Her Symptoms Suggested Long Covid. But Was That Too Obvious? - The New York Times
- Her Symptoms Suggested Long Covid. But Was That Too Obvious? The New York Times
- Long COVID could be caused by the virus lingering in the body. Here's what the science says theconversation.com
- Bioinformatics and system biology approach to identify potential common pathogenesis for COVID-19 infection and osteoarthritis | Scientific Reports Nature.com
- Study compares long-term consequences of COVID-19 between patients with rheumatic inflammatory diseases and healthy controls News-Medical.Net
- What Happens When You Still Have Long COVID Symptoms? Yale Medicine
2 years 5 months ago
Her Symptoms Suggested Long Covid. But Was That Too Obvious? - The New York Times
- Her Symptoms Suggested Long Covid. But Was That Too Obvious? The New York Times
- Long COVID Is Defined By These 12 Symptoms, New Study Finds News On 6/KOTV
- Bioinformatics and system biology approach to identify potential common pathogenesis for COVID-19 infection and osteoarthritis | Scientific Reports Nature.com
- Study compares long-term consequences of COVID-19 between patients with rheumatic inflammatory diseases and healthy controls News-Medical.Net
- Long COVID could be caused by the virus lingering in the body. Here's what the science says The Conversation
- View Full Coverage on Google News
2 years 5 months ago
Burnout Threatens Primary Care Workforce and Doctors’ Mental Health
If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Melanie Gray Miller, a 30-year-old physician, wiped away tears as she described the isolation she felt after losing a beloved patient.
If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing “988,” or the Crisis Text Line by texting “HOME” to 741741.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Melanie Gray Miller, a 30-year-old physician, wiped away tears as she described the isolation she felt after losing a beloved patient.
“It was at the end of a night shift, when it seems like bad things always happen,” said Miller, who is training to become a pediatrician.
The infant had been sick for months in the Medical University of South Carolina’s pediatric intensive care unit and the possibility that he might not improve was obvious, Miller recalled during an April meeting with physicians and hospital administrators. But the suddenness of his death still caught her off guard.
“I have family and friends that I talk to about things,” she said. “But no one truly understands.”
Doctors don’t typically take time to grieve at work. But during that recent meeting, Miller and her colleagues opened up about the insomnia, emotional exhaustion, trauma, and burnout they experienced from their time in the pediatric ICU.
“This is not a normal place,” Grant Goodrich, the hospital system’s director of ethics, said to the group, acknowledging an occupational hazard the industry often downplays. “Most people don’t see kids die.”
The recurring conversation, scheduled for early-career doctors coming off monthlong pediatric ICU rotations, is one way the hospital helps staffers cope with stress, according to Alyssa Rheingold, a licensed clinical psychologist who leads its resiliency program.
“Often the focus is to teach somebody how to do yoga and take a bath,” she said. “That’s not at all what well-being is about.”
Burnout in the health care industry is a widespread problem that long predates the covid-19 pandemic, though the chaos introduced by the coronavirus’s spread made things worse, physicians and psychologists said. Health systems across the country are trying to boost morale and keep clinicians from quitting or retiring early, but the stakes are higher than workforce shortages.
Rates of physician suicide, partly fueled by burnout, have been a concern for decades. And while burnout occurs across medical specialties, some studies have shown that primary care doctors, such as pediatricians and family physicians, may run a higher risk.
“Why go into primary care when you can make twice the money doing something with half the stress?” said Daniel Crummett, a retired primary care doctor who lives in North Carolina. “I don’t know why anyone would go into primary care.”
Doctors say they are fed up with demands imposed by hospital administrators and health insurance companies, and they’re concerned about the notoriously grueling shifts assigned to medical residents during the early years of their careers. A long-standing stigma keeps physicians from prioritizing their own mental health, while their jobs require them to routinely grapple with death, grief, and trauma. The culture of medicine encourages them to simply bear it.
“Resiliency is a cringe word for me,” Miller said. “In medicine, we’re just expected to be resilient 24/7. I don’t love that culture.”
And though the pipeline of physicians entering the profession is strong, the ranks of doctors in the U.S. aren’t growing fast enough to meet future demand, according to the American Medical Association. That’s why burnout exacerbates workforce shortages and, if it continues, may limit the ability of some patients to access even basic care. A 2021 report published by the Association of American Medical Colleges projects the U.S. will be short as many as 48,000 primary care physicians by 2034, a higher number than any other single medical specialty.
A survey published last year by The Physicians Foundation, a nonprofit focused on improving health care, found more than half of the 1,501 responding doctors didn’t have positive feelings about the current or future state of the medical profession. More than 20% said they wanted to retire within a year.
Similarly, in a 2022 AMA survey of 11,000 doctors and other medical professionals, more than half reported feeling burned out and indicated they were experiencing a great deal of stress.
Those numbers appear to be even higher in primary care. Even before the pandemic, 70% of primary care providers and 89% of primary care residents reported feelings of burnout.
“Everyone in health care feels overworked,” said Gregg Coodley, a primary care physician in Portland, Oregon, and author of the 2022 book “Patients in Peril: The Demise of Primary Care in America.”
