Month: December 2013

Kenyan Scientists to Make Saliva Test Kits for Malaria

Cabinet Secretary of Health Mr. James Macharia (middle) cutting a cake to celebrate the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) certification for the ISO 9001:2008 (QMS) at KEMRI Headquarters in Ngumo on December 18, 2013. KEMRI scientists will conduct a research on testing of malaria using saliva. PHOTO | FILE

Scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) are developing a kit to test malaria from saliva and are hoping it may be available in a few years, allAfrica.com reported Friday.

“Use of saliva would be popular because the procedure is not invasive. Furthermore the diagnostic tool under development would be capable of quantifying parasite density,” commented lead researcher Eva Aluvaala.

Aluvaala noted that current blood tests “cannot quantify parasite density, which is important when trying to assess the severity of disease and whether or not a patient is responding to therapy.”

A study of the test began in February this year and is being sponsored by the Canadian government and ends August next year.

Source: First world med tech

 

Service dog stays with 7-year-old girl through surgery

 

When 7-year-old Kaelyn Krawczyk went in for surgery at Duke Medical Center on Wednesday, she had a special friend accompany her into the operation room – her service dog, JJ.

According to reports from Cary News, Kaelyn suffers from a rare condition called mastocytosis, which causes her body to have allergic reactions to heat, cold and other unknown triggers. During Wednesday’s surgery, doctors were trying to discover what was causing the recurring kidney infections Kaelyn had been experiencing.

However, the routine procedure presented special risks for Kaelyn because of her extreme susceptibility to allergic reactions.

JJ, a terrier mix, has been trained to detect Kaelyn’s allergic reactions before they become too severe – alerting her parents to treat Kaelyn with an EpiPen. In the 18 months that JJ has been with Kaelyn, she’s experienced only one severe reaction – compared to the three to four reactions a year she had experienced in the past.

Though JJ wouldn’t have been able to accompany Kaelyn into a sterile operating room, he’s allowed to be present in more relaxed medical settings – after receiving a bath, Cary News reported.

During the procedure, JJ stood up and turned in circles as Kaelyn was put under and brought out of sedation – signs of a mild, but not severe reaction. With the help of the dog’s trainer, Deb Cunningham of Eyes, Ears, Nose and Paws in Carrboro, NC, anesthesiologists were able to monitor Kaelyn’s reactions throughout the successful procedure.

“It sounds silly, in this age of technology, when we have millions of dollars-worth of equipment beeping around me, that we had a little dog who was more sensitive than all the machines,” Dr. Brad Taicher, Kaelyn’s anesthesiologist, told Cary News.

Source; Fox news

Packaging insulin into a pill-friendly form for diabetes treatment

Since insulin’s crucial discovery nearly a century ago, countless diabetes patients have had to inject themselves with the life-saving medicine. Now scientists from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, Punjab, India are reporting a new development toward a long-sought insulin pill that could save millions the pain of daily shots.

Published in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal Biomacromolecules, the advance could someday not only eliminate the “ouch” factor, but also get needle-wary — and weary — patients to take their medicine when they should.

Sanyog Jain, assistant professor, centre for pharmaceutical nanotechnology, department of pharmaceutics, NIPER and colleagues explain that patients with diabetes sometimes skip doses or stop taking their insulin because the injections can be painful. But doing so puts their health in danger.

An estimated 347 million people globally (about 26 million in the US) are living with diabetes. In the US, more than a quarter of these patients are taking some kind of insulin therapy.

For years, researchers have sought a way to transform delivery of this therapy from a shot to a pill, but it has been a challenge. The body’s digestive enzymes that are so good at breaking down food also break down insulin before it can get to work. In addition, insulin doesn’t get easily absorbed through the gut into the bloodstream. To overcome these hurdles, Jain’s team combined two approaches to shield insulin from the digestive enzymes and then get it into the blood.

