Month: July 2008

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Featured News on Health & Science

Feline Dangers

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The human population can be divided into two categories: cat lovers and others. People generally regard cats as “safe” pets. This is because they know of “mad dogs” and the dreaded fatal disease — rabies — that they may transmit. Cats and dogs belong to the same mammalian species but come from different branches of the same family tree. And, as a matter of fact, cats spread the same diseases as dogs do.

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While dogs are leashed, confined and controlled, cats are never chained. They are, therefore, more likely to be infected by diseases. Public awareness about dog bites is high and this ensures that affected people immediately seek treatment. Cat bites or scratches, on the other hand, are not taken very seriously.

Domesticated cats can revert to their “wild” or “tom cat” ways on certain days. They disappear for varying lengths of time. During these periods, cats — even well fed ones — can attack, kill and eat other animals. They are also territorial and ferociously defend their area. These battles can leave them injured. Cats can acquire rabies during these forays because of contact with other infected cats or dogs. After getting infected, they may harbour the dreaded rabies virus, remaining asymptomatic all the while.

Unlike dogs, cats with rabies rarely become furious biters. Instead, they tend to develop the passive form of the disease. They remain silent and withdrawn but infective, until they eventually die.

Cats forage for food. If they come across the carcass or placenta of cows or buffaloes, they eat it. Domesticated cattle often harbour cysts of an organism called Toxoplasma gondii.CLICK & SEE The cats then acquire the infection but remain asymptomatic. As they groom themselves, they shed the infective oocytes (eggs) of the organism, and the floors of houses and other surfaces become contaminated. These oocytes can remain dormant for years unless they are accidentally swallowed.

Children are particularly susceptible to Toxoplasma infection because of their propensity to touch contaminated surfaces and then their mouths. Almost 40 per cent of the adult population has had asymptomatic infection with demonstrable antibody levels.

Toxoplasma infection is dangerous if it is acquired during pregnancy as the infection can be transmitted via the placenta to the foetus. It can affect the baby’s brain and result in a small head, developmental retardation, blindness and deafness.

Cats were worshiped in ancient Egypt and reared by the royal families (of the pharaohs). Killing a cat was a serious offence punishable by death. The royal families eventually perished, with many members dying young or born deformed with small (microcephalic) heads and having seizures and developmental retardation. These are classical symptoms of Toxoplasma gondii infection.

Almost 75 per cent of cats carry pasteurella bacteria in their mouths and can transfer the infection upon biting. Hence, wounds inflicted by cats need to be cleaned thoroughly with hydrogen peroxide solution. An antibiotic ointment (Neosporin or Bacitracin) should then be applied.

Cats often have fleas and ticks living on them unless these are manually removed by the owner. The insects can jump onto other warm-blooded hosts such as human beings. They cause red, itchy lesions. The patches can be mistaken for frustratingly recurrent eczema that remains unresponsive to treatment. The fleas also harbour the bartonella species of bacteria which can cause “cat scratch disease” with fever, body ache and enlarged lymph nodes.

Cats suffer from diarrhoea caused by the same viruses and bacteria that infect humans. Their excreta may dry unnoticed in a corner of the house, contaminating the environment and transmitting infection.

Similar groups of streptococcal bacteria cause tonsillitis in both humans and cats. The disease is mild in cats but can be severe, persistent, recurrent and unresponsive to treatment in children and immuno-compromised adults.

H. pylori, a bacterium implicated in stomach ulcers and cancer, is found in cats and can spread from them to humans. Many cat owners panicked when they read that H. pylori is a familial infection commoner in families that have cats as pets.

Mycobacteria (belonging to the TB group) species, typical and atypical, can cause diseases in cats. These can then be transmitted to humans too. This is likely to occur in immuno-deficient (HIV) individuals and young children.

Small pox has been eradicated, but cowpox infection still occurs and is transmitted by cats. The latter can cause fever and rash with a similar confounding appearance in humans, particularly children.

Diseases caused by cats are greater threats to children, pregnant women and immuno-compromised adults (HIV or cancer patients). The diagnosis may be missed as patients, unaware of the serious implications, fail to mention feline contacts to the attending physician.

