Indore becomes the first city in the country to offer non surgical method of weight loss. City based Mohak Bariatrics and Robotics one of the country’s leading weight loss surgery centre has come up with the modality, Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, a novel procedure which was performed for the first time in India at this hospital.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Mohit Bhandari and Dr. Manoel Galvao Neto from Brazil. The patient who was operated upon was 87 kg weight with BMI 32.7
Patient was a type 2 diabetic since last 5 years.
According to bariatric surgeon Dr. Mohit Bhandari, this is a non invasive method for treatment of obesity.
According to him, in this procedure capacity of the stomach is reduced by plication taking sutures all around stomach to reduce its size.
Dr. Bhandari says patients can lose 15-25 kg depending on multiple factors through this procedure.
He adds bariatric surgery is a more radical approach towards weight loss which incorporates both restrictive and Malabsorptive component.
We all need a bridge therapy between medical and surgical therapy and endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is that option.
The cost of the procedure will be around 2.5 lakh rupees.
Dr. Bhandari is one of the pioneers in bariatric surgery and has singularly performed more than 8000 bariatric and Robotic procedures which is one of the highest volume in Asia.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 18:05:522020-07-31 18:05:52Indore becomes the first city to offer non surgical weight loss
Scientists have developed a filling material with tiny particles made by self-assembly of antimicrobial drugs which is designed to stop bacteria in its tracks.
Toronto: Researchers have developed a ‘smart’ material to minimise new cavities caused by bacteria digging under the dental fillings.
These recurrent caries affect 100 million patients every year and cost an additional USD 34 billion to treat, researchers said.
In the study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the University of Toronto in Canada have proposed a novel solution. They have developed a filling material with tiny particles made by self-assembly of antimicrobial drugs which is designed to stop bacteria in its tracks.
These particles may solve one of the biggest problems with antibacterial filling materials: storing enough drug within the material to be effective for someone’s entire life.
“Adding particles packed with antimicrobial drugs to a filling creates a line of defence against cavity-causing bacteria,” said Professor Ben Hatton.
“Traditionally there has only been enough drug to last a few weeks. We discovered a combination of drugs and silica glass that organise themselves on a molecule-by-molecule basis to maximise drug density, with enough supply to last years,” said Hatton.
The discovery of using antimicrobials which self-assemble means the team can pack 50 times as much of the bacteria-fighting drugs into the particles, researchers said.
“We know very well that bacteria specifically attack the margins between fillings and the remaining tooth to create cavities,” said Professor Yoav Finer.
“Giving these materials an antimicrobial supply that will last for years could greatly reduce this problem,” said Finer.
The research team plans on testing these new drug-storing particles in dental fillings, monitoring their performance when attacked by bacteria and saliva in the complex environment in the mouth.
With some fine-tuning, the new ‘smart’ material could create a stronger filling and fewer trips to the dentist, researchers said.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 17:48:332020-07-31 17:48:33New ‘smart’ material to help fight tooth decay
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00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 17:43:192020-07-31 17:43:19Emergency Medical Air Ambulance Service in Ranchi
There is a 400% increase in the risk of brain cancer among teenagers due to excessive use of smart phones, says Professor Girish Kumar of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.
The scientist urged the smart phone users not to take lightly the latest warnings pertaining to “hidden dangers” of technology, which stem from indiscriminate use of such devices.
He also categorically warned people from using smart phones for more than 30 minutes a day.
Prof Girish Kumar from the Electrical Engineering Department of IIT Mumbai had recently submitted a report to the central government on the serious health hazards of excessive use of latest technology.
He pointed out that the release of free radicals into the human body due to excessive use of cell phones was also causing irreversible damage to male fertility.
The scientist stressed that children, in particular, were suffering grave threats to their health as “a child’s skull is thinner and easily penetrated by radiation”.
Cell phone radiations are also causing serious effects on animal and plant life, he said.
Talking about the adverse impact of indiscriminate use of latest technology on youngsters, Prof Kumar said there was a 400 per cent increase in the risk of brain cancer among teenagers due to excessive use of smart phones.
