Page 589 - Health Medical Pharma
Systematic Review Examines Potential Health Benefits of Pear Consumption
To explore the potential health benefits associated with pear consumption and related health outcomes, Joanne Slavin, Ph.D., R.D., professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, assisted by food science graduate Holly Reiland, conducted a systematic review of studies from PubMed (database of the National Library of Medicine with citations and abstracts of biomedical literature) and Agricola (database of the National Agricultural Library with citations of agricultural literature) from 1970 to present.Pears are an excellent source of fiber and a good source of vitamin C for only 100 calories per serving. One medium pear provides about 24 percent of daily fiber needs. They are sodium-free, cholesterol-free, fat-free and contain 190 mg of potassium.The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans and CNPP MyPlate advice people who eat more fruits as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to reduce their risk of some chronic diseases, although little is ...
Local stent makers welcome NPPA price ceiling
The government' decision to revise ceiling prices of bare metal stents and drug eluting ones has evoked mixed reactions from the medical devices makers representative bodies. While Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) said they were disappointed with the government's decision, the Indian Manufacturers of Medical Devices (AiMeD) and Indian Stent Manufacturers Association (ISMA) welcomed the move. Almost a year after it slashed rates of coronary stents by up to 85 per cent, the government yesterday revised the ceiling prices of bare metal stents and drug eluting ones. In the case of bare metal stents (BMS), the government has increased the prices from current Rs 7,400 to Rs 7,660. On the other hand, price of drug eluting stents (DES) has come down to Rs 27,890 from Rs 30,180. "AdvaMed and its members are deeply disappointed with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority's (NPPA) notification on the ceiling price for coronary stents," AdvaMed said in a ...
Incidence of kidney stones increasing steadily: Study
The number of cases of painful kidney stones are on the rise, according to a study.Using data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, Mayo Clinic researchers investigated the rise in stone formers to determine if this is a new trend, or simply an improvement in the way kidney stones are detected.Focusing on gender, age and stone formation, researchers examined first-time presenters of kidney stones from residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, between 1984 and 2012. Their findings demonstrated that symptomatic stone formers tended to be female versus male, with the highest increase between women ages 18 to 39.Bladder stones were less frequent and tended to be more noticeable in men due to prostatic obstructions, while women had a higher frequency of infection stones as a result of recurrent urinary tract infections."Symptomatic kidney stones are becoming more common in both men and women," says Andrew Rule, M.D., lead investigator of this study. "This is due in part to the increased ..
Obesity may not affect fitness levels
Turns out that an individual suffering from obesity may not be necessarily unhealthy. Even those with severe levels of obesity may have overall health profiles similar to that of a moderately weighted person.A Canadian Institute of Health Research-led study has revealed a close relationship between cardio-respiratory fitness and metabolic risk factors in a population affected with mild to severe obesity levels.The study - led by Jennifer Kuk and Dr Sean Wharton - was conducted on a group of 853 Canadian patients. 41 percent of these subjects had mild obesity though high fitness levels, while 25 percent of moderately obese and 11 percent of severely obese were found to be fit.The rest of the individuals with severe obesity were more likely to be affected by lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure, glucose and triglycerides."Doing 150 minutes of exercise per week, as per physical activity guidelines, generally translates to less than half a pound of weight loss. Nevertheless, .
New research denies involvement of MELK genes as sole cause of cancer
Two students from Sheltzer and Stony Brook University Chris Giuliano and Ann Lin have rejected the view that the gene called Maternal Embryonic Leucine Zipper Kinase as the sole cause for the development of cancer cells in the human body.Both researchers performed a genomic analysis of the tumors surgically removed from cancer patients. They concentrated on the group of genes whose activity levels are co-related with low-patients survival rates.They have further planned to use a gene-editing technology called CRISPR to eliminate the genes from different cancer cell lines one at a time to see if they could kill the cells.This technology would help to find similar genes like MELK which may have a greater role in the proliferation of the cancer cells in the human body.
