Daily insulin shots for diabetes may be replaced by a monthly treatment

/0 Comments/in /by

By creating a controlled-release mechanism for a drug and optimising its circulation time in the body, the new biopolymer injection has the potential to replace daily or weekly insulin shots with a once-a-month or twice-a-month treatments for type 2 diabetes, researchers said.

Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have developed a technology that may provide weeks of glucose control for diabetes with a single injection, which would be a dramatic improvement over current therapies.

In primates, the treatment has been shown to last for weeks, rather than days, researchers at Duke University in the US said. By creating a controlled-release mechanism for a drug and optimising its circulation time in the body, the new biopolymer injection has the potential to replace daily or weekly insulin shots with a once-a-month or twice-a-month treatments for type 2 diabetes, they said. Many current treatments for type 2 diabetes use a signalling molecule called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1) to cause the pancreas to release insulin to control blood sugar. However, this peptide has a short half-life and is cleared from the body quickly.

Researchers, including Ashutosh Chilkoti, from Duke University, have created a technology that fuses GLP1 to a heat-sensitive elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) in a solution that can be injected into the skin through a standard needle. Once injected, the solution reacts with body heat to form a biodegradable gel-like “depot” that slowly releases the drug as it dissolves. In animal experiments, the resulting therapy provided glucose control up to three times longer than treatments currently on the market. Researchers systematically worked to vary the design of the delivery biopolymer at the molecular level and found a sweet spot that maximised the duration of the drug’s delivery from a single injection.

“By doing so, we managed to triple the duration of this short-acting drug for type 2 diabetes, outperforming other competing designs,” said Chilkoti, senior author of study published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. Researchers optimised their solution to regulate glucose levels in mice for 10 days after a single injection, up from the previous standard of 2-3 days. In further tests, the team found that the optimised formulation improved glucose control in rhesus monkeys for more than 14 days after a single injection, while also releasing the drug at a constant rate for the duration of the trial.

“What is exciting about this work was our ability to demonstrate that the drug could last over two weeks in non- human primates,” said Kelli Luginbuhl, a PhD student in the Chilkoti lab and co-author of the study.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/health/report-now-a-monthly-treatment-for-diabetes-may-replace-daily-insulin-shots-2463129

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

New Radiation Injections for Better Cancer Treatment in the Offing

/0 Comments/in /by

Close to 9 million people across the globe lost battle to cancer in the year 2015. Experts suspect this number to increase over time with no respite in the increasing incident of cancer cases. Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality across the globe. It is estimated that one in every 6 deaths globally is caused by the debilitating disease. Cancer is a lifestyle disease with its precise cause still under investigation, however experts point at a host of lifestyle factors that sum to causing this disease.In most cases, cancer goes undiagnosed for long; experts therefore explain timely detection and cancer prevention as the biggest tools in the global fight against cancer. Lack of easy availability of drugs and latest treatment has been another hurdle. Cancer research remains highly underfunded. Any breakthrough or novel research initiated toward providing better treatment to cancer patients is a welcome move. A team of Australian researchers have done just about that. Experts at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia began a clinical trial of injecting radiotherapy to combat aggressive breast cancer.

In a novel experiment, experts will aim at combining radiation with immunotherapy with an attempt to “reawaken” the immune system to fight the disease. Cancer is a disease wherein cancerous cells begin to form and multiply at a rapid pace outnumbering and killing the healthy cells in the body. It is much like an autoimmune disease where a person’s own mechanism starts acting up against it.

“We think that cancer outwits the immune system. Once you develop cancer, your immune system has failed. It can’t see the cancer any more, and it also actively suppresses the immune system.”

The team of Australian experts aims to target activation of the otherwise unresponsive, dying immune system. Women suffering from the most aggressive types of breast cancer will undergo treatment. This is the first time when gene therapy is been teamed with immunotherapy.

“The trial was approved after promising studies on animals where radiation was used to prepare the immune system to fight cancer,” Sherene Loi, head of translational breast cancer research at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, said.

Breast cancer is the biggest killer of young and middle-aged Australian women. Cancer Australia estimated that 17,586 women would be diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia in 2017, accounting for 13 percent of all new cancers in the country. Primary cancer in the breast is usually curable, but if it comes back it is “incurable”, Loi was quoted as saying.

