Page 83 - Health Medical Pharma

US 'church' to offer 'miracle cure' amid warnings

A US-based group calling itself Genesis II Church of Health and Healing has plans to convene on Saturday to promote a "miracle cure" that claims to cure 95 per cent of all diseases in the world by making adults and children, including infants, drink industrial bleach.

Quitting smoking during pregnancy lowers risk of preterm births

A recent study claims that smoking during pregnancy can have negative health impacts. According to researchers smoking during pregnancy can result in low birth weight, delayed intrauterine development, preterm birth, infant mortality, and long-term developmental delays.The details were published in the Journal of JAMA Network Open."Of concern, though, given the substantial benefits of smoking cessation during pregnancy, is the proportion of pre-pregnancy smokers who quit smoking during pregnancy has remained essentially stagnant since 2011," explains lead author Samir Soneji.The investigators sought to assess the probability of preterm birth among expectant mothers who smoked before pregnancy and quit at the start or during pregnancy.Using data researchers conducted a cross-sectional study that gave birth to live neonates during a six-year period, measuring their smoking.Notably, their analysis not only showed that quitting smoking was associated with a reduced risk of preterm birth, .

Indian-origin physician charged with healthcare fraud

An Indian-origin physician in the US has been charged with conspiracy to unlawfully dispense controlled substances and commit healthcare fraud.

People who smoke marijuana weigh less: Researchers

People who smoke marijuana or cannabis weigh less as compared to adults who don't, a new study suggests.

Researchers develop oral appliance for sleep apnea treatment

Researchers have developed a novel treatment for sleep apnea, under which, by making patients lie down flat, the researchers stimulated sleep conditions and measured the patient's airways using 3D imaging. The study confirmed that the treatment is effective at opening the airways and warrants further collaboration between dentists and doctors in the treatment of sleep apnea.Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition that causes throat muscles to relax and narrows the airways of those affected while they are asleep. Snorting, choking or gasping while sleeping is the indicators of the condition.People with mild to moderate sleep apnea experience daily fatigue and a shortened attention span from lack of sleep. Sleep apnea can also have more serious consequences; people have died from very severe forms of the condition.Treatments include a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine (a mask worn by the patient that delivers air pressure throughout the night) or one-piece oral ...

Celebrity fat shaming has ripple effects on women's anti-fat attitudes

No matter how glamorous it might seem, being constantly followed by a spotlight is one of the drawbacks of being a celebrity. Women celebrities, in particular, are routinely criticised for their appearance.Celebrity "fat-shaming" is a fairly regular pop-cultural phenomenon. While we might assume that these comments are trivial and inconsequential, the effects of such messages can extend well beyond the celebrity target and ripple through the population at large.Comparing 20 instances of celebrity fat-shaming with women's implicit attitudes about weight before and after the incident of body-shaming, a team of psychologists found that instances of celebrity fat-shaming were associated with an increase in women's implicit negative weight-related attitudes. They also found that from 2004 to 2015, implicit weight bias was on the rise more generally.Explicit attitudes are those that people consciously endorse and, based on other research, are often influenced by concerns about social ...

Doubles badminton players at highest risk of serious eye injury during game: Study

Doubles badminton players may be at greatest risk of potentially serious eye injury during matches compared with singles players, recent findings suggest.Protective eyewear and health and safety advice should become the norm for all competitors, urge the researchers.Badminton is particularly popular in Asia, but it is growing in popularity elsewhere too. Badminton is usually considered safe because it doesn't involve physical contact.But shuttlecocks are small and dense and usually travel at high speed, and in close proximity to players. And in countries where it is widely played, badminton causes a substantial proportion of sports-related eye injuries.To try and find out if particular factors are associated with a heightened risk of eye injury during play, the researchers gathered information from 52 men and 33 women, who had sustained an eye injury during a badminton match between 2011 and 2017.They were all aged between 15 and 65 and had been playing badminton for an average of ...