The researchers packaged insulin in tiny sacs made of lipids, or fats, called liposomes, which are already used in some treatments. Then, they wrapped the liposomes in layers of protective molecules called polyelectrolytes. To help these “layersomes” get absorbed into the bloodstream, they attached folic acid, a kind of vitamin B that has been shown to help transport liposomes across the intestinal wall into the blood. In rats, the delivery system lowered blood glucose levels almost as much as injected insulin, though the effects of the layersomes lasted longer than that of injected insulin.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Department of Science and Technology (India) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi.
Source: India medical Times

Cuban doctors tend to Brazil’s poor, giving Rousseff a boost

They were heckled and called slaves of a communist state when they first landed, but in the poorest corners of Brazil the arrival of 5,400 Cuban doctors is being welcomed as a godsend.

The programme to fill gaps in the national health system with foreign doctors, mainly from Cuba, could become a big vote-winner for President Dilma Rousseff as she eyes a second term in next year’s election despite fierce opposition from Brazil’s medical class.

The move to tap Cuba’s doctors-for-export programme begun by former leader Fidel Castro became a priority for Rousseff after massive protests against corruption and shoddy public transport, education and healthcare services rocked Brazil in June.

Within weeks, she launched “Mais Médicos”, or “More Doctors”, a programme to hire foreign physicians. Brasilia signed a three-year contract to bring thousands of Cuban doctors to work in poor and remote areas where Brazilian physicians prefer not to practice.

Under an agreement that will earn cash-strapped Cuba some US$225 million (RM725 million) a year, Cuban doctors have been deployed to health centres in the slums of Brazilian cities and villages across the drought-stricken Northeast that had no resident doctors. Bahia state is reopening rural health centres that were unstaffed.

Inhabitants of Jiquitaia, a hamlet surrounded by cacti, goats and famished cattle in Bahia’s interior, no longer have to travel 46km on a dirt road to see a physician.

“This is a gift of God,” said farm worker Deusdete Bispo Pereira after he was seen for chest pains by Dania Alvero, a doctor from Santa Clara, Cuba. “Everyone is happy she is here. We’re afraid she will be sent away,” he said.

Elderly residents and pregnant women crowded into the family health centre waiting for a check-up with Alvero, who like many Cuban doctors is an expert in preventive medicine.

“There are illnesses here that I had only read about in books, like leprosy, which no longer exists in Cuba,” she said mixing Spanish and Portuguese words.

Doctors for rent

Cuba has sent doctors abroad for decades to help developing countries for ideological reasons, revolutionary foot soldiers first sent out by Fidel Castro onto a Cold War chessboard, from Algeria and Ethiopia to Angola and Nicaragua.

Plunged into economic crisis after the Soviet Union collapsed, Castro devised a doctors-for-oil scheme with the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in 2000.

The so-called Barrio Adentro plan, in which more than 30,000 Cubans work in healthcare in dirt-poor shantytowns ringing Caracas and other cities, earned Chavez loads of political goodwill among the Venezuelan populace and was paid for with preferential oil shipments to Cuba.

Even though most of the income goes to the Cuban government, Cuban doctors are delighted to go abroad because they can earn much more than they are paid at home, where doctors’ salaries max out at the equivalent of US$50 a month.

“We don’t get paid much, but we are not here for the money. We are here to help our country, which is poor,” said Lisset Brown, who works at a neighbourhood health centre in Ceilandia, the largest slum ringing the Brazilian capital of Brasilia.

The arrival of 12 Cuban physicians has relieved the overburdened Ceilandia hospital and improved the credibility of the public health system, said Brazilian nurse Tania Ribeiro Mendonça. “People see the government is doing something.”

Cuba has doctors to spare today. According, to the World Bank, it has the world’s highest number of doctors in proportion to population: 6.7 per 1,000 people, compared to 1.8 in Brazil, though that ratio rises to 4 per 1,000 in cities where Brazilian doctors prefer to work, such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Medical uproar

Brazilian doctors initially tried to stop the arrival of foreign colleagues, which they saw as an attempt to undermine their professional interests and medical standards.

When an early contingent of Cubans arrived at Fortaleza airport in northern Brazil in August, angry Brazilian doctors shouted “Slaves!” at them.

