1 March, 2016

Obese and diabetic mothers four times more likely to give birth to autistic children

Women of reproductive age who are thinking of having children should stay fit. A recent study warns that children born to obese women with diabetes are four times more likely to be diagnosed withautism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder is a serious neuro-developmental condition characterised by severe deficits in socialisation, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviours.

The findings of the study highlight a theory about autism that the risk factors develop likely before the child is even born. ‘We have long known that obesity and diabetes aren’t good for mothers’ health,’ said study author Xiaobin Wang from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US. 

‘Now we have further evidence that these conditions also impact the long-term neural development of their children,’ Wang added. For the study, published in the journal Paediatrics, researchers analysed 2,734 mother-child pairs between 1998 and 2014.

They collected data on maternal pre-pregnancy weight and whether the mothers had diabetes before getting pregnant or whether they developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Over 100 children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder over the course of the study claimed to be the first to look at obesity and diabetes in tandem as potential risk factors. Read: Low iron intake in mothers linked to five-fold increased risk of autism in babies

‘Our research highlights that the risk for autism begins in utero,’ said another researcher M Daniele Fallin.The children whose mothers were both diabetic and obese were more than four times as likely to develop autism compared to children born to normal weight mothers without diabetes, the study found.

Along with pre-conception diabetes, children of obese mothers who developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy were also at a significantly higher risk of being diagnosed with autism. Obesity and diabetes in general cause stress on the human body, the researchers concluded.

Source: www.thehealthnews.com

01.02.2016

Patience is the companion of wisdom

Saint Augustine

29 February, 2016

Being overweight can dampen your memory!

London: A new research suggests that young adults who are overweight may have poorer memory than their peers. The research from Cambridge University adds to the increasing evidence of a link between obesity and memory.

The study, published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, found a link between high body mass index (BMI) and poorer performance on a test of 'episodic memory' - the ability to recall past experiences.

However, researchers found that other aspects of memory - such as general knowledge - were unaffected. 50 individuals aged 18-35 participated in a memory test with BMIs ranging from 18 through to 51. A BMI of 18-25 is considered healthy, 25-30 overweight, and over 30 obese.

Participants were asked to hide items around complex scenes (for example, a desert with palm trees) across two ‘days’. They were then asked to remember which items they had hidden, where they had hidden them, and when they were hidden. Researchers found that obese people score 15% lower than thinner people. Overall, the team found an association between higher BMI and poorer performance on the tasks.

According to the researchers, the results could suggest that the structural and functional changes in the brain previously found in those with higher BMI may be accompanied by a reduced ability to form and/or retrieve episodic memories. As the effect was shown in young adults, it adds to growing evidence that the cognitive impairments that accompany obesity may be present early in adult life. “We're not saying that overweight people are necessarily more forgetful," said Dr Lucy Cheke, from the University of Cambridge.

“But if these results are generalizable to memory in everyday life, then it could be that overweight people are less able to vividly relive details of past events – such as their past meals. Research on the role of memory in eating suggests that this might impair their ability to use memory to help regulate consumption.” “In other words, it is possible that becoming overweight may make it harder to keep track of what and how much you have eaten, potentially making you more likely to overeat,” Dr Cheke added.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com

29.02.2016

Failing to prepare is like preparing to fail

John R. Wooden

27 February, 2016

Fancy eating your placenta?

As bizarre (and gross) as this sounds, a number of celebrities in the West have been claiming that eating the placenta after they give birth actually helps lower symptoms of postpartum depression.

Coleen Rooney , wife of international football star, Wayne Rooney is the latest in line to follow this unusual trend after celebs like Kim Kardashian West, Alicia Silverstone, January Jones, Kourtney Kardashian, Holly Madison did the same thing.Don't assume though that eating the placenta literally means eating it the moment you give birth. The placenta is collected by the midwife and later converted into pills, which the woman can consume in the days after she gives birth.

At the time of giving birth to her second child, Saint West, Kim had reportedly said, "I'm having it freeze-dried and made into a pill form -not actually fry it like a steak and eat it. I had great results and felt so full of energy and didn't have any signs of depression. I definitely had to do it again. Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good. I totally recommend it for anyone considering it!" While there is no scientific proof that this has any real benefits, several women swear by it and say that it has greatly helped them battle mood swings that are a part of postpartum depression and even feel more energetic.

