Tamiflu to be available in chemist shops in a week

Tamiflu, the drug used in the treatment of swine flu, will be available in the open market within a week, a health ministry official said. The ministry of health and family welfare issued a notification allowing 'restricted sale' of tamiflu (Oselatamivir) and Zanamivir. The retail sale of tamiflu was banned by the central government and its distribution was permissible only through public health institutions. However, there was no restriction on the sale of Zanamivir.

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-113270.html

Gene find 'may curb lung mucus'

It's not clear why lungs of people with conditions such as asthma and cystic fibrosis have often clogged up with thick mucus. Lead researcher Dr Jeffrey Whitsett said a way to combat excessive mucus production would potentially be a significant step that could lead to new treatment. They used a protein from egg whites to induce an allergic reaction in inflammation in the animals' lungs, and showed that SPDEF (a gene key to the process of mucus production) activity soared in the affected tissues. But when the gene was switched off, inflammation; excessive mucus production did not occur. Mice lacking SPDEF were unable to increase mucus production or develop goblet cells. The finding of SPDEF could lead to effective treatments for those millions with chronic lung disease in the world.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8254020.stm

Robots 'to revolutionize surgery'

Scientists are working on the real possibility of building a robot inside a person by Ares (Assembling Reconfigurable Endoluminal Surgical System). There would be several modules which are very small like pills that can combine together inside. The idea is to introduce these robots from the mouth or anus or the umbilicus. It sounds fantastic, but prototypes are already in existence that can crawl and swim inside the body taking pictures of difficult to access areas. This is the dream. At the moment it is not so advanced to satisfy the dream but it's the direction.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8238088.stm

How people lose muscles as they get older

As age catches up, it becomes harder to keep muscles healthy. They get smaller which decreases strength and increases the likelihood of falls and fractures. Researchers have already shown that when older people eat, they cannot make muscle as fast as the young, and now they have found that the suppression of muscle breakdown, which also happens during feeding, is blunted with age. They believe that a 'double setback' affects people aged over 65. But the team thinks that weight training may 'rejuvenate' muscle blood flow, and help retain muscle for older people.

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-110798.html

Second child within a year 'increases breast cancer risk'

A research involving 30,000 women, each of whom had given birth to five or more children, has shown that those with a gap of less than 12 months were 5.2 times more likely to develop the advanced ductal breast cancer than women who had a gap of three or more years. Although it is unclear that why the risk increases, researchers believe hormones might be involved. But this does not mean that women who had their first two births close together worry because the study's results are not conclusive.

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-111474.html

Difficulties in performing daily activities linked to dementia

Mild cognitive impairment is recognized as a risk factor for dementia. During the study, Dr. Sarah Tomaszewski Farias of the University of California, and colleagues studied 111 individuals with mild cognitive impairment. During an average of 2.4 years of follow-up, 28 individuals progressed from mild cognitive impairment to dementia, including 23 from the clinic and five from the community. Other than recruitment source, the only factor associated with conversion from mild cognitive impairment to dementia was the degree of functional impairment.

Source:http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-112454.html

Engineered human fusion protein stops HIV-1 replication in mice

Owl monkeys make a fusion protein (AoT5Cyp) that potently blocks HIV-1 infection. Therefore scientists at the University of Geneva in Switzerland have engineered a human HIV-1 inhibitor modeled after AoT5Cyp, by fusing human cyclophilin A to human TRIM5 (hT5Cyp) because humans do not make the T5Cyp fusion protein. The researchers said that the human fusion protein blocks HIV-1 infection of human macrophage and T cell lines, without disrupting normal cell function.

Source:http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-108578.html

Common pain cream could protect heart during attack

Keith Jones, PhD, and colleague have found that applying capsaicin to specific skin locations in mice caused sensory nerves in the skin to trigger signals in the nervous system. These signals activate cellular 'pro-survival' pathways in the heart which protect the muscle. Capsaicin is the main component of chili peppers and produces a hot sensation. It is also the active ingredient in several topical medications used for temporary pain relief. It is approved for use by the U.S. FDA. They observed an 85% reduction in cardiac cell death when capsaicin was used.

Source:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914173010.htm

In the Spotlight

World's first patient with smallest neurostimulator completes a year

One year ago, former U.S. Army parachutist Adam Hammond became the first patient in the world to have been implanted with an Eon Mini neurostimulator. Adam got the chronic pain after a skydiving accident when his parachute deployed incorrectly. The accident left him dependent on a wheelchair. But today, the picture has completely changed. He is active and exercising as well as studying law. Over 60,000 St. Jude Medical neurostimulation devices have been implanted in patients in 35 countries around the world.

Source: http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-110622.html

Formulae in ECG

Differential Diagnosis of  ST Segment Depression

Normal variants or artifacts

• Pseudo-ST-depression (wandering baseline due to poor skin-electrode contact)
• Physiologic Junctional depression with sinus tachycardia (most likely due to atrial repolarization)
• Hyperventilation-induced ST segment depression

Ischemic heart disease

• Subendocardial ischemia (exercise-induced or during angina attack)

Nonischemic causes of ST depression

• RVH (right precordial leads) or LVH (left precordial leads, I, aVL)
• Digoxin effect on ECG
• Hypokalemia
• Mitral valve prolapse (some cases)
• CNS disease
• Secondary ST segment changes with IV conduction abnormalities (e.g. RBBB, LBBB, WPW, etc.)
   

Formulae in Diabetology

Doctor: I have some bad news and some very bad news.
Patient: Well, might as well give me the bad news first.
Doctor: The lab called with your test results. They said you have 24 hours to live.
Patient: 24 HOURS! That?s terrible!! WHAT could be WORSE?
What's the very bad news?
Doctor: I've been trying to reach you since yesterday. A man speaks frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only 2 minutes apart!" "Is this her first child?" the doctor queries. "No, No!" the man shouts. "This is her husband!"

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