Ethnomedicinal Plants and Associated Traditional Knowledge of Jogimatti Forest, Chitradurga District, Karnataka, India

India has one of world’s richest medicinal plant heritages. The wealth is not only in terms of the number of unique species documented, but also in terms of the tremendous depth of traditional knowledge for the uses of human & livestock health and also for agriculture. The medicinal plant species are used by various ethnic communalities for human and veterinary health care, across the various ecosystems from Ladakh in the trans-Himalayas to the southern coastal tip of Kanyakumari and from the deserts of Rajasthan and Kachch to the hills of the Northeast. Chitradurga district at its extreme limits is situated between longitudinal parallels of 760 01’ and 770 01’ east of Greenwich and latitudinal parallels of 130 34’ and 150 02’ North of Equator. The geographical area of the district is 8,388 square kilometers, which accounts for 4.37% of the State’s geographical area. As per the physioagronomic classification of the areas within the state; Chitradurga belongs to South-Eastern Cool and equitable maidan zone. The terrain is not uniform throughout the district and is characterised by vast stretches of undulating plains with chains of hills. General elevation of the district is between 500 m to 600 m above mean sea level. The forests of the division do not present a complex diversity either in their distribution or in composition. The forests are being retrogressed to various stages of degradation because of biotic influences like excessive grazing, lopping for fodder and fuel and unregulated felling, unscientific collection of medicinal plants by the health healers. The present investigation is an attempt to an ethnomedicinal plants survey was carried out in Jogimatti Forest, Chitradurga district, Karnataka, for the exploration of medicinal plants used to cure various ailments. Information was gathered from the tribes and local health healers through questionnaire and personal intereviews during study visits. The local health healers are routine use 50 medicinal plants under 36 families for the treatment of several diseases either in single [22 applications] or in combination with some other ingredients, [28 applications]. The study reveals that leaves, stem/bark were most frequently used [18 species], followed by seeds [13 species], Fl/fl.buds [09 species], roots [08 species], fruits [07 species], entire plant [04 species], and latex [03 species] for the treatment of various ailments like eye ailments, joint pains, paralysis, urinary infection, eczema, fever, rheumatic complaints, inflammations, leprocy, cough and cold, herpes, rheumatism, ring worms, asthma, wound/burns, renal pain etc. The study also showed that many people of Chitradurga district still continue to depend traditionally on medicinal plants for primary health care. Therefore, the present study is an attempt to present some interesting ethnobotanical observations in connection with Jogimatti forest of Chitradurga district

Traditional Phytotherapy for Snake bites by Tribes of Chitradurga District, Karnataka, India

Chitradurga is one of the central districts of Karnataka state and is flanked by Davangere, Tumkur, Chikmagalur and Bellary districts of Karnataka and Anantapur district of Andhrapradesh with much racial and socio-cultural diversity resulting in a cultural mosaic. Bedas, Besthas, Gollas, idigas, Kurubas and tribes such as Lambanis, Hakki-pikki, Jenukurubas, and Fruligas are the communities who are intimately associated with the local forests. The district at its extreme limits is situated between longitudinal parallels of 760 01’ and 770 01’ east of Greeniwich and latitudinal parallels of 130 34’ and 150 02’ north of equator. The geographical area of the district is 8388 square kilometers. The terrain is not uniform throughout the district and is characterised by vast stretches of undulating plains with intermittent parallel chains of hills. The district is characterised in having mixed and dry deciduous forests. An ethno-medicinal survey was undertaken in the district to collect information from traditional health healers/tribals on the use of medicinal plants for snake bites through questionnaire and personal interviews during study visits. The investigation reveals that the local health healers/tribals used 15 plants belonging to 11 families with 12 formulations (02 multiple applications and 10 single plant applications. The study reveals that roots were most frequently used (09 species), followed by leaf extract (04 species), latex and gum with one (01) species each. The study also reveals that many people of the district still continue to rely on traditional medicine for their primary healthcare. Recent trend shows a decline in the number of traditional health practitioners in the region since the younger generation is not interested to continue this tradition. There is little documentation of the ethnomedicinal knowledge was carried out in the district. In addition, several wild medicinal plants are declining in number due to the destruction and unscientific collection of plants from forests. Hence there is an urgent need for exploration and documentation of the traditional knowledge in order to ascertain the local ethnomedicinal plants. Therefore present study is an attempt to present ethnomedicinal observations recorded with respect to snake bites

Macular hypoplasia in congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1a

Congenital disorders of glycosylation are a rare group of metabolic disorders that can result in multiorgan disease. This article describes a novel finding of macular hypoplasia in congenital disorders of glycosylation type 1a

Clinical pain evaluation with intraoral vibration device during local anesthetic injections

