Need
cautious effort to eradicate polio: Experts
Even
as India is less than a year away from being declared polio free, experts on
Thursday asked for cautious administration of vaccine to keep the virus in
check. ‘India reported the last wild polio virus type 1 case in Howrah, West
Bengal, on Jan 13, 2011. If the eradication effort is complacent now, polio
could rebound quickly, potentially paralysing thousands of children a year,’
Deepak Kapur, chairman India National Polio Plus Committee said in a meeting
here.
The
committee is a volunteer body that is entrusted with spearheading the campaign
for Rotary International in India. Sunil Bahl, deputy project manager, National
Polio Surveillance Programme, said the end strategies needed to be worked out.
‘We have to work out the end strategies. The vaccinations have to be stopped
ultimately to ensure there are no cases of vaccine related infections,’ she
said. Observing India’s role in guising other endemic nations in the fight
against Polio, Robert Scott, chairman-International Polio Plus Committee said
India has set an example for other nations. ‘Considering the demographics and
sheer size of India, the programme implementation and dedication from all and
the achievement is commendable. If India can do it for Polio, so can the
others. India is a shining example and the endemic nations are looking up to it
for lessons and best practices,’ Scott said.
The
Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a public-private partnership led by
national governments and spearheaded by the World Health Organisation (WHO),
Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has recently presented a
six-year plan, ’2013-2018 Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan’. Public
health experts have said: If the polio eradication campaign succeeds, the world
would not only declare it the second disease to be eradicated after smallpox
but it would also save billions of dollars, not to mention saving millions of
children from a crippling future.
A
2010 analysis found that if polio transmission was to be stopped by 2015, the
net benefit from reduced treatment costs and productivity gains would be about
$40 billion to $50 billion by 2035. Speaking at the meeting, Additional
Secretary and Mission Director (National Rural Health Mission) Anuradha Gupta
stressed upon the importance of routine immunisation in preventing Polio and
other childhood diseases.
Source:
http://health.india.com
17.05.2013
Egg whites
lower your blood pressure!
A
study by American scientists presented on Wednesday supports the view that a
substance in egg white has the ability to lower blood
pressure without negative effects.
Scientists reported that a component of egg whites, already popular as a
substitute for whole eggs among health-conscious consumers concerned about
cholesterol in the yolk may have another beneficial effect in reducing blood
pressure, reports Science Daily. Their study was part of the 245th National
Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s
largest scientific society, which continues here through Thursday.
‘Our
research suggests that there may be another reason to call it ‘the incredible,
edible egg,’‘ said study leader Zhipeng Yu, Ph.D., of Jilin University.‘We have
evidence from the laboratory that a substance in egg white — it’s a peptide,
one of the building blocks of proteins — reduces blood pressure about as much
as a low dose of Captopril, a high-blood-pressure drug,’ Zhipeng Yu said. Yu
and colleagues, who are with Clemson University, used a peptide called RVPSL.
Scientists previously discovered that the substance, like the family of
medications that includes Captopril, Vasotec and Monopril, was an angiotensin-converting-enzyme
(ACE) inhibitor.
It
has a powerful ability to inhibit or block the action of ACE, a substance
produced in the body that raises blood pressure. The results of feeding the
substance were positive, showing that RVPSL did not have apparent toxic effects
and lowered blood pressure by amounts comparable to low doses of Captopril.
‘Our results support and enhance previous findings on this topic,’ Yu said.
‘They were promising enough to move ahead with further research on the effects
of the egg white peptide on human health.’
Source:
http://health.india.com
17.05.2013
Knowledge is
confidence and confidence lets you play fast
BILL PARCELLS
No comments:
Post a Comment