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.

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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

The body temperature refers to the temperature of the viscera and tissues of the body. It is kept within the normal level by maintaining a balance between the heat gain and heat loss, which is regulated by the hypothalamus.

The body temperature is best recorded with a mercury thermometer which should be kept in position for about a minute. Usually temperature is recorded in the axilla. However, if there is a lot of perspiration, oral temperature should be taken. In cholera, rectal temperature is recorded which may be high, whereas the skin temperature may be subnormal.

The normal body temperature varies from 36 degree Celsius - 37.5 degree Celsius. There is normally a diurnal variation of 1 degree Celsius, the lowest temperature being between 2-4 am and highest in the afternoon.

Fever or pyrexia is an increase of more than 1 degree Celsius or any rise above the maximal normal temperature.

Types of Fever

1. Continuous fever: The temperature remains above normal throughout the day and does not fluctuate more than 1 degree Celsius in 24 hours e.g. lobar pneumonia, typhoid, urinary tract infection, infective endocarditis, brucellosis, typhus, etc.
2. Remittent fever: The temperature remains above normal throughout the day and fluctuates more than 2 degree Celsius in 24 hours e.g. typhoid, infective endocarditis, etc. This type of fever is most common in practice.
3. Intermittent fever: The temperature is present only for some hours in a day and remains to normal for the remaining hours. When the spike occurs daily, it is quotidian, when every alternate day, it tertian and when every third day, it is quartan. Intermittent fever is seen in malaria, kala-azar, pyemia, septicemia etc.
4. Hectic or septic: The temperature variation between peak and nadir is very large and exceeds 5 degree Celsius e.g. septicemia.
5. Pel Ebstein type: There is a regular alternation of recurrent bouts of fever and afebrile periods. The temperature may take 3 days to rise, remains high for 3 days and remits in 3 days, followed by apyrexia for 9 days.
6. Low grade fever: Temperature is present daily especially in the evening for several days but does not exceed 37.8 degree Celsius at any time. Usually it does not indicate disease, but it is commonly present with tuberculosis.

Causes of Fever

1. Infection: Bacterial, viral, rickettsial, fungal parasitic, etc.
2. Neoplasms: Fever may be present with any neoplasm but commonly with hypernephroma. Lymphoproliferative malignancies, carcinoma of pancreas, lung and bone and hepatoma.
3. Vascular: Acute myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism. Pontine hemorrhage, etc.
4. Traumatic: Crush injury
5. Immunological:

• Collagen disease, SLE, rheumatoid arthritis.
• Drug fever
• Serum sickness

6. Endocrine: Thyrotoxicosis, Addison’s disease.

7. Metabolic: Gout, porphyria, acidosis, dehydration

8. Hematological: Acute hemolytic crisis

9. Physical agents: Heat stroke, radiation sickness.

10. Miscellaneous: Factitious fever, habitual hyperpyrexia, cyclic neutropenia

Special Types of Fever

1. Fever with rigors: This occurs in:

• Malaria
• Kala azar
• Filariasis
• Urinary tract infection
• Cholangitis
• Septicemia
• Infective endocarditis

2. Fever with herpes labialis: Elevated body temperature may activate the herpes simplex virus and cause small vesicles around the angle of the mouth (herpes labialis). It occurs with:

• Pneumonia
• Malaria
• Meningitis
• Streptococcal infection

3. Fever with rash: This is seen in:

• Chicken pox
• Small pox
• Measles
• Rubella
• Typhus
• Allergy

4. Fever with membrane in the throat: occurs in:

• Diphtheria
• Infectious mononucleosis
• Agranulocytosis
• Moniliasis
• Vincent’s angima

5. Fever with delirium: This is common in:

• Encephalitis
• Typhoid state
• Meningitis
• Pneumonia (especially in alcoholics and elderly people with senility)

6 Hyperpyrexia
Hyperpyrexia is said to occur when body temperature is more than 105 degree Fahrenheit.

1. Tetanus
2. Malaria
3. Septicemia
4. Heat Stroke
5. Encephalitis
6. Pontine hemorrhage

Benefits of Fever

In some human disease, fever is beneficial, e.g. widespread cancer, neurosyphilis, chronic arthritis, etc. Fever was often induced in these diseases by injection of milk protein or BCG vaccine.

It has been suggested that fever is associated with release of endogenous pyrogens, which activate the T cells and thus enhance the host defense mechanism.

Harmful Effects

1. Hypercatabolism-nitrogen wastage and weight loss.
2. Fluid and electrolyte imbalance-due to sweating.
3. Convulsions and brain damage
4. Circulatory overload, arrhythmia, etc.

A High Arched Foot

Pes Cavus: Pes cavus is the increased antero-posterior curvature of the arch of the foot.

Causes:

1. Idiopathic
2. Spinocerebellar atrophy: Friedreich’s ataxia, peroneal muscular atrophy
3. Spinal cord disease: Poliomyelitis, spina bifida
4. Cerebral palsy

The vertebral column in a normal upright position has two antero-posterior curves-one with a concavity forwards in the upper dorsal region and the other with a slight convexity forwards in the dorsolumbar region. Normally, there is no lateral curvature. The vertebral column should be examined for any abnormality, angular deformity, swelling or tenderness.

Normally the vertebral column has both anterior as well as lateral mobility. This can be tested by asking the patient to bend forwards, backwards and sideways. Limitation of movements and pain, if any, should be looked for.

An Xray showing lumbar and dorsal scoliotic curves: IImage Credit: Wikipedia

I. Scoliosis: Scoliosis is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.

Causes:

1. Congenital
2. Postural: Carrying heavy weight in one arm.
3. Compensatory: Reduced length of one lower limb.
4. Reflex: To relieve pain as in sciatica or renal colic.
5. Neurological: Poliomyelitis, syringomyelia, muscular dystrophy, hereditary ataxia.
6. Rickets
7. Functional

II. Kyphosis: Kyphosis is an abnormal anterio-posterior curvature of the spine with forward concavity and dorsal prominence.

An Xray showing Kyphosis of the dorsal spine : Image Credit -Wikipedia

Causes:

1. Congenital: Wedge shaped vertebra
2. Postural: Carrying weights on the back
3. Disease of bone and joints: Tuberculosis (Pott’s spine), rheumatoid arthritis, rickets, osteoarthritis, osteitis deformans, fracture of the vertebral body, new growth of the spine.
4. Neurological: Muscular dystrophy, hereditary spastic paraplegia, Friedreich’s ataxia, sryingomyelia, poliomyelitis, cerebral palsy, neurofibroma, etc.

III. Lordosis: Lordosis is an abnormal anterior-posterior curvature of the spine with forward convexity.

A photograph showing lordosis Image Credit Wikipedia

Causes:

1. Physiological: Pregnancy
2. Secondary to hip disease and congenital
3. Muscular dystrophy
4. Large abdominal tumors

• Leprosy
• Neurofibroma
• Diabetes
• Amyloidosis
• Charcot Marie Tooth syndrome
• Sarcoidosis
• Refsum’s disease
• Rusy Levy syndrome
• Dejerine Sotta’s syndrome
• Idiopathic hypertrophic neuropathy