Page 363 - Health Medical Pharma
Elusive molecule that helps sperm find egg identified
Scientists have identified a key molecule driving chemo-attraction between sperm and egg cells in marine invertebrates. Over 100 years ago, researchers at the University of Chicago in the US discovered that eggs from marine invertebrates release a chemical factor that attracts sperm, a process called chemotaxis. Sperm, for their part, swim up a chemical gradient to reach the egg, assisted by a pulsatile rise in calcium ion (Ca2+) concentration in the sperm tail that controls its beating, said researchers at Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in the US. In the past years, many of the cellular components that translate chemoattractant stimulation into a Ca2+ response have been revealed, but a crucial ingredient has been missing, according to the study published in the journal Nature Communications. A prerequisite for Ca2+ ions from the sperm's environment being able to enter the tail is that the sperm cell's pH becomes more alkaline. The molecule that brings about this change in pH has .
Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd soars 2.46%, Gains for third straight session
The stock is quoting at Rs 10669.95, up 2.46% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd is up 31.74% in last one year as compared to a 13.28% gain in NIFTY and a 22.03% gain in the Nifty FMCG index.
Pakistan's new vaccination drive, 'final push' against polio
A Pakistani health official says authorities have launched a week-long anti-polio campaign touted as a 'final push' against the crippling disease. Its aim is to vaccinate millions of children under 5 years of age. Dr Rana Safdar, the campaign's national coordinator, says the campaign was launched today amid tight security in 89 districts and towns with a total of 110,000 health workers who will fan out vaccinate 19.2 million children. She says the campaign will last for four days in some areas. Polio is still endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. But with just three cases reported this year, Pakistan is close to completely eradicating the disease. Pakistan regularly carries out anti-polio drives despite threats from the Taliban who claim the campaign is a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.
Afghanistan launches vaccination campaign targeting 9.9 mn children
The Afghan Public Health Ministry launched a five-day nationwide immunity vaccination campaign on Monday targeting 9.9 million children under the age of five, the Ministry said in a statement.
New slippery packaging can cut food waste
Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have developed super slippery packaging that lets consumers squeeze out every last drop of a product, and could significantly cut down food wastage. Food left behind in plastic packaging contributes to the millions of pounds of perfectly edible products being wasted every year. These small, incremental amounts of sticky foods like condiments, dairy products, beverages, and some meat products that remain trapped in their packaging can add up to big numbers over time, even for a single household. Researchers from Virginia Tech in the US aim to cut down on that waste with a novel approach to creating super slippery industrial packaging. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, establishes a method for wicking chemically compatible vegetable oils into the surfaces of common extruded plastics. Not only will the technique help sticky foods release from their packaging much more easily, but for the first time, it can also be applied .
Alembic Pharma rises after tentative USFDA approval for Bimatoprost
Alembic Pharmaceuticals rose 2.41% to Rs 606.70 at 11:16 IST on BSE after the company said it has received US drug regulator's tentative approval for Bimatoprost ophthalmic solution.
Alembic Pharmaceuticals gets USFDA tentative approval for Bimatoprost Ophthalmic Solution, 0.03%
Bimatoprost Ophthalmic Solution, 0.03% has an estimated market size of US$ 63 million for twelve months ending December 2017 according to IQVIA. Alembic is currently in litigation with Allergan in District Court of New Jersey and the launch of this product will depend on the outcome of litigation.
Alembic Pharma gets tentative USFDA nod for ophthalmic solution
Drug firm Alembic Pharmaceuticals has received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Bimatoprost Ophthalmic Solution, used to treat hypotrichosis of the eyelashes by increasing their growth including length, thickness and darkness. Alembic said it is currently in litigation with Allergan in District Court of New Jersey and the launch of this product will depend on the outcome of litigation. The tentatively approved Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLQ), LATISSE ophthalmic solution, 0.03 per cent of Allergan," Alembic Pharmaceuticals said in a BSE filing. Quoting IQVIA sales data, the company said, Bimatoprost Ophthalmic Solution had an estimated market size of USD 63 million for 12 months ending December 2017. The company said it now has a total of 76 ANDA approvals from the USFDA. Shares of Alembic Pharmaceuticals were trading at Rs 609 apiece, up 2.79 per cent, on the BSE.
