12,000 Delhi premises conducive for mosquito breeding: Walia |  |
- 12,000 Delhi premises conducive for mosquito breeding: Walia
- 70 percent of childhood cancers can be cured: Experts
- Steps taken to tackle spread of fever in Kerala: Chandy
- Parents seen as critical stakeholders in expanding newborn screening
- A better way to help high-risk pregnant smokers
- Research could help track stem cells in the body
- NOAA: Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' predictions feature uncertainty
- State budgets hinge on SCOTUS health ruling: UMD experts
- Telehealth can reduce deaths and emergency hospital care, but estimated cost savings are modest
- Johns Hopkins African bioethics program receives 5-year continuation grant from NIH
| 12,000 Delhi premises conducive for mosquito breeding: Walia Posted: 21 Jun 2012 11:24 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, June 21 - A total of 12,000 premises in the capital were found to be conducive for mosquitoes' breeding from February to June this year, said Delhi Health Minister A.K Walia as he directed civic agencies to intensify efforts to fight dengue. As per the field checks conducted by domestic breeders, mosquito breeding has been found in more than 12,000 premises till date as compared to 7,653 premises found last year during the corresponding period, said Walia in a press statement after a review meeting. In the wake of sharp increase in mosquito breeding in a number of localities in Delhi, the health minister directed civic agencies to gear up to fight dengue, said a government official. Public health officials of all the local bodies and senior officials of the Directorate of Health Services, Delhi and Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, and the National Institute of Malaria were present in the meeting chaired by Walia. Walia directed the medical superintendents of hospitals to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment of dengue. He also said that they must ensure there is sufficient arrangement for platelets as the test kits have already been made available to various hospitals by the National Institute of Virology, Pune. He said that domestic breeders should not only visit the premises but also physically check air coolers and other potential places of breeding. http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| 70 percent of childhood cancers can be cured: Experts Posted: 21 Jun 2012 09:11 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, June 21 - Cure for cancers afflicting children have witnessed an improvement by around 70 percent, experts said at a seminar on childhood cancer here Thursday. The solid tumours in children require meticulous treatment with facilities of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy to achieve high cure rates. Through these steps, the cure rates have gone up to 70-80 percent, said Anish Maru, senior consultant, medical oncology at the Dharamshila Hospital. Over 40,000 cases of childhood cancers are reported in the country every year. The common cancers among children are acute lymphoblastic leukemia or blood cancer, germ cell tumour, brain tumour and liver and kidney cancer, among others. We need to take note of early symptoms. You should not ignore the early signs for an early diagnosis, said cancer specialist Meenu Walia. Experts insist that preventive checkups should be mandatory in the country so that cancer can be detected at an early stage and can be cured. The doctors urged to spread awareness about childhood cancers for timely detection and treatment as increasing prevalence of cancer among children is becoming a cause of great concern. http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Steps taken to tackle spread of fever in Kerala: Chandy Posted: 21 Jun 2012 01:15 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Thiruvananthapuram, June 21 - With Kerala assembly Speaker G. Karthikeyan too down with fever, which seems to be assuming gigantic proportions, the government has moved to ensure more than adequate supply of medicines and presence of medical professionals in state-run hospitals. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the state assembly Thursday that all measures are being taken to tackle the spread of the fever across the state. He said this in response to an adjournment motion moved by senior Communist party of India-Marxist - legislator Elamaram Kareem. Kareem pointed out that the price of medicines has gone up like never before and drug manufacturers were having a free run. We have asked authorities to see that they can make local purchases of medical supplies. I request all legislators to report to us if there is any shortage of either medicines or manpower in any of the state-run hospitals in their constituencies. If there is any shortage, it will be immediately addressed, said Chandy. Kareem told IANS that state assembly Speaker G. Karthikeyan too was down with the fever and hence was not present in the assembly Thursday morning. Earlier, he said: According to the figures till June 14, a record 8.3 lakh people have been down with fever this year, and in this month, till June 14, the fever hit more than 90,000 people compared to 40,000 people in the same period last year. Yesterday -, 12,566 were admitted to hospitals for fever. This comes at a time when state-run hospitals are running short of medicines and manpower. Are you not ashamed of this situation? he said. The price of medicine for leptospirosis patients has gone up from Rs.7 to Rs.57, and for the drug to stabilise the platelet count has gone up from Rs.3,000 to Rs.16,000. The first culprit for this exorbitant rise is the central government, Kareem said. However, Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar said that all of the 117 medicines required to tackle various types of... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Parents seen as critical stakeholders in expanding newborn screening Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Parents must be considered when states decide to expand genetic screening programs for newborns, according to a new study that looked at mandatory testing panels and political pressure by advocacy groups. Nearly all infants in the United States undergo a heel prick within days of birth for a simple blood test to detect rare genetic disorders. For decades, state-based mandatory newborn screening programs have focused on disorders such as phenylketonuria (PKU) or hypothyroidism in which a prompt diagnosis and treatment could prevent disability or even death. In recent years, advocacy groups have been pushing to expand newborn screening to include lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), a group of rare metabolic disorders, despite the lack of consensus on which children should be treated or the effectiveness of available therapies. With the high degree of uncertainty around LSDs, many medical ethicists as well as some genetic health professionals and public health officials are questioning the clinical value and the morality of screening mandates. In an article published by The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine argue that parents should be critical stakeholders in the expansion of newborn screening. Despite federal recommendations against the addition of these conditions, LSDs have been tacked on to the screening panels in several states and strong lobby efforts are under way across the nation with little or no consideration for parental consent or even notification. A problem with incorporating LSD screening into state screening programs is the 'all-or-nothing' constraint, said co-author Lainie Friedman Ross, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, medicine and surgery, and assistant director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago. Parents cannot say that they want their child to be tested for some conditions and not others. There is simply not enough... