Pacemaker for heart, study suggests leadless variant better than transvenous one
Good news for heart patients. If you want to keep your heart healthy, you should opt for leadless pacemakers over the conventional transvenous variants. While you can you avoid heart attack and stroke risk by following a disciplined exercise and diet routine to keep ensure a healthy heart, you need to be careful with the pacemaker variant you choose after a heart attack. According to a new study, heart patients who opt for leadless pacemakers are likely to have lesser short-term and mid-term complications than those with transvenous pacemakers. Approximately a million pacemakers are annually implanted in patients to provide electrical stimulation to regulate heartbeat. Conventional pacemakers are surgically placed under the skin of patient’s chest stretching from the shoulder vein and attaching to the heart. The wires and surgery lead to complications in the patient.
Leadless pacemakers, on the other hand, don’t have any wires and are ten times smaller than the transvenous ones. They are placed directly into the heart using a catheter passed through the femoral vein in the leg. A study compared short- and mid-term complications between 718 patients receiving the Nanostim leadless pacemaker and 1,436 patients with conventional (transvenous) pacemakers.
It was found that patients receiving one type of leadless pacemaker (Nanostim) overall had fewer complications (5.8% vs. 9.4%). Leadless pacemakers completely eliminated lead and pocket complications, including infection. By comparison, complications among traditional pacemaker recipients included lead complications (3.62%), pocket complications (0.42%) and infection (1.74%). There were no significant differences between the groups in regard to rates of vascular complications, electrode dislodgement and generator complications.
Daniel Cantillon, a researcher said, “The data from this study is encouraging, and we expect complications from leadless pacemakers to continue to decline as the technology improves and physicians gain experience implanting these devices”. The study was published in Heart Rhythm journal.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/pacemaker-for-heart-study-suggests-leadless-variant-better-than-transvenous-one/story-kgHsJeC4XRkFAfJqG20pMP.html
(Image: Representation only)
iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:
1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment
This new drug can reduce post-childbirth bleeding and save lives, says WHO
Excessive bleeding following childbirth is one of the major causes of death in several countries. Approximately 70,000 women die every year because of post-partum haemorrhage, which also increases the risk of babies dying within a month.
“Despite substantial reductions in maternal mortality, hemorrhage continues to be the largest direct cause of maternal death, accounting for 6,61,000 deaths worldwide between 2003 and 2009. More than 70% of hemorrhagic deaths occur post partum, and most are due to uterine atony, which results from poor contraction of the uterus after childbirth,” mentions the study.
Now, a clinical trial by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 10 countries (including India), shows that a novel formulation using the drug carbetocin could be an effective way to prevent excessive bleeding. It could potentially save thousands of women’s lives.
Currently, the WHO recommends oxytocin as the first-choice drug for preventing excessive bleeding after childbirth. Oxytocin, however, must be stored and transported at 2-8 degrees Celsius, which is hard to do in many countries, depriving many women of access to this lifesaving drug. If it gets exposed to heat, the drug becomes less effective.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that heat-stable formulation of carbetocin can be as safe as oxytocin in preventing post-partum haemorrhage. This new formulation of carbetocin does not require refrigeration and retains its efficacy for at least 3 years, when stored at a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius and 75% relative humidity. “This is an encouraging new development that can revolutionise our ability to keep mothers and babies alive,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.
For the trial, the team studied 30,000 women, who gave birth vaginally in 10 countries such as India, Argentina, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda and the UK. The study found that both drugs were equally effective at preventing excessive bleeding after birth, but oxytocin tends to degrade in higher temperatures, whereas heat-stable carbetocin shows no effect of high temperature. The next step will be a regulatory review and approval by countries.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/this-new-drug-can-reduce-post-childbirth-bleeding-and-save-lives-says-who/story-jVitd2aKBC1UYKj5Ljux5H.html
(Image: Representation only)
iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:
1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment
Eyesight problems may signal cognitive changes in older adults
Worsening vision in older adults may highlight problems with future cognitive functioning, says a new study done by the University of Miami. The findings also suggest that maintaining good vision through prevention and treatment of vision disorders may be a strategy to lessen age-related cognitive changes.
For the study, published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology, researchers evaluated the longitudinal associations between visual impairment and cognitive function.
It found that visual impairment measured at a distance is associated with declining cognitive function both cross-sectionally and longitudinally over time with worsening vision having a stronger association with declining cognition than the reverse, said co-author D Diane Zheng from the University of Miami.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/vision-problems-may-signal-cognitive-changes-in-older-adults/story-mxpj85ZjZo0jAtvZk9u3ZP.html
(Image: Representation only)
iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:
1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment
Water: Drinking how much is enough on a daily basis?
The newest trend sweeping sunny California is people drinking untreated ‘raw’ water from unfiltered sources packed with natural ions, minerals, chemicals and organic matter. The fad will, sooner than later, wreck their health.
Along with ions and minerals, untreated water comes laced with bacteria, viruses, parasites, pesticides and heavy metals that cause nasty diarrhoea,dysentery, hepatitis A, cholera, typhoid and toxicities, among other diseases.
Just as contaminated water sickens and kills, safe water saves lives. Safe and easily available water for drinking, domestic use and food production lowers disease to boost economic growth and lower poverty, according to the World Health Organization.
Water is needed to carry nutrients to cells, moisten tissue, cushion joints, regulate body temperature and flush out toxins. Staying hydrated protects against colorectal and bladder cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease, urinary tract infections and kidney stones.
Most people drink water when they’re thirsty, but in warm and humid weather, thirst is often not the best indicator of dehydration. So how much water should we drink every day?
Water accounts for 55%-60% of the body’s weight, depending on gender. Much like the human body, water is an essential component of all foods and about 20% of our daily fluid requirement comes from food. Butter and oils are the only foods with no water.
