Page 302 - Health Medical Pharma

Five-member Central team sent to Jaipur to probe possible Zika infection

A five-member medical team has been sent to Jaipur to investigate and ascertain the ground situation there after an elderly woman from the Rajasthan capital tested positive for Zika virus infection, a Union Health Ministry official said. The woman was admitted to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital on September 11 with joint pain, redness in eyes and weakness. She was tested negative for dengue and swine flu. This raised suspicion, and samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, to test for Zika virus infection and the report was positive, Dr U S Agrawal, the principal of SMS Medical College, had said on Sunday. This was the first such suspected case in the state. The woman, a resident of Shastri Nagar area in Jaipur, was discharged a few days back after she was feeling better, Dr Agrawal said. A Union Health Ministry official said, "We have dispatched a team to verify the facts and ascertain the ground situation. The team has already reached Jaipur." The ...

Early diagnosis key to cure cancer in children

It is estimated that approximately 40-50000 new cases of cancer occur in under-14 year of age in India.Many of these are not diagnosed either because they have poor access to health care or because primary health care workers do not recognise signs and symptoms of pediatric malignancy, according to Dr. Gauri Kapoor of Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre (RGCIRC), Rohini, Delhi.September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and RGCIRC has been raising awareness on early diagnosis of childhood cancer during the month.Advances in survival of children with cancer over the past 30 years have been remarkable. Today, approximately 70 per cent of childhood cancers are potentially curable. Interestingly, this is not due to discovery of new drugs in treatment of childhood cancer. Rather, it has been achieved by the rational combination of the three important therapeutic modalities - chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. This has been achieved through successive clinical trials .

Urologists hail govt's health insurance scheme

Some Delhi-based urologists on Tuesday hailed the government's health insurance scheme, saying it would make treatment of all urological disorders, including prostate cancer, easier for the poor and weaker sections. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) under Ayushman Bharat Mission will cover treatment of all urological disorders, including prostate cancer, and this will immensely help patients from poor and weaker sections who had so far neglected the critical disease due to unaffordable cost of treatment, said Dr. Anup Kumar, Head of Department of Urology and Renal Transplant at Safdarjang Hospital. "Under PMJAY, the government, in consultations with healthcare providers, has fixed up charges for treatment for all urological disorders and that will be reimbursed by the insurers. Due to lack of awareness in rural areas people tend to ignore prostate problems and now with PMJAY in place, a large number of people can avail treatment for prostate cancer which is the second ...

'Spinal cord stimulation helps paralysed man walk again'

Spinal cord stimulation and physical therapy have helped a man paralysed since 2013 regain his ability to stand and walk with assistance, say scientists, offering hope to people with backbone injury. With an implanted stimulator turned on, the man was able to step with a front-wheeled walker while trainers provided occasional assistance, according to the research published in the journal Nature Medicine. He made 113 rehabilitation visits over a year, and achieved results during individual sessions, said researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Mayo Clinic in the US. "What this is teaching us is that those networks of neurons below a spinal cord injury still can function after paralysis," said Kendall Lee, a neurosurgeon and director of Mayo Clinic's Neural Engineering Laboratories. In the study, the man's spinal cord was stimulated by an implanted electrode, enabling neurons to receive the signal that he wanted to stand or step. Currently, as a safety ...

Tea Board urges industry to tap Chinese market

The Tea Board has urged the industry to look into the Chinese market to tap muted volumes and renewed demand for orthodox varieties in that country. Deputy chairman and CEO of Tea Board, Arun Kumar Ray, told PTI on Tuesday: "A tea plantation business is labour intensive, and sustaining the industry in China may not be possible due to rising labour costs." Ray said China produces about 2,500 million kg of tea annually and volumes were not rising. "China has been traditionally consuming green tea. But, now they are shifting to black and orthodox variety. So Indian exporters can make efforts to make inroads to China," Ray said. He also urged the tea industry to become more cost-effective and self-sufficient. "The industry cannot look towards subsidy forever." Earlier, speaking at the AGM of Tea Research Association (TRA), Ray said, "Subsidy would go away in the present scenario. The industry has to be competitive and cost-efficient". Talking about TRA, a research body ...

Indians love to order tea, coffee

Indians not only order food from food delivery companies but also tea and coffee, according to a study done by Uber Eats.

'Why it doesn't get dark when you blink'

Scientists have identified an area in the brain that allows people to see the world as a stable, unified whole despite blinking. People blink every five seconds. During this brief moment, no light falls on the retina, yet people continue to observe a stable picture of the environment with no intervals of darkness. Researchers at the German Primate Center and the University Medical Center Gottingen and colleagues from the US performed studies on epilepsy patients to determine where this perceptual memory is situated in the brain, and how it works. They have identified a brain area that plays a crucial role in perceptual memory. The finding, published in the journal Current Biology, enables a better understanding of the interaction of perception and memory. Despite blinking, people still see the world as a stable, unified whole, researchers said. It must therefore be possible for the brain to retain visual information for a short period of time and then put it together to form a ...

Brain surgery done with local anaesthesia at AIIMS, Patna: Doc

A tumour was removed from the brain of a 21-year-old man with local anaesthesia at AIIMS, Patna, an attending doctor said. Saquib Siddiqui, associate professor in the department of neurosurgery at the hospital, told PTI, "It took us nearly four hours to remove the tumour. The patient is showing very good progress and we are planning to discharge him in a couple of days". He claimed this was the first surgery of its kind in Bihar. Rohit Kumar, a resident of Muzaffarpur, was admitted to AIIMS, Patna recently with complaints of severe headache and fits. His MRI reports showed a tumour of about five cm diameter, which was removed on September 21. "We decided to opt for local anaesthesia since that enabled us to keep the patient awake while the surgery is performed. Although this type of surgical intervention requires a very high degree of skill and technical knowhow, it is much safer as far as patients are concerned," Siddiqui, who headed the team of doctors, said. He said .

