Introduction: Scarcity of fresh water is currently blighting the population of the least developed countries around the world. According to WHO, waterborne diseases accounts for 4.1% of total disability adjusted life years (DALYs) with a mortality rate of 1.8 million per year. Numerous pathogens and chemicals may be the potential sources of water contamination that leads to waterborne diseases in humans. Some pathogens are only active and express disease whilst within the host. The aim of this article is to identify the cause of water-borne diseases and how to control it from the Islamic perspective. Material and Methods: In this review we had compiled the latest scientific findings related to waterborne diseases and integrated them with Islamic approach of cleanliness. There are many Hadithsof the Prophet (peace be upon him) (PBUH) regarding methods of cleanliness with scientific background to control waterborne diseases. Water pollution may be a natural process, men made, intentional or accidental. More often than not, man are infected after accidently consuming or coming in contact with contaminated water Results: Scientific literature search reveals that individual hygiene and sanitation is the most prominent way to prevent waterborne diseases. In Islam, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) puts a great emphasize on purification in terms of personal cleanliness and made it mandatory to follow rule to remain pure both physically and spiritually. Conclusions: Sunnaticapproaches of cleanliness may hinder waterborne disease.
For centuries, people have been practising phytomedicine in treating ailments or reducing risk of suffering certain diseases. It is considered as a part of an ancient medicine with interest in it becomes rapidly escalating in this modern era. Expansive and prescribed medicine is not the only true path to treat various illnesses. Without disclaiming the modern medicine, herbs can be used as an alternative or a combined therapy with conventional medication. Phytomedicine or ethnomedicine is not a new
field in the world of research. It has been started long ago since the ancient times. As we realized the expensive modern medication is not the only mean to treat illness, interest in the discovery of remedy through natural or conventional products has become more escalating. (Copied from article)
Objective: The present study is designed to investigate the occurrence of Acanthamoeba in air ventilation and air-conditioning systems in selected buildings in Kuantan.
Methods: Acanthamoeba was isolated from dust samples taken from filters of air ventilation systems in selected buildings in Kuantan. The dusts were collected by using sterile cotton swabs, cultured in a xenic culture medium on non-nutrient agar (NNA) plates and incubated at 37º C. The plates were examined daily for any presence of Acanthamoeba cysts up to 7 days of incubation.
Results: Based on the results obtained, there were no cysts or trophozoites of Acanthamoeba successfully isolated from all 75 dust samples. After three days of incubation, all culture plates examined show negative findings.
Conclusions: The negative findings of this study were probably due to the limitations of the sampling method. It is recommended that future studies use the method proposed by National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for indoor air quality monitoring.
Introduction: This study was conducted to determine the association between knowledge, attitude and practice among Kuantan community towards anti-smoking campaign. An anti-smoking campaign can be referred to as a series of ads programs that are introduced through various objective approaches to give awareness to people on the negative impacts of smoking behavior. The objectives of this study are (i) to investigate the association between so- cio-demographic data (gender, income, education level) and level of knowledge towards anti-smoking campaign; (ii) to find out the association between socio-demographic data (gender, income, education level) and level of attitude against anti-smoking campaigns; (iii) to study the association between socio-demographic data (gender, income, education level) and level of practice towards anti-smoking campaigns; and (iv) to find out the correlation between level of knowledge with level of attitude, level of knowledge with level of practice, and level of attitude with level of practice towards anti-smoking campaigns. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among adult Kuantan community and convenience sampling was used to collect the data. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out using SPSS and association of variables was an- alysed using Chi-square test. Results: This study found that level of knowledge did not affect the attitude level of the community. However, level of knowledge did affect the level of practice towards the anti-smoking campaign. Conclusion: It revealed that respondents with high level of knowledge also had good level of practice towards an- ti-smoking campaign.
Introduction: Abdominal obesity and inflammation are two independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. However, the inter-relationship between these two factors among Malay population is fragmented. The purpose of this study is to determine the association between waist circumference as a measure of abdominal obesity and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein as an indicator of inflammation status among Malay obese adults in Kuantan, Pahang. Materials and Methods: Ninety-three apparently healthy obese adults (BMI between 27.5 and 39.9 kg/m2 ) aged between 20 to 62 years old were recruited in this study (68% men and 32% women). Circumference tape was used to measure the waist circumference and fasting venous blood was obtained to determine the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level. Results: On average, the waist circumference of obese men and women was 103 cm (SD = 8.7) and 94 cm (SD = 7.0), respectively. The median (IQR) of the hs-CRP level of the study participant was 3.80 mg/L (1.5, 10.1). The Kendall’s Tau correlation reveals that there is a significant positive linear correlation between waist circumference and hs -CRP level in obese men (r (30) = 0.355, p = 0.006) and women (r (63) = 0.177, p = 0.043). Conclusion: There is a significant inter-relationship between waist circumference and hs-CRP level among apparently healthy obese adults in Kuantan, Pahang. This study suggests that assessment of hs-CRP level is beneficial to predict the risk for future cardiovascular disease event and facilitate the management of obesity in this population. A prospective clinical study is recommended to confirm the findings.
Oxidative stress induced by excessive and unopposed levels of reactive oxygen species in male reproductive system results in impaired sperm quality, fertilization capacity and poor embryo development. Our goal is to assess the potential effects of Aquilaria malaccensis(AM) leaves, a plant with strong antioxidant property on early embryo development in vitroand embryo quality following fertilization with cyclophosphamide (CP) exposed rat sperm. Materials and Methods:Twenty four male Sprague Dawley rats were allocated into eight groups of three rats (n = 3): control, CP only (200 mg/kg), AM only (100 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg) and CP + AM (100 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg). Animals were sacrificed after 63 days of treatment and sperm from caudal epididymis were taken for in vitrofertilization (IVF) with oocytes from untreated female. Fertilization, embryo division and embryo morphology were examined at 8 and 48 hours post insemination and compared between groups. Statistical evaluations were performed using Chi-Square test and Fisher’s exact test and p-value