Stroke: New drug limits brain damage and promotes repair

The study, led by the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, is published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. The researchers believe the findings offer further support for developing the new drug as a treatment for stroke.

A stroke is an event that blocks or interrupts the blood supply to the brain, depriving cells of essential oxygen. Without oxygen, cells die within minutes. There are few effective treatments for stroke and they apply to a low proportion of patients.

A stroke can lead to lasting brain damage, long-term disability, or even death. Risk factors for stroke include high blood pressure, smoking, heart disease, having a personal or family history of stroke, obesity, and diabetes.

The new study concerns ischemic strokes, responsible for the majority of strokes. These occur when the artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to the brain becomes blocked, most often by a blood clot.

IL-1Ra and stroke

The researchers, led by Stuart Allan, professor of neuroscience at Manchester, investigated the effect of an anti-inflammatory drug, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), on rats after a stroke.

he researchers found that rats treated with IL-1Ra not only had reduced brain damage in the early stages following a stroke, but several days later, they showed increased numbers of new brain cells (neurogenesis). They found the results were just as promising whether the rats were young, old, lean, or obese.

The authors note that while stroke itself can also trigger a robust repair response following injury, many of the new cells generated fail to survive or integrate into the circuits that are already there.

When they analyzed the effect of IL-1Ra on neurogenesis in the rats' brains, they found the drug "not only increases stem cell proliferation, but also significantly enhances neuroblast migration and the number of newly born neurons after cerebral ischemia."

The researchers suggest previous attempts to find a drug to prevent brain damage after stroke have not successfully completed the journey from the lab to the clinic because they fail to deal with the strong inflammatory response that occurs in a stroke.

Source: MedNewstoday

Breathing-based Yoga May Help Treat Major Depression

Antidepressant medication is considered a primary treatment for major depression, but the drugs fail to fully work for more than half of Americans who use them. Now, researchers suggest a way to boost their effectiveness: breathing-based yoga

In a pilot study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, researchers reveal how 8 weeks of Sudarshan Kriya yoga improved symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who were not responding to antidepressants.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, depression is the most common mental illness in the United States. In 2014, around 15.7 million adults experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past 12 months.

Symptoms of depression may include persistent sadness, feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, guilt or worthlessness, fatigue, loss of interest in activities, reduced appetite, weight loss, and insomnia.

An individual is usually diagnosed with MDD if they experience at least five of these symptoms for at least 2 weeks, and such depressive episodes may commonly occur after a traumatic event, such as the death of a loved one or a medical illness.

Antidepressants - such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - are often the first port of call when it comes to treatment for MDD, but patients do not always respond to the drugs. While additional medication may be offered, this can lead to unpleasant side effects that cause patients to stop treatment completely, making relapses more likely.

Now, Dr. Anup Sharma, a neuropsychiatry research fellow at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, and team suggest Sudarshan Kriya yoga may be an effective, low-cost, non-drug approach to help patients who do not respond to antidepressants.

Source: MedNewsToday

India To Become The World Leader in Digital Health

In May this year, India had tabled a resolution at WHO for mHealth, which was supported by over 30 nations. This clearly signals India's intent to be a global leader in Digital Health.

Digital Health has the potential to revolutionize how populations interact with national health services and also strengthen health systems. India is now embarking on a futuristic journey to bridge the healthcare divide between have’s and have-nots using digital health tools. We have a number of projects that will extensively deploy technology.

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has been taking several impactful initiatives in the field of Digital Health. Our Hon’ble Prime Minister has envisioned for Digital Platform & Electronic Health to be optimally leveraged so as to meet the key challenges posed to us in health sector e.g. shortage of health human resource, accessibility of healthcare infrastructure, affordability of healthcare services etc. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of citizens are envisaged to be created for ensuring continuity of care and other associated benefits. Delivery of services to citizens through “online mode” is at core of the overall electronic health ecosystem being talked about.

Major I.T. initiatives by Ministry include various mHealth initiatives for improving efficiency and efficacy of public healthcare across the country under the Digita India Programme. For example, the Vaccine Tracker mobile application support parents in tracking immunization status of their children and helps them in ensuring complete and timely vaccination. The India Fights Dengue mobile application provides interactive information on identification of symptoms of Dengue and links users to nearest hospitals and blood banks The Swasth Bharat (Health India) mobile application provides detailed information on healthy lifestyle, disease conditions and their symptoms, treatment options, first aid and public health alerts. Through our Kilkari mobile app initiative, we are sending audio messages about pregnancy, child birth and child care directly to families and parents. A mobile based audio training course has been developed for expanding the knowledge of our village based voluntary health workforce. Our other mHealth initiatives include National Health Portal, Online Registration System, E-Rakt Kosh, ANM Online (ANMOL), telemedicine projects (in remote & inaccessible areas), Tobacco Cessation Programme and leveraging mobile phones for reaching patients of Tuberculosis. Soon the Ministry will launch the Stress management app.

These initiatives are ensuing remarkable improvement in healthcare delivery and management. For example Online Registration System (ORS) for public hospitals, launched in July 2015, has been able to bring about a significant change in the patient registration and appointment system and as a result patients now don’t need to wait at hospitals for taking appointments. As on date all AIIMS, most of the central government hospitals and many state government hospitals are linked through ORS.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

Spoil Sprouts: How Little Greens Can Make You Sick

Sprouts may sound cute, but the tiny greens have sickened more than 2,500 people and caused 186 hospitalizations and three deaths in the past two decades, a new report finds.

"Sprout contamination continues to pose a serious public health concern," the researchers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wrote in their report. The arm of the FDA that wrote the new report focuses on investigating outbreaks and finding ways to prevent them. The findings on sprouts were presented on Oct. 28 at IDWeek 2016, a meeting in New Orleans of several organizations focused on infectious diseases. The report on sprouts has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

From 1996 to August 2016, 48 outbreaks of illness were associated with sprouts, the researchers found.