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical pain during local anesthetic injection using such intra-oral device. Study Design: A comparative split-mouth clinical study to evaluate clinical pain was conducted among the subjects who required bilateral local anesthetic intra-oral injections. Results: A total of 99 subjects participated in the study out of which 39 were female. A total of 256 local anesthetic injections were administered to all the subjects with at least one pair of similar local anesthetic injections. Comparison of mean VAS score for anticipated pain in without vibration group was significantly higher in all types of nerve blocks when compared to that of with vibration. Similarly, the comparison of mean VAS score for actual pain in without vibration group was significantly higher in all types of nerve blocks when compared to that of with vibration. No significant difference in the mean VAS score was seen between anticipated and actual pain in without vibration group with respect to inferior alveolar ( p =0.673), infra-orbital ( p =0.175) and palatal ( p =0.343) local anesthetic injections. The mean VAS score was significantly lower for actual pain when compared to anticipated pain in vibration group with respect to inferior alveolar ( p <0.001) and infra-orbital ( p =0.002) local anesthetic injections. Conclusions: There was significant reduction in the pain encountered during local anesthetic injection with the use of intra-oral vibration device

Mutations in the EPHA2 gene are a major contributor to inherited cataracts in South-Eastern Australia.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Congenital cataract is the most common cause of treatable visual impairment in children worldwide. Mutations in many different genes lead to congenital cataract. Recently, mutations in the receptor tyrosine kinase gene, EPHA2, have been found to cause congenital cataract in six different families. Although these findings have established EPHA2 as a causative gene, the total contribution of mutations in this gene to congenital cataract is unknown. In this study, for the first time, a population-based approach was used to investigate the frequency of disease causing mutations in the EPHA2 gene in inherited cataract cases in South-Eastern Australia. A cohort of 84 familial congenital or juvenile cataract index cases was screened for mutations in the EPHA2 gene by direct sequencing. Novel changes were assessed for segregation with the disease within the family and in unrelated controls. Microsatellite marker analysis was performed to establish any relationship between families carrying the same mutation. We report a novel congenital cataract causing mutation c.1751C.T in the EPHA2 gene and the previously reported splice mutation c.2826-9G.A in two new families. Additionally, we report a rare variant rs139787163 potentially associated with increased susceptibility to cataract. Thus mutations in EPHA2 account for 4.7% of inherited cataract cases in South-Eastern Australia. Interestingly, the identified rare variant provides a link between congenital and age-related cataract

Orbital Subperiosteal Hematoma in the Newborn Causing Unilateral Proptosis: Ultrasound as First-Line Imaging Modality

This journal is published under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)Proptosis in the neonatal period is relatively infrequent and has diverse underlying etiologies. One of the more common causes appears to be orbital subperiosteal hematoma. Early detection, differentiation from other causes, and regular follow-up are essential as loss of vision can occur. We describe two cases of neonatal proptosis caused by orbital subperiosteal hematoma highlighting different diagnostic and management approaches, and provide a summary of previously reported cases. Spontaneous resolution occurs in most cases; however, emergent surgical evacuation is warranted in cases of optic nerve compression. This is the first report to provide orbital ultrasound images of uncomplicated neonatal orbital subperiosteal hematoma. Orbital ultrasound followed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a valid nonradiation approach for assessing neonatal proptosis due to subperiosteal orbital hematoma

Effect of Oral and Maxillofacial Injuries on the Development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To assess the influence of oral and maxillofacial trauma on the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and to determine the efficiency of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) as a diagnostic tool for detecting PTSD in patients with Oral and Maxillofacial injuries. Material and Methods: PTSD was assessed one month postoperatively by the diagnostic instrument, IES-R, to arrive at a provisional diagnosis. A structured clinician-administered PTSD Scale then assessed the patients for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th edition (CAPS-5) to establish a final diagnosis. The assessment of the severity of PTSD was done based on various types of oral and maxillofacial injuries. Results: The IES-R scale provisionally diagnosed 54 subjects with PTSD, out of which 42 were diagnosed to have PTSD by the CAPS-5 scale. Subjects with injuries involving the ‘orbital complex,’ those presenting with a perceptible scar in the maxillofacial region and with multiple avulsed/ luxated anterior teeth, showed a higher affinity to develop PTSD, and this was statistically significant. Conclusion: Higher levels of PTSD in patients with injuries to the maxillofacial region warrants correct diagnosis and detection, and hence the maxillofacial surgeon plays a vital role in this regard. The IES-R is a useful diagnostic tool to detect PTSD early

Rehabilitation of long standing ankylosis of temporo-mandibular joint in a 65 year old lady: A management quandary

Temporomandibular joint ankylosis commonly occurs as a result of trauma to the face resulting in fusion of the temporal bone to condyle of the mandible .Immediate and appropriate care of facial fractures can minimise the risk of development of ankylosis. We report a case of TMJ ankylosis in a 65 year old lady with complaint of inability to open the mouth since 44 years . The lack of appropriate treatment at the time of trauma led to TMJ ankylosis and its sequale for 44 years. The ankylosis was surgically managed followed by aggressive physiotherapy. Surgeries in geriatric patient need to outweigh benefit over risk. The article describes challenges posed in rehabilitation of this patient