If a nagging cough is keeping you awake, and syrup doesn’t help, try honey. It’s a favoured remedy for sore

It may not take much honey to do the trick. In study of kids, a small dose of honey-1/2 to 2 teaspoons, depending on age is enough.

Caution: Never give honey to a child who’s not yet a year old, because there’s a risk of botulism). Many doctors recommend a bit of honey for adult patients, too.

Try it with tea and lemon for extra throat lubrication.

It might help sinuses, too

Early research shows it may have a strong anti-bacterial edge and might fight sinus infections, too.

In a research the scientist have found that stem cells from tiny embryos can be used to restore lost hearing and vision in animals. This, they believe is a first step towards helping people.

One team repaired hearing in guinea pigs using human bone marrow stem cells, while another grew functioning eyes in tadpoles using frog cells.

The findings help describe some of the most basic biological processes underlying the development of hearing and sight The new insight may help in the development of the new field of regenerative medicine.

Stem cells have an immense potential to treat a wide range of deadly and disabling diseases that affect millions.

Researchers have used mesenchymal stem cells from human bone marrow to restore hearing in guinea pigs whose hearing had been destroyed using chemicals.

They grew the stem ells into neuron-like cells in lab dishes and then transplanted them into the inner ears of the guinea pigs. Three months later, the animals appeared to have some hearing.

Their goal was to regrow the tiny hair cells that essential for mammals to hear, although she is not sure yet how the stem cells made this happen.

There is a very large potential for likely use of this results if it could be extrapolated in humans. As we age, sensitive hair cells in the inner ear of humans  are killed-by loud noise, autoimmune attack, toxic drugs, or aging process itself. As we lack the capacity to regenerate, the damage caused by these processes is permanent.

In a similar study researchers from SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York have grown functioning eyes in blinded frog embryos using stem cells.

A new study has found that regular physical activity can significantly lower a woman’s risk of developing cancer. A good sleep is another factor.

In a long-term study of nearly 6,000 US women, researchers found that those who exercised the most had a 25 percent lower chance of developing cancer than those who were the least active.

But among younger, physically active women, those who slept less than seven hours a night had a 47 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer than those who regularly got a good night’s rest.

Short duration sleep appears to have opposing effects of physical activity on several key hormonal and metabolic parameters.

It is not yet known exactly why exercise reduces cancer risks but it is believed to be due to lower body weight, improved immune function and hormone levels associated with regular physical activity.

Insufficient sleep has been linked to high risks of developing a number of conditions including heart disease, obesity and diabetes but, again, researchers have not determined exactly how sleep prevents cancer disease.

The normal pulse has a small anacrotic wave on the upstroke which is not felt. This is followed by a big tidal or percussion wave which is felt by the palpating finger. On the following downstroke there is a notch (dicrotic notch) followed by a wave (dicrotic wave) both of which are not normally palpable.

The normal pulse appears at regular intervals and has a rate between 60-100 per min. There may be a mild variation in the rate between the two phases of respiration which is called sinus arrhythmia.

Anacrotic Pulse

Anacrotic pulse is a slow rising, twice beating pulse where both the waves are felt during systole. The waves that are felt are the anacrotic wave and the tidal wave. It is best felt in the carotids in aortic stenosis.

Pulsus Bisferiens

Pulsus bisferiens is a rapid rising, twice beating pulse where both the waves are felt during systole. Here the percussion wave is felt first followed by a small wave. It is seen in:

1. Idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis: Here initially there is no obstruction to the outflow and about 80 percent of the stroke volume is ejected in the early part of systole. The obstruction occurs in midsystole when aortic valve approximates the hypertrophied septum. Hence, there is a dip, as suddenly the flow ceases, followed by a secondary rise as the L.V. overcomes the obstruction.
2. Severe A.I. with mild A.S.: The volume flow is initially increased due to severe. A.I. mild A.S. causes an extra high velocity jet to be shot out resulting in the second wave.

Pulsus Parvus ET Tardus

Pulsus Parvus ET Tardus is a slow rising pulse like the anacrotic pulse but the anacrotic wave is not felt. It is seen in aortic stenosis.

Pulsus Alternans

Pulsus alternans is characterized by a strong and weak beat occurring alternately, probably due to alternate rather than regular contraction of the muscle fibres of the left ventricle.