Alfalfa sprouts were the most common culprit during the study period, with 30 outbreaks. There were seven outbreaks linked to clover sprouts, six outbreaks linked to mung bean sprouts, two outbreaks linked to unspecified sprouts, two outbreaks linked to multiple sprout types and one outbreak linked to a food ingredient called sprouted chia powder, the FDA found.

Sprouts carried a number of different types of bacteria, the researchers found. Salmonella was implicated in the greatest number of outbreaks, at 35, followed by Escherichia coli (11 outbreaks) and Listeria monocytogenes (two outbreaks), according to the report.

Of the three sprout-related deaths during the study period, two were attributed to Salmonella and one to Listeria.

Sprouts "certainly rank up there" among types of produce that have been linked to outbreaks, said Dr. Kathleen Gensheimer, the director of the FDA's Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network and the lead author of the study.

Sprouts' propensity to harbor dangerous bacteria has to do with how they are grown, Gensheimer told Live Science. To grow sprouts, seeds are placed in water in a warm, humid environment that is ideal for rapid bacterial growth, she said.

Source: cnnnews

Headaches in Children

Headaches are very common among children and are not usually a sign of a serious underlying condition. The headaches are often caused by stress, anxiety, depression, lifestyle, minor head trauma and common illnesses such as colds, flu and ear infections. The headaches can usually be treated with over-the-counter medications and lifestyle changes.

Types of Headache

As with adults, children can develop various different types of headache, with the most common types being migraine and muscle tension headaches. The symptoms children develop tend to be different from those seen in adults. For example, when a child experiences a migraine, the pain may last for less than four hours, where as it can last a lot longer in adults. The different symptoms children experience can make it difficult to diagnose the exact type of headache a child has, but usually, it is possible to categorize the headache. In general, they are classified as the following:

Migraine

These are severe, episodic headaches that are associated with the following symptoms:

1. Pounding or pulsating head pain
2. Nausea and vomiting
3. Abdominal pain
4. Sensitivity to light and noise
5. Pain that becomes worse on exertion

Tension-Type Headaches

Tension headaches occur on a daily or periodic basis and may last anywhere from half-an-hour to several days. Tension headaches do not usually cause the same signs and symptoms seen in migraine. Symptoms may include:

1. Tension in the head or neck muscles
2. Pain that does not intensify with exertion
3. A non-throbbing, mild-to-moderate pain felt on both sides of the head
4. Absence of the nausea and vomiting often seen with migraine

Cluster Headache

Cluster headaches usually occur in a series of at least five episodes, with the child experiencing anything from one headache every other day to eight headaches per day. Symptoms include the following:

1. Sharp pain in one side of the head lasting less than three hours
2. Congestion
3. Runny nose
4. Restlessness
5. Irritability

Source: Medicalnews

Teen’s Wish to be Cryogenically Preserved Granted by High Court

A 14-year-old girl with terminal cancer wanted her body to be frozen after her death in case she could be cured in the future. Since she was not old enough to write a will, she wrote a letter to the High Court in London asking that her mother would be the sole decision maker regarding the disposal of her body when she died.

She wrote "I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they may find a cure for my cancer and wake me up. I want to have this chance. This is my wish".

The ruling by the High Court judge in London that the girl's mother should be allowed to decide what happened to the body of her daughter was made on 6 October.

The judge highlighted that he had not made a ruling on cryopreservation, he merely gave the mother the legal right to follow her daughter's last wish. The girl died peacefully later that month comforted by the knowledge that her remains would be preserved.

A publicity ban was imposed at the time of the hearing so that the girl was not subjected to further distress in her final days of life. Immediately after her death, the girl was flown to the US (cryogenics is not available in the UK) where her body is now being stored indefinitely in liquid nitrogen at temperatures below -130 ̊C. The cost of £37,000 had been raised by the family once the girl had made her wishes known.

Cryonics is based on the theory that the whole body is preserved in the hope that resuscitation and a cure are possible in the distant future. Although frozen embryos have been showed to remain viable and successfully used in fertility treatments, there is no evidence that it would be possible to bring a frozen body back to life.

Although the hospital trust co-operated in the procedure needed for the girl's body to be preserved, they raised concerns and highlighted the need for proper regulation. The process required for a body that is to be cryogenically preserved is similar to that used after the death of a potential organ donor.

Source: cnnnewstoday

World Toilet Day

World Toilet Day is celebrated every year on 19th November. The aim of this day is to draw global attention to the sanitation crisis. This year the theme of this day is ‘Toilets and Jobs’. The objective of this theme is to spread awareness that toilets and sanitation have a crucial role in the development of economy, lack of toilets and poor sanitation at workplaces creates inconvenience and discomfort among the workers. It effects the attendance rates, health, concentration and productivity of the workforce.  It is must to have clean toilets and separate facilities for both men and women for improving the health and to protect people’s safety and dignity.  

Key facts related to Toilet facility:

• 4 billion people have no access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines
• On this planet, still 1 out of every 3 people do not have access to a clean and safe toilet
• Every day around 1,000 children die due to poor sanitation

Thus, it is the time to encourage people to use toilets rather than defecating in open.

Benefits of using toilets

• Protects the privacy
• Improve the sanitation and hygiene
• To prevent  from diseases  such as  pneumonia , worm infestation and diarrhoea
• To increase attendance rates of girls in school because due to the lack of a clean and safe toilet many girls leave school
• To decrease the number of  people defecating in open, because still 1 billion people in the  world practice open defecation
• Hygiene and sanitation will reduce health care cost
• To keep river water safe

Source: nhp.gov