Page 601 - Health Medical Pharma

Herbal remedies with prescription drugs 'harmful'

Mixing herbal remedies with conventional drugs can result in a wide range of dangers, according to a study.The researchers uncovered dozens of cases in which alternative treatments appeared to have altered the effects of prescription medication, either diluting it, making it more potent or causing potentially dangerous side effects.Charles Awortwe, of the University of Stellenbosch in Tygerberg, South Africa, and first author of the paper, said his team was prompted to investigate because of the wide-spread use of herbal medicines alongside prescription drugs.He and colleagues scoured the medical literature to identify previous instances of patients suffering apparent adverse reactions. The analysis included 49 case reports and two previous observational studies, which detailed 15 cases of adverse drug reactions.They then analysed the cases, to work out whether the problems were likely to have been caused by an interaction, based on the pharmacological properties of the active ...

5 health tips to prepare yourself for onset of summer

As winter starts to give way to the spring, people struggle to keep pace with the seasonal transition and the potential health risks posed by the change.

WHO stamps Himachal doctor low-cost protocol for rabies prophylaxis

A new protocol to treat rabid dog bite patients can prove to be a major breakthrough that even the WHO recommends it as one of the least expensive therapies in the world, cutting costs almost a 100 times.

Assam forester rediscovers 'extinct' medicinal plant

Over a century after it was first documented and feared to have gone extinct, a rare plant species that contains anti-carcinogenic properties has been rediscovered by a forest officer in Assam.

Disturbed over chronic illness, boy commits suicide

A 14-year-old boy suffering from a chronic disease in Uttarakhand's Haridwar, shot himself to death on Sunday evening.Satvik Sharma, a student of ninth standard in Delhi Public School (DPS), used his father's licensed pistol and took his life on the upper floor of his house when his parents were downstairs."He had been suffering from the disease from eight years and had grown depressed because of it. His body will be sent for postmortem in the morning," SSI Sanjeev Thapliyal told ANI.The police have seized the pistol used by the boy, Thapliyal informed.

Research study claims lack of access to essential medicines in India

India's 2015 national list of essential medicines consist of 376 drugs

Over 400 newborns died in 16 SNCUs due to various diseases in

As many as 433 newborns died in 16 'Special Neighbourhood Care Units' (SNCUs) in Delhi due to various diseases in the first six months of 2017, an RTI query has revealed. Most of the deaths were due to infection in the blood, pneumonia and meningitis, the state health department said in a reply to the RTI query. In the 16 SNCUs of the Delhi government, 8,329 newborns were admitted between January 2017 and June 2017. Out of which, 5,068 are newborn boys and 3,787 are newborn girls. Replying to the RTI query filed by activist Yusuf Naki, the health department said 116 newborns died due to pneumonia and meningitis, 109 infants died due to respiratory diseases, 105 newborns died due to lack of oxygen, 55 died because of meconium aspiration syndrome, 86 infants died due to premature births, 36 newborns died due to birth defects and 22 infants died because of other causes. Besides, the reason behind the death of two newborns is still not known. Dr K K Agrawal, former president

UK delegation in India to focus on innovation in healthcare

A delegation of 13 top British healthcare providers, suppliers, and other field experts will be in India as part of a trade mission from February 4-8, officials today said. The mission would travel to Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, while also participating in the inaugural India-UK Createch Summit on February 6, the British High Commission said in a statement issued here. "In the year that the UK's National Health Service (NHS) reaches its 70th anniversary, Healthcare UK and the Department for International Trade are bringing a delegation of 13 top British healthcare providers, suppliers, hospitals and trusts in a trade mission to India from February 4-8," it said. The delegation would be led by Sir Malcolm Grant, Chairman of NHS England, it added. "The mission will focus on innovation in healthcare, and address the changing needs of medical provision as disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, wearable sensors, and virtual reality become increasingly ...

Apple rolls out 'Heart Survey'

Apple has started sending out notifications to users of its Apple Watch announcing the commencement of its "Heart Survey", the media reported.

Trust between doctors and patients is waning: Baijal

Mutual trust and respect earlier prevalent between doctors and their patients is slowly "waning" and needs to be restored, Lt Governor Anil Baijal said here. Speaking at the 20th annual conference of the Delhi Neurological Association yesterday, Baijal said the next decade would, without a doubt, be transformative and hoped neuroscience to play a critical role in human development. According to Delhi Neurological Association, at the conference, Baijal also felicitated neurosurgeon Dr V S Mehta of Paras Hospital in Gurgaon with 'Lifetime Achievement Award - 2018' for his contribution in the field of neurosurgery. "The earlier prevalent feeling of mutual trust and respect between the doctor and patients, which is waning, needs to be restored and it is possible by better understanding and realistic expectations from the patient and his relatives and empathy from doctors," the association quoted Baijal as saying in a statement. A kind word or gesture could act as a booster ..