Cocaine addiction relapse reversed in rats
Scientists have found that a naturally occurring protein linked to addictive behaviours can prevent cocaine relapse in rats, a finding that may pave the way for treating patients of drug abuse. When a common protein brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) was applied to the nucleus accumbens - a tiny cluster of nerve cells deep in the brain - immediately before cocaine-seeking behaviour, cocaine relapse was significantly reduced in a preclinical model, according to researchers from Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in the US. "We discovered that a very common protein in the brain has an additional significant role in addiction relapse," said Ana-Clara Bobadilla, a postdoctoral scholar at MUSC. The nucleus accumbens plays a critical role in reward-seeking behaviours. It combines signals from other parts of the brain to drive reward-motivated behaviours. Researchers showed for the first time that BDNF has both a time- and location-dependent beneficial role when administered ...
Childhood Trauma, a risk factor in adults with cancer
According to a recent study, childhood trauma history should be considered during treatment for Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) as people who experience childhood trauma are more likely to have advanced cancer.Cancer patients experience a high level of stress, anxiety, and depression, during and after diagnosis. Patients with HNC display emotional responses that may affect their adherence to treatment, and the maintenance of smoking and alcoholism. Traumatic events in childhood have also been linked with the occurrence of anxiety and depression in adulthood.To evaluate the occurrence of childhood trauma in HNC patients and its association with anxiety and depression, a team led by Daniel Bernabe, PhD, of Sao Paulo State University, in Brazil, analyzed information on 110 patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer, before they started treatment.Out of 110 patients, 105 (95.5 percent) had experienced at least one type of childhood trauma. The most common childhood trauma reported was ...
Glenmark signs licence deal with Harbour BioMed to commercialise cancer antibody in Greater China
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceutical firm Harbour BioMed have entered into an exclusive licence agreement to develop, manufacture and commercialise Glenmark's GBR 1302, for the treatment of certain kinds of cancers for the Greater China territory. Under the terms of the agreement, Glenmark will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive payments for achieving pre-specified development, regulatory and commercialisation milestones, as well as tiered royalties on net sales for any approved products from Harbour BioMed. Glenmark in a regulatory filing said the agreement is potentially worth more than USD 120 million (approx Rs 822.60 crore) in addition to royalties for Glenmark. Harbour BioMed will lead the clinical development and commercialisation of GBR 1302, with the option to manufacture GBR 1302 for the Greater China market. "We are very pleased to begin this strategic relationship with Harbour BioMed for the development and commercialisation of our bispecific ..
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Harbour BioMed enter into strategic license agreement
For development and commercialization of Glenmark's bispecific antibody - GBR 1302
Surat: Lactating moms donate milk for motherless babies
A unique milk donation camp has been organised in Gujarat's Surat for the newly born infants who are orphans or do not have access to mother's milk.The 21st mothers' milk donation camp was organised yesterday under the aegis of the Surat Paediatric Association, the Yashoda Milk Bank and the Kutch Kadva Patidar Samaj Mahila Mandal.More than 130 lactating mothers participated in the camp and donated milk for the infants.President of Kutch Kadva Patidar Samaj Mahila Mandal, Sarojben Patel told ANI, "We provide milk for toddlers who have either lost their mothers or were abandoned. There is no harm in providing milk to infants."The collected milk was later sent for pasteurization and stored in deep freezer at the Yashoda Human Milk Bank in the Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research (SMIMER).Breast milk fights necrotizing enterocolitis, an intestinal disease to which premature infants are susceptible.
Uterine defects during menarche cause fertility problems
Turns out, uterine defects or the problems related to uterus affects the chances of a woman to conceive or carry the fetus to term.Mullerian Anomalies referred to as the defects associated with abnormal development of the uterus or the fallopian tube accounts to infertility in around 10% of the female trying to conceive.IVF expert, Dr Arvind Vaid explained that uterine anomalies, a condition where the structure and contour of the uterus differ from normal, is the main cause of infertility. He said, "Studies show that one in every 20 women seeking IVF treatment to conceive is affected by uterine anomalies. Though such uterine abnormalities are not directly linked to infertility many a times the condition is misunderstood until recurrent miscarriages occur. Timely intervention can help prevent miscarriages and help treat the condition to have a healthy course of pregnancy."Sometimes infertility is attributed to congenital anomalies where defects in the uterus start occurring during the .
