Page 268 - Health Medical Pharma

Amgen cuts U.S. price of cholesterol drug Repatha by 60 percent

(Reuters) - Amgen Inc , looking to boost use of its potent cholesterol drug Repatha, has cut the medication's U.S. list price by 60 percent to $5,850, the biotechnology company said on Wednesday.

Amgen cuts price of cholesterol drug Repatha by 60 percent

(Reuters) - Amgen Inc , looking to boost use of its potent cholesterol drug Repatha, has cut the medication's U.S. list price by 60 percent to $5,850, the U.S. biotechnology company said on Wednesday.

Extremely high BP in diabetics linked to severe organ damage

Patients with diabetes suffering from extremely high blood pressure (BP) could be at risk of organ damage due to hypertensive emergencies such as stroke, chest pain and heart failure, finds a study.

Folic acid tablets during pregnancy can prevent congenital defects: AIIMS experts

Consumption of folic acid tablets during pregnancy may help prevent spina bifida -- a condition characterised by an incomplete closing of the backbone and membrane around the spinal cord in offsprings, according to doctors from the city-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Breastfeeding can lower risk of maternal high BP: Study

Breast milk not only provides nutrition to babies, but also protects mothers from developing high blood pressure (BP) for longer-term, suggests a study.

Cancer more than doubled in India over last 26 yrs, breast cancer most common: Report

Cancer burden in India has more than doubled over the last 26 years, the highest increase amongst all therapy areas, with breast cancer being the most common among Indian women, according to a recent report. The Breast Cancer Landscape in India, a white paper by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which aims to provide insights regarding status and challenges in breast cancer care will be released Thursday by Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel. As per the ICMR data, India had 14 lakh cancer patients in 2016 and this number is expected to increase. The government has laid down four priority cancers -- breast cancer, cervical cancer, oral cancer and lung cancer which together constitute 41 per cent of cancer burden, the report mentioned. "Breast cancer is currently the most common cancer among Indian women, both in terms of incidence as well as mortality, with proportional prevalence in younger age-groups being higher than the global average. Age standardised rate is ...

Uzbekistan baby undergoes liver transplant at Noida hospital

Doctors here gave a new lease of life to a three-and-a-half-month old baby from Uzbekistan who was suffering from high-risk end-stage liver disease.

Purple tea fetches record price at Guwahati Tea Auction Center

The Guwahati Tea Auction Center on Wednesday claimed to have sold about 1.2 kg of purple tea at a record price of Rs 24,501 per kg, an industry source said here. The purple tea, produced by Donyio Polo Tea Estate of Arunachal Pradesh, was sold to Dugar Consumer Products Pvt Ltd here, the source said. "This is the first time purple tea is being manufactured in India. The tea was sold by Contemporary Tea Brokers Pvt Ltd here at the highest price," Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers Association secretary Dinesh Bihani told PTI. The Guwahati Tea Auction Center, which has recently added purple tea in its basket, sells various types such as golden tips, silver needles and other speciality teas. Bihani said Dugar Consumer Product Pvt Ltd sells tea under the brand name 'Uphaar', one of the "largest tea packet sellers in the North East region". Around 10,000 purple tea leaves are required to make a kg of purple tea, another industry source said. Donyi Polo had in August sold the golden ..

Punjab bans use of glyphosate

The Punjab government Wednesday banned the sale of "cancer causing" weedicide glyphosate. The systemic herbicide has been observed to be a group 2A cancer causing material, a government release said. Besides cancer, this chemical is also known to cause other health problems and has the potential to damage the human DNA as per experts from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, the release said. Glyphosate is sold in the country under various brand names such as Round-up, Excell, Glycel, Glider, Glydon, Sweep, Glyphogen, among other. Earlier, the Punjab State Farmers Commission had also recommended the ban on sale of this chemical in the state. State Agriculture Secretary K S Pannu said the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIB&RC), Government of India, has recommended the use of this herbicide only in tea gardens and non-cropped area and therefore there is a dire need for strict compliance of the existing label claim of ..

'Heart disease strikes Indian expats in UAE younger'

Indian expatriates in the UAE are at an increased risk of developing heart diseases almost a decade earlier than their Western counterparts, a study has found. The study by Aster Hospitals Dubai found out people from South East Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines are most at risk for developing heart diseases in the prime years of their life. In fact, the heart disease strikes them almost a decade earlier than their Western counterpart, researchers said. The study was conducted on patients from diverse backgrounds with coronary artery disease (CAD), who had undergone interventional procedures at Aster Hospital in the last three months. The younger segment of Indian expats living here are increasingly prone to CADs due to a number of reasons, than any other nationalities and they get it earlier now than before, according to the study. "Our clinical data is a reminder that prevention should start early in life before problems develop. ...

