Page 93 - Health Medical Pharma

World's largest ureteric stone removed by surgery in Delhi

New Delhi [India], Apr 9 (ANI): A team of doctors and a surgery robot named Da Vinci removed the world's largest ureteric stone by surgery on March 23 in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, here. The stone measured 22 centimetres and weighed 60 grams in total.In an exclusive interview given to ANI, Dr Sachin Kathuria, consultant, Urology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said: "We were surprised to see such a long stone which was covering almost the entire length of the urinary pipe. Using the robot in surgery made it possible for us to remove the stone in one go, otherwise, the patient would have to undergo multiple surgeries."It is the longest ureteric stone reported to date. The longest ureteric stone removed prior to this was 21.5 centimetres long, according to doctor Kathuria.The patient named Natasha, a resident of Saharanpur, was admitted in the hospital on March 22 and the operation took place on March 23. The surgery for removing the stone took four hours to complete.Interestingly, the patient was

Radiation can impact astronauts' memory temporarily

While several agencies are planning to establish new orbital space stations and send expeditions across the solar system, a team of Russian scientists has found that space radiation could temporarily hinder formation of new cells in brains' memory centres.

Dogs may accurately sniff out cancer in blood: Study

Dogs can use their highly evolved sense of smell to pick out human blood samples with cancer with almost 97 per cent accuracy, according a a study that may lead to inexpensive and non-invasive screening approaches for the deadly disease. Dogs have smell receptors 10,000 times more accurate than humans', making them highly sensitive to odours we can't perceive, said researchers who presented the study at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology annual meeting in Florida, US. "Although there is currently no cure for cancer, early detection offers the best hope of survival," said Heather Junqueira, lead researcher at the US-based healthcare company BioScentDx. "A highly sensitive test for detecting cancer could potentially save thousands of lives and change the way the disease is treated," Junqueira said in a statement. The researchers used a form of clicker training to teach four beagles to distinguish between normal blood serum and samples from patients with ...

Emilia Clarke shares photos from brain surgeries

"Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke has released unseen photographs taken during her recovery from a life-threatening brain aneurysm in 2011, when she was just 24 years old.

Nasscom unveils programme on AI

IT body Nasscom Tuesday launched the 'AI Foundation for Faculty Development' programme through its Centre of Excellence for Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (CoE DS&AI) and FutureSkills platform. The programme aims to provide the faculty in AI with the necessary exposure to real-life business problems by working closely with industry experts and providing access to latest tools and technologies in the AI space, Nasscom said in a statement. The programme will be delivered as an integrated platform consisting of 125 hours of learning, it added. Upon successful completion of online learning, the participating faculty will be required to undergo 25 hours of hands-on, lab-based training by industry experts and academic partners on cutting-edge business problems. Post the hands-on lab based training, the participants will be certified by Nasscom. * * * * * * LTI, VJTI's IIoT labs develop disruptive solutions for social problems Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) and Veermata .

Excessive calcium supplements may up cancer risk: Study

Taking excessive calcium tablets may increase the risk of cancer, according to scientists who say that getting adequate nutrients from food sources is more beneficial than consuming supplements. The study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, also showed that adequate intake of certain nutrients reduces risk of death from any cause, when nutrient source is foods, but not supplements. Researchers found that supplemental doses of calcium exceeding 1,000 miligrammes per day is linked to an increased risk of cancer death, "As potential benefits and harms of supplement use continue to be studied, some studies have found associations between excess nutrient intake and adverse outcomes, including increased risk of certain cancers," said Fang Fang Zhang, associate professor at Tufts University in the US. "It is important to understand the role that the nutrient and its source might play in health outcomes, particularly if the effect might not be beneficial," Zhang said. The ..

Dogs can sniff out cancer in blood with 97% accuracy

Your canine friend can use its highly evolved sense of smell to pick out blood samples from people with cancer with almost 97 per cent accuracy, a finding that can lead to new low-cost and non-invasive screening approaches for the disease, finds a study.