“I’m not saying there aren’t issues for other specialists, too, but in primary care, it’s the worst problem,” he said.
The high level of student debt most medical school graduates carry, combined with salaries more than four times as high as the average, deter many physicians from quitting medicine midcareer. Even primary care doctors, whose salaries are among the lowest of all medical specialties, are paid significantly more than the average American worker. That’s why, instead of leaving the profession in their 30s or 40s, doctors often stay in their jobs but retire early.
“We go into medicine to help people, to take care of people, to do good in the world,” said Crummett, who retired from the Duke University hospital system in 2020 when he turned 65.
Crummett said he would have enjoyed working until he was 70, if not for the bureaucratic burdens of practicing medicine, including needing to get prior authorization from insurance companies before providing care, navigating cumbersome electronic health record platforms, and logging hours of administrative work outside the exam room.
“I enjoyed seeing patients. I really enjoyed my co-workers,” he said. “The administration was certainly a major factor in burnout.”
Jean Antonucci, a primary care doctor in rural Maine who retired from full-time work at 66, said she, too, would have kept working if not for the hassle of dealing with hospital administrators and insurance companies.
Once, Antonucci said, she had to call an insurance company — by landline and cellphone simultaneously, with one phone on each ear — to get prior authorization to conduct a CT scan, while her patient in need of an appendectomy waited in pain. The hospital wouldn’t conduct the scan without insurance approval.
“It was just infuriating,” said Antonucci, who now practices medicine only one day a week. “I could have kept working. I just got tired.”
Providers’ collective exhaustion is a crisis kept hidden by design, said Whitney Marvin, a pediatrician who works in the pediatric ICU at the Medical University of South Carolina. She said hospital culture implicitly teaches doctors to tamp down their emotions and to “keep moving.”
“I’m not supposed to be weak, and I’m not supposed to cry, and I’m not supposed to have all these emotions, because then maybe I’m not good enough at my job,” said Marvin, describing the way doctors have historically thought about their mental health.
This mentality prevents many doctors from seeking the help they need, which can lead to burnout — and much worse. An estimated 300 physicians die by suicide every year, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The problem is particularly pronounced among female physicians, who die by suicide at a significantly higher rate than women in other professions.
A March report from Medscape found, of more than 9,000 doctors surveyed, 9% of male physicians and 11% of female physicians said they have had suicidal thoughts. But the problem isn’t new, the report noted. Elevated rates of suicide among physicians have been documented for 150 years.
“Ironically, it’s happening to a group of people who should have the easiest access to mental health care,” said Gary Price, a Connecticut surgeon and president of The Physicians Foundation.
But the reluctance to seek help isn’t unfounded, said Corey Feist, president of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.
“There’s something known in residency as the ‘silent curriculum,’” Feist said in describing an often-unspoken understanding among doctors that seeking mental health treatment could jeopardize their livelihood.
Feist’s sister-in-law, emergency room physician Lorna Breen, died by suicide during the early months of the pandemic. Breen sought inpatient treatment for mental health once, Feist said, but feared that her medical license could be revoked for doing so.
The foundation works to change laws across the country to prohibit medical boards and hospitals from asking doctors invasive mental health questions on employment or license applications.
“These people need to be taken care of by us, because really, no one’s looking out for them,” Feist said.
In Charleston, psychologists are made available to physicians during group meetings like the one Miller attended, as part of the resiliency program.
But fixing the burnout problem also requires a cultural change, especially among older physicians.
“They had it worse and we know that. But it’s still not good,” Miller said. “Until that changes, we’re just going to continue burning out physicians within the first three years of their career.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
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2 years 5 months ago
Health Industry, Mental Health, Doctors, Maine, North Carolina, Primary Care Disrupted, South Carolina
Dr Amanda Daley and Tia Ferguson | Asthma in children
ASTHMA IS a long-term, chronic lung disease that causes your airways to become sensitive to certain triggers. Several things happen to the airways when a child is exposed to triggers. For example, the lining of the airways swells, the muscles...
ASTHMA IS a long-term, chronic lung disease that causes your airways to become sensitive to certain triggers. Several things happen to the airways when a child is exposed to triggers. For example, the lining of the airways swells, the muscles...
2 years 5 months ago
Severe menstrual pain NOT normal
YOU HAVE probably heard that pain with your period is part of being a woman. It is not true. Painful periods that impact your daily functioning are not normal. Most women get period pain at some point in their lives as part of their menstrual cycle...
YOU HAVE probably heard that pain with your period is part of being a woman. It is not true. Painful periods that impact your daily functioning are not normal. Most women get period pain at some point in their lives as part of their menstrual cycle...
2 years 5 months ago
Health Archives - Barbados Today
#BTColumn – Ride to better health
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.
By Wayne Campbell
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.
By Wayne Campbell
“The bicycle is an instrument of sustainable transportation and has a positive impact on climate.”- United Nations.
