Page 586 - Health Medical Pharma

Video games can improve mobility in stroke patients: Study

Playing video games may help stroke patients to improve their attention deficit disorders and movement control problems, claimed a new study.

Alzheimer's disease reversed in mice

In a breakthrough, scientists have successfully reversed the formation of amyloid plaques in the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease, and improved the animals' cognitive function. The research, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, paves the way for drugs that may successfully treat Alzheimer's disease in humans. Scientists from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute in the US have found that gradually depleting an enzyme called BACE1 completely reverses formation of amyloid plaques. One of the earliest events in Alzheimer's disease is an abnormal buildup of beta-amyloid peptide, which can form large, amyloid plaques in the brain and disrupt the function of neuronal synapses. Also known as beta-secretase, BACE1 helps produce beta-amyloid peptide by cleaving amyloid precursor protein (APP). Drugs that inhibit BACE1 are therefore being developed as potential Alzheimer's disease treatments but, because BACE1 controls many important processes by cleaving proteins .

Vice President Naidu inaugurates children's hospital in Delhi

Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a 150-bed multi-speciality Rainbow Children's Hospital here on Wednesday.Raibow is one of India's leading pediatric healthcare chains, and the Delhi hospital located in Malviya Nagar was opened in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda, Ramesh Bidhuri, Member of Parliament and Somnath Bharti, Member of the Delhi Assembly.The Madhukar Rainbow Children's Hospital is the first standalone pediatric hospital in the private sector in the NCR, designed, equipped and staffed exclusively to treat children and adolescents under one roof.Speaking on the occasion, Naidu said, "Rainbow has made it possible to bring such a state of the art children healthcare facility in the city. My best wishes to Rainbow Group of hospitals and my compliments goes out to the entire team for bearing the beacon of exemplary perinatal and maternal healthcare in the country. If we join the public sector and private sector, healthcare facilities will progress much ...

Running may help deal with stress: study

Running can help stave off the negative effects of stress and protect the brain region responsible for learning and memory, a study has found. "Exercise is a simple and cost-effective way to eliminate the negative impacts on memory of chronic stress," said Jeff Edwards, associate professor at Brigham Young University in the US. Inside the hippocampus, memory formation and recall occur optimally when the synapses or connections between neurons are strengthened over time. That process of synaptic strengthening is called long-term potentiation (LTP). Chronic or prolonged stress weakens the synapses, which decreases LTP and ultimately impacts memory. The study, published in the journal of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, found that when exercise co-occurs with stress, LTP levels are not decreased, but remain normal. Researchers carried out experiments with mice. One group of mice used running wheels over a 4-week period (averaging five kilometre an per day) while another set of mice ..

Eating yogurt may reduce risk of heart diseases

Higher intake of yogurt may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease among hypertensive men and women, a new study suggests.

Maternal deficiency of Vitamin D may up childhood obesity risk

Babies born to women who suffered from Vitamin D deficiency during their pregnancy are more likely to develop obesity in childhood as well as in adulthood, a study has found.

HOLD Running may cut down chronic stress, protect your memory

Feeling stressed due to excessive workload? Try running for an average five kilometres daily. It may not only help ward off the stress but also protect your memory, claims a new study.

Highly processed foods may increase cancer risk: study

The rapidly increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods may drive an increasing burden of cancer in the next decades, warns a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Ultra-processed foods include packaged baked goods and snacks, fizzy drinks, sugary cereals, ready meals and reconstituted meat products - often containing high levels of sugar, fat, and salt, but lacking in vitamins and fibre. They are thought to account for up to 50 per cent of total daily energy intake in several developed countries, according to the researchers at University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN) in France. A few studies have linked ultra-processed foods to higher risks of obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The new findings are based on 104,980 healthy French adults (22 per cent men; 78 per cent women) with an average age of 43 years who completed at least two 24-hour online dietary questionnaires, designed to measure usual intake ..

Exercise may lower Alzheimer's risk

Staying physically fit may help keep Alzheimer's disease at bay, say scientists who found that exercising regularly can improve brain health and prevent decline of vital nerve fibres. The study suggests that the lower the fitness level, the faster the deterioration of vital nerve fibres in the brain. This deterioration results in cognitive decline, including memory issues characteristic of dementia patients. "This research supports the hypothesis that improving people's fitness may improve their brain health and slow down the aging process," said Kan Ding, from University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in the US. The study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease focused on a type of brain tissue called white matter, which is composed of millions of bundles of nerve fibres used by neurons to communicate across the brain. The team enrolled older patients at high risk to develop Alzheimer's disease who have early signs of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment ...

Asthma may lead to infertility, barring regular medicine-takers

It seems Asthma is linked to infertility, but not among women taking regular asthma preventers.A European Lung Foundation-study said that women with asthma, who use long-acting asthma preventers, conceive as quickly as other women, breaking the previous conception that women with asthma who only use short-acting asthma relievers take longer to become pregnant than other women.The study was conducted on more than 5,000 women in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland and was led by Dr Luke Grzeskowiak.He claimed that the results provide reassurance for asthmatic women that using inhaled corticosteroids to prevent symptoms does not appear to reduce fertility.Dr Luke explained, "Five to ten percent of all women around the world have asthma and it is one of the most common chronic medical conditions in women of reproductive age. Several studies have identified a link between asthma and female infertility, but the impact of asthma treatments on fertility has been ...

