Extreme heat bad for pills
Extreme heat can affect medicines
and these can become life threatening for those using them, doctors said on
Thursday. ‘Quality of medicines can deteriorate during summers because of high
temperatures. As most medicines are designed to be stored at normal room
temperatures, no drug should be exposed to temperatures higher than 86 degrees
fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius),’ the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) said in a
statement.According to doctors, chemists and pharmaceutical manufacturers
should store there products at a controlled room temperature of 68 degrees
fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) to 77 degrees fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius).
‘In fact, 68-77 degrees fahrenheit
is the range in which manufacturers guarantee product integrity. Anywhere from
58 (14.5 degrees Celsius) to 86 degrees fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) is
still fine,’ K.K. Kohli, state secretary of DMA, said. He warned that certain
medicines, including nitroglycerin (used to treat heart ailments) and insulin
(used for diabetes), are particularly susceptible to heat. ‘Both nitroglycerin
and insulin are usually carried by patients, who need to take them when they
suffer chest pains or high blood sugar. So, a damaged dose of these crucial
medicine can be life-threatening. Certain antibiotics decay and can cause
stomach or kidney damage,’ the DMA statement added.
Kohli said that because of high
temperature even common medicines can break down and have potentially harmful
effects. ‘Medicines like aspirin which are exposed to temperature change and
can cause more than the usual stomach upset. Hydrocortisone cream can separate
and become useless in the heat. Thyroid, birth control and other medicines that
contain hormones are especially susceptible to temperature changes, and when
protein gets hot it changes properties,’ Kohli said.
Giving away tips on how to protect
medicines from temperature changes, doctors advise to keep medicines in a cool
and dry place like a hallway linen closet, bedroom closet or even a kitchen
cabinet, away from the stove. The unopened bottles of insulin can be kept in
the refrigerator. ‘Never take any medication that has changed colour or
consistency, regardless of the expiration date. Check also for an unusual
odour. Discard pills that stick together, are chipped or are harder or softer
than normal,’ the DMA statement added.
Source: http://health.india.com
24.05.2013
Single parent’s children likelier to be obese
A new study by US researchers shows that children
living with married parents are less likely to be obese. ‘Childhood
obesity is a significant public health issue in our country with nearly
one-third of all US children aged 2-17 overweight or obese,’ said Rachel
Kimbro, study co-author and associate professor of sociology at the Rice
university. ‘Despite this, very little research has been conducted to
explore the impact of family structure on this epidemic,’ said Kimbro, who is
also and director of Rice’s Kinder Institute Urban Health Programme.
In a recent edition of the Journal of Applied Research on
Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk, the study by Kimbro and
colleagues shows that children living in a traditional two-parent married
household are less likely to be obese (with 17 percent obesity rate) than children
living with cohabiting parents, who have a 31 percent obesity rate, reports
Science Daily.
‘For reasons we cannot fully measure, there appears to be
something about people who marry and have a child that is fundamentally
different than the other groups, and these factors are also linked to
children’s weight,’ Kimbro said.
What is childhood
obesity?
Childhood obesity refers to the condition where a child’s
well-being and overall health is hampered by excess fat. Like obesity in
adults, childhood obesity can lead to various health issues including an
elevated risk to heart diseases, diabetes and other obesity-related diseases.
It is also often synonymous with psychological issues like low self-esteem.
Childhood obesity cases are on the rise thanks to academic stress, an urbanised
junk-food culture and a general lack of physical activity.
Source: http://health.india.com
24.05.2013
Pakistani man gets Indian heart
An Indian’s heart is now beating for 40-year-old Moulana
Mohammed Zubair Ashmi, a Pakistani national, who has undergone a successful
heart transplant surgery at the Fortis Malar Hospital. Ashmi was suffering
from a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy in which functioning of both the
ventricles of the heart is severely depressed, said a statement from the
hospital on Thursday. He was repeatedly admitted to several hospitals in
Pakistan with breathing difficulty, poor urine output and swelling in the body,
and doctors advised Ashmi’s family that his only chance of survival was a heart
transplant.
K.R. Balakrishnan, director of cardiac sciences at Fortis
Malar, said Ashmi was on medication for more than a year and his heart’s
pumping efficiency was only around 10-15 percent against the normal 60 percent.
He was flown to Fortis Malar from a hospital in Lahore, and on a detailed
examination doctors realised Ashmi also had renal failure; fluid in his lungs
and abdomen; and he was hepatitis C positive.
After a wait of about two months, a suitable Indian donor
heart of a different blood group became available, the hospital said. ‘I
am ready to live life all over again and it is all due to the kindness of my
saviour’s heart,’ Ashmi was quoted as saying by the hospital.
Source: http://health.india.com
24.05.2013
We
must be our own before we can be another's
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