Page 642 - Health Medical Pharma
Boozing puts your genes at risk
Here's another reason why boozing is bad for you.Drinking alcohol can increase the risk of cancer by irreparably harming DNA, a study finds.Much previous research looking at the precise ways in which alcohol causes cancer has been done in cell cultures. But in this study, researchers have used mice to show how alcohol exposure leads to permanent genetic damage.Scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, gave diluted alcohol, chemically known as ethanol, to mice. They then used chromosome analysis and DNA sequencing to examine the genetic damage caused by acetaldehyde, a harmful chemical produced when the body processes alcohol.They found that acetaldehyde can break and damage DNA within blood stem cells leading to rearranged chromosomes and permanently altering the DNA sequences within these cells.It is important to understand how the DNA blueprint within stem cells is damaged because when healthy stem cells become faulty, they can give rise to cancer.These new ..
Vitamin C increases effect of TB drugs: Study
Suffering from tuberculosis? Include bell peppers, dark leafy greens, berries and oranges in your diet.Studies in mice and in tissue cultures suggest that giving vitamin C with tuberculosis drugs could reduce the unusually long time it takes these drugs to eradicate this pathogen.In the study, the investigators treated Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected mice with anti-tuberculosis drugs or vitamin C alone, or the drugs and vitamin C together. They measured M. tuberculosis (Mtb) organ burdens at four and six weeks post treatment.Vitamin C had no activity by itself, but in two independent experiments, the combination of vitamin C with the first-line TB drugs, isoniazid and rifampicin, reduced the organ burdens faster than the two drugs without vitamin C, said first author Catherine J. Vilcheze, Ph.D. Instructor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. Experiments in infected tissue cultures demonstrated similar results, shortening ...
Mouse study shows how alcohol may cause cancer
Alcohol damages the DNA of stem cells responsible for producing new blood, according to a mouse study which may explain the link between drinking and cancer, scientists said today. Health watchdogs have long warned that alcohol consumption contributes to seven types of cancer - of the mouth, throat, larynx or voice box, oesophagus or food pipe, breast, liver and bowel. What was not well understood was: how? For the new study, published in the science journal Nature, researchers gave lab mice diluted alcohol, known chemically as ethanol. They then used chromosome and DNA analysis to examine genetic damage caused by acetaldehyde, a chemical produced when the body processes alcohol. "They found that acetaldehyde can break and damage DNA within blood stem cells, leading to rearranged chromosomes and permanently altering the DNA sequences within these cells," Cancer Research UK, which helped fund the research, said in a statement. "It is important to understand how the DNA ...
Family alleges negligence, overcharging by Gurgaon hospital
The family of a patient admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon has accused the facility of medical negligence and charging exorbitant amount for its services. The family has lodged a complaint with the Haryana chief minister's office and also written to state health minister Anil Vij, seeking action against the upscale Paras Hospital. The hospital has denied the charges. According to the family, Sunil Kumar, 22, was admitted to the hospital in June last year with head and spine injuries, which he had suffered during a dive into a canal in Hisar. He was first operated upon at a private hospital in Hisar, but Kumar remained unconscious after the surgery there, the family said. "Upon recommendation of doctors in Hisar, we admitted Kumar at Paras Hospital in Gurgaon for consultancy in the neurology department on June 16, 2017. The doctors of Paras Hospital insisted on transferring the case to ENT department," said Jagbir Singh, maternal uncle of Kumar. The doctors ...
Meghalaya CM lays foundation for 100-seat medical college
Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the 100-seat Tura medical college here in western Meghalaya.
Rs 13 crore worth adulterated tea seized
Adulterated tea worth Rs 13 crore was seized from the godowns of two tea factories in Nilgiris district today, following which their licences were temporarily cancelled, Tea Board of India sources said. The board officials, acting on complaints of adulteraton by Tea Trade Association, took samples from the factories at Ajjur and sent them for testing to Coimbatore and Mumbai, they said. The tests confirmed that the tea was adulterated by mixing saw dust and colour,following which two lakh kg of tea, worth Rs 13 crore, was seized from godowns of the factories. The factories were sealed and their licences temporarily cancelled, the sources said.
Spl wards sought to treat those with liver problems due to
A PIL has been filed in Madras High Court bench here, seeking setting up of special wards in government hospitals in five districts to treat those with liver problems due to alcohol consumption The PIL by one Anandaraj sought setting up of the special wards in government hospitals in Sivaganga, Theni, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Dharmapuri disticts. Justices Sathyanarayana and Hemalatha impleaded TASMAC as one of the respondents and posted the case for hearing on Dec 22. The petitioner submitted that the government was getting enormous revenue from sale of liquor through TASMAC. A part of the income should be diverted to treat persons whose livers had been affected due to drinking. He said TASMAC should be impleaded as a respondent so that they could reply on spending for the affected people. The petitioner suggested that specialists in liver treament be appointed in district headquarters hospitals of all districts. As of now only 12 government hospitals had the ...