But they have had to tone down their criticism because opinion polls show that a vast majority of Brazilians favours hiring foreigners when local doctors are unavailable, even though doubts remain about the qualifications of the Cubans.

One poll in November showed that 84.3 per cent of those surveyed back the Mais Médicos programme, though only 66 per cent thought the foreign doctors were qualified to do the job.

“We are not opposed to foreign doctors working here. They can come from Russia, England, Cuba or Bolivia but their degrees must be evaluated and the government is not doing that,” said Florentino Cardoso, head of the Brazilian Medical Association.

Cardoso, a cancer surgeon, complained that Rousseff has “demonised” Brazilian doctors by associating them with the many shortcomings of Brazil’s healthcare system. Putting more doctors in outlying areas, he said, will not end lines for underfunded medical services in the cities.

To allow foreign doctors to work in Brazil, Rousseff rushed through legislation allowing them to practice for three years without getting their degrees validated by local authorities, a cumbersome process that can take years. The law, however, says they can only work in basic healthcare services.

Source: malay mail online

Health Benefits of Banana

Enjoyed in various forms, bananas are eaten raw, accompanied with desserts, added to smoothies and much more. They offer some great health benefits, so add a banana to your daily diet today! Bananas are one of the most famous common fruits amongst people of every age. Enjoyed in its various forms, bananas are eaten raw, accompanied with desserts, added in smoothies and consumed in many more ways too. Let us look at the benefits of eating this fruit.

1. Blood Pressure Regulation

Banana is a fruit that contains high amount of potassium and low levels of salt. This combination helps to regulate the blood pressure. It reduces the risk of heart related diseases.

2. Bone Strength

The potassium content in bananas is good for the health of your bones. Eating bananas on a regular basis can prevent your bones from deteriorating. Consuming bananas can also neutralize the amount of sodium in your body, which ultimately saves calcium to get washed out from your body.

3. Source of energy

Bananas are loaded with a lot of vitamins and minerals like Vitamin C and Vitamin B-6. Considering this fact, it is evident that eating the fruit can provide you with great energy. Pack yourself a couple of bananas to eat in the afternoon after your lunch has been digested and your stomach asks for some food.

4. Bowel Health
If you are suffering from constipation, banana is the fruit you need to pick. The fruit contains dietary fiber that aids the maintenance of the bowel system of your body.

5. Stress Reduction

When you are in stress, the metabolic rate of your body shoots up and potassium levels consequently decrease. Eating a banana can thereby flush your body with potassium, which will automatically ease you and regularize your heartbeat.

6. Brain Food

The potassium in bananas also does wonders by making you more mentally alert. Research shows that this yellow fruit aids concentration and hence is a marvelous fuel for the brain.

7. Iron rich fruit

People suffering from iron deficiency can resort to eating bananas. This fruit, which is rich in iron, can supply your body with the amount of iron it needs. This can also benefit you when you are suffering from an injury and require the blood to clot faster with the help of haemoglobin.

It is unimaginable how one tiny yellow colored fruit can give your body numerous health benefits. Include bananas in your breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner and enjoy the phenomenal benefits it imparts your body with.

Source: Yahoo news

How to use meditation for pain relief?

With its origins in ancient religious and spiritual traditions, meditation is a widely used mind-body practice used even today, to complement medical procedures and treatments.

Although, used mostly for relaxation and stress reduction, meditation-based therapy is increasingly offered in medical centers and clinics today to manage pain and reduce anxiety prior to surgeries. Surprised? Recent studies have shown that frequent practice of meditation can lead to significant control of pain. Read on to know how meditation alters your pain perception and quells pain even better than some of the most powerful drugs.

Meditation and common forms
The term meditation refers to a set of techniques wherein a person minimizes the activity of the mind without altering the level of alertness. Broadly, the technique has been categorized under five basic categories:

Mantra meditation
This comprises the Transcendental Meditation techniques, Clinically Standardized Meditation and Relaxation Response. In this process, by repeatedly using a sound or phrase, a person focuses to achieve a state of perfect consciousness.

Mindfulness meditation
This form of meditation involves focusing on what you experience while performing the technique like the very flow of your breath.

