It is a devastating reality that every day at least one person dies in West Africa, with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa killing over one thousand people. The outbreak is particularly severe in Movoria, Liberia, where a photographer, John Moore risked getting the virus to take images of the depressing state of the nation.The United Nations has promised to send food supplies to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea since the outbreak has collapsed their economies. The supplies are expected to feed one million. This is perhaps the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history and whereas previously experimental drugs were not allowed to be given to patients in Africa because of potential risks. This week, the World Health Organization gathered a group of ethicists and unanimously decided to that the situation demands that the risk be taken. The experimental drugs were given to two American missionaries and one Spanish priest. The two Americans seem to be recovering while the priest died Tuesday morning. Let us all hope and pray that they will save some lives in West Africa.
Usage of antibiotics can clutter metabolism in small children
A study showed that when immature mice were fed with antibiotics at an early stage of their life, they are likely to be obese, research conducted by NYU Langone Medical Center. It was discovered that when antibiotics were injected to these mice at a crucial stage of development, the bacteria found in the abdomen were altered.
It was also inferred that when these antibiotics intruded, it changed the original gastrointestinal function dampening the bacterial makeup which directly hits the metabolism of the body.
Metabolic rate plays a huge role in deciding a body structure. If the rate is high you can be thinner comparatively, but when the rate is slow, it will burn the fat at a slower rate causing obesity.
“During the study, it was found that when you disturb or divert the microbes present in gut in the beginning phase of mice’s life and suddenly stop the usage of antibiotics, the microbe comes to normalcy but it highly affects the metabolism of that specific host continuing lifelong stated by senior author Dr. Martin Blaser, director of the NYU Human Microbiome Program, and professor of microbiology at NYU School of medicine.
It has also highlighted some points that how microbe affects at developmental stage. It is a new notion and there is a direct evidence of it which has come into focus.
Though extensive research is going on whether this same applies to human or not. Consuming antibiotic at an early stage can lead to obesity needs some more evidence but whatsoever is the case, it should not stop the doctors in prescribing antibiotics to small children.
High rise in Re-hospitalization of Lupus Patients
A study recently shows that patients with lupus disease are getting re-admitted just after a month of discharge with the ratio of 1 is to 6 hospitals.
The reason of readmission is the dreadfulness of the disease. Dr. Jinoos Yazdany , lead researcher and associate professor of medicine at the University of California , San Francisco addresses this issue by saying that re-hospitalizations could be lessened by some improved strategies and providing better health care services.
Lupus is a persistent which damages any part of the body. In this disease, there is a severe damage in the immune system. Research and studies are unable to answer underlying causes of it, but there is evidence that though drugs are available to conceal the immune system and control lupus but with side effects.
Few of the things associated with Lupus are the following:
Women are more likely to get Lupus 10 times more than men.
Affects lower socioeconomic groups, racial and ethnic minorities
Environmental, biological, psychosocial and even health care are few of the factors.
Major concern above all is the infection caused by the same drugs which is used for healing the disease so that lupus can’t invade the body also cuts down the person’s strength to beat off viral and bacterial infections.
The data shows 16.5 patients were brought to the hospitals again after 30 days of admission.
“If you have more signs of lupus infected badly then you are likely to be treated with more advanced immunosuppressant which will increase the chances of infection,” said Dr. Joan Merrill, medical director of the Lupus Foundation of America and Head of Clinical pharmacology research at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.” It is going to heighten your risk of re-hospitalization, and if by any chance the treatment goes wrong then there can be an organ failure.”
In fact, more serious disease was due to readmission in the hospitals. Condition led to readmission is: low blood platelet count; kidney inflammation; an inflammation of the linings of the organs.
Others noticeable thing was Black and Hispanic patients were seeing re-admitted more than white people comparatively which shows a discrimination or unequal service regarding health care.
Yazdany added that there is more to educate people on Lupus disease and managing the patients who are suffering with it.
Confusion among the climate scientists
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently requested a figure for its annual report, to show temperature trends over the last 10,000 years there seemed to be an evident problem.
Zhengyu Liu from the University of Wisconsin says that data from observation suggests that the Earth is cooling while the physical data suggests the complete opposite.
