30 December, 2019

Tuberculosis vaccine may lower Alzheimer’s risk in cancer patients

Currently, Alzheimer’s affects one-in-ten adults over the age of 65 — a number that is expected to triple by 2030. The need to find a cure is great. In the backdrop of the following facts, researchers have developed a TB vaccine that lowers rates of Alzheimer’s disease in cancer patients.

There may soon be a glimmer of hope for patients of Alzheimer’s disease. A research team headed by Herve Bercovier, Charles Greenblatt and Benjamin Klein at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU)’s Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics has discovered that the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, originally developed for tuberculosis and commonly used to treat bladder cancer, may also be an effective treatment to prevent Alzheimer’s. The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

“There’s data reaching back to the 1960s that shows that countries treating bladder cancer patients with the BCG vaccine had a lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease but it hadn’t been properly analyzed,” shared lead author Bercovier.

Until now Bercovier and his team followed 1,371 bladder cancer patients receiving treatment at HU’s Hadassah Medical Center. The average patient age was 68. During follow-up visits, 65 cancer patients had developed Alzheimer’s.

Those who had not received BCG as part of their treatment had a significantly higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s than did BCG-treated patients: 8.9 per cent (44 patients) as opposed to 2.4 per cent(21). Further, when compared with the general (healthy) population, people who had never been treated with BCG had a 4-fold higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s than did those who were treated with BCG.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

30.12.2019

In order to succeed, we must first believe we can

23 December, 2019

Excessive antibiotic prescriptions can harm your child’s health

A new study suggests that excessive antibiotic prescriptions for children could resist their ability to fight pathogens, a microorganism that can cause disease. The excessive intake of antibiotics can also result in a concrete health impact on children.

While antibiotics are known for their properties to fight bacteria and are the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting the bacterial infection, a new study suggests that excessive antibiotic prescriptions for children can harm their health.

Children in low and middle countries (LMICs) are being prescribed an average of 25 antibiotics during their first five years of life, which is an excess and could resist their ability to fight pathogens( a microorganism that can cause disease).

Gunther Fink, the lead author of the study and head of the Household Economics and Health Systems Research Unit at Swiss TPH, said, “We knew children in LMICs are sick more often, and we knew antibiotic prescription rates are high in many countries. What we did not know was how these elements translate into actual antibiotic exposure–and the results are rather alarming.”

Antimicrobial resistance is considered as one of the global health and development threat today, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Excessive use of antibiotics worldwide is one such factor contributing to the threat.

Mid-low countries often have children who fall sick frequently and they visit the hospital only to be overprescribed by antibiotics.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

23.12.2019

Accept the challenge so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory

18 December, 2019

Sleeping more may increase your stroke risk: Study

A study published in the medical journal Neurology has indicated that people who sleep more than necessary may be at greater risk of stroke.

According to the study, people who nap regularly during midday for more than 90 minutes are 25 per cent more susceptible to have a stroke later in their life as compared to people who took naps of up to 30 minutes. However, people who did not nap at all were not at all likely to have a stroke as compared to the ones who took naps of up to 30 minutes.

Author of the study, ZhXiaominang from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, said, “Studies have shown that long nappers and sleepers have unfavourable changes in their cholesterol levels and increased waist circumferences, both of which are risk factors for stroke.” “Long napping and sleeping may suggest an overall inactive lifestyle, which is also related to increased risk of stroke,” she added.

The study involved 31,750 people from China, having an average age of 62. The people who were involved in the study did not have any history of stroke when the study was started. The researchers followed the people for six years, during which a total of 1,557 cases of strokes were reported.

The conclusion drawn out of the study was that people who slept for nine hours or more during the night were 23 per cent more susceptible of getting a stroke as compared to people who slept for seven or fewer hours in the night. The study found out that people who were both long sleepers and long nappers had 85 per cent likelihood of having a stroke than people who slept in moderation.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

18.12.2019

Never let your fear decide your future

9 December, 2019

Research finds dramatic health benefits following air pollution reduction

A new study — ‘Health Benefits of Air Pollution Reduction’, published in the American Thoracic Society’s journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society, by the Environmental Committee of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), has reviewed interventions that have reduced air pollution at its source.

The lead author of the study Dr Dean Schraufnagel, MD, ATSF, said: “We knew there were benefits from pollution control, but the magnitude and relatively short time duration to accomplish them was impressive. Our findings indicate almost immediate and substantial effects on health outcomes followed by reduced exposure to air pollution. It’s critical that governments adopt and enforce WHO guidelines for air pollution immediately.”

