Page 102 - Health Medical Pharma

Rajasthan: Harmful ingredients found in 2 batches of Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo

Rajasthan's drug control department has raised concern over two batches of Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo after some harmful substances were allegedly found in them.R Sharma, Drug Controller Rajasthan, said, "We did testing in February on drugs and cosmetics, including 2 batches of Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo. Report states, a sample of cosmetic contains a harmful ingredient.""In the whole of Rajasthan, we have alerted the Drug Control Officers to issue circulars. Notice will be served to the manufacturer after Drug Control Officer submits a report," he added.The regulator has also prohibited the usage of the said stock and directed for the removal of the same from the market.Johnson & Johnson, however, refuted these reports while reaffirming that the company is in "full compliance" with the current Indian regulatory requirements and standards for manufacturing and testing all products."Earlier this year, representatives of the Drug Controller in Jaipur, ...

Increase in stent prices shows govt's commitment to quality healthcare: MTaI

The Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), a body representing leading medical technology companies, Monday said the increase in coronary stent prices is in line with inflation and in the interest of the industry. The organisation, in a statement, said the hike is testimony to government's commitment to quality healthcare services in the country. "The increase in prices of stents indicates that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is mindful of the operational pressures in the medical device industry," MTaI Chairman and Director General Pavan Choudary said in the statement. He expressed hope that in the interest of Indian patients, the government will bring in a policy to differentially price the innovative generations of medical devices. "We are also engaged with the NPPA to find a way to offset the exchange value depreciation and thus mitigate the economic threats in the system to the medical device industry," Choudary said. Drug price regulator NPPA has ...

Excess weight before 50 associated with a higher risk of pancreatic cancer mortality

People who put on excess weight before the age of 50 are at a higher risk of dying from pancreatic cancer than excess weight at older ages.The results of the study were presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019.Pancreatic cancer is relatively uncommon, accounting for just over 3 per cent of all new cancer cases. However, it is an extremely deadly type of cancer, with a five-year survival rate of just 8.5 per cent, according to the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database.In the United States, pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death, after lung and colorectal cancer, and is expected to cause about 46,000 deaths in 2019."Pancreatic cancer rates have been steadily increasing since the early 2000s. We have been puzzled by that increase because smoking, a major risk factor for pancreatic cancer, is declining," said the study's lead author, Eric J. Jacobs."Increased weight in the U.S. population is a likely suspect, but previous ..

Immunotherapy combination shrinks rare, neuroendocrine cancer: study

Scientists have found that rare and aggressive neuroendocrine tumours shrink through a combination of two common immunotherapy drugs.The research results were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019.Results show a significant clinical benefit for patients with high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma, a cancer of the neuroendocrine cells that often form tumours in the lungs and along the digestive tract.This cancer is rare, about 12,000 people in the United States are diagnosed each year, but the general prevalence of the disease grew six-fold between 1973 and 2012. Patients with the high-grade, or rapidly growing, form have few treatment options."We saw a benefit in patients with high-grade carcinoma, which is the population that really needs an effective treatment option," said Sandip Patel, MD, The SWOG Cancer Research Network trial known as DART, clinical study chair."These early results are really encouraging and intriguing. We found a clear ...

Excess body weight may up pancreatic cancer risk

Being overweight before the age of 50 may significantly increase the risk of death from pancreatic cancer, a study has found. Pancreatic cancer is relatively uncommon, accounting for just over three per cent of all new cancer cases. However, it is an extremely deadly type of cancer, with a five-year survival rate of just 8.5 per cent, researchers said. "Pancreatic cancer rates have been steadily increasing since the early 2000s," said Eric J Jacobs, senior scientific director of Epidemiology Research at the American Cancer Society in the US. "We've been puzzled by that increase because smoking -- a major risk factor for pancreatic cancer -- is declining," he said in a statement. Most previous studies on the link between weight and pancreatic cancer were based on weight measured in older adulthood, which may be less informative because it could reflect body fat gained too late in life to influence risk of pancreatic cancer during a typical lifespan, Jacobs said. Researchers sought to ..

Excess body weight may lead to pancreatic cancer

If you are less than 50-years-old but have excess body weight, then you are more likely to develop pancreatic cancer, a new study has warned.

