J-K Govt organizes vaccination camp for Hajj pilgrims

The Jammu and Kashmir Government has organized a vaccination camp here for pilgrims heading for the Hajj to ensure they are protected from different diseases.

Every year, Muslims undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca as part of their religious duty and hope for salvation.

To ensure complete safety and a healthy journey, the state government decided to bear the expenses to vaccinate Hajj pilgrims this year.

Hajj pilgrims have welcomed the government`s initiative.
“Omar Abdullah (Chief Minister) announced an offering of Rs. 5,700,000 for this program. This has broug

ht great relief to the pilgrims,” said Gul Ahmad Khan, a pilgrim at the vaccination camp on Monday.

Each pilgrim received three vaccine shots, one each for Meningitis, polio and seasonal influenza.

The expenses for the first two are provided by the Government of India, while expenses for the third are borne by the state government, said Fayaz Lone, the executive officer of the State Hajj Committee.

The vaccination program has been launched at the district level where the pilgrims are being given injection for the protection from different diseases.

Authorities said over 8000 pilgrims will leave from the Kashmir valley for Mecca on September 7 for the annual pilgrimage.

Big belly raises death risk in heart attack survivors

http://topnews.in/files/big-belly101.jpgHigh waist circumference, severe obesity has been linked with the greatest risk of death in heart attack survivors, according to a research.

Professor Tabassome Simon said that the impact of obesity on long term mortality and cardiovascular complications in the general population has been the object of recent debate and much emphasis has also been given to the deleterious role of abdominal obesity.

Simon said that at the time of a heart attack, early mortality tends to be lower in obese patients, a phenomenon well known in critical care situations and described as the `obesity paradox`.

At 5 years, absolute mortality was highest in the leanest patients (BMI less than 22 kg /m2) and lowest in patients with BMI between 25 and 35 kg /m2 (i.e. overweight and mild obesity). Patients with severe obesity (BMI = 35 kg/m2) had a markedly increased mortality after 3 years. Severe abdominal obesity (waist circumference more than 100 cm in women and more than 115 cm in men) was also associated with increased long-term mortality.

Simon said that as waist circumference is strongly linked to BMI, the researchers determined the upper quartile of waist circumference within each BMI category and used both variables together to determine their respective role in association with long-term mortality.

She added that they found that both lean patients (BMI less than 22 kg/m2) and very obese patients (BMI =35 kg/m2) had an increased risk of death at 5 years: + 41 percent and + 65 percent, respectively. Being in the upper quartile of waist circumference was also an indicator of increased mortality at 5 years (+ 44 percent).

 

Listening to 30 mins of music can improve heart health

http://drkimfoster.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/music.jpgResearchers have discovered that listening to favorite music substantially improves endothelial function in Coronary Artery Disease.

The study evaluated the effects of listening to favorite music on endothelial function through changes of circulating blood markers of endothelial function: the stable end products of nitric oxide, asymmetric dimethylarginine, symmetric dimethylarginine and xanthine oxidase in 74 patients with stable CAD.

Professor Deljanin Ilic said that the combination of music and exercise training led to the most improvement in endothelial function. Improvements in endothelial function were associated with significant improvements in exercise capacity.

“Listening to joyful music for 30 minutes has been associated with improved endothelial function,” she said.

Source: Zee News

 

Men’s subconscious self-esteem related to partner’s life

Deep down, men may not bask in the glory of their successful wives or girlfriends. While this is not true of women, men’s subconscious self-esteem may be bruised when their spouse or girlfriend excels, says a study published by the American Psychological Association.

It didn’t matter if their significant other was an excellent hostess or intelligent, men were more likely to feel subconsciously worse about themselves when their female partner succeeded than when she failed, according to the study published online in the APA Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. However, women’s self-esteem was not affected by their male partners’ successes or failures, according to the research, which looked at heterosexual Americans and Dutch.