There was a time when the popular mode of transportation was the bicycle. During that golden era no one was overweight or obese. In fact, hypertension was not so common in the population. As the international community inches towards a world operated by Artificial Intelligence many of us are content with our sedentary lifestyles. The truth is we all like and welcome the trappings of modernity. Unfortunately, this comes at a high price of ill-health. This life is characterised with little or no physical activity. In fact, physical inactivity is responsible for a host of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD’s) such as hypertension, cancer and diabetes. According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030, physical activity has multiplicative health, social and economic benefits and investment in policy actions to increase physical activity can contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. How many of you were aware that the United Nations has designated a special bicycle day?
Since its establishment in 2018, World Bicycle Day has been marked annually on June 3 by advocates in many countries. The WHO opines that we must acknowledge the uniqueness, longevity and versatility of the bicycle, which has been in use for two centuries, and that it is simple, affordable, reliable and clean. Additionally, the bicycle as a mode of transportation is environmentally-sound as a sustainable means of transportation, fostering environmental stewardship and health.
World Bicycle Day is set aside to encourage stakeholders to emphasise and advance the use of the bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development, strengthening education, including physical education, for children and young people, promoting health, preventing disease, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social inclusion and a culture of peace.
The United Nations General Assembly welcomed initiatives to organise bicycle rides at the national and local levels as a means of strengthening physical and mental health and well-being and developing a culture of cycling in society.
Celebrating the Bicycle
The United Nations states that regular physical activity of moderate intensity such as walking, cycling, or doing sports has significant benefits for health. At all ages, the benefits of being physically active outweigh potential harm, for example through accidents. Some physical activity is better than none. By becoming more active throughout the day in relatively simple ways, people can quite easily achieve the recommended activity levels. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), safe infrastructure for walking and cycling is also a pathway for achieving greater health equity. For the poorest urban sector, who often cannot afford private vehicles, walking and cycling can provide a form of transport while reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, diabetes, and even death. Accordingly, improved active transport is not only healthy, it is also equitable and cost-effective. The WHO adds that meeting the needs of people who walk and cycle continues to be a critical part of the mobility solution for helping cities de-couple population growth from increased emissions, and to improve air quality and road safety. The COVID-19 pandemic has also led many cities to rethink their transport systems.
Cycling and Sustainable Development
World Bicycle Day draws attention to the benefits of using the bicycle, a simple, affordable, clean and environmentally-fit sustainable means of transportation. The bicycle contributes to cleaner air and less congestion and makes education, health care and other social services more accessible to the most vulnerable populations. A sustainable transport system that promotes economic growth reduces inequalities while bolstering the fight against climate change is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. On March 15, 2022, the General Assembly adopted the resolution on integration of mainstream bicycling into public transportation systems for sustainable development. It emphasised that the bicycle is an instrument of sustainable transportation and conveys a positive message to foster sustainable consumption and production, and has a positive impact on climate.
The United Nations is adamant that everyone can help limit climate change. This can be achieved from the way we travel, to the electricity we use, the food we eat, and the things we buy, we can make a difference. The world’s roadways are clogged with vehicles, most of them burning diesel or gasoline. Walking or riding a bike instead of driving will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help your health and fitness. It is quite unfortunate that in some societies sidewalks or designated lanes are not readily available for commuters to use. It appears that urban planners are biased towards older modes of transportation and made no accommodation for them; of course the bicycle would be classified as such.
Bicycle Patrol
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) states that it uses sidewalk-level police presence through bicycle patrols. These special operations units offer high-visibility and proactive community policing presence that is budget-friendly for any size department. The JCF adds that bicycles can fulfil several roles in a wider range of environments than patrol cars or SUVs, and can be used in many of the same environments as foot beats with faster response times.
These units can be a float in a parade, monitor the crowd along the route, be used in rural and urban search and rescue, provide security in dense pedestrian centres, patrol inside buildings whether a mall or apartment complex and provide highly-effective crowd control mechanisms at demonstrations. Fascinatingly, the JCF has a unit which the officers patrol solely on bicycles. Of course many Jamaicans are still divided on this issue of having police officers on bicycles. Interestingly, there is no discrimination along gendered lines as both male and female officers are included in this unit.
Benefits
Cycling is often recommended as a low-impact and engaging workout for people of all ages. It is an aerobics exercise and helps strengthen your heart, blood vessels and lungs. Like other aerobic exercises, cycling can build up your muscular strength and endurance. Additionally, cycling can improve one’s mental health. Cycling can also be good for your mind. For one, it helps create positive endorphins in your brain. Given that cycling is a relatively low-impact exercise, it’s an ideal form of exercise if you have arthritis and osteoarthritis. This is because cycling does not place a lot of stress on your joints.
However, it is rather unfortunate that in Jamaica it appears that there is a lack of vision regarding the development of green spaces as well as designated parks where families can ride bicycles and have some bonding and fun together. We need to advocate for more cycling trails in the development of housing solutions as this will not only add to the aesthetics of the community but also aids in the physical well-being of all.
Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues.
The post #BTColumn – Ride to better health appeared first on Barbados Today.
2 years 5 months ago
Column, Health, Living Well
Increased education, clearer guidelines needed on melatonin use in children
INDIANAPOLIS — In a session on melatonin use in children, Judith Owens, MD, MPH, aimed to pique discussion among attendees about the challenges of talking with parents and families about the supplement’s use in this patient population.“I think it’s become fairly obvious that melatonin really now is the ‘go-to’ pharmacologic intervention for insomnia in children, and that is a worldwide phenomen
on,” Owens, director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, said.
