Helicobacter pylori has been established as the pathogen responsible for various upper gastrointestinal conditions ranging from peptic ulcer disease to malignancies such as gastric adenocarcinoma and mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. In this study the prevalence of this organism among patients undergoing oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy as outpatients was investigated utilizing the rapid urease test of endoscopic gastric biopsies. Out of 278 respondents, we discovered that the prevalence was 40.3% with a slight female preponderance. Ethnic differences were also noted with a much higher (>40%) percentage of Indians and Chinese testing positive for the organism compared with the Malays (23.8%). A larger proportion of the respondents who had the organism were found to have positive OGDS findings compared with those who did not have the organism.
Delayed wound healing is one of the major complications of diabetes mellitus where it often leads to amputation. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is a natural oil widely used to treat wounds and burns traditionally. It possesses potent antioxidant and antibacterial activities. This study aimed to determine the effect of VCO on the fibroblast population in diabetic wound healing. Full thickness cutaneous wound tissues were collected from non-treated, VCO-treated, and silver sulfadiazine (SS)- treated diabetic rats. The tissues were then subjected to Verhoeff eosin staining and immunohistology of fibroblast and myofibroblast. Histological analysis showed increased collagen deposition with intact epidermis in the VCO treated group compared to decreased collagen deposition with damaged epidermis in both non-treated and SS-treated groups. Interestingly, more fibroblasts and myofibroblasts were observed in the non-treated group compared to the VCO- and SS-treated groups. VCO significantly promoted wound healing process in diabetic rats via promoting re-epithelialization, and increasing collagen fibres deposition and wound contraction. The results suggested VCO can be used to treat diabetic wounds.