Intestinal bacteria produce neurotransmitter, could play role in inflammation |  |
- Intestinal bacteria produce neurotransmitter, could play role in inflammation
- The most contaminated surfaces in hotel rooms
- British court orders force-feeding for dying anorexic woman
- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh battle to contain deadly encephalitis outbreak
- Encephalitis claims 9 more lives in Bihar, toll now 159
- Encephalitis scare in UP after 88 deaths
- Decide soon on woman's liver transplant plea, court asks government
- Maharashtra among top tobacco consumers in India
- Active ingredient of cannabis has no effect on the progression of multiple sclerosis
| Intestinal bacteria produce neurotransmitter, could play role in inflammation Posted: 17 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have identified commensal bacteria in the human intestine that produce a neurotransmitter that may play a role in preventing or treating inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease. We identified, to our knowledge, the first bifidobacterial strain, Bifidobacterium dentium, that is capable of secreting large amounts of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). This molecule is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central and enteric nervous systems, says Karina Pokusaeva, a researcher on the study and a member of the laboratory of James Versalovic. GABA is one of the chief inhibitory neurotransmitters in the human central nervous system. It plays a role in regulating pain and some pain relieving drugs currently on the market act by targeting GABA receptors on neural cells. Pokusaeva and her colleagues were interested in understanding the role the human microbiome might play in pain and scanned the genomes of potentially beneficial intestinal microorganisms, identified by the Human Microbiome Project, for evidence of a gene that would allow them to create GABA. Lab analysis of metagenomic DNA sequencing data allowed us to demonstrate that microbial glutamate decarboxylase encoding gene is very abundant in intestinal microbiota as compared to other body sites, says Pokusaeva. One of the most prolific producers of GABA was B. dentium, which appears to secrete the compound to help it survive the acid environment. In addition to its pain modulating properties, GABA may also be capable of inhibiting inflammation. Recent studies have shown that immune cells called macrophages also possess GABA receptors. When these receptors were activated on the macrophages there was a decrease in the production of compounds responsible for inflammation. Our lab was curious to explore if GABA produced by intestinal human isolate B. dentium could have an effect on GABA... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| The most contaminated surfaces in hotel rooms Posted: 17 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) An experiment of surfaces in hotel rooms finds television remotes to be among the most heavily contaminated with bacteria and items on housekeeping carts carry the potential to cross-contaminate rooms. Researchers from the University of Houston report the findings today at the 2012 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Hoteliers have an obligation to provide their guests with a safe and secure environment. Currently, housekeeping practices vary across brands and properties with little or no standardization industry wide. The current validation method for hotel room cleanliness is a visual assessment, which has been shown to be ineffective in measuring levels of sanitation, says Katie Kirsch an undergraduate student at the University of Houston who presented the study. As the public becomes increasingly concerned with public health, hotel room cleanliness and sanitation are becoming consideration factors for consumers when selecting a hotel room. Contact with contaminated surfaces is a possible mode of transmission of illness during outbreaks in hotels. This, combined with the lack of standardization of hotel room cleanliness, poses a risk for hotel guests, specifically immunocompromised individuals who are more susceptible to infection. Currently, housekeepers clean 14-16 rooms per 8-hour shift, spending approximately 30 minutes on each room. Identifying high-risk items within a hotel room would allow housekeeping managers to strategically design cleaning practices and allocate time to efficiently reduce the potential health risks posed by microbial contamination in hotel rooms, says Kirsch. The study was designed as the first step in applying the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system to hotel room cleanliness. Originally developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, HACCP is a systematic preventive approach that identifies potential physical, chemical and... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| British court orders force-feeding for dying anorexic woman Posted: 16 Jun 2012 09:49 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) An anorexic woman, who started controlling her eating habits at 11 and was described as having an obsessive fear of weight gain, should be force-fed, a British court has ordered. The 32-year-old, a former medical student from Wales, has not eaten for over a year. She is in a community hospital under a palliative care regime whose purpose is to allow her to die in comfort, The Sun reported. She had a Body Mass Index - - a calculation of a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in metres - of 11.3 when last measured whereas a healthy figure is about 20. Justice Peter Jackson, at London's Court of Protection, ruled that it was in the extremely severe anorexic's best interests to be fed forcibly if necessary. Justice Jackson added: Albeit gravely unwell, she is not incurable. She does not seek death, but she does not want to eat or to be fed. She sees her life as pointless and wants to be allowed to make her own choices, realising that refusal to eat must lead to her death. http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Bihar, Uttar Pradesh battle to contain deadly encephalitis outbreak Posted: 16 Jun 2012 05:18 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Patna/Lucknow, June 16 - Acute encephalitis syndrome -, the deadly mosquito-borne disease that has