Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Doctors alarmed by rising hepatitis C cases

Dodoma . Heath practitioners here
worried about increasing cases of
hepatitis ‘C’ virus infections among
young adults.

They have also appealed to young
couples intending to get married to test
for the disease which can contacted
through sexual intercourses.

According to the Regional Medical
Officer (RMO) Doctor Nassoro Mzee,
about 70 percent of people going to the
regional Satellite Centre to donate blood
are found with hepatitis infections.

He underscored the need for health
stakeholders and the government to alert
and educate the public over the disease
as most people were only keen and
ready to testing for HIV/Aids before
entering marriages but not hepatitis.

“The situation is worrying…we
encourage the youth to test for the
disease before tying their knots because
the disease is spread also through sexual
intercourse,” he added.

The medic disclosed that, hepatitis ‘C’
was the most dangerous form of
hepatitis virus that attacks liver and
cause fever and jaundice.

Lab work discovers bladder cell secret against urinary infection

The natural defense provided by bladder cells against
Escherichia coli bacteria behind most urinary tract
infections (UTIs) involves physically ejecting those that have
invaded host cells and escaped acid destruction.

The laboratory discovery, published in Cell, a journal for
fundamental biology research, suggests an avenue of scientific
investigation into ways of capitalizing on this natural tendency,
to help treat recurring UTIs.

Senior author Soman Abraham, PhD, from the Duke University
School of Medicine in Durham, NC, explains:

"Because E. coli are able to hide inside of the bladder cells,
it's especially difficult to treat UTIs with regular antibiotics.
"So there is increased need to find new strategies for
treatment, including co-opting any preexisting cellular tactics to
combating infection."

The professor in Duke's departments of pathology, immunology,
and microbiology and molecular genetics is also professor in the
emerging infectious diseases program at the Duke-National
University of Singapore. He suggests the financial importance
of work against urinary tract infections:

"The cost for managing UTIs in the US is close to $3 billion
annually."

Urinary tract infections - the vast majority of which are
caused by E. coli - come near the top of the list for our
most common types of infection, according to information from
the National Institutes of Health .

Because of their anatomy , which allows easier access for the
bacteria to reach the bladder, women are more prone to UTIs
than men, but around 8.1 million visits to health care providers
each year are blamed on these infections overall.
Acid envelopes that failed to degrade bacteria were
simply ejected

The basic strategy identified by the biologists was for bladder
cells to hit the ejector button on those acid envelopes that the
bacteria had successfully survived.

The first tactic called on against E. coli by bladder cells is
the normal first line of cellular defense - autophagy - or
eliminating pathogens that have entered the cell by encasing
them and shuttling them off to lysosomes.

The acidic environment of lysosomes - "capsular cauldrons," as
the Duke researchers call them - destroys pathogens. But on
entering the lysosome, some pathogens have the capacity to
neutralize the acidic environment.

The authors discovered, however, that host cells are able to
sense when lysosomes have been affected in this way, and
trigger ejection of the lysosome contents and bacteria - but
with the pathogens seemingly encased in a cell membrane,
"presumably" ensuring their elimination in urine and avoiding any
bacterial reattachment to the bladder wall.

The findings of the study come from laboratory work with
mouse models of UTIs and human bladder cells used in culture.
First author Yuxuan Miao, a doctoral candidate in Duke's
department of molecular genetics and microbiology, says:
The hope of the researchers is that the new biology will help
in identifying chemical targets to accelerate and amplify the
bladder cells' own bacterial expulsion tactics.

Could painkillers prevent recurring urinary tract infections?

An estimated 50% of all women will experience a urinary tract
infection at some point in their lives, and 20-40% of these
women will have recurring infections, putting them at risk for
kidney and bloodstream infections. But now, new research
suggests over-the-counter painkillers could help prevent such
infections from occurring.

Investigators from Washington University School of Medicine in
St. Louis, MO, presented their findings at the annual meeting
of the American Society for Microbiology.

They found that, by inhibiting an immune protein that causes
inflammation - called COX-2 - they were able to eliminate
repeat urinary tract infections in mice. The team explains that
COX-2 can be blocked by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs (NSAIDs), which includes ibuprofen.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), urinary tract infections (UTIs) are responsible for
around 4 million ambulatory-care visits every year in the US.

Most UTIs are caused by the bacterium Escherichia coli ,
which lives in the bowel. While men also get UTIs, women are
especially prone to them because their urethra is shorter -
which allows bacteria better access to the bladder - and a
woman's urethral opening is in proximity to bacteria sources
from the anus and vagina.

NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen, blocked a protein that causes
inflammation and significantly reduced vulnerability to repeat
UTIs.

Each time a woman has a UTI, her chances of having
recurrent infections increases, and severe infections with
sepsis can even be fatal.

In previous mouse studies, the researchers - led by Thomas
Hannan - found that the immune system overreacted to initial
infections, which suggested increased vulnerability to infections
that followed.

"We thought that the immune response was too weak in
patients who kept getting urinary tract infections," explains
Hannan, "but we are learning that an overly strong immune
response can be just as problematic."

He and his team found that immune cells, called neutrophils,
contribute to repeat infections in both women and mice. The
neutrophils leave tracks in the protective lining of the bladder
when they break in to fight infection, the researchers say.

Such damage could provide "footholds" that allow bacteria to
grab hold of the bladder lining and initiate severe infections.
COX- 2 inhibitors reduced susceptibility to repeat
infections

By manipulating the strength of the neutrophil response in
mice, so it was not too little or too much, the researchers
were able to wipe out UTIs without increasing the risk of
future infection.

They found that mice with increased susceptibility to recurring
infections had more inflammatory molecules in their bladder,
compared with mice that were not vulnerable to repeat
infections.

However, when such mice were treated with COX-2 inhibitors,
the team observed they showed a significantly reduced
vulnerability to repeat infections.

