Page 355 - Health Medical Pharma
Psychedelic drugs could treat mental disorders: experts
Psychedelics drugs often misused by ravers and music festival-goers - may one day be used to treat disorders ranging from social anxiety to depression, researchers say. Hallucinogens have been studied in the US for their potential healing benefits since the discovery of LSD in the 1940s. However, research has mostly stalled since psychedelics were outlawed in the late 1960s. A shift may be coming soon though, as MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, is beginning its third and final phase of clinical trials in an effort to win US Food and Drug Administration approval for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, said Adam Snider, of Alliant International University in the US. Findings from a study presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association suggested that symptoms of social anxiety in autistic adults may be treatable with a combination of psychotherapy and MDMA. Twelve autistic adults with moderate to severe social anxiety were given two treatments of ...
Brain activity warns against buying stocks: Study
Scientists have identified brain regions that caution people from buying stocks, a finding that may explain why many people shy away from making supposedly riskier forms of investment, despite long-term profit expectations. Researchers from the University of Bonn in Germany have developed a model that makes real-life stock buying behaviour comprehensible for the first time. Researchers combined socioeconomic, psychological and neuroscientific data in an innovative way. They examined a total of 157 male subjects aged 29 to 50 years. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that the cortical regions of the "anterior insular" are more active among people who do not trade stocks. In experienced stock traders, the activity of this region of the brain was lower. "In this age group, we can assume that all participants have gained at least some experience with financial investments and that their decisions are more realistic," said Alexander Niklas Hausler, doctoral ...
Primates offer clues to evolution of human speech'
Researchers examining the brains and vocal repertoires of primates have offered important insight into the evolution of human speech. The vocal tract and larynx is similar in form and function amongst virtually all terrestrial mammals, including humans, said researchers at the Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. However, relative to humans, non-human primates produce an extremely limited range of vocalisations. Published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience, the research investigated whether the reason primates are incapable of producing speech is because they lack the brain mechanisms needed to control and coordinate vocal production. The study focused on two particular features of the brain: the cortical association areas that govern voluntary control over behaviour; and the brainstem nuclei that are involved in the neural control of muscles responsible for vocal production. The researchers, including those from Stony Brook University, found a positive correlation between the ...
New AI technique to make cancer treatment less toxic
MIT researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed novel machine-learning techniques to improve the quality of life for patients by reducing toxic chemotherapy and radiotherapy dosing for an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Risk-taking, antisocial teenagers more likely to die young: Study
Parents, please take note. A new study has found that adolescents with serious conduct and substance use problems are five times more likely to die prematurely than their peers.
Physical appearance is an illusion: Sonakshi Sinha
Actress Sonakshi Sinha, who has been often body-shamed on social media, says there is so much more to a person than their looks and that physical appearance is just an illusion.
Antibiotic resistance genes in air pose threat to human health: Study
Urban air is being polluted by antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) whose exposure is posing threat to human health, researchers have warned.
This new type of bed net can help prevent malaria: Lancet
Researchers have developed a new type of bed net with a specific combination of an insecticide and insect growth regulator that could prevent millions of cases of malaria.
India's Hetero pulls heart drug from U.S. amid cancer risk probes
MUMBAI (Reuters) - A unit of India's Hetero Drugs is recalling some batches of the blood pressure and heart medicine valsartan in the United States, a notice on the U.S. regulator's website said, amid a wider probe into cancer risks associated with the drug.
This blood test may predict kidney cancer risk 5 years in advance
According to a study, a blood test could predict kidney cancer risk and survival, five years prior to its diagnosis.Kidney-injury-molecule-1 (KIM-1) can be detected in the urine and blood and is generally present at low levels in healthy individuals. In a new study, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital explored whether a blood test can detect higher concentrations of KIM-1 in patients who will go on to develop kidney cancer up to five years later.Their results show that KIM-1 substantially helped distinguish between those who went on to develop kidney cancer from those who did not."Early detection of kidney cancer can be lifesaving. We can cure kidney cancer when we detect it at an early stage, but patients with advanced kidney cancer have a very high death rate," said Venkata Sabbisetti, adding, "However, kidney cancer is asymptomatic and many patients present with advanced kidney cancer at the time of diagnosis. Our results suggest that with further refinement, KIM-1 has the .
Study provides clue to prevent low blood sugar in diabetics
People with diabetes can have difficulty in self-administering the exact insulin dose at the correct time to keep blood sugar levels in healthy ranges.According to a new LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center study, a novel biomarker might give us answers necessary to create a diagnostic tool for hypoglycemia-associated autonomic failure (HAAF).No objective diagnostic tool currently exists for this condition, which, if left untreated, can lead to ever-worsening and possibly life-threatening episodes of dangerously low blood sugar.If a low blood sugar episode occurs, individuals usually begin to feel a range of symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, and nausea that trigger them to seek immediate, potentially life-saving, medical care.People with diabetes may stop experiencing the physical symptoms that serve as cues to seek medical attention and may not even realize they are having one or multiple hypoglycemic episodes, until it is too late. This condition is more commonly known as .