“Such radiation is causing irreversible damage to the human DNA, especially of youngsters. It is also responsible for a steep increase in sleep disorders and neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease,” he said.
The IIT professor added that one cannot wish away the latest technological developments, but it would be a fatal error if the society was not made aware of the serious health hazards, emanating from unbridled use of technology.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 17:34:412020-07-31 17:34:41Teens glued to smartphones have 400% more chance of getting brain cancer
New York: Raising hopes for a cancer vaccine for different types of cancers, researchers have found that injecting minute amounts of two immune-stimulating agents directly into solid tumours in mice can eliminate all traces of cancer in the animals.
A clinical trial was launched in January to test the effect of the treatment in humans with lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system.
The approach works for many different types of cancers, including those that arise spontaneously, said the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The researchers believe the local application of very small amounts of the agents could serve as a rapid and relatively inexpensive cancer therapy that is unlikely to cause the adverse side effects often seen with bodywide immune stimulation.
“When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumours all over the body,” said senior author of the study Ronald Levy, Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine in the US.
“This approach bypasses the need to identify tumour-specific immune targets and doesn’t require wholesale activation of the immune system or customisation of a patient’s immune cells,” Levy said.
“Our approach uses a one-time application of very small amounts of two agents to stimulate the immune cells only within the tumour itself. In the mice, we saw amazing, bodywide effects, including the elimination of tumours all over the animal,” Levy explained.
Cancers often exist in a strange kind of limbo with regard to the immune system. Immune cells like T cells recognise the abnormal proteins often present on cancer cells and infiltrate to attack the tumour. However, as the tumour grows, it often devises ways to suppress the activity of the T cells.
Levy’s method works to reactivate the cancer-specific T cells by injecting microgram (one-millionth of a gram) amounts of two agents directly into the tumour site.
One, a short stretch of DNA called a CpG oligonucleotide, works with other nearby immune cells to amplify the expression of an activating receptor called OX40 on the surface of the T cells.
The other, an antibody that binds to OX40, activates the T cells to lead the charge against the cancer cells.
Because the two agents are injected directly into the tumour, only T cells that have infiltrated it are activated. In effect, these T cells are “prescreened” by the body to recognise only cancer-specific proteins.
“This is a very targeted approach,” Levy said.
“Only the tumour that shares the protein targets displayed by the treated site is affected. We’re attacking specific targets without having to identify exactly what proteins the T cells are recognising,” Levy added.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 17:23:022020-07-31 17:23:02Vaccine That Wiped Out Cancer in Mice Ready for Human Trial
According to a study conducted in the UK, millions of antibiotics currently being sold in Indian markets haven’t been approved by the regulator.
64 percent antibiotic medicines that can be found at pharmacies around the country haven’t been regulated, the study said.
Despite pledging to tackle the rising problem of antibiotic resistance, multinational companies continued to manufacture many unapproved formulations, it was found.
Antibiotic resistance is slowly gaining momentum as a global crisis. It occurs when bacteria change in a way that reduces the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections.
As it becomes increasingly prevalent, it also threatens to undermine healthcare systems across the globe.
These findings, therefore, underline grave obstacles to bring antimicrobial resistance under control in India – a country which has one of the highest antibiotic consumption rates and sales in the world.
Parliamentary investigations into failures of the country’s drug regulatory system have also been previously carried out.
For the study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, researchers analyzed figures for fixed dose combination (FDC) antibiotics (formulations composed of two or more drugs in a single pill) and single drug formulation (SDF) antibiotics (composed of a single drug) on the market in India.
Despite the sale of unapproved new medicines being illegal in India, it was found that of 118 different formulations of FDCs being sold in the country between 2007 and 2012, 64 percent (75) were not approved by the national drugs regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Only five of the formulations were approved in the UK or US.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 17:16:472020-07-31 17:16:4764 percent of antibiotics being sold in India haven’t been regulated: UK study
There are currently about 1,000 cases of people who suffer from hereditary degeneration of the retina, and 10 to 20 new cases are expected to be added each year.
