Momentum of Ajwa Dates towards Cardiovascular Diseases Momentum of Ajwa Dates towards Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the top most cause of morality around the world.  It is predicted that the number casualties from CVDs will increase to more than 24 million till 2030 people. Medicinal plants provide the major raw materials for medicine preparations. They are gaining high consideration due to their effectiveness and increasing cost of modern medicines. Many successful drugs are plant based, including aspirin from the willow bark, morphine from opium poppy, quinine from the cinchona bark, and digoxin from the foxglove. According to World Health Organization (WTO), ~70% to 80% of people around the world rely on herbal sources for the treatment of their disease. Plant sources are endorsed due to the fact that they contain an optimal amount of  antioxidants and phytochemicals that help to avoid and treat many diseases. Phoenix dactylifera L. Particularly Ajwa variety, is the most rich in phytonutrientsthat can benefit to control many cardiovascular diseases. It contains6 vitamins (vitamin A, C, B1, B2, B3 &riboflavin), high amount of fibers, Potassium, Magnesium and 23 amino acids which play a healthy role towards hypertension, muscular contractions, and blood pressure control. It has been studied that Niacin (B3) helps to control cholesterol and low density lipoprotein levels (LDL), as high cholesterol is the one of the main cause of cardiovascular diseases so, Ajwa could be a vital regulatory source. According to the findings of Sabbah M. Et al, Ajwa extracts significantly improved the DNA integrity and also reduced the cardiomyocytes congestion, edema and the cellular stress wielded on cardiac muscles resulting the restoration of cardiomyocytes architecture in Doxorubicin (DOX) induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Research done by Alqarni et al, proves that Ajwa extracts has successfully decreased the LDL‐C, VLDL‐C, and triglycerides concentration. Additionally, treatment with ajwa pulp also improved the HDL‐C level and antioxidant enzymes activity. In another invivo study, Ajwa preparation has successfullydecreased the diclofenac-induced pulmonary and hepatic instabilities. Vitamin-K play important role in blood coagulation, and in case of anticoagulant therapy, activity of vitamin-K controlled by drugs (warfarin) that sometimes causes serious side effects. According to the reported data, Salicylic acid is the vitamin-K antagonist and has capability to block the action of vitamin K during the coagulation pathway. Dates contain ~3.75 to 4.50 mg/100 g of salicylic acid. Thus, providing anticoagulation effect too. So, the limelight of the reported data provides an enough reason that plants can be used as primary source of drug designing for the cardiovascular disease. They hold true momentum to address the increasing healthdiseases, which cannot be lost to distraction or apathy. Fight against the burden of CDVs, is affecting all countries and specially, under developing and the poor countries.

Effect of Home Environment and School Environment on Personality Development and Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students

The study is an attempt to investigate effect of home environment and school environment on personality development and academic achievement of secondary school students. The objectives of the study were, to investigate the effect of Home environment on Personality development and academic achievement of students, to explore the effect of school environment on Personality development and academic achievement of students, to find out the combined the effect of home environment and school environment on personality development and academic achievement of students; and to compare the relationship of home environment and school environment with personality development and academic achievement for different categories of students. A self reporting survey research design was adopted to conduct this research. Four research instruments comprising of home environment, school environment, relationship of staff members at school and personality inventory were used to collect data from students. Information about the academic achievement of the students was obtained by collecting their 9th grade result from Gazette book of Board of intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Abbottabad, 2013. Mean, Standard Deviation, Percentile, Multiple Regression Model, and Carl Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to analyze the collected data. Major findings of study revealed that there were variations in terms of effect of home environment and school environment on Five Big Factors of personality and academic achievement of secondary school students. It was also found that home environment and school environment collectively affect the Five Big Factors of personality as well as academic achievement of secondary school students. On the basis of findings it was recommended that there is a need to train parents and teachers about their role in shaping personality and better academic achievement of secondary school students. It was also recommended that parental awareness about the provision of conducive home environment may be promoted through different measures. Conducive school environment in terms of teachers’ awareness about their role in balanced development of personality and academic achievement of students may be provided through different measures like provision of in service training, arrangement of seminars and workshops, and guidance and counseling centers at schools.