The water content is more than 90% in foods like milk and yoghurt, and in some fruits and green vegetables, such as watermelon, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce and spinach. Fruits like apples, grapes, oranges, pears and pineapple are 80% to 90% water, while beans and legumes have a water content ranging from 60% to 70%. Even dried fruits, seeds and nuts are 1% to 9% water.
A normal healthy person needs about eight glasses (two litres) of water a day, which should go up in hot, sweaty weather and during vigorous activities, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research’s Dietary Guidelines for Indians. The tea, coffee, milk, yoghurt and whole foods you have will also help meet your hydration target, but water should be the fluid of choice.
For people in the UK, the National Health Service recommends 1.2 litres (six to eight glasses) of fluid every day to prevent dehydration, while the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends 3.7 litres (15.5 glasses) of fluids for men and 2.7 litres (11.5 glasses) for women.
Don’t substitute water with juices, even if they’re fresh and unsweetened, because they pack a lot of sugar and calories in each glass. While fresh fruit juices do have vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, they also have very high amounts of fruit sugars, which the World Health Organisation puts in the same category as harmful free sugars, the intake of which should not exceed 25 gm a day.
A glass of fresh orange juice, for example, has 0.4 gm of fibre and 24 gm of sugar, compared to 1.5 gm of fibre and 10 gm of sugar in one whole orange. The sugar in a glass of fresh, unsweetened orange juice (24 gm) is almost the same as in a glass of the colas (26 gm).
Coconut water contains potassium, which helps fight dehydration by increasing the body’s capacity to absorb and retain water and is particularly useful to hydrate people who are ill or very active. But since a 250 ml glass has 50 calories, using it as a substitute for zero-calorie water leads to weight gain.
Dry and scaly skin, frequent muscle cramps and constipation are signs that you’re dehydrated, so watch out for signs now that the hot, wet weather will make seat a part of life in most part of the country.
Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/water-drinking-how-much-is-enough-on-a-daily-basis/story-V2mFxsF9mfg0EBeFMH04AN.html
(Image: Representation only)
iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:
1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment
Patients with hypertension can now use this new stress free algorithm for treatment
Hypertensive patients can now receive intensive treatments faster. In a recent study, researchers have devised a machine learning algorithm which combines three variables routinely collected during clinic visits and demonstrates how the emerging field of bioinformatics could transform patient care.
It takes a patient’s age, urinary albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR), and cardiovascular disease history to successfully identify hypertensive patients for whom the benefits of intensive therapy outweigh the risks. “Large randomized trials have provided inconsistent evidence regarding the benefit of intensive blood pressure lowering in hypertensive patients,” said a researcher, Yang Xie.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify a subgroup of patients who derive a higher net benefit from intensive blood pressure treatment,” he added. Researchers used patient data under controlled trials that tested intensive vs. standard blood pressure-lowering treatments — the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) and the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial.
The SPRINT trial included 9,361 non-diabetic hypertensive adults at an elevated risk of a cardiovascular event, while ACCORD enrolled 10,251 patients with Type 2 diabetes. “I think our algorithm can help us identify high-risk patients who will most likely benefit from intensive blood pressure reduction. Long-term intensive HBP drug therapy can reduce the risk of heart failure and death, but it carries an increased risk of side effects,” said another researcher, Wanpen Vongpatanasin.
The researchers’ machine learning method determined three simple criteria to identify adults with high blood pressure who are at the highest risk for early major adverse cardiovascular events — such as cardiovascular death, heart attack, or stroke.
Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/patients-with-hypertension-can-now-use-this-new-stress-free-algorithm-for-treatment/story-fjqoVkieO1rmdKTthfgXZO.html
iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:
1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment
Severe headache with fever? It could be a symptom of viral infection
Running a high fever and having headaches are two different symptoms that can be shrugged off when seen separately. However, severe headache with fever may just be a sign of something more serious. While such an eventuality need not necessarily mean a life-threatening illness, it is imperative that you visit a specialist at the earliest for a proper diagnosis and course of treatment.
“Headaches may be a cause for concern when accompanied by a fever, besides being a sign of some serious infection. This infection could be localised to the brain and/or spinal cord. For instance, meningitis, encephalitis or a brain abscess,” says Dr Haresh Tolia, a Delhi-based general physician who consults for medical app Lybrate.
“Apart from this, flu or other systemic or whole-body infections can also lead to headache and fever. Other possible health conditions are bleeding or a tumour in the brain. In most cases, these could be symptoms of some run-of-the-mill viral infection that needs to run its course before subsiding,” adds Dr Tolia.
So, what should one do when experiencing a fever headache? “Do not ignore any headache with high or low-grade fever. Consult a doctor to rule out any underlying health issues. It can be simple dengue fever, chikungunya, malaria, acute sinusitis or flu, or serious brain fevers like meningitis or encephalitis. The red flags are altered mental status, vomiting and neck stiffness,” explains Dr K K Aggarwal, national president of the Indian Medical Association.
Dr Aggarwal suggests certain precautions (and home remedies) for those suffering from a fever headache.
1. Paracetamol can provide relief from pain and aches, besides fever.
2. Wet a piece of cloth and dab it at regular intervals on the forehead, arms and legs. This can help bring down fever.
3. Do not overheat yourself. Remove any extra piece of clothing. Overheating can cause the body temperature to rise and make symptoms worse.
4. Eat healthy foods. You can even opt for soups and other liquid foods to make you feel better.
Source:https://www.hindustantimes.com/health/severe-headache-with-fever-it-could-be-a-symptom-of-viral-infection/story-632bDO1N3PAa86GzY1fkAK.html
(Image: Representation only)
iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:
1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment