Page 339 - Health Medical Pharma
Age is no bar for spine surgery
Turns out, age does not need to be the decisive factor in herniated disc surgery or simply, a spine surgery.Recently, an 89-year-old woman from Nepal underwent a successful spine surgery at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals.The woman was suffering from low back pain radiating to both lower limbs and was unable to walk or sleep comfortably. After surgery, she is recovering well and is now able to walk, comfortably.She underwent a spinal decompression and instrumented spinal fusion by Dr. Raju Vaishya, Senior Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon.X-ray and MRI of the spine showed spinal cord compression at L4 to S1 segments. After medical evaluation, she underwent spinal decompression and instrumented spinal fusion under general anaesthesia. The surgery lasted for two and a half hours and was uneventful.Her symptoms of numbness and tingling in the leg has significantly reduced, and she is now able to walk, comfortably.It has been learned that every person has got two types of age - ...
There is no safe level of drinking alcohol: Lancet
Contrary to claims that one or two glasses of wine a day keep you healthy, a study published in the prestigious journal The Lancet has warned that there is no safe level of drinking alcohol as it is associated with nearly one in 10 deaths among middle-aged people.
Eat heart-healthy diet to cut belly fat
Trying hard to reduce that ever burgeoning waistline? Following a heart-healthy diet -- rich in fibre and low in saturated fats -- could be the key, suggests a study.
Dengue claims 41 lives in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan health authorities on Friday said 41 people had died and over 36,000 were infected by dengue across the island nation this year.
Arunachal tea variety fetches Rs 40,000 per kg
A tea variety from Arunachal Pradesh has fetched a world record price of Rs 40,000 per kg at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre here breaking the record of an Assam tea variety auctioned last month. A 1.1 kg lot of Golden Needles tea variety of Donyi Polo tea estate in Arunachal Pradesh sold at Rs 40,000 per kg yesterday, said a statement by Dinesh Bihani, Secretary of Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers Association. The tea variety was sold to Assam Tea Traders, which is one of the oldest tea shop in Guwahati. In July, an Assam tea variety was sold at Rs 39,001 per kg at an auction here. "These types of specialty teas are attracting more and more buyers and producers to come together and use the GTAC platform. We hope that these specialty teas will make us achieve our past glory in the world map," Bihani said in the statement. Assam Tea Traders Lalit Kumar Jalan was quoted as saying in the statement, "There is a rising demand for good tea and we are selling specialty tea ...
Non-invasive eye test may offer early Alzheimer's diagnosis
Researchers, including one of Indian origin, are developing a non-invasive eye test which may one day help detect Alzheimer's disease even before the symptoms appear.
Man loses eyesight after consuming spurious liquor
A man was admitted to hospital as he complained of losing his eyesight after consuming spurious liquor in Kamalpur village under the Jhinjhana police station here, officials said today. According to Deepak Kumar, the medical officer at the Shamli District Hospital, the patient -- Mohar Singh -- was brought to the hospital yesterday. Singh, who lost his eyesight after consuming spurious liquor, was subsequently referred to the Meerut Medical College for treatment, Kumar said. Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) K P Singh said a medical camp was set up in the village after five people died and seven others fell ill after consuming spurious liquor recently. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Jhinjhana, Rajkumar Sharma, has been shifted to the police lines in connection with the incident. Five policemen, including Sub-inspector K P Singh, who was the Bidoli police outpost in-charge, have been placed under suspension for negligence in duty.
Brain mechanism that makes you overeat found
Scientists have discovered a destructive brain mechanism that prevents the neurons from signalling that the stomach is full, causing one to overeat. Researchers found that mice fed a high-fat diet produce an enzyme named MMP-2 that clips receptors for the hormone leptin from the surface of neuronal cells in the hypothalamus. This blocks leptin from binding to its receptors, which in turn keeps the neurons from signalling that your stomach is full and you should stop eating. This is the first time that a destructive molecular mechanism has been observed and described. Scientists showed that when MMP-2 is blocked, leptin can still bind to the receptors and signal satiety. They hope that in the future, clinicians will be able to treat leptin resistance in humans by blocking MMP-2. They also have evidence that their findings have a broader scope. "We need to ask what other pathways, in addition to leptin and its receptors, undergo a similar destructive process and what the consequences ...
Alcohol kills 2.8 million worldwide annually: Researchers
Alcohol kills 2.8 million people every year globally, causing cancer, heart disease and road accidents and even by worsening tuberculosis, researchers have said. They found no evidence that light drinking might help keep people healthy and said there is no evidence that drinking any alcohol at all improves health. Even the occasional drink is harmful to health, according to the largest and most detailed research carried out on the effects of alcohol, which suggests governments should think of advising people to abstain completely. The uncompromising message comes from the authors of the Global Burden of Diseases study, a rolling project based at the University of Washington, in Seattle, which produces the most comprehensive data on the causes of illness and death in the world. Alcohol, says their report published in the Lancet medical journal, led to 2.8 million deaths in 2016. It was the leading risk factor for premature mortality and disability in the 15 to 49 age group, accounting .
Russian trolls, bots skewed vaccine discussion on Twitter: Study
Using tactics similar to those at work during the 2016 US presidential election, social media bots and Russian trolls promoted discord and spread false information about vaccines on Twitter, say researchers.