Pollen in air may help predict asthma, hay fever risk: Study

The presence of different strains of grass pollen in the atmosphere can help predict when hay fever and asthma could strike, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, used plant DNA methods to identify and track different strains of pollen. "Using this method, we may be able to better predict when allergenic pollen is present and allow people affected by asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and rhinitis to more effectively manage their condition," said Nicholas Osborne, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. The research tracked grass pollen for seasonal variations and found it was released into the atmosphere later in areas further from the equator. "That tells us that that grass pollen exposure changes substantially across the allergy season," Osborne said in a statement. "With the advent of personalised medicine, more and more people are becoming aware of which allergen is responsible for ...

Innovative 5-minute workout that reduces heart-attack risk, boosts sports performance

Working out for just five minutes can now reduce heart attack risks. A research has found an innovative five minutes workout that is not only time efficient but, reduces your heart attack risk, helps you think more clearly and boost your sports performance.Preliminary results from a clinical trial of Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST), were presented at the Experimental Biology conference."IMST is basically strength-training for the muscles you breathe in with," said Daniel Craighead, lead author of the study.Developed in the 1980s as a means to wean critically ill people off ventilators, IMST involves breathing in vigorously through a hand-held device - an inspiratory muscle trainer - which provides resistance. Imagine sucking hard through a straw which sucks back."It's something you can do quickly in your home or office, without having to change your clothes, and so far it looks like it is very beneficial to lower blood pressure and possibly boost cognitive and physical ...

Grass pollen can help predict asthma, hay fever

The presence of different strains of grass pollen in the atmosphere can help predict when hay fever and asthma could strike, researchers have found.

Underwater forest a store of potential new drugs, shows study

For the first time, a new study has revealed that a common species of seaweed, Laminaria Ochroleuca, is a rich source of bacteria with antimicrobial and anticancer activities - and potential new drug candidates.The research was published in Frontiers in Microbiology.Almost a century since Fleming discovered penicillin in a stray mold, scientists continue to look to microbes for new antibiotics and other medicines.To date, none has given more generously than the Actinobacteria: a family of soil- and seabed- dwelling bacteria who think they're fungi."About half of the 20,000+ microbe-derived drug candidates currently known come from Actinobacteria," said senior study author Dr Maria de Fatima Carvalho"Now the supply of new species on land - where they form spores and branched networks just like a fungus - is beginning to run out," added Carvalho.But relatively underexplored marine Actinobacteria may yet prove an even richer source of bioactive microbial molecules."Several novel drug ...

Food as the source of nutrients is linked to lower risks of death: Researchers

A new study has revealed that consumption of certain nutrients is linked to lower risks of death if the source of those nutrients is foods rather than supplements.The study was published in the Journal Annals of Internal Medicine."As potential benefits and harms of supplement use continue to be studied, some studies have found associations between excess nutrient intake and adverse outcomes, including increased risk of certain cancers," said Fang Fang Zhang, corresponding author on the study."It is important to understand the role that the nutrient and its source might play in health outcomes, particularly if the effect might not be beneficial," he added.The researchers also found that excess calcium intake was associated with a high risk of cancer death. This was due to the supplemental doses of calcium exceeding 1000 mg/day.Dietary intake of nutrients from foods was assessed using 24-hour dietary recalls. Mortality outcomes were obtained for each participant through linkage to the ..

Study explains how a pathogen causes hospital infections

Our mouth is home to hundreds of different bacterial species; a few of these oral bacteria are known pathogens. In a recent study, scientists have discovered that three closely related species of bacteria belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, known to cause infection in hospitals, outlived all other oral bacteria in long-term starvation or 'doomsday' experiment.The findings of the study published in the 'Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences', help explain how certain dangerous bacteria are able to persist in a sterile hospital environment and infect patients.Scientists know the genetic makeup of about 70 per cent of oral bacteria. What they don't know is which species would live the longest without nutrients in a 'battle royale', so they decided to find out.To create a battle of bacteria, researchers placed hundreds of samples of oral bacteria from human saliva into test tubes. The bacteria, which are accustomed to living in the nutrient-rich mouth, were ...