2 years 5 months ago
Urine Test for Parkinson’s Disease
Scientists at Purdue University have developed a urine test for early-stage Parkinson’s disease. The technology involves isolating extracellular vesicles of neural origin from urine samples and then assessing the proteins within the vesicles to detect biomarkers of the disease. The researchers have called their technology “EVtrap” (Extracellular Vesicles total recovery and purification) and it involves using magnetic beads to concentrate extracellular vesicles in urine, before subsequent proteomics analysis. The goal of the technique is to detect levels of LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) proteins and related downstream signaling proteins, which have been reported as being linked to Parkinson’s disease, in urine samples. This type of technology may be poised to allow non-invasive diagnosis of a variety of diseases that can affect the protein content of extracellular vesicles in urine.
Early-stage Parkinson’s disease can take a while to diagnose. This process can involve cognitive tests and tests to assess a patient’s movements. The researchers behind this latest technology report that the process can take a year or even longer, so developing more objective biomarker-based molecular testing approaches for suspected early-stage patients would be very welcome. “We believe this is a logical and rational approach to move forward for diagnosing Parkinson’s disease,” said W. Andy Tao, professor of biochemistry at Purdue. “Diagnosis for this type of neurodegenerative disease is difficult.”
The researchers had developed the EVtrap system previously, but realized that it would be useful for Parkinson’s disease patients when Shalini Padmanabhan from The Michael J. Fox Foundation got in touch. “When I reviewed the data from their previous publication,” said Padmanabhan, “it was interesting to note the expression of an important Parkinson’s disease-linked protein, LRRK2. This piqued my interest since this approach provided us with an opportunity to determine if LRRK2 proteins or the downstream pathways they impact are actually altered in urinary samples from Parkinson’s patients who harbor a mutation in the gene.”
So far, the researchers have tested the system with urine samples from Parkinson’s disease patients and healthy controls and found that the technique has significant promise for early detection of Parkinson’s-related biomarkers.
“This kind of analysis opens a new frontier in noninvasive diagnostics development. It’s showing that biomarkers previously thought to be undetectable have become uncovered and do a really good job of differentiating disease from non-disease state,” said Anton Iliuk, another researcher involved in the study. “It’s not obvious that urine would be a source of brain-based chemicals or signatures, but it is. These EVs can penetrate the blood-brain barrier quite easily.”
See a video about the technique below.
Study in journal Communications Medicine: Quantitative proteomics and phosphoproteomics of urinary extracellular vesicles define putative diagnostic biosignatures for Parkinson’s disease
Via: Purdue
2 years 5 months ago
Diagnostics, Medicine, Neurology, parkinson's, purdue
PAHO/WHO | Pan American Health Organization
WHO announces winners of the 4th Health for All Film Festival
WHO announces winners of the 4th Health for All Film Festival
Oscar Reyes
6 Jun 2023
WHO announces winners of the 4th Health for All Film Festival
Oscar Reyes
6 Jun 2023
2 years 5 months ago
Medical News, Health News Latest, Medical News Today - Medical Dialogues |
'Kangaroo mother care' intervention may reduce risk of mortality by almost a third in premature infants: BMJ
India: A recent study has shown that the method of care known as 'Kangaroo mother care' (KMC) involving skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her prematurely born or low birth weight baby may significantly impact the chances of the child's survival.
Researchers in their study published in the journal BMJ Global Health found that initiating the intervention within 24 hours of birth and carrying it out for at least eight hours daily makes the approach even more effective in reducing mortality and infection.
Kangaroo mother care involves an infant being carried, usually by the mother, in a sling with skin-to-skin contact and many studies already carried out have shown this is a way of reducing mortality and the risk of infection for the child. The World Health Organization recommends it as the standard of care among low birth weight infants after clinical stabilisation.
However, less is known about the ideal time to begin the intervention. Hence, researchers from India conducted a review of numerous large multi-country and community-based randomised trials on the subject.
By looking at existing studies, they set out to compare KMC with conventional care and to compare starting the approach early (within 24 hours of the birth) with later initiation of KMC to see what effect this had on neonatal and infant mortality and severe illness among low birth weight and preterm infants.
Their review looked at 31 trials that included 15,559 infants collectively and of these, 27 studies compared KMC with conventional care, while four compared early with late initiation of KMC.
Analysis of the results showed that compared with conventional care, KMC appeared to reduce the risk of mortality by 32% during birth hospitalisation or by 28 days after birth, while it seemed to reduce the risk of severe infection, such as sepsis, by 15%.
It also emerged that the reduction in mortality was noted regardless of gestational age or weight of the child at enrolment, time of initiation, and place of initiation of KMC (hospital or community).
It was also noted that the mortality benefits were greater when the daily duration of KMC was at least eight hours per day than with shorter duration KMC.
Those studies that had compared early with late-initiated KMC demonstrated a reduction in neonatal mortality of 33% and a probable decreased risk of 15% in clinical sepsis until 28 days following early initiation of KMC.
