Page 620 - Health Medical Pharma
Depressive symptoms can cut survival rate in cancer patients
Even mild depressive symptoms can reduce the chances of survical in patients with head and neck cancer, a study has warned. The findings, published in the journal Cancer, indicate that patients should be screened and treated for depressive symptoms at the time of diagnosis. In addition, studies should examine parallel biological pathways linking depression to cancer survival. Many patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer experience symptoms of depression, which can make it difficult for them to manage treatment side effects, quit smoking, or maintain adequate nutrition or sleep habits. Researchers led by Elizabeth Cash of the University of Louisville in the US, wanted to find if depressive symptoms might also affect patients' health outcomes. They studied 134 patients with head and neck cancers who reported depressive symptoms during the planning of their treatment. When researchers examined the patients' clinical data over the following two years, they found that ...
New drug combination can safely treat malaria: study
A new medication for malaria can safely and effectively cure the deadly disease, say scientists who have successfully completed a clinical trial for the drug combination. For the study, researchers from Tubingen Institute of Tropical Medicine and German company Deutschen Malaria GmbH tested the efficacy, tolerability and safety of a combination of the drugs Fosmidomycin and Piperaquine. The two-fold medication was administered for three days to patients aged one to thirty who were infected with malaria via the Plasmodium falciparum pathogen. In the 83 evaluable cases, there was a 100 per cent cure rate, according to the study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Patients tolerated the treatment well, and it led to a swift reduction of clinical symptoms. Safety issues were limited to changes in electrocardiogram readings, as had been described for Piperaquine. "This study represents a milestone in the clinical research into Fosmidomycin," said Peter ...
Depression may reduce survival rates in cancer patients
Even mild depression among patients with head and neck cancer are associated with poorer overall survival, a new study has said.
Sanofi to buy U.S. haemophilia group Bioverativ for $11.6 billion
PARIS (Reuters) - French healthcare group Sanofi has agreed to buy U.S. haemophilia specialist Bioverativ for $11.6 billion, in a deal which it said would boost earnings and strengthen its presence in treatments for rare diseases.
Cervical cancer's signs every woman should know
The symptoms of cervical cancer, a condition that develops in the cervix, don't surface during its early stages, but there are some crucial signs of the disease that women should know.According to the Daily Express, one of the pivotal signs can be bleeding from the vagina at any time, other than during monthly period.National Health Service also shared that the bleeding can usually occur after having sex.The organisation added, "Other symptoms of cervical cancer may include pain and discomfort during sex and an unpleasant smelling vaginal discharge. If cancer spreads out of your cervix and into surrounding tissue and organs, it can trigger a range of other symptoms".Bone pain, loss of appetite and finding blood in the urine are also considered to be the signs of the condition.Though there is no single way to prevent cervical cancer, the people can lower your risk by using a condom when having sex.Most cases of the cancer are linked to an infection from the human papillomavirus (HPV), .
Test vaccine for malaria appears promising
A new, experimental vaccine for malaria has shown fast and effective results against acute infection, protection against relapse, as well as, delay in resistance formation, researchers say.
"Love hormone" helps us understand social cues
Oxytocin - popularly known as the love hormone - plays a crucial role in helping the brain process a wide array of social signals, Harvard scientists have found. The study suggests that oxytocin acts like a modulator in the brain, turning up the volume of certain stimuli while turning others down, helping the brain to make sense of the barrage for information it receives from one moment to the next. In investigating the role of oxytocin in processing social signals, researchers from Harvard University in the US began with an prevalent behaviour - the preference for male mice to interact with females. Studies have shown that this behaviour is not just social - it is actually hard-wired in the brains of male mice. When male mice are exposed to pheromone signals of females, neurons in their medial amygdala showed increased levels of activation, researchers found. When the same mice were exposed to pheromones of other males, those same neurons showed relatively little ...
Depression may shorten head, neck cancer patients' lives
Sadness and anticipatory grief are normal reactions to the various crises faced during cancer and now, a recent study has found that even mild depressive symptoms were associated with poorer overall survival.The research found that the patients should be screened and treated for depressive symptoms at the time of diagnosis.The team, led by Elizabeth Cash of the University of Louisville School of Medicine, was interested to see if depressive symptoms might also affect patients' health outcomes.The researchers studied 134 patients with head and neck cancers who reported depressive symptoms during the planning of their treatment.When the scientists examined the patients' clinical data over the following two years, they found that patients with greater depressive symptoms had shorter survival, higher rates of chemoradiation interruption, and poorer treatment response.Cash said, "We observed that head and neck cancer patients who reported more depressive symptoms at their initial ...
Epilepsy associated with brain volume differences: Study
Epilepsy, a disorder in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, is linked to brain volume and thickness differences, according to a study.Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects 0.6-1.5% of the global population, comprising many different syndromes and conditions, and defined by a tendency for seizures.The research was led by UCL and the Keck School of Medicine of USC.The largest-ever neuroimaging study of people with epilepsy shows that epilepsy involves more widespread physical differences than previously assumed, even in types of epilepsy that are typically considered to be more benign if seizures are under control.The brain abnormalities the researchers identified were subtle, and have not yet been implicated in any loss of function."We found differences in brain matter even in common epilepsies that are often considered to be comparatively benign. While we haven't yet assessed the impact of these differences, our findings suggest there's more to epilepsy ...
