Inflammation Clue to Disc Degenarative Disease

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Disc degenerative disease causing back pain radiating from waist to foot in the back side, what is loosely called sciatica, is seen in many especially after about 35 years. The compression part is well established, but the researchers point a finger towards inflammatory mediator.

clipped from drppanda.amplify.com Inflammation Clue to Disc Degenarative Disease Amplify’d from www.webmd.com The discovery is believed to be a first, Richardson tells WebMD. ”This is the first paper to identify IL-17 in patients with disc herniation and disc degeneration. It suggests that IL-17 may be a mediator for disc herniation and the inflammatory pain associated with that, and also with disc degeneration.” “There appear to be two components to sciatica; one is mechanical compression [when the disc pushes out through the tear], the other is inflammatory,” Richardson says. In looking for specific inflammatory substances, they found IL-17 was found in more than 70% of the diseased tissues but rarely or modestly in healthy tissues. It’s already known that  IL-17 contributes to the chronic inflammation seen in psoriasis vulgaris, the bone resorption problem in rheumatoid arthritis and gum disease, and in the intestinal disorder Crohn’s disease, Oegema writes in the editorial.

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Inflammation Clue to Disc Degenarative Disease

Disc degenerative disease causing back pain radiating from waist to foot in the back side, what is loosely called sciatica, is seen in many especially after about 35 years. The compression part is well established, but the researchers point a finger towards inflammatory mediator.

clipped from drppanda.amplify.com Inflammation Clue to Disc Degenarative Disease Amplify’d from www.webmd.com The discovery is believed to be a first, Richardson tells WebMD. ”This is the first paper to identify IL-17 in patients with disc herniation and disc degeneration. It suggests that IL-17 may be a mediator for disc herniation and the inflammatory pain associated with that, and also with disc degeneration.” “There appear to be two components to sciatica; one is mechanical compression [when the disc pushes out through the tear], the other is inflammatory,” Richardson says. In looking for specific inflammatory substances, they found IL-17 was found in more than 70% of the diseased tissues but rarely or modestly in healthy tissues. It’s already known that  IL-17 contributes to the chronic inflammation seen in psoriasis vulgaris, the bone resorption problem in rheumatoid arthritis and gum disease, and in the intestinal disorder Crohn’s disease, Oegema writes in the editorial.

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How To Correct Display Problem in Desktop PC

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It is my experience; my desktop sometimes stops after displaying only the logo of my computer manufacturer and does not go further to display the windows. I have identified two problems and started clearing those before my service engineer supported those and I call them if I fell. Of course, there can be  several causes including hard disk failure, best known to technical persons.

1. One is low RAM, where the system opens very slowly, particularly when many programs are loaded in the PC; it also hangs frequently.
2. The second one is RAM catching dirt especially in India, where residential PCs are not run in air-conditioned environment.

The cure is very simple, if anybody knows simple things like opening up the the CPU and a little technical minded;

1. For the first category of defect, one additional RAM can be purchased according to the specifications and put in the slot provided; usually one extra slot is provided in CPU.
2. For the second defect, the RAM can be removed from the slot and the lower end is cleaned with a soft clean cloth. Usually the cloth will clean the dirt, which can be seen as blacked patch on it.

Of course, the power should be off to the PC.
Many times, I have adopted the procedure and got the result. It may work or may not for others. I do not recommend it to be used by others..    

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Nanoparticles as Antibodies

Plastic nanoparticles acted as antibody in capturing the bee venom in mice.

clipped from timesofindia.indiatimes.com In a 1st, experts create plastic antibodies to fight antigens Researchers from the University of California at Irvine who worked on the project along with scientists from Stanford University and Japan’s University of Shizuoka, created nanoparticle-size plastic polymers to encase melittin, a toxic peptide in bee venom that causes cells to rupture. Large quantities of melittin can lead to organ failure and death. The nanoparticles succeeded in “capturing” the antigens before they could disperse, thus reducing deaths among the mice, which also fared well in the weeks following the jab, according to UCI professor Kenneth Shea. Mice in a control group injected with the toxin but not the antibodies did not survive. “Never before have synthetic antibodies been shown to effectively function in the bloodstream of living animals,” Shea said. “This technique could be utilized to make plastic nanoparticles designed to fight more lethal toxins and pathogens.”