The problem has been termed the Holocene temperature conundrum. It has tremendously important implications for understanding climate change and evaluating climate models. The authors have however emphasized that this does not negate the evidence of human impact on global climate beginning in the 20th century. The question however remains, who is right? Liu suggests that maybe none of us are completely right, he suggests a data problems or perhaps a model problem, for example some physical mechanisms may be missing from the model.
Liu says that they are certain that during the last 10,000 years, atmospheric carbon dioxide rose by 20 parts per million before the 20th century. He thinks that these physical changes suggest that, the annual mean temperature should have continued to warm, even as regions around the world experienced cooling.
Liu and his colleagues created three models which took two years to complete, they ran simulations of climate influences that spanned from the intensity of sunlight on Earth to global greenhouse gases, ice sheet cover and meltwater changes. Each indicates global warming over the last 10,000 years. However, the bio and geo-thermostats used in last year’s study in the journal Science indicates global cooling beginning around 7000 years ago and continuing until the mark of humans became apparent. Liu says, in the North Atlantic there is cooling and warming data that the climate change community has not been able to figure out. Liu thinks that with the current knowledge in perspective, it is difficult to imagine any physical forces in the last 10,000 years that could have been strong enough to curtail the warming indicated by the increase in global greenhouse gases. Climate scientists are to meet this fall to discuss this baffling issue.
Digoxin treatment, hazardous for Patients of Atrial Fibrillations
Atrial fibrillation is the a widespread heart problem which is an abnormal heart rhythm. It is generally linked with palpitation, fainting, chest pain. The researchers are still working to calculate the cause of this disease.
For several years, this disease is treated through the drug digoxin, which is pulled from the foxglove plant.
Recently, a study has revealed the fact that Digoxin can increase the mortality rate in the patients who is newly diagnosed from Atrial fibrillation. Even if a person remains untreated than there are probabilities that he can survive more as compared to the patient who takes digoxin. It immediately escalates the hazard of heart stroke and heart failure in the patients.
This survey has been carried out between 2003 and 2008 and demonstrated that 70 percent of the 23 percent patients who were recommended digoxin continued to hold it for another twelve months. On the whole there were almost 122465 patients included in this experiment and eventually they helped the experts in the formation of a conclusion.
As stated by the The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology Foundation doctors should not consider digoxin as the first therapy to cure this ailment. Though it cannot be said that digoxin is entirely useless, it can be extremely constructive for the patients with heart failure.
According to Turakhia, the study author this report filled the chief evidence gap in the management of atrial fibrillation. Its outcome is not as the usual experiment of atrial fibrillation since digoxin was used for decades for the treatment of Afib patients. The study indicates that almost 3 percent patients are more at risk of dying due to digoxin.
New cancer classification system- A real achievement
Recently, a research has shown that identifying the molecular structure of a human being for cancer is more appropriate instead of studying the disease through tissue and organs. It would be easier to ascertain out the treatment or cure cancer through this new method since the techniques that were previously used are almost 100 years old. Earlier, doctors used to determine the cancer through the organs in which the tissues were originated fro instance bladder, liver or breast.
This detailed survey is printed in a journal named as The Cancer Genome Atlas initiative. Experts have proved this with the help of a study in which they studied almost 3500 tumor cases. In the end it was proved that through 10 cancer patients that patients diagnosed by molecular tissues treat way better than the others.
Later on, the researchers explained it with a case which they faced during the experimentation. During their study they found out that three different kinds of tissues present in the human bladder. These tissues are so dissimilar from each other that firstly researchers thought that they discovered a new category of bladder tissue. Shortly, after the revelation of this fact the experts began the examination of the patients who suffers from similar kind of cancer and their treatments. In conclusion, the whole scenario was drawn with the assistance of an example. For instance, there are two patients and both of them suffers from bladder cancer of different bladder tissues then treating them with a same medicine would not be that much effective. This case demonstrates the reason why patients who has similar disease react differently to the same medication.
This research paved the way for further discovery of treatments for cancer disease.
Despite efforts Ebola vaccine will take until 2015
Officials say, that it is incredibly difficult to develop a vaccine for the Ebola virus before 2015. In the meantime though, the FDA has authorized the use of an unapproved Ebola virus test under a special emergency use provision.
