Childhood vaccines are safe. Seriously

Flu Shots

Children should get vaccinated against preventable and potentially deadly diseases.

That’s what a project that screened more than 20,000 scientific titles and 67 papers on vaccine safety concludes this week. The review appears in the latest edition of the medical journal Pediatrics.

The evidence strongly suggests that side effects from vaccines are incredibly rare, the study authors said. They found no ties between vaccines and the rising number of children with autism, as a small but vocal group of anti-vaccine activists, including actors Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carey, have said.

The review also found no link between vaccines and childhood leukemia, something that was suggested in earlier studies. The researchers found that some vaccines did cause a few adverse effects but it was only for a tiny fraction of the population.

There was evidence that the meningococcal vaccine can lead to anaphylaxis — a severe, whole-body allergic reaction — in children allergic to ingredients in the vaccine. Other studies found the MMR vaccine was linked to seizures.
“Vaccines, like any other medication, aren’t 100% risk free,” said Dr. Ari Brown an Austin, Texas-based pediatrician and author of the popular book “Baby 411,” who was not involved with the study.

“You have a sore arm, redness at the injection site. Those are the things we see commonly. Fortunately the serious adverse effects is extremely rare.” Brown said parents ask her how safe vaccines are all the time. Some patients also ask if they should delay or stagger the vaccinations. She counsels against that practice. She said the younger the child, the more danger these diseases present.

“By delaying the vaccines you’re putting your child at risk,” Brown said. The positive effects of vaccines dramatically outweigh the bad, experts said.

An editorial accompanying the study calls vaccines “one of the most successful public health achievements of the 20th century.” Because of vaccines, many diseases that plagued children for centuries have all but been eliminated.

“There were good reasons that these diseases were targeted for vaccine development since they are so life-threatening,” said Dr. Carrie Byington, vice-chair for research in the University of Utah’s pediatrics department, and the new chair for the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on infectious diseases.

Millions of Americans live longer on average because of the protection vaccines provide. Life expectancy has gone up in the United States by more than 30 years. Infant mortality decreased from 100 deaths per 1000 to 7 between the 1900s and 2000.

A vaccine for smallpox led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to declare the disease eradicated in 1978. Prior to a vaccination for diphtheria, it was one of the most common causes of illness and death among children.  Now it is rarely reported in the United States.

What vaccines do children need? Experts: vaccines are necessary
Yet research shows there is still doubt among some medical residents about the effectiveness of vaccinations.

“That is particularly concerning for me,” Byington said. “Young residents may be in the same position as young parents who have trained at a time, or lived at a time, when these diseases were extremely rare, and they may not have ever seen how serious a vaccine-preventable infection can be.”

An increasing number of parents over the years have opted out of getting their children vaccinated. And that may be having a negative impact on the community’s health.

A study found that large clusters of children who had not been vaccinated were close to the large clusters of whooping cough cases in the 2010 California epidemic. While California typically has higher vaccination rates than the rest of the country, that state is dealing with yet another whooping cough epidemic.

This spring also saw an 18-year high number of measles cases in the United States. The largest outbreak was in Ohio where the virus spread quickly among the Amish, who are mostly unvaccinated. This outbreak was a real surprise to health officials who thought that the infectious disease was thought to have been eliminated from the United States in 2000.

The editorial accompanying this latest study suggests doctors, who parents typically trust to tell the truth about medical information, need to use this study to speak with confidence about the importance of vaccinating children.
“Looking at all these mounds of data — there is still no data that show an association that shows vaccine and autism,” said Brown. “I would love it to close this chapter and move on. I don’t think it will. But the more research, the more we learns about autism, the more we can reassure parents that there are no links here.

Source: cnn news

Simple Solutions Can Save Babies in Kenya – Report

Simple Solutions Can Save Babies in Kenya - Report

Kenya’s high newborn death rate of 31 out of every 1,000 live births can be greatly reduced through simple solutions. These include cheap investments in quality care, according to a global action plan launched today at the Partners’ Forum in Johannesburg.

