Page 316 - Health Medical Pharma
New virus linked to kidney disease revealed
Scientists in Australia have discovered a new virus which causes kidney disease in mice that may help in diagnosis and treatment of chronic and childhood kidney failure.
Mixed chemicals in cosmetic items can harm women's hormones
Turns out, the beauty products you use can negatively affect your Hormones.A new study has discovered that discovered links between chemicals that are widely used in cosmetic and personal care products and changes in reproductive hormones.As part of the study, a total of 509 urine samples were collected from 143 women aged 18 to 44 years, free of known chronic health conditions and birth control to be measured for environmental chemicals that are found in personal care products, such as parabens, which are antimicrobial preservatives, and benzophenones, which are ultraviolet filters. These are usually found in cosmetic products.Pollack noted, head of the study said, "This study is the first to examine mixtures of chemicals that are widely used in personal care products in relation to hormones in healthy, reproductive-age women, using multiple measures of exposure across the menstrual cycle, which improved upon research that relied on one or two measures of chemicals,"This ...
UP: Man carries son in e-rickshaw due to unavailability of ambulance
In yet another case of medical apathy, a man here was forced to take his ailing child to a hospital in an e-rickshaw, following the unavailability of an ambulance.The patient, who was in a serious condition, was being treated at the Rajkiya Medical College here. The doctors later on referred him to the District hospital.However, the Rajkiya Medical College failed to provide an ambulance to ferry the patient.The family even claimed that they called 108 toll-free number and waited for an hour, but all efforts went in vein."We did not get the ambulance facility; as a result, we had to carry him on e-rickshaw. We asked the authority for the same, but did not get any positive response," he said.In the meantime, the Chief Medical Officer Dr S Kumar said, "We did not receive any information, otherwise we would have arranged it," Dr Kumar said.
India bans 328 combination drugs in setback for pharma companies
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government has banned 328 combination drugs in a blow to both domestic and foreign pharmaceutical firms, but the ban has been cheered by health activists worried about growing antibiotic resistance due to the misuse of medicines.
New AIIMS to match facilities available at Delhi institute: Nadda
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda said on Thursday said that all efforts will be made to provide same standards of service to new AIIMS as in the Delhi institution.
Roche steps up efficiency drive to take sting out of biosimilars
LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche, the world's biggest producer of cancer drugs, is stepping up cost cuts in an efficiency drive made unavoidable by competition from cut-price copies of three mega-brands from its famed U.S. Genentech biotech stable. Even though the Swiss company has some of the pharmaceutical industry's most admired research and development labs, it is now battling to increase medicine sales as its biotech portfolio ages and rivalry intensifies.
Green corridor helps heart reach AIIMS from Delhi airport in 12 mins
A special green corridor was created in the peak traffic hours here on Thursday to transport a heart from the airport to a hospital, covering a distance of 14 km in just 12 minutes, police said. The corridor was provided at 10.05 am from the Delhi airport to the AIIMS for transporting the heart, they said. The total distance covered was 14 km and time taken 12 minutes, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Alok Kumar said. The heart was successfully transplanted to a 32-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh. The patient was undergoing treatment at the AIIMS since February and was listed for heart transplant in April, said Dr Aarti Vij, Organ Retrieval and Banking Organisation in charge at the AIIMS.
Saridon, Panderm among over 6,000 medicines face ban
The Centre's decision on Wednesday to ban the manufacture, sale and distribution of 328 Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) drugs has brought around 6,000 prominent medicines under the radar, including some very commonly used ones.
Woman dies of scrub typhus in Maharashtra's Gondia
A 34-year-old woman died Thursday of scrub typhus, a bacterial infection, in Maharashtra's Gondia district, a senior health official said. Scrub typhus is a disease caused by the bite of chiggers, a minute arachnid, found in paddy fields and overgrown grass patches, the official said. Seema Yeshwant Dhurwe, a resident of Thadezhari in Sadak Arjuni tehsil here, was admitted to a private hospital Tuesday after she complained of headache and high fever, said District Contagious Disease Control Officer Dr Bhumesh Patle. "After her condition deteriorated, she was put on ventilator support on Wednesday and died Thursday," Patle said. He said that district health authorities were carrying out awareness campaigns about scrub typhus and had asked people to go to the fields or venture outside wearing full-sleeved clothes. "In case of high fever, body aches and itchy skin, people should immediately consult a doctor. Scrub typhus can be treated if diagnosed early," the medical ...
