Page 574 - Health Medical Pharma

22 villagers affected by diarrhoea in Odisha

Altogether 22 persons were affected by diarrhoea at Baulgaon village in Odisha's Ganjam district, health department officials said today. The villagers were taken ill after they had attended a feast on Thursday, they said. The affected persons were admitted to the sub-divisional hospital in Chhatrapur, about 25 km from here today, an official said. Samples of stool and water were collected from the village and would be sent to the laboratory of the microbiology department at MKCG Medical College and Hospital here, said Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) R Jagadeesh Patnaik. "At present, 19 patients are undergoing treatment at hospital," he said. He said a medical team which visited the village and detected three more cases there, were administered medicines, but did not require hospitalisation, the CDMO added.

Sonakshi Sinha to walk for Shaina NC

Sonakshi Sinha will be seen walking the ramp for social worker, BJP spokesperson and fashion designer Shaina NC at the 13th edition of Caring with Style fashion showcase. The actress says she is looking forward to it.

WHO recommends scaling up access to testing, treatment for TB

The World Health Organisation (WHO), in its latest set of guidelines for combating tuberculosis, has recommended scaling up access to testing and treatment for the disease, especially among groups who are at risk, such as children and people with HIV. The recommendations also include two new shorter treatment regimens for latent TB infection (LTBI). The move is aimed at expanding access to testing and care for people with LTBI as they may develop active tuberculosis in the future if they do not receive appropriate treatment. The global health body said health practitioners have to prioritise testing and treatment of people living with HIV and children under the age of five who have been in contact with people who have TB. "WHO has now identified HIV-negative children aged more than or equal to 5 years, adolescents and adults who are contacts of TB patients, as well as contacts of patients with multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), as additional high-risk groups," the global health body ...

Antidepressants do actually work in adults: Lancet

In what could put to rest considerable doubts raised over the effectiveness of antidepressants, a new study has found that many of such pills actually work quite well in adults.

This enzyme treats celiac disease

A new enzyme has been discovered that can trigger the treatment of celiac disease.Researchers at the Stanford University have discovered how a disease-associated protein gets inactivated, opening the door to possible new treatments for the disease.Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects by some estimates nearly 1 in 100 people. Celiac disease symptoms are triggered by gluten, a protein found in wheat and related plants, but gluten doesn't act alone to cause the digestive symptoms that patients suffer.Rather, gluten induces an overactive immune response when it's modified by the enzyme transglutaminase 2, or TG2, in the small intestine. The new research identified the enzyme that turns off TG2, potentially paving the way for new treatments for celiac disease."Currently, therapies to treat people with celiac disease are lacking. The best approach right now is just a strict adherence to a lifelong gluten-free diet," said Michael Yi, the lead researcher. "Perhaps the reason .

Dementia affects 30-day hospital readmission rate for worse

Turns out, dementia affects the hospital readmission rate for worse.A new study has suggested, dementia increases the risk of 30-day readmission to the hospital after discharge. Researchers in Japan recently published a study to learn more about the effects of dementia and being admitted to the hospital within 30 days of a previous hospital discharge.About 25 percent of older adults admitted to hospitals have dementia and are at increased risk for serious problems like in-hospital falls and delirium - rapid change in mental function.As a result, older adults with dementia are more likely to do poorly during hospital stays compared to older adults without dementia.Until now, little was known about the effects of dementia on early hospital readmission. The researchers studied information from people 65-years-old and older who had been discharged from hospitals between 2014 and 2015 and then followed them for six months.The team was looking for unplanned readmissions to the hospital ...

Asians, Europeans more vulnerable to severe dengue

Turns out, genetics make Asians and Europeans susceptible to severe dengue, a new study has stated. As globalisation and climate change spread tropical infectious diseases around the globe, not all populations have the same degree of susceptibility.A study conducted by researchers from the Institut Pasteur, CNRS and the Institute for Research, and Innovation in Health-University of Porto (i3S) identified gene variants common in people of Asian and European ancestry, making them more prone than those of African origin to developing severe dengue, which can lead to potentially fatal dengue shock syndrome.Dengue fever is endemic to tropical and subtropical regions of East Asia and the Americas, but the virus responsible for the disease has recently spread to North America and Europe due to the introduction of its vectors - mosquitoes of the Aedes genus - into these regions.The dengue virus can lead to a wide spectrum of illness, ranging from classic dengue fever (DF) to the potentially ..

Glo cigarettes more injurious than conventional ones

Turns out, switching from smoking to glo significantly reduces exposure to toxicants.According to a new clinical study, conducted by scientists at British American Tobacco have revealed that when smokers switch completely from cigarettes to glo - new-gen cigarette that follow the principle of tobacco heating instead of burning - their exposure to certain cigarette smoke toxicants is significantly reduced, in some cases to levels comparable to those seen in smokers who quit smoking completely.These results add to evidence suggesting that glo may have the potential to be substantially reduced risk compared to smoking conventional cigarettes.glo is a tobacco heating product (THP) designed to heat rather than burn tobacco. This means it does not produce smoke and certain toxicants associated with tobacco combustion are substantially reduced. Previous studies revealed toxicant levels in the heated tobacco vapour from glo to be around 90-95 percent less than in cigarette smoke."Products ...

Ras al-Khaimah ruler attends Terry Fox Run

Ras al Khaimah, Feb 24 (IANS/WAM) Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, member of the Supreme Council of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ruler of Ras al-Khaimah, has attended the Terry Fox Run here to commemorate Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox and to raise money for cancer research.