Older adults less likely to recognize their mistakes
Turns out, older people recognize errors less often than younger ones.In a new study, researchers from the University of Iowa devised a simple, computerised test to study how readily young adults and older adults realise when they have made a mistake.Older adults performed just as well as younger adults in tests involving looking away from an object appearing on the screen. But younger adults acknowledged more often than older adults when they failed to look away from the object. Also, older adults were more likely to be adamant that they did not make a mistake.Study's corresponding author, Jan Wessel, said," We found there is this impaired ability in older adults to recognise an error when they've made one. Realising fewer errors can have more severe consequences because you can't remedy an error that you don't realise you've committed."Wessel's team recruited 38 younger adults (average age of 22) and 39 older adults (average age of 68) to take a series of tests that involved looking
Molecule identified that helps sperm find egg cells
In a recent discovery, scientists have identified a key molecule that drives chemo attraction between sperm and egg cells in marine invertebrates, animals that don't have a vertebral column.More than 100 years ago, MBL Director F.R. Lillie of the University of Chicago discovered that eggs from marine invertebrates release a chemical factor that attracts sperm by a process called chemotaxis.Sperm swims up a chemical gradient to reach the egg, assisted by a pulsatile rise in calcium ion concentration in the sperm tail that controls its beating.In past years, many of the cellular components that translate chemo-attractant stimulation into a calcium response have been revealed, but a crucial ingredient has been missing. A prerequisite for calcium ions from the sperm's environment being able to enter the tail is that the sperm cell's pH becomes more alkaline. The molecule that brings about this change in pH has been hard to pin down.In this new report, U. Benjamin Kaupp, a MBL Whitman ...
Hookahs more harmful than traditional cigarettes: Study
Smoking hookahs are more harmful than traditional cigarettes, say scientists who found that puffing a water pipe for just half an hour can lead to the development of cardiovascular risk factors. The study by researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US is a direct contradiction to marketing efforts claiming that hookah smoking is less hazardous to health than cigarettes. Researchers measured heart rate, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, blood nicotine and exhaled carbon monoxide levels in 48 healthy, young hookah smokers before and after 30 minutes of hookah smoking. The study showed that a single session of hookah smoking increased heart rate (by 16 beats per minute) and blood pressure; and significantly increased measures of arterial stiffness, a key risk factor in the development of cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack or stroke. The increase in arterial stiffness was comparable to data seen from cigarette smokers after smoking a cigarette. "Our
'Acting' may help you remember things: Study
Acting out or recreating the action you would like to remember before you execute it can keep you from forgetting things like taking medication, or leaving the stove on, scientists suggest. A failing prospective memory - not remembering to take an action one had planned - can be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease, according to University of Chichester in the UK. New therapeutic methods are being used to utilise levels of prospective memory as a means to accurately diagnose diseases of cognitive impairment. Such methods can be effective non-invasive alternatives to traditional clinical methods such as the extraction of cerebral spinal fluid. For a study published in the journal Neuropsychology, researchers studied prospective memory performance of 96 participants including patients with mild cognitive impairment aged 64 to 87 years, healthy older adults aged 62 to 84 years and younger adults aged 18 to 22 years. The study looked at prospective memory performance before the ...
Can 'acting' help improve memory?
Have you ever felt annoyed with yourself, maybe for forgetting to do an important task, or for leaving the house keys behind? If so, acting out things you are supposed to remember or pretending that you are actually doing it, can help you recall, suggests a research.
Over 150 genes linked to irregular heart rate conditions
Scientists have identified 151 genes linked to atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes irregular heart rates and puts over 30 million people worldwide at increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and death. Researchers from the University of Michigan in the US led a large collaborative effort to discover as-yet unknown genetic risk factors for atrial fibrillation. By performing one large genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising data from six smaller studies, scientists identified 151 candidate genes for the condition. Many of the genes identified are important for foetal development of the heart, implying that genetic variation predisposes the heart to atrial fibrillation during fetal development, or, that the genetic variation could reactivate genes in the adult heart that normally only function during foetal development. The increased understanding the study yields of the biological processes underlying atrial fibrillation could lead to better treatment and ...