The Every Newborn action plan (ENAP), approved in May by the World Health Assembly, says investing just Sh100 ($1.15) per person every year in 75 high burden countries would prevent three million deaths of women and babies.

Still births in Kenya have been decreasing slowly, but the country still has some of the highest rates in the world, the WHO says.

Still births are deaths occurring in the last three months of a pregnancy.

The report gives two specific targets for all countries to achieve by 2035. These are reducing neonatal mortality rates to 10 or fewer newborn deaths per 1,000 live births and reducing stillbirth rates to 10 or fewer stillbirths per 1,000 total births.

“The day of birth is the time of greatest risk of death and disability for babies and their mothers– contributing to around half of the world’s 289,000 maternal deaths,” the report says.

UN boss Ban Ki-moon said in a statement the progress should well documented. “Let us do all we can to ensure a healthy start for all mothers and newborns. This will open the way for progress across the development agenda and around the world,” he said.

The report says most newborn deaths result from three preventable and treatable conditions: prematurity, complications around birth and severe infections.

It says more than 71 percent of newborn deaths could be avoided without intensive care, mainly though quality care around birth and care of small and sick newborns.

This care requires skilled health workers, especially midwives, and essential commodities, such as steroid injections costing less Sh100 per treatment, or cheap resuscitation devices like a bag and mask.

“The Every Newborn Action Plan is explicit acknowledgement that even the smallest and newest babies have a right to live and that we are going to do our utmost to see that they do,” said Dr Mickey Chopra, Chief of Health, UNICEF, and Co-Chair of the Countdown to 2015.

Source: all africa

Genes May Be Key to Great Musicians

Genes May Be Key to Great Musicians

Chopin, Vivaldi and Bach may have had natural musical talent, and then some. A new study suggests accomplished musicians are genetically programmed to commit to the long hours of practice needed to become skilled musicians.

The findings add to growing evidence that both nature and nurture help develop expertise, according to the researchers.

“The nature versus nurture debate has raged since the beginning of psychology,” study leader Zach Hambrick, a professor of psychology at Michigan State University, said in a university news release. “This makes it very clear that it’s both. Not only in the sense that both nature and nurture contribute, but that they interact with each other.”

He and his colleagues looked at 850 sets of twins and found that accomplished musicians practiced much more than those who didn’t attain the same level of musical skill, according to the study published online in the June issue of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

By comparing identical twins (who share 100 percent of their genes) and fraternal twins (who share 50 percent of their genes), the researchers concluded that an inclination to practice more was driven partly by genetics.

In terms of musical achievement, they also found that genes had a larger effect on those who practiced than on those who didn’t.

The findings challenge the widely held view that a lack of natural ability can be overcome with enough practice and/or training, according to the study authors.

“Contrary to the view that genetic effects go away as you practice more and more, we found that genes become more important in accounting for differences across people in music performance as they practice,” Hambrick said.

Source: web md

OxyContin and other opioids tied to 1 in 8 deaths in young adults

OxyContin and other opioids tied to 1 in 8 deaths in young adults

Use of opioids such as OxyContin and codeine is a leading cause of death in young adults, say researchers in Ontario who reviewed coroner reports from a period of nearly 20 years.

Rates of opioid-related deaths are increasing rapidly in the province and are concentrated among the young — a substantial burden of disease, the researchers say in Monday’s issue of the journal Addiction.

“We found that among those individuals aged between 25 and 34 years, that approximately one out of every eight deaths were related to opioid overdoses,” said study author Tara Gomes, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

“We hadn’t quite anticipated that there would be such a large prevalence of opioid-related deaths in these younger populations and that it would be really one of the leading causes of death in these younger adults.”

The findings underline the urgent need to change perceptions on the safety of the medications, the researchers concluded.