ATTENTION CAT LOVERS :

Immunise your cat, yourself and your family against rabies

Treat all illnesses (diarrhoea, sore throat and cough) in your cat promptly

Do not allow cats in areas where food is prepared

Do not feed cats from your plate

Wash hands after contact with cats

Swab the house with a disinfectant solution daily

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Fungus of Fortune

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Tibetan nomads have found easy money in the form of the caterpillar fungus that promises to treat everything from impotence to ageing.

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Cordyceps sinensis (top) feeds on caterpillar larvae

Lhamotso never learned to read and write, and she has few marketable skills other than the ability to milk a yak.

Yet she can earn up to $1,000 a week, an unimaginable fortune for a Tibetan nomad. She has bought herself a shiny new Honda motorcycle. She and her husband gave up their tent for a house they built with solar panels, a satellite dish and television.

The worm, Lhamotso explains, “has changed our lives”.

What Tibetans call the worm is actually not a worm but a fungus — Cordyceps sinensis — that feeds on caterpillar larvae. It has a more poetic name, “winter worm, summer grass,” because its appearance changes from one to the other with the seasons. It is a prized ingredient in traditional medicines, with prices in the past few years skyrocketing such that prime specimens are worth their weight in gold, literally, about $900 an ounce.

Because the caterpillar fungus is indigenous only to the 1,600-km-long Tibetan plateau running from western China to Nepal, the money has hastened the nomads’ lurching transition into modernity.

“It is a bit like a gold rush in the Wild West. It has brought enormous wealth to these communities,” says Andrew Fischer, an economist at the London School of Economics specialising in Tibet.

For centuries, Tibetan nomads added caterpillar fungus to soups or tea, believing it boosted stamina, endurance, lung capacity, kidney function and, of course, sexual performance. Its use for medicinal purposes was documented back in the 14th century. Until recently, the fungus was cheap and abundant and the Tibetans would feed it to yaks and horses too when their energy was flagging.

The fungus’ popularity took off after the 1993 World Championships in Athletics, when Chinese female athletes broke records in nine track and field events and their coach gave partial credit to an elixir containing the fungus.

Then came the 2003 epidemic of the sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), setting Asian consumers off on a frenzy of buying anything that might boost immunity.

Last year China exported $43 million worth of caterpillar fungus, touted as a treatment for everything from impotence to ageing.

The centre of the caterpillar fungus trade is in Qinghai province. Here, the bu — Tibetan for worm — is by far the largest source of cash and dictates the pace of daily life. During the peak fungus-hunting season, schools close to allow children to help. People with jobs shirk work to prospect for riches.

The season runs for about 40 days, beginning in early spring when the mountains are brown and spongy as though covered with a dirty shag carpet. Timing is crucial. If you dig too early, you get a live, wriggling caterpillar. It’s best to dig just after the fungus has killed the larvae.

The best caterpillar fungus is found at higher elevations, such as Heitushan, the 4,267m Black Earth Mountain in Golog, Qinghai province, where Lhamotso lives.

The climb is steep. Lhamotso counts herself lucky to have the motorcycle. She and her daughters, 10 and 16, pile on and zigzag uphill until the terrain gets too rough and they must walk.

Children are useful on the hunt because their sharp eyes allow them to pick the fungus — sort of a little yellow root with a stalk — growing out of the top out of the clumps of grass and sodden earth.

“It is very boring work,” complains Hiriti, Lhamotso’s younger daughter. Reaching into the pocket of her faux leather jacket, the girl pulls out a tissue and unwraps an 8-cm-long twig, the only piece she found all day. She will sell it for about $3.

“I think people must be insane to pay so much,” Lhamotso says. “It’s only in the last two years that it has gotten so expensive. It’s crazy, but it is good for us. How else would I make so much money? I can’t read or write.”

Lhamotso expects to make at least $6,000 this season — about triple what most Chinese families earn in a year.

