Page 634 - Health Medical Pharma
WHO helps Zambia to immunise 1 mn people against cholera
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday said it's supporting Zambia in launching a vaccination campaign in the African country to help one million people against cholera.
Health platforms initiate change in healthcare services
The healthcare ecosystem in India is complex and huge. With the quality of healthcare services going up, the cost and complexity have increased as well.In the present landscape, there are many Online Healthcare Platforms (OHP) that have emerged to enhance the healthcare system in the country.Within the value chain of the healthcare system that connects patients, health service providers, and doctors; we are now seeing the emergence of OHPs that are straddling very specific pieces of this value chain.Here are four such platforms which have initiated a change in healthcare services in the country:1. EasyBuyHealthEasyBuyHealth is among the largest aggregator of hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic centres in the country. The consumers/patients get to choose from across platforms based on price, quality of services etc.All patient records are automatically digitised and this helps EasyBuyHealth offer a 'predictive, outcome based healthcare advice' to its customers.2. CredihealthCredihealth .
New research investigates potential probiotic benefits of pear-enriched diet
A new in vitro (test tube) study, "Dietary functional benefits of Bartlett and Starkrimson pears for potential management of hyperglycemia, hypertension and ulcer bacteria Helicobacter pylori while supporting beneficial probiotic bacterial response," was published in the March issue of Food Research International.In a laboratory in vitro setting, Kalidas Shetty, PhD, currently a professor of plant science at North Dakota State University, and the research's lead author, Dr. Dipayan Sarkar, studied the compounds found in two pear varieties, Bartlett and Starkrimson, in order to better understand the impact of those compounds on chronic diseases.The results suggest fermentation of these pear cultivars further enhances their ability to control stomach related diseases involving H. pylori, the most common chronic bacterial infection in humans, without affecting beneficial bacteria with probiotic potential."Bacteria is often perceived as something that causes diseases; however, the body is
Roche plea in HC on cancer drug not maintainable:Mylan, Biocon
Generic drug makers Biocon and Mylan today told the Delhi High Court that Swiss pharma major Roche's civil suit, challenging DCGI approvals granted to them for marketing and selling their version of breast cancer medicine Trastuzumab, was not maintainable. The submission by the two companies was made before a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Deepa Sharma, which is hearing their appeals as well as that of Roche and the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) against a single judge order which had placed restrictions on Biocon and Mylan with regard to packaging and labelling their medicines. As the single judge had not set aside the approvals granted by DCGI to the drugs of Biocon and Mylan, Roche had challenged the order of April 25, 2016. Roche, which had innovated Trastuzumab, had claimed that the two firms had not carried out all the required tests prior to manufacture and sale of their medicines, as was done by it. Biocon and Mylan have appealed against the ...
Fix margin of profit on MRP of medicines: Jain to Centre
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain today pitched to the Centre that the margin of profit earned on the maximum retail price of any medicine or equipment should be fixed at not more than 50 per cent of its cost. Addressing a workshop organised by the Drugs Control Department, Jain said the Delhi government is "soon going to pass an order" making it mandatory for all government hospitals and doctors therein to prescribe drugs only from National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) to patients. The day-long workshop on 'Accessibility, Affordability and Availability of Pharmaceutical Products' was held in association with National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) at the FICCI House here. Jain said the AAP government had been, through Mohalla Clinics and other measures, trying to make healthcare more accessible to people, keeping in mind the poor and the needy. "So, the question comes as to how will we ensure affordability. I would like to urge the Centre to fix the ..
Paracetamol in pregnancy may delay daughters' language skills
Women who consume acetaminophen -- also known as paracetamol and widely used to reduce a high fever or relieve pain -- during early pregnancy are six times more likely to see delay in their daughters' language skills, warns a new study.
Credihealth, MeitY tie-up to boost online health care services
Medical assistance company Credihealth on Wednesday entered into a partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to deliver its online health care services to people across the country through its 2.5 lakh common services centres.
