Tag: Antibodies

Global Health Weekly News Round-up

by Vaani, posted in News

Politics and Policies:

  • U.S. Court rules controversial stem cell research as legal.
  • U.S. Court ruled that cigarette companies do not need to show graphic warning images.
  • The Food and Drug Administration U.S. (FDA) Department of Health is enforcing stricter inspection of food imported from Japan since March 14 last year in response to the radiation leak incident at Fukushima nuclear power plant.
  • UK government wants hospitals to expand overseas.
  • UK government will spend £2m to tackle cholera epidemic in Sierra Leone.

Programs:

  • Nigeria receives U.S. $225million from Global Fund to prevent and treat malaria.
  • Bill Gates has launched a search of a new toilet suited for developing countries- to avoid deaths and diseases due to poor living conditions.
  • Vietnam puts locally-made medical waste incinerator into operation. It has a capacity of 30-50 kilos of medical waste per hour.
  • Planned Parenthood launches new initiative in U.S. to fight breast cancer. It will use $3 million donations for its breast health initiative- screenings and education.

 Research:

  • Researchers at National Institutes of Health have identified rare immune disease in Asian people like HIV. This disease has been named as adult-onset immunodeficiency syndrome.
  • Scientists have created a drug using eggs of a pig parasite to treat chronic debilitating conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease.
  • Researchers from the Stanford University have collaborated to synthesize and study grid-like array of short pieces of a disease-associated protein on silicon chips to identify patients with a particularly severe form of autoimmune disease lupus.
  • According to a study blood type of a person can determine his/ chances of getting a disease.
  • Scientists say that the children born to older men are at a greater risk of genetic disorders.
  • According to a study thiabendazole a common antifungal drug decreases tumor growth and also a potential medicine in cancer therapy.
  • In a new study scientists said that a three year old can easily find whether you are whining or upset.
  • In a recent research scientists did some laboratory tests which showed that within five hours of application of extracts from a plant known as virgin’s mantle (medicinal tea) growth of cancer cells was arrested and they died within 24 hours.
  • According to some scientists chemicals in lipsticks, toothpastes and face washes might cause heart and muscle problems.
  • Researchers at University of Pennsylvania are using nanofibers to develop biomaterials.
  • Scientists have learned to harness power from bacteria eating virus.
  • According to a research aging heart cells can be rejuvenated by modified stem cell therapy.
  • According to a team of Israeli scientists smoking can prevent progress of degenerative disease (- Parkinson’s).
  • A national study done in Australia is attempting new ways for the treatment of melanoma. It will map all common gene mutations.
  • Researchers in Melbourne find key to rare diseases which cause birth defects like DiGeorge syndrome.
  • According to the scientists ovarian cancer patients should improve their lifestyle to improve their survival rates and quality of life.
  • Researchers have found that stones in gall bladder in teens are due their overweight problem.
  • In a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC), the villagers of Amazon have antibodies to rabies which suggests that disease may not be 100% fatal.

Diseases & Disasters:

  •  Cholera epidemic spreads through coastal slums of West Africa. Contagious disease has killed hundreds of people.
  • Refinery explosion in Venezuela on Saturday killed 24 people and injured many.
  • Tropical Storm Isaac hits Haiti, killing 3 people. South Florida on alert.
  • Ebola outbreak in Congo related to contact with infected individuals and consumption of bushmeat.
  • Record spike in West Nile virus cases in U.S.
  • Rs. 1 billion uncertified medicine scam unearthed in Sindh. These uncertified medicines were not certified by the central or potential drug laboratories they were potential danger to lives of people.
  • Uncollected garbage on the streets of Metro Manila has concerned agencies as a potential source of outbreak of diseases.
  • Swine flu cases have been confirmed in Lucknow, India.
  • Floods in India and Pakistan have killed dozens of people.
  • Japan nuclear plant leakage caused mutation in butterflies though no such reports for humans.

Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

by Vaani, posted in News
  • National HIV testing day is Wednesday.

Politics and Policies

  • Health care proposal gives Louisiana more Medicaid spending flexibility.
  • Azerbaijan can prohibit abortion.