“It makes sense that a man might feel threatened if his girlfriend outperforms him in something they’re doing together, such as trying to lose weight,” said the study’s lead author, Kate Ratliff, PhD, of the University of Florida. “But this research found evidence that men automatically interpret a partner’s success as their own failure, even when they’re not in direct competition”

Men subconsciously felt worse about themselves when they thought about a time when their female partner thrived in a situation in which they had failed, according to the findings. The researchers studied 896 people in five experiments.

In one experiment, 32 couples from the University of Virginia were given what was described as a “test of problem solving and social intelligence” and then told that their partner scored either in the top or bottom 12 percent of all university students. Hearing that their partner scored high or low on the test did not affect what the researchers called participants’ explicit self-esteem – i.e., how they said they felt.

Participants were also given a test to determine how they felt subconsciously about their partners’ performance, which the researchers called implicit self-esteem. In this test, a computer tracks how quickly people associate good and bad words with themselves. For example, participants with high implicit self-esteem who see the word “me” on a computer screen are more likely to associate it with words such as “excellent” or “good” rather than “bad” or “dreadful.” Click here to see a sample of the test.

Men who believed that their partner scored in the top 12 percent demonstrated significantly lower implicit self-esteem than men who believed their partner scored in the bottom 12 percent. Participants did not receive information about their own performance.

Findings were similar in two more studies conducted in the Netherlands. The Netherlands boasts one of the smallest gender gaps in labor, education and politics, according to the United Nations’ Gender Equality Index. However, like American men, Dutch men who thought about their romantic partner’s success subconsciously felt worse about themselves than men who thought about their partner’s failure, according to both studies. They said they felt fine but the test of implicit self-esteem revealed otherwise.

In the final two experiments, conducted online, 657 U.S. participants, 284 of whom were men, were asked to think about a time when their partner had succeeded or failed. For example, some participants were asked to think about their partner’s social success or failure, such as being a charming host at a party, or a more intellectual achievement or failure. In one study, participants were told to think of a time when their partner succeeded or failed at something at which they had succeeded or failed. When comparing all the results, the researchers found that it didn’t matter if the achievements or failures were social, intellectual or related to participants’ own successes or failures – men subconsciously still felt worse about themselves when their partner succeeded than when she failed. However, men’s implicit self-esteem took a bigger hit when they thought about a time when their partner succeeded at something while they had failed.

Researchers also looked at how relationship satisfaction affected self-esteem. Women in these experiments reported feeling better about their relationship when they thought about a time their partner succeeded rather than a time when their partner failed but men did not.

Source: Medical news today

Early deaths from pollution in the US total 200,000 annually

Those who live in a particularly smoggy city in the US are able to see the pollution that surrounds them on a daily basis. But a recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reveals that people who live in all types of environments are at risk of pollution-related death.

The study, published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, saw a team from MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment track emissions from sources including industrial smokestacks, automobile tailpipes, marine and rail activities, and heating systems around the US.

In order to ascertain how many early deaths are a result of air pollution, the researchers used emissions data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Emissions Inventory, which is a catalog of emissions sources.

They used data from 2005, which was the most recent information available at the start of the study, and then divided it into six emissions sectors:

  • Electric power generation
  • Industry
  • Commercial and residential sources
  • Road transportation
  • Marine transportation
  • Rail transportation.

Results show that in total, air pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths each year, with the greatest number coming from the roads – exhaust from automobile tailpipes was linked to 53,000 deaths per year.

Steven Barrett, assistant professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, says:

“It was surprising to me just how significant road transportation was, especially when you imagine [that] coal-fired power stations are burning relatively dirty fuel.”

Baltimore

One reason the researchers give for this finding is that vehicles are dense in likewise densely populated areas – which could increase the pollution exposure for large populations – whereas power plants are usually situated far from dense populations, and their emissions get deposited at a higher altitude.

Barrett says that a person whose death is pollution-related dies on average 10 years earlier than he or she otherwise would have.
Residents of Baltimore, MD, face the highest early emissions-related death rates.

