Page 630 - Health Medical Pharma
Consuming coconut oil daily cuts heart disease risk
Consuming coconut oil daily for just four weeks may lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, suggests a recent study.Researchers Kay-Tee Khaw and Professor Nita Forouhi from the University of Cambridge conducted the study on 94 volunteers between the ages of 50 and 75, none of whom had a history of heart disease or diabetes, reports Independent.They split the participants into three groups and each of them was asked to consume 50 grams or roughly three tablespoons of either coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter every day for four weeks.They wanted to analyse that how eating these fats regularly would affect the volunteers' cholesterol levels.The findings indicated that the participants, who consumed butter saw an average rise of 10 percent in their levels of LDL cholesterol, known as the "bad cholesterol".Those, who consumed olive oil saw a slight reduction in LDL levels and a five percent rise in HDL cholesterol levels, which is often referred to as the 'good ...
Over 475,000 Rohingya kids to be vaccinated against diphtheria
As part of an intensified response to the current diphtheria outbreak, WHO, UNICEF and health sector partners are working with Bangladesh's health ministry to vaccinate more than 475,000 children in Rohingya refugee camps and temporary settlements. "All efforts are being made to stop further spread of diphtheria. The vaccination of children in the Rohingya camps and nearby areas demonstrates the health sector's commitment to protecting people, particularly children, against deadly diseases," said Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO representative to Bangladesh. Nearly 150,000 children aged six weeks to seven years received pentavalent vaccine (that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, haemophilus influenza type B and hepatitis B), and nearly 166,000 children aged seven to 17 years were given tetanus and diphtheria (Td) vaccine, during a three-week vaccination campaign that ended on December 31. Two more rounds of vaccination with a diphtheria- containing vaccine, at ...
Meditating twice a day for 20 mins cut PTSD symptoms in older adults
Just 20 minutes of meditation twice a day may reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in older adults, suggests a recent study.According to researchers from Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, veterans of the war in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found significant relief from their symptoms as a result of practising the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique.Transcendental Meditation is a technique for detaching oneself from anxiety and promoting harmony and self-realization by meditation, repetition of a mantra and other yogic practices."It's remarkable that after just one month we would see such a pronounced decrease in symptoms, with four out of five veterans no longer considered to have a serious problem with PTSD," said lead author Robert Herron."Transcendental Meditation is very easy to do and results come quickly," said another researcher James Grant.The research has
Robotic baby helps unveil how dust affects human infants
Scientists have developed a crawling robotic baby, that may help understand how dirt and germs on the floor affect human infants in the first year of their life. The research showed that when babies crawl, their movement across floors, especially carpeted surfaces, kicks up high levels of dirt, skin cells, bacteria, pollen, and fungal spores. The infants inhale a dose of bio bits in their lungs that is four times what an adult would breathe walking across the same floor. While this may sound alarming, scientists from Purdue University in the US said that this may not be a bad thing. "Many studies have shown that inhalation exposure to microbes and allergen-carrying particles in that portion of life plays a significant role in both the development of, and protection from, asthma and allergic diseases," said Brandon Boor, assistant professor at Purdue University. "There are studies that have shown that being exposed to a high diversity and concentration of biological ...
Writing 'to-do' list before bedtime may help you doze off
Having trouble falling asleep? Jotting down your "to-do" list just before bedtime can help you doze off quickly, scientists say. Researchers from Baylor University in the US compared sleep patterns of participants who took five minutes to write down upcoming duties versus those who chronicled completed activities. "We live in a 24/7 culture in which our to-do lists seem to be constantly growing and causing us to worry about unfinished tasks at bedtime," said Michael K Scullin, assistant professor at Baylor University. "Most people just cycle through their to-do lists in their heads, and so we wanted to explore whether the act of writing them down could counteract night time difficulties with falling asleep," said Scullin, lead author of the study Journal of Experimental Psychology. While anecdotal evidence exists that writing a bedtime list can help one fall asleep, the study used overnight polysomnography, the "gold standard" of sleep measurement, Scullin said. For the
These early symptoms can predict bipolar disorder
A study has recently found that early anxiety and disorders of attention or behaviour are two patterns of psychiatric symptoms that may help to identify young people at increased risk of developing bipolar disorder (BD).According to researchers, early signs of BD can fall into a relatively characteristic "homotypic" pattern, consisting mainly of symptoms or other features associated with mood disorders; or a "heterotypic" pattern of other symptoms including anxiety and disruptive behaviour.Environmental risk factors and exposures can also contribute to BD risk.The team analysed data from 39 studies of prodromal symptoms and risk factors for later development of BD.BD is commonly preceded by early depression or other symptoms of mental illness, sometimes years before BD develops, as indicated by onset of mania or hypomania.The authors noted, "The prodromal phase of BD remains incompletely characterized, limiting early detection of BD and delaying interventions that might limit future ..
