Treating chronic migraine with Botox |  |
- Treating chronic migraine with Botox
- Young doctors unwilling to serve in rural areas: Azad
- 90-minute TB test not a game changer for India
- Anna's health improving: Doctor
- It's official -- chocolate linked to heart health
- Discontinuation of smokeless tobacco after myocardial infarction linked to improved survival
- Clinical outcomes in PCI patients given sirolimus-eluting and everolimus-eluting stents
- Elite cross-country skiing linked to increased risk of subsequent arrhythmias
- Potential benefits of remote follow-up of ICD patients
- How a cardiovascular prevention program in a Brazilian school reduced parent's CVD risk
| Treating chronic migraine with Botox Posted: 30 Aug 2011 12:44 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The anti-ageing drug Botox was until now an answer to your beauty concerns, but now the treatment can also benefit sufferers of chronic migraine, a neurological disorder characterised by severe headaches, say experts. Chronic migraine can leave sufferers in pain for at least half of every month. The World Health Organization - ranks migraine as the 19th most disabling disease and notes that a day lived with severe migraine can be more disabling than blindness, paraplegia, angina or rheumatoid arthritis. Although these debilitating headaches occur in both men and women, women are believed to be three times more likely than men to suffer from migraines. Patients of migraine often experience anxiety and depression along with the headaches. Stress, dietary, sleeping and other inappropriate lifestyle habits are known to influence the state of chronic migraine sufferers. Now studies and clinical trials have revealed that when injected in labelled doses and in the recommended locations in the head and neck, Botox is expected to produce results lasting up to three months depending on the individual patient. 'Since using Botox for chronic migraines is a relatively new treatment on the block, many people are still not aware of it and most do not understand it well, but the response that I have received from my patients has been very good. This will surely pick up in years to come,' Sumit Singh, senior consultant, headache & movement disorder, Medanta - The Medicity, Gurgaon, told IANS on the phone. 'Botox treatment is just evolving in our country. At this moment, there is not enough data on the number of patients being treated with it for their condition. However, it surely seems to be catching up and is well-received by our patients. The treatment will become popular in coming years,' echoed Rajashekar Reddi, senior consultant neurologist, Max Hospitals, New Delhi. For the treatment of chronic migraine, measured doses of Botox are... http://www.rxpgnews.com    |
| Young doctors unwilling to serve in rural areas: Azad Posted: 29 Aug 2011 11:11 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Aug 29 - Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Monday expressed regret that despite offering several incentives young doctors are not willing to serve in rural areas. Replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the bill to extend the term of governing body of Medical Council of India by a year, Azad said he was 'disheartened' to see that doctors were not interested in serving in rural areas. 'When I go to convocation and give degrees to medical graduates from different states, I ask where will you go, what are your future plans.... 99.9 percent say Delhi. I am disheartened with this attitude that people don't go back to their state,' Azad said. The health minister said 'at present if a person practices for one year in a rural area he will get 10 percent extra marks, for serving two years, it will be 20 percent and for three years, 30 percent in the entrance exam for post graduate courses'. The minister added that for serving doctors, 50 percent seats were reserved in post graduate diploma courses after they serve in rural area for three years. 'As the health minister I can make policies and the state government has to implement... and put some kind of genes in doctors to change them, otherwise I can not do anything,' the disappointed minister said. The house later passed the bill to extend the term of the governing body of Medical Council of India for another year. The government had superseded the MCI, a statutory body, in May last year following allegations of large-scale corruption against its then president and other officials by issuing an ordinance. The ordinance was replaced by the Indian Medical Council - Act, 2010. As per provisions of the Act, the council had to be reconstituted within a period of one year from the date of its supercession and the government had appointed a Board of Governors for a period of one year. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| 90-minute TB test not a game changer for India Posted: 29 Aug 2011 06:37 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Aug 29 - A new diagnostic technique that detects tuberculosis in 90 minutes instead of three months using the conventional method may not be effective in India as the heat and humidity would affect the equipment, experts said. TB kills two people every three minutes in India, accounting for over three million - deaths a year. The diagnostic technique, Gene Xpert MTB/RIF, was launched in the US in 2007 and is supported by the World Health Organisation. It was launched in India last year. However, a health ministry official said the technique may not be a game changer in India due to the staggering burden of tuberculosis the country is currently facing. The technique enables rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis, multi-drug resistant TB - and TB in HIV-infected individuals in a span of 90 minutes compared to the conventional test. 'The technique cannot be used for routine testing. We have pilot projects at 18 sites going on to test its feasibility in the Indian situation where the climate and temperature conditions are different from the western countries,' said Ashok Kumar, deputy director general of the central TB control division under the ministry of health and family welfare, at a conference by Stop TB partnership. When the technique was launched September 2010, health experts pinned their hopes on the test promising a quicker diagnosis of Multi-Drug Resistant TB by looking for bacterial DNA in a person's sputum. 'The pilot projects are in consultation with the WHO. The idea is to take the test near to the districts and remote areas where the conditions under which TB originates could be different,' Kumar explained. According to experts, high humidity and high temperature may affect the equipment and cartridges used in the test. Invariable temperature can also lead to inconsistency in the results. 'Solid culture/sputum testing remains the golden standard for Indian conditions. Xpert test can be used for HIV positive... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Anna's health improving: Doctor Posted: 29 Aug 2011 01:32 PM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Gurgaon, Aug 29 - Activist Anna Hazre's health is improving and his blood pressure and heart rate have become stable. However, his normal diet has not been resumed as yet, a doctor attending on him said Monday. 'The improvement has started. He has lost only 200 grams -, which was earlier 500 grams per day. So it is a sign of improvement,' said Naresh Trehan, who has been monitoring Hazare's condition at Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon. Hazare broke his 12-day fast against corruption Sunday morning after drinking coconut water and honey mixture. Thereafter, he was taken to the hospital where he is being given coconut water and honey at regular intervals. 'The weight has stabilised. He has not started the complete diet, it will be done eventually for gradual recovery,' Trehan said in the medical bulletin. Doctors also conducted chest X-rays which gave 'clear reports'. 'Blood ketones have reduced. We will conduct more tests for timely monitoring,' Trehan said, adding that Hazare lost around seven kg during the fasting period. http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| It's official -- chocolate linked to heart health Posted: 29 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) High levels of chocolate consumption might be associated with a one third reduction in the risk of developing heart disease, finds a study published on The findings confirm results of existing studies that generally agree on a potential beneficial link between chocolate consumption and heart health. However, the authors stress that further studies are needed to test whether chocolate actually causes this reduction or if it can be explained by some other unmeasured (confounding) factor. The findings will be presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris at 10:10 hrs (Paris time) / 09:10 hrs (UK time) on Monday 29 August 2011. The World Health Organisation predicts that by 2030, nearly 23.6 million people will die from heart disease. However, lifestyle and diet are key factors in preventing heart disease, says the paper. A number of recent studies have shown that eating chocolate has a positive influence on human health due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This includes reducing blood pressure and improving insulin sensitivity (a stage in the development of diabetes). However, the evidence about how eating chocolate affects your heart still remains unclear. So, Dr Oscar Franco and colleagues from the University of Cambridge carried out a large scale review of the existing evidence to evaluate the effects of eating chocolate on cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. They analysed the results of seven studies, involving over 100,000 participants with and without existing heart disease. For each study, they compared the group with the highest chocolate consumption against the group with the lowest consumption. Differences in study design and quality were also taken into account to minimise bias. Five studies reported a beneficial link between higher levels of chocolate consumption and the risk of cardiovascular events. They found that the highest levels of chocolate consumption... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Discontinuation of smokeless tobacco after myocardial infarction linked to improved survival Posted: 29 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) In this prospective cohort study, presented today at the ESC Congress 2011, discontinuation of smokeless tobacco after a myocardial infarction (MI) is associated with a lower risk of subsequent mortality. Investigators found that post MI snus quitters had a 44 % lower risk of total mortality. The association seems to be independent of smoking habits, but partly explained by concomitant changes in other lifestyle variables. Smokeless tobacco in the form of Swedish snus (oral moist snuff) has been advocated as a safer alternative to smoking. Snus takes the form of a finely ground and moistened tobacco, a bolus of which is placed under the upper lip for around an hour, with daily exposure times estimated to be around 10 to 12 hours. Different formulations exist from loose tobacco to sachets. In Sweden, 20% of adult males and 4% of adult females are estimated to be daily users. The sale of snus is illegal in the rest of the European Union, but widespread and increasing in the United States. While cigarettes are indeed associated with more negative health effects, smokeless tobacco can't be regarded as harmless, said Gabriel Arefalk from Uppsala University (Uppsala, Sweden), the first author of the study. In Sweden every time we discharge an MI patient who's a snus user, we're faced with the clinically important question of whether they should discontinue use. Of concern, he added, has been a meta-analysis suggesting that use of smokeless tobacco results in an increased risk for fatal MIs, indicating that snus use may predispose people to arrhythmic or other serious complications of MIs. In the current prospective cohort study, 20,911 consecutive patients aged 75 years or less who had been admitted between 2005 and 2009 to coronary care units for an MI in Sweden, were followed. Two months post discharge, information about risk factors such as past and present tobacco exposure, diabetes, hypertension, body mass index and waist... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Clinical outcomes in PCI patients given sirolimus-eluting and everolimus-eluting stents Posted: 29 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The second generation drug-eluting stent, everolimus-eluting stent (EES), has consistently demonstrated superior clinical outcomes in randomised controlled trials over the first generation drug-eluting stent, paclitaxel-eluting stent. However, other earlier studies comparing EES with another first generation drug-eluting stent, sirolimus-eluting stent (SES), have only demonstrated the non-inferiority of EES; the superiority of EES relative to SES in terms of target-lesion revascularisation has not yet been investigated in adequately powered randomised controlled trials. This has now been addressed in the Randomised Evaluation of Sirolimus-eluting versus Everolimus-eluting stent Trial (RESET), a prospective randomised multicentre open label trial comparing EES with SES in daily clinical practice in Japan. The trial was performed in patients scheduled for percutaneous coronary intervention with drug-eluting stents, who were enrolled without any exclusion criteria. The primary efficacy endpoint was defined as any target-lesion revascularisation. The trial was a sequential non-inferiority and superiority study, which was powered for non-inferiority on the primary efficacy endpoint at one year after the index procedure. Between February and July 2010, a total of 3206 patients were enrolled in the trial among 100 participating centres. Excluding nine patients who withdrew consent, 3197 patients were randomly assigned to receive either of the twp investigation stents. An angiographic sub-study evaluating in-segment late lumen loss and angiographic restenosis rate at eight months included 571 patients. The study population included large proportions of patients with advanced age, diabetes and prior PCI. The two groups of patients were well balanced in terms of baseline clinical, angiographic and procedural characteristics. Results of this large randomised trial comparing showed EES to be non-inferior to SES in terms of target-lesion... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Elite cross-country skiing linked to increased risk of subsequent arrhythmias Posted: 29 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A Swedish study presented at the ESC Congress 2011 today, found a higher incidence of arrhythmias in cross-country skiers with a long history of endurance training. Compared to those who had completed one single race, those who had completed 7 or more races had 29% higher risk of a subsequent arrhythmia. Further, elite athletes finishing at 100-160% of the winning time had 37% higher risk of arrhythmias than recreational athletes finishing at more than 241% of the winning time. Although it is well established that physical training significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, earlier reports have indicated a higher incidence of arrhythmias (heart rhythm disorders) among elite athletes committed to endurance sports. Different types of arrhythmias have different severity, but the most feared situation is when a young athlete suffers a sudden death caused by a ventricular tachycardia (fast heart rhythm originating from the large chambers). This tragic event is most often seen in athletes with an unknown pre-existing heart disease. Other types of arrhythmias