Gomes and her team reviewed 5,935 opioid-related deaths in Ontario between 1991 and 2010, based on whether opioid-related or another drug were present in toxicological tests at concentrations high enough to cause death, excluding heroin. They found:

Rates of opioid-related death increased in Ontario between 1991 and 2010, rising from 12.2 deaths per million in 1991 (127 deaths annually) to 41.6 deaths per million in 2010 (550 deaths annually) – an increase of 242 per cent.
About 1 of every 170 deaths in Ontario is now related to opioid use.

The loss of life caused by opioid overdoses has a significant burden on society, since those who die at an early age cannot be productive members of society. Specifically, opioid-related deaths result in more than 20,000 years of potential life lost annually, exceeding that due to alcohol use disorders, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS and influenza.
Data on deaths isn’t readily available in other provinces, but Gomes expects the findings are transferable across Canada.

Part of the issue is there’s evidence of a fair amount of recreational use of opioids by high school and university students, said Gomes, who is also a scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. There may be a perception that they are safer than other drugs because they are prescribed, but the results clearly show there are substantial risks of overdoses and deaths.

‘You don’t even think about prescriptions’

Betty-Lou Kristy of Georgetown, Ont., west of Toronto, became an advocate for narcotic addiction and mental health and serves on provincial committees. She lost her son, Peter Beattie, in 2001 when he was 25 after he became addicted to OxyContin that was originally prescribed for pain. He accidentally overdosed after mixing the opioid with psychiatric medications.

“I as a mother was looking for street drugs. You don’t even think about prescriptions,” Kristy said.

While there is more awareness now than when her son died, Kristy said prescribers such as doctors and dentists, parents and young people themselves need to be educated about the dangers and warning signs of overdose.

“If you’re getting prescribed an opioid, have a good, solid discussion with your doctor. Make sure it’s an informed choice. For students and youth, don’t experiment. These are unforgiving.”

As a bereavement facilitator and advocate for parents, Kristy said opioid deaths are staggering, whether from fentanyl, heroin, OxyContin and its generic form, or other such drugs.

Gomes said the findings suggest to her that clinicians and policy makers need to remain vigilant and to ensure that the appropriate programs and services are available. These include information sharing for patients and electronic health records so prescribers know if people are obtaining prescriptions from other sources.

“These are risky medications,” said Gomes. “They can be effective but you need to use them appropriately. You should not be sharing them with friends and you should be protecting them in your household to make sure that they’re not falling into the hands of youth or other individuals who might inadvertently end up overdosing.”

Last month, Health Canada announced it plans to require drugs at high risk for abuse, such as controlled-release oxycodone, to have tamper-resistant properties. The goal is to prevent people from crushing, snorting or injecting the drugs to get a quick high

Source: cbc news

Black armband silent protest on Doctor’s Day by UCMS doctors

Black armband silent protest on Doctor’s Day by UCMS doctors

As India celebrated Doctors Day on July 1, doctors at the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) here sat quite gloomy while trying to find out reasons to celebrate.

“This observance is a way to show the society how important doctors are in our lives but has everybody thought how, even, we are denied our basic rights by the autocratic Delhi University administration,” said the aggrieved faculty members in a statement.

“Being doctors, we realise our duty towards patients and that’s why we deliberately avoided the options of strike and disruption of OPD and emergency services. We only wore black bands to raise our issues. In the evening we once again gave our representation in MHRD,” said Dr Satendra Singh, assistant professor of physiology at the UCMS.

According to the statement, the UCMS doctors are under the University of Delhi and henceforth the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), while other sister medical institutions like Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and even all other state run medical colleges are under the Centre or State run Ministries of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW). There the faculty can concentrate on quality of medical teaching and patient care as the promotions and pay scales of teaching medical faculty are determined by the Dynamic Assured Career Progression [DACP] scheme as laid down by the 6th Central Pay Commission Report, i.e. time bound promotions.

