Health

New Delhi, September 06: The 10-day-old baby who has undergone a rare surgery here after he was born with a protruding heart has found support from the NGO Sulabh International.

Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Thursday operated upon the infant and pushed the heart inside the body after creating space for it. The boy, whose parents are poor, is now recovering at the hospital.

Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak Saturday said he will look after the post-operative care of the baby and give a job to his father Chander Majhi in his organisation.

Washington, September 06: Men and women whose thighs are less than 60 cm in circumference have a higher risk of premature death and heart disease, says a new study.

Berit Heitmann, based at Copenhagen University Hospital, says his research may help doctors identify patients who are at an increased risk of early death and developing heart disease.

While several studies have already demonstrated that being either very overweight or underweight are related to premature death and disease, this is the first to investigate the implications of thigh size on health.

Washington, September 06: The discovery of two powerful new HIV antibodies will help tackle HIV more effectively. Researchers will now try to exploit a newfound vulnerability on the virus to craft novel approaches to designing an AIDS vaccine.

Besides, the global collaboration that led to the discovery of the two new broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs) are likely to produce more such antibodies.

They may further reveal additional vulnerabilities of HIV, adding still more vitality to the effort to develop a vaccine against AIDS.

New Delhi, September 05: Nine people, including six in Karnataka, died of swine flu in India Saturday, taking the country’s toll from the infectious influenza A (H1N1) virus to 125, health authorities said.
The death toll in Karnartaka has gone up to 41, second only to Maharashtra, which has seen 59 deaths.

London, September 05: Popular painkillers, which are routinely used to ease headaches, back problems and period pain, can cause addiction in just three days, the UK Government’s drug watchdog has warned.

The drugs, which contain codeine and include brand names such as Nurofen Plus and Solpadeine Plus, are taken by millions of people. However, official figures have shown that tens of thousands of people have become dependent on the drugs, many accidentally, with women most at risk of developing an addiction.

Beirut, September 05: A medical team in Lebanon has successfully performed the first “artificial heart” implant in Lebanon on a 37-year-old man suffering from terminal heart failure.

A team of doctors at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) oversaw the six-hour operation last Friday and deemed it successful after the patient survived the first critical 72 hours, an AUBMC press release said.

“The operation was a huge success as it was this patient’s last chance at life,” said surgeon Pierre Sfeir, who conducted the operation.

New Delhi, September 05: A 10-day-old baby born with a heart on the outside of his body is recovering in an Indian hospital after undergoing surgery to create space for the organ, reports said Friday.

The unnamed boy from the eastern Indian state of Bihar had a complete thoracic ectopia cordis, a rare condition when a child is born with the heart in an abnormal position, the reports said.

London, Septembe 04: It’s now established. Pretty women make men nervous, for a new study has revealed that blokes can lose their minds while talking to beautiful blondes.

Researchers in the Netherlands have found that talking to an attractive woman really could make a man lose his mind, a finding they claim may have implications for the performance of blokes who flirt with women in the workplace.

New Delhi, September 04: Five people died of swine flu in India Friday, taking the toll due to influenza A (H1N1) virus to 116, health authorities said here.

While four deaths were reported from Bangalore, Karnataka, one person died in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Also during the day, 124 fresh cases were reported in the country, taking the total number of affected people to 4,488.

According to health authorities in Karnataka, the four deaths have taken the toll due to the H1N1 virus to 35 in the state.

Washington, September 04: House plants can help reduce tension and stress among office workers, who spend more than 80 percent of the day indoors.

Researchers found the presence of plants in homes and workplaces exerted a positive effect on headaches and fatigue and hoarseness.

Interior plants have also been shown to increase work productivity. In one study, employees’ reaction time on computer tasks improved by 12 percent when plants were present.

Bangalore, September 03: Four more persons have succumbed to swine flu, taking the toll in the pandemic to 34 in Karnataka, health officials said today.

A 27-year-old man died in a private hospital here yesterday. His test reports which arrived today confirmed the death due to the virus, they said.

A 38-year-old woman and 31-year-old man died of swine flu on September 1 at different hospitals in the city.

Swine flu also claimed life of a 41-year-old man on August 29, they said.

Ahmedabad, September 03: A 23-year-old pregnant woman succumbed to swine flu at the SSG hospital in Vadodara, taking the death toll in the state to nine, health department officials said today.

“Twenty-three years old Bhavya Dave, who was seven months pregnant, died at SSG hospital in Vadodara last night. She had tested positive for swine flu,” Principal Secretary(health) Ravi Saxena said.

The woman had been admitted in the hospital on August 29, he said.

“The victim had complained of cough, sore throat, high temperature and increased breathlessness,” he said.

Lucknow, September 03: With one new case of swine flu reported from Uttar Pradesh, the number of people infected has gone up to 126 in the state, official sources said here.

“With one new case being tested positive, the number of patients affected by swine flu has gone up to 126,” health department officials said here.