Programs

  • U.S. forces support anti-malaria health campaign in Africa.
  • Commonwealth to tackle non-communicable disease in West Africa. Meetings will explore plans to deal with NCD’s such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases.
  • Scientists at the University of Saskatchewan have teamed up with researchers in Ethiopia and Kenya in the two innovative projects to help deliver safer and more nutritious food in Africa through better plant breeding and soil management and a state-of-art vaccine for cattle.
  • McCann Health pledges to help end preventable child deaths; joins USAID’s new public-private partnership. It has announced $5 million commitment of in-kind resources and technical assistance to accelerate progress towards ending this problem.
  • United Nations and its partners have made a global appeal for $1.6 billion to provide humanitarian relief to Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Gambia and Senegal.
  • The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) office in Gambia has recently supported the government of Gambia to respond to the severe malnutrition of children, by providing highly nutritious products.
  • DHL (Gambia office) donates 150 cartons of long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets (LLINS) to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare as a part of contribution towards the fight against malaria in this country.
  • The government and donors have finalized plans for a Sh400 million cancer treatment and chronic diseases center in Eldoret (Kenya).
  • Council of Ministers in South Sudan has approved U.S. $173 million to construct 100 health units.
  • The Global Fund has resumed support to Zambia with a $100 million grant to help the country to fight AIDS.
  • India to receive Rs 20 crore healthcare grant from Norway to improve rural health services to further reduce child and maternal mortality.
  • Recall stops New Zealand tuberculosis vaccinations.

Research

  •  The scientists from the University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories at the Institute of Metabolic Science, UK, have found the genes responsible for a disease in which parts of the body grow disproportionately. They found this disorder was linked to a mutation that drives cell growth.
  • According to recent study done by the researchers from Glasgow outdoor physical activities like walking, running, biking had a 50 percent greater positive effect on mental health than going to gym. They found that the activities through green space lowered the stress level.
  • A study published recently describes the biodiversity and epidemiology of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant tuberculosis in Ibadan, Nnewi and Abuja, using 409 DNAs extracted from culture positive TB isolates.
  • A research published in BMC Public Health by the researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine indicates global weight gain more damaging than rising numbers. They say if the increasing levels of fatness are replicated globally it could mean the equivalent of an extra billion people on the planet.
  • A study brings forward unwanted pregnancy and associated factors among the pregnant married women in Hosanna town in Southern Ethiopia.
  • A survey named as ‘Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance among Migrant Female Sex Workers in Nairobi’ indicates that female sex workers from Somalia have a little knowledge about the deadly HIV/AIDS.
  • A new research at MIT could improve the ability of untrained workers to perform basic ultrasound tests, while allowing trained workers to much more accurately track the development of mental conditions such as the growth of a tumor or the buildup of plaque in arteries.
  • A study indicated that the oral health status of patients with mental disorders in Southwest Ethiopia is poor. There is a need to impart education about the oral hygiene to them.
  • A study shows how easily pandemic H5N1 bird flu could evolve. Their main conclusion was that this virus can acquire the ability of aerosol transmission between mammals. Mutations as low as 5 (but certainly less than 10) are sufficient to make H5N1 virus airborne.
  • A study reveals that the teens that spend more time indoors in front of screens are more likely to feel lonely and shy, while those who spend their time outdoors are much happier.
  • Study shows that the genetically modified cows produce healthier milk. This milk can be consumed by the lactose intolerant people. One more study shows that this milk contains healthy fat like that found in fishes. Chinese have produced this milk which has same properties as human breast milk.
  • A study suggests that cauterization of a peculiar population of stem-like sells in a part of cervix when infected by human papilloma virus can be a method of prevention of this deadly infection.
  • A team of scientists in Singapore have discovered a human antibody that can kill the dengue virus within two hours.
  • According to a study, to reduce the diabetes risk we should eat slowly.

Diseases and Disasters

  • Two fatal cases of Vibrio vulnificus infection investigated in Hong Kong.

Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

by Vaani, posted in News

Politics and Policies

  • Health officials from 194 countries endorsed a immunization strategy – the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) – at the 65th World Health Assembly- to prevent millions of deaths by 2020.
  • The New Jersey Assembly has passed a bill that provides legal protection for people who summon medical help when they witness a drug overdose.