ESIC's 62% sanctioned post of doctors, nursing staff vacant
State-owned Employees' State Insurance Corporation's (ESIC) over 62 per cent sanctioned posts of doctors, specialist, nursing and para-medical staff are vacant, Parliament was informed today. There are 10,016 vacancies of doctors, specialist and nursing and paramedical staff against the sanctioned post of 16,100 posts in ESIC, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. According to the reply, there are 5,204 vacancies of nursing & paramedical staff in the ESIC against sanctioned post of 13,170. Similarly, there are 2,039 posts of general duty medical officers, out of which 561 are vacant. It has 891 sanctioned post of specialists & super specialists against which 319 are vacant. The minister told the House that the service rendered by the ESIC Hospitals to its beneficiaries/patients is generally satisfactory and any shortage of doctors/nurses in the hospital is fulfilled by engagement of contractual staff as a short term measure .
Hairy skin from mouse stem cells may hold cure for baldness
In a finding that may provide potential cure for baldness, researchers have used stem cells from mice to develop a skin patch that is complete with hair follicles in a laboratory.
WHO pre-qualifies Indian vaccine for typhoid
Bharat Biotech's Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) against typhoid fever has received pre-qualification from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the vaccine manufacturer said on Wednesday.
Palwal rampage: Retd Army captain undergoes surgery at Delhi
Naresh Dhankhad, a 45-year-old retired captain of the Indian Army who allegedly bludgeoned six people to death with an iron rod in Palwal, has undergone a head surgery at the Safdarjung hospital here and is in a stable condition, a senior doctor said. Dhankhad, believed to be mentally ill, apparently suffered a head injury during a scuffle after being caught. He was operated at the Safdarjung Hospital yesterday. He was admitted to the hospital's emergency at around 8 PM. "He had suffered head injury and was found to have epidural hematoma (EDH), which is an intracranial hemorrhage between the outer membrane of the brain and the skull. We operated on him and removed the blood clot," Dr Karam Chand Sharma, head of the department of neurosurgery at the hospital, said. "He is in the ICU and was taken off the ventilator in the morning. His condition is stable but he is yet to gain consciousness," he said. Sharma said that Dhankhad was under treatment for some mental ...
New method could end fasting for cholesterol tests
A new method of calculating so-called "bad cholesterol" levels has the potential to do away with the need to fast before blood is drawn for such screening, say researchers.
'75 lakh children to be immunised under Measles-Rubella in Pb'
The Punjab government will organise 'Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign' in April and May under which about 75 lakh children in the age group of 9 months to 15 years would be immunized. According to state's Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra instructions in this regard have been issued to all civil surgeons. The health department is conducting awareness activities about the vaccination campaign to ensure 100 per cent immunization of the children in the state, he said in a release. "A plan to protect the children from preventive diseases which are infectious and transferable between the infants and children has also been chalked out," said Mohindra.
Drone-powered service delivering medical supplies in Africa
A Silicon Valley robotics company's partnership with the Rwandan health ministry has enabled the delivery of vital medicines to hospitals in remote areas using drones in an average of half an hour, the media reported.
Doctors in Poland protest overtime, disrupting hospitals
A protest by thousands of doctors in Poland who refuse to work overtime has disrupted services at some hospitals, including children's wards. Poland's state-funded health care is chronically strapped, understaffed and poorly organised. In some regions, the wait for free procedures can take years. Low earnings can force doctors to work overtime, though wage increases took effect Monday. The Health Ministry said today that some 3,500 doctors have opted out of contracts that allowed for work weeks of more than 48 hours. The protesters say the number is more like 5,000. The opposition is calling for the health minister's dismissal in an expected government reshuffle. Some hospitals, including one for children in Bialystok, have been forced to postpone non-life-saving procedures or close night emergency service.
100 fall ill after communtiy feast
At least 100 people fell ill after participating in a New Year community feast in Mizoram's Lawngtlai district, police reports here said today. The incident took place at Cheural village in Lawngtlai, the southernmost district of Mizoram, last night, the reports said. The condition of some of them was stated to be serious, doctors at the Siaha district hospital, where they were admitted, said. The patients are vomitting and complaining of acute stomach pain. Some of them are unconscious and cannot move, the doctors said. State Health department officials said a medical team would be sent from Lawngtlai district hospital to look into the incident.
Man from Assam dies in Delhi, family blames hospital
A 42-year-old man from Assam died in a hospital in the national capital within hours of hospitalisation, after allegedly being given wrong medication, said family members on Wednesday.
Stem cell therapy may treat leading cause of blindness
A team led by an Indian-origin scientist has made advances towards creating stem cell-derived retinal cells to treat a leading cause of blindness. According to scientists at the National Eye Institute (NEI) in the US, tiny tube-like protrusions called primary cilia on cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) - a layer of cells in the back of the eye - are essential for the survival of the retina's light-sensing photoreceptors. The discovery has advanced efforts to make stem cell- derived RPE for transplantation into patients with geographic atrophy, otherwise known as dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in the US. "We now have a better idea about how to generate and replace RPE cells, which appear to be among the first type of cells to stop working properly in AMD," said Kapil Bharti, lead investigator of the study published in the journal Cell Reports. Bharti is leading the development of patient stem cell- derived RPE for an ...
Stem cell therapy advancement offers treatment for blindness
Scientists, led by a person of Indian origin, have made advances in efforts to make stem cell-derived retinal cells used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) -- a leading cause of blindness.