Weekly pill to fight HIV may be on the anvil
Researchers have developed a capsule that can deliver a week's worth of HIV drugs in a single dose, an advance that could make it much easier for patients to adhere to their dosing schedule.
Anaesthetics do more than just inducing sleep: study
Scientists have found that general anaesthetics do more than simply putting people to sleep, an advance that may lead to improved drugs for surgery. Even though general anaesthesia is one of the most common medical procedures worldwide, it remains unclear how it works, researchers said. "We looked at the effects of propofol - one of the most common general anaesthetic drugs used during surgery - on synaptic release," said Bruno van Swinderen, Associate Professor at University of Queensland in Australia. Synaptic release is the mechanism by which neurons - or nerve cells - communicate with each other. "We know from previous research that general anaesthetics including propofol act on sleep systems in the brain, much like a sleeping pill," van Swinderen said. "But our study found that propofol also disrupts presynaptic mechanisms, probably affecting communication between neurons across the entire brain in a systematic way that differs from just being asleep. In this way it .
Sleeping for longer may lead to healthier diet: study
Spending an extra hour in bed each night may help reduce the intake of sugary foods and lead to a healthier diet, according to a study. Sleep is a modifiable risk factor for various conditions including obesity and cardio-metabolic disease, researchers said. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at the impact of increasing sleep hours on nutrient intake. The researchers from King's College London in the UK found that extending sleep patterns resulted in a 10-gramme reduction in reported intake of free sugars compared to baseline levels. They also noticed trends for reduced intake of total carbohydrates reported by the sleep extension group. "The fact that extending sleep led to a reduction in intake of free sugars suggests that a simple change in lifestyle may really help people to consume healthier diets," said Wendy Hall from King's College London. The 21 participants allocated to the sleep extension group undertook a 45-minute ...
Once-a-week pill for HIV treatment developed
Researchers have developed a capsule that can deliver a week's worth of HIV drugs in a single dose. The advance could make it much easier for patients to adhere to the strict schedule of dosing required for the drug cocktails used to fight the virus, the researchers said. The new capsule developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US is designed so that patients can take it just once a week, and the drug will release gradually throughout the week. This type of delivery system could not only improve patients' adherence to their treatment schedule but also be used by people at risk of HIV exposure to help prevent them from becoming infected, the researchers said. "One of the main barriers to treating and preventing HIV is adherence," said Giovanni Traverso, a research affiliate at MIT and biomedical engineer at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "The ability to make doses less frequent stands to improve adherence and make a significant impact at
Can heart failure risk depend on where you live?
A new study suggests that the risk of developing heart failure also depends on where we live.The research compared census tract data on socioeconomic deprivation - a clustering of neighborhood-level variables of wealth, education, occupation and housing patterns - and heart failure rates among 27,078 middle-aged whites and African-Americans from the Southeastern states.Researchers grouped the participants (average age 55, 69 percent African-American, 63 percent women) in three groups ranging from the least-deprived to the most-deprived neighborhoods. During an average follow-up of more than five years, 4,300 participants were diagnosed with heart failure.Researchers noted that residents living in more socioeconomically deprived areas were at the highest risk for heart failure.As neighborhood socioeconomic factors worsened between one group to the next, researchers noted a 12 percent increase in risk of heart failure. After adjusting for other factors, researchers say 4.8 percent of ...