Eating yogurt may reduce heart disease risk: study

Consuming more than two servings of yogurt per week may lower the risk of developing heart disease or stroke, a study claims. High blood pressure or hypertension is a major cardiovascular disease risk factor. Clinical trials have previously demonstrated beneficial effects of dairy consumption on cardiovascular health. Yogurt may independently be related to cardiovascular disease risk, according to the study published in the American Journal of Hypertension. "We hypothesised that long-term yogurt intake might reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems since some previous small studies had shown beneficial effects of fermented dairy products," said Justin Buendia from Boston University School of Medicine in the US. "Our results provide important new evidence that yogurt may benefit heart health alone or as a consistent part of a diet rich in fibre-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains," said Buendia. The research included over 55,000 women (aged 30-55) with high blood pressure from .

How exercise helps you stay sharp

Engaging in regular physical activity is good for your brain too, suggests new research that found a link between a lower fitness level and faster deterioration of vital nerve fibres in the brain.

New molecule that can fight cancer identified

Scientists have identified a molecule that can rapid kill tumour cells and could potentially be used to develop new cancer therapies. Humans need the chemical element selenium for good health. The selenium-containing enzyme thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1) can be used to support the growth of cells and to protect them from harmful forms of oxygen radicals that cause oxidative stress. Selenium intake has long been connected with cancer, although the correlation between selenium and cancer growth is extremely complex and not fully understood. Raised levels of TrxR1 can be seen in several forms of cancer and are linked to worse prognoses in head and neck, lung and breast cancers. Researchers analysed almost 400,000 molecules in the search for new and more specific TrxR1 inhibitors than those previously available. They discovered three molecules that met their search criteria. Sure enough, when tested, these same molecules also proved to be active as cancer medicines. The researchers were

Scientists in Sweden find new tool to fight cancer

Small molecules that specifically restrain a selenium-containing enzyme in the human body may become a tool to fight cancer, a new study by Swedish scientists has said.

Are you eating your way to cancer?

You may want to cut down on the intake of highly processed ("ultra-processed") food as a recent study has suggested a possible link between it and cancer.Further exploration is needed, but these results suggest that the rapidly increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods "may drive an increasing burden of cancer in the next decades," warned the researchers.Ultra-processed foods include packaged baked goods and snacks, fizzy drinks, sugary cereals, ready meals and reconstituted meat products - often containing high levels of sugar, fat, and salt, but lacking in vitamins and fibre. They are thought to account for up to 50% of total daily energy intake in several developed countries.A team of researchers based in France and Brazil evaluated potential associations between ultra-processed food intake and risk of overall cancer, as well as that of breast, prostate, and bowel (colorectal) cancers.Their findings are based on 104,980 healthy French adults (22% men; 78% women) with an ...

Scientists reverse Alzheimer's disease in mouse model

A team of American researchers have found that gradually depleting an enzyme completely could improve the cognitive function of mice with Alzheimer's disease.

Private sector must chip in to achieve health outcomes: Vice President

Days after India launched a mega healthcare scheme covering 40 per cent of its population, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said the health outcomes cannot be achieved by the government alone and the private sector has to chip in.

Man walks again after 14-kg swollen mass removed from thigh

A 46-year-old man, bedridden for two years, is now able to walk again after undergoing surgery for the removal of a 14-kg swollen mass that had been hanging from his left thigh, doctors said today. Saidalavi, hailing from Kerala's Thrissur district, suffered from lymphedema - a crippling condition involving the collection of body fluid in any part of the body - leading to its abnormal enlargement and eventual disability. The operation, lasting for more than five hours, was performed recently by a team of five surgeons and three anaesthetists at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences here. The hospital removed the swollen mass, weighing 14 kg, it said in a statement. Subramania Iyer, head of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the hospital, said: "It was a complex surgery. First, we treated him for four weeks with intensive antibiotic therapy to control infection in his legs. Then, the challenge was to institute Comprehensive Decongestive Therapy (CDT) which plays a major role in ...

HC sets aside Centre's decision for strategic sale of Bengal

The Calcutta High Court has set aside the Centre's decision to go for strategic sale of century-old Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL), noting that a PSU is better equipped to provide affordable healthcare to people. The court, while passing the order, observed that BCPL's production is not limited to generic drugs as it manufactures snake anti-venom and cosmetics among other products. Quashing the Centre's decision on BCPL, Justice Debangshu Basak said that existence of a pharmaceutical company in the public sector will add to the availability of medicines at affordable rates to the citizens rather than subtract it. Noting that "availability of medicines at affordable rates is one of the pillars on which a robust healthcare facility is founded", the judge said, "The citizens must have access to affordable healthcare. "Affordable healthcare would necessarily bring within its wake availability of affordable medicines. A public sector undertaking manufacturing

SEPARATIST MALIK HOSPITALISED

JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was today admitted to a hospital here following urinary tract problems. "Malik was admitted to SKIMS as he could not pass urine since yesterday and was bleeding from the urinary tract due to a clot," a spokesman of the JKLF said. He said the doctors at the hospital advised that the blood clot in the urinary tract be removed on priority.