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Fulltext Long-term efficacy and safety of a generic atorvastatin in usual clinical care setting

Ong LM, Punithavathi N, Lena YLL, Mahanim O, Leekha S, Storvas Clinical Trial Study Group

Med J Malaysia, 2011 Aug;66(3):214-9.
PMID: 22111443

A multicentre study was conducted to assess the long term efficacy and safety of a generic atorvastatin in the treatment of primary hypercholesterolaemia. Eighty five patients who received 10mg or 20 mg of atorvastatin for 8 weeks depending on target cholesterol goal were followed up by their own physicians and had final evaluation at 52 weeks. Reduction in mean low density Lipoprotein (LDL-C) was 36.5%, 37.9% and 32.2% at weeks 4, 8 and 52 respectively. LDL-C target was maintained in 81% and 69% of patients at week 8 and 52 respectively without drug related serious adverse events. Generic atorvastatin is safe and effective in usual clinical care setting.
Fulltext A multicenter study in Malaysia to determine the efficacy and safety of a generic atorvastatin

Punithavathi N, Ong LM, Lena YL, Leekha S, Storvas Clinical Trial Study Group

Med J Malaysia, 2009 Jun;64(2):150-4.
PMID: 20058576 MyJurnal

A multicenter study was conducted to assess the efficacy of a generic form of Atorvastatin (Ranbaxy's Storvas) in the treatment of Primary Hypercholesterolemia. One hundred and nineteen patients were given 10 mg of Storvas for four weeks and increased to 20 mg if target LDL-Cholesterol was not achieved. LDL-Cholesterol was reduced by 36.6% at four weeks and 37.5% at eight weeks from baseline. Total cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly reduced. There were no drug-related serious adverse events. We conclude that the generic atorvastatin is safe and effective in the treatment of primary hypercholesterolaemia and the results are comparable to published data on innovator atorvastatin.
Fulltext A pilot randomized control cross over study evaluating the effectiveness and safety of mechanical percussor compared with conventional chest physiotherapy in adults with productive cough

Punithavathi N, Ong LM, Irfhan Ali HA, Mohd Izmi IA, Dharminy T, Ang AH, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2014 Feb;69(1):16-20.
PMID: 24814623 MyJurnal

INTRODUCTION: Conventional Chest Physiotherapy (CCPT) remains the mainstay of treatment for sputum mobilization in patients with productive cough such as bronchiectasis and "Chronic Obstructive Airway Disease" (COPD). However CCPT is time consuming requires the assistance of a physiotherapist and limits the independence of the patient. Mechanical percussors which are electrical devices used to provide percussion to the external chest wall might provide autonomy and greater compliance. We compared safety and efficacy of a mechanical chest percusser devised by Formedic Technology with conventional chest percussion.
METHODS: Twenty patients (mean age 64years) were randomly assigned to receive either CCPT or mechanical percussor on the first day and crossed over by "Latin square randomisation" to alternative treatment for 6 consecutive days and the amount of sputum expectorated was compared by dry and wet weight. Adverse events and willingness to use was assessed by a home diary and a questionnaire.
RESULTS: There were 13 males and 7 females, eight diagnosed as bronchiectasis and 12 COPD. The mean dry weight of sputum induced by CCPT (0.54g ± 0.32) was significantly more compared with MP (0.40g + 0.11); p-value = 0.002. The mean wet weight of sputum with CCPT (10.71g ± 8.70) was also significantly more compared with MP (5.99g ± 4.5); p-value < 0.001. There were no significant difference in adverse events and majority of patients were willing to use the device by themselves.
CONCLUSION: The mechanical percussor although produces less sputum is well tolerated and can be a useful adjunct to CCPT.
The impact of music guided deep breathing exercise on blood pressure control - A participant blinded randomised controlled study

Kow FP, Adlina B, Sivasangari S, Punithavathi N, Ng KK, Ang AH, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 2018 08;73(4):233-238.
PMID: 30121686 MyJurnal

INTRODUCTION: As pharmacological treatment of hypertension has become a burden worldwide, the study looked into nonpharmacological ways of reducing blood pressure. The objective was to determine if music guided, slow and deep breathing will reduce the blood pressure among patients with hypertension in eight weeks.
METHODS: A participant blinded, multi-centre, randomised controlled trial was conducted in which the participants in the intervention group (IG) practiced deep breathing exercise guided by sound cues and those in the control group (CG) listened to the music. The primary end point was reduction in blood pressure at eight weeks.
RESULTS: 87 patients, 46 males and 41 females with mean age of 61.1 years were recruited and 93.1% of them successfully completed the study. There was significant reduction in systolic and diastolic Blood Pressure from baseline by 8 weeks in both groups. The reduction in Mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the control arm was 10.5mmHg compared to 8.3mmHg (p<0.001) in intervention group. Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reduction in control and intervention groups were 5.2 mmHg (p<0.001) and 5.6 mmHg (p<0.001) respectively. The absolute difference in SBP reduction from baseline in IG & CG was -2.2 (95%CI: -7.8 to 3.5) and DBP was -0.4 (95%CI: -2.9 to 3.6). However, blood pressure reduction between the two groups was not significant.
CONCLUSIONS: Both listening to music and deep breathing exercise were associated with a clinically significant reduction in SBP and DBP. However, deep breathing exercise did not augment the benefit of music in reducing BP.
Prevalence and risk factors for proteinuria: the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia Lifecheck Health Screening programme

Ong LM, Punithavathi N, Thurairatnam D, Zainal H, Beh ML, Morad Z, et al.

Nephrology (Carlton), 2013 Aug;18(8):569-75.
PMID: 23782264 DOI: 10.1111/nep.12112

Aim: Treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses a huge burden to the healthcare system. To address the problem, the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia embarked on a programme to screen for proteinuria and educate the public on CKD.

Methods: The public was invited for health screening and the data collected over a 21 month period was analyzed.

Results: In total, 40400 adults from all the states in Malaysia were screened. The screening population had a mean age of 41 years, 30.1% had hypertension and 10.6% had diabetes. Proteinuria was detected in 1.4% and haematuria in 8.9% of the participants. Factors associated with the highest risk for proteinuria were the presence of diabetes (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.63 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.16-3.21)), hypertension (OR 2.49 (95% CI 2.03-3.07)) and cardiac disease (OR 2.05 (95% CI 1.50-2.81)). Other risk factors identified were lower educational level, family history of kidney disease, hypercholesterolaemia, obesity and lack of regular exercise. Chinese had the lowest risk for proteinuria among the races (OR 0.71 (95% CI 0.57-0.87) compared with Malays). The combination of high blood glucose and high blood pressure (BP) substantially increased the risk for proteinuria (OR 38.1 for glucose ≥ 10 mmol/L and systolic BP ≥ 180 mm Hg and OR 47.9 for glucose ≥ 10 mmol/L and diastolic BP ≥ 110 mm Hg).

Conclusion: The prevalence of proteinuria in Malaysia is similar to other countries. The major risk factors for proteinuria were diabetes, hypertension and cardiac disease. The presence of both high blood pressure and high blood glucose exert a synergistic effect in substantially increasing the risk for proteinuria.

Keywords: epidemiology; population studies; proteinuria.