Good number of sick days need not make your kid dull

Parents, please take note. A new study assures us that a long list of recurring but less severe illnesses such as ear pain, bad cough or running nose is unlikely to affect the learning ability of your child.

Adding hope to health messages may motivate better behaviours: study

While fear about health concerns may grip people, adding a little hope to a message might make people more willing to take preventative action, according to a study. The findings showed that hope and self-efficacy - the belief that a person can help themselves - significantly predicted intentions to take actions against skin cancer, such as wearing sunscreen or protective clothing. "With health messages, it's not enough just to tell people, or merely educate them, you need to motivate them, and emotions are really good motivators," said Jessica Myrick from Pennsylvania State University in the US. "We often think of emotions as irrational, but what our research is pointing to is that emotions can help us do the things that will keep us healthy and safe, so it's important to understand the broad scope of emotional responses to different type of messages and messaging components," Myrick said. According to the researchers, previous work indicated that while fear can grab attention and ...

How to make people follow healthy habits

Invoking fear about a health problem may not be enough to change behaviour, says a study that found adding a little hope to a message might make people more willing to take preventive action.

Minor girl braves ECMO procedure, gets new lease of life

A four-and-a-half-year-old girl, who suffered from pneumonic infection and was diagnosed with a seizure disorder, has received a new lease of life after undergoing an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) procedure at a city hospital, doctors said. ECMO is a technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life. The ECMO circuit acts as an artificial heart and lung for the patient during the therapy. The girl, Swastika Agarwal, hails from Ghaziabad and is a known case of seizure disorder. She is under treatment with multiple anti-epileptics, and underwent the ECMO procedure at the Apollo Indraprastha Hospital in south Delhi, a spokesperson of the facility said. "After another seizure episode she was hospitalised and diagnosed with early pneumonic infection. Within 24 hours, it spread to both of her lungs, leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome .

Kids living close to green spaces may have beneficial effects on brain development

Children living in green neighbourhoods may have beneficial effects on brain development, a study has found. Primary school children who have been raised in homes surrounded by more green space tend to present with larger volumes of white and grey matter in certain areas of the brain, said researchers. "This is the first study that evaluates the association between long-term exposure to green space and brain structure," said Payam Dadvand from Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain. "Our findings suggest that exposure to green space early in life could result in beneficial structural changes in the brain," Dadvand said. For the study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the researchers examined 253 schoolchildren. Lifelong exposure to residential green space was estimated using satellite-based information on the children's addresses from birth up through to the time of the study. Brain anatomy was studied using high-resolution 3D magnetic resonance ...

Green spaces boost brain development in kids: Study

Children growing up amid greenery may benefit as their brain development is positively affected leading to better working memory and reduced inattentiveness, a study has said.

Surgeons head to medical conferences in India to upgrade skills

In the backdrop of the recent National Health Protection Plan announcement, hundreds of surgeons from pediatrics, urology, bariatric are heading to a specialist conference to gain insights from fellow practitioners in their respective fields this week.Going by the agendas of national medical conferences this week -- 13th Pediatrics Endoscopic Surgeons conference at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, 2nd National Conference of Robotic Urology Forum at PGI, Chandigarh (both between Feb 23-25) and 16th National Congress of Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society at Chennai February 22-24 -- it is clear that the surgeons are serious about up skilling themselves.By participating in these conferences, panel discussions, symposiums, sharing technical papers, making video presentations, the surgeons share experiences, expertise and practical solutions with others but they also learn from others.Recognising the immense value that these conferences provide to the medical community, ...

Australia to offer free flu vaccinations to toddlers

Toddlers in the Australian state of Victoria will be offered free influenza vaccinations following a severe 2017 flu season.

New drug may extend women's fertility by six years

Scientists have identified a drug that extends egg viability in worms and could theoretically extend women's fertility by three to six years. "As early as the mid-30s, women start to experience declines in fertility, increased rates of miscarriage and maternal age-related birth defects," said Coleen Murphy from the Princeton University in the US. "All of these problems are thought to be caused by declining egg quality, rather than a lack of eggs," said Murphy. The researchers used a microscopic worm, Caenorhabditis elegans (C elegans), to study longevity. For the study, published in the journal Current Biology, they investigated downregulated group of proteins, cathepsin B proteases, that are rare in high-quality eggs and more common in eggs that have begun degrading with age. The existence of drugs that block these exact proteins provided an opportunity to test their effects. Another experiment that knocked out the cathepsin B genes entirely succeeded in extending worms fertility by

Fortis Healthcare update on subsidiaries

Update on sale of stake held by Fortis Cancer Care in Lalitha Healthcare

Your child's snacking pattern may be genetic

Your genes may play a role in determining your child's unhealthy snacking habit, according to a study.Researcher Elie Chamoun of University of Guelph investigated whether genetic variants in taste receptors related to sweet preference, fat taste sensitivity and aversion to bitter green leafy vegetables influence the snacks chosen by preschoolers.He found that nearly 80 per cent of preschoolers in the study carried at least one of these potential at-risk genotypes that could predispose them to poor snacking habits."Kids are eating a lot more snacks now than they used to, and we think looking at how genetics can be related to snacking behaviour is important to understanding increased obesity among kids," said Chamoun."This new research could help parents understand how their kids taste, and tailor their diet for better nutritional choices."The study looked at connections between the genes of the three at-risk taste receptors and linked them to snacking patterns among preschoolers.The ...