Monthly Archives: May 2018

‘World No Tobacco Day’ (31st May 2018): Tobacco and Heart Disease.

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World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is celebrated every year on 31st May, since its beginning in 1988. The main aim to mark this day is to encourage a 24-hour period of abstinence from all forms of tobacco consumption around the world. It also aims to spread awareness about the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and the health risks associated with tobacco consumption. The resolution to celebrate 31 May as WNTD was passed by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 1998 (WHA40.38). The World Health Organization (WHO) has continuously supported WNTD, every year for this campaign and decides on a theme for the day to create a more unified global message. The global theme for WNTD 2018 is – “Tobacco and Heart disease”. The theme focuses on the association between tobacco consumption and cardiovascular health and aims to inculcate the sense of refraining from tobacco use among general people.

Tobacco contains nicotine, a drug classified as potent parasympathomimetic stimulant. Nicotine is a poisonous alkaloid of the plant genus Nicotiana (family Solanaceae). The WHO declared tobacco as the world’s single greatest preventable cause of death in 2008.

Tobacco use is an important risk factor for the development of various diseases such as cancers (lung, blood, kidney, bladder, brain etc.), respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, peripheral vascular disease, pregnancy complications etc.

Key Facts from 2017 World Tobacco Reports

  • Worldwide, each year tobacco causes nearly 6 million deaths, and current trends show that tobacco use lead to more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.
  • Almost every child regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places.
  • As per the WHO’s, Global Health Observatory (GHO) data 2016, 40% of children are exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke, accounting for over 600,000 deaths per year. Close to a third of those deaths were reported in children under the age of five and two-thirds were in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia.
  • In 2011, tobacco caused one-tenth of CVDs worldwide. About 12% of all heart disease deaths are due to the use of tobacco and second-hand smoke.
  • After high blood pressure, tobacco use is the second leading cause of CVD.

Aim of the World No Tobacco Day 2018

  • Highlighting the connection between the use of tobacco products and CVDs.
  • Increasing awareness within the masses to refrain from tobacco use and resist exposure to second-hand smoke to improve their cardiovascular health.
  • Promoting heart health by feasible government actions and public measures that can help to reduce the risks to heart health posed by tobacco.
  • Encouraging countries to include tobacco control in their national agenda.

Turacoz healthcare solutions, aims to increase awareness about the negative health impact of tobacco consumption and motivate them to refrain from the use of tobacco products. We must all join hands and raise our voice against both active and passive smoking so that a brighter and healthier future can be ensured for our younger generation and our Nation. Turacoz is a medical communications company, which offers services to healthcare professionals in clinical research, regulatory writing, publication writing, medico-marketing writing, and support for conducting medical advisory board meetings.

Graphical Abstract

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What is graphical abstract?

Graphical abstract is a concise and visual/pictorial summary of the main findings of any publication manuscript. It helps readers to understand the findings of a manuscript in a better way and in a simplified manner. They are not replacements of traditional textual abstracts instead are an addition to them.

Why Graphical Abstract?

Graphical abstract should not be considered as a burden or waste of time by the authors. Therefore, it is necessary for them to understand the rationale behind the use of graphical abstract. Graphical abstract is a well-suited platform to share or disseminate the research via social media in today’s time and help attract the readers to encourage them to further read the article. Graphical abstract can help reader to quickly get the take-home message.

Hullan et al. analyzed 54 graphical abstracts and outlined the common patterns of graphical abstract designs observed in published literature. They include:

  1. Process illustrations: The most common layout presenting the processes “using (hand‑crafted) illustrations on a linear or forking layout”.
  2. Result representation: Data visualizations in the form of line charts to depict research results was used by numerous graphical abstracts.
  3. Parallel layouts: These graphical abstracts include “parallel pictures laid out horizontally on the graphical abstract plane”.

Recently, the use of graphical abstract is gaining momentum. A recent study by Pferschy‑Wenzig et al. compared the visibility of manuscripts published with graphical abstracts with that of publications without the one in the journal ‘Molecules’. The study found that the manuscripts published without graphical abstract had significantly higher abstract views, PDF downloads, and total citations. However, this study included the comparison of research from a limited timeframe and also focused on one journal. Future research on other journals comparing research from longer time periods is warranted.