Causes

1. Left ventricular failure
2. Toxic myocarditis
3. Paroxysmal tachycardias
4. For several beats following a premature beat

Pulsus Paradoxus

Pulsus paradoxus normally systolic blood pressure falls by 3-10 mm. during inspiration. This is because though there is increased venous return to the right side of the heart there is relative pooling of the blood in the pulmonary vasculature as a result of lung expansion and more negative intrathoracic pressure during inspiration.

This decreases the venous return to the left atrium and ventricle and subsequently causes a fall in left ventricular output decreasing the arterial pressure. When the systolic blood pressure falls more than 10 mm. Hg. During inspiration the pulse is erroneously called pulsus paradoxus although it merely is an exaggeration and not a reversal of the normal.

The paradox of this phenomenon is that in extreme cases the peripheral pulse can disappear on inspiration while, paradoxically, heart sounds remain audible during the “missed beats”.

A reverse pulsus paradoxus may occur in patients receiving continuous airway pressure on a mechanical ventilator.

Causes

1. Superior vena cava obstruction
2. Lung conditions

Asthma

Emphysema

Airway obstruction

3. Cardiac

Pericardial effusion

Constrictive pericarditis

• Severe congestive cardiac failure

Pulsus Bigeminus is coupling of the pulse waves in pair, followed by a pause.

Causes

1. Alternate premature beats
2. A.V. block, every third sinus impulse being blocked
3. Sinoatrial block with ventricular escape

Thready Pulse

The pulse rate is rapid and the pulse wave is small and disappears quickly. This is seen in shock especially cardiogenic.

Waterhammer Pulse:

Waterhammer pulse is a large bounding pulse associated with increased stroke volume of the left ventricle and decrease in the peripheral resistance, leading to a wide pulse pressure. The pulse strikes the palpating finger with a rapid, forceful jerk and quickly disappears. It is best felt in the radial artery with the patient’s arm elevated. It is caused by the artery suddenly emptying because some of the blood flows back from the aorta into the ventricle.

Causes

Physiological

1. Fever
2. Alcohol
3. Pregnancy

High output states

1. Anemia
2. Beriberi
3. Cor pulmonale
4. Cirrhosis of liver
5. Paget’s disease
6. Arteriovenous fistula
7. Thyrotoxicosis

Cardiac lesions

1. Aortic regurgitation
2. Rupture of sinus of Valsalva into the heart chambers
3. Patent ductus arteriosus
4. Aortopulmonary window
5. Bradycardia
6. Systolic hypertension

A recent research conducted by researchers in United States have found that psychological group therapy for women with breast cancer helps them to cope better with their disease and also helps them to live longer.

The research was conducted in Ohio State University’s and led by Barbara Andersen. They  studied 227 women with breast cancer. Patients were divided into two groups. One group took part in a year of therapy in groups of eight to 12 patients led by two clinical psychologists, while the other did not.

After 11 years, the women who participated in the group therapy were 56 percent less likely to die of breast cancer and 45 percent less likely to have their cancer return, the researchers wrote in the journal Cancer.

Psychological interventions have been found  to enhance quality of life and reduce distress.

The improved survival may stem from better immune function resulting from stress reduction, the researchers said.

A research conducted by scientists at Washington State University have brought a new theory  that people feel sleepy when parts of their brains are actually asleep.

Popular belief that there is a center in the brain that controls when to fall sleep and dictates the time to for one to drift off.  However these researchers suggest that sleepiness results when independent groups of brain cells become fatigued and switch into a sleep state, even when an individual is awake.

When a threshold reaches and people doze off.

Krueger, one of the researchers insists if sleep were being directed by a control center, the whole brain would respond at the same time. However, he adds, the brain behaves like a self directing orchestra in which most sections are more or less in sync, but a few race ahead or lag behind at any given time.

According to him, when a person is sleepwalking, the neuronal groups needed for balance are in a wake state while those needed for consciousness are in a sleep state. On the other hand, in sleep inertia, enough neuronal groups are in a wake state for one to be awake in a general sense, but some groups are still in a sleep state.