In addition to the city-wide policies, reducing air pollution within the home also led to health benefits. In Nigeria, families who had clean cookstoves that reduced indoor air pollution during a nine-month pregnancy term saw higher birthweights, greater gestational age at delivery, and less perinatal mortality.

Emissions of the major pollutants — particulate matter (PM), sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and lead — were reduced by 73 per cent between 1990 and 2015 while the US gross domestic product grew by more than 250 per cent.

Given these findings, Dr Schraufnagel has hope. “Air pollution is largely an avoidable health risk that affects everyone. Urban growth, expanding industrialization, global warming, and new knowledge of the harm of air pollution raises the degree of urgency for pollution control and stress the consequences of inaction.”

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

09.12.2019

A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor

2 December, 2019

Researchers discover new method to reduce chemotherapy doses for patients

Chemotherapy, which is a saviour for many cancer patients is a painful treatment to undergo following which many patients quit it midways. But researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a method that delivers chemotherapy drugs directly to malignant cells and bypasses healthy ones. With this discovery, doctors aim to reduce chemo doses for patients, thereby reducing the unpleasant side-effects associated with the treatment.

“Most anti-cancer treatments are not sufficiently specific, meaning they attack healthy cells together with the malignant ones they’re trying to get rid of,” explained Professor Alexander Binshtok, head of Plain Plasticity Research Group at the University.

“This leads to the many serious side-effects associated with chemotherapy. Eliminating cancerous cells while leaving healthy ones alone is an important step towards reducing patients’ suffering,” the professor added. The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.

The study focused on the selective expression of the TRPV2 protein by cancer cells. When activated, TRPV2 protein opens a canal inside cell membranes. Researchers studied liver cancer cells and were able to successfully insert a low dose of doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic agent, through the canal and directly into cancer cells. Not only did the new method target cancer cells without harming healthy ones. In the future, the precision of this delivery method may allow doctors to prescribe lower chemo doses and to relieve patients from some of the harsher effects of chemo.

“It’s too early to make concrete predictions but we are hopeful this discovery will lead the way towards a new, more targeted delivery method for chemotherapy treatment, one that will drastically reduce patients’ pain,” Binshtok concluded.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

02.12.2019

Winners are not people never fail, but people never quit

25 November, 2019

80 percent of adolescents worldwide are not physically active: WHO

More than 80 percent of adolescents worldwide are not physically active, including 85 percent girls and 78 percent boys, putting their health at risk by not doing regular exercise and spending too much time on screen, according to a new study from World Health Organization (WHO).

The study, published in the journal The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, based on data reported by 1.6 million 11 to 17-year-old students – found that across all 146 countries studied between 2001-2016, girls were less active than boys in all. According to the WHO, levels of insufficient physical activity in adolescents continue to be extremely high, compromising their current and future health.

“Urgent policy action to increase physical activity is needed now, particularly to promote and retain girls’ participation in physical activity,” said study author Dr Regina Guthold, WHO. Most countries in the study (73 percent, 107 of 146) saw this gender gap widen between 2001-2016. The study also found that Bangladesh and India had the lowest rates of physical inactivity for boys and girls.

For the findings, the researchers estimated how many 11 to 17-year-olds do not meet this recommendation by analysing data collected through school-based surveys on physical activity levels. The assessment included all types of physical activity, such as time spent in active play, recreation and sports, active domestic chores, walking and cycling or other types of active transportation, physical education and planned exercise.

Physical activity trends show slight improvement for boys, none for girls

The study found that the greatest decreases in boys being insufficiently active were Bangladesh — from 73 percent to 63 percent, Singapore (78 percent to 70 percent), Thailand (78 percent to 70 percent), Benin (79 percent to 71 percent), Ireland (71 percent to 64 percent), and the US (71 percent to 64 percent).

However, among girls, changes were small, ranging from a two percentage-point decrease in Singapore (85 per cent to 83 percent) to a one percentage-point increase in Afghanistan (87 per cent to 88 percent).

Source: www.thehealthsite.com                 25.11.2019

If you want to be strong learn how to fight alone

18 November, 2019

Keto diet may help you fight the flu : Study

This diet regimen activates a subset of T cells in the lungs not previously associated with the immune system’s response to influenza, enhancing mucus production from airway cells that can effectively trap the virus, said the study published in the journal Science Immunology.

“This was a totally unexpected finding,” said co-senior author Akiko Iwasaki, Professor at Yale University in the US.

