Tag: Genes

IH News Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

by Vaani, posted in News

Politics and Policies:

  • The government of United States is ready to enroll people in private health insurance plans starting this October 1.
  • Vermont state senate gives final approval those doctors will not face any criminal or civil liability when treating terminally ill patients who choose to end their lives.
  • The government of Uganda plans health insurance policy for the nation.

Programs:

  • With the aim of helping countries to make more informed health policy and program choices, World bank group has released a set of 22 case studies of countries that have significantly expanded access to health care in last decade.
  • Ghana launches television series to spark improvement in maternal health.
  • In order to improve health data collection by increasing access across the United States Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has handed over eight SUV to the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS).
  • The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) provides $ 16 million loan to back up health sector in Mauritiana.
  • UNICEF seeks nearly US$7 million for tens of thousands of flood victims in Mozambique.
  • US$87 million has been approved by the World Bank to support climatic change resiliency and improvement of health and nutrition in Mozambique.
  • Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda receives grant from Ricoh Innovations for eHealth research.
  • A two-day International Conference on Telemedicine for South –East Asian Countries has concluded with Adoption of Delhi Declaration in New Delhi.
  • Financial assistance of US$ 43,592 has been extended to the Kathmandu – based non-based government organization- the Nepal Diabetes Society.
  •  Sri Lanka gets US$200 million credit from World Bank to improve public health system.

Research:

  • According to a study, low levels of copper in brain may lead to senile beta amyloid deposition as senile plaques in brain in Alzheimer’s disease.
  • According to a study United States ranks low on health measures.
  • Scientists have discovered aromatic rice from Bangladesh that has very low arsenic content.  It is believed that its consumption will have major health benefits.
  • A study found that diabetes reduces sperm count and damages DNA in men.
  • According to the researchers work-related stress not related to cancers
  • Experts in their study state that even the young suffer from heart disease.
  • Researchers in their study have found a link between artificial sweeteners with obesity and type- 2 diabetes.
  • Study identifies regions of genes linked with Beh-ets’s disease.
  • According to a U.S. study of Israeli women in vitro fertilization  does not increase the risk of breast and gynecological cancer.
  • A study shows that Americans successfully manage diabetes.
  • A new study states that reducing salt in Americans diet would reduce death from stroke and heart attack.
  • A study in Norway states that folic acid supplements early in pregnancy may reduce risk of autism by 40%.
  • A study shows that people who eat chocolate frequently have a lower body mass index (BMI) that those who consume it less regulatory.
  • Study finds clues to why most babies in China survived tainted milk scandal.

Diseases & Disasters:

  • According to the Disease Control and Surveillance Unit of the Nkoranza South Municipal Health Directorate (Ghana), preventable communicable diseases have hit Nkoranza south municipality.
  • Acute drug shortage is being faced by the public schools of Malawi.
  • Cholera crisis confirmed in northern Mozambique after heavy rains and flooding.
  • Thousands of people are affected and hundreds killed in Hepatitis E outbreak in South Sudan refugee camps.
  • China checks levels of radiation in areas bordering North Korea. So far no signs of radiation in the region.
  • Number of people being affected with H1N1 virus is increasing in New Delhi, India.

 

 

 

Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

by Vaani, posted in News

Politics and Policies

  • The Department of Health and Human Services bolsters health care and public health disaster. It has awarded more than $971 million to continue improving preparedness and health outcomes for a wide range of public health threats within every state, eight U.S. territories, and four of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas.
  • India is completing a proposal to provide essential drugs free to patients in government-run hospitals and clinics at a cost of $5 billion over five years.
  • Rapid H.I.V. Home test wins federal approval.
  • Republican governor of Florida says state won’t expand Medicaid.