Marijuana users less likely to gain weight despite munchies: Study

Those who smoke cannabis, or marijuana, weigh less compared to adults who don't, recent findings suggest.The findings are contrary to the belief that marijuana users who have a serious case of the munchies will ultimately gain more weight."Over a three-year period, all participants showed a weight increase, but interestingly, those who used marijuana had less of an increase compared to those that never used. Our study builds on mounting evidence that this opposite effect occurs," said Omayma Alshaarawy, lead author of the study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.Results also suggest that new and persistent users are less likely to be overweight or obese, overall."We found that users, even those who just started, were more likely to be at a normal, healthier weight and stay at that weight. Only 15% of persistent users were considered obese compared to 20% of non-users," she explained.As part of the study, researchers used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey .

One in five children have mental health problems: Study

According to a recent study conducted in Canada, one in five children and youth suffer from a mental disorder, but less than one-third have had contact with a mental health care provider.Although those overall results echo a similar study from 1983, the new study found a much larger proportion of children and youth with a disorder had contact with other health providers and in other settings, most often through schools.The new study found that the patterns of prevalence among different sexes and age groups have changed.Hyperactivity disorder in boys four to 11 years old jumped dramatically from nine to 16 percent, but there has been a substantial drop in disruptive behaviour among males 12 to 16 years old from 10 to 3 per cent. There has been a steep increase in anxiety and depression among both male and female youth from 9 to 13 per cent.In 30 years, the prevalence of any disorder increased in communities with a population of 1,000 to 100,000, rather than large urban areas, and there

Indian-origin neurologist charged with healthcare fraud

An Indian-origin neurologist has been charged with conspiracy to unlawfully dispense controlled substances and commit healthcare fraud in the United States. Anil Prasad, 62, of Louisiana was charged with one count of prescribing controlled substances outside the course of professional practice and for no legitimate purpose and one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, US Attorney Peter Strasser said. According to court documents, between November 2016 and July 2018, Prasad worked at a pain management clinic in Slidell and, during the course of his employment, he pre-signed prescriptions for controlled substances, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, without performing patient examinations to determine medical necessity. Additionally, Prasad knew that certain of those patients used their federal insurance program Medicare and Medicaid benefits to fill those prescriptions. In total, Medicare and Medicaid paid approximately USD 1.65 million dollars for those ...

Scientists find how general anaesthesia works?

Ever wondered how general anaesthesia works? Scientists have recently discovered that general anaesthesia makes a person unconscious by seizing the neural circuitry, a population of neurons interconnected by synapses to carry out a specific function when activated.The study published in the journal Neuron found that several different general anaesthesia drugs knock you out by hijacking the neural circuitry that makes you fall asleep.The researchers traced this neural circuitry to a tiny cluster of cells at the base of the brain responsible for churning out hormones to regulate body functions, mood, and sleep.The finding is one of the first to suggest a role for hormones in maintaining the state of general anaesthesia and provides valuable insights for generating newer drugs that could put people to sleep with fewer side effects.Ever since the first patient went under general anaesthesia in 1846, scientists have been trying to figure out exactly how it works. The prevailing theory has .

New heart patch may reduce muscle damage after heart attack

Scientists have designed an adhesive patch that can be placed on the heart and could reduce the stretching of the heart muscle which is often followed by a heart attack.According to the research, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, biochemical markers showed that the patch reduced cell death, scar tissue accumulation and oxidative stress in tissue damaged by a heart attack.The patch, made from water-based hydrogel material, was developed using computer simulations of heart function in order to fine-tune the material's mechanical properties.A study in rats showed that the patch was effective in preventing left ventricle remodelling- a stretching of the heart muscle that is common after a heart attack and can reduce the function of the heart's main pumping chamber.The research also showed that the computer-optimised patch outperformed patches whose mechanical properties had been selected on an ad-hoc basis."The idea here is to provide mechanical support for damaged tissue, which

Adhesive patch to reduce heart attack damage

Researchers have developed a new adhesive patch that could reduce the stretching of cardiac muscle following a heart attack.

