Long term cigarette smoking is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Smoking influences the tone of the autonomic nervous system as reflected by Heart Rate Variability. The present study aimed at studying the effect of cigarette smoking and its cessation for 1 week on HRV.

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There is a perception that despite considerable economic growth, India has not made commensurate progress in addressing anthropometric (weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height or body mass index-for-age) undernutrition. The current national prevalence of undernutrition in children below five years is still high; 39% are stunted, 29% are underweight and 15% are wasted. However, this common belief appears somewhat flawed; there has been substantial improvement in stunting and underweight over the years.

In 2011, WHO member states signed up to the 25 × 25 initiative, a plan to cut mortality due to non-communicable diseases by 25% by 2025. However, socioeconomic factors influencing non-communicable diseases have not been included in the plan. In this study, we aimed to compare the contribution of socioeconomic status to mortality and years-of-life-lost with that of the 25 × 25 conventional risk factors.

Metabolism of inorganic arsenic (iAs) is subject to inter-individual variability, which is explained partly by genetic determinants. Researchers investigated the association of genetic variants with arsenic species and principal components of arsenic species in the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS).

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