The review had some limitations in that the studies involved an intervention that was obviously known about by participants so that it could be seen as biased, and very low birth weight, extremely preterm neonates, and severely unstable neonates were often excluded from studies.
However, the review authors said that the risk of bias in the included studies was generally low, and because their review had included a comprehensive and systematic search of existing studies, the certainty of the evidence for the primary outcomes was moderate to high.
They concluded: “Our findings support the practice of KMC for preterm and low birth weight infants as soon as possible after birth and for at least eight hours a day.
Reference:
Sivanandan S, Sankar MJKangaroo mother care for preterm or low birth weight infants: a systematic review and meta-analysisBMJ Global Health 2023;8:e010728.
2 years 5 months ago
Pediatrics and Neonatology,Pediatrics and Neonatology News,Top Medical News
Medical News, Health News Latest, Medical News Today - Medical Dialogues |
Mental health expert Vikram Patel appointed as new chair of Harvard Medical School's Global Health Department
New York: India-born Vikram Patel, a well-known researcher and mental health expert, will be the next chair of the Harvard Medical School's Department of Global Health and Social Medicine.
Mumbai-born Patel, who is the Pershing Square Professor of Global Health at the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, will assume charge on September 1, according to an official announcement last week.
Also Read:Dr Vikram Patel conferred with prestigious John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award
Patel, whose work focused on the burden of mental health problems across the life course, their association with social disadvantage, and the use of community resources for their prevention and treatment, will succeed Paul Farmer, who led the department until his death in February 2022.
"Vikram is both a worthy successor and uniquely prepared to carry the torch," said George Q. Daley, dean of the Harvard Medical School (HMS), in a letter to the community announcing the appointment.
"A venerable and charismatic educator, Vikram was recruited to HMS in 2017 by Paul himself, and he shares Paul's philosophy that academic engagement is key to delivering quality and equitable health care to all," Daley said.
"I am deeply honoured to serve as the chair of the department," Patel said.
"I am conscious that I follow not only in Paul's monumental footsteps but also in those of some of the most influential scholars in global health and social medicine. I am motivated by the potential of this role at this critical juncture in the long and storied history of a department committed to the goal of health equity in this country and globally," Patel added.
His appointment comes at a time of increasing awareness of a growing mental health crisis around the world, Daley noted, adding that Patel's "energy, determination, and drive to find solutions will be invaluable as the HMS community responds to the crisis and acts on the goals outlined in the department's new strategic plan", the statement said.
In particular, he noted that Patel's deep knowledge of the complexities of mental health will complement the HMS community's strength in neuroscience and neurobiology.
"Since joining the department he has been a vital source of intellectual energy and team building, which are obviously two qualities that will serve him well as the leader of the department and, in turn, will serve our community of faculty and learners very well," Anne Becker, dean for clinical and academic affairs and the Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at HMS said.
At Harvard, Patel heads Global Mental Health@Harvard, an interdisciplinary initiative that reaches across the University, as well as the Mental Health for All Lab, housed within the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine.
2 years 5 months ago
News,Health news,Hospital & Diagnostics,Doctor News,International Health News,Latest Health News
Medical News, Health News Latest, Medical News Today - Medical Dialogues |
Medical representative helps seven injured in Odisha train crash reunite with families
West Bengal: A medical representative from West Bengal's Midnapore town helped seven people injured in the Odisha train crash reunite with their relatives through social media, turning out to be a hero for the distraught families that have been running from hospitals to morgues in search of their loved ones.
Nilotpal Chatterjee, who works with Torrent Pharmaceuticals, told PTI that he went to the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital on Saturday for work and found many people injured in the train tragedy being brought there.
"Out of curiosity, I started enquiring about them and learnt that there are seven people who have lost their mobile phones, and do not remember any contact number of their family members. These are poor people who do not have any belongings left with them after the accident," he said.
"Soon, I posted their photos along with other details on Facebook. And those were shared by thousands of people, and I started getting calls from their relatives or people who know them, besides police and government officials," he said.
Chatterjee, 36, said most of these patients have multiple fractures, and were being not able to even speak properly.
The people he helped connect with their families are Gadadhar Sardar, Kabita Karmakar and Nakul Munda of Gosaba in South 24 Parganas, Naren Chowdhury of Goshthonagar in Malda, Sajjit Das of Alipurduar, Samir Kumar Mondal of Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas and Sudha Mondal of Santiniketan in Birbhum.
Sudha's family could not get in touch with her after the accident on Friday, Chatterjee said, adding that after failing to locate her at the hospitals in Odisha, her son-in-law Debiprasad Ghosh even went to the morgue of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, thinking of the worst, before finally getting to know about her whereabouts.
He said it was the drive to do something for the people that made him take up the task, for which he has been spending most of the day at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.
The families that have been coming here from far-off places to take their loved ones home know nothing about Midnapore.
"We have been helping them with all kinds of things, including food and shelter," he said.
Chatterjee said several organisations, including Leftist organisation 'Red Volunteers', were working at the hospital to help the distraught people.
"We are taking them on stretchers for x-rays and MRIs, getting them medicines and providing all kinds of help that they need to get better," he said.
Three trains -- Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Super Fast Express and a goods train -- were involved in the crash, now being described as one of India's worst train accidents.
The Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches around 7 pm on Friday. A few passenger wagons of the Coromandel Express whiplashed the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah SF Express, which was passing by at the same time.
Investigators are looking into possible human error, signal failure and other causes behind the three-train crash that killed 275 people.
Read also: Odisha train accident: Expert doctors from Delhi to attend critically injured passengers
2 years 5 months ago
News,Industry,Pharma News,Latest Industry News
Medical News, Health News Latest, Medical News Today - Medical Dialogues |
Rare case of sudden unilateral corneal clouding in diabetic patient with poorly controlled blood sugar: A report
China: For diabetes patients, it is imperative to strictly control blood glucose and conduct regular examinations to minimize the impact of eye-related and systemic complications; this is the key takeaway from a case report described in Medicine.
China: For diabetes patients, it is imperative to strictly control blood glucose and conduct regular examinations to minimize the impact of eye-related and systemic complications; this is the key takeaway from a case report described in Medicine.
Various diseases can cause corneal opacity. Generally, the opacity gradually increases with the disease progression. Sudden corneal opacity is caused mainly by corneal trauma, acute edema of the keratoconus, or toxic drugs entering the cornea. However, there have been no reports of sudden corneal opacity caused by diabetes has not been reported.
Xiaoguang Niu, Aier Eye Hospital of Wuhan University, Hubei Province, China, and colleagues reported the case of a 60-year-old man with diabetes who experienced unilateral corneal clouding. The man reported blurred vision, and the black eye appeared white in the left eye for five days. The patient had a history of diabetes which had not been treated.
He underwent slit-lamp examination, ultrasound biomicroscopy, anterior segment optical coherence tomography, corneal endothelial examination, B-mode ultrasound, ultrasound biomicroscopy, and other examinations. Diabetic keratopathy was diagnosed.
The patient was administered topical glucocorticoids and dilating eye drops and underwent treatment for blood sugar control. In a few days, the corneal of the patients was utterly transparent, and the flocculent exudation in the anterior chamber disappeared.
"Although diabetes generally causes chronic corneal edema, acute corneal edema may also occur in cases where blood sugar is poorly controlled," the researchers wrote. "Therefore, when we see sudden corneal opacity without obvious incentives, systemic diseases must be considered, especially diabetes."
"The mechanism of the impact of diabetes on the cornea has not been fully clarified, and acute corneal edema caused by diabetes is not common," the authors noted. "Determining the cause of corneal edema according to its morphology is imperative."
Various eye changes are a result of diabetes. In the patient described in our case report, they wrote that acute corneal oedema occurred due to not paying attention to blood glucose control. If the poor glycemic control continues, whether repeated acute corneal edema under hyperglycemia significantly impacts the corneal endothelium and corneal stroma or whether other complications remain to be observed.
"For patients with diabetes, it is imperative to strictly control blood glucose and conduct regular examinations to minimize the impact of eye-related and systemic complications," they concluded.
They noted that although the patient had severe acute corneal edema, the retinopathy was not severe. There were only a few scattered bleeding points on both eyes' retinas, and no hard exudates or profound proliferative changes were found. Therefore, it is implied that keratopathy in diabetes patients may occur earlier than or at the same time as retinopathy, and the two are not synchronized.
Reference:
Xu, Man PhDa; Wu, Shujuan PhDa; Niu, Xiaoguang MDa,*. Sudden unilateral corneal clouding in diabetic patient: A case report and literature review. Medicine 102(22):p e33919, June 02, 2023. | DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000033919
2 years 5 months ago
Diabetes and Endocrinology,Medicine,Ophthalmology,Case of the Day,Diabetes and Endocrinology Cases,Medicine Cases,Ophthalmology Cases
Ministry of Health secures mosquito nets
Based on scientific studies, a pregnant woman infected with dengue can pass the virus on to her foetus during pregnancy or around the time of birth
View the full post Ministry of Health secures mosquito nets on NOW Grenada.
Based on scientific studies, a pregnant woman infected with dengue can pass the virus on to her foetus during pregnancy or around the time of birth
View the full post Ministry of Health secures mosquito nets on NOW Grenada.
2 years 5 months ago
Health, PRESS RELEASE, carol telesford charles, community nursing division, dengue, gis, Ministry of Health, mosquito nets
INTEC and Macrotech sign an educational and scientific agreement for the Biomedical Engineering career
Santo Domingo.- The Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC) and Macrotech, a specialized company in comprehensive health services, have signed a collaboration agreement to promote educational and scientific initiatives that improve the quality of life and contribute to the sustained development of the Dominican Republic.
Santo Domingo.- The Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC) and Macrotech, a specialized company in comprehensive health services, have signed a collaboration agreement to promote educational and scientific initiatives that improve the quality of life and contribute to the sustained development of the Dominican Republic.
Dr. Julio Sánchez Mariñez, the rector of INTEC, and Joaquín Toribio, the founder and general director of Macrotech, signed the agreement. The collaboration aims to support educational and scientific activities for students in the Biomedical Engineering program, including internships for students from various fields of study at the university.
