Medicine

Hobsen's Choice in Disaster Medical Ethics

2023-04-26T11:28:27Z

Hobsen's Choice in Disaster Medical Ethics Pagoda, Rajeev Medical ethics is founded on three basic principles; which are the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence and respect for autonomy. The priority of these principles may change with different circumstances, such as in disasters, which sometimes may lead to challenges that are quite different from day today medical practices. Disasters make the medical practitioner more vulnerable to hazards; the hazardous working environment causes extraordinary additional stresses that a practitioner may not undergo in a normal environment. Disasters may lead to ethical challenges that are different from usual medical practices. In addition, disaster situations are related to public health ethics more than medical ethics, and accordingly may require stronger effort to achieve a balance between individual and collective rights. The author researched extensively on ethical consideration of Disaster Medicine. This paper aims to review some ethical dilemmas that arise in disasters and mainly focuses on health services. Disasters vary considerably with respect to their time, place and extent. Therefore, ethical questions may not always have `one-size-fits-all` answers. On the other hand, embedding ethical values and principles in every aspect of health-care is of vital importance. It is only by making efforts before disasters, that ethical challenges can be minimized in disaster responses. article full text

Respiratory Health Problems of Rice Mill Workers in Ampara Divisional Secretariat Division

2023-04-26T11:47:33Z

Respiratory Health Problems of Rice Mill Workers in Ampara Divisional Secretariat Division Chandrathilaka, KRM; Seneviratne, SR De A; Lankatilake, KN; Samaranayake, DBDL; Karunarathna, AK Rice milling is one of the major occupations in Ampara district which is done in various production scales. Cough, phlegm, chest tightness and wheeze were common among rice mill workers. A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and lung function measurements of rice mill workers in the Divisional Secretariat Division of Ampara. The participants in the study and control groups were matched for age, height, weight and ethnicity. Prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms was obtained by a validated questionnaire together with lung function measurements. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and ratio of FEV1 compared to FVC were measured using mini-vitalograph spirometer and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was measured using peak expiratory flow meter. Breathing difficulty, wheezing and having cough were significantly high among the study group compared to the control group (p<0.05) and mean FVC and PEFR were significantly lower among the study group compared to the controls (p<0.01).Therefore, it may be concluded that dust originating from the rice mills causes increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms leading to mixed type of restrictive and obstructive respiratory diseases. article full text

Prevalence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella on Different Cuts of Retail Chicken Meat in Badulla District

2023-04-26T11:50:25Z

Prevalence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella on Different Cuts of Retail Chicken Meat in Badulla District Madhurangi, GHP; Fernando, TSR; Bulumulla, PBAIK; Chandrasena, G The present study was undertaken to determine the Escherichia coli and Salmonella contamination on different cuts of retail chicken meat from Badulla district. Twenty retail shops were randomly selected from seven secretary divisions in Badulla district. Two whole chicken samples were collected from each retail shop. Collected samples were screened for bacteria by selective culture procedure and presumptively positive colonies were bio-chemically confirmed. Prevalence of Salmonella in thigh, breast, back and wing cuts were 28.92 %, 20.48 %, 19.28 % and 13.25 % respectively. Prevalence of Salmonella in whole chicken sample was 18.07 %. No significance association was observed for the prevalence of Salmonella with different chicken meat cuts (P >0.05). Prevalence of Escherichia coli in thigh, breast, back and wing cuts were 20.99 %, 25.93 %, 24.69 % and 11.11 % respectively. Prevalence of Escherichia coli in whole chicken sample was 17.28 %. There was a significance association between chicken part and the prevalence of Escherichia coli in retail chicken meat in Badulla District. The highest occurrence of Salmonella was reported in Badulla division (19.28 %). An incidence of Escherichia coli (24.05 %) was significantly high in Bandarawela division. Prevalence of Salmonella in retail chicken meat in Badulla district is in high level and contamination of E. coli indicate the improper handling and storage of raw chicken meat and poor level of hygienic condition in retail outlets. article full text

Antihistamine Effect of Bee Honey in Wistar Rats

2023-04-26T11:37:07Z

Antihistamine Effect of Bee Honey in Wistar Rats Weerakoon, WASS; Perera, PK; Gunasekera, D; Suresh, TS According to the Ayruveda classic Ashtanga Hridaya, written around 500 AD, honey can be used to treat many diseases. Eight types of honey are mentioned in Ayurvedic authentic texts. Out of these eight types of honey, the variety produced by honey bees is the most commonly referred to and is the type of honey consumed by humans. Honey produced by other bees and insects has distinctly different properties. Anti- inflammatory, anti-pyretic and anti-noceceptive effects of bee honey were established in Wistar rats in our recent experimental studies. In the present study, our aim was to evaluate the antihistamine potential of bee honey in Wistar rats, in order to elucidate one mechanism of anti- inflammatory action. The antihistamine effect of bee honey was compared with distilled water and chlorpheniramine controls in 3 groups of Wistar rats (n=6 in each). One hour after drug and bee honey administration, these rats were subcutaneously injected with 50 ?l of 200 ?g/ml of histamine dihydrochloride into the skin where the fur had been shaved, and 2 minutes later the area of the wheal formed was measured and percentage reductions in wheal area were calculated. The results of the study showed the bee honey induced an inhibition of wheal formation in the test group (31.0%) which was not statistically significant (p>0.05).The chlorpheniramine treated group showed 40.0% reduction in wheal formation when compared to the negative control group and it was statistically significant (p < 0.05). This study reveals that antihistamine effect is not a mechanism of anti- inflammatory activity of bee honey. article full text