Experts, however, say that little is known about what type of hormones are found in placentae, how they help a woman and that it simply works as a placebo at best.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

27.02.2016

Patience and time do more than strength or passion

Jean de La Fontaine

26 February, 2016

Don’t exercise too much! It can damage your heart

Just as most therapies have a dose-response relationship whereby benefits diminish at high doses and the risk of adverse events increases, high level of intense exercise may also be bad for the heart, suggests a new study. The researchers reviewed studies that looked into the relationship between exercise and heart problems and found that there is growing evidence that high levels of intense exercise may be cardiotoxic and promote permanent structural changes in the heart.

There is already fairly compelling evidence supporting the association between long-term sports practice and increased prevalence of atrial fibrillation — abnormal heart rhythm characterised by rapid and irregular beating. ‘Much of the discussion regarding the relative risks and benefits of long-term endurance sports training is hijacked by definitive media-grabbing statements, which has fuelled an environment in which one may be criticized for even questioning the benefits of exercise,’ explained study author Andre La Gerche from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia.

‘This paper discusses the often questionable, incomplete, and controversial science behind the emerging concern that high levels of intense exercise may be associated with some adverse health effects,’ La Gerche noted. The study was published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. ‘The answers regarding the healthfulness of ‘extreme’ exercise are not complete and there are valid questions being raised,’ La Gerche said. ‘Given that this is a concern that affects such a large proportion of society, it is something that deserves investment. The lack of large prospective studies of persons engaged in high-volume and high-intensity exercise represents the biggest deficiency in the literature to date, and, although such work presents a logistical and financial challenge, many questions will remain controversies until such data emege,’ La Gerche observed.  

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

26.02.2016

Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work

Rita Mae Brown

25 February, 2016

This theorem can help to cure tuberculosis' secret

Rice University researchers have sought to streamline the analysis of complex biochemical networks and to reveal inconsistencies in biological data. Their theorem helps to uncover hidden drivers of non-monotonic responses to monotonic stimuli in tuberculosis bacteria.

A new methodology developed by researchers at Rice and Rutgers university's could help scientists understand how and why a biochemical network doesn't always perform as expected. To test the approach, they analyzed the stress response of bacteria that cause tuberculosis and predicted novel interactions Principal investigator Oleg Igoshin said over the last several decades, bioscientists have generated a vast amount of information on biochemical networks, a collection of reactions that occur inside living cells.

The researchers applied their theory to explain how Mycobacterium tuberculosis responds to stresses that mimic those the immune system uses to fight the pathogen. Igoshin said M. tuberculosis is a master in surviving such stresses. Instead of dying, they become dormant Trojan horses that future conditions may reactivate.

The study showed that as M. tuberculosis gradually runs out of oxygen, the expression of some genes would suddenly rise and then fall back. They characterized the biochemical network that controls the expression of these non-monotonic genes, but the mechanism of the dynamical response was not understood. Researchers found that the hypoxic (oxygen-starved) signal would lead bacteria to switch from one type of food to a different type of food.

The researchers argued that the stress-induced activation of adaptive metabolic pathways involving glyoxylate genes is transient, increasing only until there's enough of the protein present to achieve stability. Researchers opined that if these hypotheses are correct, drugs blocking negative interactions responsible for non-monotonic dynamics could in principle destabilize transitions to latency or trigger reactivation.

The study is published in the journal of PLOS Computational Biology.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

25.02.2016

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere

24 February, 2016

Indian scientists develop Hepatitis C vaccine

Bengaluru: A group of Indian scientists has developed a vaccine meant to treat Hepatitis C, a virus or infection that causes liver disease and inflammation of the liver.

According to the report in Times of India, the team from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has developed a vaccine for HCV genotype 3a.

The scientists said the vaccine has shown promising results in preclinical studies and is customised for the Indian population. It is said that several preclinical trials of virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccine strategies are in progress throughout the world.

But in the present study, Professor Saumitra Das and his team generated gt3a hepatitis C virus-like particles (HCV-LP). According to the scientists, the vaccine they have created is a "molecular cocktail of virus-like particles that mimics HCV along with a bio-engineered adenovirus vector (viral vectors are tools commonly used by molecular biologists to deliver genetic material into cells), encoding the core and envelope proteins of HCV".