This app can predict long-term risk of breast cancer
Researchers have come up with a web-based calculator named 'CTS5 calculator' that can help you predict the long-term risk of breast cancer.The web-based calculator can be used to decide which patients are at high enough risk of their cancer returning after receiving the standard five years of endocrine therapy (Endocrine are glands in the body that make hormones), and so could benefit from the continuation of treatment. It could also predict which patients are at low risk of recurrence, and so can avoid any further therapy along with the potential adverse side effects.According to the research, over the last three decades, there has been a major increase in the rate of invasive breast cancer in Western countries. Approximately 85 per cent of patients are now diagnosed as oestrogen (female sex hormones) receptor (ER) positive, which means that cancer grows in response to the hormone oestrogen. Almost all of these patients are prescribed five years of hormone therapy after having ...
'Alcohol causes 2.8m deaths each year worldwide'
In a shocking revelation, a recent study has found that alcohol is associated with nearly one in 10 deaths in people aged 15-49 years old.Overall, according to the research that estimates levels of alcohol use and health effects in 195 countries between 1990 to 2016, 2.8 million deaths occur each year worldwide.Based on their analysis, the authors suggest that there is no safe level of alcohol as any health benefits of alcohol are outweighed by its adverse effects on other aspects of health, particularly cancers.According to lead author, Dr Max Griswold of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, USA, "Previous studies have found a protective effect of alcohol on some conditions, but we found that the combined health risks associated with alcohol increase with any amount of alcohol. In particular, the strong association between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer, injuries, and infectious diseases offset the protective effects for ischemic ...
Sleep loss could result in weight gain
Did you know! Lack of sleep may contribute to adverse weight gain, finds a study.Researchers at Uppsala University have demonstrated that one night of sleep loss has a tissue-specific impact on the regulation of gene expression and metabolism in humans.This may explain how shift work and chronic sleep loss impairs our metabolism and adversely affects our body composition.In the new study, the researchers studied 15 healthy normal-weight individuals who participated in two in-lab sessions in which activity and meal patterns were highly standardised. In randomised order, the participants slept a normal night of sleep (over eight hours) during one session and were instead kept awake the entire night during the other session.The morning after each night-time intervention, small tissue samples (biopsies) were taken from the participants' subcutaneous fat and skeletal muscle. These two tissues often exhibit disrupted metabolism in conditions such as obesity and diabetes.At the same time in .
Woman undergoes surgery for removal of tumour of the size of 9-month foetus
Doctors at a city hospital have successively removed a tumour of the size of a "34-week foetus" lodged inside a woman's womb using a combination of two operation techniques, authorities said today. The 47-year-old patient had approached the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) here in January with complaints of abdominal pain and menorrhagia (abnormally high bleeding at menstruation) over the last 10 years, a hospital spokesperson said. "On her abdominal examination, a large firm mass was felt corresponding to 34 week's gravid uterus (foetus of 34 weeks in womb). "The investigations at SGRH revealed that the tumour had grown into a giant one, sized 23 cm x 23 cm x 16 cm and weighing 4 kg. It was occupying the space from depth of the pelvis up till four inches below the breast bone and was adjoining the liver," the hospital said in a statement. The case was published recently in the Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Research by the Department of Minimally Invasive Gynaecology, SGRH, ...
PM envisages having one medical college & hospital in each district
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his government wants to set up a medical college and hospital in every district of the country, and plans to have 1.5 lakh "wellness centres" to serve rural areas. "The country's health sector has undergone a major overhaul in the last few years with various schemes introduced by the Central government," Modi said, after inaugurating a 300-bed Gujarat Medical and Education Research Society Hospital at Junagadh. "We have already announced (in this year's budget) that we will have one big hospital with an affiliated medical college for every three parliamentary constituencies. Our aim is to have a big hospital and medical college per parliamentary constituency, and then we will take it to each district," Modi said. "In Gujarat (as the then chief minister), I had started the work of setting up a big hospital and affiliated medical college in each district, which is now nearing completion," the Prime Minister said. Apart from the existing health ...
Golden Needle tea fetches Rs 40,000 per kg in auction
The Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) on Thursday scripted a record after a line of Golden Needle tea fetched a whooping Rs 40,000 per kg during a pan India auction.
Smoking conventional, e-cigarettes daily can be more dangerous: Study
Daily usage of conventional and electronic cigarettes together can increase your chances of heart attack by five times, a new study has warned.
Hours after return, Parrikar rushed to Mumbai hospital
Hours after he returned to Goa after undergoing treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer in a US hospital, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday once again left for a Mumbai hospital for treatment, after he felt uneasy due to jet lag, an official said.
Death toll in DR Congo from Ebola outbreak now at 61
Sixty-one people have died in the latest outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the authorities said, adding that four novel drugs had been added to the roster of treatments. The health ministry's General Directorate for Combatting Disease said 103 cases of Ebola had been recorded in the eastern DRC as of August 22, 76 of which had been confirmed by laboratory tests. Of the 103 cases, there were 61 deaths, 34 of which been confirmed by lab tests, while 27 others were considered "probable" cases of Ebola. The outbreak began on August 1 in Mangina in North Kivu province, and cases have been reported in neighbouring Ituri province. It is the 10th outbreak to strike the DRC since 1976, when Ebola was first identified and named after a river in the north of the country. The Health Ministry added that "four additional experimental therapeutic molecules" had been approved by its ethics committee for treating infected patients. Their laboratory names are ZMapp; ...
Health, fitness awareness a global phenomenon now: Milind Soman
From his sensational screen presence as a supermodel to making a mark as Limca Record holder for running to create awareness about environment, receiving appreciation from critics for his performance in "Bajirao Mastani" and his recent marriage -- the 50-year-old model-actor Milind Soman has been in news for various reasons. But he says his fitness routine has been widely talked about because health has emerged as a global topic of discussion.