The condition of the patient is stable and a team of doctor is attending him, they said.

Geneva, September 03: Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis reported Thursday progress in clinical trials on a vaccine for swine flu saying one dose had led to successful immunization in 80 per cent of subjects.

Tests done on 100 healthy volunteers also reveled that 90 per cent became immune to swine flu if they were given two doses.

Novartis’ vaccine for the pandemic A(H1N1) virus, as swine flu is technically known, would be called Celtura, the company said in a statement.

London, September 03: Meet Oliver, the first baby in the world born using a new egg-screening technique that could double the odds of an implanted embryo taking hold in the womb, unveiled by British experts today.

Baby Oliver was born in Britain to a 41-year-old woman after 13 failed attempts at in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

The new technique, called array comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH), makes it possible to ensure eggs have a normal number of chromosomes, boosting the likelihood of a successful pregnancy.

Kolkata: A 43-year-old man, suffering from ‘Aplastic Anaemia’ for over a year, has got a new lease of life after undergoing a successful ‘mismatched and unrelated cord blood transplantation’ at a cancer research institute here.

‘Aplastic Anaemia’ is a haematological disorder stemming from bone marrow which is incapable of producing blood cells.

Rabindra Mallick from Baranagar area in north Kolkata was suffering from general weakness, occasional fever and anorexia since a year. After blood investigations and bone marrow tests, he was found to be suffering from ‘Aplastic Anaemic’.

Raipur, September 02: Four people, including an eight-year-old girl, Wednesday tested positive for swine flu, taking the total number of influenza A (H1N1) cases in the state to eight, a health official said.

‘The latest lot of sample results received from Delhi confirmed four more people suffering from swine flu,’ health services deputy director S.M.M. Murthy told IANS.

He said the state has reported eight positive swine flu cases and death of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable due to the virus.

Washington, September 02: A new iPhone application enables users to track and report outbreaks of infectious diseases like H1N1 or swine flu in real time.

The application, ‘Outbreaks Near Me’, builds upon the mission and proven capability of HealthMap, an online resource that collects, filters, maps and disseminates information about emerging infectious diseases.

Washington, September 02: Exercise helps prevent weight regain after dieting by cutting down appetite and burning fat, says a new study.

Burning fat first and storing carbohydrates for use later in the day slows weight regain and may minimise overeating by signalling a sense of fullness to the brain.

The University of Colorado-Denver (UC-D) study also found that exercise prevents the increase in fat cells that occurs during weight regain, challenging the conventional wisdom that the number of fat cells is set and cannot be altered by dietary or lifestyle changes.

Toronto, September 02: Juice of North American blueberries, bio-transformed with bacteria from the skin of the fruit, looks promising as an anti-obesity and anti-diabetic agent.

Researchers from the Universities of Montreal, de Moncton and Institut Armand-Frappier, tested the effects of the bio-transformed juices on mice as part of a study.

‘Results of this study clearly show that bio-transformed blueberry juice has strong anti-obesity and anti-diabetic potential,’ says study co-author Pierre S. Haddad, pharmacology professor at the University of Montreal faculty of medicine (UMFM).

Washington, September 02: Put swine flu in a room with other strains of influenza and it doesn’t mix into a new superbug — it takes over, researchers reported on Tuesday.

University of Maryland researchers deliberately co-infected ferrets to examine one of the worst fears about the new swine flu. But fortunately, the flu didn’t mutate. The researchers carefully swabbed the ferrets’ nasal cavities and found no evidence of gene-swapping.

New York, September 02: Men who put on a significant number of pounds after their 20s face a higher risk of prostate cancer than those who remain close to their youthful weight — but the effects vary by race, a new study indicates.

Researchers found that among nearly 84,000 middle-aged and older US men followed for about a decade, white and African-American men who had gained weight since the age of 21 had a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.

New Delhi, September 01: Swine flu is killing more young people and those suffering from associated diseases like diabetes and chronic heart ailment, says a health ministry study released Tuesday as the toll in India rose to 101.

“We have conducted a study and found that more than 50 percent of those affected by the virus were in the age group of 15-45 years,” R.K. Srivastava, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, told reporters.

“Deaths were also due to late reporting to identified health facilities and delay in initiation of Tamiflu,” he said.

New Delhi, September 01: India Tuesday reported one more swine flu death, taking the total toll due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus to 101, health authorities said here.
The latest death was reported from Goa. While two deaths in Karnataka were suspected to be due to the virus, lab reports were still awaited.

Of the 101 deaths, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of deaths, 55, followed by 27 in Andhra Pradesh.

Mumbai, September 01: The death toll due to swine flu has touched 56 in Maharashtra, while 1,931 patients are undergoing treatment for the deadly virus at various hospitals in the state, the worst-hit by the pandemic.

Pune has recorded the highest number of 32 deaths, followed by Mumbai and Thane (10), Nashik (7), Latur and Beed two each and Dhule, Aurangabad, Jalna have seen one death each.