The researchers then inserted those genes of HCV into the adenovirus vector so that it would provoke the immune system to produce neutralising antibodies against the hepatitis C virus, sates the report.

The Hepatitis C virus is spread through direct contact with infected blood. And among the many strains of the virus, HCV genotype 3a (gt3a) is the predominant strain found in the Indian sub-continent.

The discovery may come as a huge relief to patients and the the country as a whole that has about 12 million people suffering from chronic Hepatitis C.

The research, funded by the Indo-Australian Biotechnology Fund (IABF), department of biotechnology, Government of India, has been published in the journal 'Vaccine'.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com

24.02.2016

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement

Helen Keller

23 February, 2016

More than 94 % old people lose at least one of five senses

A new study that measured age-related damage to all the five senses: vision, smell, hearing, touch, and taste has found that 94 percent of older adults in the US lose at least one of the five key senses, but often more. In the study, University of Chicago researchers examined how often multisensory losses occur and what their impact on older adults might be. They analyzed data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a population-based study of adults ages 57-85. The study collected information about the participants’ senses of vision, touch, smell, hearing, and taste. The participants were also asked to rate their physical health. The researchers found that 67 percent of the older adults had two or more sensory losses. Of those with multisensory losses, 65 percent had substantial loss in at least one of their senses, and 22 percent experienced substantial loss in two or more senses.

The study showed that 74 percent of participants suffered impairment in their ability to taste, which was the most common sensory loss, while 38 percent of participants had a sense of touch that was ‘fair;’ 32 percent said it was ‘poor.’ The research found that 22 percent had smell impairment (19 percent fair/3 percent poor function) and 14 percent had corrected distance vision that was ‘fair;’ 6 percent said it was ‘poor.’ 13 percent rated their corrected hearing as ‘fair;’ 5 percent said it was ‘poor.’ Older age was linked to poorer function in all five senses; the largest differences were in hearing, vision, and smell. What’s more, men had worse functioning for hearing, smell, and taste than did women, although, men had better corrected vision than women. African Americans and Hispanics tended to have worse sensory function than Caucasians in all senses except hearing. Hispanics tended to have better function in taste than those from other groups.

The researchers said that losing more than one sense might explain why older adults report having a poorer quality of life and face challenges in interacting with other people and the world around them. The researchers suggested that further studies into multi sensory loss hold promise for designing better programs to prevent or treat loss and to ease the suffering such losses cause.

The study is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.  

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

23.02.2016

A handfull of patience is worth

 a million of brains

22 February, 2016

Breathing and the fat connection

Depending on where you live, the air that is entering and leaving your lungs is either pushing you towards obesity or just helping you stay alive. The idea that "thin air" can make us fat sounds absurd, but according to a Duke University study, it's possible. Laboratory rats, who breathed Beijing's highly polluted air, gained weight and experienced cardio-respiratory and metabolic dysfunctions after three to eight weeks of exposure. The study placed pregnant rats and their offspring in two chambers, one exposed to outdoor Beijing air and the other containing an air filter that removed most of the air pollution particles.

After only 19 days, the lungs and livers of pregnant rats exposed to the polluted air were heavier and showed increased tissue inflammation. These rats had 50 percent higher LDL cholesterol; 46 percent higher triglycerides; and 97 percent higher total cholesterol. Their insulin resistance level, a precursor of Type 2 diabetes, was higher than their clean air-breathing counterparts.

All of these measures support the study's conclusion that air pollution exposure results in metabolic dysfunction, a precursor to obesity. Indeed, pollution-exposed rats were significantly heavier at the end of their pregnancy even though the rats in both groups were fed the same diet.

Similar results were shown in the rat offspring, which were kept in the same chambers as their mothers.

However, the results showed that the negative effects of air pollution were less pronounced after three weeks than they were at eight weeks, suggesting that long-term exposure may be needed to generate the continuous inflammatory and metabolic changes that ultimately increase body weight. At eight weeks old, female and male rats exposed to the pollution were 10 percent and 18 percent heavier, respectively, than those exposed to clean air. Since chronic inflammation is recognized as a factor contributing to obesity and since metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity are closely related, our findings provide clear evidence that chronic exposure to air pollution increases the risk for developing obesity, said senior author Junfeng "Jim" Zhang.

