3 November, 2015

Getting forgetful could be sign of dementia

Do you often misplace your belongings or forget why you came upstairs? Such memory problems could signal the early stages of dementia, warns a recent study. 

The University of California study said women who reported problems with their memory were 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or dementia decades later, Daily Mail reported. 

Normal memory problems include taking several minutes to recall where the car is parked, forgetting to call a friend back, putting things down and being unable to find them soon after or forgetting the name of someone you have just met. 

This could happen as our immediate short-term memory is very easily distractible, according to Dr Oliver Cockerell, a consultant neurologist at The London Clinic. 

Stress, grief and lack of sleep can also affect memory, as can trying to do too many things at once. 

However, if you have symptoms like finding multi-tasking increasingly difficult, problems negotiating familiar places, such as you regularly can't find your vehicle in the car park, forgetting the names of close relatives and friends or problem in recognising faces, colours, shapes etc, it needs to be attended. 

Many of these symptoms could actually be a sign of depression, stress or a lack of concentration. However, they may be early warning signs of dementia or Alzheimer's. 

There is a type of Alzheimer's where memory is unaffected, but the part of the brain responsible for visual processing is damaged. 

"Huge numbers come in because they cannot remember people's names. The bottom line is, if you are aware of your memory problems, you are unlikely to have dementia," Cockerell was quoted as saying. 

The study appeared in the journal Neurology.

Source; www.timesofindia.com

03.11.2015

Cheaper diabetes, BP drug to hit market by Diwali

Come Diwali, new medicines for diabetes, hypertension and pneumonia are set to get cheaper. 

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the drug price regulator, has capped the prices of as many as 18 new brands of essential medicines, most of which are expected to hit the market within a fortnight.

The regulator has brought these medicines under price regulation using paragraph 5 of the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013, and has fixed their maximum retail price at the average MRP of all medicines available in their segment with a market share of at least 1%.

The price fixation by NPPA includes drugs in question are from leading pharmaceutical companies like Cipla, Merck, Franco Indian, Alembic Pharma and Unichem etc.

In case a company fails to comply with the prescribed retail price, "the concerned manufacturermarketing company shall be liable to deposit the overcharged amount along with the interest thereon under the provisions of the Drugs Price Control Order, 2013", NPPA said in a recent order.

The regulator has also told companies that if they plan to discontinue the manufacture or sale of any of these medicines, they would have to seek NPPA's permission six months in advance.

NPPA has said that if any medicine was priced lower than the ceiling fixed by the regulator, then the companies selling them should maintain it.

Source; www.timesofindia.com

03.11.2015

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