Inputs from IANS

source: http://food.ndtv.com/health/new-radiation-injections-for-better-cancer-treatment-in-the-offing-1709614

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

How Diabetes Affects Your Hearing

/0 Comments/in /by

Hearing loss is more common if you have poorly controlled diabetes.

If you have diabetes, you have at least twice the chance of experiencing hearing loss than someone who does not have the condition, according to the American Diabetes Association.

If you have prediabetes, your risk for hearing loss is 30 percent higher compared with those who do not have diabetes. Two other things that can increase the chance that you’ll experience hearing loss are age and smoking.

So just why are people with diabetes at a higher risk for hearing loss? “We believe it’s years of poorly controlled blood sugar,” says Dr. Deena Adimoolam, an endocrinologist and assistant professor of diabetes, endocrinology and bone disease at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

In short, the effects of high blood glucose over time can damage your hearing. “Although the exact reason for diabetes-related hearing loss is unknown, it’s suspected that there are two major causes,” says Dr. Jagmeet S. Mundi, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California. “This includes damage to the small blood vessels that provide blood flow to the inner ear and direct nerve damage to the inner ear structures. The combination of the two leads to hearing loss in these patients.”

Symptoms of Diabetes-Related Hearing Loss

For the most part, the symptoms of diabetes-related hearing loss will be like those of everyone else. One difference is that hearing professionals can track a consistent difference in the ability of those with diabetes to hear low- or middle-frequency sounds. However, that may not be something you notice. In fact, you may not detect any difference at all, at least not for a long time.

“People are notoriously bad at noticing the problem. It takes an extremely long time for people to blame [hearing loss] on themselves,” Konrad-Martin says.

It may be a loved one observing that your hearing is not that great anymore in certain situations, such as at a noisy restaurant or even in a quieter environment.

Other hearing loss symptoms include:

Thinking that people talking are mumbling

Not hearing when people speak directly to you

Turning up the volume on devices frequently

Speaking more loudly than necessary

Increased sensitivity to loud noises (this also could be the sign of a condition called hyperacusis)

A ringing sound in the ears (this also is associated with a hearing problem called tinnitus)

Feeling as if you can hear what someone says, but it’s not as clear as you’d like. “Think of it like a picture going out of focus,” Konrad-Martin says.

Although hearing loss is common as you get older, hearing professionals often find that the degree of hearing loss in someone with diabetes is more severe than someone of the same age who does not have diabetes.

Diabetes-Related Hearing Loss: Treatment and Prevention

If you think you are experiencing hearing loss, talk to your health care provider or schedule a visit to an audiologist. An audiologist specializes in hearing loss and can screen you with a full hearing exam.

It’s important to talk to your health care provider if your hearing loss occurs suddenly – a sign linked to uncontrolled diabetes – or if there are more subtle changes over time. Both situations require a closer evaluation.

Many people with hearing loss use a hearing aid. If that sounds intimidating to you, don’t worry. Today’s hearing aids tend to be smaller and easier to use than in the past. “People are generally happy with their hearing aids now,” Konrad-Martin says.

Depending on the circumstance, hearing loss can sometimes be reversed with the use of steroids, Mundi says.

An audiologist can also help coach you on ways to hear better in specific situations, such as in a noisy room.

Hearing loss can make life more challenging, so it’s important to try to prevent it. One additional reason to prevent it when you have diabetes is that you’re also at higher risk for vision loss. So, if you experience both hearing and vision loss, you’re hit with a sensory double whammy.

One way to prevent hearing loss related to diabetes is to keep your blood sugar under control. Take your medications as your doctor prescribes, stay physically active and make healthier food choices. These are all basic but important ways to improve your health and cut the risk for diabetes complications. “If you can maintain control of your blood sugar, you can prevent worsening of hearing loss,” Adimoolam says.

Source: http://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2017-05-09/how-diabetes-affects-your-hearing

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Coming Soon: A Robotic Device To Help Stroke Patients Restore Movement

/0 Comments/in /by

A team of researchers from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) have developed a new robotic device that can provide movement therapy to stroke patients and help recover mobility. According to them, robotic devices can become an important part of stroke rehabilitation for survivors. A stroke occurs due to damage caused to the brain because of interruption of blood supply. It is a medical emergency and can cause trouble walking and speaking as well as lead to paralysis or numbness of arms and legs. 