The study appears in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).

Source: www.timesofindia.com     22.02.2016

Those who can adapt to change are those who will continue to grow

Justin Ramalho

18 February, 2016

Did you know tobacco products are cheaper than essential food items?

Tobacco products were cheaper than essential food items in India, says a new study. ‘The current excise and Value Added Tax (VAT) rates are insufficient to increase the prices of tobacco products, therefore making these products easily affordable,’ said the study conducted by the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID) and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). Highlighting that tobacco taxation as a fiscal policy was an advantage for both public health as well as revenue generation, Henk Bekedam, WHO representative to India, said: ‘A comprehensive tax policy leads to reduction in tobacco use especially among young people and at the same time provides increased revenues to the government. ‘It has also been seen that affordability, in relation to income, of tobacco products is increasing at the national level, except for recent years,’ he said, adding that this was true even for the poorest households in the country. The tax burden on tobacco products was not in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) recommendations, which says excise taxes should account for at least 70 percent of retail prices of tobacco products.  

In recent times, the share of tax burden has also declined — for cigarettes it declined from 55.3 percent in 2008 to 36.8 percent in 2013, and for bidis, it declined from 7.2 percent in 2011 to 5.3 percent in 2013. The study corroborates the recent WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2015, which indicated that cigarettes have become more affordable in India during 2008-14. According to Article 6 of WHO FCTC to which India is a party, the prices of tobacco products must be increased periodically to make them inflation-adjusted and there should be a uniform increase in tax rates across products. ‘Tobacco taxation policy is the most cost effective strategy for tobacco control and has the ability to affect consumption, prevalence and affordability. Higher prices of tobacco products can promote cessation and prevent initiation among young people,’ said PHFI president K. Srinath Reddy.

The study recommended that tax on all types of tobacco products should be increased substantially and further the tobacco tax regime should be broadened to include the unorganised manufacturing sector under the tax net. It also recommended that the tax exemptions on production of less than two million bidis should be eliminated and tax slabs on cigarettes based on length should be eliminated in a phased manner. These findings come on the heels of another health ministry report, which estimated that the total economic cost attributable to tobacco use from all diseases in 2011 amounted to a staggering Rs.1,04,500 crore ($22.4 billion) in India, equivalent to 1.04 percent of India’s GDP.  

Source: www.dnaindia.com

18.02.2016

Change what you can change and acknowledge and accept what you can’t

Rod Williams

17 February, 2016

Dialysis may soon be a thing of the past

A team of US nephrologists is developing first-of-its kind implantable artificial kidney with microchip filters and living kidney cells that will be powered by a patient's own heart to help kidney patients.

Dr William H. Fissell IV, nephrologist and associate professor of medicine from Tennessee-based Vanderbilt University, is making major progress on a first-of-its kind device to free kidney patients from dialysis.

"We are creating a bio-hybrid device that can mimic a kidney to remove enough waste products, salt and water to keep a patient off dialysis," Fissell said. The goal is to make it small enough, roughly the size of a soda can, to be implanted inside a patient's body.

The key to the device is a microchip. "It's called silicon nanotechnology. It uses the same processes that were developed by the microelectronics industry for computers," Fissell explained. The chips are affordable, precise and make ideal filters. Fissell and his team are designing each pore in the filter one by one based on what they want that pore to do. Each device will hold roughly fifteen microchips layered on top of each other.

But the microchips have another essential role beyond filtering. "They're also the scaffold in which living kidney cells will rest," said Fissell.

Fissell and his team use live kidney cells that will grow on and around the microchip filters. The goal is for these cells to mimic the natural actions of the kidney.

Because this bio-hybrid device sits out of reach from the body's immune response, it is protected from rejection. "The issue is not one of immune compliance, of matching, like it is with an organ transplant," said Fissell.

The device operates naturally with a patient's blood flow.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

17.02.2016

There are no accidental things in life, everything happens for a reason

16 February, 2016

Study shows your boss can influence your health!

New York: It is a known fact that managers have a huge influence on employees' behaviour. They also play a huge role in creating the best work environment – from helping a new employee get settled in a job to getting other employees meet their deadlines.