Yoga
Here, a person attempts to achieve a state of calmness by combining bodily postures with controlled breathing.

Tai-Chi – A form of Chinese martial arts, the technique is performed using self-paced series of movements in a slow-graceful manner along with deep breathing.

Qi gong – This involves a combination of meditation, breathing exercise, relaxation and physical movements.

Meditation and pain management: In the past, meditation has been explored extensively for its effects on stress reduction and other similar clinical functions. However, researchers have now identified another significant health benefit of the technique that suggests that it is actually possible to overcome debilitating pain with the help of meditation. What’s more, some of these studies have also suggested that the pain-relieving effects of meditation might be even more effective than morphine.

Back in April, 2011, a study by the researchers at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center indicated that a person can attain at least 40 per ent decrease in pain intensity and 57 per cent in pain unpleasantness merely by practicing these techniques regularly. This decrease in pain was found to be much higher than with morphine or other pain-relieving drugs. With the help of magnetic resonance imaging, the brain activity of study participants after meditation demonstrated how the technique increased the activity of certain areas which are responsible for pain perception.

Despite such findings, scientists were unable to ascertain the actual mechanism of this phenomenon until now. According to a recent research published at the Brain Research Bulletin, investigators from Harvard, MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have identified a possible answer. They suggested that the explanation probably lies in alpha waves manipulation in the brain.

Furthermore, they explained that by practicing the techniques of mindfulness meditation for a period of eight-weeks or above, you will be able to control the activity of these brain waves.

Source; Times of India

10 ways to boost your happiness

Life isn’t always perfect and we all get down sometimes. However, there are many things you can do to improve your cheerfulness no matter what comes your way. From instance happiness boosts to techniques for long-term contentment, here are 10 top ways to boost your happiness.

Happiness tip 1: Watch a comedy movie

We’ve all heard that laughter is the best medicine, and if you’re feeling down in the dumps then this is definitely true. Laughter can not only release pent-up emotions, but it also produces endorphins to boost your mood. Furthermore, research has found that laughing burns calories and boosts heart health too. To get your happiness levels up and boost your wellbeing too, pop in a comedy DVD next time you’re feeling down.

Happiness tip 2: Eat yourself happy

While our outlook often changes based on external factors, if your mood is often low it may be that you are suffering from a nutrient deficiency. Research has found that having low levels of omega-3 fatty acids (which are essential for good brain health) increases risk of depression and negativity, while research by Kuopio University in Finland found that taking B vitamin supplements could help treat depression. Try choosing foods rich in these nutrients to eat away the blues.

Happiness tip 3: Get outdoors

Research has shown that low levels of vitamin D can contribute to mood disorders and depression. While vitamin D can be found in some foods or taken as supplement, one of the best sources of the mood-boosting vitamin is sunshine, which helps the body to create vitamin D. To boost your supplies of vitamin D, try to spend 10 to 15 minutes outdoors two to three times a week during the summer months.

Happiness tip 4: Have a workout

For an instant happiness boost when you’re feeling blue, try hitting the gym or heading out for a brisk walk or run. Exercise releases chemicals in the brain such as endorphins and anandamide which can boost your mood and leave you feeling great. Not only that, exercise is also good for boosting confidence levels and increasing self-esteem.

Happiness tip 5: Try aromatherapy

While many of us think of aromatherapy as an aid to relaxation, there are also many oils you can use to boost your happiness and help alleviate depression. Good aromatherapy oils to leave you uplifted include bergamot, geranium, neroli and jasmine. To lift your mood, try adding a few drops of these oils to water and burning on an oil burner, or create or purchase a room spray containing these essential oils.

Happiness tip 6: Take a risk

To get the endorphins going and give your confidence a boost, try challenging yourself on a regular basis. While we don’t advise you to put yourself in any danger, if there is something you have been putting off for a while out of fear, now is the time to bite the bullet and see it through. Whatever your fear – be it asking out that special someone, joining a gym or applying for a job abroad – conquering your fears will leave you feeling great as well as helping you achieve your dreams.