A stroke may often cause muscle over-activity, physical impairment or lead to some sort of disability which requires therapy and exercises to restore movement. This is where robotic devices can come into play and prove helpful as new tools for therapists that are cost-effective and less labour-intensive.

The new study shows that a robotic tool can help in assessing muscle over-activity and movement dysfunction in stroke patients. The newly-developed rehabilitation robotic system was found to quantitatively measure the three degree-of-freedom (DOF) impedance of human forearm and wrist in minutes. With the help of the impedance estimation device and using the distal internal model based impedance control (dIMBIC)-based method, the team was able to accurately characterize the 3 DOF forearm and wrist impedance including inertia, damping, and stiffness, for the first time.

These results were published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. Researchers believe that these findings lead to the development of robot-assisted rehabilitation at workplace accident rehabilitation hospitals as well as in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The research was led by Professor Sang Hoon Kang of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at UNIST in collaboration with Professor Pyung-Hun Chang of DGIST and Dr. Kyungbin Park of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. The team hopes that their findings will promote further wrist and forearm motor control studies and complement the diagnosis of the alteration in wrist and forearm resistance after a stroke by providing objective impedance values including cross-coupled terms.

Source: http://food.ndtv.com/health/coming-soon-a-robotic-device-to-help-stroke-patients-restore-movement-1711013

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Healthy diet plan for diabetic patients

/0 Comments/in /by

A diabetic patient can have all fruits. Rest depends on parameters like blood sugar levels (fasting and PP), HBA1C, Weight, physical activity any co morbidity etc

SAMPLE MENU

EARLY MORNING:    Fresh coconut water / lemon water

BREAKFAST        :    Egg / Porridge / sprouts / stuffed chapatti + curd

                               Besan Cheela / Jowar / Bajra / Boiled chana

                               a glass of milk

MID MORNING  :    Fruit (No Salt)

LUNCH  :    salad (No salt)

                           2 multi grain chapatti

                           Dal

                           Seasonal vegetable

EVENING  :    Tea / coffee / green tea

                        5 – 7 almonds / roasted chana

PRE DINNER  :     Fruit (No Salt)

DINNER  :     salad (No salt)

                                2 multi grain chapatti

                                Seasonal vegetable

                                Curd

Bed time  :     Milk  + Haldi

Food to Have

– Single toned milk & its products – 500 ml / day

– Multigrain atta –  (7Kg Wheat Atta + 2kg Black Chana atta + 1 Kg wheat Bran)

– Prefer mustard oil as a medium for cooking around 3 – 4tsp / day

– Have 2 – 3 servings of fruits at least in a day

– Restrict salt intake to about 3 grams / day

Food To Avoid

– Deep Fried Foods

– Junk Foods

– Full Cream Milk, Cream, Butter, Ghee

– Processed cheese, Khoa

– Sugar, Sugar Free, jam, Honey, Gur

– Sweets, Mithai, Puddings, Cakes, Pastries, chocolates, ice cream etc

– Cold Drinks, Rasna, roohafza, tang, Sherbet etc

– Bournvita, Horlicks, Boost etc

– Cornflakes, Tomato Ketchup –

– Maida and its products including bread

– Biscuits, Chips, Kurkure, Namkeen, Bhujia, Rusk etc

– Packaged Food products e.g. packaged Juices, packet soups, Ketchup etc

– Different Sauces like soya sauce, chilli sauce etc

– Achar, Chutney, papad and other accompaniments

– Vegetables like aloo, arbi, yam, zimikand etc

– Starchy foods like sago, Makhana etc

– Alcohol 

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

New 3-D based blood vessels may revolutionise root canal

/0 Comments/in /by

A novel 3-D printing-inspired process that may help engineer artificial blood vessels for teeth, creating better and long-term outcomes for patients suffering from infected or decayed teeth. The process is more effective than the age-old root canal procedure.

A novel three-dimensional (3-D) printing-inspired process that may help engineer artificial blood vessels for teeth, creating better and long-term outcomes for patients suffering from infected or decayed teeth, has been developed by US researchers.

The process is more effective than the age-old root canal procedure that may cause teeth to become brittle and susceptible to fracture over time, the researchers said.

“Root canal eliminates the tooth’s blood and nerve supply, rendering it lifeless and void of any biological response or defense mechanism, without which adult teeth may be lost much sooner, which can result in the need for dentures or dental implants,” said lead investigator Luiz Bertassoni, Assistant Professor at the Oregon Health and Science University in the US.

