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Low back pain is prevalent all over the world. It’s one of the chronic diseases that affects people aged fifty and above. Majority of them go for surgery while few depend on alternative strategies to combat pain. Analgesics are the drugs commonly used to relieve pain. Physicians often prescribe opioids; these drugs are excellent narcotics which force patients to take it regularly. The present article is based on secondary literature available at PubMed. From PubMed, research papers were collected using various search terms related to the title of the article. This article is developed to address the issues related to low back pain and gradual addiction to narcotic analgesics. The opioids act on the opioid receptors in brain. Continuous intake of the drugs to make the pain insensitive is one of the behaviors induced by the drug on patients. This leads to dependence on the drug and increased tolerance levels to experience the same intensity of relief. Chronic back pain reduces the quality of life (QoL) and makes people less productive. Use of opioids has many side-effects that affect people themselves and the society. The current study aims to find some of the reasons of addiction to drugs in low back pain patients and the impacts of lower back pain in these patients.

Keywords: Addiction, Low back pain, Analgesics, Opioids, Drugs.

The most popular Martial Art styles are Taekwondo and Karate. To perform and excel, both demand a strong mind and intense attention. Karate may be more well-known around the world because to its appearance in movies and other forms of media; nonetheless, Taekwondo is an Olympic sport. As a result, each sport has its own worth. Because both sports need their participants to be intellectually strong, they can be played by anybody interested in improving their mental strength. Though either form can be performed according to the interests of the individual doing it, the question of which is better for developing mental toughness was identified as gap and prompted this study

Twenty Taekwondo players were selected by the investigator from the Taekwondo Martial Arts School [TMAS] and twenty Karate players were selected from a school in Puducherry called Shito-Ryo Do India. They were between the ages of 12 and 18. Dr. Alan Goldberg’s Mental Toughness Questionnaire was used to test mental toughness. Each participant’s Mental Toughness ratings were obtained through the questionnaire. The T Test was applied to statistically examine the gathered data. For the purposes of this study, the level of significance for all variables was set at 0.05.

The study found a substantial difference in Mental Toughness between Taekwondo and Karate athletes. In terms of mental toughness, Taekwondo athletes outperformed Karate competitors.

Keywords: Players of karate, Martial arts, Taekwondo Players, Olympic sport

Squatter settlements are rapidly growing and inevitable phenomena in 21st century in the developing countries. This paper has assessed the existing extent, identified the social determinants and impacts of squatter settlements on the provision of infrastructures among urban squatters, in the case of some selected woredas (districts), of Ilu Aba Bor Zone, Oromia Regional State. The study applied cross sectional descriptive research design using mixed of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The total sample size are 261 respondents (241 households, 20 experts and higher officials) have been involved by using probabilistic sampling, stratified sampling technique and non-probability sampling, purposive sampling technique to select stakeholders, experts and officials from different offices. The study identified, the social determinants of squatter settlement as population growth, shortage of income, rural-urban migration, lack of access to the urban land, long process of municipality, deficits in housing supply, high land market and high house rent. In addition, the study identified the positive impacts of squatter settlements are, they act as a bridge in reducing the gap between housing demand and supply, It’s a great role to alleviate housing problem and also created an access for those who did not have access to formal provision of land for housing. Moreover, negative impacts of squatter settlements, are, limited access to infrastructure and services, poor housing condition, no tenure security, social insecurity and instability, flooding problem, inappropriate location, and uneconomic use of land.

Keywords: Squatter settlement, Determinants, Impacts, Provision, urban infrastructures.

Displacement or the involuntary and forced relocation of people has come to be acknowledged as among the most significant negative impacts of large water resources development projects such as dams. Among development projects, large dams are the biggest agents of displacement. It is  stimated that nearly 40.80 million people have been displaced worldwide due to the reservoirs created by large dams. A World Bank review of 192 projects worldwide for the period 1986 and 1993, estimated that 4 million people were displaced annually by 300 dams on an average large dams. In India alone, it is estimated that some 21 million to 42 million people have been displaced by dams and reservoirs. In literature it is mentioned that majority of the displaced people have not been properly resettled or given adequate compensation. For instance, in India 75 percent of displaced people have not been rehabilitated. The tribal people of Andhra Pradesh have been the disproportionate victims of dam displacement. With this backdrop, the study is aimed at understanding the issues pertaining to compensation, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of large-scale dams in Andhra Pradesh.

Keywords: dam, tribals, displacement, Rehabilitation, resettlement, compensation, andhra pradesh

There are evidence of existing gender gap in healthcare in India with respect to region, socio-economic status, class, religion, caste, gender and sexuality but not much detailed study has been done in regards to gender gap in hospitalization (inpatient care). Our study aims to find the gender gap/differences in hospital care (inpatient care) and scrutinizing the factors pertaining to it. The data used for this study is collected from the three rounds of National Sample Surveys (NSS) namely the 60th round (2004), 71st round (2014) and the 75th round (2017-18). The raw data are extracted and organized into simple statistical tables applying sample weights. These tables are in turn used to analyze the inpatient hospitalization of the males and females. All the factors like rural-urban setting, age-wise variation, state-wise variation, ailment types, socio-economic groups, medical expenditure, average loss of household income and sources of financing hospitalization are taken into consideration and gender disparities are scrutinized. Significant gender gaps exist in hospital care (inpatient care) in India with respect to all the factors that are dealt with. There should be improvement in the health program designs and policy frameworks in terms of gender specificity as well as monitoring framework to keep a check on the gender issues.

Keywords: Gender gaps/disparities, gender differences, rate of hospitalization, hospital care, inpatient care, National Sample Survey (NSS), Health care expenditure (HCE).