Now, a new study finds that manager leadership may be the key to employee health programs and goals, suggesting that they be provided with incentives to focus on creating a healthier work environment.

"Instead of focusing on individual wellness outcomes, we propose that it would be more effective if managers were incentivised to create healthier overall work environments with simple, easy to implement actions such as installing a water cooler, providing healthy snacks at meetings, and encouraging work/life balance," said lead author Rebecca Robbins from Cornell University in New York, US.

The initiative requires tapping into the manager`s ability to lead his or her team to wellness and can, as a result, have a big payoff in terms of creating a culture of health at the workplace, and could tip the scales toward healthier employees.

The study surveyed 270 adults with manager roles and found that 68 percent supported the idea of being evaluated by their employee wellness actions.

The study, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, finds that increase in employee wellness and motivation can be achieved by tying just 10 percent of managerial salary increases to health initiatives.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com

16.02.2016

Patience and time do more than strength or passion

Jean de La Fontaine

15 February, 2016

China’s first Zika patient fully recovered and discharged

With the world falling prey to zika, this news can bring a smile to the face of many. China’s first patient with the Zika virus was discharged from hospital on Sunday. China confirmed the case on February 9, Xinhua news agency reported.  The patient, a 34-year-old man from Ganxian county in Jiangxi province, had developed fever, headache and dizziness on January 28 in Venezuela, before returning to his hometown on February 5 via Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

He has been treated in a hospital in Ganxian since February 6, said the provincial health and family planning commission. He has fully recovered after treatment, according to the statement. Tests on his serum, urine and saliva samples returned with negative results. Symptoms of the Zika virus, which spreads to people through mosquito bites, include fever, joint pain, a rash, conjunctivitis, headache and muscle pain.

How to prevent zika?

The PAHO warns pregnant women against visiting Zika affected areas. One should also protect themselves from mosquitoes that cause dengue and chikungunya. Empty and clean all types of containers that can hold an even tiny amount of water to prevent mosquito breeding.  Use an insect repellent and cover yourself and keep doors and windows closed.

Will it spread to India?

The PAHO says that the virus might spread to every region where the Aedes mosquito is found. Dr Sonawane is of the opinion that India is highly vulnerable to the virus and falls into the high-risk group, and the virus can spread to India very rapidly. The virus is more likely to spread to the country if people travel to and from infected countries. In such a case, screening for patients or people showing symptoms of the virus should be conducted at airports and seaports.  If any person shows such symptoms, they should be quarantined, and their entry in the country should be restricted.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

15.02.2016

It is an equal failing to trust everybody, and to trust nobody

13 February, 2016

Heart association developing treatment methods for Indians

"We have been using the western guidelines but now we have evidence to show that we can't do that any more," said Dr Shanthanu Guha, chairperson, scientific committee, Cardiology Society of India (CSI) on Thursday at the three-day convention organised by the society.

Indian doctors have been uncertain about the optimum goals for patients with blood pressure or how far and aggressively it should be reduced. "We obviously know it should be low, but the question remains as to how low it should be to prevent risks like heart attacks," he said.

Cardiovascular diseases are the largest cause of death in developed countries and is among the leading cause in most developing nations. In India, doctors have found that patients are younger by at least a decade and have higher levels of triglycerides and low levels of good cholesterol (HDL). The guidelines in the west do not talk much about these as risk factors do not exist in the population there, said doctors.

On Tuesday , doctors from CSI met their counterparts in European Cardiology Society to draw up guidelines for management of heart attacks, blood pressure, cholesterol and fat (lipids). "Instead of starting it fresh, we have decided to take their guidelines by incorporating our data. When we do this we will be able to write it out much faster," said Dr Guha.

Nevertheless, senior cardiologists like Dr Sarat Chandra, former editor of Indian Heart Journal, who have put together a consensus statement on management of dyslipidaemia in Indians, said they faced a series of challenges including lack of large scale epidemiological studies and outcome studies that define normal values of risk factors and their relationship to the disease.

For this reason, it may take doctors a longer time to develop guidelines but Indian cardiologists are hopeful they will have one by 2018. In the past three years, guidelines on stents and prosthetic valves developed by the Indian society have been periodically reviewed, they said.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

13.02.2016

Without forgiveness, there is no future

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

12 February, 2016

Centre to eliminate malaria by 2030: Nadda

New Delhi: The Centre Thursday set the target of eliminating malaria by 2030 after neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Nepal reported no deaths due to the vector-borne disease in the past several years.