For the new process, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team placed a fibre mould made of sugar molecules across the root canal of extracted human teeth and injected a gel-like material, similar to proteins found in the body, filled with dental pulp cells.

They then removed the fibre to make a long microchannel in the root canal and inserted endothelial cells isolated from the interior lining of blood vessels.

After seven days, dentin-producing cells proliferated near the tooth walls and artificial blood vessels formed inside the tooth.

“This result proves that fabrication of artificial blood vessels can be a highly effective strategy for fully regenerating the function of teeth,” Bertassoni said.

“We believe that this finding may change the way that root canal treatment are done in the future,” Bertassoni added.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/new-3-d-based-blood-vessels-may-revolutionise-root-canal-4701707/

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Major Health Risk in Using Heater-Cooler Devices for Heart Surgeries

/0 Comments/in /by

Heater-cooler devices are often used during open heart surgeries and also for those involving the lungs. They help in warming or cooling the patient as required. It includes of two devices – a tank that provides temperature controlled water and an external heat exchanger that has been linked with devices that keep circulating blood and organs at a specific temperature depending on the type of surgery being performed. However, a new study suggests that they may pose a major health risk to patients. As per as the research presented at the annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), one in three heater cooler devices may may be contaminated with deadly bacteria.

The research was presented by John Rihs, vice-president of laboratory services at Special Pathogens Laboratory who along with his team examined 89 heater-cooler units used across 23 hospitals in Canada and the United States between 2015 and 2016. Shockingly, it was found that 33 units out of the total (or 37 per cent), tested positive for a certain type of bacteria called M. chimaera, while four units were colonized with Legionella. 

Mycobacterium chimaera has been recognized as a cause of endocarditis, severe disseminated infection and chronic sternal wound infection in patients who have undergone heart surgery. It may manifest many years after the surgery was conducted and this study shows that it is likely to be transmitted from the heater cooler units used during the surgery.

Concerns about contamination of these units have been raised in the past which led to health organisations like  Health Canada, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the he U.S. Federal Drug Administration issuing warnings regarding the risk of infection and tightening the guidelines around safety measures. 

The water does not come in contact with the patient directly but it can aerosolize, and if it is contaminated, it can transmit the bacteria through the air into the environment, and to the patient. 

The nontuberculous mycobacteria grow slowly and the symptoms may appear gradually over time. These include fever, night sweats, weight loss, muscle aches and fatigue. As a result of this, the diagnosis of these infections may be missed or delayed, sometimes for years, which makes them difficult to treat and imposes a major health risk for the patients.

Source: http://food.ndtv.com/health/the-major-health-risk-in-using-heater-cooler-devices-for-heart-surgeries-1712454

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Listen to Your Gut: 4 step Formula to Cleanse Your Digestion

/0 Comments/in /by

How to Cleanse the Gut

The 4 step formula to cleanse and repair your gut rests on these basic principles –

Remove: All possible toxins, allergens and gut-unfriendly substances from your diet.

Replace: The diet with all essential micronutrients like magnesium, good fats, complex carbs, fibre, vitamins, protein as well as digestive enzymes like proteases, lipases, cellulases and amylases among others.

Reinoculate: It is important to ensure that your gut’s flora flourishes and that can be done with the help of pro/prebiotics. Add as much of these to your daily diet at spaced intervals.

Repair: Make relevant changes to your diet to fix and patch up the leaky gut.

“Gut health is extremely essential for good health. There is enough research that validates that lifestyle diseases are associated with poor digestion. Leaky gut is a condition many people suffer from and as a result skin conditions, IBS, asthma, slow metabolism and other health issues,” Shilpa Arora ND, a renowned Health Practitioner, Nutritionist and certified Macrobiotic Health Coach.

Few Points to Keep Handy

– Make eating a visual and a mindful process. You need not count calories if eighty percent of your meal comprises fresh vegetables and twenty percent good quality protein and essential fats.

– Have smaller, frequent meals and take time to chew your food properly.

– Food combinations matter, pair your food wisely: Always pair veggies and greens with protein but never combine animal protein (seafood, fish, poultry and meat) with vegetable protein (beans and lentils).

– Cut down on the big three – alcohol, caffeine and sugar.

– If possible, add vitamin B complex supplement in your routine after consulting with your doctor.