UK trade mission in India to promote ties in healthcare sector

The chief of the UK's state-funded National Health Service (NHS) Sir Malcolm Grant has embarked on a four-day trade mission to India with a delegation of 13 top British healthcare providers to promote collaborations between the two countries in the healthcare sector. The Chairman of NHS England is leading the team alongside Healthcare UK and Department for International Tradeto promote innovation in healthcare and collaborations between India and Britain in the healthcare sector. "Through this trade mission, we want to nurture the common and growing interest between India and the UK regarding the latest smart systems and pioneering new healthcare solutions, said Grant. "As the National Health Service reaches its 70thanniversary year it continues to be ranked amongst the foremost health systems in the world. We are proud of our strong heritage in science and technology development, but we continue to invest in innovation to improve patient care and meet the challenges of

First simultaneous liver, kidney transplant at PGIMER

Premier medical and research institute PGIMER today said it has successfully performed its first ever simultaneous liver and kidney transplant on a terminally ill patient. A team of more than 12 doctors, transplant coordinators, technical and nursing staff successfully conducted the over 10-hour-long operation on the 40-year-old male patient. "Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh accomplished another major feat in the complicated transplant surgery by successfully performing its first ever simultaneous liver & kidney transplant on a terminally ill patient suffering from end- stage liver and renal failure," a release by the PGIMER said. According to the release, a young girl from Bihar, who was declared brain dead by the Brain Death Certification Committee on February 2, was the donor. The girl was rushed to PGIMER in an extremely critical condition on January 25 after she was referred here from a hospital near Ludhiana after .

Chronic diseases raise cancer, mortality risk

Several common chronic diseases including hypertention, heart disease and diabetes, together account for more than a fifth of new cancer cases and more than a third of cancer deaths, finds a study.

Researchers show mind-reading equipment nearing reality

Researchers, including an Indian, carried out a study using equipment to read the minds of participants and find out what song they were listening to by decoding the signals sent by their brains to the machine.

Mind-reading tech can tell which song you are listening to!

Scientists have developed a new technique that can 'read' your mind and identify the songs you are listening to. The technique, developed by researchers at D'Or Institute for Research and Education in Brazil and University Hospital Leipzig in Germany, paves the way to new research on reconstruction of auditory imagination and inner speech. It can also enhance brain-computer interfaces in order to establish communication with locked-in syndrome patients. In the experiment, six volunteers heard 40 pieces of classical music, rock, pop, jazz, and others. The neural fingerprint of each song on participants' brain was captured by the MRI machine while a computer was learning to identify the brain patterns elicited by each musical piece. Musical features such as tonality, dynamics, rhythm and timbre were taken in account by the computer. After that, researchers expected that the computer would be able to do the opposite way: identify which song participants were listening to, ...

Grape-derived compounds may help treat depression

Natural compounds derived from grapes may help treat depression by targeting newly discovered underlying mechanisms of the disease, scientists say. In a study to be published in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the US described an extensive analysis of novel grape-derived compounds, dihydrocaffeic acid (DHCA) and malvidin-3'-O-glucoside (Mal-gluc), which might be developed as therapeutic agents for the treatment of depression. Conventional pharmacological treatments for depression are estimated to produce temporary remission in less than 50 per cent of patients, and they are often associated with severe adverse effects. There is an urgent need for a wider spectrum of novel therapeutics, researchers said. Depression is associated with a multitude of pathological processes. These include inflammation of the peripheral immune system which protect against disease and abnormalities involving synapses, the ...

Acupuncture may boost chances of pregnancy through IVF

If you are looking forward to conceiving anytime soon via in vitro fertilisation (IVF), then undertaking an acupuncture therapy prior to the process may boost your chances of getting pregnant by six per cent, a new study has claimed.

Brain 'tickling' can boost memory: study

Tickling the brain with low- intensity electrical stimulation in a specific area can improve verbal memory, a study has found. Researchers found word recall was enhanced with stimulation of the brain's lateral temporal cortex, the regions on the sides of the head by the temples and ears. Patients recalled more words from a previously viewed list when low-amplitude electrical stimulation was delivered to the brain. "The most exciting finding of this research is that our memory for language information can be improved by directly stimulating this underexplored brain area," said Michal Kucewicz, a researcher at Mayo Clinic in the US. Memory impairments are a prevalent, costly problem in many brain diseases. Medication and behavioral therapies have limited effectiveness in many cases. "While electrical stimulation of the brain is emerging as potential therapy for a wide range of neurological and psychiatric diseases, little is known about its effect on memory," said Gregory .

Augmented reality tech helps surgeons 'see through' the body

Augmented reality headsets can help doctors 'see through' organs and tissues in the operating theatre, and improve the outcome of reconstructive surgery for patients, a study has found. In a series of procedures carried out by a team from the Imperial College London in the UK, researchers showed that for the first time how surgeons can use augmented reality headsets while operating on patients undergoing reconstructive lower limb surgery. Researchers used Microsoft HoloLens - a computer headset that immerses the wearer in 'mixed reality', enabling them to interact with holograms or computer-generated objects made visible through the visor. The team used the technology to overlay images of CT scans - including the position of bones and key blood vessels - onto each patient's leg, in effect enabling the surgeon to 'see through' the limb during surgery. According to the team trialling the technology, the approach can help surgeons locate and reconnect key blood vessels ...

Surgeons 'see through' tissue using AR headset

In a first, researchers from Britain displayed how surgeons can use Microsoft's Augmented Reality (AR) headset HoloLens while operating on patients undergoing reconstructive lower limb surgery.