Adolescent drinking can cause liver problems later in life
People who begin drinking early in life run the risk of developing liver problems in adulthood, according to a study.Alcohol is the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and liver-related deaths.Results of the large long-term study in Sweden suggest that guidelines for safe alcohol intake in men might have to be revised downwards.Current recommended cut-off levels in some countries suggest that safe alcohol consumption for men to avoid alcoholic liver disease is 30 grams per day, roughly equivalent to three drinks."Our study showed that how much you drink in your late teens can predict the risk of developing cirrhosis later in life," explains lead investigator Hannes Hagstrom. "However, what can be considered a safe cut-off in men is less clear."Investigators conducted a retrospective study to assess the association between alcohol consumed early in life with later development of severe liver disease. They used data from a nationwide population-based study conducted during 1969-1970 of all
Govt. mulls PPP model to detect cancer centers: Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MoS, Health & Family Welfare
About 8.2 million people die due to cancer across the world every year, said Mr Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
When palpitations lead to cardiac arrest
Fluttering of your heart is not always the sign of love, nor is skipping of a beat. The fluttering could be a sign that you need to pay attention to your heart.So what if your health parameters are more or less fine, but if your heart is not beating right, it is reason enough to see a doctor. Arrhythmias which in other words could be called irregular heartbeats, fluttering, palpitations, and so on, can put you in grave danger, which to say directly can cause sudden cardiac arrest."Unfortunately, in India, we do not have national registry for cardiac deaths, so it is difficult to predict the number of people dying due to SCDs. But a look at the macro factors removes any doubt whether Indians are at a brink of cardiac emergency," said Dr. Vanita Arora, Director & Head, Cardiac Electrophysiology Lab & Arrhythmia Services, Senior Consultant-Cardiac Electrophysiologist & Interventional Cardiologist, Max Super Speciality Hospital.An India Spend research in the year 2016 showed ..
7 injured as car rams into truck in Delhi
At least seven people were injured after a speeding car collided with a truck in Delhi's ITO area on Sunday night.The injured people were rushed to the hospital for medical treatment.The car rammed into the truck after losing balance.Further details are awaited.
2 soldiers killed when Army helicopter crashes in California
The Army says two soldiers from Colorado have been killed in a helicopter crash during training operations in the Southern California desert. The San Bernardino Sun newspaper reports the AH-64 Apache crashed around 1 AM yesterday at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin. Maj Gen Randy A George says both soldiers killed were assigned to the 4th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado. Their identities are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Fort Irwin is a remote facility in the High Mojave Desert midway between San Bernardino, California, and Las Vegas.
'Rural devlopment a focus area for the centre'
The union government is now involved in providing infrastructure for rural development, which is a focus area, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development said today. Committee member Prahlad Singh said the panel was inspecting all states regarding rural development programmes. "The Centre is focussing on rural development and is now also involved in the provision of infrastructure for rural development." he said. Singh was speaking to reporters after the committee, headed by it's chairman P Venugopal visited Sri Ramanathaswamy temple here and offered prayers.
Screening all women for cancer genes may be cost effective
Screening all women over 30 years age for breast and ovarian cancer gene mutations can be cost effective and could also prevent more of these cancers than just screening those at genetic high-risk, suggests a study led by an Indian-origin researcher.
Restoring blood flow to brain
A study has recently suggested that an 'explosive evolution' of techniques can restore blood flow to areas of the brain endangered by stroke or clogged arteries.More recently, physicians have begun using minimally invasive endovascular techniques.Endovascular techniques do not require invasive open surgery. The physician employs catheters (thin tubes) that are guided through blood vessels to the brain.From the tip of the catheter, the physician deploys stents or other devices to restore blood blow.According to Loyola University Health System researchers, last 50 to 60 years have witnessed an explosive evolution of techniques geared at restoring blood flow to compromised regions of the brain.Senior author Camilo R. Gomez said, "The chances a stroke patient will have a good outcome are two to three times better now than they were 10 to 15 years ago".They added that these endovascular techniques have "amplified the dimensions of care for many patients whose therapeutic options were ...
Synthetic virus may lead to more effective smallpox vaccine
Scientists have created a synthetic horsepox virus that could lead to the development of a more effective vaccine against smallpox. The discovery demonstrates how techniques based on the use of synthetic DNA can be used to advance public health measures. Researchers from University of Alberta in Canada produced an infectious horsepox virus, which they synthetically reconstructed using a published genome sequence and DNA fragments manufactured entirely by chemical methods. The team went on to show that the synthetic horsepox virus could provide vaccine protection in a mouse model of poxvirus infection. "This application of synthetic DNA technology has the potential to revolutionise how we manufacture complex biologicals including recombinant viruses," said David Evans, professor at University of Alberta. "These methods advance the capacity to produce next- generation vaccines and offer special promise as a tool for constructing the complicated synthetic viruses that will
The Flu may be spread just by breathing
Turns out, flu doesn't need coughing or sneezing for transmission. According to a new study, it was revealed influenza virus, commonly known as flu, can be transmitted through breathing, against all notions of contamination by exposure to droplets from coughs and sneezes.University of Maryland-led study published some new pieces of evidence for the about the airborne transmission. The "study "Infectious virus in the exhaled breath of symptomatic seasonal influenza cases from a college community" noted the large quantities of infectious virus researchers found in the exhaled breath from people suffering from flu.Dr. Milton, M.D., MPH, professor of environmental health in the University of Maryland School of Public Health and lead researcher of this study said, "We found that flu cases contaminated the air around them with the infectious virus just by breathing, without coughing or sneezing".He added, ""People with flu generate infectious aerosols (tiny droplets that stay suspended in ..
Novel synthetic vaccine against smallpox developed
Researchers have developed a new synthetic virus that can lead to the development of a more effective vaccine against smallpox in humans.