Globe Health Tours News

Jan 31: An interesting study has revealed that the blazing row with the spouse will help to enhance the lifetime. A good fight among the partners will help them to live longer. As according to the research the husbands and wives who suppress their emotions are likely to die earlier than those who speak out their emotions.

Suppressing the emotions will lead to much health related disorders that will end up in death. If the couple express their anger by shouting out their emotions to solve their conflict, they are expected to live longer than one or both of the couple who used to suppress their emotions.

This unique study was conducted by the researchers at the University of Michigan. The study includes 192 couples who were married more than 17 years ago and they were categorised into four. The categories includes both partners communicate their anger, either male or female express while the other suppress as the second and third category and both the partners suppress their anger and disappointment.

While commenting on this the lead writer and Professor emeritus of the University Of Michigan School Of Public Health, Ernest Harburg said: “When couples get together, reconciliation about the conflict will be their main agenda. If they fail to take initiative to resolve their differences and keep on burying their anger and disappointment, then those couples will land up in real trouble.”

Out of the 192 couples considered for the research, 26 of them suppressed their emotions and there were 13 deaths in that group. 41 deaths added from the remaining 166 pairs affix more proof to the findings of the study.

In a nutshell the study gives green signal for couples to indulge in conflict, as it will allow them to live longer!

Jan 30: Two new studies have revealed that the transplantation of human Mesenchymal Stem Cell (hMSC) or Bone Marrow Stromal Cell (BMSCs) will help the patients to relieve from Stroke. As an attempt to study the impact of transplanted cells on damaged areas of the brain chemically tagged transplanted stem cells were used. The transplanted stem cells help in converting the damaged brain cells as therapeutically active one.

This research was carried out by Korean scientists and the labelled hMSC were transplanted into stroke models with cerebral artery occlusion. They were then tracked by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at an interval of two days, one week, two weeks, six weeks and ten weeks after transplantation.

While commenting on this the lead author of the research Jihwan Song, DPhil, of the Pochon CHA University College of Medicine said: “The cells began to migrate after the period of one or two weeks after the transplantation. On the tenth week cells were identified in the centre of the infected area. We expect that the extensive migration nature of stem cells and their performance will have a far reaching impact in designing innovative stroke therapies. ”

While the potential mechanisms for this recovery are ambiguous, among the possibilities are the microenvironment of the brain, early on following a stroke may mimic brain development. Following progress in the growth level might augment homing of BMSCs to the injured area and thereby induce cell proliferation.

Jan 29: The extended possibilities of stem cells are now revolutionising skin care sector. The “Stem Cell” emulsion will open the doors wide as it can play a crucial role in skin rejuvenation by awakening our body’s own reservoir of undifferentiated Stem cells. It can also reduce the appearance of fine lines, deep lines and other age related imperfections; in short it will make you look younger and fresher. The unlimited possibilities of the innovative stem-cell technology have urged all the major cosmetic manufacturers to tap its potential to the maximum extent.

While commenting on this the research scientist Dr. Richard Wells, Ph.D. said: “Cosmetic chemists around the world are toiling hard to dig out the full potential of Stem Cells to use them for the purpose of anti-aging therapy. As we age the stem-cell utilization for skin repair will become less effective. However the potential that nature has given us to access the endogenous stem-cell reservoirs for skin rejuvenation is quite remarkable that is the main reason behind the innumerable researches to unleash the full potential of the stem cells.”

He further added that: “The practical use of the stem-cell technology can be effectively imbibed in the cosmetic products that will provide the consumer with topical, anti-aging cosmetic formula that makes everyone looks years younger.”

Stem cells are the hot topic of discussion that offers fresh, healthy and perfect skin cells that are undamaged by age, sun or pollution.

Jan 28: Weight loss surgery is considered as more effective for Type 2 diabetes than other medical treatments. Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent among obese people. The study included 60 patients as sample and the results showed that 73 percent of those who had surgery were completely recovered from diabetes that means all the symptoms of the disease went away.

On the other hand the recovery rate was only 13 percent for those who were given conventional treatment such as severe counselling on diet and exercise for effectively reducing the weight and the diabetes medicines like insulin, metformin and other drugs were provided if needed. The study hinted on the fact that the surgery work effectively than medical treatment. Obesity is attributed as the main reason behind Type 2 diabetes, shedding weight of up to 10 percent is considered as the effective way to minimise the effect of this disease.

The new research is not applicable to all the Type 2 diabetes, as the study includes mild cases who were subjected to treatment for the past two years. The quick recovery from the disease, no matter how much they shed weight, will not be possible in patients who have more severe and long standing diabetes. Adjustable gastric banding is the operation considered for this study. Out of 205,000 weight-loss operations conducted last year, 25-30 percent of them used gastric banding.

Recovery from Type 2 diabetes after weight-loss surgery is not a new finding. But the new research conducted by the researchers at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, took initiative to measure scientifically the medical treatment of similar groups of patients with the disease.

Lap Band surgery is now available in Pakistan in the city of Lahore. Gastric bypass surgery is still not being offered, but with the increasing popularity of laparoscopic banding and the preference for reversable surgery, this is an exciting development for patient seeking help with permanent weight loss.

A recent article on BBC Urdu revealed that as many as 40,000 Pakistan children are being born with congenital heart problems. With only one paediatric institution in Lahore covering basic and advanced paediatric conditions, most of those children will receive only very basic treatment or none at all

Parents with access to some finance can travel with their children to India (Globe Heart Tours offers such treatment), otherwise the prognosis for most of these children is pretty bleak.