Happiness tip 7: Talk it out

If you are feeling seriously down and have been feeling low for a while, it is important to seek some help to get through this difficult phase. Seek out a friend or counsellor to listen to your problems, or visit your GP if you think you may be suffering from depression. No matter how bad you feel it is important to remember that you are not alone and there is no shame in seeking help. As they say, a problem shared is a problem halved, and even talking through your issues can help them seem less overwhelming.

Happiness tip 8: Schedule in regular treats

To boost your happiness and satisfaction of life, it is important to make the most of those little things that boost your mood. Make a list of the day-to-day things that make you happy – such as having a catch-up with a friend, drinking hot chocolate in bed, or listening to your favourite song –and make sure you schedule one of these treats into every day. Planning regular treats not only gives you something to look forward to, but it can also subtly improve each day.

Happiness tip 9: Do something selfless

It is easy to get bogged down in our own problems, so every once in a while it is good to put our issues to one side and help someone else feel happy instead. Whether you want to take on a long-term volunteering role, make a donation to charity, or improve the happiness of someone you know with a thoughtful note or gift, making an effort to make someone else smile is a great way to get some perspective, take your mind off your problems and increase your sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Happiness tip 10: Set yourself a goal

Whether you aspire to get fit, obtain that dream job or learn how to cook something other than toast, most of us have something we long to achieve during our lifetime. Rather than putting off your dreams until a perfect moment which may never come, take some positive action and make a plan of how you will achieve your goal starting today. Having something to work towards will not only distract you from your problems, it will also reignite your passion for life and increase your excitement for the future.

Source: real buzz

Older men who ignore knee pain risk worse problems

Shrugging off chronic knee pain as an inevitable part of aging puts men in their 70s at risk for accelerated muscle loss, falls and generally reduced quality of life, a new study suggests.

“This study confirms the findings of many studies indicating that chronic knee pain will seriously impact quality of life in older people,” lead author Marlene Franzen said.

Franzen is an associate professor of physiotherapy at the University of Sydney in Australia.

Nearly half of men over 70 have chronic knee pain, according to her team’s report in the journal in Age and Ageing.

“Chronic knee pain is not a ‘benign’ disease,” she told Reuters Health. “It does lead to a greatly increased risk of falls and developing mobility disability, and therefore increased risk of early mortality.”

Mobility disability means being unable to walk up or down stairs to the first floor without help and being unable to walk about half a mile without help, according to Franzen.

She and her coauthors tracked 1,587 men over age 70 for two years. About 640 of the men said they suffered from chronic knee pain at the start of the study. Two years later, another 150 reported experiencing bouts of chronic knee pain as well.

The researchers found that men with knee pain were nearly two and a half times more likely to have mobility disability than those without pain.

“Mobility disability among older people with chronic knee pain is serious as it has been associated with early mortality,” Franzen said.

The men with knee pain were also more likely to experience falls, which can be serious for people over 70, and to have reduced strength and mass in the muscles, tendons and ligaments that extend the knee, according to diagnostic scans.

The link between decreased leg muscle strength and chronic knee pain had only previously been established for women, Franzen said.

While some loss of muscle mass – about 1 percent a year – is typical with aging, Franzen’s team also measured changes in the strength of leg muscles that control the knee.

Past research has found the strength of those muscles drops by about 3.4 percent a year, and that was the rate Franzen’s group saw among men without knee pain. But for men who developed knee pain during the two-year study, muscle strength dropped by 4.5 percent a year.

“I think the evidence from this study and previous research would suggest that knee pain in older adults is associated with increased mobility problems, and this may be at least partly related to muscle strength declines,” David Scott said.

Scott studies the gradual loss of muscle mass that usually begins after age 30 at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, but was not involved in the new study.

“This might indicate that methods to improve lower-limb muscle strength in older adults, such as supervised exercise training, may have potential benefits both in decreasing the disability associated with knee pain, and also in preventing development of pain itself,” he said.

In the new study, obesity, back pain and higher levels of physical activity were more common in the group of men with knee pain. Men in their 80s, however, were less likely to have knee pain, which the authors attributed to their probably being more sedentary.

