International Journal of Medical Sociology and Anthropology

International Journal of Medical Sociology and Anthropology ISSN 2756-3820 Vol. 11 (1), pp. 001-005, January, 2022. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Distribution, conservation and folk uses of Vaibidang (Embelia ribes Burm. f.)

Rama Shankar¹, G. S. Lavekar², Sourabh Deb³, B. K. Sharma⁴ and M.S.Rawat⁵

¹Ayurveda Regional Research Institute, Itanagar, India-791111.

²Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Science, New Delhi- 110058, India.

³Department of Forestry and Biodiversity, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, Tripura, India.

⁴Department of Microbiology, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar, Tripura, India.

⁵National Medicinal Plants Board, Chandralok Building, Janpath, New Delhi, 110001, India.

Accepted 15 June, 2020

Abstract

Vaibidang (Embelia ribes Burm. f.) is a red listed climbing shrub found in the semi-evergreen to evergreen forests of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and China, whose fruits are used in a large number of Ayurvedic formulations. It is traditionally used as analgesic, antipyretic, antibacterial, antifertility and anthelmintic in different parts of India. The dosage of traditional medicine prepared from this herb varies from region to region. Ripening and timely harvesting are also an important factor for the potency of this herb. Introducing fully mature seeds for raising planting materials is only an accessible way of its propagation.

Key words: Traditional, Myrsinaceae, ayurvedic, embelin, Arunachal Pradesh.

International Journal of Medical Sociology and Anthropology ISSN 2756-3820 Vol. 10 (4), pp. 001-012, April, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Physiochemical evaluation of the drinking water sources from district Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Naeem Khan^1,2*, Syed Tasleem Hussain ¹, Javid Hussain¹, Nargis Jamila³, Shabir Ahmed¹, Riaz Ullah^1,4, Zain Ullah⁵, and Abdus Saboor^1,6

¹Department of Chemistry, Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat-26000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

²Department of Food and Nutrition, Chosun University, Dong-gu, Gwangju, 501-759, Republic of Korea.

³School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, 11800, Malaysia.

⁴College of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, King Saud University Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

⁵Department of Chemistry, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

⁶UNICEF, UNOCA Compound, Jalalabad Road, Kabul, 54, Afghanistan.

Accepted 18 January, 2021

Abstract

Safe drinking water is a high priority issue for safeguarding health and well-being of humans all over the world. Both in the urban and rural areas of Pakistan, the quality of drinking water are not being managed properly. Results of various studies provide evidence that most of the drinking-water supplies are physiochemically contaminated. In this study, a detailed investigation of the drinking water sources of both urban and rural areas of Kohat district was carried out to evaluate their suitability for drinking purpose. A total of 54 water samples were collected from the hand pumps, streams, tanks, tube wells and wells, at 15 sampling sites selected of the main population zones. Also, 6 bottled water samples were taken from the market. All these were analyzed for physicochemical parameters including pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), total solids (TS), chloride (Cl⁻), calcium (Ca²⁺), magnesium (Mg²⁺), hardness, and alkalinity. The results of parameters showed variations from the WHO and Pakistan standard values for drinking water. Most polluted areas were Shakardara, Lachi and Ara Khail. Among the various sources, wells and tanks were highly polluted while tube wells were found to be the most suitable source for drinking water. The main purpose of this research was to make public awareness of the study areas, to avoid usage of contaminated water for drinking or other domestic uses and to reduce health risks.

Key words: Drinking water, sources, physiochemical evaluation, Kohat.

International Journal of Medical Sociology and Anthropology ISSN 2756-3820 Vol. 10 (3), pp. 001-006, March, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Anti-bacterial effect of Indian costus and sea-qust and their water extracts on some pathogenic bacteria of the human respiratory system

AL-Kattan, Manal Othman

Faculty of Science (Girls), Department of Microbiology, King AbdulAziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. *Corresponding author. E-mail: Asrar_673@hotmail. Tel: +966505688848.

Accepted 14 May, 2020

Abstract

The pathogenic bacteria of the human respiratory system are characterized by resistance to most antibiotics. Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumonia are some of the pathogenic bacteria of the human respiratory system which often cause pneumonia and meningitis. Moreover, they are the most prominent strains of bacteria in most hospitals. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics occurs as a result of excessive usage of antibiotics in the treatment of diseases. For that reason, it is necessary to seek for medical alternatives that are safer for the treatment of these bacteria. Alternative medicine, especially, has revealed many plants and herbs that are used in the treatment for some diseases including respiratory diseases. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the Indian Costus and sea-Qust on the pathogenic bacteria; Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, S. aureus and K. pneumonia. In addition, the effect of the water extracts of the Indian costus and sea-qust on S. aureus and K. pneumonia was also determined. The results showed antibacterial effect of two types of dried Costus roots on all tested bacteria, especially in high concentrations. Also, the cold or hot water extract of Indian Costus was highly effective against tested bacteria at 20 to 25% concentration, while the hot extract of sea-Qust was more effective against tested bacteria than its cold extract in all the concentrations used.

Key words: Medicinal plants, dried roots, bacterial resistance, lung diseases.

International Journal of Medical Sociology and Anthropology ISSN 2756-3820 Vol. 10 (2), pp. 001-009, February, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Antibacterial activity of medicinal plants used as ethnomedicine by the traditional healers of Musiri Thaluk, Trichy District, Tamilnadu, India

Sathya Bama S.¹, Sankaranarayanan S.²*, Bama P.², Ramachandran J.³, Bhuvaneswari N.³ and Jayasurya Kingsley S⁴

¹Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Stella Maris College, No.17, Cathedral Road, Chennai - 600 086, Tamilnadu, India.