Novel wearable ultrasound patch monitors BP inside body
Scientists have developed a new wearable ultrasound patch that non-invasively monitors blood pressure in arteries deep beneath the skin and could help people detect cardiovascular problems earlier on and with greater precision.
INMAS develops India's first indigenous anti-nuclear medical kit
In a major shot in the arm for paramilitary and police forces, scientists at a central research institute claim to have developed India's first indigenous medical kit that may ensure protection from serious injuries and faster healing of wounds resulting from nuclear warfare or radioactive leakage. The kit, developed after two decades of work by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) here, has over 25 items, including radio-protectors that provide 80-90 per cent protection against radiation and nerve gas agents, bandages that absorb radiation as well as tablets and ointments. Developed in India for the first time, it's a potent alternative to similar kits that were till now being procured from strategically advanced nations such as the US and Russia at much higher prices, INMAS Director A K Singh told PTI. The contents include an advanced form of Prussian blue tablets, highly effective in incorporating Radio Cesium (Cs-137) and Radio Thallium, among the most ...
Elevated BP is linked to aortic valve disease
Turns out, people with a long-term problem of blood pressure has an increased risk of aortic valve disease (AVD) - problems with the valve that controls how blood is pumped from the left ventricle of the heart out into the main artery, the aorta.In a recent study conducted by European Society of Cardiology, researchers found that above a systolic blood pressure of 115 mmHg, every additional 20 mmHg was associated with a 41 percent higher risk of aortic stenosis (AS) and a 38 percent higher risk of aortic regurgitation (AR) later in life. Compared to people who had a systolic blood pressure of 120 mmHg or lower, those with a systolic blood pressure of 161 mmHg or higher had more than twice the risk of being diagnosed with AS and were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with AR during follow-up.The findings suggest that controlling blood pressure, even at levels below the threshold currently defined for hypertension of 140/90 mmHg, may be a way to prevent these conditions.AS is a ...
Sugar pills may effectively relieve chronic pain: Study
Sugar pills may reduce chronic pain in certain patients as effectively as any powerful drug on the market, a study claims. Scientists at Northwestern University in the US have shown they can reliably predict which chronic pain patients will respond to a sugar placebo pill based on the patients' brain anatomy and psychological characteristics. "Their brain is already tuned to respond," said A Vania Apkarian, a professor at Northwestern University. "They have the appropriate psychology and biology that puts them in a cognitive state that as soon as you say, 'this may make your pain better,' their pain gets better," Apkarian said. "You can tell them, 'I'm giving you a drug that has no physiological effect but your brain will respond to it,'" he said. Researchers said that it is much better to give someone a non-active drug rather than an active drug and get the same result. Most pharmacological treatments have long-term adverse effects or addictive properties. Placebo becomes as good an .
Freezing your eggs in 40s 'not sensible': UK fertility regulator
The odds of a future pregnancy for women who freeze their eggs post 40 are very slim, and is not sensible and may also prove to be risky, the UK fertility regulator has said.
'Wearable ultrasound patch monitors BP inside body'
Scientists have developed a new wearable ultrasound patch that can non-invasively monitor blood pressure in arteries deep beneath the skin. The advance by researchers from the University of California - San Diego in the US could help people detect cardiovascular problems earlier on and with greater precision. Applications include real-time, continuous monitoring of blood pressure changes in patients with heart or lung disease, as well as patients who are critically ill or undergoing surgery, according to the research published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. The patch uses ultrasound, so it could potentially be used to non-invasively track other vital signs and physiological signals from places deep inside the body, researchers said. "Wearable devices have so far been limited to sensing signals either on the surface of the skin or right beneath it. But this is like seeing just the tip of the iceberg," said Sheng Xu, a professor at the UC San Diego. "By integrating ...
Zydus Cadila gets USFDA nod to market osteoporosis drug
Drug firm Zydus Cadila has received final nod from the US health regulator for Risedronate Sodium delayed-release tablets, used for treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. The company has received final approval from the USFDA to market the tablets in the strength of 35 mg, in America, Zydus Cadila said in a statement Thursday. The product will be manufactured at the group's formulations manufacturing facility at Moraiya, Ahmedabad, it added. Risedronate alters bone formation and breakdown in the body. This can slow bone loss and may help prevent bone fractures. This medicine is used to treat osteoporosis in women, caused by menopause, Zydus Cadila said. The group now has 218 approvals and has so far filed over 330 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) since the commencement of its filing process, it added.
More than 18 mn new cases of cancer expected this year: UN study
More than 18 million new cases of cancer are expected this year and it is estimated that 9.6 million people will die from various forms of the disease in 2018, the UN's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said. According to IARC, a specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organisation, the disease is a growing global health threat. One in five men and one in six women worldwide develop cancer during their lifetime, and one in eight men and one in 11 women die from it, IARC's Global Cancer Observatory said on Wednesday in its first report since 2012. "These new figures highlight that much remains to be done to address the alarming rise in the cancer burden globally and that prevention has a key role to play," IARC Director Christopher Wild said. "Efficient prevention and early detection policies must be implemented urgently to complement treatments in order to control this devastating disease across the world," Wild added. In India, the number of new cancer cases in
Breast cancer screening not liked to life expectancy
According to a recent study, fewer and fewer women die from breast cancer in recent years, but surprisingly, the decline has been just as large in the age groups that are not screened. The decline is, therefore, due to better treatment and not screening for breast cancer.As part of the study, the researchers followed all Norwegian women aged 30-89 and identified those who developed breast cancer in the period 1987-2010, before subsequently comparing the number of deaths before and after the screening programme was introduced.According to Henrik Stovring, one of the researchers, the result didn't favour the breast cancer screening programme. The Danish screening programme was progressively introduced from the early 1990s and was offered nationally to everyone from 2007, three years after the Norwegians, who supplied data for the Danish-Norwegian research project."The important result is that we do not find a beneficial effect of breast cancer screening any longer. The original ...
Sleep apnea may lead to lung cancer at young age
Turns out, sleep apnea or simply a sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts, can lead to the growth of lung cancer growth in young individuals.A scientific study, conducted with animal models at the University of Barcelona, stated, "the younger, the more vulnerable to cancer's aggressiveness."The obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is a chronic disease which affects about the 10 per cent of the adult population worldwide. During these last years, researchers have shown interest in the study of the potential relationship between the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and its immediate consequence, intermittent hypoxia, with the appearance of tumours. The new study represents a scientific advance within the research line of the potential effects of obstructive sleep apnea in cancer.This new study has been conducted on young mice -equivalent ages to those in teenagers- and old mice -corresponding to people aged over 65- and shows how the lack of oxygen during sleep ...
Sugar pills relieve chronic pain
According to a recent study, Someday doctors may prescribe sugar pills for certain chronic pain patients based on their brain anatomy and psychology. And the pills can reduce the pain as effectively as any powerful drug on the market.A. Vania Apkarian, author of the study said, "Their (Patients) brain is already tuned to respond. They have the appropriate psychology and biology that puts them in a cognitive state that as soon as you say, 'this may make your pain better,' their pain gets better." There's no need to fool the patient, Apkarian said."You can tell them, 'I'm giving you a drug that has no physiological effect but your brain will respond to it. You don't need to hide it. There is a biology behind the placebo response," Apkarian adds.The findings of the study have three potential benefits:Prescribing non-active drugs rather than active drugs. "It's much better to give someone a non-active drug rather than an active drug and get the same result," Apkarian said. "Most ...