An attempt has been made in the present study to assess the knowledge and awareness regarding noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) among the adults of Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A total of 4850 healthy adults of both genders >20 years of age were screened by administering open ended standardized questionnaire in a cross sectional design. Results: The average score assessed through visual analogue scale on knowledge and awareness on NCDs was 12.45 out of 20 (62.25%). Subjects with higher education were 1.24 times (95%CI: 1,203, 1.277; p<0.05) better when compared with illiterates in terms of possessing knowledge and awareness on NCDs. Similarly subjects involved in business were 1.203 times better towards the knowledge and awareness on NCDs.The causative factors for NCDs as opined by subjects were junk foods (25%), obesity (20%), decreased physical activity (11%) and mental stress (11%). Half of the sample expressed that combination of quitting smoking, losing weight, regular physical activity, improving diet and treatment compliance will be helpful in prevention or reducing the chances of getting NCDs. Conclusion: This study reflects the poor knowledge and awareness about NCDs in rural India, hence policy measures are warranted to take the message at gross root level.

Keywords: Adults, Andhra Pradesh, Knowledge and awareness, Noncommunicable diseases, Rural population

Infertility is a multidimensional problem with social, economic and cultural implications affecting approximately 8-10% of couples. In the present study a total of 635 infertile females and 523 males from three infertile centers who are taking medical counseling were screened. A validated questionnaire has been administered to collect the data pertaining to the causes of infertility, period of infertility and life styles besides anthropometric measurements. Clinical investigations were also carried out to the sample. The period of infertility was divided into five infertile age groups i.e. 1-2 years, 3-4 years, 5-9 years, 10-14 years and >15 years. In 1-2 years of male infertile group, 43.29% of Oligospermia; 47.91% of Azoospermia and 66.66% of pre mature ejaculation. In 1- 2 years of infertile female group, tubal blocks were around 36.95% and 3% of hormonal deficiency were observed. In >15 years period of male infertile age group, 4.74% of Oligospermia; Azoospermia with4.16% and pre mature ejaculation was 3.41%. Whereas, in >15 years period of infertile group ovulation defect (56%) and small size uterus (16%) were predominant. Both overweight (41.3%) and obesity (36%) has shown positive association with infertility in 5-9 yrs and >15yrs groups. Our results show a strong association of infertility with body mass index. Infertility period increases, BMI also increases. A majority of educated and higher income groups sought medical counseling to resolve the infertility related problems. Because of high medical expense, the lower income group people are unable to afford the opportunity of resolving the problems through medical counseling 96% of males were found to be habituated to drinking (24%), smoking (33%) and both (39%) habits. In conclusion it is stated that infertility can be treated and managed with medication, minor surgical operations, laparoscopic procedures, hormonal therapy and maintenance of healthy life style.

Keywords: Infertility. Body mass index. Hormonal deficiency Male infertility, Ooligospermia, Azoospermia. Life style.

This study was conducted in Mettu University, the case of Mettu main campus. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of western culture on the identity and life style of youth in Mettu University, the case of Mettu main campus. In an attempt to analyze the effect, the combination of qualitative as well as quantitative data collection instrument was used, being followed by the analysis of data through descriptive statistics and content analysis. The study was used non-probability sampling of purposive technique in order to organize volunteer respondents, reliable data and to save time simply. The population of this study was the regular students. From the total population of 9574 students, 50 students were selected as a sample purposively. The study findings show that; the western as the leader of the direction of globalization process, they are successful in advancing their own values and beliefs on the Ethiopian and African youths. As a solution to the effect a number of tasks to be done, especially by the media and the development of other necessary facilities are recommended.

Keywords: western culture, identity, lifestyle, youth

Injuries are part and parcel of any sport and many a time, injuries have detrimental effect of the performance and the career of a sportsperson. The injuries can be of many types ranging from mild to severe. Thus injury can have an inhibiting effect or even prohibit a sportsperson from completely abandoning the sport. Injury can occur in many places in our body. The extremities invariably suffer the most injuries as they have maximum mobility. Injuries also occur during season when the sportspersons are putting in their maximum effort to enhance performance. Hence, this investigation was instituted to identify the common sports injuries post season in upper and lower extremities among athletes of six-week certificate course in sports coaching. The athletes who took part in various competitions at the national and state level participated. They belonged to different parts of India and their age range was 22 to 30 years. The result of the study, indicated that more injuries were found in lower extremities (70.88%). The study also identified knee injury as the most common injury. 50% of athletes showed knee pain. The cause identified for of this was hard surface, improper equipment, lack of strength, lack of technology use and improper diet. The data were collected through questionnaire and interview to the athletes. The study concluded that lower extremity injuries are more common in the selected athletes.

Keywords: Knee Pain, Sports Injuries, Sportspersons

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is commonly referred to as occupational health, or occupational safety, and is a multidisciplinary field that is concerned with the health, safety, and welfare of people across all occupations. Due to the high number of accidents and exposure agents that occur in all kinds of workplaces and the consequences, this has for workers organizations society, and countries; occupational safety and health has become a very important issue for stakeholders to take care of the human resources. Occupational health and safety are a specialized branch of medicine that focuses on the physical and mental wellbeing of the employees in the workplace. Exposure to environmental hazards such as chemical, physical and biological affects the coworkers and leads to occupational illnesses or occupational diseases including cancer, hearing loss, asthma, and musculoskeletal disorders, etc. Occupational safety and health programs help to ensure the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of the employees and keeping the workplace environment relatively free from actual or potential hazards that could injure employees.

Keywords: Occupational health, Hazards, occupational safety, Risk, Illness.