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Holmium Laser in Prostate Surgery

It simulates the open prostatectomy procedure in a sense that a cleavage between the adenomatous part and the rest of compressed tissue is created, and it is possible to extract the total adenomatous part. On the other hand, in trans urethral resection of prostate (TURP), a gold standard procedure at present for Benign hyperplasia of prostate (BHP) the adenomatous part is cut in small bits and removed. It is possible that some adenomatous part may be left over. The recurrence rate may be low in Holmimium laser surgery.

clipped from www.mayoclinic.org A new approach HoLEP is typically performed with the patient under general anesthesia. The surgeon uses the laser to enucleate the entire adenoma, leaving just the capsule in place. The surgeon pushes the excised adenoma into the bladder and then uses a morcellation device to grind up and remove the tissue. Prostatic urethra with incision HoLEP allows tissue preservation for pathologic examination. Because adenomatous tissue is excised rather than ablated, surgeons can examine specimens for prostate cancer or other abnormalities. Cancer is found in about 10% of HoLEP procedures, even in patients previously screened. In many cases the cancer identified is of low malignant potential. Widely acknowledged as a benchmark BPH procedure, HoLEP requires specialized skills and training. Mayo Clinic is among the few medical centers in the United States that performs HoLEP procedures, at its campuses in Arizona and Minnesota.

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Installing .NetFrame Work 4

This evening, I installed Scribefire a blog editing and uploading software browser addon to my updated version 3.6.4 of Firefox. At the same time I wanted to install .NetFrame Work 4 to my computer, as the update was caught by Filehippo update checker. The downloaded update from Filehippo did not install. So, I went to window update, which showed the update for my computer but again did not install. Then, I went to the Microsoft download center and found the web installer of .Netframe Work 4. That nicely, but slowly downloaded all the files and installed.
This post tests the Scribefire and informs all those who want to download the .NetFrame Work.

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FDA Approves First Diagnostic Assay to detect both HIV Antigen and Antibodies

FDA Approves First Diagnostic Assay to detect both HIV Antigen and Antibodies

I quote,

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first assay to detect both antigen and antibodies to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This assay is approved for use as an aid in the diagnosis of HIV-1/HIV-2 infection in adults including pregnant women. It is also the first assay for use as an aid in the diagnosis of HIV-1/HIV-2 infection in children as young as two years old.

                  X X X

HIV is the virus that can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. HIV damages a person’s body by destroying specific blood cells, called CD4+ T cells, which are crucial to helping the body fight diseases. Two types of HIV have been identified: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for most HIV infections throughout the world. HIV-2 is found primarily in West Africa; however, cases of HIV-2 infection have been reported in North America and Europe.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that approximately 18 million people in the United States are tested for HIV each year. Most recent CDC estimates are that there are about 56,000 new HIV infections in the United States each year. In addition, there are more than 1 million people living with HIV in the United States, according to CDC.

           X X X X

The ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay is not intended to be used for routine screening of blood donors. However, it is approved as a donor screening assay for HIV-1/HIV-2 infection in urgent situations where licensed blood donor screening tests are unavailable or their use is impractical.

The ARCHITECT HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay will be used in clinical laboratories and in public health laboratories, and is the first assay approved in the United States to detect HIV antigen and antibodies simultaneously."

HIV, tests traditionally include ELISA and Weston-blot test; detect the antibody. It requires sometime for the test to become positive after the virus entry to body and disease  process to set up. This new test  is quicker, based on the nucleic acid; the viral particle.