Programs

  • The United States government has urged baby boomers (any one born between the year 1945 to the year 1965) to get tested for the Hepatitis C virus. It is estimated that they are at a greater risk of contracting this virus through drug use or receiving blood transfusion before widespread screening for virus became available in 1992.
  • Rwanda introduces new vaccine for Rotavirus disease. This virus accounts for 8.8% of all under five deaths in this country. This vaccine has been incorporated in the country’s routine immunization program.
  • The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to implement policies to improve Africa’s health. It is working with Tanzania, Senegal and Mozambique as well as sub-regional blocs to improve their health systems.
  • The United Nations (UN) has mobilized 7 million U.S. dollars to support the response plan of the Senegalese government in its fight against food shortage.
  • California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) awards $69M in stem cell research grants targeting ‘bubble boy’ syndrome, other diseases.

Research

  • A study says that individual health policies are failing to meet the standards of coverage set by federal health care law.
  • A study has found that the over the counter drugs can help to reduce the risk of heart attack. The researchers found that the combination of selenium yeast and the vitamin- like compound coenzyme Q10 significantly reduced the risk of heart attacks in elderly.
  • According to a study conducted by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) about 39 percent of 12 major cancers can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
  • RNA breakthrough transforms the idea of gene control. The researchers have discovered that messenger RNA, the mirror image copy of DNA from which all proteins is manufactured, can be methylated also.
  • The researchers at the Duke University Medical Center looked into certain immune cells in the breast milk of HIV-infected mothers in the African nation of Malawi and found that the B-cells generate antibodies that can neutralize the HIV virus. They say though the transmission of HIV from the infected mothers can occur through the infected breast milk but only happen to one in ten nursing mothers infected by HIV.
  • Researchers at the Institute of the Cancer Research (ICR) and the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh have discovered that a fault on one of the sex chromosomes is involved in the development of bowel cancer in men more than women. They have identified a faulty region on the X- chromosome that is linked to lower levels of a gene called SHROOM2.  They say that the men have only one copy of X chromosome, so they do not have a normal copy of the gene.
  • The researchers of Genomic Institute of Singapore (GIS) have unraveled the mechanism that causes liver cancer – hepatocellular carcinoma/ HCC.
  • A study shows that the people who eat faster are at 2.5 times the risk of having type – 2 diabetes.
  • In a study it was seen that the lung functions improved in the emphysema patients with metal wire implanted in it. This wire called lung reduction coil (LVRC) is designated to gather and compress diseased lung tissue, may offer relief to patients.
  • A research done by Danish scientists say that breast tumor risk increased at 40% rate among the night workers. Though the risk is not yet established, the study is expected to be completed by 2015.
  • Men who have psychiatric problems are more likely to die after the diagnosis of cancer according to the researchers at University College London. The study suggests that the men with mental illness face diagnostic delays that may affect their chances of surviving cancer.
  • Researchers have created glasses that indicate obstacles to patients with visual handicaps. This system could be of great use to people with visual loss in the central field of vision- those who suffer from age-related macular degeneration.
  • According to a UK study, cannabis fails to slow progress of multiple sclerosis.  Multiple sclerosis patients were assessed in the trial known as CUPID (cannabinoid use in progressive inflammatory brain disease) on both a disability scale administered by neurologists and another based on their own reporting.
  • According to a study, Latinos are less likely to take skin cancer precautions.  It says that a lack of health insurance and poorer access to healthcare contribute to not getting the checkups.

Diseases and Disasters

  • The leak at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan last week released cesium isotopes in to the Pacific, which the scientists believe might be tucked into tuna fish. They believe tuna might be carrying Fukushima radiation to California.
  • Gardeners have been warned to wash their hands using compost as rare strain of Legionnaire’s disease infects six people in Scotland.
  • Superbug spread to 40 countries and creates problem for medical tourism in India. These bugs are multiplying successfully because of a gene dubbed NDM-1. This gene is carried on mobile loops of DNA called plasmids that transfer easily among and across many types of bacteria. NDM-1 is changing common bugs that drugs easily defeated into untreatable killers.
  • May 27- June 2 declared Florida Hurricane Preparedness Week.