hit Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, two of India's most populated states, is spreading. More deaths of AES patients, mostly children from poor families, from the states have been reported and the outbreak of the ailment seems far from being contained. With nine more children dying of AES in Bihar's Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Patna districts, according to officials Saturday, the toll has risen to a shocking 159 in just three weeks. Fresh AES cases have been reported from all 10 affected districts, a state health department official said. In Uttar Pradesh, 88 people have succumbed to various strains of AES in the last two weeks, prompting the state government to press the panic button. Most of the cases have come from the eastern district of Gorakhpur, near Bihar. In Bihar, as many as 409 children have been detected with AES and of them, 159 have died and 82 admitted to hospitals, said Additional Secretary - R.P. Ojha. The rest have been discharged, he said. The worst affected districts include Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, East Champaran and Vaishali. Health officials say AES has killed lives of 100 children in Muzaffarpur alone. Alarmed, Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey has asked the striking junior doctors of the Patna Medical College Hospital to resume work. A team from New Delhi is now in Muzaffarpur, around 75 km from Patna, to help contain the fatal viral disease. All medical colleges and hospitals have been directed to provide free medicines to patients having AES symptoms, said Health Secretary Vayasji. However, Bihar is yet to declare AES an epidemic. In Uttar Pradesh, health officials say that till June 10, 467 cases of AES came to primary health centres, hospitals and the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur. Director General of Medical Health Ram Ji Lal said: The disease has begun spreading a little early this... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Encephalitis claims 9 more lives in Bihar, toll now 159 Posted: 16 Jun 2012 01:06 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Patna, June 16 - Nine more children have died of acute encephalitis syndrome - in Bihar's Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Patna districts, taking the state's toll from the disease to 159 in the last three weeks, officials said here Saturday. Fresh AES cases have been reported from all the 10 identified districts where the disease has spread, a health department official here said. Additional Secretary - R.P. Ojha said that of the 409 children detected with AES symptoms, 159 have died and 82 others have been admitted to various hospitals in the state. The rest have been discharged after treatment. According to health officials, AES, a mosquito-borne disease, has claimed lives of 100 children in Muzaffarpur district alone - the highest figure in the state. Most of these children died at the Sri Krishna Memorial College and Hospital and the Kejriwal Charitable Hospital. As many as 47 children have died at the Patna Medical College Hospital - and 12 at Gaya's Anugrah Narain Medical College Hospital. Alarmed by the situation, state Health Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey has asked the striking junior doctors of the PMCH to resume work. We have cancelled leaves of doctors in the all the affected districts and alerted hospitals to provide prompt treatment, Choubey said. A team from New Delhi is in Muzaffarpur, around 75 km from here, to help contain the fatal viral disease. The worst affected districts include Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, East Champaran and Vaishali. All medical colleges and hospitals have been directed to provide free medicines to patients having AES symptoms, said Health Secretary Vayasji. Bihar is yet to officially declare AES an epidemic, which is mostly killing children from poor families. http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Encephalitis scare in UP after 88 deaths Posted: 16 Jun 2012 12:17 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Lucknow, June 16 - The Uttar Pradesh government has pressed the panic button as 88 people have succumbed to various strains of encephalitis in the last fortnight, a disease that hits the state every year and kills a large number of children. Apart from the toll, what has taken the health officials by surprise is the timing, a month in advance of the 'disease period' that usually begins in July. Health officials admit that till June 10, as many as 467 cases of AES - have come to various primary health centers, hospitals, other medical facilities and the BRD medical college in Gorakhpur. Director General of Medical Health Ram Ji Lal said: The disease has begun spreading a little early this time round, but we are ready to take on it. Several measures have been initiated by the state government. The disease, which claimed more than 600 lives in the last season, is peaking in areas around Gorakhpur division, officials say. Lal said the maximum deaths were reported from Gorakhpur followed by Kushinagar, Deoria and Maharajganj. Doctors say Gorakhpur, being the maximum hit, is getting all attention from the government and orders have been issued to deploy a physician and a pediatrician at every hospital so that the cases are detected in time and treatment is given promptly. So far, health officials say no infection of Japanese Encephalitis -, a virulent strain, has been reported but they caution that this does not mean that the killer disease has been contained. The credit of thwarting a JE outbreak so far is largely being given to a special vaccination drive undertaken two years back. We are keeping our fingers crossed and doing our best to prevent the epidemic-like situation as last year, one official told IANS. Fortnightly camps have also been ordered to be held in the infected districts. There is however a problem with Sant Kabirnagar as the district does not have a district hospital yet. The battle against AES has largely... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Decide soon on woman's liver transplant plea, court asks government Posted: 15 Jun 2012 10:47 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, June 15 - The Delhi High Court Friday directed the central government to decide, within one week, the plea of 62-year-old woman, awaiting a liver transplant, challenging the decision of the hospital for not allowing the prospective donor to donate the organ. Passing the order, Justice Kailash Gambhir directed the Directorate General of Health Services - to consider the appeal filed by Urmila Anand, of Agra, in the light of the high court's earlier judgment holding that a request for donation of an organ could be considered on the basis of the love and affection between the donor and recipient. Anand's lawyer told the court that Anand, suffering from chronic liver disease, has been undergoing treatment at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, and was advised to undergo immediate liver transplant. According to Anand, Gulab Devi, who has been associated with her family for last 30 years, had given consent to donate her partial liver after her blood group matched that of Anand's. However, the authorisation committee of the hospital, which examines cases of organ donation by distant relatives, had rejected their request on the ground that the donation involved commercial transaction. Challenging the order, the patient has filed an appeal before the DGHS but no decision was taken so far and finally she approached the high court. It was also submitted by Anand's lawyer that the organ donation by Gulab Devi was voluntary and without any due pressure, and is out of only love and affection for each other for the last 30 years. The petition stated that the blood group of Anand's children - did not match with the patient's blood group but Gulab Devi's blood group matched. Anand's lawyer argued that the hospital rejected the request of donation on the premises that there was financial disparity between both women and ignored their bonding for 30 years and no objection certificates - issued by various authorities, including Uttar... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Maharashtra among top tobacco consumers in India Posted: 15 Jun 2012 07:38 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Mumbai, June 15 - Despite a prohibition on smoking in public and a proposed ban on consuming gutka, Maharashtra remains one of the largest consumers of tobacco in any form in the country, a Global Adult Tobacco Survey - factsheet for the state revealed here Friday. The GATS report indicates that despite a high level of awareness about the hazards of tobacco use among adults, current prevalence of tobacco use is still high with 31.4 percent adults using it. In a special message for the GATS report release, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan expressed alarm at the figures of tobacco products consumption in the state. The Maharashtra government is committed to take strict action against violators of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act - and looking forward to a 'tobacco-free state' with the proposed ban on gutka, Chavan assured. Healis Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health director P.C. Gupta said that in view of the seriousness of the tobacco problem, the state government's move to ban gutka was most welcome, after a similar ban implemented in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital's - head of Preventive Oncology Surendra Shastri said tobacco companies have been manipulating public opinion about the harm caused by tobacco consumption through intense lobbying and misleading advertisements. The country has made some tough laws to protect its citizens from the tobacco epidemic - the implementing agencies should now enforce them strictly without being swayed by any kind of pressure. I also appeal to senior legal luminaries to abstain from appearing in courts on behalf of the killer tobacco companies, Shastri urged. TMCH Director Rajendra Badwe said tobacco consumption is responsible for over 40 percent of cancer deaths in the country. The GATS data would be very useful to estimate the exact extent and nature of the problem and plan important preventive measures. Imagine the useful lives and money that the... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
| Active ingredient of cannabis has no effect on the progression of multiple sclerosis Posted: 15 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The first large non-commercial study to investigate whether the main active constituent of cannabis (tetrahydrocannabinol or THC) is effective in slowing the course of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) shows that there is no evidence to suggest this; although benefits were noted for those at the lower end of the disability scale. The CUPID (Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease) study was carried out by researchers from the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD), Plymouth University. The study was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and managed by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on behalf of the MRC-NIHR partnership, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. The preliminary results of CUPID are to be presented by lead researcher Professor John Zajicek at the Association of British Neurologists' Annual Meeting in Brighton on Tuesday 29th May. CUPID enrolled nearly 500 people with MS from 27 centres around the UK, and has taken eight years to complete. People with progressive MS were randomised to receive either THC capsules or identical placebo capsules for three years, and were carefully followed to see how their MS changed over this period. The two main outcomes of the trial were a disability scale administered by neurologists (the Expanded Disability Status Scale), and a patient report scale of the impact of MS on people with the condition (the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale 29). Overall the study found no evidence to support an effect of THC on MS progression in either of the main outcomes. However, there was some evidence to suggest a beneficial effect in participants who were at the lower end of the disability scale at the time of enrolment but, as the benefit was only found in a small group of people rather than the whole population, further studies will be needed to assess the robustness of this finding. One of the other findings of the... http://www.rxpgnews.com |
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