Lhamotso is well aware that the fungus might not be a reliable source of income for much longer. It’s growing scarcer from over-harvesting and changes in the fragile ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau.

“When I was young, somebody could walk out of the tent and dig 800 to 900 pieces in a day. Now we have to hike three hours up the mountain and the best we do is maybe 50 pieces,” says Tsering, one of Lhamotso’s companions.

“It is expensive because it is rare, and it is rare because it is over-exploited,” says Lin Zhibin, a pharmacology expert at the Peking University Health Science Centre.

Another concern is that relentless digging on the mountains is contributing to soil erosion and desertification. Although the caterpillar fungus has given the nomads a financial boost, Tibetan intellectuals remain ambivalent about its benefits to society as a whole.

The real problem is that Tibetans themselves have become used to the easy money and the creature comforts it buys.

“People can’t go backwards. For years, it’s been like digging up gold, only more valuable,” says Daodu, 31, a teacher. “People today can’t survive without it.”

Sources:Los Angles Times

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Of Hedgehogs and Cancer

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Indian scientists have discovered that a protein essential for growth turns hostile and causes cancer.

………...CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Indian researchers in Bangalore have solved a puzzle that has been haunting scientists for a long time: how does a set of proteins that are crucial for the well-rounded development of organisms trigger cancers?

The work, spearheaded by scientists at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), provides a significant insight into the erratic behaviour of Hedgehog proteins, named so because their absence gives embryos a prickly appearance.

The Hedgehog protein is aptly described as the construction supervisor of life, as it plays a critical role in directing an organism’s growth from a single fertilised egg to a collection of millions of structured, specialised cells. They ensure, among other things, that the hands and feet develop the right shape and number of digits, the heart is located on the left and not the right side of the body, and that we have two eyes and ears instead of one each.

For more than a decade, scientists have been trying to understand the protein’s role in deciding which group of cells should constitute a particular tissue or organ (such as nerves, muscles and liver). In the process they found that when the Hedgehog genes of lab animals were knocked off or mutated, the progenies were born without wings or limbs or eyes, clearly indicating their pivotal role in the overall growth of organisms.

But once an organism, including humans, grows into an able-bodied creature, the Hedgehog proteins are left with a minimal role to play, quite like a supervisor’s role that comes to an end once the building is up and occupied. Except that both need to be available for occasional repair jobs.

Earlier in the decade, a team of researchers led by Philip Beachy of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine discovered that the protein is not entirely harmless: it causes medulloblastoma, one of the most common brain cancers in children. Since then researchers elsewhere have found the Hedgehog’s involvement in cancers of several other organs — small cell lung cancer, pancreatic and prostrate cancers and so on.

Over the years, it has become clear to scientists that in order to be “mischievous,” the Hedgehog proteins need to be hyperactive so that they are able to work on cells that are far away from their location. “How the Hedgehog proteins are able to ‘jump’ to cells far away from their parent cells remained a mystery for long,” says Neha Vyas, the first author of the paper that appeared in the prestigious journal Cell in the last week of June.

Vyas, a post doctoral student at Satyajit Mayor’s lab at NCBS, says they got interested in Hedgehog proteins for an entirely different reason. It is one of the few proteins in the body that requires cholesterol — a fatty substance often vilified for clogging arteries — for efficient functioning. Studies have shown that inadequate cholesterol levels in an expectant mother can mar the development of the baby in many ways. “Hence we were interested in the protein’s cholesterol link,” she says.

“It became clear to us that for the Hedgehog molecules to be able to act over a distance, two kinds of interactions are needed. The molecules need to come together and also collaborate with a group of special carriers which are required to ferry them across a long distance,”NCBS director K. VijayRaghavan, a co-author of the study, told KnowHow.

Clustering is a normal activity of the Hedgehog protein. But it leads to cancer when the Hedgehog is made when it should not be or cells act as if they are constantly “seeing” these proteins even when they are not, observes VijayRaghavan.