Slow eating aids weight loss
Slow eating is linked to weight loss, a new study has suggested.According to the study, slowing down the speed at which you eat, along with cutting out after dinner snacks and not eating within two hours of going to sleep may all help to shed the pounds.Changes in these eating habits were strongly associated with lower obesity and weight - Body Mass Index (BMI), and smaller waist circumference, the researchers found.They base their findings on health insurance data for nearly 60,000 people with diabetes in Japan, who submitted claims and had regular health check-ups between 2008 and 2013.During the check-ups, participants were quizzed about their lifestyle, including their eating and sleeping habits, as well as alcohol and tobacco use.They were specifically asked about their eating speed, which was categorised as fast, normal, or slow. And they were asked whether they did any of the following three or more times a week: eat dinner within two hours of going to sleep; snack after ...
Childhood heart defects may up early dementia risk: study
People born with heart defects who survive into adulthood may be at higher risk of developing dementia before 65 years of age, according to a study. With improved newborn and childhood treatments, more people born with heart defects survive into adulthood, researchers said. A previous study estimated that about 1.4 million adults are living with congenital heart defects in the US, they said. "Previous studies showed that people born with heart defects have a higher risk of neurodevelopmental problems in childhood, such as epilepsy and autism, but this is, to our knowledge, the first study to examine the potential for dementia later in adult life," said Carina N Bagge from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. Researchers examined the occurrence of dementia in 10,632 mostly Caucasian adults (46 per cent male) born with heart defects between 1890 and 1982, matching each with 10 members of the general population of the same gender born the same year. They found the risk of dementia from
Eating slowly may help you lose weight
Trying to shed those extra kilos? Chewing slowly and refraining from eating for two hours before bedtime may help, scientists say. Changes in eating habits were strongly associated with lower obesity and weight (BMI), and smaller waist circumference, according to researchers from Kyushu University in Japan. The findings are based on health insurance data for nearly 60,000 people with diabetes in Japan who submitted claims and had regular health check-ups between 2008 and 2013. The data included information on the dates of consultations and treatments, while the check-ups included measurements of weight (BMI) and waist circumference, and the results of tests for blood chemistry, urine, and liver function. During the check-ups, participants were quizzed about their lifestyle, including their eating and sleep habits as well as alcohol and tobacco use. They were specifically asked about their eating speed, which was categorised as fast, normal, or slow. They were asked whether they did ...
Night shifts may raise risk of diabetes
Do you frequently work in night shifts? Beware, you are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, a precursor to cardiovascular diseases, researchers have warned.
New rabies treatment for humans can treat cattle too: Research
New research by experts based in Himachal Pradesh has shown that the new human protocol to treat rabies, also approved by the WHO, could be effective in treating cattle with rabies.
Childhood heart defect survivors at high dementia risk
People born with heart defects may be at higher risk of developing dementia in adulthood, according to a new research.
New cancer-fighting nanorobots to shrink tumours
In a major advancement in nanomedicine, an international team of scientists has successfully programmed nanorobots for the first time in mammals, that potentially shrinks tumours by cutting off their blood supply.
Why people get aggressive after drinking decoded
Just two glasses of vodka can trigger changes in the brain region linked to aggression, say scientists who used MRI scans to understand why people become violent after consuming alcohol. According to most theories, alcohol-related aggression is caused by changes in the prefrontal cortex. However, there is a lack of substantial neuroimaging evidence to substantiate these ideas. For the study led by Thomas Denson of the University of New South Wales in Australia, researchers recruited fifty healthy young men. The participants were either given two drinks containing vodka, or placebo drinks without any alcohol. While lying in an MRI scanner, the participants then had to compete in a task which has regularly been used over the past 50 years to observe levels of aggression in response to provocation. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allowed the researchers to see which areas of the brain were triggered when the task was performed. They could also compare the difference in ..
Special x-ray exams reduce false positivity rates for breast cancer
Turns out, special x-ray exams reduce false positivity rates in breast cancer cases.According to a study by American Roentgen Ray Society, rates of false positive breast cancer screening exams fell significantly after complete integration of diagnostic digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), potentially leading to higher quality, lower costs, and fewer unnecessary biopsies.DBT is associated with fewer false positive exams in the screening setting, but there is limited research on the impact of DBT on false positive exams in the diagnostic setting.The study, to be presented by Charmi Vijapura of Harvard University's Massachusetts General Hospital, compared the rates of false positive exams between digital 2D mammography (DM) and DBT in the diagnostic setting in order to determine if there are differences in the mammographic findings that lead to false positive exams.The study compared consecutive diagnostic mammograms from August 2008 to February 2011, which utilized DM, prior to DBT ...