The researchers found that mice fed a ketogenic diet were better able to combat the flu virus than mice fed food high in carbohydrates.

Specifically, the researchers found that the ketogenic diet triggered the release of gamma delta T cells, immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung — while the high-carbohydrate diet did not.

When mice were bred without the gene that codes for gamma delta T cells, the ketogenic diet provided no protection against the influenza virus.

“This study shows that the way the body burns fat to produce ketone bodies from the food we eat can fuel the immune system to fight flu infection,” said co-senior author Visha Deep Dixit, Professor at Yale University.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

18.11.2019

Success is where preparation and opportunity meet

11 November, 2019

Vitamin D may not help you fight inflammation

Researchers have found that Vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acids — also known as fish oil — are not effective at reducing systemic inflammation. The study, published in the journal Clinical Chemistry, is an analysis of the Vitamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) by investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the UK.

“People commonly think that these supplements can prevent inflammatory diseases, but when a patient asks their doctor, ‘Should I take this supplement?’

“Doctors often don’t know what to advise because there haven’t been large scale clinical trials. VITAL provides a large dataset to address these questions,” said author Karen Costenbader. The VITAL study is a random, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which researchers tested the effects of supplements of vitamin D (2000 IU/day), omega 3s (1 gm/day) or both.

For this analysis, they tested levels of three known biomarkers of inflammation at the start of the trial and after one year of taking supplements or a placebo. The authors analysed biomarkers for only a subgroup of the original trial’s population — approximately 1,500 of the over 25,000 participants. They were interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor-receptor 2, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).

The team found that neither supplement reduced the biomarkers at one year. Surprisingly, among those taking the vitamin D supplement, instead of decreasing, IL-6 levels rose by 8.2 per cent. The researchers reported that among participants who had lower fish intake at the start of the trial, hsCRP levels did decline for those taking the omega-3 supplement.

“We see that people whose fish intake was low at baseline had a reduction in one of the biomarkers of inflammation,” said Costenbader.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

11.11.2019

If opportunity does not knock, build a door

Nov 4, 2019

Low blood oxygen increases the chances of premature deaths in children

The study, published in Lancet’s EclinicalMedicine journal, shows that low blood oxygen is common not only in pneumonia, but also in many other conditions.

“Low blood oxygen is particularly common in newborn infants, especially those who are premature or have very difficult births,” said Hamish Graham from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia.

For the study, Graham worked with colleagues in Nigeria to record the blood oxygen levels of more than 23,000 children admitted to 12 medium-sized hospitals.

“Your blood oxygen level is the amount of oxygen carried by red blood cells from the lungs to the rest of the body — low blood oxygen damages cells and can lead to death,” Graham said.

“Our study found that one in four newborns and one in 10 children in hospitals had low blood oxygen, and these children were eight times more likely to die than those with normal blood oxygen,” Graham added.

The researchers hope the findings would encourage policy makers and healthcare workers in low and middle income countries to increase the use of oxygen measuring tools and oxygen therapy.

“Our modellings suggest that better use of oxygen monitoring and therapy in the 12 highest mortality countries in the world could prevent up to 148,000 child pneumonia deaths annually,” Graham said.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

04.11.2019

Be a good person but don’t waste time to prove it

30 October, 2019

Mothers and newborns in India are healthier now: Study

Community-based health programmes in parts of India, Ethiopia and Nigeria have been successful in improving health care for mothers and newborns, but inequities still exist, says a new study. The study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). According to the researchers, underlying inequities in these rural settings mean that more work is needed to reach the poorest families, who bear the greatest burden of maternal and newborn mortality.

“Our findings have both an optimistic and a pessimistic interpretation, in that families from all socio-economic status groups benefited, but inequities have also persisted,” said Indian-origin researcher Tanya Marchant from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK.

To assess the impact of community-based health interventions linked to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, an international team of researchers looked at eight essential maternal and newborn health indicators in rural India, Ethiopia and Nigeria, representing more than 22 million people.

Indicators included antenatal and postnatal care, births in health care facilities, hygienic umbilical cord care, breastfeeding initiation and more. The researchers found some improvements. For example, more women in Ethiopia and Uttar Pradesh, India, had access to maternity care in 2015 than in 2012.

In Gombe, Nigeria, socioeconomic issues as well as the Boko Haram terror threat prevented most women from receiving adequate care, although some positive family behaviour, such as hygienic cord care, showed marked improvement.

