The Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, the second medical college to be established in Assam, is also a health care institution. It provides medical education at undergraduate, postgraduate and superspecialty levels..
Obesity is a global health crisis affecting developing nations, including India. The management of obesity continues to evolve with newer drugs, metabolic and bariatric surgery and endoscopic interventions, requiring family physicians and specialists to adapt their clinical practice accordingly. There is an urgent need for a standardized algorithm to diagnose, stage, and treat obesity. The Endocrine Society of India (ESI) and the Obesity Surgeons Society of India (OSSI) appointed a steering committee to develop an evidence-based algorithm for managing patients with obesity in India. This was put to vote by 80 specialists (38 from OSSI and 42 from ESI) in a physical meeting. A proposed stage-wise algorithm based on Edmonton Obesity Staging System, Asian definition of obesity, and resources in India, received 100
Freezing–thawing (F–T) cycle, a common phenomenon in seasonally frozen regions, poses major challenges for civil engineering infrastructure. Present study investigates the influence of compaction density, moisture content, and freezing temperature on the behavior of expansive soil subjected to repeated F–T cycles. A multiscale experimental framework comprising unconfined compressive strength, void ratio evolution, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), CIAS-based surface crack analysis, computed tomography (CT) scan, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to analyze the progressive macro- and microstructural evolution. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was further conducted to quantify the dominant influence of the governing parameters on F–T induced deterioration. Results show repeated F–T cycles progressively increase void ratio, surface crack propagation, and microstructural deterioration, resulting in substantial strength reduction. ANOVA identified moisture content as the dominant factor governing F–T deterioration. Contrary to the conventional freezing expansion response observed in geomaterials, expansive soil exhibited contraction during freezing and expansion during thawing, attributed to coupled moisture redistribution and structural rearrangement during F–T cycles. Moreover, a strong linear relationship was observed between strength reduction and CT-scan-derived porosity evolution. UPV reduction and FESEM observations further validated the progressive structural deterioration. Overall, the findings suggest the existence of an optimum compaction near 95
Chronic inflammation underlies autoimmune, metabolic, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative disorders and remains difficult to manage because current anti-inflammatory therapies often have systemic adverse effects and variable clinical efficacy. This review synthesizes evidence on microbiome-associated metabolites relevant to inflammation, including short-chain fatty acids, microbial indole derivatives, secondary bile acids, polyamines, trimethylamine N-oxide, and selected host-microbe co-metabolites. These compounds regulate host immunity through G-protein-coupled receptors, nuclear receptors, epigenetic mechanisms, inflammasome regulation, and major inflammatory signaling pathways such as NF-kappaB, MAPK, and JAK-STAT. The translational potential of direct metabolite administration, prodrug design, microbiome engineering, dietary modulation, and targeted delivery systems is discussed alongside key limitations, including low bioavailability, context-dependent activity, interindividual microbiome variation, incomplete pharmacokinetic data, and the limited number of well-controlled human trials. Overall, microbiome-associated metabolites represent promising but still evolving therapeutic candidates; their clinical use requires stronger causal evidence, standardized formulations, safety evaluation, and disease-specific validation. Microbiome-associated metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, microbial indole derivatives, secondary bile acids, and polyamines, contribute to epithelial homeostasis and regulate immune signaling through pathways such as NF-kappaB, MAPK, JAK-STAT, inflammasome activation, GPCR signaling, and epigenetic remodeling. Therapeutic strategies such as metabolite supplementation, prodrug design, microbiome engineering, and nano-delivery systems may enable targeted anti-inflammatory effects, but their clinical application remains dependent on stronger human evidence and standardized delivery approaches.
Background Adolescent obesity is a growing public health concern in urban India, but region-specific data from Guwahati are limited. This study estimated the prevalence of obesity and the factors associated with it among school-going adolescents in Guwahati. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 705 school-going adolescents, including 368 (52.2%) boys and 337 (47.8%) girls, aged 10-19 years, selected from government and private schools of Guwahati through stratified random sampling over one year. Anthropometric measurements were taken, and a predesigned and pretested semi-structured schedule was used to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, dietary habits, physical activity, screen time and substance use. BMI was classified using standard BMI criteria, with obesity defined as BMI ≥25.0 kg/m². Obesity versus non-obese status was the primary outcome. Its association with categorical variables was assessed using the Chi-square test. The independent t-test was used to compare mean values of continuous anthropometric variables (height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio) between male and female adolescents. Because no adolescent in the lowest screen-time category was obese, a dose-response trend test (a trend odds ratio from grouped logistic regression, checking whether obesity risk rose steadily with increasing screen time) was used in place of a category-specific odds ratio. A p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Among the 705 adolescents, the prevalence of obesity was 8.1% (57/705); for descriptive context, 112 (15.9%) were overweight, and 130 (18.4%) were underweight. Obesity (versus all non-obese adolescents, i.e. underweight, normal weight, and overweight combined) was significantly associated with regular physical activity (p<0.001; OR 5.14, 95% CI 2.94-8.97), screen time (dose-response trend OR 1.87 per one-category increase, 95% CI 1.43-2.43, p<0.001), fruit consumption (p = 0.032; OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.05-3.14), vegetable consumption (p = 0.025; OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.07-3.31), and trans-fat consumption (p = 0.021; OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.10-3.56). Adolescents with lower levels of physical activity, longer daily screen time, infrequent fruit and vegetable consumption, and frequent trans-fat consumption had a higher prevalence of obesity. No statistically significant association was observed between obesity and age, gender, or socioeconomic status (p>0.05). Conclusion The substantial burden of obesity among urban adolescents in Guwahati reflects India's ongoing nutrition transition. Interventions targeting screen time reduction, increased physical activity, and healthier dietary habits may help address this emerging epidemic.