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| A better way to help high-risk pregnant smokers Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Cigarette smoking among drug dependent pregnant women is alarmingly high, estimated at 77 to 99%. Programs that treat pregnant patients for substance use disorders often fail to address cigarette smoking despite the clear risks to both mother and child, including ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, low birth weight, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. However, programs to help people quit smoking do not seem to interfere with drug abuse treatment, and may actually improve drug abstinence rates. One of the most effective methods of helping people to quit smoking is contingency management, which gives smokers monetary incentives for meeting target goals. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Addiction and Pregnancy recently used contingency management to shape smoking reduction and abstinence in drug-dependent pregnant women, with promising results. One hundred and three pregnant smokers who were prescribed methadone maintenance for heroin dependence were enrolled in a study comparing three conditions. A third of the women were enrolled in a contingency management shaping program and received escalating monetary incentives for reducing their level of cigarette smoking or by being abstinent as measured by breath carbon monoxide levels. The smoking reduction targets required for monetary incentives increased over time from minimal reduction in the early phases of treatment to the requirement of total abstinence by week 12. A relapse meant no monetary incentive was earned and the participant returned to the lowest level of payment. A third of the women could earn incentives for reduced smoking according to a schedule of payments not connected to the woman's own smoking behaviour (non-contingent incentives). The final group of women received information about the risks of smoking during pregnancy but received no money for reduced smoking. All of the groups showed some reduction in smoking... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Research could help track stem cells in the body Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed new methods to track stem cells and further understanding of what happens to them after they have been in the body for a significant period of time. Stem cells are used to treat conditions such as leukaemia and have the potential to treat many more diseases and disorders where patient survival is reliant on organ and tissue donation. Currently, however, it is difficult for medics to establish whether stem cells have survived following transplantation in the body and if they reach their target site or migrate elsewhere. In order to track stem cells in the body scientists use superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) to 'label' the cells before they are administered into the patient. These particles can be picked up by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and help medics establish if the stem cells reach their intended target. Conditions within the body's cells, however, can lead to the degradation of SPIONs and reduce the ability of MRI scans to pick up on their signal in the long-term. Scientists at Liverpool are developing methods to visualise SPIONs in the cells before they enter the body to learn where the particles are going within the stem cell and help predict how they might perform once they are inside the body over a long period of time. They are using a photothermal technique, a unique optical imaging system, to improve SPION labelling so that particles survive for longer and have minimal impact on the function of the transplanted cells. Dr Lara Bogart, from the University's Institute of Integrative Biology, said: Stem cells have the potential to replace and repair damaged tissue to preclude the need for a patient to wait for an organ or tissue transplant. Research is ongoing into how it could be used to treat a wide variety of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and type one diabetes. In order to fully explore this potential,... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| NOAA: Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' predictions feature uncertainty Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A team of NOAA-supported scientists is predicting that this year's Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone could range from a low of approximately 1,197 square miles to as much as 6,213 square miles. The wide range is the result of using two different forecast models. The forecast is based on Mississippi River nutrient inputs compiled annually by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The smaller dead zone forecast, covering an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, comes from researchers from the University of Michigan. Their predicted size is based solely on the current year's spring nutrient inputs from the Mississippi River which are significantly lower than average due to drought conditions throughout much of the watershed. The larger dead zone forecast, the equivalent of an area the size of the state of Connecticut, is from Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University scientists. The Louisiana forecast model includes prior year's nutrient inputs which can remain in bottom sediments and be recycled the following year. Last year's flood, followed by this year's low flows, increased the influence of this carryover effect on the second model's prediction. Hypoxia is caused by excessive nutrient pollution from human activities coupled with other factors that deplete the oxygen required to support most marine life in bottom and near-bottom water. During May 2012 stream-flow in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers were nearly half that of normal conditions. This resulted in a decrease in the amount of nitrogen transported by the rivers into the Gulf. According to USGS estimates, 58,100 metric tons of nitrogen (in the form of nitrite plus nitrate) were transported in May 2012 by the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers to the northern Gulf. The amount of nitrogen transported to the Gulf in May 2012 was 56 percent lower than average May nitrogen loads estimated in the last 33 years. The two smallest... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| State budgets hinge on SCOTUS health ruling: UMD experts Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland and other states have a lot riding on the U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), regardless of how the justices rule, University of Maryland experts say. The ACA was intended to help states rein in health care costs, driven up in recent years as the weak economy pushed more low-income individuals onto Medicaid. Maryland is one of 15 states that have begun to build health care exchanges - a centerpiece of the reform care law, designed to make health insurance more accessible. If the Supreme Court upholds the ACA, Maryland still will have to figure out what to do with the exchange while trying to meet growing Medicaid expenses. And if the justices strike down the entire law, the red ink will continue to rise, with no firm solution in sight, says Don Kettl, dean of the UMD School of Public Policy. Only one thing is certain, and that is that states will buckle under the status quo, he says. There's no fix for the ongoing state and local fiscal crisis without a fix for health care, says Kettl, citing the findings of a recent study from the Government Accountability Office. He adds that many governors might wish for a proposal the Reagan administration made decades ago - to swap the federal assumption of health care for the state assumption of welfare. I don't doubt there's a governor alive who wouldn't want another bite at that apple. One of the central questions before the court is the constitutionality of the ACA's requirement that individuals purchase health insurance. Striking just the so-called individual mandate, would be a survivable wound, says health care economist Jack Meyer, a joint professor at the UMD School of Public Policy and School of Public Health. It would require using some carrots and sticks in place of the mandate, such as allowing people to buy health coverage at standard rates only in limited enrollment periods, while requiring that those who... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Telehealth can reduce deaths and emergency hospital care, but estimated cost savings are modest Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Research: Effect of telehealth on use of secondary care and mortality: findings from the Whole System Demonstrator cluster randomised trial Editorial: Telehealth for long term conditions For people with long term conditions, telehealth can reduce deaths and help patients avoid the need for emergency hospital care, finds a study published on bmj.com today. However, the estimated scale of hospital cost savings is modest and may not be sufficient to offset the cost of the technology, say the authors. Telehealth uses technology to help people with health problems live more independently at home. For example, equipment to measure blood pressure or blood glucose levels at home can reduce hospital visits. Measurements are electronically transmitted to a health professional. Several studies have been conducted on the impact of telehealth for people with long term conditions, but findings have been mixed. Some research suggests that telehealth can help patients develop a better understanding of their condition, leading to better quality and more appropriate care, as well as more efficient use of health care resources, but other studies have found negative effects. However, assessing the scale of such an effect is complex. So, an international team, led by researchers at the Nuffield Trust, set out to assess the impact of telehealth on hospital use for 3,230 patients with long term conditions (diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart failure) over one year. The study is one of the largest telehealth studies ever conducted. Patients were randomly split into two groups. A total of 1,570 intervention patients were given devices and taught how to monitor their condition at home and transmit the data to health care professionals. A further 1,584 control patients received usual care. During the study period, significantly fewer (43%) of intervention patients were admitted to hospital compared with 48% of control patients.... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Johns Hopkins African bioethics program receives 5-year continuation grant from NIH Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The Fogarty African Bioethics Training Program (FABTP) at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics is planning its second decade of building capacity in research ethics across sub-Saharan Africa, thanks to a five-year grant from the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The five years of additional funding will allow more African institutions to partner with the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics (BI) to deepen their programs in bioethics and research ethics. In the FABTP, an African institution is selected each year to send scholars to BI, where they spend six months engaged in course work, seminars, intensive mentoring, and leadership training. The Fogarty funding then provides support for these individuals to complete a six-month practicum project in research ethics at their home African institution. We were first funded by Fogarty to start this program 12 years ago, when there were few opportunities for training in research ethics within Africa. We are honored and humbled to be awarded an additional five years of funding by the NIH, says Nancy Kass, ScD, co-director of FABTP and Deputy Director for Public Health at BI. Many of our FABTP alumni have become recognized international ethics experts and we look forward to this continued funding that will allow more African institutions to develop sustainable bioethics and research ethics centers, Kass says. Oliver Mweemba, a 2012 Fogarty Scholar from the University of Zambia, School of Medicine, wants to enhance research ethics education at his home institution. His practicum project will develop and implement a curriculum for researchers, educators, and staff. Mweemba teaches health promotion, social medicine and qualitative methods to undergraduate and graduate students. He has also been involved in HIV prevention research projects at both the national and international level, and consulted on the Population Council's... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
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