Venom derived from one of the Southeast Asia’s rarest snakes can be turned into non-addictive painkiller drug that could work better than opium, revealed a research. Watch What Else is Making News According to Associate Professor Bryan Fry of the University of Queensland School of Biological Sciences faculty, venom of the blue coral snake could improve any kind of pain treatment for humans such as cancer pain, a torn muscle or even a migraine. “This was a 15-year project in the making that has finally come true after we managed to study two of such snakes in Cameron highlands, Malaysia,” Fry told Xinhua in a telephone interview on Monday. “With its combination of electric blue stripes and neon red head and tail, the blue coral snake is arguably one of the world’s most striking species of snake,” he said. “It also has the biggest venom glands in the world, extending over a quarter the length of its body,” he said. At present, the long-glanded blue coral snake can only be found in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia but mass deforestation is threatening the species to extinction. “This particular animal is very rare… and its habitat the forests are being destroyed to make way for palm oil plantation,” Fry said. “This is a great example why we need to conserve nature because you may have something so rare that could be potentially be so useful for human medicine but of course we can’t save lives if it (the snake) is extinct,” he said. “It makes me wanna cry on how much (forest) is destroyed as there may be a plant there that can cure cancer that is completely chopped off before we can study it,” Fry added. For this particular study, Fry said mass amounts of venom was milked out from two snakes in Malaysia without harming them in anyway in 2007 and then three years later in 2010. Fry, who has been working with snakes for the last 20 years, said the discovery on the health benefits from the venom came by chance. “We tested against everything and we found this by accident,” he said. Moving forward, Fry said he and his team would be working on a artificial version of the toxin by improving on it before turning it into a medicinal drug meant for commercialisation. He also added that they would be looking at other similar snakes in the same blood line to see if such animals produced similar benefits. The findings of the research which was led by Fry involved scientists from Australia, China, Singapore and the US was been published in journal Toxins in October.
A blue coral Snake. (Wikimedia-commons)
Thứ Hai, 31 tháng 10, 2016
Venom of Asia’s rare snake could create new painkillers
Yay! Milk chocolates to get as healthier as dark ones
Love to eat milk chocolates, but are wary of its negative health effects as a result of higher levels of added sugar and fat? Take heart. Researchers have found a way to introduce the health benefits of dark chocolate – a powerful source of antioxidants – into milk chocolates. Researchers from the North Carolina State University, in the US, have developed a method to use peanut skin extracts to make milk chocolate that has even more nutritional benefits of dark chocolate without affecting the taste. They extracted phenolic compounds from peanut skins – a waste product of peanut production – and encapsulated them into maltodextrin powder which is an edible carbohydrate with a slightly sweet flavour that comes from starchy foods such as potatoes, rice or wheat. The maltodextrin powder was incorporated into the milk chocolate. “If applied to commercial products, peanut skin extracts would allow consumers to enjoy mild tasting products and have exposure to compounds that have proven health benefits,” said lead author Lisa L. Dean from the North Carolina State University. Including these extracts would allow for a value-added use of the discarded skins, because peanut skins are a waste product of the blanching process of the peanut industry, the authors said. Consumer testing of 80 subjects who compared samples of both milk chocolates with peanut extracts and without showed that the fortified chocolates were liked as well as the untreated milk chocolate. These tests also showed that the threshold for detecting the presence of the peanut skin extract was higher than that needed to fortify the milk chocolate to antioxidant levels comparable to dark chocolate, the researchers noted in the paper appearing in the Journal of Food Science.