Finding links between childhood abuse and depression in later life
A recent study provides insights on links between childhood abuse and depression in later life.The research suggests that smaller social networks and feelings of loneliness might be important risk factors for late-life depression in older adults with a history of childhood abuse as well as with an earlier onset of depression.The findings highlight the importance of detecting the presence of childhood abuse in adults with depression and possibly to integrate this into treatment."Apart from the presence of childhood abuse, also the age at depression onset is important to consider in older adults and might give some clues as to which factors are important in treatment," said Ilse Wielaard, of the VU University Medical Centre, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.The study has been published in the journal International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
World's smallest wearable device monitors UV exposure
Scientists have developed the world's smallest wearable device - a wafer-thin, feather-light sensor - that can fit on a fingernail and precisely measure a person's exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun. The broader goal is to provide a technology platform that can save lives and reduce skin cancers by allowing individuals, on a personalised level, to modulate their exposure to the sun, researchers said. The device, as light as a raindrop, is powered by the sun and contains the world's most sophisticated and accurate UV dosimeter, they said. The device called UV Sense was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. "We think it provides the most convenient, most accurate way for people to measure sun exposure in a quantitative manner," said John A Rogers from Northwestern University in the US. UV Sense has no moving parts, no battery, is waterproof and can be attached to almost any part of the body or clothing, where it continuously measures UV
Trump's checkup comes as chatter about his health lingers
President Donald Trump's first medical checkup since taking office nearly a year ago comes as questions linger about his health and mental fitness. The 71-year-old president is due for an exam on Friday at a military hospital in suburban Washington. Presidents aren't required to undergo a medical examination, but they have done so in recent memory and released a report on the findings. Concerns about Trump's health followed his slurring of words on national TV last month. To questions about his mental fitness, Trump has called himself "a very stable genius." A Navy rear admiral who is the president's official physician and director of the White House Medical Unit, Dr Ronny L Jackson, is coordinating the exam. He conducted and supervised the last of three physicals for President Barack Obama.
Beta blockers may increase survival rates of melanoma patients
Common drugs used to prevent heart attacks and lower blood pressure may also increase survival rates of people living with melanoma -- the most deadly type of skin cancer -- a study has found.
Study provides insights on links between nature and mental wellbeing
Exposure to trees, the sky and birdsong in cities is beneficial for the mental wellbeing of people, a study suggests.Researchers at King's College London found that (i) being outdoors, seeing trees, hearing birdsong, seeing the sky, and feeling in contact with nature were associated with higher levels of mental wellbeing, and that (ii) the beneficial effects of nature were especially evident in those individuals with greater levels of impulsivity who are at greater risk of mental health issues.The researchers developed a smartphone-based app to examine how exposure to natural features in cities affects a person's mental wellbeing.The app monitored 108 individuals who collectively completed 3,013 assessments over a one-week period.In each assessment, participants answered several questions about their current environment and momentary mental wellbeing. GPS-based geotagging was used to monitor their exact location throughout the 1-week trial.The results showed significant immediate and .
Can sleeping for longer lead to healthier diet?
Sleeping for longer every night could help you to reduce the intake of sugary foods and lead a healthier diet, suggests a study.Sleep is a modifiable risk factor for various conditions including obesity and cardio-metabolic disease with some figures suggesting a lot of adults are not getting enough sleep.The randomised controlled trial, performed by King's College London, looked at the feasibility of increasing sleep hours in adults who typically slept for less than the recommended minimum for adults of seven hours.Alongside this, the researchers undertook a pilot investigation that looked at the impact of increasing sleep hours on nutrient intake. They found that extending sleep patterns resulted in a 10-gram reduction in reported intake of free sugars compared to baseline levels.The researchers also noticed trends for reduced intake of total carbohydrates reported by the sleep extension group.The principal investigator, Dr Wendy Hall, from the Department of Nutritional Sciences ...
U'khand CM directs probe in debt-ridden man's suicide case
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has ordered for a magisterial investigation into the death case of debt-ridden Prakash Pandey.Pandey, a Haldwani resident, had allegedly attempted suicide by consuming poison at the 'Janata Darbar' in Dehradun on January 6.The doctors, however, had declared him to be out of danger post surgery."We were told that a patient, who had consumed poison, has arrived at the hospital. We cleared his stomach. He is in the ICU and is out of danger now," the doctor told ANI.State Agriculture Minister Subodh Uniyal was hearing the problems of the public at that 'Janata Darbar'.Further details are awaited.
Sleep-related problems kill 3,500 babies in US each year
About 3,500 babies in the US die each year due to sleep-related problems, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation, a new report said on Tuesday.