B P International

Background: Albeit not life threatening, symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) interfere with routine activities and compromise the quality of life (QOL). With the exception of one survey on the prevalence of IBS among students in Malaysia a decade back, there are no other reports. QOL in IBS is yet to be investigated in this region. Objective: To determine the prevalence of IBS and its impact on QOL among students at a Malaysian medical university. Methodology: A cross-sectional, questionnaire based, self- reported study was conducted among 1104 students. The IBS-QOL questionnaire based on Rome III criteria, and a demographic questionnaire were used. Results: The overall prevalence of IBS was found to be 45.3%, with a female preponderance of 49.8%. It was also found to be predominant among Chinese 55% and physiotherapy students 61.7%. IBS Mixed type (IBS-M) was found to be common among all students (78.6%). The mean score for QOL for all IBS symptom positive studen...

This study was designed to evaluate the phytochemical profile and the antimicrobial potential of the essential oil of Salvia brachyodon Vandas growing wild in Croatia. The emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria has become a serious threat to public health that has prompted research to the discovery and development of new active agents capable of partly or completely suppressing bacterial growth. Recently, a class of biological active compounds that has been attracting increased attention in drug discovery is the plant based derivatives. Many plants produce special biomolecules to protect themselves according to a stress or infection caused by microorganisms. Plants produce a broad assortment of secondary metabolites, including tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, polyphenols and favonoids, which have been found in vitro to have antimicrobial properties against both Gram- positive and Gram- negative bacteria. Essential oils (EOs) are secondary metabolites, and are important for plant d...