are less serious but most uncomfortable for the athlete. Atrial fibrillation (fast irregular heart rhythm) is the most frequent, and athletes suffering from atrial fibrillation have an unpleasant feeling in the chest, decreased performance and higher risk of suffering from stroke. Earlier small studies have reported a higher incidence of atrial fibrillation and bradyarrhythmias (slow heart rhythm) among endurance sport athletes but no large scale studies have been presented. This study's aim is to investigate the risk of arrhythmias in a large group of endurance-trained athletes. Every year the first Sunday of March, around 15,000 participants in the Swedish skiing event Vasaloppet endure 90 strenuous kilometres of cross-country skiing. The participants are ranging from elite to recreational athletes, and their training status (measured as maximal oxygen consumption)... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| Potential benefits of remote follow-up of ICD patients Posted: 29 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Results from the EVATEL (EVAluation of TELe follow-up) trial are the first in Europe to demonstrate potential safety and efficacy benefits from the remote follow-up of ICD patients. The trial was conducted in France, with the financial support of the French Ministry for Health and independent of any manufacturer grants. ICDs (implantable cardioverter defibrillators) are devices routinely implanted in patients at risk of sudden cardiac death as a result of rhythm disturbances. The expending indications for ICDs are expected to have an impact on follow-up strategy, as the number of patients with ICDs is increasing rapidly. Currently, explains investigator Dr Philippe Mabo form the University Hospital of Rennes, France, regular in-clinic follow-up must be performed every three months, according to manufacturer guidelines. But there are two drawbacks to the in-clinic follow-up - they're time-constrained for both the patient and the clinic, and there's no link between the time of the appointment and the clinical event or device malfunction. So there's a clinical need to consider new follow-up strategy. In response, several manufacturers have developed new technologies which allow the remote transmission of information from the device and on its therapeutic effect. Critical data can be transmitted at any time on system integrity or unexpected events - for example, lead integrity, battery status or ineffectively delivered therapy. Data stored in the device are transmitted by phone from the patient's home to the implant centre, with website access to the data. In this context, said Dr Mabo, remote device follow-up seems to be a promising technique for device follow-up. But the technology needed clinical validation in terms of safety, efficacy and cost-efficiency, which were the objectives of the EVATEL trial. The study included 1501 patients from 30 French centres enrolled between January 2008 and January 2010. They were each... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
| How a cardiovascular prevention program in a Brazilian school reduced parent's CVD risk Posted: 29 Aug 2011 05:00 AM PDT ( From http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A multidisciplinary educational programme in cardiovascular prevention directed to children of school age can reduce their parents' cardiovascular risk. Cardiovascular prevention could have more success focusing on children first, inducing healthier lifestyle habits in the whole family, said investigator Luciana Fornari, from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The inspiration for this study, presented today at the ESC Congress 2011 in Paris, came with her motherhood, and the perception that her children could efficiently modify the family's habits with concepts that they have learned at school. For the study, 197 children aged 6 to 10 years from a private school in the city of Jundiai (located about 60 km from Sao Paulo), and their 323 parents were divided into two groups. Children in the control group (which assessed of 161 parents with a mean age of 39 years) were provided with written educational material at the beginning and middle 2010. The material included information about benefits of healthy life style, such as a fat and sugar free nutrition, more physical exercises and avoidance of tobacco. Children in the intervention group (which assessed 162 parents with a mean age of 38 years) were issued with the same material and also exposed to a weekly educational program about cardiovascular prevention that aimed to teach, in different ways adapted to their ages, concepts of healthy nutrition, tobacco avoidance and the importance of physical activity. The programme included educational films and plays, and discussion about healthy lifestyles with the multidisciplinary team. The children were encouraged to write stories, draw and paint about what they had learned. Children also participated in practical cooking sessions where they learned to make and tasted healthy juices and sandwiches and could discuss with the nutritionists about the contents of different kinds of foods and how to make healthy choices. Parents and children... http://www.rxpgnews.com   |
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