 

 

 

 

 

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Febuxostat and Allopurinol Combination Works Better in Gout

Gout, an arthritic disease having hall mark of affecting the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint, the joint of great toe to the foot; is very painful. Colchicine is the specific drug in acurte phase along with a NSAID such as naproxen. In long term allopurinol is used. The target is to get the urate (Uric acid ) level something below 6mg%. Now researcher say combining a newer drug febuxostat may give better result, though disease flares may not reduce.
Another experimental monoclonal antibody, Canakinumab addition may decrease the flares; said the researchers.

clipped from www.medpagetoday.com ROME -- Gout patients treated with febuxostat (Uloric) at a dose of 80 mg or 120 mg daily saw greater declines in serum urate levels than those treated with allopurinol 300 mg, researchers said here. At the patients' final clinic visit, 75% of those treated with febuxostat 80 mg/day achieved urate-lowering to a goal of less than 6 mg/dl, but only 38% of patients taking allopurinol 300 mg/day achieved that goal (P<0.001), according to Michael Becker, MD, of the University of Chicago. When the researchers looked a further urate lowering, they found that 65% of those on the higher febuxostat dose achieved a serum urate level below 5 mg/day, as did 47% on the lower febuxostat dose and just 13% on allopurinol. The differences between both febuxostat treatment groups and the allopurinol group were again significant at P<0.001. Despite lower serum urate levels, no differences were observed between treatments for gout flares or reduction of tophi.

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Belimumab in Break Through Treatment of SLE

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Systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease having far reaching consequences; including financial, somatic and emotional problems. The treatments now available, can keep it suppressed for a long period, but the quality of life does not remain same after the diagnosis.
Prednisolone, a steroid and immuno-suppressants are the mainstays of treatment options available now. This drugs though promising and having some shortfalls, still path finding in the treatment of SLE. Newer hope arise in the treatment of this ugly disease.

clipped from www.medpagetoday.com EULAR: Modest Long-Term Benefits for Lupus Drug ROME -- Final results from the closely watched BLISS-76 trial of belimumab (Benlysta) for systemic lupus erythematosus suggested the drug was better than placebo but not by much, it was reported here. In the first scientific presentation of 76-week data from the phase III study, Ronald van Vollenhoven, MD, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said about 39% of patients on the investigational drug achieved a response according to the primary outcome measure, compared with 32.4% of those treated with placebo. Another significant advantage for belimumab was in the percentage of patients able to reduce steroid doses to 7.5 mg/day (prednisone equivalent) or less: 25.8% and 27.7% for the low and high doses, compared with 17.5% of the placebo group (P<0.05). Nearly all patients in the study experienced some type of adverse event. Severe events were recorded in about 20% of patients, spread equally among the treatment arms.

 

 

 

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Image via Wikipedia  Structure of Allopurinol

I quote; "Struthers explained that allopurinol is usually taken chronically to prevent gout and works by blocking the enzyme that forms uric acid, xanthine oxidase. It is generally taken at doses of up to 300 mg per day in the UK, so the 600-mg dose used in this instance is twice that generally prescribed. However, he said that allopurinol is approved for use in doses of up to 800 mg per day for gout in the US. His team chose 600 mg for their study after previous work showed this dose improved endothelial function and oxidative stress much more than 300 mg per day",from the original article. which says allopurinol may ease oxygen supply in stable angina,


LOCALIZATION AND RADIATION OF ANGINA PAIN 

clipped from www.medscape.com Gout Drug Allopurinol Promising in Chronic Stable Angina June 8, 2010 ( Updated June 9, 2010 ) (Dundee, United Kingdom)— A 40-year-old gout drug has been shown to have anti-ischemic properties and could be an alternative new treatment for the symptoms of chronic stable angina, UK researchers have discovered [1]. In a small six-week study published online June 7, 2010 in the Lancet, Dr Awsan Noman (University of Dundee, Scotland) and colleagues show that allopurinol enabled angina sufferers to exercise for 25% longer before they complained of chest pain or had ST depression on ECG, compared with placebo. Xanthine-Oxidase Activity Contributes to Exercise-Induced Ischemia Allopurinol Could Be Another Second Agent Option for Angina Symptoms And since allopurinol is thought to protect the heart from oxygen deprivation, Struthers says the drug could even have potential in MI, although this needs to be further investigated.