“The terms and conditions of DACP were brought into enforcement vide notification to UGC gazetted on 18th September 2010. The notification categorically directed UGC under clause no 1.1.1 that all medical faculties appointed medical teachers in Central Universities shall be governed by the norms of MOHFW i.e. time bound promotions. This was to be made effective for medical teachers of UCMS, AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) and BHU (Banaras Hindu University) from 31st December 2008. However, the dictatorial administrations of DU have not taken any heed to this constitutional right of medical teachers of UCMS,” it said.

“Being under DU, no pay protection is given to doctors who have to join at salaries lower than what they were given under the residency scheme of MOHFW. Unlike medical colleges under MOHFW which safeguard the financial and promotional interests of medical faculty, DU equates medical faculty to any other faculty in colleges under DU,” according to the faculty members.

“The VC of BHU provided pay protection to medical faculty in BHU, but the VC of DU even denied that. Faculty members having completed even upto eight years of service are given salaries less than resident doctors. This has made UCMS one medical college with the highest faculty attrition rate. In the last three months, 17 permanent faculty members have left UCMS and joined as assistant professor by sacrificing their current experience on which they should have been either associate professor or professor. In the past three years, almost 25 faculty members have left for Centre or State run MOHFW medical institutes like MAMC, LHMC, new AIIMS, state medical colleges and even private practice,” said the faculty members.

“The university system focuses purely on research for promotion of their faculty, while as medical teachers, faculty at UCMS and all medical colleges should be focussing on teaching medical students and patient care. Lack of transparency in the promotions in DU has made it one of the worst career options for medical faculty, who quit UCMS for greener pastures which offer them time bound promotions and better salaries. Every doctor is under the Hippocrates Oath, swearing for patient care and teaching his peers and juniors. But we are humans too and not demigods. Denial or delay of our constitutional rights has forced many to seek judicial help and tangent us away from the oath,” they added.

Source: India Medical Times

With hormonal changes in body, 17-year-old girl transforms into a boy

With hormonal changes in body, 17-year-old girl transforms into a boy

In a bizarre incident that occurred in Bokaro district of Jharkhand, a 17-year-old girl was ‘transformed’ into a boy due to chromosomal changes in her body.

The girl-turned-boy has named himself as Server Haider. Doctors of the medical board have confirmed the news of the transformation.

Acording to a Bhaskar report, Server’s father, Haider Ali, sent him to the medical board to get him examined for his medical fitness. After conducting Server’s medical check-up, a team of three doctors were surprised to realise that the boy’s name was registered in the ‘female’ category.

Witnessing this, they sent him to the women’s medical department in Sadar hospital, where the doctors transferred his reports to higher authorities for proper examination of his choromosomal activities.

Doctors have said that such situation arises, when the body starts taking shape into a different form, due to chromosomal changes, which results in conversion of a girl into a boy.

Source: News 18

UWI and University of Havana discuss Caribbean challenges

UWI and University of Havana discuss Caribbean challenges

On June 24 and 25, representatives of the University of West Indies (UWI) and the University of Havana, Cuba, met at the Institute of International Relations located at the UWI’s St Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago to discuss “Development challenges and possibilities for a deeper integration”.

This first workshop on Contemporary Caribbean was coordinated by Professor Milagros Martínez, chair of Caribbean Studies (Cátedra de Estudios del Caribe) at the University of Havana together with Dr Mark Kirton of the Institute of International Relations.

Participants debated major problems of the contemporary Caribbean, especially the challenges associated with small island developing states and the regional integration recent dynamics. The cases of Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba were specifically examined.

Source: caribbean news now

Boy, 2, who ‘downs bottles of beer’ feared to be China’s youngest alcoholic

Two-Year-Old Chinese Boy Attracts Global Attention due to Alcohol Addiction

Cheng Cheng, a two-year-old Chinese boy can live without milk, but not without alcohol.

The toddler, who lives in the Anhui province of China, has become an international sensation for showing extreme addiction to alcohol at such a young age.

Cheng was just 10-months-old when he tasted alcohol for the first time and downed his first bottle of beer before celebrating his first birthday, The Daily Mail reported.

The boy’s father is said to have dipped chopsticks in white wine and put it in his infant’s mouth. “At that time, all of us in the family have already thought that this child can really drink a lot when he grows up,” Cai Teng, Cheng’s aunt told the Shanghaiist.

Though his parents tried to lure him toward milk and juices, all attempts failed and the boy now can go to any lengths just for a sip of alcohol.

The boy’s addiction to alcohol has made special occasions and festivals, a difficult experience for the whole family.

“As sometimes he is really noisy, we have no options but let him to try a little bit of wine,” a family member, added.

Concerned about the unhealthy habit, the family is taking extreme precaution to keep bottles away from the little boy. “We will not let him drink or touch alcohol anymore as we afraid that it will affect his growth,” Cai added.

The picture of the toddler emptying a large bottle of alcohol has gone viral on the net, raising concerns both among local authorities and health experts.

Though, the Chinese boy showed an ability to tolerate beer at a young age, some recent incidents show that exposure to alcohol at a young age can be risky and life-threatening. For instance, an eight-year-old boy named Lejin from Kollam district of Kerala in India died after he consumed his father’s Bacardi Gold rum.

There is a clear reason why kids are not allowed to consume alcohol. According to health experts, exposure to alcohol at a young age can affect children’s development. A CDC fact sheet on underage drinking links the habit to disruption of normal growth, memory problems, alterations in brain development, alcohol poisoning, death and academic problems. Additionally, prolonged exposure to alcohol can damage the liver and increase the risk of being hooked to alcohol in adulthood.

Source: IB Times

The way of Eating fruits

The way of Eating fruits

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths. It’s not as easy as you think. It’s important to know how and when to eat.

What is the correct way of eating fruits?

IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUITS AFTER YOUR MEALS! * FRUITS SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.

If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.

FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD. Let’s say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so.

In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil….

So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals! You have heard people complaining — every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat durian my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet, etc — actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach. The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat!

Graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes all these will NOT happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach.

There is no such thing as some fruits, like orange and lemon are acidic, because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did research on this matter. If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the Secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight.

When you need to drink fruit juice – drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT from the cans. Don’t even drink juice that has been heated up. Don’t eat cooked fruits because you don’t get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste. Cooking destroys all the vitamins.

But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body. Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look!

KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E & fiber. Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.

APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon cancer, heart attack & stroke.

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

ORANGE : Sweetest medicine. Taking 2-4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene — the cancer fighting oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content.. Guava is also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation.. Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for your eyes.

Drinking Cold water after a meal = Cancer! Can u believe this?? For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this ‘sludge’ reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine.. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks HEART ATTACK PROCEDURE’: (THIS IS NOT A JOKE!) Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. Sixty percent of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive.

MCI cuts 200 MBBS seats in Chattisgarh

Medical-Counci-India

The Chhattisgarh government is making desperate attempts to convince the Medical Council of India (MCI) to reverse its recent decision to 200 medical seats in the state for the ensuing 2014-15 academic years. With the cut, only 250 seats are left, leaving other aspirants in a lurch.

According to information, the MCI found a host of deficiencies in all the state-run medical colleges at Raipur, Bilaspur, Jagdalpur and Raigarh and it cut 50 seats in each of the institutions. While Raipur and Bilaspur Medical colleges hitherto had 150 seats each, the MCI has permitted to counselling for only 100 seats in each college.

The Jagdalpur Medical College, which earlier had 100 seats, has been permitted to recruit for only 50 seats. The Raigarh Medical College, which only had 50 seats, has been declared a “zero year” with the all the seats being cut for various deficiencies, including faculty.
Source: Times of India