Luxturna, a medication against hereditary degeneration of the retina that can lead to total blindness, will be sold for $850,000 in the United States, making it one of the world’s most expensive medical treatments.
It is administered in a single dose, according to its manufacturer, Philadelphia-based Spark Therapeutics.
It will retail for $425,000 per eye, which is less than the $1 million price tag that had been expected before the company received FDA approval in mid-December.
The announcement comes amid a growing debate in the United States over the high cost of medicine, particularly for supposedly innovative treatments.
Anticipating criticism, Spark promised to reimburse patients if the treatment proves not to be effective, and said it expects US health authorities to authorize payment in stages.
In doing so, the company is following the lead of Novartis, which sells Kymriah, a treatment for a very aggressive form of leukemia in children and young adults. The Swiss drug maker has pledged to reimburse insurers and patients if the $475,000 drug doesn’t work.
Luxturna is considered the first American medication to emerge from gene therapy, which consists of repairing a defective gene.
There are currently about 1,000 cases of people who suffer from hereditary degeneration of the retina, and 10 to 20 new cases are expected to be added each year.
Besides Luxturna, several other medications are near the million-dollar price mark, although they are often administered in several doses.
Such is the case with Spinraza (known as Nusinersen in Europe), developed by Biogen and Ionis against muscular dystrophy, and Soliris, made by Alexion Pharmaceuticals to treat a rare form of kidney disease. Both cost around $750,000.
The prize for the world’s most expensive medication goes to Glybera, which its Dutch developer UniQure sells for $1 million as a treatment for several genetic maladies.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-31 17:06:302020-07-31 17:06:30Treatment against blindness to sell for $850,000 in US
While multi-national companies are pushing for an increase in the price of cardiac stents, domestic manufacturers are more than happy with the price ceilings introduced by the Centre last year.
In less than two weeks, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) will decide whether the prices of cardiac stents should be revised or not. In lieu of the impending decision, the pricing regulator held a stakeholders’ consultation earlier this week with multinational companies, domestic manufacturers, importers and distributors as well as civil society representatives, to take in their views.
The price for the drug-eluting stents have been capped at a little less than Rs 32,000 while for bare metal stents the capping is at a little less than Rs 8,000. Earlier, the price of DES ran into over Rs 1-2 lakh.
Giving a lowdown on whether benefits of making stents cheaper have been passed on to the masses, NPPA Chairman Bhupendra Singh said, “Stent price capping has enabled poor patients to afford new generation Drug Eluting Stents (DES), instead of old Bare Metal Stents (BMS). Use of BMS drastically reduced by over 30% and were replaced by DES. Affordability matters, so do the poor.”
The domestic manufacturers could not agree less. Upto 12 domestic manufacturers across India attended the consultation. While earlier MNCs commanded 70% of market share, while the rest 30% was catered to by domestic companies, after the price capping, the MNC shared has tanked to 60%, while the domestic companies have registered a rise to 40%. “After the price cap, a void was created in the Indian market, as MNCs stopped supplying stents because they did not want to reduce valuation of their brands,” said Pratap Surve, CEO, Veritas Bioventions, a Gujarat-based stent manufacturing company. “We are fine with current stent prices. However we have told the NPPA to not discriminate between MNCs and domestic companies, if at all prices are being revised. There should not be differential pricing between the two.”
While Surve’s company had sold 4,000 stents two years back, he said after the price cap last year, the sales doubled to 8,000. The stent market in India is swelling, with annually five lakh angioplasties and six lakh stents being used, according to latest data and the trend only points to a year-on-year increase in stent use.