When the MIT team analyzed the data on a state-by-state basis, they found that California’s residents have the worst exposure to air pollution, yielding about 21,000 premature deaths each year.

These deaths are mostly related to road transportation and emissions from both residential and commercial heating and cooking.

After mapping emissions in 5,695 cities across the US, the team found that Baltimore has the highest pollution-related mortality rate. In a given year, 130 out of every 100,000 residents will most likely die as a result of air pollution exposure.

Following closely behind automobile pollution, electricity generation emissions accounted for 52,000 early deaths each year.

The researchers note that the largest impact for deaths related to this type of pollution occurred in the east-central US and in the Midwest. They suggest a reason for this may be that Eastern power plants use coal with higher sulfur content than Western plants.

But the West Coast definitely did not escape health impacts. In Southern California alone, for example, marine-derived pollution from shipping and port activities accounted for 3,500 early deaths.

Barrett says:

“In the past 5 to 10 years, the evidence linking air-pollution exposure to risk of early death has really solidified and gained scientific and political traction.

There’s a realization that air pollution is a major problem in any city, and there’s a desire to do something about it.”

He notes that although the study is based on numbers from 2005, the results most likely represent today’s pollution health risks.

Source: Medical news today

PM concerned over quality of medical education

Expressing concern over the quality of medical education, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said a “credible regulatory” mechanism should be put in place and a “serious look” given at the curriculum.

“There is a perception of deteriorating quality. We cannot allow this situation to continue. We must put in place a credible regulatory and institutional mechanism to help develop standards in our medical education”, he said in his address at the third Convocation in Jawaharlal Institute of Post graduate Medical Education and Research here.

He said a serious look at the curriculum for medical education needs to be taken so that doctors are trained to look at health in a holistic manner that goes beyond a narrow clinical and technology-driven approach.

Observing that the country faces “serious challenges” in assuring the health and well-being of people, he said, health indicators continue to be poor and high mortality rates of infants and pregnant women have been a cause of serious concern.

Despite decades of implementing health and family welfare programmes, the country was still faced with a situation where two thirds of health expenditure was borne by people from out of their pockets, with a large proportion of this expenditure being on purchase of drugs, he said.

“Our government has decided to continue the National Rural Health Mission for the next five years. We are now proposing a new National Urban Health Mission in order to focus on the health challenges in our towns and cities,” he said in the presence of Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and others.

Source: Zee News

3,000 more MBBS seats to be created

Government is set to create 3,000 new MBBS seats across the country taking the total number to over 48,000 in a move aimed at attaining the optimum doctor- population ratio.

As a one-time measure, the Medical Council of India, the apex medical education regulator, has allowed government and recognised private medical colleges with 10 years of standing to increase their MBBS seats.

While those medical colleges with 50 seats at present will be allowed to increase their seats to 100 and those with 100 seats now will be permitted to hike them to 150, as per the scheme. The grant of permission for new MBBS seats will be decided by July 31 following applications from various government and private medical colleges which have applied for increase of their seats.

MCI has notified a new set of regulations – the ‘Enhancement of Annual intake capacity in Undergraduate Courses in Medical Colleges for academic session 2013-14 only regulations, 2013’.

MCI will have to later carry out a physical verification and inspection of medical facilities and infrastructure at medical colleges where the seats are being increased.

There are a total of 362 medical colleges in the country, with over 45,000 MBBS seats in them across the country.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/3-000-more-mbbs-seats-to-be-created_862694.html

Botox can help treat more than just wrinkles

Botox, which is best known as a cosmetic treatment for frown lines, can also effectively treat the after effects of Bell`s palsy and other serious facial nerve problems.

Bell`s palsy results from damage to the facial nerve that controls muscles on one side of the face.

Ear-nose-throat surgeon Dr. Matthew Kircher of Loyola University Medical Center is giving patients Botox injections to treat facial nerve disorders that sometimes occur after Bell`s palsy, including unwanted facial movements known as synkinesis.