After examining the effect of COX-2 inhibitors on the immune
response in the bladder, the researchers found that while
neutrophils still entered the bladder in large numbers, they
caused significantly less damage to the protective lining.

As such, the team believes COX-2 inhibitors can selectively aim
for the adverse effects of inflammation while keeping the
beneficial responses.

Senior author Scott Hultgren, director of the Center for
Women's Infectious Disease Research at Washington University,
says their results are "encouraging," and that they "hope to
verify the potential benefits of COX-2 inhibitors soon in a large
clinical trial."

Kidney Infection: Causes, Symptoms

If kidney infection is not treated promptly, there is a risk of
serious complications, including kidney damage and blood
poisoning (sepsis). It is usually treated with antibiotics . In many
cases, patients with kidney infection are hospitalized.
According to the National Health Service (NHS), UK,
approximately 28 to 35 English people in every 100,000
develop a kidney infection annually. Women are more commonly
affected by kidney infection, as are pregnant mothers, children
under two years of age, as well as individuals over 60.

There are two types of kidney infection:


  • Uncomplicated kidney infection - the patient is healthy and serious complications are highly unlikely.
  • Complicated kidney infection - the patient is morelikely to suffer complications, perhaps because of a pre-existing illness or condition.


Causes of kidney infections


  • Weakened immune systems - some patients with

weakened immune systems may have a bacterial or fungal
infection on their skin which eventually gets into the
bloodstream and attacks the kidneys, causing an infection
there.


  • The urethra - Alternatively, the pathogen (e.g bacteria)

may get into the urethra and reproduce in the bladder,
infecting it. The infection may then spread into the kidneys.


  • Toilet hygiene - after going to the toilet and using

toilet paper to wipe one's anus, there may be contact with
the genitals, resulting in an infection getting through and
working its way up to the kidneys. The infection could also
enter via the anus - E. coli , a type of bacteria, can exist
in the colon and eventually cause a kidney infection.


  • Female physiology - women are more vulnerable

bladder infections and ultimately kidney infections than men,
because their urethra is shorter, making it easier for
infections to reach parts of the urinary tract more quickly.


  • Urinary catheter - a urinary catheter is a tube that is

inserted into the bladder through the urethra to drain our
urine. Having a urinary catheter raises the risk of developing
a urinary tract infection, including kidney infection.


  • Kidney stones - individuals with kidney stones have a

higher risk of developing kidney infection. Kidney stones are
the result of a build-up of dissolved minerals on the inner
lining of the kidneys.


  • Enlarged prostate - males with an enlarged prostate

have a higher risk of developing kidney infections.


  • Sexually active females - if sexual intercourse

irritates the urethra there may be a higher risk of bacteria
getting inside the urinary tract, and eventually reaching the
kidneys.

Symptoms of kidney infection

A symptom is something the patient feels and reports, while a
sign is something other people, such as the doctor, detect. For
example, pain may be a symptom while a rash may be a sign.
When someone has a kidney infection it normally develops quite
fast - in a day or a few hours. The patient will typically have:
Diarrhea A high temperature of 38 ºc (100.4ºf) or above
Nausea Uncontrollable shivering Vomiting Back pain Pain in the groin
Pain in the side Often symptoms are worse when the patient urinates.

If there is also a corresponding bladder infection ( cystitis or
urethritis) the individual may experience:

Bloody urine
Cloudy urine
Dysuria - pain or difficult urination. Often described as a
burning or stinging sensation.
Foul smelling urine
Frequent urination
Inability to urinate fully
Pain in the lower abdomen.

What does the urinary tract consist of ?

The urinary tract consists of:
The kidneys - the majority of humans have two kidneys,
one on either side of the abdomen. Kidneys clear toxins
(poisons) from blood. Urea is the most important part of the
waste products that are taken out by the kidneys. The
kidneys also regulate acid concentrations, as well as
maintaining water balance in the body by excreting urine.
Water is mixed with urea to produce urine.

The ureters - urine passes through the connecting tubes
called ureters from the kidneys to the bladder. Each
kidney has one ureter connecting it to the bladder. Most of
us have two kidneys, and therefore two ureters. People
with just one kidney have just one ureter.

The bladder - a hollow organ (sac) in the lower
abdomen that stores urine. Known as the urinary bladder.
The urethra - a tube that carries urine from the bladder
to outside the body. In males the urethra goes down the
middle of the penis to an opening at the end. In males the
urethra also carries semen to outside the body. In females
the urethra goes from the bladder to above the vaginal
opening. The urethra in females is shorter than in males.

Cranberries help urinary tract infections, but not as juice

A urinary tract infection (UTI) can affect any part of the
urinary system, kidneys, bladder or urethra.

More than 3 million Americans, mostly women, experience a
UTI every year.

Symptoms include frequent, painful urination, pelvic pain and
traces blood in the urine. The infection does not normally last
long, and most patients self-diagnose.

For many, the first port of call is a box of cranberry juice.
However, new research suggests that while cranberry
capsules can help, cranberry juice may be little more than a
panacea.

Dr. Timothy Boone, PhD, vice dean of the Texas A&M Health
Science Center College of Medicine in Houston, and colleagues
wanted to know if cranberries can really help.

Cranberry capsules reduce the prevalence of UTI
The team studied 160 patients aged 23-88 years who were
undergoing elective gynecological surgery between 2011-2013.
Normally, 10-64% of women undergoing this kind of surgery will
develop a UTI following the removal of the catheter.

Half of the patients received two cranberry juice capsules
twice daily - the equivalent in strength to two 8-ounce servings
of cranberry juice - for 6 weeks after surgery. The others
took a placebo.

Cranberry capsules lowered the risk of UTIs by 50%. In the
cranberry treatment group, 19% of patients developed a UTI,
compared with 38% of the placebo group.