Brain zaps boost memory in people over 60: Study

Zapping the brains of people over 60 with a mild electrical current can improve a form of memory -- enough to make them perform like 20-year-olds -- scientists say. Someday, people might visit clinics to boost that ability, which declines both in normal ageing and in dementias like Alzheimer's disease, said Robert Reinhart, researcher at Boston University in the US. The treatment is aimed at "working memory," the ability to hold information in mind for a matter of seconds as you perform a task, such as doing math in your head. Sometimes called the workbench or scratchpad of the mind, it's crucial for things like taking medications, paying bills, buying groceries or planning, Reinhart said in a statement. The study is not the first to show that stimulating the brain can boost working memory. The research, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, showed success in older people and because the memory boost persisted for nearly an hour minimum after the brain stimulation ended. "It's

Nature has cure for blindness due to diabetes: Study

Nature is believed to hold the answers for the treatment of causes of blindness, says a study published in the Journal of Natural Products."It goes without saying that losing your eyesight is a devastating experience. We believe that our results hint at possible future treatments for many degenerative eye conditions and it appears that nature still has many secrets to reveal," said Professor Dulcie Mulholland, who was part of the new study.The scientists have discovered and tested compounds from a group of plants that could be effective in treating the causes of degenerative eye diseases like proliferative diabetic retinopathy.The researchers detailed their testing of naturally occurring homoisoflavonoids which are found in the Hyacinthaceae plant family and their synthetic derivatives.The abnormal growth of new blood vessels in the eye is linked to several types of blindness, including in premature babies (retinopathy of prematurity), diabetics (proliferative diabetic retinopathy) ...

Casinos irrespective, Goan males still prefer lottery, matka: Study

Government lotteries and matka, an illegal daily lottery racket, beats casinos in terms of popularity among Goa's adult male gamblers, a study has revealed.

Sun Pharma update on transition of its distribution and unwinding of supply contract with Atlas

The above-mentioned transition and consequential one-time reduction in sales and profit will impact Sun Pharma's financial results for the period ended 31 March 2019.

Disease-causing germs on ISS a concern for NASA

Germs are unwelcome, even in the space. NASA scientists have discovered that the International Space Station (ISS) has become a breeding ground for disease-inducing bacteria.Many of the organisms are known to form both bacterial and fungal biofilms that promote resistance to antibiotics.NASA explained that the biofilms' ability to cause microbial-induced corrosion on Earth could also damage the ISS infrastructure by causing mechanical blockages, Engadget reported.These microbes come from humans and are similar to the ones in gyms, offices, and hospitals, and include some pathogens commonly found on the skin, nasal passage, and human gastrointestinal tract.These microbes can cause diseases back on Earth. However, it is unclear if they will have a similar effect on the ISS' inhabitants.Given that astronauts have altered immunity during spaceflight and do not have access to sophisticated medical interventions available on Earth, NASA's latest study on the existence of microbes lurking on

Delhi to host 2-day convention to formulate strategies for devp of homeopathy through research

A two-day international convention will be organised in the national capital beginning Tuesday to take stock of the challenges being faced by homeopathy and formulate "future strategies for development" of this stream of alternative medicine. The convention is being organised by the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), an autonomous research organisation under the Ministry of AYUSH, to observe the World Homoeopathy Day. With an aim to recognise exemplary work in homoeopathy, AYUSH awards relating to this stream of alternative medicine for lifetime achievement, best teacher, young scientist and best research paper will be conferred at the event, an official release stated on Monday. Twenty-four students will be awarded scholarships under the Short Term Studentship in Homoeopathy (STSH). Four students will be awarded for 'Quality MD Dissertation in Homoeopathy', it said, adding MoUs will be signed with two more post-graduate homoeopathic colleges in an effort to link ...

'No clinical evidence of Candida auris in India yet'

The presence of the new deadly fungus Candida auris (or C.auris) has not been detected in clinical practice in India yet, a doctor said here.