safety of street foods

Abstract A huge number of people worldwide consume street foods in some form every day as a part of their dining habits. Typically, street foods are sold on the street from temporary structures in open-air locations. Despite many potential advantages, street food is recognized to pose significant public health risks. Microbiological contamination is the most important health hazard associated with street foods, while the use of unpermitted chemical additives, pesticide residues, transmission of parasites, and environmental contamination have also been considered as other possible health risks. Ensuring the safety of street foods is an important public health priority. Awareness of the street food vendors as well as the consumers regarding the basic food safety principles and measures is essential. Moreover, institutional efforts and interventions, monitoring of street food regulations, and involving appropriate stakeholders are required to accomplish street food safety initiatives.