NIOH to develop occupational health programme in Indian context

The National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), an ICMR institute and the training division of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), is developing a unique program designed for the care and compliance of unorganised sector workers perspective for primary health care professionals.A consultative meeting for the development of the curriculum framework for the occupational health program was held in Ahmedabad on Friday.Leading experts in various aspects of occupational health Dr R Manivelan, Nodal officer, NHM, Tamil Nadu, Dr K U Mistry, former chairman-GPCB, Dr T K Joshi, Advisor to Minister of Science and Technology, Government of India, Dr Tsuyoshi Kawakami, Senior OSH Specialist, International Labour Organisation, DWT New Delhi, Dr Suneela Garg, Director Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, Dr Kamalesh Sarkar, Director - NIOH, Dr Dileep Mavalankar, Director, Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, PHFI, and Dr ...

One hour of weekly brisk walk staves off disability: Study

Just one hour a week of brisk walking may stave off disability in older adults with arthritis pain, aching or stiffness in a knee, hip, ankle or foot, according to a study unveiled on Monday. "This is less than 10 minutes a day for people to maintain their independence. It's very doable," said," said Dorothy Dunlop, a professor at Northwestern University in the US. "This minimum threshold may motivate inactive older adults to begin their path towards a physically active lifestyle with the wide range of health benefits promoted by physical activity," said Dunlop, lead author of the study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. About two in five people with osteoarthritis -- most of whom have it in their lower joints -- develop disability limitations, researchers said. The study found an hour of weekly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity allowed older adults to maintain their ability to perform daily tasks like getting dressed or cross a street before a traffic ...

Single-dose antidotes for opioid overdose in the offing

Scientists are developing next-generation single-dose, longer-lasting antidotes for opioid overdose using polymer nanoparticles. The US opioid epidemic is being driven by an unprecedented surge in deaths from fentanyl and other synthetic opiates, according to researchers who presented their results at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2019 National Meeting & Exposition in Orlando. Fentanyl's powerful effects are long-lasting, and even tiny amounts of the drug can lead to an overdose. Antidotes, such as naloxone, do not last long enough in the body to fully counter the drug, requiring repeated injections. "We became interested in this problem while trying to make non-addictive pain medications," said Saadyah Averick, a scientist at Allegheny Health Network Research Institute in the US. "In that course of research, we realised the limitations of current opioid antidotes,"Averick said in a statement. According to the US Centers for Disease Control, opioids, such as heroin, ..

Short walks may prevent disability in older adults

Just one hour a week of brisk walking may prevent disability in older adults with arthritis pain, or aching or stiffness in the knee, hip, ankle or foot, a new study suggests.

Cesarean delivery associated with high risk of severe complications for the mother: Study

Women who deliver their babies by cesarean section are associated with a higher risk of severe complications when compared with the mothers who go for vaginal delivery, a recent study suggests.Rates of cesarean delivery have increased dramatically over the last 20 years, with more than 1 in 5 women delivering by cesarean, often for medically questionable reasons."Maternal complications may be the result of the condition that led to the cesarean delivery rather than from the surgical procedure, producing an apparent association between cesarean delivery and maternal complications," said Diane Korb, lead researcher of the study published in Canadian Medical Association Journal.To understand if cesarean deliveries are associated with severe maternal complications, French researchers used a subcohort of a larger study to compare 1444 women who experienced severe complications after delivery with 3464 controls who did not experience complications, in 6 French regions. They controlled for ..

Just an hour of weekly walking works wonders: Study

Just one hour a week of brisk walking staves-off disability in older adults with arthritis pain, or aching or stiffness in a knee, hip, ankle or foot, a recent study suggests."This is less than 10 minutes a day for people to maintain their independence. It's very doable. This minimum threshold may motivate inactive older adults to begin their path toward a physically active lifestyle with the wide range of health benefits promoted by physical activity," said Dorothy Dunlop, lead author of the study.The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.An estimated 14 million older adults in the U.S. have symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of osteoarthritis. Approximately two in five people with osteoarthritis -- most of whom have it in their lower joints -- develop disability limitations.The study found an hour of weekly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity allowed older adults to maintain their ability to perform daily tasks like getting