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Prevention and Treatment of Heart Burn or Acid Reflux

Heart burn is a feeling of burning sensation in differing severity, in the chest or behind the sternum; also called retrosternal burning, acid reflux disease or gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD). This is the effect of reflux of stomach acid to the esophagus due to various diseases, mainly acid peptic disease, esophageal sphincter disease or hiatus hernia in diaphragm. Patients get a lot of agony in its severe form.
Many surgical options are available, but many times conservative measures become successful in treating it.

Precautions include;

Avoid

• Spicy and chilly foods especially curries, Fast and tinned foods,
• Cigarette smoking and tobacco products,
• Long fasting period,
• Heavy meals,
• Immediate sleeping after taking food,
• Long spell of night shift duty,
• Excessive tea or coffee.

Following the practices of;

• Walk or move for some time after taking food,
• Keep head a little above body by using pillow under head,
• Decreasing abdominal obesity, 
• Physical exercise.
• Drinking of a lot of plain water.

Perhaps, last answer should be the use of acid suppressing drugs in my opinion.  

 

 

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Drug Spray for Premature Ejaculation

Prilocaine, a local anaesthetic numbs the sensation at least for half an hour. We conduct some minor surgeries applying the gel form. In combination with lidocaine, another local anaesthetic may be helpful in a frustrating premature ejaculation.

clipped from men.webmd.com New Drug Spray May Help Premature Ejaculation Study Shows Some Improvement for Men Who Use Spray Before Sex The numbers aren't huge. Men who sprayed the head of their penis with PSD502 five minutes before sex lasted an average of just over three minutes after three months of treatment, compared with just over 30 seconds before. Up to 30% of men suffer some degree of premature ejaculation, defined as ejaculation that occurs within one minute of vaginal penetration. It's the No. 1 sexual health problem in men. Premature ejaculation can be devastating for both a man and his partner, triggering anxiety, depression, and relationship problems, says Goldstein, who heard the results presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association. PSD502, which contains two common topical painkillers, lidocaine and prilocaine, is "slightly oily, but not objectionably so," Sharlip says.

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Thread Worm Infestation May Recur

Thread worm is a tiny bug, a helminth, whitish to grayish white in color, visible to naked eye; infests the gut of human. It is transmitted through feco-oral route and through direct penetration of skin of foot, seen mainly in under developed and developing countries, where sanitation is poor.
These bugs reside in the intestine, feed on the host. They may cause anemia, malnutrition, and itching of body, anus and vagina; may also be responsible for some cases of appendicitis.
The larvae of these helminthes enter through the foot migrating from soil, and eggs enter the body through contaminated food and drink. They reside in the intestine, mature to adult worm and migrate to the anal region to lay eggs. That is the tricky point in treatment and relapse of this infestation, enterobiasis.
 


They come to anal skin for the purpose of laying eggs at night and their movement causes itching in the anal region and external genitalia, in case of ladies. Inadvertent scratching brings eggs to the nail fold and then they may again find their way to mouth and re-infest; and the cycle repeats itself. After laying eggs they again ascend to the gut, their natural habitat. During these process of laying eggs, eggs stick to the under garments, and may regain access to the alimentary tract in an upward journey after hatching to larvae. The eggs in these under garments make the trick of re-infestation even after full course of treatment.

The only advice here required in addition to drug treatment is to get rid of these eggs in the garments. The patient should be advised to hot press the under garments after cleaning or use hot water in washing the clothes, of course, if suitable for the nature of fabric; after taking the drug.


This advice is mostly not given by the health care personnel, and that is why re-infestation is common in thread worm infestation. Another invaluable piece of advice is to use toilet and not to go bare footed.

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