Tag: Blood test

Blood Test Can Tell Alzheimer’s Risk

Post author By Mukul
Post date October 17, 2007
No Comments on Blood Test Can Tell Alzheimer’s Risk

A simple blood test will soon predict six years before any symptoms appear whether you are at risk of developing Alzheimer’s â€” a neurodegenerative disease which causes memory loss among older people.

The most disturbing feature of the disease is the difficulty in determining whether mild memory loss is the beginning of Alzheimer’s or just part of normal ageing.

Scientists from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California now say that the blood test, with over 90% accuracy, will greatly help in the disease’s early diagnosis, thereby improving chances of slowing down its progress in the patient. This discovery on how to predict the old man’s disease proves to be of prime importance for India where by 2050, the average Indian might live from the current 64.7 years to 75.6 years.

According to the 2006 World Population Prospects, by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, by 2050, the number of Indians aged above 80 will increase more than six times from the current number of 78 lakh to nearly 5.14 crore. At present, 20% of this category in India suffers from Alzheimer’s.

The number of people over 65 years of age in the country is expected to quadruple from 6.4 crore in 2005 to 23.9 crore, while those aged 60 and above will increase from 8.4 crore to 33.5 crore in the next 43 years. According to one estimate, Alzheimer’s kills one out of four Indians over the age of 80.

The early stage of Alzheimer’s is often overlooked and incorrectly labelled as normal old age outcomes.

The blood test identifies changes in a handful of proteins in blood plasma that cells use to convey messages to one another. The research team discovered a connection between shifts in the cells dialogue and the changes in the brain accompanying Alzheimer’s.

Dr Anshu Rohatgi, neurologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, “This is a huge breakthrough with enormous potential. It will be a valuable tool in the detection of early-stage mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We are now trying to see whether drugs meant for Alzheimer’s can retard or slow down the progress of the disease, when it is administered at the early state of MCI. This blood test will tell us when that early stage is approaching.”

“Just as a psychiatrist can conclude a lot of things by listening to the words of a patient, so by listening to different proteins we are measuring whether something is going wrong in the cells,” said Tony Wyss-Coray, professor of neurology and senior author of the study.

Currently, the clinical diagnosis for Alzheimer’s is one of exclusion â€” by testing for other causes of memory loss and cognitive decline, such as stroke, tumours and alcoholism.

If those conditions are eliminated as causes of memory loss, what remains is Alzheimer’s â€” a disease which robs patients of memory, thinking and the ability to communicate.

Source:The Times Of India

Tags Ageing, Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's Research UK, Amnesia, Biomarkers of aging, Blood test, Dementia, Disease, Food and Drug Administration, Old age

Ailmemts & Remedies

Amebiasis

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The intestinal infection amebiasis is caused by the protozoan parasite entamoeba histolytica. worldwide, amebiasis is very common, affecting about 500 million people. it is the common and severe in the tropics but is rare in the us. in most cases, infection results from drinking water or eating food contaminated with the parasite, which is excreted in the feces of infected people. in severe cases, ulcers develop in the walls of the intestine, and the condition is then called amebic dysentery.

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What are the symptoms?
Most infected people do not develop symptoms or have only mild, intermittent symptoms, which may include:

Â· diarrhea.
Â· mild abdominal pain.

Click to see…> Symptoms of Raw fish infection

if you develop amebic dysentery, the symptoms usually appear between 5 days and several weeks after the initial infection. symptoms may include:

Â· watery, bloody diarrhea.
Â· severe abdominal pain.
Â· fever.

in some cases, dehydration and anemia may develop. in addition, there is a risk of infection spreading through the bloodstream to the lever, causing high fever, painful liver abscesses, extreme fatigue, and loss of appetite.

What might be done?
Diagnosis of amebiasis is usually made from examination of a sample of feces under a microscope to look for the parasite. your doctor may also arrange for you to have a blood test to look for antibodies that are produced by the body in response to the parasite. if your doctor suspects that you have liver abscesses, he or she will arrange for you to have imaging tests, such as ct scanning or ultrasound scanning. amebiasis can be successfully treated with antibiotics, which usually kill the parasite within a few days. with drug treatment, most affected people make a full recovery from the infection within a few weeks.

