Pooja Reddy

Efficacy and tolerability of milnacipran and escitalopram: a comparative study among patients of depression

Depression is designated as the “common cold” of psychiatric illness as it is frequently encountered in clinical practice. But unlike common cold, the outcome of untreated depression is grave, ranging from economic losses due to work impairment to increased suicidality. According to WHO, depression is one of the world’s most disabling diseases, affecting nearly 340 million people worldwide. The incidence of depression has risen every year since the early 20 century and it is estimated to become the second largest cause of disease or disability worldwide by the year 2020. Timely recognition of symptoms of depression and its treatment is very important as it is associated with the risk of suicide.

Impact of duration of psychiatry rotation on medical interns' attitude towards psychiatry

Background: Medical Council of India allowed the interns to take up an extra 15 days of elective posting in psychiatry along with the mandatory posting of 15 days. The study was planned to assess the effect of the additional period of psychiatry internship on the attitude of interns towards psychiatry. Material and methods: The consenting interns were given a semi structured proforma enquiring about their age and gender and were asked to fi ll up Attitude Towards Psychiatry (ATP) scale. The assessment was done at the beginning and then after 15 days of mandatory posting. Those participants who were willing to do an additional 15 days of elective posting in psychiatry were assessed again on the 30th day of the training. Results: Mean age of the participating interns (n=47) was 25.44±1.52 and the male female ratio was 0.8. Twenty six interns did only the 15 days mandatory psychiatry internship posting (Group 1) and the remaining 21 interns took up the additional elective 15 days posting (Group 2). At the end of the 15 days posting, Mean ATP score of the group 1 increased from 88.34±6.07 to 88.46±6.19 (p=0.80) whereas the same increased from 88.04±7.06 to 88.19±7.65 (p=0.7) in the group 2 and further increased to 91.09±8.3 at the end of the additional 15 days of elective posting (p<0.05). Conclusion: A thirty days exposure of psychiatry during internship had more favourable impact on the attitude of interns towards psychiatry.

Knowledge, attitude and practices of pharmacovigilance among the postgraduate and undergraduate medical students in a tertiary care hospital in Central India

Background: Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are one of the underestimated causes of morbidity and mortality. Monitoring of these ADRs is at the core of any pharmacovigilance program. ADR monitoring suffers from lack of reporting from health care personnels. Unless we know the current knowledge, attitude and practices of the budding doctors it’s difficult to design corrective measures to improve reporting. The present study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting among undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. Methods: This was a questionnaire-based, observational study. The questionnaire had six questions each pertaining to knowledge, attitude and practices of pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting. Factors discouraging ADR reporting were also studied. Descriptive statistics were carried out and one-way ANOVA was applied to find the statistical difference between the groups. Results: A total of 288 subjects were approached for the study of which 229 agreed to participate. It was observed that the knowledge of the participants regarding ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance was satisfactory. 68% of respondents felt that educational programmes have a positive effect on ADR reporting. 15% of respondents admitted of having reported an ADR. The mean scores of knowledge, attitude and practices of ADR reporting were considerably higher in postgraduates as compared to undergraduates (p-value <0.05). Conclusions: The study concluded that participants of study were aware of the importance of ADR reporting but it did not reflect in their practices. There is a need to create awareness and to educate these future physicians about Pharmacovigilance.

Antinociceptive and anticonvulsant activities of hydroalcoholic extract of Jasminum grandiflorum (jasmine) leaves in experimental animals.

Jasminum grandiflorum belongs to the family Oleaceae and is known to have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antiulcer activities. The present study was undertaken to study its analgesic and anticonvulsant effects in rats and mice. The antinociceptive activity of the hydroalcoholic extract of J. grandiflorum leaves (HEJGL) was studied using tail flick and acetic acid – induced writhing method. Similarly, its anticonvulsant activity was observed by maximal electroshock (MES) method and pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) method. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Dunnetts test. At doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, HEJGL showed significant analgesic and anticonvulsant effects in experimental animals. In view of its analgesic and anticonvulsant activity, the JGL extract can be used in painful conditions as well as in seizure disorders.