Botox injections work by weakening or paralyzing certain muscles or by temporarily blocking the nerve input into the muscles.

Facial synkinesis is the involuntary movement of one set of muscles when the patient tries to move another set of muscles. For example, when the patient blinks, the mouth smiles or grimaces.

Botox can improve the symmetry of the face and reduce muscle contractures and spasms.

Botox also is effective for platysmal banding – verticle lines that develop in the neck as a result of muscle contractions.

Kircher said that he starts out conservatively, treating patients with dilute doses.

After seeing how well the patient does, Kircher adjusts the dose if necessary.

Botox is not a cure. The drug wears off after three or four months, so patients need repeat injections.

 

Med Students Who Shadow Surgeons Keener on Surgery

Medical student interest in critical care surgery has fallen since the 1980s, but shadowing surgeons on a busy night bolstered enthusiasm in a small group, researchers found.

Greater interest in pursuing a surgical match was reported by medical students after shadowing general and trauma surgeons for at least one night in an urban, level one trauma center (P<0.005). Compared to only 22% of the previous year’s graduating class, 40% of participants from the shadowing program expressed intent to pursue surgical match, says Elliott R. Haut, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues.

“Increasing student interest in trauma surgery is possible through voluntary participation in trauma shadowing experience with engaged residents and dedicated surgical faculty,” Haut and colleagues wrote online in JAMA Surgery.

The researchers cited recent data, which suggested that by the third-year clerkship it may be too late in the medical school process to draw attention towards a surgical specialty.

Since the 1980s, the rate of medical students entering general surgery has dropped by half to only 6.6%, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Data from the National Resident Matching Program in 2011 showed a marked disparity between U.S. medical school graduates choosing other surgical fellowships over critical care with only 25% of colorectal surgery spots left unfilled compared with 64% of critical care spots.

“Although most students were only slightly influenced toward a career in trauma surgery, a select few students had dramatic increases in their interest,” Haut and colleagues wrote.

To test a possible way to spark greater interest in general and trauma surgical matches, the researchers invited 126 first-year medical students to voluntarily shadow trauma residents, fellows, and attending surgeons at the Johns Hopkins Hospital — an urban, level one trauma center.

Outfitted with scrubs, a trauma pager, and call-room accommodations, the students were invited to observe resuscitations, acute care surgery consults, surgical procedures, and ICU and ward rounds with practicing surgeons.

After 3 years, but before graduation or receiving a residency match, the students were asked to fill out an anonymous web-based survey. Roughly half, 68, of the original group responded to the survey.

Even though the majority of students shadowed only once, 13 did so more than once, and a few shadowed up to four separate occasions.

Twenty-five of the students had previous trauma experience as an emergency department volunteer, medical technician, or paramedic. Prior to this shadowing program, 44 of the students had not completed any hospital clerkships.

For the most part, students gave positive feedback about their shadowing experience, stating “Best experience of first year — bar none,” and “Reminded me why I came to medical school.” The most common negative feedback was boredom on a slow night with no trauma patients to treat.

On average, the students were exposed to 2.4 trauma patients (standard deviation 1.5, range 0-6), 1.1 general surgery patients (SD 1.4, range 0-6), 0.5 trauma operations (SD 0.7, range 0-3), and 0.3 general surgery operations (SD 0.5, range 0-2). Overall, 13 of the students witnessed a patient die.

On a 10-point scale, with 10 indicating the highest level of interest, each student rated his or her level of attraction to surgery. Among students that had not initially planned on going into any surgical specialty, 48 reported that participating in the shadowing program increased their interest in trauma surgery significantly (P<0.005) from 4.4 (SD 2.4) points to 5.3 (SD 2.5) points.

Interest in general surgery also increased significantly after shadowing (P<0.05) from 5.5 (SD 2.6) points to 5.9 (SD 2.5) points. A serious increase (>4 points) was reported by three of the students interested in trauma surgery. They had all seen at least three trauma patients and one trauma surgical procedure, and said that they were satisfied with the teaching they received.