"We are committed to achieving the target of elimination of malaria by 2030 which will require huge financial resources. We will effectively work with the development partners and civil society," Union Health Minister J P Nadda said.

Launching the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (2016-2030) here, the minister said 70 per cent of malaria cases and 69 per cent of malaria deaths among South East Asian Region countries, occur in India. "The objective of the framework is to reduce the incidence of malaria to less than one case per 1,000 population per year in all states and UTs by 2024. We would ask all state governments to include malaria eradication programme in their policy matters," he said.

Quoting statistics, Nadda said more than 80 per cent of the country's population live in 'malaria transmission high-risk areas' of around 200 districts covering states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and the seven northeastern states.

"Presently, 80 per cent of malaria is prevalent among 20 per cent of the people classified as 'high risk', although approximately 82 per cent of the country's population live in malaria transmission risk areas," he said.

Under the framework for malaria elimination, the country has been divided into three categories on the basis of annual parasite incidences and key interventions have been identified to achieve the goal, the Union Minister added.

Sri Lanka has reported no malaria deaths in the last one decade, while in Nepal no death due to the vector-borne disease took place since 2012.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com

11.02.2016

The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you

B. B. King

11 February, 2016

Zika enters China, first case reported

China has confirmed an imported case of Zika virus, the country’s first, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) said. The patient, a 34-year-old male from Ganxian county of Jiangxi province, is now recovering with normal body temperature and fading rash, NHFPC said on Tuesday. He had travelled to Venezuela and showed symptoms of fever, headache and dizziness on January 28, before returning to his hometown on February 5 via Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Global Times reported. The NHFPC said that according to evaluation by public health officials and experts, the risk of further spreading of the virus due to this imported case is extremely low due to low temperature.

Symptoms of Zika virus, which spreads to people through mosquito bites, include fever, joint pain, rash, conjunctivitis, headache, muscle pain and eye pain. A pilot field study using mosquitoes infected with bacteria is expected to be launched in China in March, according to a lead researcher. The move is aimed at reducing the local mosquito population, which could pass the Zika virus to humans, said Xi Zhiyong, who heads the study. Xi is a microbiology professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

11.02.2016

Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is achieved

Swami Vivekananda

10 February, 2016

Number of cancer deaths in India increased by 10% from 2011-14

As per the state-wise cancer data of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the number of cancer cases and deaths in India has increased by almost 10 per cent between 2011 and 2014. The report, which was published in the Press Information Bureau, said the rise can be attributed to ageing population, unhealthy lifestyle, use of tobacco and tobacco products, better diagnostic facilities and so on.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly 7 lakh people in India died of cancer last year. The disease is considered one of the major causes of death all over the world. The patients find physical, emotional and social effects of the disease stressful, and those who opt for effective coping strategies, such as relaxation and meditation, have been shown to have lower levels of depression, anxiety and symptoms related to cancer and its treatment.

There is no evidence, however, that successful management of stress can improve the patient's survival rate. Oncologist Dr Asha Kapadia said, "Generally, patients do not have knowledge about the disease in the initial stages. So sometimes they go through psychological stress. They are scared of the effect the disease would have on their families, and even of losing their hair. Treatment is expensive, which adds to the stress. Now-a-days, volunteers are appointed to help counsel patients."

While the government, doctors and NGOs are doing there best to spread awareness regarding early detection, doctors say will power plays a crucial role in winning the battle. Studies done abroad show that 25 per cent of patients suffer from depression at some stage of the journey. According to oncologists, proper counselling helps in improving a patient's compliance with the treatment. They say psychological support may be needed at any stage in the cancer journey, from screening to palliation, with a particular need at crisis points.

Jyoti Nagda-Mehta, a counsellor who works with the oncology department of PD Hinduja hospital, said counselling was as important as medicine. "Cancer breaks a patient completely. Counselling helps them build self confidence and prepares them to face the long procedure with numerous side effects," she said.