So, how does it work? For a UTI to occur, bacteria must
adhere to and invade the lining of the bladder. Cranberries
contain A-type proanthocyanidins (PACs), which interfere with
the bacteria's ability to the bladder wall, reducing the likelihood
of infection.

Cranberry juice will not do the trick
However, the researchers point out that since a cranberry
capsule provides the equivalent of 8 ounces of cranberry juice,
a patient would need a lot of pure cranberry to prevent an
infection.

Dr. Boone explains: "It takes an extremely large concentration
of cranberry to prevent bacterial adhesion. This amount of
concentration is not found in the juices we drink. There's a
possibility it was stronger back in our grandparents' day, but
definitely not in modern times." He adds:

He also cautions that a UTI and an overactive bladder may
show similar symptoms, and people should seek medical advice if
any adverse symptoms appear, to prevent UTIs from developing
into kidney infections.

Treatment of UTIs can be complicated. Approximately 20-30%
of women have recurring UTIs, and concerns about antibiotic
resistance mean that both doctors and patients may be
unwilling to use such medication.

Frequent Monitoring May Keep Alcohol Offenders Sober

A South Dakota
program that requires people involved in alcohol-linked crimes
to stay away from booze and be closely monitored for
drinking appears to reduce deaths, a new study finds.
Offenders in the program must undergo breathalyzer tests
twice a day or wear bracelets that continuously check for
alcohol. Those who skip or fail the tests are immediately jailed
for a short time, typically a day or two, the study authors
said.

The 24/7 Sobriety Program was launched as a pilot program
in 2005 and was associated with a 4 percent drop in
deaths at the county level. The largest reductions occurred
among causes of death linked with excessive drinking, such as
circulatory conditions, according to RAND Corp. researchers.
"Our findings suggest that criminal justice interventions that
reduce heavy alcohol consumption may, in turn, influence
mortality," lead author and senior economist Nancy Nicosia
said in a news release from the nonprofit research
organization.

"Further work is needed to better understand how programs
like 24/7 Sobriety affect not only participants, but also those
who are not direct participants, such as their spouses,
partners or peers," she added.

The findings were published online Feb. 9 in The Lancet
Psychiatry.

Nearly 17,000 people -- about 3 percent of South Dakota's
adult population -- took part in the program between 2005
and 2011. Nearly half entered the program after a repeat
drunk driving offense, while others had first-time drunk
driving, assault or domestic violence offenses, the
researchers said.

In a previous RAND study, investigators found that the 24/7
programs reduced county-level repeat drunk driving arrests by
12 percent and domestic violence arrests by 9 percent. The
program is now being implemented in other parts of the
United States.

Weakened Knees a Big Cause of Falls for Older People: Study

"Falls, injury from falls and poor balance confidence are
extremely common and debilitating problems in older people,"
said study author Michael Nevitt, a professor of epidemiology
and biostatistics at the University of California, San
Francisco.

"The present study has demonstrated for the first time that
knee instability and knee buckling are important causes of
these problems in the very large segment of the older
population suffering from knee pain," Nevitt added.

Therefore, doctors should make treating knee instability a
priority among older patients, the researchers said.

Often triggered by weak muscles and poor balance, knee
buckling is common among older people and those with knee
osteoarthritis, the researchers explained. Along with
sustaining serious injuries from falls, older people may develop
fears about losing their balance and falling again.

The scientists examined the association between knee buckling
among older people and their health and quality of life. The
study involved more than 1,800 people whose average age
was 67 when the study began. The participants either had
knee osteoarthritis or were at high risk for the condition.
Knee buckling affected almost 17 percent of them at the end
of five years. After seven years, 14 percent had recurrent
falls, the study published Feb. 8 in Arthritis Care &
Research found.

The researchers noted those whose knees "gave out" after
five years were more than twice as likely to experience
repeated falls, fear of falling and concerns about their
balance two years later.

The participants who fell when their knee buckled at the
beginning of the study were more than four times as likely to
have experienced repeated falls in the next two years. They
were also twice as likely to be seriously hurt in a fall. Their
risk tripled for fall-related injuries that limit activities, and they
were four times more likely to have balance issues, the
researchers said.

"Fortunately, it may be possible to treat knee instability and
prevent knee buckling with targeted exercises. Joint
replacement surgery can also improve knee stability," Nevitt
said.

The researchers said doctors should talk to patients with
knee osteoarthritis about their balance and whether their
knees buckle.

These patients should then be counseled on protecting
themselves from falls, including how to use walking aids,
strengthen their legs and choose supportive shoes, they
added.

Overactive Thyroid Linked to Breast Cancer Risk

A team of Danish researchers found that women with the
condition -- called hyperthyroidism -- appeared to face an 11
percent increase in their risk for breast cancer, compared to
women with a normal-functioning thyroid gland.

On the other hand, women with the opposite problem -- a
condition called hypothyroidism, where abnormally low levels of
thyroid hormones are produced -- saw their risk for breast
cancer dip 6 percent below that of women with normal
thyroids.

But at least one breast cancer expert not involved with the
study said she was reluctant to read too much into the study
findings.

The findings stem from a 36-year review that identified
nearly 80,000 Danish women with an overactive thyroid and
more than 61,000 women with an underactive thyroid. All of
the women were cancer-free when they entered the study,
which ran from 1978 to 2013.

Breast cancer incidence was then tracked for roughly every
five to seven years.

Study lead author Dr. Jens Otto Lunde Jorgensen said that
while the review followed patients far longer than previous
efforts, the new findings aren't all that surprising. In fact,
he noted that "a similar association between overactive
thyroid disease and [the] risk of breast cancer in women
has been reported in three out of four previous studies."
At the same time, he stressed that while an overactive
thyroid was found to be associated with breast cancer risk,
one does not necessarily cause the other, adding that "the
possible explanations for this 'association' are many."