Tiny device to deliver cancer therapy sans side effects: Study

Scientists have developed an implantable nanodevice to deliver immunotherapy without side effects to treat triple-negative breast cancer. Inserted straight into a tumour, this nanofluidic seed makes it possible to deliver a one-time, sustained-release dose that would eliminate the need for patients to undergo several treatments over time, according to the study published in the Journal of Controlled Release. Invented by Alessandro Grattoni from the Houston Methodist Research Institute in the US, this tiny device is smaller than a grain of rice and, once inserted inside a tumour, can deliver the medication little by little, gradually releasing the drug from its reservoir. "With this research we are trying to establish a novel strategy to deliver immunotherapy straight into a tumour instead of delivering it to the whole body of a patient," Grattoni said. "And we're trying to understand whether delivering it this way would actually be more effective and have less side effects as compared

Medical crowdfunding raises millions for dubious cures

Online appeals to help sick people by raising money for unfounded and sometimes dangerous treatments and purported cures bring in millions of dollars each year, researchers warned Tuesday. The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) looked at crowdfunding activity from 2015 to 2017 and "identified more than 1,000 campaigns that raised nearly USD 6.8 million." "This money is wasted at best and harmful at worst," researchers wrote on the site healthaffairs.org. Four crowdfunding sites, including the most well-known, GoFundMe, collected the money. Researchers focused on homeopathic or naturopathic cancer treatments, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for brain injury, stem cell therapies for brain and spinal cord injury and long-term antibiotic therapy for chronic Lyme Disease. The study was limited in scope by focusing only on these five treatments and four crowdfunding platforms. But the dangers posed by such approaches are real, according to co-author Ford Vox, a

Smoking during pregnancy may cause early puberty in kids

Mothers-to-be, take note! Smoking during pregnancy can put your child at risk attaining puberty early, a study has found. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, looked at data from a total of 15,819 pregnant women and their children. During pregnancy, the women were asked about their smoking habits. Then, the children were followed and filled in 83,810 questionnaires about their pubertal development from the age of eleven and every six months thereafter. "We found that children of mothers who had smoked more than ten cigarettes a day during pregnancy, on average entered puberty three to six months earlier than the children of non-smokers," said Nis Brix, from Aarhus University in Denmark. "Early puberty can be associated with an increased risk of a number of diseases as an adult, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer," said Brix. Together with his colleagues, he is working to identify the causes of puberty to be able to ..

Painkillers during pregnancy linked to early puberty in girls

Women who are in the habit of popping up over-the-counter painkillers during pregnancy could increase the risk of their daughters entering puberty earlier than normal, warns a research.

Exercise can help boost memory through bone hormone: Study

Researchers have identified a naturally occurring bone hormone that can potentially reverse memory loss in the ageing brain through exercise.

Smoking during pregnancy linked to early puberty in kids

Here's another reason to stop smoking when pregnant!A recent study has linked earlier puberty in children with mother's smoking during pregnancy.The Aarhus University study has been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology."We found that children of mothers who had smoked more than ten cigarettes a day during pregnancy, on average entered puberty three to six months earlier than the children of non-smokers," says Nis Brix, who is one of the researchers behind the study."Early puberty can be associated with an increased risk of a number of diseases as an adult, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer," said Nis Brix.Brix hopes that the study's results can be used as another motivating factor to stop smoking among women who are planning on becoming pregnant."It is known that smoking is harmful to the unborn foetus. Smoking is, among other things, associated with an increased risk of low birth weight, premature birth and increased ...

3 Indian-Americans in Time magazine's 'Health Care 50' list

Three Indian-Americans have been named in the Time magazine's 2018 list of the 50 most influential people whose work is transforming healthcare in the US. The three Indian-Americans included in the list are Divya Nag, Dr Raj Panjabi and Atul Gawande. To put together the list, Time's team of health editors and reporters nominated people who made significant contributions to the state of healthcare in America this year. The publication then evaluated their work on originality, impact and quality. The list was broken up into four separate categories, including public health, treatments, cost and technology. The list included physicians, scientists, business and political leaders, whose work is transforming healthcare. At not even 30, Nag is leading Apple's special projects focusing on health. Nag's team developed ResearchKit, an open-source app developer for doctors and researchers to share patient results and clinical data, and this fall it announced groundbreaking new ..

Diabetic? Here's why you should take care of your BP

Managing high blood pressure in diabetics may prevent life-threatening organ damage, suggests a study.The Rutgers University findings have been published in Clinical and Experimental Hypertension.It is the first study to look at the risk factors and prevalence for hypertensive emergencies -- or drastic increases in blood pressure -- in diabetic African-Americans, a population disproportionally affected by complications of high blood pressure."Our study found that both diabetics and non-diabetics with hypertensive emergencies had similar rates of severe injury to target organs," said Irina Benenson. "Combined with the fact that diabetics with hypertensive emergency also had significantly higher levels of blood pressure, this suggests that the occurrence of severe damage to vital organs is not because of just diabetes but because of the accompanying severely elevated blood pressure."According to Benenson, hypertensive emergencies are associated with life-threatening damage to the brain,

Zydus Wellness, Cadila to buy Kraft Heinz India

(Reuters) - Indian consumer company Zydus Wellness Ltd and Cadila Healthcare Ltd will jointly buy Heinz India Private Ltd for 45.95 billion rupees ($627.18 million).

PureCircle to Present Latest Updates on Stevia in India at IUFoST 2018

/ -- PureCircle (LSE: PURE), the world's leading producer and innovator of great tasting, zero-calorie stevia sweeteners, will be presenting the latest in stevia research, and updates on local stevia initiatives underway in India at The International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST ) 2018 being held October 23-27, 2018 at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. PureCircle will be hosting a joint scientific session with Coca-Cola India on October 26th which will include presentations by PureCircle's Group Vice President of Global Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Dr. Siddhartha Purkayastha and the Company's Head of the South East Asia Region Navneet Singh. The presentations will cover stevia sustainability and recent agricultural development in India; advances in stevia science, technology and safety; and recent stevia innovations for the formulation of great tasting reduced/zero sugar foods and beverages. Commenting on stevia's sustainability and PureCircle's vision for ...