Knee pain usually becomes troublesome many years earlier than age 70, when people often have more physically demanding lifestyles or occupations, often in their 50s, Franzen said. Knee pain with age is even more common among women, she said.

For the obese, losing weight can help alleviate some knee pain, she said.

Otherwise, patients should see their doctors for an effective and safe pain management strategy, and a physiotherapist for a recommended physical activity program, Franzen said.

Source: News dump

Tips for Healthy Eyes

Fortify your vision – Be sure you are getting enough antioxidants like vitamin A, C, and E. Lutein and omega-3 fatty acids are now in studies to determine the effects they have in slowing age-related macular degeneration. And studies show, the average diet includes only a fraction of the nutrients recommended for healthy vision.

Get exercise – It improves blood circulation, which improves oxygen levels to the eyes and the removal of toxins.

Eat healthy – High-fat diets can cause deposits that constrict blood flow in the arteries. The eyes are especially sensitive to this, given the small size of the blood vessels that feed them.

Stop smoking – Smoking limits the blood flow to the eyes and increases oxidative stress.
Protect your eyes – Always wear eye protection that filters out as much UV light as possible. Also, wearing a hat with a brim will greatly reduce the amount of UV radiation slipping around the side of your sunglasses.

See your eye care professional regularly — Changes in your vision can occur without you noticing, and the earlier these changes are detected the better your treatment options.

Source: Bausch

Teasing tied to less physical activity among kids

Children who are teased while playing sports tend to have a worse quality of life than their non-teased peers, a new study suggests. Some of them may also become less active over time.

“Teasing not only influences psychological functioning but may reduce physical activity and lead to poorer physical, social, and emotional functioning for children,” Chad D. Jensen told Reuters Health in an email. He led the study at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

The link between teasing and less physical activity is particularly concerning considering most children are already not exercising as much as they should.

Jensen and his colleagues surveyed 108 kids, aged nine to 12, in 2010 and again in 2011. They asked kids about their participation in 21 different types of physical activity before, during and after school and how often they had been teased while playing sports or exercising since kindergarten.

The researchers also asked the kids how well they functioned physically, emotionally, with friends and at school. Together those measures were used to determine children’s health-related quality of life.

Children who were teased reported a worse quality of life than those who were not.

In particular, overweight and obese kids who reported being teased on the first survey had a poorer quality of life both initially and again one year later, the researchers write in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.

“Negative effects of teasing appear to be persistent, affecting important outcomes one year after teasing is reported,” Jensen said.

Normal-weight kids who reported being teased on the first survey were more likely to become less active over the next year. For overweight and obese children, teasing reported in year two was linked to less physical activity the same year.

“School policy makers are encouraged to think of this form of peer victimization as a direct threat to children’s health outcomes,” write Jensen and his co-authors.

“These findings provide support for comprehensive bullying prevention programs and suggest that efforts to reduce peer victimization in the context of physical activity participation may be helpful in promoting physical activity participation and children’s quality of life,” Jensen said.

David Palmiter, a psychologist at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, said the findings are not surprising.

“Being teased or being bullied in any kind of an ongoing way itself is a symptom…and worsens symptoms,” he said. Kids who are teased “often have vulnerabilities,” such as low self-esteem, before the teasing starts.

“Any kid, no matter how healthy they are, can have isolated instances of bullying,” he told Reuters Health. But a pattern of consistent bullying probably points to inner pain in the child who is bullied, said Palmiter, who wasn’t involved in the new research.

He said one way to address or prevent repeated teasing is to increase the size of children’s friend circles, so they’re not always on the fringes. That way, “They can travel from class to class with a pack,” he said.

Parents can arrange sleepovers and other activities with children’s peers outside of school and boost their children’s confidence by identifying their areas of strength and making sure they are regularly exposed to these areas.

In addition, Palmiter stressed the importance of parents spending one-on-one time with their children, focused entirely on what the child is doing or saying.

He also echoed Jensen’s sentiment about the importance of comprehensive bullying prevention programs.

“Every school should have an anti-bullying program,” Palmiter said

Source: GMA News