"Women with thyroid disease are more likely to see their
doctor and to undergo examinations including mammography,"
Jorgensen said. "Women with overactive thyroid disease also
are predisposed to other diseases such as breast cancer, but
it is not the overactive thyroid by itself. Thyroid hormones may
contribute to development of breast cancer. [And]
treatment of overactive thyroid disease increases the risk of
breast cancer. These are all possibilities, but the bottom line is
that we do not know for sure."

Jorgensen, a clinical professor in the department of
endocrinology and internal medicine at Aarhus University
Hospital in Denmark, and his colleagues report the findings in
the Feb. 11 issue of the European Journal of
Endocrinology.

The researchers pointed out that the thyroid gland is central
to metabolic control. Women are much more likely than men to
have an overactive thyroid, a diagnosis faced by
approximately 51 out of every 100,000 people every year,
researchers said.

Jorgensen added that while thyroid cancer screening is an
increasingly common practice, the new finding "does not
justify increased screening for overactive thyroid disease."

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the
thyroid is a key hormonal gland that plays a major role in the
metabolism, growth and maturation of the human body. It
helps to regulate a variety of functions by constantly
releasing a steady stream of hormones into the bloodstream.
Dr. Courtney Vito, a breast surgeon and an assistant clinical
professor of surgical oncology at the City of Hope
Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif., said it would
be a mistake to make too much out of the study findings.

"First of all, this is a very homogenous group of women," she
said of the Danish participants. "There would never be a
study group like that in the U.S., where there is a lot of
ethnic variation and we are a much more heterogeneous
population. So, these findings might not be generalizable
across other populations."

"There were also plenty of flaws in the study design," Vito
added. For example, she noted that "high thyroid levels were
only shown to have estrogen-like properties in a test tube,
not in actual people. And they [the researchers] didn't
take into account family breast cancer histories, and didn't
comment on how bad anyone's thyroid disease actually was.

"So, I would say that we do know that the endocrine system
is much more complex than our current understanding, and
that breast cancer is clearly a hormonally driven disease that
we clearly need much more [research] to better
understand," she said.

"And this is a study that would make you scratch your head
and think this is interesting, and probably worth a second
look. But there is certainly nothing conclusive here at all."
SOURCES: Jens Otto Lunde Jorgensen, M.D., clinical
professor, department of endocrinology and internal medicine,
Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; Courtney Vito,
M.D., breast surgeon and assistant clinical professor, surgical
oncology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center,
Duarte, Calif.; Feb. 11, 2016, European Journal of
Endocrinology

Study Counters Stereotypes About Native Americans and Alcohol

Native Americans are more likely to avoid alcohol than whites,
and both groups have similar rates of heavy and binge
drinking, University of Arizona researchers found.

The study authors analyzed responses from more than
4,000 Native Americans and 170,000 white Americans who
took part in a federal government survey between 2009 and
2013.

Sixty percent of Native Americans said they drank no alcohol
in the past month, compared with 43 percent of whites. In
both groups, 17 percent were binge drinkers and 8 percent
were heavy drinkers.

Binge drinking was defined as having five or more drinks at
one sitting on one to four days in the past month. Heavy
drinking was having five or more drinks on five or more days
in the past month, the study noted.

The study was published online recently in the journal Drug
and Alcohol Dependence .

"Of course, debunking a stereotype doesn't mean that alcohol
problems don't exist. All major U.S. racial and ethnic groups
face problems due to alcohol abuse, and alcohol use within
those groups can vary with geographic location, age and
gender," lead author James Cunningham said in a university
news release.

"But falsely stereotyping a group regarding alcohol can have
its own unique consequences," said Cunningham, a social
epidemiologist with the university's department of family and
community medicine and its Native American Research and
Training Center.

"For example," he explained, "some employers might be
reluctant to hire individuals from a group that has been
stereotyped regarding alcohol. Patients from such a group,
possibly wanting to avoid embarrassment, may be reluctant to
discuss alcohol-related problems with their doctors."

Study co-author Teshia Solomon, director of the center,
pointed out that while alcohol use among Native Americans is
comparable to that of whites, that doesn't mean they have
similar rates of alcohol-related health problems.

"Native Americans as a group have less access to medical
care, safe housing and quality food, which can amplify health
problems connected to alcohol," she said.

In addition, study co-author Dr. Myra Muramoto, head of
family and community medicine, said that negative stereotyping
of people who have less access to care creates even more
health disparities.

"Based on a false negative stereotype, some health care
providers may inaccurately attribute a presenting health
problem to alcohol use and fail to appropriately diagnose and
treat the problem," Muramoto said in the news release.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Rise of Zika, sad reminder of war on elusive viruses

Dar es Salaam. The World Health
Organisation (WHO) has once again
declared a ‘Global Health Emergency of
International Concern’. This time it’s the
virus Zika – an organism previously little
known to most people – but already a
major cause for concern around the
globe.

The rise of Zika in the Americas now
comes as a sad reminder that viruses
may continue to threaten global health
security, with Africans, including
Tanzania, being no exception.

Historically, viruses have persistently
terrorised the world. Small pox, whose
viral strain led to the death of millions
of people across the globe, is a typical
example. It was finally eradicated in the
1970s.

That, however, did not mean an end to
the most threatening of all
microorganisms. In the 1980s, it was the
human immunodeficiency virus —
perhaps the most serious pandemic up to
this day.

After HIV, a series of other viruses have
continued to emerge and re-emerge, and
the list grows by day. If it’s not about
Bird flu in Asia, it’s the Lassa fever in
Nigeria, Mar bug in Uganda or dengue
fever in Tanzania. Scientists baffled
Evidently, health scientists are still
somehow baffled by the nature of the
viruses. They are still trying to figure out
the best way to tackle them and close to
the end of last year, a team of African
health scientists gathered in Arusha
Tanzania to devise ways of taming the
troublesome bugs.

All this happens at a time the world is
slowly recovering from the shock of an
Ebola outbreak in West Africa, where
more than 10,000 people died of the
viral disease in that region, according to
WHO figures.