Yet another excuse coming up to eat more chocolates! How great is that?! (Source: Thinkstock Images)
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Thứ Bảy, 29 tháng 10, 2016
Injectable hormones in men can prevent pregnancy: Study
Researchers have developed an injectable hormone combination that can be taken by men to prevent pregnancy in their female partners. While women can choose from a number of birth control methods, men have few options to control their own fertility. The available methods for men include condoms and withdrawal, which are less effective than hormonal birth control. Men can also have a vasectomy, but this method is invasive and often not reversible. “The study found it is possible to have a hormonal contraceptive for men that reduces the risk of unplanned pregnancies in the partners of men who use it,” said Mario Philip Reyes Festin from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The findings showed that a precise mixture of progestogen and testosterone lowered sperm count, can make men temporarily infertile. For the study, the team tested the safety and effectiveness of injectable contraceptives in 320 healthy men aged between 18 to 45. The men received injections of 200 milligrams of a long-acting progestogen called norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN) and 1,000 milligrams of a long-acting androgen called testosterone undecanoate (TU) for up to 26 weeks to suppress their sperm counts. The hormones were effective in reducing the sperm count to 1 million/ml or less within 24 weeks in 274 of the participants. The contraceptive method was effective in nearly 96 per cent of continuing users. In comparison, the effect of the pill was 99.9 per cent. Despite the adverse effects, including injection site pain, muscle pain, increased libido and acne, more than 75 per cent of participants reported being willing to use this method of contraception at the conclusion of the trial. “Our findings confirmed the efficacy of this contraceptive method previously seen in small studies,” Festin said. Researchers are still working to perfect the combination of hormonal contraceptives to reduce the risk of mild to moderate side effects, including depression and other mood disorders. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The men received injections of 200 milligrams of a long-acting progestogen called norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN) and 1,000 milligrams of a long-acting androgen called testosterone undecanoate (TU) for up to 26 weeks to suppress their sperm counts. (Representational)
Thứ Sáu, 28 tháng 10, 2016
Visiting your dentist twice a year may cut pneumonia risk
Good oral hygiene can reduce bad bacteria in the mouth and thus decrease the risk of developing pneumonia, a research has found. Pneumonia is an infection that inflames air sacs in one or both lungs, which may fill with fluid. The infection is more common among older people and those with conditions such as AIDS or lung disease. The study found that people who never get dental checkups had an 86 per cent greater risk of pneumonia than those who visit the dentist twice a year. “There is a well-documented connection between oral health and pneumonia, and dental visits are important in maintaining good oral health,” said lead author Michelle Doll, Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in the US. “We can never rid the mouth of bacteria altogether, but good oral hygiene can limit the quantities of bacteria present,” Doll added. The human body contains 10 times as many microbes (bacteria, fungi and viruses) as human cells on or in the body, from the skin to the gastrointestinal system (including the mouth). Some microbes are good and some are bad, but even bad microbes only cause disease under certain circumstances. In some cases, bacteria can be accidentally inhaled or aspirated into the lungs and cause pneumonia. Bacteria that commonly cause pneumonia include streptococcus, haemophilus, staphylococcus, and anaerobic bacteria. Routine dental visits may reduce the amount of bacteria that can be aspirated, Doll said. “Our study provides further evidence that oral health is linked to overall health, and suggests that it’s important to incorporate dental care into routine preventive healthcare,” Doll said. The research was presented at IDWeek 2016 in Los Angeles, recently.Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Audience Reaction: Ranbir, Aishwarya, Anushka Starrer Gets A Thumbs Up Bigg Boss 10, October 27 Review: Navin, Lokesh Fights During The Immunity Task Shivaay Audience Reaction: Ajay Devgn Impresses Viewers Pakistan High Commission Staffer Caught With Defence Documents: What It Means For India & Pakistan The Royal Opera House Reopens After Decades Of Neglect: Here’s A Quick Tour Tata Sons Rubbishes Cyrus Mistry’s Allegations: Here’s What Happened Pakistan High Commissioner denies allegations leveled on his staffer for espionage activities Odisha: Villagers Refuse To Cremate Dalit Woman’s Body Here’s What Farhan Akhtar Said On Karan Johar-MNS ‘Deal’ Over Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’s Release Government’s Diwali Gift to Central Government Employees, Pensioners Bigg Boss 10 26th October Review: This Episode Is All About Fights New Zealand Beat India By 19 Runs In Ranchi; Series Levelled At 2-2 DND Toll-Free: Noida Toll Company Moves Supreme Court Against Allahabad High Court British PM Theresa May Says Kashmir Is A Matter For India, Pakistan To Sort Out J&K: Students Suffer As Schools Along LOC Forced To Shut Amid Firing
Life expectancy in Australia hits new high: Report
Life expectancy in Australia has hit a new high, with babies born in 2015 expected to live two years longer than those born in 2005, according to a report issued on Friday. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report showed that life expectancy had hit 84.5 years for females and 80.4 years for males, but demographics expert Peter McDonald of the University of Melbourne said that the statistics assume no improvements in healthcare and were therefore conservative estimates. “They are not any individual’s lifetime; they are just telling you the expectation of life you would get if life expectancy didn’ t change… and for the last 200 years it has been going up,” he said. ABS Director of Demography Beidar Cho said the life expectancy for Australians in 2015 was comparable for other first-world nations. “Babies born today have the highest estimated life expectancy ever recorded in Australia,” Cho said in a statement. “Male life expectancy at birth reached 80.4 years in 2015, increasing from 80.3 in 2014. Female life expectancy also increased to 84.5 years in 2015 from 84.4 in the previous year.” “For both men and women, Australia has a higher life expectancy than similar countries such as Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US.” Meanwhile in 2005, the life expectancy of Australians was at 83.3 years for women and 78.5 years for men. “In 2013-2015, the male and female combined life expectancy at birth estimate for Australia was 82.4 years. This was 11.9 years higher than the world average of 70.5 years in 2010-2015,” Cho added.