The scientists — including those from the University of Mysore and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad — found that Hedgehog proteins exploit the electrostatic interactions of amino acids on their surface for clustering, the first step in the long journey away from the parent cell. The scientists understood the mechanism by which Hedgehog proteins “move around” and also that deactivating a single amino acid on the protein’s surface puts an end to the formation of clusters and hence its unattended long haul.

“Identifying this initial step is of great help as it could be used to design an anti-cancer drug that could stall a mutant Hedgehog pathway,” says Vyas. “Drug designers could target it at the very source itself.”

However, developing a drug that can safely defuse the hyper Hedgehogs that cause the biological mayhem called cancer is not all that easy. Blocking the Hedgehog protein has to be very selective as it plays a role in the regeneration of organs and tissues.

“It is not clear how much regeneration in adults is dependent on Hedgehog proteins, but recent stem cell studies have shown that they are important,” says Mayor, the lead author. A cancer cell-targeted inhibitor should be the way to go, he sums up.

Sources: The Telegraph (kolkata, India)

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Ailmemts & Remedies

Fistula

Definition:
In medicine, a fistula (pl. fistulas or fistulae) is an abnormal connection or passageway between two epithelium-lined organs or vessels that normally do not connect.Fistulas can develop in various parts of the body. The following list is sorted by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.

The intestinal tract (or bowel) ends with the rectum. The last part of the rectum is a section about 1 1/2 inches long, known as the anal canal. It ends with the anus — the opening to the outside of the body. There are several common problems, including hemorrhoids, that can occur in the area from the rectum to the anus. While almost everyone has heard of hemorrhoids, the other conditions are not so well known.

Anal Fissure
An anal fissure is a small tear or cut which lines the anus that can cause extreme pain and are normally associated with bleeding. Some anal fissures, however, may not bleed and are known as dry fissures.Anal fissures occur in the tissue that lines anal canal, called anoderm, which contains a large amount of sensory nerves. This is the reason for the extreme pain associated with rectal fissures.

You may click to see:

Duodeno Biliary Fistula

Anorectal fistulas:

Fissures are normally cause by constipation and pressure in the area. However, it is also common to get an anal fissure from diarrhea, inflammation in the area and childbirth.Fissures can cause itching, pain and severe bleeding but are easily treatable.

Most people have experienced a tear or fissure at the corner of the mouth that can occur in cold weather or when yawning. Similarly, an anal fissure is a small tear in the lining of the anus, frequently caused by constipation. A hard, dry bowel movement results in a break in the tissue. However, fissures can also occur with severe bouts of diarrhea or inflammation. This results in the anus becoming dry and irritated, causing it to tear. Injury to the anal area during childbirth and abuse of laxatives may be other causes.

A fissure can be quite painful during and immediately following bowel movements. This is because the anus and anal canal are ringed with muscles to control the passage of stool and to keep the anus tightly closed at other times. When those muscles expand, it stretches the fissure open. There may also be bleeding or itching with an anal fissure.

Diagnosis
A simple visual examination of the anus and surrounding tissue usually reveals the fissure. It is quite tender when examined by the physician. Fissures are most often located in the middle posterior (back) section of the anus.

Treatment
More than half of all fissures heal either by themselves or with non-surgical treatment. Stool softeners can help reduce pain during bowel movements. Antibiotics may be used for a short time. Special medicated creams may also be used, especially if the fissure has become ulcerated or infected. It is important to keep the anus and area between the buttocks clean and dry. After bathing, the patient should gently pat dry with a soft towel. Applying talcum powder is frequently recommended. Sitz baths may help relieve discomfort and promote healing. A sitz bath is soaking the anal area in plain warm — not hot — water for 15-20 minutes several times a day.

If the fissure is not responding to treatment, the physician re-examines the patient. There are conditions, such as muscle spasm or scarring, that could interfere with the healing process. Fissures that do not heal can be corrected with surgery. It is a minor operation that is usually done on an outpatient basis. The surgeon removes the fissure and any underlying scar tissue. Cutting a small portion of the anal muscle prevents spasm. This helps the area to heal and rarely interferes with the control of bowel movements. Complete healing takes place in a few weeks. However, the pain often disappears after a few days.