Type 1 diabetes may shorten women's lives by 18 years
Women with type 1 diabetes, a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, die an average of nearly 18 years earlier than women who do not have diabetes.According to a new research, men in the corresponding situation lose almost 14 years of life. The lives of patients diagnosed at age 26-30 years are shortened by an average of ten years.A researcher at the Department of Internal Medicine, Araz Rawshani said, "These are disappointing and previously unknown figures. The study suggests that we must make an even greater effort to aggressively treat patients diagnosed at an early age to reduce the risk of complications and premature death."The research is based on extensive material from the registry which has monitored 27,195 individuals with type 1 diabetes for an average of ten years.While researchers already knew that type 1 diabetes is associated with a lower life expectancy until now it was unclear whether and how much gender and age at onset of illness ...
Docs at Delhi hospital remove cyst bigger than tennis ball
Doctors at a city-based hospital removed a cyst, which was around 1.5 times the size of a tennis ball, from the left abdomen of a 28-year-old man while managing to salvage his leg. Majid Nazir was suffering from symptoms such as persistent pain in his left leg and could not walk for more than a few metres without strain, associate director and head of GI surgical oncology at the Max Super Speciality Hospital in Shalimar Bagh, Rudra Prasad Acharya,said. He was asked to undergo an MRI, and the scan revealed an unidentified pelvic mass, he said. The patient was referred to the oncology department and another CT scan and angiography revealed a big fluid-filled cystic mass of 10 cm by 8 cm in his left abdomen,the doctor said, adding that its size was around 1.5 times of a tennis ball. "The cyst had begun to press against his left femoral artery (present in the left thigh) and had led to a very feeble pulse. In fact, from the scans, it seemed the cyst had replaced his artery function and ...
Estrogen may help fighting post heart attack depression
Turns out, estrogen may help in protecting against heart failure-related depression by preventing the production of inflammation-causing chemicals in the brain.Research suggests that people with heart failure, including those who survive heart attacks, are two to three times more likely to suffer from depression than the general population. The reason for heart failure-related depression is thought to increase inflammation in the brain.Researchers from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Brain and Mind Institute in Canada studied a rat model of heart failure after a heart attack. Adult female rats without ovaries mimicking menopause were compared to adult males and adult females with ovaries.The animals were given several standardised tests to assess depression-like behavior, learning, memory and the ability to experience pleasure.The male rats, but not the female rats, with heart failure showed signs of depression and brain inflammation compared to their controls. In ...
No need to panic over dengue: Bengal minister
The West Bengal government on Friday asked people not to panic over the Dengue outbreak, saying only a few cases of the vector-borne disease have been detected.
Raj governor orders Lokayukta inquiry into appointment of ML Sukhadia University professor
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh today ordered an inquiry by the Lokayukta into alleged irregularities in the appointment of a professor at Udaipur's ML Sukhadia University. This is the first case of inquiry by the Lokayukta into a matter related to a university in the state, a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said. The decision was taken following complaints of irregularities in the appointment of Rajesh Kumar Dubey as a professor in the biotechnology department of the university. The department of Personnel issued a notification of the Lokayukta inquiry following the directions of the governor.
Cipla arm secures marketing rights for cancer drug in US
Drug major Cipla today said its subsidiary has secured rights from Hyderabad-based MSN Laboratories to market and distribute colon cancer treatment drug Capecitabine in the US market. Cipla USA, Inc, a subsidiary of the company will be marketing the drug in strengths of 150 and 500 mg tablets. The company's product is generic equivalent of Genentech's Xeloda. Capecitabine tablets are indicated in patients with colon cancer and for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer after failure of prior anthracycline-containing chemotherapy. As per IQVIA (IMS Health) dat, Xeloda and its generic equivalents had sales of around USD 178 million in the US for 12-month period ending June 2018. Shares of Cipla today ended 0.27 per cent up at Rs 620.90 on the BSE.
Surgery in India helps Nigerian walks after 10 years
A Nigerian, who had not walked for the last 10 years due to a severe knee problem complicated by an incurable genetic blood disorder, got a new lease of life at a Delhi hospital where doctors successfully performed a knee replacement surgery -- a rare for a patient battling multiple haemolytic and genetic complications.
How a video game may improve empathy in middle schoolers
Researchers have found that an experimental video game on middle schoolers may improve an understanding of helping others in need, as it boosts connectivity in brain networks related to empathy and perspective taking.
Three die of viral fever in UP village
Three people, including a child, have died of a mysterious viral fever in a village here, officials said today. Chief medical officer Dr RP Rawat said, "Some people in Bhatpura village have been affected by a viral fever. In the last 24 hours, three people have lost their lives." The deceased have been identified as Priyanka (15), Anikesh (3) and Sumanlata (65), he said. Rawat added that a team of Health department officials was sent to the village to identify more patients suffering from the same type of fever. "So far blood samples of 18 people have been collected, and the administration is keeping a close watch on the situation," the CMO said.