Anxiety may be early indicator of Alzheimer's disease: study
Heightened anxiety in older adults may be an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease, a study has warned. Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative condition that causes the decline of cognitive function and the inability to carry out daily life activities. Past studies have suggested depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms may be predictors of AD's progression during its "preclinical" phase, during which time brain deposits of fibrillar amyloid and pathological tau accumulate in a patient's brain. This phase can occur more than a decade before a patient's onset of mild cognitive impairment. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US examined the association of brain amyloid beta and longitudinal measures of depression and depressive symptoms in cognitively normal, older adults. The findings, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, suggest that higher levels of amyloid beta may be associated with increasing symptoms of anxiety in these ...
Anxiety could be an early indicator of Alzheimer's
Is your elderly grandfather showing higher levels of anxiety? Beware, it may signal the early manifestation of Alzheimer's disease, researchers warned.
Soft 3D printed structures mimic brain, lung tissues
Scientists have developed a way to 3D print soft biological structures, which could be used to build life-like models of the brain and lungs. Being able to match the structure and softness of body tissues means that these structures could be used in medical procedures to form scaffolds that can act as a template for tissue regeneration, where damaged tissues are encouraged to regrow. Regenerating damaged tissue by 'seeding' porous scaffolds with cells and encouraging them to grow allows the body to heal without the issues that normally affect tissue-replacing transplant procedures, such as rejection by the body. The use of scaffolds is becoming more common and varied in its applications, but the new technique creates super-soft scaffolds that are like the softest tissues in the human body and could help to promote this regeneration. In particular, there might be future potential in seeding neuronal cells; those involved in the brain and spinal cord. Researchers from ...
Eating muesli may keep arthritis at bay
Eating muesli, fruits and vegetables every morning may lead to stronger bones and help prevent arthritis, scientists say. Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen- Nurnberg (FAU) in Germany discovered that a fibre-rich diet can have a positive influence on chronic inflammatory joint diseases, leading to stronger bones. The key to the effect our diet has on our health are intestinal bacteria, researchers said. Every adult carries about two kilogrammes of benign bacteria in their intestines. They help our digestion by breaking fibre down into its individual components, which can then be absorbed by the body. A by-product of this process are short-chained fatty acids which are important for the body, providing energy, stimulating intestinal movement and having an anti- inflammatory effect. The intestinal bacteria also fight against pathogens which have found their way into the gastrointestinal tract. It is known that intestinal flora can either protect against
WHO recommends 710 day bladder catheterisation for obstetric
The WHO has issued a new guideline recommending a 710 day period of bladder catheterisation for an obstetric complication more common in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation on the number of days of bladder catheterisation following surgical repair is for simple obstetric urinary fistula. Currently the length of catheterisation is not standard and ranges from 5 to 42 days. "The new guidance recommends a 710 day period of bladder catheterisation to allow complete healing," the global health body said. Obstetric fistula is an abnormal opening between a woman's genital tract and her urinary tract or rectum. When the mother's pelvis is too narrow or the baby is too large or in an abnormal position, labour can last for several days and often results in the death of the baby or the mother. If the mother survives, she could develop a fistula. She may be unable to control her rectal or urinary functions. "Longer periods of ...
Regular yoga can slow down ageing of brain: Study
Practising yoga regularly can slow down ageing of the brain and helps it stay young, claims a study. The study by the researchers of the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), said that yoga might help in prevention of age-related degeneration by changing cardiometabolic risk factors and brain-derived neurotrophic factors among men. DIPAS is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The research study, which was published in the American Ageing Association, focused not only on the brain but comparative studies were conducted on hypertension, blood pressure, heart rate, and stress. According to the researchers, a brain develops till the age of 20-30. After that, development of the brain halts and after 40 years, its slow degeneration starts. As part of the study, done by Rameswar Pal, Som Nath Singh, Abhirup Chatterjee and Mantu Saha, 124 healthy and physically active men aged between 20 and 50 years were randomly ...
Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute to add 200 beds by April
City-based Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre is planning to add 200 beds in its existing super-speciality hospital by April 2019 at an investment of about Rs 200 crore, a senior official has said. The hospital currently has 302 beds, eight major and three minor operation theatres to provide tertiary cancer care to the patients. "We will be adding 200 more beds by April 2019 as we are in the process of expansion. We will also be adding six more operation theatres during this period," Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre (RGCIRC) CEO D S Negi told PTI. The investment for adding 200 beds will be about Rs 200 crore as usually one bed requires expenditure of Rs one crore, he added. When asked about how the expansion would be funded, Negi said: "It will be through internal accruals. We have some savings as the surplus income the hospital generates and that will be ploughed back in its infrastructure development". The aim is to provide cancer ...
3D printing technique that creates super soft organ replicas
A team of researchers have found a new 3D printing technique that allows them to replicate biological structures which could be used for tissue regeneration and replicate organs.
IOA chief Batra stands by appointment that raised eyebrows
Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra today stood by the appointment of Pawandeep Singh Kohli as the chairman of its medical commission, a move that raised a few eyebrows. Pawandeep's name was embroiled in a controversy when he was appointed as the chief medical officer of the Indian contingent for the 2016 Rio Olympics. "We stand by the decision to appoint Dr Pawandeep Singh Kohli as the chairman of medical commission. The decision was jointly taken by secretary general Rajeev Mehta and I. Further, the Executive Board has to ratify all the appointments in its next meeting," Batra said in a statement. Son of veteran sports administrator Tarlochan Singh, his role as the chief medical officer of the Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics had come under scanner after reports emerged that Pawandeep, a radiologist by profession, could not provide the required help to the Indian athletes during the Games. Justifying the move, Batra further stated, "The commission .
Treat patients selflessly, don't think only of money, Danve
Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve today asked doctors to to treat patients selflessly rather than only think about making money. "Dont always think of only making money. In business one suffers losses, in politics we face losses. It is painful to to know some doctors sometimes do not start treatment of a patient without money. At times even a dead body is not handed over to relatives because of unpaid or pending bills," Danve said. He was speaking at a function at a hospital here in the presence of Nationalist Congress Party MLA Rajesh Tope and Congress state general-secretary Sanjay lakhe Patil. Danve claimed that the Narendra Modi government had curbed those doctors who were making undue profits. He said that the government had capped the prices of stents at Rs 35000 which is about 85 per cent of its market price. He added that the names of some welfare schemes had been changed from what they used to be called during the previous Congress-led UPA regime as ...
Skincare tips for women above 40
After 40, it is very important for a woman to choose the right skin care regime and make-up. Always hydrate your skin before applying the foundation and opt for peach or pink blush, says experts.
Genes that may lead to obesity identified
You can blame your genes for your obesity as researchers have found 13 genes that carry variations associated with body mass index (BMI).
Stingray soft robot may promote bio-inspired robotics
Scientists have developed a tissue-based soft robot that mimics the biomechanics of a stingray, a finding that could lead to advances in bio-inspired robotics, regenerative medicine and medical diagnostics.
Hypersensitive brain networks may cause chronic headaches
Patients with fibromyalgia have brain networks primed for rapid, global responses to minor changes, a study has found. This abnormal hypersensitivity, called explosive synchronisation (ES), can be seen in other network phenomena across nature, according to the study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Researchers from the University of Michigan in the US and Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea report evidence of ES in the brains of people with fibromyalgia, a condition characterised by widespread, chronic pain. "For the first time, this research shows that the hypersensitivity experienced by chronic pain patients may result from hypersensitive brain networks," said Richard Harris, from the University of Michigan. "The subjects had conditions similar to other networks that undergo explosive synchronisation," Harris said. In ES, a small stimulus can lead to a dramatic synchronised reaction in the network, as can happen with a power grid ...