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Objective: To assess the disease activity after treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in rheumatoid arthritis patients at a tertiary care hospital of Rawalpindi. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Rheumatology, Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jun to Nov 2021. Methodology: A total of 197 adult patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and with symptoms of dyspepsia were inducted into this study. First, the disease activity was measured considering parameters such as clinical swollen and tender joints count, disease activity scores 28(DAS-28), visual analogue scale (VAS) and laboratory parameters like erythrocyte sedimentation rate at the start as the baseline. Then, these were repeated after six months, and the differences between the two groups were compared. Results: At the start of the study, patients who were positive for H. pylori had markedly more swollen and tender joint counts and raised ESR values than those in the negative group. In addition, the disease activity score of 28 and pain scores was markedly raised in the positive group. After H. pylori eradication, the H. pylori-positive patients differed significantly (p<0.001) from patients group negative for H. pylori infection in terms of improvement in DAS-28 score, visual analogue score and clinically. Laboratory indices like ESR showed significantly decreased values (p<0.001) in the H. pylori-treated group compared to those not infected with H. pylori. Conclusion: From our results, it is suggested that H. pylori infection has a role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare short term mortality in non-diabetic ischemic stroke patients with or without stress hyperglycemia. Study Design: Cohort study. Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at Neurology Department of Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from Jan 2010 to Jul 2012 for a total duration of six months. Material and Methods: Non-diabetic ischemic stroke patients were included in the study and they were divided in two groups. Each group had 75 patients. Group 'I' (Normoglycemic or control group) had normal blood glucose level while group 'II' (Hyperglycaemic or cohort) had hyperglycaemia on presentation or over next 72 hours. Prognosis in terms of patient either being dead or alive was determined within or at 4 weeks of admission in both groups. Data were entered and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 10. Descriptive statistics were calculated for both qualitative and quantitative variables. For comparison of short term mortality in hyperglycaemic and normoglycemic stroke patients, chi-square test was applied. p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Short term mortality was higher in cohort (hyperglycemic) group as compared to control (normoglycemic) group (34.7% vs. 14.7%). Relative risk was 2.36. The groups had a statistically significant difference in the short term mortality within four weeks with a Chi-Square 'p' value of 0.004 (p=0.004). Conclusion: Short term mortality in non-diabetic ischemic stroke patients with stress hyperglycemia is higher than those patients who do not have stress hyperglycemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]