Despite the fact that Ebola infections are
about to be brought down to zero in
West Africa, there is still no reason for
the world to relax. The viruses,
“notoriously smart” as they seem, they
never cease to amaze the world. They
would emerge and re-emerge, unless
something is done.

“They are somehow like terrorists. You
never know when they would strike,’’
one scientist, a leading Ugandan
virologist, Dr Julius Lutwama, reckoned
at the recent meeting in Arusha.

Dr Lutwama tried to explain to his
fellow scientists, how the viruses were
part of the ecosystem and how African
communities could be mobilised to
report the outbreak of some of these
viral infections immediately when they
emerge.

At the Arusha meeting, African
researchers called for the establishment
of a disease surveillance system that can
cope with the complex nature of viral
diseases on the continent.

There was clamour for immediate
interventions.

One scientist suggested that rural health
personnel, popularly known as
community health workers, could be part
of the solution. But they need training
before they are deployed to strategic
communities.

Early detection
This will have to be strategically
positioned in the remotest parts of
nations, where the potential of viral
outbreaks is higher for early detection.
Zika was not part of the agenda neither
was it mentioned at the Arusha meeting,
which was organised by Connecting
Organisations for Regional Disease
Surveillance (Cords).

Back then the virus had not yet attracted
as much attention as it has done over the
past few weeks. There was no serious
outbreak of Zika reported yet on the
continent. Ebola, Rift Valley Fever, H5N1
or Swine Flu and Dengue Fever,
somehow dominated the agenda.

It can be assumed that even if anyone at
the meeting had mentioned the word
Zika, it was perhaps in reference to some
studies previously done in Uganda, about
the emerging and re-emerging viruses.
Yet the virus is not a newcomer. Zika
virus was discovered about 70 years ago
in Uganda. But it was later found to
infect humans in Tanzania, Sierra
Leone, several other African countries,
and some parts of Asia.

But there are new fears following the re-
emergence of Zika in the Americas.
Allaying fears

However, Tanzania’s Health minister,
Ms Ummy Mwalimu, was quick to allay
public fears the virus would nor find its
way into Tanzania.

In the meantime, there is increasing
coverage of the spread and dangers
posed by the virus in local and
international media.

In Tanzania, previous studies show the
virus infected a section of the population
in the 1950s.

Researchers have noted that Zika,
Chikungunya and dengue have been part
of the country’s ecosystem for long. It
may be just a matter of time before such
viruses re-emerge.

About two years ago, when Tanzania
experienced an outbreak of the dengue
fever, many people struggled even to
grasp the name of the virus.

Studies had earlier indicated that the
virus was prevalent in Tanzania, five
years earlier than the outbreak.
In West Africa, when Ebola emerged,
authorities in the region were shocked.
It took long before they came to terms
with the emergence of a virus that was
previously thought to be of Congolese
origin.

But that’s how viruses operate. It should
not come as a surprise if the Usutu virus
-- identified in South Africa in 1959 –
causes another headache in the future,
be it in Africa, Europe or the Americas.

Valentine's Day Can Still Be Sweet for Loved Ones With Diabetes

If your sweetheart has diabetes or prediabetes, get creative and
celebrate Valentine's Day without chocolates or a fancy
restaurant meal, an expert says.

Instead of going out for dinner, go on an outing that includes
a hike, bicycle ride or vigorous walk, suggested Debora
Nagata, a diabetes educator at the University of California,
Los Angeles Medical Center in Santa Monica.

For your excursion, you can pack a picnic basket that includes
items such as low-fat cheese, olives, fresh vegetables with a
raita Indian yogurt dip, nuts, hummus, antipasto salad, sliced
apple, smoked salmon or low-sodium, low-fat sliced turkey and
a bottle of sparkling water.

"You could even include a small glass of red wine," Nagata
said in a medical center news release. "Be sure to have food
with your wine as alcohol can initially increase your blood
sugar, but then it can cause a drop, or hypoglycemia."
It's also OK to share a special cookie or some sugar-free or
dark chocolates.

"Everyone needs an occasional treat or they feel deprived,
but think quality, not quantity," Nagata said.
She added that roses and jewelry pose no risk to people with
diabetes.

More than 29 million Americans have diabetes and 86 million
have prediabes, according to the American Diabetic
Association.

New Mental Challenges Can Sharpen Aging Brain: Study

The research, from the University of Texas at Dallas,
included 39 older adults who were randomly assigned to high-
or low-mental challenge groups or to a control group.

Those participants in the high-challenge group spent at least
15 hours a week for 14 weeks learning increasingly more
demanding skills in digital photography, quilting or both. Those
in the low-challenge group spent 15 hours a week socializing
and doing activities related to such topics as travel and
cooking, but with no active learning.

Those in the control group did things such as listening to
music, playing simple games or watching classic movies.
All of the participants underwent brain scans and mental
skills tests before and after the programs, and some were
retested a year later.

After 14 weeks, those in the high-challenge group showed
better memory performance and could judge hard words more
accurately than those in the other two groups. And, some of
these improvements remained a year later, according to the
study published recently in the journal Restorative
Neurology and Neuroscience .

"The present findings provide some of the first experimental
evidence that mentally challenging leisure activities can
actually change brain function and that it is possible that such
interventions can restore levels of brain activity to a more
youth-like state," said senior author Denise Park, of the
university's Center for Vital Longevity and the School of
Behavioral and Brain Sciences. "However, we would like to
conduct much larger studies to determine the universality of
this effect and understand who will benefit the most from
such an intervention.

"Although there is much more to be learned, we are cautiously
optimistic that age-related cognitive declines can be slowed or
even partially restored if individuals are exposed to sustained,
mentally challenging experiences," she said in a journal news
release.