Spinal cord stimulation offers new hope for paralysed people

A paralysed man regained his ability to stand and walk with assistance after undergoing a spinal cord stimulation as well as physical therapy, says a study, offering hope to people with backbone injury.

2.5 hours of physical activity per week may prevent Alzheimer's

Engaging in at least 2.5 hours of physical activity per week, including walking, running, swimming and aerobics, may delay cognitive decline and prevent Alzheimer's disease, suggests a new study.

Iraqi girl gets new lease of life after spinal surgery at city hospital

A 19-year-old Iraqi girl, suffering from a rare spinal disease, which affects blood supply in the spinal cord, got a new lease of life after undergoing surgery at a hispital here. Nuha Mohanad Hani was suffering from spinal arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a rare form of disorder in which there is an abnormal tangle of blood vessels in or near the spinal cord. It can permanently damage the spinal cord if not treated on time, said Dr P N Renjen, senior consultant of Neurology at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. Oxygen-rich blood generally enters the spinal cord through arteries which further branches into smaller blood vessels called capillaries. After delivering oxygen to the spinal cord, blood then passes into veins that drain it away from the spinal cord to the heart and lungs. "However, in spinal AVM, the blood passes directly from arteries to the veins, bypassing the capillaries. This disorder in blood flow deprives the surrounding cells of vital oxygen, causing cells in the ...

Eating high-carb diet can help lose weight

Struggling hard to shed those extra kilos? If so, foods high in carbohydrates -- found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes -- may help you reduce body weight and fat as well as improve insulin function, suggests a study challenging previous beliefs.

Residents doctors, hostellers clash in BHU over non-allotment of bed to patient

At least six students were injured after a clash erupted between resident doctors and hostellers in the BHU campus here allegedly over non-allotment of bed to a patient, police said Tuesday. The incident took place late on Monday night after students of some hostels in the varsity joined the patient's family members who were engaged in an scuffle with the resident doctors. Soon after, the hostellers and the resident doctors stone pelted at each other and indulged in arson in the campus, they said. The family members of the patient were demanding allotment of bed at Sir Sunderlal Hospital of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), but when a resident doctor expressed unwillingness in meeting the demand on an immediate basis, an argument broke out between them, police said. The argument took a violent turn after the resident doctors and hostellers indulged in arson in the campus, stone-pelting, hurled petrol bombs and attacked and injured each other. Some "anti-social" elements also set ...

US healthcare system is morally wrong: Ex-UN chief

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has denounced the US healthcare system as politically and morally wrong, and urged American leaders to enact publicly-financed healthcare as a "human right".

UAE-funded hospital opens in Yemen

Abu Dhabi, Sep 25 (IANS/WAM) A hospital funded by the United Arab Emirates has opened in the Red Sea coast of Yemen.

Security heightened at BHU after scuffle

Security has been beefed up in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and one person detained following a scuffle between Sir Sunderlal Hospital's junior doctors and relatives of a patient on Monday.The patient apparently visited the hospital on Monday after she fell ill."From what we have been told by the hospital authorities, the family of the patient wanted the doctor to attend to her first. We are now further investigating the matter," said Varanasi's ACM First, Prem Pandey.After the doctors apparently did not fulfill their demand, the patient's family started protesting. They were reportedly joined by students of the varsity.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anand Kulkarni confirmed that the situation at the university was currently under control. "Now, the situation is under control. Today, the university administration conducted a meeting to plan their strategy. Such incidents should not get repeated again. In our presence, some medical students were seen trying to burn a ...

Single fracture lowers body's bone density: Study

A single fracture can cause bone density to reduce throughout the body -- not just around the site of injury, a study has found. The research paves the way for treatments to preserve long-term skeletal health and reduce susceptibility to additional fractures and, potentially, osteoporosis, which is diagnosed when bone-density losses are severe. "We know one fracture seems to lead to others, but we haven't known why," said Blaine Christiansen, an associate professor at University of California, Davis in the US. "Our work is the first step on the path to identifying the cellular mechanisms of systemic bone loss," said Christiansen, who led two studies that are among the first to associate fractures with systemic bone loss. The first study, published in Osteoporosis International, was based on about 4,000 participants in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, an observational study of older women that included hip bone mineral density (BMD) measures and fracture history gathered regularly .

Exercise may delay cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer's: Study

Exercising for at least 2.5 hours per week may delay cognitive decline in people carrying a genetic mutation that causes Alzheimer's disease, according to a study. Autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD) is a rare genetically-driven form of the disease in which the development of dementia at a relatively young age is inevitable, said researchers from the University Hospital of Tubingen in Germany. The study, published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, shows a significant relationship between physical activity, cognition, functional status and Alzheimer's disease pathology even in individuals with genetically-driven ADAD. The officially recommended physical activity duration of 150 minutes per week was associated with significantly better cognition and less Alzheimer's disease pathology in ADAD. A physically active lifestyle is achievable and may play an important role in delaying the development and progression of ADAD, researchers said. They analysed data generated ...

Childhood asthma may up anxiety later: Study

Children suffering from asthma are more likely to develop the risk of anxiety during adulthood, finds a new study.

Drug to block pancreatic cancer growth developed

Researchers have developed a new drug that can prevent the most common type of pancreatic cancer from growing and spreading.