Obesity may lead to sudden cardiac arrests in youths
Turns out, obesity among other risks play a large role in sudden cardiac arrests among the young.According to a Cedars-Sinai study, obesity and other common cardiovascular risk factors may play a greater role in sudden cardiac arrest among younger people than previously recognised, underscoring the importance of earlier screening.While sports activity often garners attention in cases of sudden cardiac arrest in younger patients, it was cited only in a small percentage of those aged between 5 and 34 in the study, according to a previous study.Instead, investigators found an unexpectedly high prevalence of standard cardiovascular risk factors among the young who suffered from sudden cardiac arrest, a disorder that can cause instantaneous death.Combinations of obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and smoking were found in nearly 60 percent of cases studied.The findings shed light on a public health problem among the young that has remained largely unsolved."One of the ...
Cancer-fighting nanorobots can seek, destroy tumours
Scientists have successfully developed nanorobots using DNA origami that can shrink tumours by cutting off their blood supply, paving the way for novel cancer therapies. Each nanorobot is made from a flat, rectangular DNA origami sheet, 90 nanometres by 60 nanometres in size. A key blood-clotting enzyme, called thrombin, is attached to the surface. Thrombin can block tumour blood flow by clotting the blood within the vessels that feed tumour growth, causing a sort of tumour mini-heart attack, and leading to tumour tissue death, researchers said. "We have developed the first fully autonomous, DNA robotic system for a very precise drug design and targeted cancer therapy," said Hao Yan, from Arizona State University (ASU) in the US. "Moreover, this technology is a strategy that can be used for many types of cancer, since all solid tumour-feeding blood vessels are essentially the same," said Yan. DNA origami, in the past two decades, has developed atomic-scale manufacturing to build more .
Won't further explain the way my body looks: Gigi to trolls
Fashion model Gigi Hadid called out body shamers, revealing she suffers from Hashimoto's disease, a thyroid condition that she said has contributed to her fluctuating weight over the past few years. In a series of tweets, the 22-year-old catwalk star said she would not offer any more explanations to people on how her "body has matured". "For those of you so determined to come up with why my body has changed over the years, you may not know that when I started at 17 I was not yet diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease; those of you who called me 'too big for the industry' were seeing inflammation and water retention due to that... "I will not further explain the way my body looks, just as anyone, with a body type that doesn't suit your 'beauty' expectation, shouldn't have to..." Hadid wrote. She said, "drugs are not my thing" and the people should stop labelling her as an addict as they do not understand her condition. The model said that she has been under medication for the last few ...
Opioid makers paid millions to advocacy groups - U.S. Senate report
(Reuters) - Five opioid manufacturers including OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP have paid more than $10 million to advocacy groups and doctors tied to them, many of whom amplified industry messages supporting the use of the painkillers, a U.S. Senate report said on Monday.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi alive but wounded
The leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is still alive according to an Iraqi intelligence chief and US officials.Baghdadi is reportedly hiding out in the desert on the Syrian side of the Syria-Iraq border northeast of Deir Ezzor province, according to The Telegraph.It is believed that injury and poor health have forced Baghdadi to relinquish control of the terror group.Baghdadi, who suffers from diabetes, is thought to have been left unable to walk unassisted from injuries incurred from a raid in 2015 which were exasperated by another last May.Earlier, Russia had claimed that it killed the reclusive leader, who was not seen in public since declaring the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)'s caliphate from the Iraqi city of Mosul in July 2014, in an air strike on a meeting of senior Isil commanders near Raqqa on May 28.However, there was no evidence to back up the claim and the same was questioned by the US-led coalition against Isil at that time.
Mask your skin hassles in winter
Look for ingredients like avocado, olive oil and seaweed while shopping for face masks for winter to mask away the skin problems, say experts.