Friday, February 12, 2016

More Young Breast Cancer Patients Getting Gene Test

Researchers found that of nearly 900 women who developed
breast cancer at age 40 or younger, most had undergone
BRCA testing within a year of their diagnosis.

And the percentage went up over time: By 2013, 95 percent
had been tested, according to findings published online Feb. 11
in JAMA Oncology.

Experts called the results good news, since BRCA testing has
long been recommended for women diagnosed with breast
cancer before the age of 50.

"This is great, it's heartening," said Dr. Jeffrey Weitzel,
director of clinical cancer genetics at City of Hope, in Duarte,
Calif.

But, he added, women in the study were largely white, well-
educated and had health insurance -- and it's unlikely that
disadvantaged U.S. women would show the same high rate of
BRCA testing.

"We need to keep working on extending the reach of genetic
testing," said Weitzel, who co-wrote an editorial published with
the study.

Media coverage following actress Angelina Jolie's disclosure
that she carried the BRCA1 mutation has improved awareness
about the testing and cancer preventive surgeries, previous
research has suggested.

Jolie had both of her breasts removed in 2013 after learning
she has the BRCA mutation. And, in 2015, she had her
ovaries and fallopian tubes removed due to the significantly
increased risk of ovarian cancer that stems from having the
BRCA1 mutation. But, the authors of the new study note that
the rise in gene testing among patients in this study largely
predated Jolie's disclosure.

Inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes account
for 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers, and about 15
percent of all ovarian cancers, according to the U.S. National
Cancer Institute.

Since the mutations raise the risk of early cancer, women
who develop either disease at a young age have a relatively
higher chance of harboring the flawed genes.

So BRCA testing is recommended for women diagnosed with
breast cancer before age 50. That's, in part, to help guide
their treatment decisions, explained Dr. Ann Partridge, the
senior researcher on the new study, and an oncologist at
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston.

Women who carry the mutations have a high risk of
developing a second cancer in the other breast, so some may
want to opt for a double-mastectomy as a preventive
measure. (Experts also advise women with BRCA mutations to
have their ovaries removed by age 40, since there is no
screening test for ovarian cancer, or any way to prevent it.)
BRCA testing also gives families information, Partridge
explained. "On one hand, it could give them some peace of
mind if the test is negative," she said. If it's positive, then
certain family members may want to be tested, too, she
added.

For the current study, Partridge and her colleagues surveyed
897 women who'd been diagnosed with breast cancer at age
40 or younger, at some point between 2006 and 2013. All
were treated at one of 11 hospitals in Massachusetts,
Colorado and Minnesota.

Of women diagnosed in 2006, 77 percent said they'd
received BRCA testing. That went up to 95 percent among
women diagnosed in 2013, the study reported.

Overall, about 12 percent of women who were tested had a
BRCA mutation. And most of those women -- 86 percent --
decided to have a double-mastectomy, the study showed.
But half of the women who tested negative for a BRCA
mutation also had a double-mastectomy, the researchers
found.

That's concerning, both Partridge and Weitzel said. Women
without the gene mutations have a low risk of developing a
second cancer in the other breast, and there's no evidence
that a double-mastectomy improves their long-term survival.
"We don't want to be doing procedures that aren't medically
indicated," Partridge said.

It's not clear why so many women with negative test results
opted for a double-mastectomy -- but it's also not surprising,
Partridge noted, since it's consistent with past studies.
"Some women may do it for peace of mind," Partridge said, "or
because they do believe it will improve their survival, even
though there's no evidence."

At a time of high anxiety, she said, some women may not fully
process the risk/benefit information they're hearing.
According to Weitzel, BRCA testing should ideally include
genetic counseling, to help ensure that women understand
their results.

But in reality, that counseling does not always happen, he
said.

Under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare,
BRCA testing is a covered preventive service for women at
high risk of having a mutation. And, Weitzel said, Medicaid is
now paying for testing, though the coverage varies by state.
There's still work to be done to improve "underserved"
women's access to BRCA testing and counseling, Weitzel said
-- including women in lower-income countries.

Asthma May Raise Risk for Abdominal Aneurysm

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a weak spot in the body's
main artery, the aorta, where it passes through the
abdomen. That weak spot can rupture, causing massive
bleeding. The researchers also found that people with recent
asthma activity were more likely to have an aneurysm rupture
compared to those without recent asthma activity.

"People with abdominal aortic aneurysm who were diagnosed
with asthma within the past year had more than a 50
percent greater risk of ruptured aneurysms than those
without asthma," said lead researcher Guo-Ping Shi, from
Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Men diagnosed with asthma within the preceding six months
were twice as likely to have an aortic aneurysm rupture, Shi
said, adding that the risk was much lower among women.
The researchers also found that use of anti-asthmatic
medication in the last six months was linked to a 45 percent
raised risk of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Shi cautioned that the study only shows an association
between asthma, aneurysm and rupture; it doesn't prove that
asthma causes aneurysm or the rupture of an aneurysm.

The study was published online Feb. 11 in the journal
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm is more likely to occur in older men
who have other risk factors, such as smoking, high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and emphysema, Shi said.
The aorta carries blood to the whole body. When it becomes
weakened it can form a balloon-like bulge that may rupture,
he said. Because an abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture can
be deadly, Shi recommended that men 50 and older with
asthma be checked for aneurysms.

This can be done with a noninvasive ultrasound. And, if
necessary, an aneurysm can be fixed with an operation, Shi
said.

According to Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonologist at Lenox Hill
Hospital in New York City, "If you have asthma and doubts
about whether you have an aneurysm, you can have an
abdominal ultrasound. It's easy and noninvasive."

For the study, Shi and his colleagues collected data from two
national health registries in Denmark. One had information on
nearly 16,000 men and women aged 50 and older. About
4,500 of the adults in this group had an abdominal aortic
aneurysm, the study said. The second registry had information
on 619 people with abdominal aortic aneurysm, along with
information on smoking status.