Dr. Sánchez Mariñez expressed his appreciation for Macrotech’s support and highlighted the importance of developing technical capacities to design solutions for complex health issues. He emphasized the positive impact of the collaboration on society and sustainability.
Joaquín Toribio, the general director of Macrotech, expressed satisfaction in contributing to the development of technical skills and offering the company’s laboratory practical training in the Biomedical Engineering program. This commitment reinforces their dedication to societal contributions.
The signing ceremony, held at the university, was attended by Macrotech representatives Melissa Bisonó, the commercial director; Esteban Rodríguez, the regional senior marketing manager; and Norelyn Ramírez, the regional communications manager. INTEC was represented by Alliet Ortega, the Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance; Arturo del Villar, the academic vice-rector; and several deans and faculty members from various areas of study.
The collaboration between INTEC and Macrotech will foster innovation, research, and the development of skills in the healthcare sector, contributing to the advancement of the country’s healthcare system and the well-being of its population.
2 years 5 months ago
Health, Local
Health Archives - Barbados Today
Experts warn bird flu virus changing rapidly in largest ever outbreak
(AFP) — The virus causing record cases of avian influenza in birds across the world is changing rapidly, experts have warned, as calls increase for countries to vaccinate their poultry.
While emphasising that the risk to humans remains low, the experts who spoke to AFP said that the surging number of bird flu cases in mammals was a cause for concern.
Since first emerging in 1996, the H5N1 avian influenza virus had previously been confined to mostly seasonal outbreaks.
But “something happened” in mid-2021 that made the group of viruses much more infectious, according to Richard Webby, the head of a World Health Organization collaborating centre studying influenza in animals.
Since then, outbreaks have lasted all year round, spreading to new areas and leading to mass deaths among wild birds and tens of millions of poultry being culled.
Webby, who is a researcher at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the US city of Memphis, told AFP it was “absolutely” the largest outbreak of avian influenza the world had seen.
He led research, published this week in the journal Nature Communications, showing how the virus rapidly evolved as it spread from Europe into North America.
The study said the virus increased in virulence, which means it causes more dangerous disease, when in arrived in North America.
The researchers also infected a ferret with one of the new strains of bird flu.
The found an unexpectedly “huge” amount of the virus in its brain, Webby said, indicating it had caused more serious disease than previous strains.
Emphasising that the risk in humans was still low, he said that “this virus is not being static, it’s changing”.
“That does increase the potential that even just by chance” the virus could “pick up genetic traits that allow it to be more of a human virus,” he said.
In rare cases, humans have contracted the sometimes deadly virus, usually after coming in close contact with infected birds.
– ‘Scares us’ –
The virus has also been detected in a soaring number of mammals, which Webby described as a “really, really troubling sign”.
Last week Chile said that nearly 9,000 sea lions, penguins, otters, porpoises and dolphins have died from bird flu along its north coast since the start of the year.
Most mammals are believed to have contracted the virus by eating an infected bird.
But Webby said that what “scares us the most” are indications from a Spanish mink farm, or among sea lions off South America, that the virus could be transmitting between mammals.
Ian Brown, virology head at the UK’s Animal and Plant Health Agency, said there has not yet been “clear evidence that this virus is easily sustaining in mammals.”
While the virus is changing to become “more efficient and more effective in birds,” it remains “unadapted to humans,” Brown told AFP.
Avian viruses bind to different receptors on the host cell than human viruses, Webby said.
It would take “two or three minor changes in one protein of the viruses” to become more adapted to humans, he said.
“That is what we’re really looking out for.”
– Vaccinating poultry –
One way to bring down the number of total bird flu cases, and therefore reduce the risk to humans, would be for countries to vaccinate their poultry, Webby said.
A few nations including China, Egypt and Vietnam have already held vaccination campaigns for poultry.
But many other countries have been reluctant due to import restrictions in some areas, and fears vaccinated birds that nonetheless get infected could slip through the net.
In April, the United States started testing several vaccine candidates for potential use on birds.
France recently said it hopes to start vaccinating poultry as early as autumn this year.
Christine Middlemiss, the UK’s chief veterinary officer, said that vaccinating poultry was not “a silver bullet because the virus changes constantly”.
But traditionally reluctant countries should consider vaccinating poultry more often, Middlemiss told AFP at an event at the UK’s embassy in Paris last week.
World Organisation for Animal Health director general Monique Eloit said that the issue of vaccinating poultry should be “on the table”.
After all, “everyone now knows that a pandemic is not just a fantasy — it could be a reality,” she added.
The post Experts warn bird flu virus changing rapidly in largest ever outbreak appeared first on Barbados Today.
2 years 5 months ago
A Slider, Health, World
Health Archives - Barbados Today
Drug Service Director explains supply challenges
Director of the Barbados Drug Service (BDS), Maryam Karga-Hinds, has provided an update regarding some of the drugs which have been affected by recent supply challenges.
Karga-Hinds stated that with respect to the steroid Prednisolone, which is used to treat several conditions, including asthma and Long-COVID, there have been a number of delays in shipment from the contracted supplier, causing the need for a second supplier to be contracted. The shipment of this drug is now scheduled to arrive in two to three weeks. The Drug Service is also currently searching for stock that is readily available.