Forty percent of the students stated that they intended to match into some type of surgery, and 16% planned to match into general surgery. Reports from the graduating class from the previous year indicated only 22% intended to match into surgery, and only 8% specified general surgery.

“A voluntary overnight shadowing program improves medical students’ perception of trauma surgery and increases their reported likelihood to apply into a surgical residency,” Haut and colleagues concluded.

Haut and colleagues indicated the low response rate and recall bias as possible limitations to the study.

Source: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/MedicalEducation/40914

Scientists discover gene that controls the birth of neurons

Scientists at A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore discover gene that controls the birth of neurons. (Image: A*STAR)Scientists at A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have discovered an unusual gene that controls the generation of neurons. This important finding, which is crucial in understanding serious diseases of the brain such as Alzheimer’s disease, is reported in the journal Molecular Cell.

The central nervous system is composed of numerous cell types that develop into a complex, higher-ordered structure. The birth of neurons (known as neurogenesis) is a process that requires exquisite temporal and spatial control of hundreds of genes. The expression of these genes is controlled by regulatory networks, usually involving proteins, which play critical roles in establishing and maintaining the nervous system. Problems with neurogenesis are the basis of many neurological disorders, and the understanding of the molecular details of neurogenesis is therefore crucial for developing treatments of serious diseases.

A neuron or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals. Neurons connect to each other to form neural networks. Neurons are the core components of the nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral ganglia.

Researchers at the GIS, led by principal investigator Lawrence Stanton, discovered a key component within a gene regulatory network which controls the birth of new neurons, called RMST. Surprisingly, this new discovery is not a protein. Rather, RMST is an atypical, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA for short; pronounced as “link RNA”). The new findings demonstrate that the RNA does not produce a protein to handle the regulatory process. Instead, it acts directly as a regulatory mechanism. LncRNAs are a newly discovered class of RNA whose functions remain mostly unknown.

The new discovery of how RMST works within a gene regulatory network not only sheds light on the process of neurogenesis, but also generates new insight into how lncRNA works together with protein components to regulate the important biological processes of gene expression.

Lawrence Stanton said, “There is now great excitement about the revelation that RNA is more than just a messenger carrying genetic information that encodes for proteins. New classes of RNA, called long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA), have been discovered, which are capable of unanticipated functional diversity. However, systematic functional investigations of exactly what, and how, lncRNAs do in our cells remain scant. Our study paves the way for understanding a crucial role played by a lncRNA in human neurons.”

Leonard Lipovich, from the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Genetics at the Wayne State University and a member of GENCODE, said, “In their paper in Molecular Cell, Stanton and colleagues show how RMST, a human lncRNA, directly regulates SOX2, a key transcription factor protein that is instrumental for directing the birth of new neurons. Even more intriguingly, they highlight that RMST controls SOX2 by directly interacting with the protein. The paper is therefore an important advance in the still nascent and controversial field of riboregulators, or RNAs that regulate proteins in our cells. DNA-binding proteins that turn genes on and off were traditionally thought to be distinct from RNA-binding proteins. Stanton et al, however, illuminate the cryptic, yet crucial, RNA-binding roles for DNA-binding transcription factors: lncRNAs just might be the definitive regulatory switch that controls these factors’ activity.”

GIS executive director Huck Hui Ng added, “One cannot overemphasize the importance of neurogenesis, which is responsible for the normal functioning of one of the most important biological systems in the body. Larry Stanton and his team have made an exciting finding, one that could lead to new approaches in the treatment of neural diseases. This latest work has built upon their unique, interdisciplinary expertise, developed over the past 10 years at the GIS, in applying cutting-edge genomics technologies to the study of the human body.”

 Source: http://www.indiamedicaltimes.com/2013/08/31/scientists-discover-gene-that-controls-the-birth-of-neurons/