Shi said the most likely culprit behind the association is a
specific inflammation-related protein called IgE, or
immunoglobulin E, which the body makes in response to
allergens.

IgE makes arteries stiff, which can lead to aneurysm, Shi
said. If IgE is the culprit, the risk for an aneurysm wouldn't
be confined to asthma, but would include allergies and other
allergic diseases, too, because these conditions cause levels of
IgE to increase.

The connection between asthma and aneurysm was first seen
in animal studies. Mice with asthma developed aortic aneurysms
twice as large as those without the disease, Shi said.

Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiovascular medicine
and science at the University of California, Los Angeles, said,
"Asthma involves inflammatory mechanisms, including mast cells
and IgE, and effective treatment of asthma has long involved
therapies that target inflammation."

Recent studies have found that mast cells and IgE can be
found in abdominal aortic aneurysms, he said.

"This study provides additional evidence suggesting that
inflammation is playing a role in abdominal aortic aneurysms
and it may open new lines of research into potential
therapies to prevent the development and rupture of
abdominal aortic aneurysms," Fonarow said.

Friday, February 5, 2016

The no-equipment workout you can do at home


Getting back into shape is a daunting
task to maintain. Crafting a routine that
avoids the usual barriers, like paying for
a gym membership or expensive
equipment, will help to decrease the
likelihood that you will drop out. You
can get the results you want, and be a
healthier you, using your body weight for
targeted exercises at home.
When choosing a new workout routine,
make sure that you pick one that you can
stick with and can gradually make
harder as it becomes less challenging.
The video in the article will show you a
total body workout that you can do at
home with no equipment that can be
made as hard or as easy as you want it.
To make the specific exercises more
challenging, do more repetitions, or hold
for longer time periods. Do this work out
several times in a row to make it the
most challenging. If you feel that you
want to add weight, start with a weight
vest, which is safer and more
challenging than hand weights or kettle
bells. To reduce the intensity of the
workout, you can remove any of the
jumping moves. You may also tailor the
speed of the movements, whether it be
slower to make it easier of faster to make
it harder.
To add a high-intensity component to
this workout, mix in cardio intervals
between each of the exercises. This can
be two minutes of jumping jacks,
running in place, etc. The point is that
you get your heart rate up and keep it
there for at least a minute.  You should
aim to perform a workout like this for
30-45 minutes so keep repeating the
exercises until you reach that desired
time.
When starting a new workout, whether it
is this workout or any other, do not go
overboard. If you have never worked out
or haven’t done so in over a year,
jumping back into the swing of things
with improper form or an unattainable
amount of weight will make injury
inevitable. Most people in a gym cannot
do a proper body weight squat yet, they
are the ones that have loaded their back
with weight.  Moreover, I often see many
people take exercise classes doing
multiple repetitions of weighted lunges,
yet had they just done a few with correct
form, they would have gotten a better
workout and not needed to add the hand
weights.
Push yourself but do exercises that are
sustainable. These exercises may cause
you to feel uncomfortable because they
are working muscles that are not
regularly. So while you may experience
some discomfort, you should not push
through any pain. The most important
thing to understand is that you have to
listen to your body.

How to eat healthier in 2016



unfortunately not maintained.
The number one mistake we
make when setting these well-
intended goals is that they are
tied to a finish line. Declaring to
lose those 10, 20, or 30+ pounds
implies that once the scale
shows a specific number, the
work is done, game over. We
fail to maintain these “Finish
Line Goals” because the focus
becomes all about the milestone,
rather than the habits that help
us achieve the results in the first
place.
This year, I challenge everyone
to set a goal that has no finish
line. Instead, your goal should
be to adopt a new, reoccurring
healthy habit. A great place to
start? Cooking! Kick the New
Year off with this nourishing 7-
day meal plan!
The Plan
Celebrate whole, real food: Rather
than getting caught in the
quantitative trap of total
calories, grams of carbs, and
percent of fat, this plan focuses
on the quality of your food.
When we divert our attention
away from the numbers game
and instead focus on the
abundance of nutrients,
suddenly eating becomes more
nourishing and more enjoyable.
Predominantly plant-based: It’s
safe to say that we can all
benefit from more veggies,
fruits, whole grains, legumes,
nuts and seeds. These foods will
be the core of this meal plan.
That being said, there is no one
size fits all, so if you know you
are someone who needs some
additional animal protein in
your diet to thrive, this plan is
flexible enough for you to do so.
High-quality carbohydrates: The
carbs in this plan will feature
whole grains, root veggies,
legumes, fruits, and vegetables –
these foods contain
carbohydrates packaged with
fiber and plenty of
micronutrients – the best way to
eat a carb for steady blood
sugar and longstanding energy
all day long!
Healthy fats: Anti-inflammatory,
unsaturated fats such as olive
oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, olives
will be the main sources of fat
in this plan. These are fats you
can feel good about eating!
Flavor boosters: These recipes
rely on herbs, spices, vinegars,
and citrus to brighten your food
and pack lots of flavor without
relying on sugar, excess fat, and
excess salt.
A different take on dairy: To limit
the amount of inflammation
and saturated fat in our diet,
this plan recommends
considering non-dairy
alternatives. It also includes
fermented dairy products like
yogurt. The gut-healthy,
immune-boosting bacteria of
these foods (probiotics) help
break down some of the hard-
to-digest lactose that are
problematic in dairy products.
You will also have the
opportunity to try an almond-
based cheese (Kite Hill). If the
idea of eliminating cheese is
making your head spin, I
encourage you to choose a bold,
high quality cheese (so that a
little goes a long way), and be
light-handed (think of cheese
more like butter, use it as a
condiment).
See-ya later sugar: With so much
sugar hidden in our food, our
taste buds have developed a
high demand for it. When
sweetening dishes, this plan
suggests using the natural
sweetness in fruit, dried fruit,
or 100 percent fruit juice to lend
a healthy level of sweetness. If
you still need a little more
sweetness to round out any of
the recipes, choose honey or
grade B maple syrup in small
doses, and say goodbye to
artificial sweeteners!
Healthy staples: This meal plan
will ask that you arm yourself
with some key healthy staples.
Having the right ingredients in
your fridge, pantry, and freezer
empower you with the versatile
tools to whip up something
healthy and delicious on a
whim, with no last minute trip
to the grocery store required. If
you don’t already have these
ingredients on hand, this first
time around may feel like a lot
of purchases and a tall grocery
bill. Rest assured that this is just
an initial investment in
inventory - many of these
staples will last for a while and
you will use them over and over
again. The health investment in
these fundamental ingredients
will pay off in huge dividends
later.
While this plan may appear to
be all about what you eat, it
more accurately demonstrates
the power of healthy habits and
routines. Getting into the groove
of doing some prep work on the
weekend, and always packing
breakfast and lunch the night
before are two game-changing
habits that create healthy
opportunities for the entire
week.
Be prepared to step out of your
comfort zone. Cozy up to the idea
of trying something new. We all
know the famous Einstein
quote: "Insanity is doing the
same thing over and over again
and expecting different results.”
Progress is impossible without
change. There will most likely
be something unfamiliar to you
in this meal plan. Rather than
reverting back to what’s
comfortable, I encourage you to
be open-minded and embrace
these novelties. Have fun with
it!
Be flexible, intuitive, and
resourceful. Take these recipes
with a grain of salt. If a recipe
calls for onion and you only
have a leek – use the leek! An
onion is an onion is an onion –
they are all part of the same
family and can easily be
interchanged. We are not trying
to be Top Chef’s here; we are
simply striving to eat real food.
Relax, and have the confidence
to adapt, adjust, and go with the
flow.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Zika virus takes hold in Colombia