Additionally, she said there has been an issue with the drug Androcur (Cyproterone), which is used to treat prostate cancer, where the manufacturers have been experiencing shortages with obtaining the raw materials. This has resulted in rationing, leading to buyers not receiving the amounts ordered from the suppliers.
Karga-Hinds noted that the Barbados Drug Service contracted a generic supplier to fill the need, but the product has to be manufactured and the generic is not expected to be ready before the end of June. There is a limited supply on island.
She further stated that in the past few months, there have been significant challenges with Epilim which is used to treat epilepsy. She pointed out that this is not a product which can be easily interchanged.
The local agent has indicated that small quantities of the 300 mg and 500 mg have been shipped, however, the 300 mg strength is scheduled for discontinuation by year-end. The Drug Service is actively looking for a replacement product.
The Director indicated that the supplier of Ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug, has advised that a limited supply is available on island and should be ready for sale shortly.
She also shared that a shipment of Ventolin liquid, which is used to treat asthma, is on its way to the island adding that, recently, a quantity of this drug expired and had to be destroyed because of the lack of demand. Ventolin tablet is no longer on the Barbados national drug formulary.
Karga-Hinds expressed regret over any challenges experienced by the public as it relates to availability of medication. She stated that the management and staff of the Barbados Drug Service will continue to do all in their capacity to re-establish supply of the items that are out of stock.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness is committed to updating the public with relevant information as it becomes available.
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2 years 5 months ago
A Slider, Health, Local News
Call to resume use of face masks due to Covid-19 is considered exaggerated
The Dominican Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery recently asked the population to resume using masks due to the increase in positive cases of Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases.
This call was considered by the medical advisor of the Executive Power, Jorge Marte Baez, as exaggerated because the data available to the authorities do not represent a situation that is cause for alarm.
“There is no doubt that there is an increase in cases, but this is not the first time that there are increases in passing cases in the last two months and that increase lasts for days and fades away. We cannot predict that this time it will be the same, but what we can know is that the number of cases requiring hospital admission remains the same,” said Marte Baez to Diario Libre.
The pneumologist explains that the slight increases in the infections could be due to the sub-variant of Omicron, called XBB.1.5, about which the World Health Organization (WHO) has alerted, which causes mild symptoms and which does not put the life of the patients at risk.
“It is not that we are not concerned, but it seems to me that some people and some entities have perhaps exaggerated this danger a little and are reflected above all in that, in a call to resume the use of masks,” said the doctor when affirming that the State health organizations are alert to any situation that requires a change in the recommendations that up to now have been given to the population.
The also medical director of the Centers for Diagnostic and Advanced Medicine and Medical Conferences and Telemedicine (Cedimat) said that a sign of the low danger so far of the new Covid-19 infections is that, in this center, one of the ones that have treated more patients with this disease, exceeding 26,000 in the last month and a half, only two patients have been admitted. The main reason has been that they have chronic conditions.
Pneumologists ask to resume using masks due to the increase of Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases.
HEALTH
Pneumologists ask to resume using masks due to the increase of Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases.
The Dominican Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery bases its call for using masks on the reports issued by pneumologists from this guild, who warn of an increase in Covid-19 infections.
“In recent weeks, the pulmonologists of the society at the national level, we have observed with concern the increase in the number of patients in consultations who are testing positive to Covid 19 influenza, pneumonia and other viral respiratory processes,” says the entity’s statement.
“It is time for our older adults, pregnant women and people suffering from diseases to start protecting themselves again,” said the pulmonologists’ society when reminding that even though the WHO declared the end of the health emergency due to Covid-19, it does not mean that it has ceased to be a threat to world health.
Public Health on alert
The Minister of Public Health, Daniel Rivera, called on the population not to be alarmed by the alert issued by the Dominican Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery about an increase in positive cases of Covid-19 in the country and assured that the situation is under control.
Rivera warned that Covid-19 is already an endemic disease and that permanent and timely monitoring is maintained by the Epidemiological Surveillance System of this institution that, allows the identification of health events and the taking of appropriate and effective decisions.
“It is not necessary to be alarmed; the Ministry has a permanent monitoring of the disease and has always offered the precise details and in case the data varies, the information will also be offered in a transparent manner, and if it is necessary to retake some measures, it would also be officially informed,” said Rivera when asking the citizenship not to be carried of rumors in networks.
Divided population
Citizens consulted by this media about the return of the use of masks reacted in favor and against this recommendation. Still, they indicated that if ordered, they would put them on again.
In this respect, Dionicio Jiménez says he is not currently using them because he does not consider it necessary. However, he is vigilant if the possibility of doing it again arises.
Others like Felix Caset say that they have never stopped using masks and will continue to use them indefinitely regardless of what the authorities say about it.
Meanwhile, owners of establishments with closed spaces said they would follow the rules established by the authorities in their businesses to help prevent contagion, if necessary.
While in the streets, some people are seen walking with their masks on.
The mandatory use of masks in workplaces and different public spaces was established by resolution 000016 of the Ministry of Public Health on June 22, 2020, and lifted on February 16, 2022; however, its optional use was recommended at that time.
2 years 5 months ago
Health