Programs

  • George W. Bush launches cancer project in Botswana. This $3 million initiative has been started to fight against cervical cancer. This project is funded by the Presidents’ Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and is supported by the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership.
  • A drug created at the University of Nebraska Medical Center has been deployed to fight malaria in India.
  • U.S. $124,276,000 assistance package is expected for Liberia. A new development agenda “An agenda for transformation” will focus on critical areas like education, economy, health etc.
  • The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is providing support to the treatment center in village of Wabaria, situated in Northern Mali after identification of the new cases of cholera in the village
  • La Madre de los Pobres charity reaches needy in nearly 20-plus countries.
  • New child health card and the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is introduced in Zimbabwe to ensure good records of all preventive interventions like exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, calendar of immunizations and prevention of mother to child transmission.
  • International donors offer Afghanistan $16B.
  • Traditional Indian sweetener jaggery (gur) will be launched as complete health food for all age groups soon in India.

Research

  • New study maps hotspots of human-animal infectious diseases and emerging disease outbreaks like tuberculosis and Rift Valley fever.
  • Single dose radiation at the time of surgery helps women with early stage breast cancer forego 6-7 week radiation regimen.
  • Australian researchers from the Skin and Cancer Foundation have found a link between psoriasis and other diseases.
  • Research from Fourth Military Medical University yields new findings on Parkinson’s disease.
  • Researchers at the University of Minnesota School Of Public Health have found new evidence that fast food intake increases risk of diabetes and heart disease in people.
  • Zebra fish provides insights into causes and treatment of human diseases. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh are using it to study the biological mechanisms underlying human disorders and identifying potential treatment approaches for an impressive array of organ and systematic diseases.
  • Caffeine may help to lower the risk of skin cancer. The results of the study conducted by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston suggest that it is the caffeine in coffee that is responsible for the decreased risk of basal cell carcinoma associated with increasing coffee consumption.
  • Amniotic fluid yields alternatives to embryonic stem cells. The scientists from Imperial College London and the UCL Institute of Child Health have succeeded in reprogramming amniotic fluid cells without having to introduce extra genes.
  • Organic tomatoes contain higher levels of antioxidants than conventional tomatoes. The researchers have shown that these tomatoes do not use not use nitrogenous fertilizers and thus they activate their own defense mechanisms resulting in increased production of all antioxidants.
  • A study conducted by a researcher at the University of Maryland has shown that the women infected with Toxoplasma gondii parasite which is spread through contact with cat feces or eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, are at increased risk of attempting suicide.
  • A recent research has shown that deleting single gene results in autism-like behavior and immunosuppressant drug prevents autism symptoms. This gene is associated with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), a rare genetic condition.
  • Using a mouse model of autism, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have successfully treated an autism spectrum disorder characterized by severe cognitive impairment.
  • A team of researchers at the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen are closer to understanding the biology behind GHB, a transmitter substance in the brain, best known in its synthetic form as the illegal drug fantasy.

Diseases and Disasters

  • Monsoon rains cause havoc in Bangladesh.
  • The Philippines Department of Health has instructed the Bureau of Quarantine to be on alert, following an outbreak of a fatal respiratory disease in Cambodia.
  • According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, South Sudan faces worst health crisis.
  • According to a recent report released, Fukushima disaster was man-made.

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
  • April 7th is celebrated every year as World Health Day to mark the founding anniversary of World Health Organization (WHO).

Politics and Policies:

  • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns against Japanese weight loss pills. The product contains a suspected cancer-causing agent – Phenolphthalein.
  • Indonesia has won a tobacco dispute with the United States after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in its favor saying that the US ban on clove cigarettes was discriminatory.
  • The 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Kampala, Uganda, adopts Resolution on “Access to Health as Basic Right”.
  • World politicians meeting in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, have agreed on the need to repeal laws discriminating against HIV/AIDS which they say have contributed to an increase in the rate of new infections.
  • Dharamsala (in India) based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has launched a Medicare system for Tibetans in Exile.
  • The Department of Health (DH) of Hong Kong has appealed the public not to buy or consume an oral product called “Ling Zhi She Xiang Tong Mai Dan”.
  • The Chilean Senate has rejected three bills that would have eased the country’s absolute ban on abortions.

