A mental disorder is a pattern of behavior or thought that causes severe suffering or impairs one's ability to function. Due to their inability to lead a regular life, mentally challenged people have been found to have poor oral health. The aim of this study was to assess health care providers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding oral health care of hospitalized patients at St Giles Psychiatric Hospital in Fiji. A cross-sectional survey design was employed in which 29 health care providers completed a questionnaire that collected socio-demographic information, knowledge, attitude and practices regarding oral health maintenance and care of psychiatric patients. Results revealed that all participants (100%), had knowledge on oral health and oral hygiene practices. However, only 9 nurses (50%) and 5 ward orderlies (63%) reported practicing oral hygiene for in – patients. In fact, 5 (17%) respondents did not view oral hygiene as an important aspect in their patients’ health. All participants (100%) reported unavailability of oral hygiene aids and absence of frequent dental visits, as a key barrier in the oral health care of patients. The results emphasize on the need for a formal training program for health care providers, and clear policies and guidelines about oral health care of hospitalized patients must be instituted.

Background and Objectives: The influence of musical aptitude on cognitive test performance in musicians is a long-debated research question. Evidence points to the low performance of nonmusicians in visual and auditory cognitive tasks (working memory and attention) compared with musicians. This cannot be generalized to all nonmusicians, as a sub-group in this population can have innate musical abilities even without any formal musical training. The present study aimed to study the effect of musical aptitude on the working memory and selective attention. Subjects and Methods: Three groups of 20 individuals each (a total of 60 participants), including trained-musicians, nonmusicians with good musical aptitude, and nonmusicians with low musical aptitude, participated in the present study. Cognitive-based visual (Flanker’s selective attention test) and auditory (working memory tests: backward digit span and operation span) tests were administered. Results: MANOVA (followed by ANOVA) revealed a benefit of musicianship and musical aptitude on backward digit span and Flanker’s reaction time (p<0.05). Discriminant function analyses showed that the groups could be effectively (accuracy, 80%) segregated based on the backward digit span and Flanker’s selective attention test. Trained musicians and nonmusicians with good musical aptitude were distinguished as one cluster and nonmusicians with low musical aptitude formed another cluster, hinting the role of musical aptitude in working memory and selective attention. Conclusions Nonmusicians with good musical aptitude can have enhanced working memory and selective attention skills like musicians. Hence, caution is required when these individuals are included as controls in cognitive-based visual and auditory experiments.

Throughout the history of drug development, plants have been an important source for the discovery of novel therapeutically active compounds for many diseases. The ethnopharmacological approach has provided several leads to identify potential new drugs from plant sources, including those for memory disorders. For the treatment of Alzheimer's disease the drug discovery focus shifted from cholinesterase inhibitors, to other targets primarily based on two key neuropathological hallmarks, namely the hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein resulting in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), and the increased formation and aggregation of amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) derived from amyloid precursor protein (APP). The present article aims to provide a comprehensive literature survey of plants and their constituents that have been tested for Aβ aggregation, thus possibly relieving several features of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
Alzheimer Disease ; drug therapy ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; Humans ; Plants, Medicinal ; Protein Aggregation, Pathological ; drug therapy

Background & Objective: Many studies demonstrated that migraine patients have an interictal habituation and deficit of visual evoked potentials. Controversially, other studies could not reproduce similar finding. Hence, there is a dilemma regarding what should be the ultimate conclusions. The purpose of this study was to compare amplitude and habituation of pattern reversal visual evoked potentials in migraine with aura patients and healthy volunteers. Methods: A total of 40 migraine with aura patients and 40 controls were prospectively enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Using the pattern reversal stimuli, visual evoked potential were estimated in all the participants and abnormalities were noted. Results: In migraine with aura patients, there was a statistically significant increase in the amplitude of the P100 wave due to deficient habituation after 15 min stimulation. In normal subjects, there was a decrease in the amplitude of the P100 wave due to the effect of habituation. The deficient habituation can be because of decreased serotonin levels resulting in reduced pre-activation of the cortex. Conclusion: Migraine with aura patients show evidence of abnormal cortical processing with interictal hyperactivity seen in heightened responsiveness and lack of habituation to visual evoked responses.

Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) have been a great concern throughout the world among the poorest and the most deprived communities. Orang Asli (indigenous) community in Malaysia is highly prone to STHs infection due to their living environment where soil contamination can serve as the main reservoir. This study was aimed to investigate the presence of Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides eggs in the soil samples in and around the Orang Asli villages located in Sungai Lalang Baru, Ulu Semenyih, Selangor. The soil samples were collected from June to November 2017 over a period of six months. Approximately 200-250 gram of soil samples were collected in a plastic bag from a depth of about 4-6 inches. The sedimentation and microscopic techniques was used to recover and estimate the Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides eggs from the soil samples. A total of 40 samples soil samples were collected, in which 36 (90%) were positive for A. lumbricoides and 6 (15%) were positive T. trichiura. Various soil textures like sandy, loamy and clay harbored the helminth eggs. The contaminated soil could potentially lead to transmission of the helminth eggs by natural process like rain and water movement to their sounding environments, hence screening of soil sample in the environment serves as in indication for presence of STHs.

Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) could possibly cause mild to severe health effects such as diarrhea, weakness, intestinal blood loss, and impaired cognitive development and growth. In Malaysia, previous studies depicted a high prevalence rate of STH was due to poor hygiene practice and low efficacies of anthelminthic drugs. This study was conducted to investigate hand hygiene practice and WASH criteria’s (Water, sanitation and hygiene) related to STH infection among two indigenous tribes in Peninsular Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was carried out to study the relationship among STH infection compared to water quality, sanitation, and hygiene conditions. A total of 190 individuals from two indigenous villages participated in the study, with ages ranging from 5 to 60 years old. In addition, Pearson’s Chisquare (X2) test was utilized to test the relationship among STH with demographic socioeconomic and behavioral factors. The confidence interval (CI) of 95% is used to estimate the precision of the odds ratio (OR). Multivariate logistic regression models were also used to identify the risk factors associated with STH infections. The overall findings indicated a prevalence rate of 72% for STH, and distributed mainly among children aged < 12 years. Furthermore, multivariate analyses using logistic regression revealed chronic health problems, incorrect hand washing, and walking bare footed were associated with STH infection. Overall results indicated high prevalence of STH among the indigenous villagers, which aligns with the published literature and proves to be a problem need to be addressed as neglected disease. Interestingly, there was a significant relationship between the presences of chronic diseases and STH infection, which prompted other questions the awareness needs to be educated and the simple and low-cost intervention on the proper way of hand washing may help to reduce STH infection in these indigenous communities.