²Sri Sairam Siddha Medical College and Research Centre, Saileo Nagar, West Tambaram, Tamil Nadu,

Chennai 600044, India.

³Gloris Biomed Research Centre (P) Ltd, No.171. Fourth street, Kannigapuram, K.K. Nagar, Chennai-600 078, India

⁴Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, Loyola College, Chennai 600 034, Tamil Nadu, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: sanhari12@gmail, [email protected].

Accepted 17 October, 2020

Abstract

The objective of this study was to collect information about medicinal plants and their uses by the knowledge obtained from the traditional healers in Musiri thaluk of Trichy district, Tamilnadu, India. It was also to determine the phytochemical properties and antimicrobial activity of fifteen different plants selected based on spearman rank correlation. The traditional healers of Musiri thaluk, Trichy district used different species of medicinal plants belonging to different families for the treatment of various diseases. Common maximum number of species has been used for fever followed by skin infection, wound healing and antiseptic. Herbs were found to be the most used plants followed by climbers, shrubs and trees. The spearman rank correlation was used to analyse the knowledge about medicinal plants. Antibacterial activity of fifteen medicinal plants (Acalypha fruticosa, Caralluma attenuate, Cissampelos pareira, Elephantopus scaber, Mukia maderaspatensis, Justicia simplex, Lepidagathis cristata, Rhinacanthus nasutus, Sida acuta, Theprosia purpurea, Toddalia asiatica, Tridax procumbens, Tylophora indica, Trichodesma indicum and Oldenlandia umbellata) was determined by measuring the diameter of zone of inhibition, that is the mean of triplicates + standard deviation (SD) of three replicates. Of these, T. procumbens and T. indica exhibited more promising bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirablis and Vibrio cholerae. The traditional healers in Trichy district possess rich ethno-botanical knowledge. This study on medicinal plants will attract ethano botanist, phytochemistrist and pharmacologists in identifying many high value medicinal plant species for research of novel antibacterial compound of these medicinal plants.

Key words: Antibacterial, medicinal plants, traditional medicine, local healers.

International Journal of Medical Sociology and Anthropology ISSN 2756-3820 Vol. 10 (1), pp. 001-008, January, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Efficacy of different medicines used for the treatment of osteoporosis by using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry

Perveen Zaidi, Muhammad Hanif*, Shahid Kamal, Salman Habib and Akhtar Ahmed

Karachi Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Pakistan. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

Accepted 17 May, 2019

Abstract

Osteoporosis, a skeletal disease and common condition affecting one in three women and one in twelve men is a major health burden worldwide and in our population as well. A total of 180 patients including 30 in control group, 126 osteoporotics and 54 osteopenics, were diagnosed and analyzed with the help of bone mineral density (BMD) by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and treated in different groups with different brands of medicines; bisphophonates (alendronates and risederonates). Overall results in the therapy group BMD (g/cm²) spine improved from 0.748 ± 0.0088 to 0.777 ± 0.0091 after one year of treatment while BMD hip rose from 0.713 ± 0.0087 to 0.730 ± 0.009 in a similar period. In the osteoporotic group (n = 106), BMD spine increased from 0.699 ± 0.0077 to 0.727 ± 0.007 and BMD hip from 0.679 ± 0.009 to 0.693 ± 0.009. In the osteopenic goup (n = 44), BMD spine increased from 0.863 ± 0.011 to 0.898 ± 0.011 and BMD hip from 0.793 ± 0.007 to 0.817 ± 0.012. Patients on Osto, Drate and Fosamax (alendronates) did better than those on Dronate and Actonel (risedronates). Of alendronates, Fosamax and Osto treated patients did better than those on Drate. Of risedronates, Actonel treated patients faired better than those on Dronate which showed the least improvement.

Key words: Osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone mineral density, DEXA, alendronate, risedronate.

International Journal of Medical Sociology and Anthropology ISSN 2756-3820 Vol. 9 (10), pp. 001-006, October, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper        

Barriers to family planning use among the Baoule Group in Djebonoua (North-Central Côte D'ivoire)

Adou Serge Judicaël ANOUA^*, Kouamé Frédéric SIGNO, Meless Siméon AKMEL, Koffi David ZOUZOU

Department of Anthropology & Sociology, Alassane Ouattara University, BP V18 Bouaké 01, Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire.                                                              

Accepted 01 September, 2020

Abstract

Family planning has low utilization in Côte d'Ivoire. It is important to note the factors that hinder the objectives set by the Ivorian State in this area. This research aims to shed light on the social representations of family planning in rural areas in order to understand these resistance factors using the example of the Baoulé group in Djebonoua. This is qualitative research with an informative objective in the field of family planning. One midwife and six elderly women caregivers were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Two focus groups were conducted with two different groups of twelve women and twelve men living in couples. The use of this information was based on content analysis. The recourse explanatory model was supported by the theory of personal constructs. We noted that the absence of family planning in cultural obstetrics, the contradictory perception of modern contraceptives and the negative reaction of men in the couple to contraception were the factors of resistance to family planning in the Baoulé group of Djebonoua. Appropriate preventive actions such as behaviour change communication are considered. These educational activities in the population would focus on knowledge of contraceptive products and adherence to prescribed family planning regimes for reproductive health.

Keywords: Family planning, contraceptive, social representation, reproductive health, Côte d’Ivoire.