International Medical Journal

Aging is a biological aspect of human physiological development. Age-associated changes or immunosenescence in the immune cell population, phenotype, and functions are associated with the risk of several diseases and infections. Immunosenescence in aging skin is believed to be related to decreased protective immunity, auto inflammation and autoimmunity, reduced vaccine efficacy, and impaired tolerance nature to harmless antigens. Several phenomena responsible for aging include telomere shortening, reactive oxidative species (ROS) formation, DNA damage, production of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), and inflammaging. In the skin, decreased innate response and adaptive capability were observed. With aging, Langerhans cells (LCs)’ ability to migrate to lymph nodes was decreased, neutrophils’ activation, recognition ability, phagocytosis was diminished coupled with defective chemotaxis, dendritic cells (DCs)’ antigen presentation response was dysfunctional, and monocytes/macrophages have a respiratory burst disorder. In contrast, increased natural killer (NK) cells with decreased chemokine (interleukin [IL]-2 and IL-12) production as well as a retained production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) were reported. Impairment of B cells was also recognized, resulting in low-affinity antibody production against an antigen, while T cells revealed changes in the CD4 and CD8 function and Th17/Treg ratio changes leading to an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory immune responses. In an attempt to slow the progression of immunosenescence, several strategies were developed, such as thymus reconstitution, reduction of antigenic stimulation, exogenous IL-2, dietary restrictions, probiotics, and vaccination.

Worldwide, Current statistics on HIV/AIDS indicate that one-half of all new HIV infections worldwide occur among young people ages 15 to 24. Every minute, five young people worldwide become infected with HIV/AID due to unsafe sexual intercourse. In Ethiopia, youths aged 15–24 years were more than 15.2 million, contributing to 20.6 % of the whole population. These large and productive groups of the population are exposed to various sexual and reproductive health risks. To assess the risky sexual behavior and associated factor among adolescent student in Dubti secondary school students in Dubti Woreda. Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescents in Dubti secondary school’s students in Dubti Woreda, North East zone 1, Afar National Regional State from Feb. 29 to october 16, 2018. Simple random sampling method was used to select study participants or unit and the sample size is 426, this is calculated with Epi info v 7.2.2.6 0pen calculator. Four diploma nurses will be used for data collection. After data collection data were coded, entered and cleared to cheek for completeness outliers and missed values and variables using Epi Info 7. Finally, data was exported to SPSS version 25. All of the respondents were included in the study. The overall prevalence of risky sexual behavior was 13.9% and predominated under the age18. Factors like participation in religious activity of the respondents [AOR=0.105, CI (0.014,0.997)], ever drank alcohol [AOR=22.627, CI (1.361,376.268)], ever Practicing chewing chat [AOR=9.289, CI (1.889,45.666)], ever smoking cigarette or shisha [AOR=9.815, CI (2.534,38.017)] and not cigarette or shisha smoker (AOR=0.10) were the factors that increase the odds of practicing risky sexual behavior. This study has shown that a considerable proportion of students were engaged in risky sexual behavior. Factors like participating in religious education, Alcohol drinking, being smoker of cigarette or shisha and chat chewer, were the factors that increase the odds of practicing risky sexual behavior among adolescent students. Any interventions that can affect the above risk factors may be helpful to protect adolescent’s health in school.

When a cancer patient tests positive for Covid-19 infection, the patient's oncologist has to decide on a further treatment with careful consideration of factors such as patient’s immune status, risk benefit ratio, safety of healthcare professionals and many other factors depending on the tumor’s unique biology. Owing to the high infectivity and rapidly spreading nature of the covid-19 virus, there is little data available in order to help us arrive at the decision on the right course of treatment for cancer patients who test positive for covid-19. Special concerns are with cancer patients who are found to be persistent virus shredders and remain virus positive for more than 2 months after symptom resolution. Amidst the pandemic and all the troubles, it brings to the cancer management, organisations such as The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and many others have published guidelines in treating cancer patients to maximise benefits and minimise the adverse outcomes of the virus. In this mini-review, we have given a comprehensive overview on appropriate anti-cancer treatment courses if found covid-19 positive. A brief discussion on the management of cancer patients if they turned out to be persistent virus shedders.

Coronavirus is currently the hottest topic in the world. At the end of 2019, the world was shocked by the new coronavirus outbreak, namely the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The virus's entry into the body and contact with cells mediated by protein S on the surface of the virus body, protein S as the primary determinant in infecting host species on the virus's surface. A corona or covid-19 virus infection's initial symptoms can resemble the flu, namely fever, runny nose, dry cough, sore throat, and headache. Antioxidants are compounds that can slow down or prevent the oxidation process. Antioxidants can scavenge free radicals, thereby inhibiting the oxidative mechanism, which is the cause of degenerative diseases. Antioxidants can be obtained from natural ingredients such as oils, seeds, cereals, vegetables, fruit, leaves, roots, spices, and herbs. Some types of plants that are suspected of being antioxidants are Moringa (Moringa oleifera, Lamk), Guava Leaves (Psidium guajava Linn), Legundi (Vitex trifolia L), Temulawak (Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb), and Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.). Plants - These plants are believed to help maintain a healthy body from the harmful effects of Covid - 19.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction occurs due to degenerative changes in bony parts of jaw joints. Patients of TMJ dysfunction present with complaints of limited mouth opening and pain. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) provides a new horizon and helps in improving the treatment opportunity for early TMJ dysfunction. This study was aimed to determine the effect of PRP injection in the management of this condition. A quasi-experimental trial was conducted at Department of Dentistry, Sandeman Provincial hospital, Quetta for 6 months. Samples of 68 candidates were included in the study who were diagnosed with this disease. PRP injection was applied in the TMJ. Pain intensity was noted at baseline before and 3 months’ injection for each candidate using visual analogue scale. Mouth Opening was also measured by measuring the distance between the two incisors at baseline and after 3 months after receiving injection. SPSS version 22 was used to analyse the data. The significant change in pain and mouth opening was assessed by applying paired sample t-test. P-value £ 0.05 was considered as significant. The mean age of patients was 43.61 ± 12.74 years. There were 23 (33.8%) male and 45 (66.2%) female candidates. The mean duration of symptoms was 16.92 ± 4.83 days. The mean pain score of all the candidates was 5.67 ± 2.31 at baseline which was reduced significantly to 0.14 ± 0.11 after 3 months of the procedure (p < 0.0001). The mean maximal mouth opening of all the candidates was 27.86 ± 4.15 mm at baseline which was improved significantly to 42.17 ± 3.19 mm after 3 months of the procedure (p < 0.0001). It has been concluded that application of platelet rich plasma can be significantly effective in reducing pain while improving mouth opening and resolving the symptoms of TMJ dysfunction.