Modi suffering from personality disorder: Congress leader

A senior Congress leader in Telangana on Friday alleged that Prime Minister Narender Modi is suffering from paranoid personality disorder.

Moral decisions linked to brain activity: Study

What makes our decisions morally just or objectionable? It is the brain activity that is responsible for the differences in our moral behaviour, reveals a new study.

Brain's structural wiring - reason for Conduct disorder in children

Wiring of nerves in brains in different individuals could possibly be a reason for antisocial behavior among young people, claims a study.The details of the recent findings were published in the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.Conduct disorder affects around 1 in 20 children and teenagers. It is characterised by a wide range of antisocial or aggressive behaviors such as vandalism, weapon use and harm to others.The exact causes of conduct disorder - thought to be an interaction between genetic and environmental factors which were not well understood. However, scientists found that there are distinctive differences in white matter pathways (the brain's structural wiring) among young people who have the condition.The researchers investigated differences in the brain's structure between children with conduct disorder and a comparison group of typically-developing children without severe antisocial behavior. The study included nearly 300 children aged between

Asian nations sitting on early tobacco epidemic

Asian countries are in the early stages of a tobacco smoking epidemic with habits mirroring those of the US from past decades -- setting the stage for a spike in future deaths from smoking-related diseases, warn researchers.

Study warns of measles outbreak

New research has indicated that a decline in measles vaccination could lead to the outbreak of the disease in full swing.The research was published in the journal, Neuron.According to the study, without a renewed focus on measles vaccination efforts, the disease may rebound in full force.Measles is an extremely contagious illness transmitted through respiratory droplets and aerosolized particles that can remain in the air for up to two hours. Most often seen in young children, the disease is characterised by fever, malaise, nasal congestion, conjunctivitis, cough and a red, splotchy rash. Most people with measles recover without complications within a week.However, for infants, people with immune deficiencies, and other vulnerable populations, the consequences of measles infection can be severe. Rare complications can occur, including pneumonia, encephalitis, other secondary infections, blindness and even death.Before the measles vaccine was developed, the disease killed between two ..

AIIMS docs threaten to stop work if administration fails to act on theft complaints

AIIMS resident doctors have threatened to stop work if the administration does not act on rising cases of theft on the campus, saying patient care cannot be delivered in an unsafe and uncooperative environment. The doctors have also alleged lack of redressal of complaints. In a letter to the AIIMS administration, the Resident Doctors' Association has demanded implementation of enhanced security for all duty rooms of doctors and immediate monetary compensation, "as promised" for all lost items along with efficient follow up of complaints. They have also sought transfer of the AIIMS chowki-in-charge with immediate effect. In the letter, the doctors said that many valuables and gadgets, including laptops, mobile phones and personal belongings, and even vehicles of resident doctors have been stolen from duty rooms, changing rooms and campus when they are at work. The attitude of the AIIMS security has been "extremely callous" in this regard while the behaviour of the Chief Security ...

More deaths likely to occur in Asian countries due to tobacco consumption, says study

A recent study has revealed that Asia will face an increasing number of deaths from smoking-related diseases if tobacco control policies are not implemented immediately.The research published in JAMA Network Open analysed 20 prospective cohort studies from mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and India. The study is the largest investigation in Asian countries of birth cohort-specific and county- or region-specific smoking patterns and their association with deaths.Future deaths are likely to echo the pattern that occurred in the United States as the popularity of smoking increased during and after World War II, which resulted in lung cancer mortality peaking around 1990, said Wei Zheng, the study's senior author."There is about a 30-year gap or incubation period for the mortality to occur. Smoking takes about 20 or 30 years to have this full effect on lung cancer mortality," said Zheng.Tobacco control interventions may be having an effect on the smoking epidemic in ..