Over 90% of the patients who need surgery for fissures have no further problems. Patients can help avoid the return of fissures by drinking at least eight glasses of water a day, and maintaining adequate fiber in the diet. This prevents constipation, which is the cause of most fissures.

Anal Abscess and Fistula
An abscess is a localized pocket of pus caused by infection from bacteria. It can occur in any part of the body. When bacteria seep into the underlying tissues in the anal canal, an abscess may develop. Certain conditions, such as Crohn’s disease (chronic inflammatory bowel disease), can increase the risk of abscess in and around the anal canal. Patients with conditions that reduce the body’s immunity, such as cancer or AIDS, are also more likely to develop anal abscesses.

An abscess causes tenderness, swelling, and pain. These symptoms clear when the abscess is drained. The patient may also complain of fever, chills, and general weakness or fatigue.

A fistula is a tiny channel or tract that develops in the presence of inflammation and infection. It may or may not be associated with an abscess, but like abscesses, certain illnesses such as Crohn’s disease can cause fistulas to develop. The channel usually runs from the rectum to an opening in the skin around the anus. However, sometimes the fistula opening develops elsewhere. For example, in women with Crohn’s disease or obstetric injuries, the fistula could open into the vagina or bladder.

Since fistulas are infected channels, there is usually some drainage. Often a draining fistula is not painful, but it can irritate the skin around it. An abscess and fistula often occur together. If the opening of the fistula seals over before the fistula is cured, an abscess may develop behind it.

Diagnosis
Diagnosis of an abscess is usually made on examination of the area. If it is near the anus, there is always pain, and often redness and swelling. The physician will look for an opening in the skin (a sign that a fistula has developed), and try to determine the depth and direction of the channel or tract of the fistula. However, signs of fistula and abscess may not be present on the skin’s surface around the anus. In this case, the physician uses an instrument called an anoscope to see inside the anal canal and lower rectum.

Whenever the physician finds an abscess, and especially a fistula, further tests are needed to be sure Crohn’s disease is not present. Blood tests, x-rays, and a colonoscopy (a lighted, flexible scope exam of the bowel or colon) are often required.

Treatment for Anal Abscess
An abscess must be surgically opened to promote drainage and relieve pressure. This is often done in the physician’s office under local anesthesia. However, patients with a large or deep abscess, or those who have other conditions, such as diabetes, may be admitted to the hospital for the procedure.

Antibiotics cannot take the place of draining an abscess. Antibiotics are carried by the bloodstream but do not reach the pus within the abscess. However, they are usually prescribed along with surgical drainage, especially if the patient has other serious diseases, such as diabetes or those associated with reduced immunity.

Treatment for Anal Fistula
Treatment of anal fistula often varies, depending on whether Crohn’s disease is present. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammation of the bowel, including the small and large intestine. As noted, the physician will often do tests to see if this disease is present. If it is, then prolonged treatment with a variety of medications, including antibiotics, is usually undertaken. Often these medications will cure the infection and heal the fistula.

If Crohn’s disease is not present, it still may be worthwhile to try a course of antibiotics. If these do not work, surgery is usually very effective. The surgeon opens the fistula channel so that healing occurs from the inside out. Most of the time, fistula surgery is done on an outpatient basis or with a short hospital stay. Following surgery, there may be mild to moderate discomfort for a few days, but patients usually have a short recovery period.

Summary
Bleeding, pain, or drainage from the anus can occur with several illnesses, so a physician should always be consulted. Often the diagnosis is anal fissure, abscess, or fistula. These are problems that are usually easy to diagnose and correct. A variety of treatments, including surgery, are available to correct these conditions. Working together with the physician usually assures a good outcome.