Programs

  • An emergency funding of $26 million has been authorized by President Barack Obama to the United Nations High Commissioner for the Sudanese refugees. This will help to respond to the crisis of health, water and food.
  • Bill Gates- Backed Alliance prepares to fight cervical cancer in the developing world. This program is planned to protect 20 million women in thirty countries by the end of decade.
  • Palmcroft Church of Arizona is organizing a campaign to raise thousands of dollars to bring clean water to the poorest of poor in Haiti and Ethiopia.
  • United States Fund for UNICEF President and CEO, Ceryl Stern joins Royal delegation to UNICEF emergency center.
  • The Kenya Aids Vaccination Initiative (KAVI) is collaborating with Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa and Gambia to carry out its research to develop biological marker for understanding the diseases among the people in Africa.
  • The Arab bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) has signed loan agreements worth US$ 10 million to improve health services and expanding its coverage in West African region.
  • A meeting organized by the interest groups together for a Stakeholders Consultation on Tuberculosis in the mining sector under the auspices of the South African Development Community (SADC), with the World Bank support.
  • The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRF) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will together begin US$ 10.8 million health care program that will focus on maternal and child health in fifty nine villages in Burundi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
  • The HIV Early Infant Diagnosis Project funded by the Clinton Foundation and Mozambique’s Ministry of Health has saved an estimated 20,000 babies from infection in the first six months of its launch. Sequoia Technology and Telit Wireless Solutions- providers of technology for this project- has developed a way for the rural medical clinics in Africa to wirelessly receive HIV test results of the expectant mothers within days of testing.
  • The UK government is planning to develop a smartphone natural disaster application, to help victims of flood, famines and earthquake.
  • The first Czech clinic of addictology, focused on the treatment and prevention of alcohol and illegal drug addictions and research into them was opened in Prague.

Research

  • Researchers say that fish along the Orange County coast may have been affected by radioactivity that fell in California in the days after Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster. They also say that small levels of radioactive isotope have accumulated in seaweed along the local shoreline.
  • A research suggests link between an injectable form of progestin-only birth control and an increased risk of breast cancer.
  • A universal cancer vaccine has been developed by a group of researchers. The early clinical trial has shown that it triggers an immune response and targets a molecule found in 90% of all cancers.
  • A remedy consisting of phytonutrients extracted from eggplant have been confirmed to treat and basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma.
  • A study on females in China revealed that the vegetables like mustard and turnip greens, bok choy, cauliflower and green cabbage are protective against breast cancer.
  • According to a study malaria stain resistant to the most effective drug used to treat the disease has spread along the Thai-Myanmar border. If ways are not found to contain it, it might reach India and Africa.
  • According to a recent survey Delhi (in India) has the highest number of corporate employees afflicted with insomnia due to high stress level and demanding schedules in offices. This city is followed by Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai.
  • Type 2 diabetes rising sharply in China. About 30 percent increase in cases in only seven years.
  • Data from 2010 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) shows that 27.1% of obese people above the age of eighteen years with BMI greater than 27.The same data shows obesity among kids below five years olds has increased to 14% from 11% in 2007.
  • Scientists from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore and the National Cancer Center Singapore have identified more than 600 genes that are mutated in stomach cancer, the second most lethal cancer in the world.
  • The blood-pressure medication prazosin was found to be an effective treatment to curb nightmares related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  • A study shows that most of the fat people think they are not fat.
  • Researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of hypnotism in reducing severe symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
  • A new study suggests a link between obesity during pregnancy and autism.
  • The dengue virus may make mosquitoes even thirstier for human blood according to a study conducted at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  • According to a new study, waist size helps to predict heart disease risk in teenagers.

Diseases & Disasters

  • The eastern horn of Africa is in famine crisis. About 750,000 people are at a risk of death.
  • H1N1 was detected in a Hong Kong’s slaughter house during regular influenza virus surveillance for pigs.
  • Avalanche in Siachen glacier region claims life of people in India and Pakistan.
  • Nine miners trapped in collapsed mine in Peru.