]]> http://medcaretips.com/health-news/sleepy-some-brain-parts-have-already-fallen-asleep/feed http://medcaretips.com/health-news/sleepy-some-brain-parts-have-already-fallen-asleep http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/medcaretips/~3/454585302/new-technology-just-needs-to-swipe-a-card-for-medical-test http://medcaretips.com/health-news/new-technology-just-needs-to-swipe-a-card-for-medical-test#comments Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:18:14 +0000 Arun Pal Singh http://medcaretips.com/?p=452

Cards loaded with blood or urine samples can be scanned in minutes

Scientists have designed a sensitive prototype to test dozens of disease simultaneously by scanning a card loaded with microscopic blood, saliva or urine samples.

Unlike lab tests today, results could be available in minutes, not hours to weeks. The prototype works on same principle givant magnetoresistance or GMR that reads data on computer hard drives or listen to tunes on portable digital music players.

“Think how fast your PC reads data on a hard drive, and imagine using the same technology to monitor your health” informed Marc Porter, a Utah (University) Sciences, Technology and Research (USTAR) professor of chemistry, chemical engineering and bioengineering.

Porter co-authored a pair of studies demonstrating the new method for rapid disease testing, according to an Utah University release. The research will be published in Saturday issue of Analytical Chemistry. “You can envision this as a wellness check in which a patient sample blood, urine, saliva is spotted on a sample stick or card, scanned, and then the readout indicates your state of well-being,” said USTAR research scientist Michael Granger, co-author of the research. “We have a great sensor able to look for many disease markers.”

The prototype card-swipe device consists of a GMR “read head” and sample stick. Right now, the device is about the size of personal computer. But Granger said that when it is developed commercially, the GMR sensor device will look like a credit card reader. The USTAR initiative seeks to create new high-tech jobs by recruiting world class research teams to develop products that can be commercialized to start new business.

Source: TOI

Scientists in the United States have created super-charged immune cells that helped beat back cancer tumours in half of a small group of patients tested, according to a study. Adding an artificial receptor to T-lymphocyte immune cells boosted their ability to fight a deadly form of caner called neuroblastoma, the researchers reported on Sunday.

Neuroblastoma attacks the nervous system. While fairly rare, it accounts for 7 percent of all childhood cancers, and 15 percent of non-adult cancer deaths.

In more than sixty percent of cases, it is not diagnosed until it has already spread to other parts of the body.

In their natural state, T-lymphocytes do not survive very long and lack the molecules that would target cancer cells in tumours.

To overcome this double deficiency, a team of researchers led by Malcolm Brenner at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas first selected immune ells naturally stimulated by a common but harmless virus called Epstein-Barr.

They then modified these cells to express a receptor keyed to specific proteins found in human neuroblastoma cells.

“In effect, the T-lymphocytes trampoline off the virus and onto the tumor”, said Brenner.

In tests on 11 neuroblastoma patients aged three to 10, the re-engineered immune cells-stimulated by the Epstein-Barr virus lasted for as long as 18 months, the study reported.

In five cases, tumours regressed and in a sixth the disease receded completely. “For the first time, we started to see tumour responses,” Brenner said. “We have one complete remission and others who have had stable disease for more than a year”.

In future research, Brenner and his team plan to add receptors for other cancers to see if they get the same cancer-fighting effect, he said. The study was published online in the Nature Publishing Group’s journal Nature Medicine.

Source: TImes of India

It is a loud sound produces during sleep by the vibration of respiratory structure when the airways get obstructed because of irregular flow of air. Studies have shown that at least 25 percent men and 9 percent women above the age of 40 suffer from snoring problem.

Snores, if ignored, can lead to serious problems. Because snoring causes a decrease in oxygen supply to the body, the body comes under extreme stress and undergoes metabolic changes. High blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and, in extreme cases, strokes can occur

Causes of Snoring

• Throat weakness
• Misaligned jaw
• Obesity (especially fat gathering in and around the throat)
• Obstruction in the nasal passage
• Tonsillitis in children

Treatment

• Get yourself evaluated by a sleep therapy expert.
• Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP): In this, a patient has to wear a pressurized mask over the nose while sleeping. The mask is attached to a small pump that forces air through the airway to keep it open.
• Lifestyle changes and weight therapy.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia is decreased body temperature.

Causes

1. Endocrine: Myxedema, Simmond’s cachexia, hypoglycemia
2. Toxic: Alcoholic intoxication, barbiturate poisoning, ketoacidosis
3. Exposure to cold
4. Autonomic dysfunction