Despite this progress, it was striking that in all three settings the number of newborns receiving early postnatal care did not improve.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

30.10.2019

A little progress each day adds up to big results

26 October, 2019

Obesity causes diabetes in women : Study

Obesity poses a higher risk of type 2 diabetes in women, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and chronic kidney disease in men, said a new study from the University of Oxford. “The study shows just how harmful carrying excess weight can be to human health, and that women and men may experience different diseases as a result,” said the study’s first author Jenny Censin.

To identify additional causes of death made worse by obesity, researchers performed an analysis that explores cause-and-effect relationships using genetic data and three measures of obesity from 228,466 women and 195,041 men in the UK Biobank.

Their analysis showed that obesity contributes to a laundry list of health problems including coronary artery disease, type 1 and 2 diabetes, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic liver disease and kidney failure.

While obesity causes type 2 diabetes in both women and men, women experienced a higher risk of type 2 diabetes as compared to men, while men faced a greater risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease.

“Given the compelling evidence of harm that arises as a consequence of obesity across a broad range of diseases that result in death, our findings highlight the critical need for public health measures to stem the tide of obesity,” said researcher Michael Holmes, who supervised the work together with researcher Cecilia Lindgren.

Overall, the study found that obesity causes or contributes to the majority of the leading causes of death worldwide that are not linked to the infectious diseases.

The impact of obesity, however, manifests differently in men and women.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

26.10.2019

Your best teacher is your last mistake

14 October, 2019

Indians prefer physical well being over mental: Survey

A majority of Indians, at 75 percent, are preoccupied about their physical wellbeing, over mental wellbeing at 62 percent, a survey by global market research agency Ipsos has found.

The survey, conducted to coincide with the World Mental Health Day, found 64 percent Indians believe that is equally important to have both, physical and mental health.

Indians want a clear shift in the handling and perception of mental illness. As many as 64 percent Indians want the stigma attached with mental health issues to go and they would prefer if it was treated like any other illness. Further, 74 per cent Indians exhort adoption of a more tolerant attitude towards those with mental illness in the society.

The survey also shows a more positive and empathetic change coming about towards those with signs of mental health conditions with 64 percent urban Indians believe seeing a mental health specialist or therapist, as a sign of strength.

“Indians are recognising that being healthy and well is a combination of both, physical and mental wellbeing and both work in tandem. Also mental health issues are like any other illness and it is alright to see a doctor for alleviating symptoms,” says Monica Gangwani, Executive Director & Country Service Line Leader, Healthcare, Ipsos India.

The Ipsos survey found that views around mental health somewhat disjointed and devoid of clear consensus. About half of Indians polled (52 percent), disagree that increased spending on mental health services is a waste of money. However, 27 percent think it is a wasteful expenditure, while 17 percent were neutral, 3 percent were undecided and 1 percent refused to tender opinion.

As many as 39 percent Indians reject exclusion of someone from public office, on the grounds of mental health history, while 32 percent agree on exclusion, 25 percent were neutral, 3 percent undecided and 1 percent refused an opinion.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

14.10.2019

A negative mind will never give you a positive life

30 September, 2019

New blood test to detect 20 types of cancers developed

A new blood test has shown ability to screen numerous types of cancer with a high degree of accuracy. A trial of the test showed it detected and localised more than 20 types of cancers.

The test, developed by biotechnology company Grail Inc uses next-generation sequencing technology to probe DNA for tiny chemical tags (methylation) that influence whether genes are active or inactive.

When applied to nearly 3,600 blood samples — some from patients with cancer and some from people who had not been diagnosed with cancer at the time of the blood draw — the test successfully picked up a cancer signal from the cancer patient samples, and correctly identified the tissue from where the cancer began (the tissue of origin),” said investigators from Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The test’s specificity – its ability to return a positive result only when cancer is actually present – was high, as was its ability to pinpoint the organ or tissue of origin, they found.

The new test looks for DNA, which cancer cells shed into the bloodstream when they die.
In contrast to “liquid biopsies,” which detect genetic mutations or other cancer-related alterations in DNA, the technology focuses on modifications to DNA known as methyl groups.

Methyl groups are chemical units that can be attached to DNA, in a process called methylation, to control which genes are “on” and which are “off.” Abnormal patterns of methylation turn out to be, in many cases, more indicative of cancer – and cancer type — than mutations are.

“Our previous work indicated that methylation-based assays outperform traditional DNA-sequencing approaches to detecting multiple forms of cancer in blood samples,” said the study’s lead author Geoffrey Oxnard from Dana-Farber.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

30.09.2019

Replace every negative thought with a positive one