Nagda-Mehta added, "Most patients are worried about how long they will live. This is followed by financial problems. In earlier days, very few were concerned about the side effects of cancer treatment. Now in Hinduja hospital, every patient undergoing chemotherapy has to compulsorily undergo counselling."

Source: www.dnaindia.com

10.02.2016

He who knows patience knows peace

9 February, 2016

Cholesterol lowering drugs can be used to treat blindness

A common cholesterol-lowering drug statin can restore vision in the patients with a hard-to-treat version of the leading cause of blindness in the developed world, according to a new research. Researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and the University of Crete have conducted a phase I/II clinical trial investigating the efficacy of statins in the treatment of patients with the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The researchers found evidence that treatment with high-dose atorvastatin (80mg) is associated with regression of lipid deposits and improvement in visual acuity, without progression to advanced disease, in high-risk AMD patients. Their findings not only further the connection between lipids, AMD and atherosclerosis but also present a potential therapy for some patients with dry AMD.

Researcher Joan W. Miller said that they found that concentrated doses of statins carry the potential for clearing up the lipid debris that can lead to vision impairment in a subset of patients with macular degeneration. Miller added that the researchers hope that this promising preliminary clinical trial will be the foundation for an effective treatment for millions of patients afflicted with AMD.

The study is published in EBioMedicine. 

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

09.02.2016

Never consider the possibility of failure; as long as you persist, you will be successful

Brian Tracy

8 February, 2016

Taller you are, higher the cancer risk but lower the diabetes risk

Being vertically gifted affects your health in a slew of different ways and now a recent study has revealed how your height can determine your risk of developing a chronic health condition.

The study, by Harvard School of Public Health and Medical School and the German Center for Diabetes Research, shows that height has an important impact on the mortality from certain common diseases, irrespective of body fat mass and other modulating factors.

Matthias Schulze of the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Potsdam (DIfE) said that epidemiological data show that per 6.5 cm in height the risk of cardiovascular mortality decreases by six percent, but cancer mortality, by contrast, increases by four percent.

The authors suspect that the increase in body height is a marker of overnutrition of high-calorie food rich in animal protein during different stages of growth. Thus, already in utero, lifelong programming might take place that until now has mainly been established for the insulin-like growth factor 1 and 2 and the IGF-1/2 system. Among other consequences, activation of this system causes the body to become more sensitive to insulin action, thus positively influencing the lipid metabolism.

Accordingly, the new data show that tall people are more sensitive to insulin and have lower fat content in the liver, which may explain their lower risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, Norbert Stefan added.

The study is published in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

08.02.2016

Great changes may not happen right away, but with effort even the difficult may become easy

Bill Blackman

5 February, 2016

Falling down frequently? You may be at risk of Parkinson's

Parkinson's patients are prone to a higher risk of injurious falls and hip fractures, a study reveals.
The disease, which breaks down specific nerve cells and is usually diagnosed at around the age of 70, has an insidious onset -- affecting mobility and balance at first -- that can be traced to at least two decades back, the study said. The researchers from Umea University in Sweden found a reduced muscular strength in the arms of patients, on an average more than two decades prior to Parkinson's diagnosis.

This reduced muscular strength seems to result in an increased risk of injurious falls and fractures several years before the diagnosis, explained the researchers. The risk of hip fractures are especially high such patients, something that is likely caused by reduced balance and incapability of rotating the body in the event of a fall in order to protect the hip, the study showed. "By investigating health data from registers, we could see a correlation between individuals who were later diagnosed with Parkinson's and who were more often involved in injurious falls. It was also shown that the higher risk of hip fractures could be measured more than two decades before the diagnosis," said Helena Nystrom doctoral student at Umea University.

The correlation also shows signs of the gradual dysfunctional balance reactions and impaired mobility being present at a much earlier stage, although it has previously been thought to happen in relatively late stages, the researchers explained, in the study published in the journal PLOS Medicine, revealed. The study examined health data from all Swedes who were 50 years or older in 2005 (N=3.3 million). Out of these, 24.412 were diagnosed with Parkinson's in the period of 1988-2012, and these individuals were matched against ten people each in the control group.

Researchers found that 18 percent of all Parkinson's patients (before diagnosis) and 11.5 percent of controls had at least one fall-related injury.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

05.04.2016

Right actions in the future are the best apologies for bad actions in the past

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