Can it be prevented?
There are several preventive measures you can take against amebiasis if you visit a region where the disease is common. you should drink only bottled or thoroughly boiled water to be certain that it is safe. you should also avoid eating raw vegetables, salads, or fruits with skins that cannot be peeled because their skins may be contaminated with the parasite.

Click to learn more about Amebiasis & its modern treatment

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Recommended Therapy: Virechan
Herbal treatments of Amebiasis
In Mexico, it is common to use herbal tinctures of chaparro amargo (English: castela). 30 drops are taken in a small glass of water first thing in the morning, and 30 drops before the last meal of the day, for seven days straight. After taking a seven day break from the treatment, it is resumed for seven days. Some mild cramping may be felt; it is claimed this means that the amoebas are dying and will be expelled from the body. Many Mexicans use the chaparro amargo treatment regularly, three times a year. The efficacy of such treatments has not been scientifically proven.

A 1998 study in Africa suggests that 2 tablespoons per week of papaya seeds may have some antiamoebic action and aid in prevention of amoebiasis, but this remains unconfirmed. Papaya fruit and seeds are often considered beneficial to digestion in areas where this plant is common.

Click for Homeopathic view of Amebiasis, its Diagnosis & Treatment

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.

Resources:

http://www.charak.com/DiseasePage.asp?thx=1&id=133

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoebiasis

Tags Abdominal pain, Africa, Blood test, Conditions and Diseases, Diarrhea, Health, Infection, Infectious Diseases, Mexico, Parasitism, Symptom

News on Health & Science

Obesity Is Found to Make Ovarian Cancer Deadlier

Post author By Mukul
Post date December 23, 2006
1 Comment on Obesity Is Found to Make Ovarian Cancer Deadlier

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Ovarian cancer is fairly common. ”About one in 60 American women will develop ovarian cancer,” said Dr. Andrew J. Li, the senior author of the study, a faculty physician at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Each year, about 20,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 15,000 women die of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

It is well known that obesity is associated with various malignancies, including kidney, throat, breast and colon cancers. Findings about obesity and ovarian cancer have been somewhat less clear, the researchers say, but evidence from previous studies suggests that obesity predicts a worse outcome for ovarian cancer patients as well.

The scientists wanted to know whether excess fat, apart from any other health problems it might cause, had direct effects on tumor growth. They reviewed the medical records of 216 patients at Cedars-Sinai who had surgery for epithelial ovarian cancer. The data included information on height, weight, age and any other diseases. The cause of death was presumed to be cancer related if the patient had advanced recurrent disease at the time of death.

Half the patients had ideal weight, with a body mass index from 18.5 to 24.9, and 8 percent had a B.M.I. of less than 18.5, considered underweight. Twenty-six percent were overweight, with indexes exceeding 25, and 16 percent were obese, with indexes higher than 30.

The overweight and obese differed little from normal and underweight people in age or in health status, except that they had more hypertension and diabetes.

But among patients with Stage III or Stage IV disease, the most advanced stages, those with B.M.I.’s greater than 25 survived disease free for an average of 17 months, compared with 25 months for people with indexes lower than 25.

For each increase of one unit in the index, the researchers found a 4 percent increase in the risk of recurrence and a 5 percent increase in the risk of death.

This ”dose response” effect strongly suggests that obesity alone is responsible for the decreased survival time, Dr. Li said.

The researchers acknowledge that their study, published yesterday in the journal Cancer, has certain weaknesses.

They found that a slightly lower dose of chemotherapy relative to body surface was given to obese patients, and it is possible that this underdosing may have had a role.

In addition, fluid in the body cavity, a symptom of the disease, may have artificially increased the B.M.I. of some patients. And it is possible that other diseases like hypertension and diabetes, more prevalent among the obese, could have decreased survival among those patients.

The study was also limited by its retrospective method and small sample population.

The researchers said they believed that it was unlikely that those factors could have accounted for the decreased overall survival time of obese women. More likely, they said, is that the presence of fat tissue encourages tumor growth or increases resistance to treatment.

”There may be some factor secreted by adipose tissue that makes tumors less sensitive to chemotherapy,” Dr. Li said, referring to fat tissue. ”We have some ideas, and we’re working on looking at those factors now.”

Dr. Li said obesity did not increase the risk of developing ovarian cancer, but did affect the chance of survival when a person developed it.

”Reducing obesity and maintaining an ideal body weight,” he said, ”is important for many reasons. This is just one more health problem in which obesity plays a role.”

Source:The New York Times