Since being infected with the Zika virus a month ago, Wendy
Johana Castillo has been experiencing
The Zika virus is transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes.



Since being infected with the Zika virus
a month ago, Wendy Johana Castillo has
been experiencing pain all over her
body, a recurring fever and a skin rash.
But the 23-year-old Colombian is more
concerned about her unborn baby.
Every 15 days, she has to undergo a scan
to make sure her foetus isn’t developing
microcephaly, a birth defect that has
been linked to the mosquito-borne Zika
virus. Babies with the congenital
condition are born with abnormally
small heads and often suffer from poor
brain development.
“Doctors advised me not to move much
and, if I don’t feel my baby moving in
the womb, to rush to the nearest ER,”
Castillo told IRIN over the phone from a
bed in her cousin’s home in Soacha, on
the outskirts of Colombia’s capital,
Bogotá.
Castillo, who is 19 weeks pregnant, used
to work as a janitor at a construction site
in Girardot, a tourist town about two
and a half hours’ drive from Bogotá. She
said her workplace “was surrounded by
puddles and infested with mosquitoes”.
How to know if you have the virus?
Zika’s most common symptoms are mild
fever and a skin rash, usually
accompanied by conjunctivitis and
muscle or joint pain that begins a week
or less after being bitten by an infected
mosquito. Most people experience no
symptoms at all, but the links between
infections in pregnant women and an
increase in the number of children born
with microcephaly in neighbouring
Brazil has caused alarm among experts.
On Monday, the World Health
Organization declared that the strong
links between Zika infection during
pregnancy and microcephaly should be
treated as a global public health
emergency.
So far, cases have been confirmed in 23
countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean, but the WHO expects it to
spread rapidly throughout tropical areas
of the region, infecting up to four
million people. Brazil has been hardest
hit, with fears that as many as 4,000
babies may have been born with Zika-
related microcephaly since October 2015.
The country has declared a state of
emergency and rushed 220,000 soldiers
onto the streets to help eliminate
mosquito breeding grounds.
Colombia is the second most affected
country, with 20,297 confirmed cases,
2,100 of them among pregnant women,
according to government figures
released on Saturday.
So far, there are no reported cases of
infected women in Colombia giving birth
to babies with microcephaly, and last
week the government denied rumors that
a nine-year-old girl died after being
infected with the virus. The government
is nevertheless treating all pregnant
women suspected of being infected with
Zika as “high-risk pregnancies”, and has
advised women to avoid getting
pregnant before mid-2016.

Living in Zika’s Ground Zero
In Girardot, Castillo´s hometown, there
have been 1,437 reported Zika cases,
according to figures from the
municipality, which began keeping a
record in November 2015 after being
alerted by the Federal Health Authority.
The town has a year-round tropical
climate and is densely populated, both
factors that make it particularly
susceptible to the spread of Zika.
Although there have been no confirmed
cases of the virus being transmitted from
one person to another, a mosquito that
bites an infected person can transit it to
other people it bites.
“In emergency rooms, doctors have
doubled their shifts, leaving other
services uncovered,” said Erika Lorena
Ramirez, Girardot’s public health chief.
She told IRIN that medical clinics are
overwhelmed by people worried they
have the virus. Doctors at one hospital in
the town have gone from seeing an
average of six patients a day to 50.
Ramirez — herself infected with Zika —
said her town is used to handling
epidemics of dengue fever and
chikungunya, both of which are carried
by the same Aedes aegypti mosquito that
spreads Zika. Last year, chikungunya
infected some 76,000 people in Girardot,
nearly half the town’s population.
How many unreported cases?
Juliana Quintero, an epidemiologist at
Fundación Santa Fé, a hospital and
research centre in Bogotá worries that
many cases of Zika are going unreported.
She said that many people who had
negative experiences when visiting ill-
equipped medical centres in Girardot
during previous epidemics, probably
preferred to stay at home and handle the
problem themselves.
“People just think: why go to the
hospital, wait for hours and, at the end,
receive some acetaminophen (Aspirin),”
she told IRIN.
Created By Blogget