(Source: File)
Vitamin D supplements for preggers should be customised for ensuring the effects
Vitamin D supplements are less effective at raising vitamin D levels in pregnant women if they deliver their babies in the winter, have low levels of vitamin D early in pregnancy or gain more weight during pregnancy, a new Southampton study has shown. The findings showed pregnant women respond differently to vitamin D supplementation depending on their individual attributes. Also watch: The University of Southampton researchers suggest that supplement levels should be tailored according to individual risk factors. Vitamin D is a hormone that helps the body absorb calcium. It plays a crucial role in bone and muscle health. The skin naturally produces vitamin D after exposure to sunlight but people also obtain smaller amounts of the vitamin through foods, such as milk fortified with vitamin D. Evidence suggests vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy can harm maternal health, fetal development and the child’s long-term skeletal health. Study leader Nicholas Harvey commented, “It is important for pregnant women to have sufficient levels of vitamin D for the health of their baby. Our study findings suggest that in order to optimise vitamin D concentrations through pregnancy, the supplemental dose given may need to be tailored to a woman’s individual circumstances, such as the anticipated season of delivery.” The Maternal Vitamin D Osteoporosis Study (MAVIDOS), is a multi-centre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy. More than 800 pregnant women were recruited and randomised to take either 1000 units (25 micrograms) of vitamin D every day or a matched placebo capsule from 14 week’s gestation until delivery of the baby. Analysis showed that participants who received the vitamin D supplement achieved different levels of vitamin D in the blood, even though they received the same dose. Researchers found women who delivered in the summer, who gained less weight during pregnancy and who had higher vitamin D levels early in pregnancy tended to have higher levels of vitamin D in the blood than their counterparts. Women who consistently took the supplement also had higher levels of vitamin D than participants who did not. “Our findings of varied responses to vitamin D supplementation according to individual attributes can be used to tailor approaches to antenatal care,” said researcher Cyrus Cooper. “This work forms part of a larger programme of research at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, addressing the early life determinants of bone development, and will inform novel strategies aimed at improving bone health across future generations.” The study has been published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Evidence suggests vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy can harm maternal health, fetal development and the child’s long-term skeletal health. (Source: Pixabay)
Maharashtra: Cancer diagnosis to be affordable with digital pathology system
Diagnosis of cancer is now set to become easier and cost effective with on-demand digital pathology system being offered by OptraSCAN — a company of Optra Group. Watch What Else is Making News The company has recently become part of the ambitious “Cancer Moonshot 2020” programme launched in the US by Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, attracting an investment of five million dollars to accelerate its product line expansion. Created by Pune’s bio-engineer and technocrat-entrepreneur Abhijeet Gholap (CEO, Optra Scan Founder Chairman, Optra Group), who has bagged 17 intellectual rights patents, the OptraSCAN Digital Pathology (OSDP) platform and solutions are made easily accessible through its on-demand system that provides access to digital pathology infrastructure through an affordable, monthly subscription and placement of a small footprint whole slide images scanner at the pathologist’s lab at no additional cost. Gholap who also is a producer of the national award winning movie Deool said they have created a product which is basically a scanner to scan tissue cancer slides and convert them into high quality images. Confined earlier to only research applications, OptraSCAN provides a tool for transition from conventional microscopy to digital pathology for the acquisition of whole slide images, viewing, sharing as well as analysis and management of digital slides and associated metadata. He lost his mother to cancer and was later inspired by scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar as he designed and built products in a shift from conventional microscopy to automated digital pathology system. “The purpose of our endeavor was to remove subjectivity in microscopy by replacing it with digital pathology in order to make cancer diagnosis more precise and less subjective,” he noted and added that, “We also worked to make it cost competitive.” Explaining the unique features of OSDP solutions, Gholap said: “We have a software which detects different patterns and classifies them as cancerous versus non-cancerous.” OptraSCAN has also bagged a work order from the Centre for deployment of the telepathology system in remote areas of the country for benefit of rural patients. The company is also recognised as a research and development unit under the Centre’s Biotechnology Industrial Partnership Programme for designing and manufacturing of affordable health care system.
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