– Drink plenty of natural fluids and exercise regularly.

– Drink a glass of water with lemon juice first thing in the morning. Go light on dinner. Sleep on time, keep stress at bay.

– Add green tea to your routine.

– Maintain a diet journal and notice what dietary switches or inclusions made an impact on your gut health.

“You can include coconut water, apple cider vinegar, curd, buttermilk, fermented beverages, fermented veggies, kanji and bananas in your diet to ensure that your gut is clean and healthy,” shared Shilpa.

Although some of the basic rules remain same for all, every person’s physical composition differs. There is no one formula that should ideally fit all. Diet should be tailor-made to suit an individual in the best possible way. Get in touch with a certified nutritionist to get your personal clean gut programme.

Source: http://food.ndtv.com/health/listen-to-your-gut-a-four-step-formula-to-cleanse-your-digestion-1712748

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Ebola Vaccine May Soon Become a Reality

/0 Comments/in /by

An experimental Ebola vaccine has been found to be safe for humans, according to the results of an early clinical trial developed at the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory of the Public Health Agency of Canada. The researchers also found that high antibodies were present in participants six months after immunisation, indicating its potential to protect people from the deadly virus. This VSV (vesicular stomatitis virus)-Ebola vaccine brings new hope.

“The results of this trial were positive and very promising,” said May ElSherif from the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology. “All three dose levels of the VSV Ebola vaccine were well-tolerated by participants, and no safety concerns were identified,” added ElSherif. The study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

The trial involved 40 healthy people aged 18 to 65 years and looked at the safety of the vaccine and the lowest dose required for an immune response after injection with one of three doses. Out of the 40 people, 30 participants received the vaccine and 10 received placebo injections. The researchers found that adverse events were mild to moderate, with only three severe reactions, including headache, diarrhea and fatigue, which were completely resolved. This study shows the importance of further investigation, according to the researchers.

There have been some recent clusters of Ebola cases in Africa and more are expected as survivors may still spread the virus to uninfected people. The research team conducted the clinical trial “as part of a coordinated, international effort to expeditiously evaluate candidate EVD (Ebola virus disease) vaccines and make them available to control the epidemic,” said ElSherif.

An upcoming study at two sites in Africa, as well as in Montréal and Ottawa in Canada, will test the safety and protection levels of the VSV-Ebola vaccine in HIV-infected adults and adolescents. The vaccine was earlier found to be effective in preventing EVD in contacts of recently confirmed cases in a major trial.

Source: http://food.ndtv.com/health/ebola-vaccine-may-soon-become-a-reality-1714184

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment

Acupuncture as effective as drugs for pain relief

/0 Comments/in /by

Acupuncture may be a safe and effective alternative to painkillers in providing long-term relief for patients with severe pain, a study suggests.

Researchers from RMIT University in Australia conducted a trial in the emergency departments of four hospitals involving about 528 patients with acute low back pain, migraine or ankle sprains.

Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine in which thin needles are inserted into the body. It is a key component of traditional Chinese medicine.

Patients who identified their level of pain as at least four on a 10-point scale randomly received one of three types of treatment — acupuncture alone, acupuncture plus pharmacotherapy (treatment using drugs) or pharmacotherapy alone.

Researchers noted that one hour after treatment, less than 40 per cent of patients across all three groups felt any significant pain reduction, while more than 80 per cent continued to have a pain rating of at least four.

However, 48 hours later, the vast majority found their treatment acceptable, with 82.8 per cent of acupuncture-only patients saying they would probably or definitely repeat their treatment, compared with 80.8 per cent in the combined group, and 78.2 per cent in the pharmacotherapy-only group, researchers said.

“Our study has shown acupuncture is a viable alternative and would be especially beneficial for patients who are unable to take standard pain-relieving drugs because of other medical conditions,” said Marc Cohen, a professor at RMIT University.

While acupuncture is widely used by practitioners in community settings for treating pain, it is rarely used in hospital emergency departments, researchers said.

“We need to determine the conditions that are most responsive to acupuncture, the feasibility of including the treatment in emergency settings, and the training needed for doctors or allied health personnel,” Cohen said.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/acupuncture-as-effective-as-drugs-for-pain-relief-study-4711684/

iMedWorks Ask Platform Links below:

1. Get a Medical Second Opinion
2. Search doctors and Request Appointment