The Zaire strain of Ebola, for which the unapproved test has been authorized has infected at least 1711 people and killed 932 in West Africa. FDA spokesperson Stephanie Yao said that the test is designed for use in specific individuals like the Department of Defense personnel and respondents who may be at a huge risk of infection in the case of an outbreak.
Initial symptoms include flu-like signs, vomiting, muscle aches, weariness and a fever. However as the virus multiplies it damages the cells that line the blood vessels and results in patients bleeding and can cause organ failure. Experts have confirmed that in the latest Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the disease has managed to kill roughly 55% of those infected.
FDA is reported to have said that it is working with other government agencies to speed up the development of potential Ebola treatments.
The experimental vaccine that is the most promising at the moment is the one designed by the Vaccine Research Center, an arm of the National Institutes of Health. Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease says that they have tested the drug on monkeys and the results are quite promising. Clinical trials are expected to begin in September, during that time the researchers are trying to assess if the vaccine will be safe for humans and whether it will trigger a protective response from the immune system. Human test subjects unlike the animal subjects, will not be actually infected with the virus to determine the effectiveness of the drug. The Department of Defense is also working with a company called Newlink to come up with a vaccine for the Ebola virus while Biocryst is working to develop an antiviral drug to treat Ebola with NIH support.
Cells of tumor works differently in man and woman
Lately, a study has proven that the protein, which decrease the risk of cancer is not as much active in man as in womanhood. This work is published in The Journal of Clinical Investigationand proved after several experiments performed on a cell model glioblastoma. In this experiment they expose both male and female brain cells to numerous gene variations. The outcome of this experiment comes out that the tumors develop more quickly and frequently in male brain cells as compared to the female cells.
For the verification of this experiment, researchers examine three genes neurofibromin, p53 and RB. These genes usually reduce the growth of tumor through curbing cell division. The examiners observed that in many cancer patients these genes were out of action or mutated.
According to senior author Joshua Rubin, later on these outcomes, doctors should begin the research on tumor again since no one has ever connected the sex factor in tumor. They normally analyze and treat both man and woman in a same way and this study will make them evaluate the reports of male and female differently. After this research several other questions arise in the minds of doctors for instance, whether there should be different treatments for man and woman who suffer from a tumor.
Previously scientist has discovered a number of diseases which have higher rates in man and lower rates in woman. Mostly these diseases are associated with hormonal changes.
Forget injection, pills to cure hardest-to-treat hepatitis C
This hepatitis day brings a good news with itself, especially for the patients who is suffering from hepatitis C, living in India.
GenericDrugs-300x225Recently, a new study has proved that two ordinary anti-viral pills could grant more effective relief with lesser side effects to the people who suffers with severe stage of hepatitis.
Soon after this study Indian government begins importing Rs 1 crore on one of the drugs named sofosbuvir. This pill costs $1000 and for a 12 week course $84000. Hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer and presently 150 million people are suffering from this disease.
The drugs, which doctors usually prescribe the patient of Hepitites C, can give mental burden to them. The worst part is that with those medicines its essential for the patients to take some injections and other medications. Depression is one of the dangerous side effects of the drugs which was previously used. Whereas, these new pills can decrease the risk of depression and do not need any other kind of medication to be taken along with them.
The researchers have done an experiment on 645 patients and asked them to take this medicine for almost 6 months. Surprisingly, after six months 90 percent of patients were cured.
Forget injection, pills to cure hardest-to-treat hepatitis C
This hepatitis day brings a good news with itself, especially for the patients who is suffering from hepatitis C, living in India.
Recently, a new study has proved that two ordinary anti-viral pills could grant more effective relief with lesser side effects to the people who suffers with severe stage of hepatitis.
Soon after this study Indian government begins importing Rs 1 crore on one of the drugs named sofosbuvir. This pill costs $1000 and for a 12 week course $84000. Hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer and presently 150 million people are suffering from this disease.
The drugs, which doctors usually prescribe the patient of Hepitites C, can give mental burden to them. The worst part is that with those medicines its essential for the patients to take some injections and other medications. Depression is one of the dangerous side effects of the drugs which was previously used. Whereas, these new pills can decrease the risk of depression and do not need any other kind of medication to be taken along with them.
The researchers have done an experiment on 645 patients and asked them to take this medicine for almost 6 months. Surprisingly, after six months 90 percent of patients were cured.
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