Click to see Ayurvedic medication for Fistula…..………….(1)…...(2)

Homeopathic medication for Fistula.…………………(1).…(2).…..(3)

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fistula
http://www.gicare.com/pated/ecdgs38.htm
H-Fissures Formula

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Herbs & Plants

Karonda (Bengali: Karamcha)

Botanical Name:Carissa carandas
Family: Apocynaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Genus: Carissa
Species: C. carandus

Synonym: Carissa congesta.
Commonly known as: Bengal currant, Christ’s thorn, corinda tree, karanda • Bengali: karamcha • Gujarati: kararmarda • Hindi: balalak,  dindimi,  karaunda,  sushena • Kannada: karekayi • Malayalam: karakka • Marathi: karanda, karavanda • Oriya: sushena • Sanskrit: karamarda, sushena • Tamil: kalakkay,  perungala • Telugu: kalive

Common Hindi name: Karaunda.

Habitat :Distributed all over warm regions of India and Sri Lanka.Grows wild and cultivated throughout Myanmar. It grows naturally in the Himalayas at elevations of 300 to 1800 meters, in the Siwalik Hills (part of India), and in Nepal and Afghanistan.

Description: 5m. Thorny evergreen shrub with 2-4cm long thorns, often forked.Leaves: Simple opposite, elliptic or obovate, shortly mucronate, glabrous, shining and coriaceous.Flower: 2cm across. In pubescent terminal corymbose cymes. They have jasmine-like fragrance.

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• A large evergreen shrub; bark light grey, branchlets usually with thin stout sharp spines. Leaves opposite, simple; exstipulate; petioles short; laminae elliptic or broadly elliptic or obovate, the bases obtuse to rounded, the margins entire, the tyips acute, often shortly mucronate, unicostate, reticulate, the surfaces glabrous, glaucous, coriaceous. Inflorescences in axillary corymbose cymes; bracts linear. Flowers ebracteolate, pedicellate, bisexual, actinomorphic, pentamerous, hypogynous. Calyx synsepalous 5-partite, the lobes lanceolate, pubescent. Corolla synpetalous, 5-lobed, salverform, the lobes oblong lanceolate, puvbescent, the tube cylindrical, dilated at the throat, pubescent, white. Androecium polyandrous, apically appendaged, basifixed, introrse, dehiscence longitudinal. Pistil 1,ovary ellipsoid 2-carpelled, syncarpous, 2-loculed, the placentation axile, the ovules 2 in each locules 2 in each locule, the style filiform the stigma minutely 2-fid. Fruit a drupe, ellipsoid, purplish black when ripe; seeds oblongoid, concave endosperm fleshy. Flowering and fruiting periods: October – January – June

YOU MAY CLICK TO SEE THE PICTURE

TREE

LEAF & FRUITS

Medicinal Uses:
According to Ayurveda, Karaunda roots are stomachic, anthelmintic, antiscorbutic and useful in treatment of stomach disorders, scabies, pruritus, intestinal worms etc. The unripe fruit is sour, astringent, bitter, thermogenic, constipating, aphrodisiac, appetizer and antipyretic. It is useful in treatment of diarrhoea, anorexia and intermittent fevers. The ripe fruit is sweet, cooling, appetizer and anti-scrobutic. It is useful in treatment of anorexia, burning sensation, biliousness, skin diseases, scabies, pruritus etc.
For flower view, please

Root: — Pruritis; Gonorrhoea: Pyrexia; Indigestion; Chronic ulcer. Unripe fruit — Haematemesis; Appetizer; Mucolytic; To allay thirst. Ripe fruit — Carminative; Expectorant; Biliousness; Haematemesis; Antidote for poisons ; Appetizer; Easily digested

Other Uses:
In Asia, the ripe fruits are utilized in curries, tarts, puddings and chutney.When only slightly underripe, they are made into jelly. Green, sour fruits are made into pickles in India.(Carissa carandus) plants, good use for Natural Fencing and get benefit of fruits from third year.
The karonda fruit is a rich source of iron and contains a fair amount of Vitamin C and, therefore, is very useful for cure of anaemia and has antiscorbutic (counteracting scurvy) properties. Mature fruit contains high amount of pectin and, therefore, besides being used for making pickle, it can be exploited for making jelly, jam, squash, syrup and chutney, which are of great demand in the international market.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karonda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karonda
http://www.tuninst.net/MyanMedPlants/TIL/famA/Apocynaceae.htm

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