However, the MNCs and industry groups like Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and others are unhappy with price ceiling. Upto 11 top representatives like Heads of Government Affairs and Directors or Associate Directors (Finance) of MNCs including Abbott Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Biotronik Medical Devices India Pvt. Ltd., and so on were present for the NPPA consultation. Anil Sharma, Business Unit Head – Vascular of Berlin-based Biotronik Medical Devices India Pvt. Ltd. said that the price cap is choking innovation. “Clinical trials of Magnesium Scaffold stent, a new metal absorbable stent that we are developing have been stopped in India after the price cap. Ten centres including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and Christian Medical College (CMC) were involved in the clinical trials. There is no point in conducting trials now as the price cap is unaffordable for us,” Sharma told dna.
While earlier profit margins for MNCs and hospitals were huge, at 8%, MNCs say their profits have plummeted substantially. However, insiders in the manufacturing industry said that the production cost of a stent is not more than $100 or Rs 8000. “Even with the price cap, every manufacturer has a substantial scope for making profit,” a domestic manufacturer, who did not wish to be quoted, told dna.
CII during the meeting even wished to submit a formula for revision of stent prices and demanded that the ‘margin,’ aspect of the formula be fixed by the industry. NPPA officials refused to accept any such proposal in the meeting and asked CII to mail their views through the formal channels.
FOR A HEALTHY HEART NPPA held a stakeholders’ consultation earlier this week with multinational companies, domestic manufacturers, importers and distributors to take in their views. The price for the drug-eluting stents have been capped at a little less than Rs 32,000 while for bare metal stents the capping is at a little less than Rs 8,000.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) Monday further slashed prices of the expensive cardiac stents while marginally increasing the cost of the basic stents.
After several rounds of consultation with various stakeholders, the NPPA cut the price of drug-eluting stent (DES) by Rs 1,710 (from Rs 29,600 to Rs 27,890) while increasing the price of bare metal stent (BMS) by Rs 400 (from Rs 7,260 to Rs 7,660).
The trade margin has been capped at 8%, the NPPA said in an order, which makes the current rates valid till March 31.
“All manufacturers of coronary stents, selling branded or non-branded… at prices higher than the ceiling price… shall revise the price of all such stents downward not exceeding the ceiling price,” the order said.
The order mandates hospitals to provide a clear break-up of the prices levied for other items used in medical procedures.
While there was fear of NPPA giving into industry pressure and increasing the price, experts feel the price could have been decreased further. “It is not really slashing of the price. There was scope for further reduction,” says GS Grewal, core committee member, Alliance of Doctors on Ethical Healthcare.
It is well documented that the significant declines in estrogen experienced during the menopause transition contribute to accelerated bone loss. Now, a new study has found that undergoing hormone therapy may be effective in reducing age-related curvature of the spine in post-menopausal women.
Hyperkyphosis, sometimes called dowager’s hump, is an exaggerated curvature of the spine that creates a forward stooped posture.
Beyond its adverse aesthetic effects, hyperkyphosis is associated with poor physical function, an increased risk of falls and fractures, and earlier mortality.
Women who reported continuous or remote past hormone therapy use had less pronounced kyphosis by the time they were in their mid-80s than never-users.
The results support the argument for hormone therapy as a possible early post-menopause treatment for women concerned about their posture and fracture risk, the researchers said. “Women who reported early use of hormone therapy were less likely to develop age-related kyphosis, and the protective benefits continued even after stopping the therapy,” said JoAnn Pinkerton, Executive Director at the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) — a US-based non-profit organisation.
“This supports a benefit of prescribing hormone therapy close to menopause,” Pinkerton added in a paper published in the journal Menopause.
It is well known that the significant declines in estrogen experienced during the menopause transition contribute to accelerated bone loss. Hormone therapy has been known to help reverse bone loss and prevent fractures.
Given that hyperkyphosis is also associated with bone loss and vertebral fractures, the researchers hypothesised that hormone therapy may also be effective in helping prevent exaggerated spine curvature.
The team involved more than 9,700 women aged 65 years and older who were evaluated over a 15-year period.
During the first three years of hormone therapy use, bone density has been shown to increase steadily and then is maintained during continued use.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-30 14:25:412020-07-30 14:25:41Hormone therapy could help reduce age-related curvature of spine in women