Jan 25: Music in one form or the other remains as a delight right from the origin of mankind. It touches our mind and it has the ability to heal the wounds of our mind. A recent study has added more value to this belief as it shows that music therapy will help patients to overcome mental problems like depression and there by help them to improve, restore and maintain health.

According to a statistics about 121 million people world wide are suffering from depression. The indication of that can be seen in their changing attitudes like disturbed appetite, sleep patterns and overall functioning of the body and the inferior feeling of low self-esteem, worthlessness and guilt. These attitudes pave way for suicide and are linked with 1 million deaths a year. This gives a clear picture about the significance of this study.

Drugs and psychotherapy are the common treatment procedures adopted by the physicians. But a team of Cochrane Researchers decided to study about the impact of music on the behaviour pattern of this kind of patients. After undergoing a thorough study they found five researches that match their criteria from the international literature. Four of the study showed that there is reduction in the symptoms of depression among patients who underwent music therapy. The fifth study did not find this effect.

Anna Maratos, the lead author of the research and an art therapist who works in the central and Northwest London Foundation NHS Trust said: “The present study has shed light on to the fact that the music therapy could improve the mood of the patient. While the evidence came from few small studies and it is the area that have wider scope for further study. The detailed study into this topic will give a clear idea about the form of music that is effective for this purpose.”

A deep understanding of the extent of impact of music on healing psychological problems will help the therapist to handle this effectively for the treatment of patients. GHT

Jan 24: In what could be considered as a path breaking eye surgery a hospital in South India has performed intraocular lens (IOL) transplant surgery using tissue glue on a four year old girl. This is the first attempt of its kind in the world. Fibrin glue is normally used to protect the oozing of blood in delicate surgeries such as urological or plastic surgeries and it is also used in ophthalmic surgeries, it is a substance made from blood plasma.

Dr Amar Agarwal an eminent eye surgeon of India performed this Glue Assisted Sutureless IOL implantation said: “It is for the first time we used this technology in intraocular surgeries. A month after the surgery we found the lens was not staying in one place as it normally should, it was moving here and there. Then we decided to use glue to fix the lens and it proved to be successful. The whole procedure took 30 minutes to get complete.”

Earlier the girl Anandhi’s lens gets damaged while bursting crackers. In the surgery plastic lens is surgically fixed to replace the damaged natural lens. According to Agarwal the main advantage of using glue technique is that the lens remains fixed where it is implanted on the other hand sutures provide mixed results and they are biodegradable and there are possibilities of other complications.

Dr Agarwal further added that: “Treatment of damaged IOL pose challenge for ophthalmologists. In many cases nothing could be done about the problem. Now with the help of this technique we can remove the problems raised due to the missing of intraocular lens capsule and the glue also enhances the vision.”

The operation was conducted free of cost considering the poor background of the girl. This operation is an eye opener for patients suffering from this kind of ailment.

Studies show that 60% - 85 % of diabetics tend to be overweight. In the United States of America, about 80 percent of type –2 non-insulin dependent diabetics are reported to be overweight. During the Second World War, when there was a decrease in the average weight of the people, the incidence of diabetes came down dramatically. The greater the obesity, the greater is the mortality rate due to complications of diabetes.

Excess fat prevents insulin from working properly. The more fatty tissue in the body, the more resistant the muscle and tissue cells become to body insulin. Insulin allows the sugar in the blood to enter the cells by acting on the receptor sites on the surface of the cells. In obesity, where a person is overweight by 20 percent of the ideal weight or has high uric acid, or some syndromes, receptors are sparse and functionally idle. This is observed in patients developing diabetes around the age of 40 years, and having type-2 non-insulin dependent diabetes. It is estimated that the incidence of diabetes is four times higher in persons of moderate’s obesity and 3 times higher in persons of severe obesity. It has been rightly said; Heredity is like a cannon and obesity pulls and trigger.

Older people often tend to gain weight, and the same time, many of them develop and mild form of diabetes because who are over weight can often improve their blood sugar simply by losing weight. In some cases, it is all that is required to bring blood sugar back into the normal range. Even small weight loss can have beneficial effects, reducing blood sugar levels, or allowing medicines to work better. However, sudden gain in weight may cause diabetes to return. It is therefore important for older people to keep their weight down to normal. Among those detected to be diabetic, almost one third are overweight.

Jan 23: In what could be considered as a significant study the researchers at the Northwestern University had conducted a research that makes use of stem cells to nurture new blood vessels that are capable of preventing leg amputation.

As part of the research the scientists transplanted the purified form of subjects’ own stem cells into the legs that suffer due to blocked arteries. The aim is to develop new blood vessels to enable blood circulation.

The badly blocked arteries in the leg and the sharp decline in the blood flow will lead to wounds that don’t heal; tissue breakdown and gangrene. This critical condition is termed as limb ischemia and amputation is the only option available to stop the further spread of this menace. In United States at least 100,000 limbs are amputated every year that indicates the significance of the research.

The samples for this research were those patients who proved failure in all available medical treatments including angioplasty, stents and bypass surgery to restore blocked circulation in their legs.

“Those patients were at the end of their therapeutic road and the painstaking amputation is the only option left for them. Using stem cells effectively will help them to relieve from that.” said the principal national investigator of the study, Dr. Douglas Losordo.

This research is sure a relief for numerous patients worldwide who are on the verge of amputation. GHT