Some tips for designing a graphical abstract

  1. Always refer to the journals guidelines to check specifications for graphical abstracts. For example; Elsevier has the specifications on image size, font, file type
  2. Refer to the examples of graphical abstract from the publisher and see the one to which the new study matches and design it accordingly. Elsevier has enlisted 16 good examples of graphical abstracts for articles published in their journals
  3. Keep it simple and to one image only
  4. Focus on the design and composition
  5. Stay away from using saturated distracting colors for the abstract
  6. Graphical abstract should present the results of the study rather than the method used to obtain the results or the referenced literature, unless necessary
  7. Must be self-explanatory
  8. Must include keywords in the image
  9. Microsoft paint, Microsoft PowerPoint, adobe illustrator, ChenDraw, Coreldraw can be used to design graphical abstract. Several software available online can also be used, such as Mind the Graph, Inkscape etc.
  10. You can also refer to agencies offering services for graphical abstract designing

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions (THS) is a medical writing agency with specialized medical writing and editing services of Publication writing, Regulatory writing, and Medico-marketing document for the pharma industry. This blog aims to spread awareness about the increasing use of graphical abstracts in publications and its role in disseminating the published research information to a wide audience via online media.

Relationship Building at Workplace

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Our current lifestyle revolves around our workplace duties and responsibilities. Every day we spend the major part of our time at our workplace. In order to have a satisfying job, we must enjoy the work. Maximum output and increased productivity can only be achieved if we have a healthy working environment. Work becomes burden if we don’t have people around to talk to or discuss and brainstorm ideas. Also, it is okay to trust our colleagues, provided we don’t cross our limits and disclose confidential matters.

Let us look at the various impacts of relationship building at workplace:

  • A knowledgeable individual is one who on one hand improvises on the negative qualities of his/her colleague and on the other glorifies their strengths. This trait helps in resolving conflicts. Conflicts at work place lead to no solutions whereas on the other hand nice gesture sets things straight.
  • As a mature professional, one needs to keep a check on his/her emotions. One must learn to ignore negative people or sit with him/her and try to mutually sort out their differences.
  • Managers must have a healthy relationship with their subordinates. Listening to them closely, helps the subordinates to strive hard and perform better. Doing this, a good manager can ensure their team’s performance is the best under all situations.
  • Knowledge sharing is important factor governing career excellence. Sharing with the team is a two-way learning process.
  • An individual need to be a team player and pay attention to other team member ideas as well.
  • Unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings at workplace lead to stress. An individual would never be able to deliver his/her level best if she/he is under stress.

Importance of Relationship Building

  • Healthy relationship is the key to positive ambience at workplace.
  • Healthy relationship goes a long way in extracting the best out of individuals.
  • Healthy relationship leads to mental peace. One tends to enjoy his/her work if he/she has a trustable environment.
  • Healthy relationship leads to people from varied backgrounds and expertise come together on a common platform, exchange ideas and reach to best possible solutions and strategies.
  • Healthy relationship among employees also goes a long way in inculcating a sense of pride and loyalty for the organization. People tend to enjoy their work and office.
  • Healthy relationship among employees plays a crucial role at the time of crisis. Emergency situations are unpredictable and can arise anytime. It is necessary that people help each other for increased productivity and better output.

Relationship Building Approaches at Workplace:

  • Be honest in your relationships. Never lie to people you are close to.
  • Respect others. Superiors ought to respect their subordinates if they expect the same in return.
  • Never misguide If you feel your team member is going on the wrong track, guide him/her immediately. Give others the right suggestion.
  • It always pays to be straight forward in relationships. Never speak ill about someone behind their back.
  • Be transparent in relationships. A senior need to be transparent with his/her subordinates and vice a versa. Favoritisms should be avoided.
  • One needs to communicate effectively for successful relationships. The other person must understand what you intend to communicate.
  • Learn to say a polite yet firm ‘NO’ to people.
  • Leave your ego behind the moment you step inside the office. Be kind to each and every-one. It pays in the long run.
  • Learn to forgive
  • Motivate each other and avoid being jealous. Help each other at the times of crisis.
  • Develop a habit of working in teams. Responsibilities ought to be distributed equally among employees as per their expertise and work experience.
  • Do not open any of your team member’s personal files, couriers or letters just because he/she is your friend. Such an approach is unprofessional and unacceptable.

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions (THS) strongly believes in a transparent and healthy workplace environment. We understand the benefits of relationship building in today’s world and encourage everyone to be a team player. If you have the zeal for writing and enjoy working with a dynamic team visit us at https://turacoz.com/careers/.