IIT-Gn develops tool to spot dementia by tracking eye movements

Scientists at IIT Gandhinagar have developed a technology that can non-invasively diagnose dementia by tracking a person's eye movements, much before the symptoms appear. With a significant rise in ageing population, neurodegenerative disorders are becoming a serious health issue. While dementia can not be cured, its progression can be delayed if diagnosed early. "By the time symptoms of dementia are detected, it is too late -- Alzheimer's disease kicks in and it can not be managed. But if dementia is caught early, we can delay the progression of Alzheimer's," said Uttama Lahiri, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar. Her team, which included Ritika Jain and Valay Patel, developed the 'MindEye' project that can track a person's eye movement, quantifying gaze in terms of reaction time and correct fixations, in response to visual stimuli presented on computer monitor. "We present a stimulus -- dots appearing at certain ...

Cipla gets 8 observations from USFDA for Kurkumbh plant in Maharashtra

The company has also received 10 observations pertaining to a product specific pre-approval (PAI) from the same plant, Cipla said in a BSE filing.

Exercise can boost health in breast cancer survivors

Exercise can likely reduce the risk of heart disease in women with breast cancer, results of a clinical trial has showed.

Gazing at coffee reminders can arouse your brain

Finding it hard to concentrate? Just looking at something that reminds us of coffee can cause our minds to become more alert and attentive, according to a new study.

Working in shifts may increase heart disease risks

People who work in shifts are at heightened danger of heart disease and the risk increases with years they work in shifts, finds a Chinese study of more than 300,000 people.

Research finds rare genes linked with Alzheimer disease

For the first time, research has identified two; extremely rare genetic variants associated with Alzheimer disease (AD).According to the findings appeared in the Journal of JAMA Network Open, the variants, one located in the NOTCH 3 gene and the other in the TREM 2 gene, were observed in persons with AD.According to the researchers, the NOTCH 3 variant has not been implicated in AD in previous large genetic studies, however, other mutations in this gene cause a very rare form of dementia called cadasil.Cadasil begins with severe headaches and strokes in young adulthood followed by dementia by midlife (decades before the typical age when late-onset AD occurs).Other mutations in the TREM 2 gene have been associated with AD, and it was previously shown that persons who carry two copies of this particular mutation (referred to as Q33X) have a very rare disorder called Nasu-Hakola disease which is characterised by the onset of dementia in midlife and polycystic bone lesions with ...

Could a protein predict risk of death, cerebral palsy in preterm babies?

A new research has revealed that preterm babies born without haptoglobin, a protein in blood cells; have higher odds of brain bleeding, cerebral palsy and death.The study, published in the Journal of EClinicalMedicine, suggests that the absence of the protein could serve as a potential biomarker indicating a need for increased monitoring or other preventive interventions.Dr Catalin Buhimschi and Dr Irina Buhimschi led the research and analysed cord blood samples from 921 newborns to see if haptoglobin was associated with poor outcomes in babies who had been exposed to in-utero inflammation, which causes about 30 per cent of preterm births.By calculating odds ratios, a statistic indicating the strength or weakness of an association, they found that preterm babies who had been exposed to inflammation and who lacked haptoglobin were more likely to die before 1 year or develop cerebral palsy by 2 years when compared to preterm babies who had the protein or had not been exposed to ...

Aggressive brain tumour are reacting well to this new combination therapy

Patients with aggressive brain tumour have reacted well to a new combination therapy during a clinical trial.The findings of the trial, published in Journal of Clinical Cancer Research, are an important step forward for this area of research, for which there are a very poor prognosis and no recognised standard of care treatment.The trial used a treatment combination of ADI-PEG20, pemetrexed and cisplatin, which showed encouraging efficacy in patients with recurrent high-grade gliomas (HGGs), a disease for which little progress has been made over the last few decades.In the trial, led by Professor Peter Szloserek, ten patients with heavily pre-treated, recurrent HGG were treated with ADI-PEG20 in combination with standard chemotherapies pemetrexed and cisplatin.This clinical work built upon pre-clinical studies performed at the Queen Mary's Barts Cancer Institute and Imperial College London which identified that ADI-PEG20 can enhance the effects of other standard chemotherapies such as