Health

Jayanta `Jay` Bhattacharya on Tuesday took over as the 18th Director of the US National Institutes of Health, which is the country’s premier medical research agency.  Dr Bhattacharya is one of the senior-most Indian-Americans in the Donald Trump administration. He was nominated to the position in November and was confirmed by the US Senate on March 25. The top Indian-American in this administration is Second Lady Usha Vance. He will "play an instrumental role in shaping the agency’s activities and outlook and ensuring they align with the President’s Make America Healthy Again agenda", the NIH said. "Under Dr Bhattacharya’s leadership, NIH will restore its commitment to gold-standard science," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, said. "I`m excited to work with Dr. ...

People with heart failure are likely to experience a significant decrease in cognitive abilities like attention and problem-solving, according to a study on Thursday. Researchers from the University of Michigan, US examined the cognitive abilities of nearly 30,000 adults over time, comparing those who did and did not develop heart failure. The researchers found heart failure is associated with a significant decrease in cognition at the time of diagnosis. Global cognition and executive functioning also declined more rapidly over the years after heart failure diagnosis. The team found that people with the condition mentally aged the equivalent of 10 years within just seven years of a heart failure diagnosis. “Heart failure is a disease that never goes away and treating it relies heavily...

Children exposed to higher levels of air pollution in early and mid-childhood may have weaker connections between key brain regions that can highly impact their thinking and controlling capacity, according to a study. The findings, published in Environment International, highlight the potential impact of early exposure to air pollution on brain development. The research led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Spain showed reduced functional connectivity within and between certain cortical and subcortical brain networks in kids with increased exposure to air pollution. These networks are systems of interconnected brain structures that work together to perform different cognitive functions, such as thinking, perceiving, and controlling movement, said the team. "The...

People with autistic disorders need to be provided with skill training to get gainful employment besides being treated with empathy, feel many domain experts. Globally, the prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders is rising, with autism affecting one in 100 children according to WHO, psychotherapist Minu Budhia said. "The focus should be on skill building in a sensory-friendly environment with social communication training. Organisations need to create an inclusive autism-friendly workspace," Budhia said. Conditions such as ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder), intellectual disabilities and learning disorders also impact millions, making neurodiversity far more common than we realise, Budhia said. Individuals on the autism spectrum do not need pity, she said, adding, "...

When Bobby Ramani`s brother was diagnosed with autism, she had realised he would have special needs and would need teachers who could help him. Her search for good schools in Lucknow that could support the growth and education of her brother led to the idea of establishing `I Support Foundation (ISF)` in 2014. "My journey into this field was deeply personal--growing up with a differently-abled brother made me realize the challenges faced by children with special needs and their families. The idea of `I Support Foundation` (ISF) was born from my personal journey and the challenges I faced while seeking quality care for my brother. Nine years ago, while working in the corporate sector, I wanted to enroll him in a specialized school that could provide the right support and intervention. How...

A hospital in Noida recently witnessed a miraculous medical achievement where a preterm baby born at just 28 weeks, weighing a mere 560 grams, overcame life-threatening complications and was discharged healthy after two months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The baby’s parents, Vaishnavi (30) and Saurabh (34) from Banaras faced a challenging pregnancy journey. Vaishnavi’s ordeal began with mild bleeding during the initial five weeks, which persisted until the 14th week. At five weeks of pregnancy during routine antenatal tests, she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with alarmingly high HBA1C levels of 11. To stabilise the pregnancy, Dr Prerna Sharma, consultant - obstetrician and gynecologist at Motherhood Hospital in Noida initiated treatment that include...

A team of researchers in South Korea has developed a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm that uses electrocardiograph (ECG)2 data to predict the risk of cardiovascular events, and heart-related death.  To create the algorithm, the team from Inha University Hospital analysed standard 12-lead electrocardiograph (ECG)2 data taken from almost half a million cases. The novel algorithm can identify people most at risk of cardiovascular events and mortality by predicting the biological age of the heart, which is based on how the heart functions. For example, a person who is 50 but has poor heart health could have a biological heart age of 60, while someone aged 50 with optimal heart health could have a biological heart age of 40. “Our research showed that when the biological ag...

Love to scroll your phone while in bed? Scientists have found that using a screen in bed can drive your risk of insomnia by 59 per cent. While sleep is critical to mental and physical health, an increasing number of people are accustomed to using screens in bed. The study by researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Norway showed it may be associated with poor sleep. While social media is seen to be more associated with poorer sleep because of its interactive nature and potential for emotional stimulation, a survey of 45,202 young adults, aged between 18-28 years old, in Norway showed that the type of screen activity did not matter. "We found no significant differences between social media and other screen activities, suggesting that screen use itself is the key facto...

A new study in the US aims to determine the best method to screen and evaluate patients who are at risk of developing coronary heart disease and which patients would benefit from taking a statin medication to lower cholesterol.  A new approach by researchers at Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City to determining risk and selecting a statin is the use of the coronary artery calcium (CAC) score which is determined by taking a low-radiation dose image of the heart using computed tomography (CT) to look for calcium deposits in plaques in the heart’s coronary arteries. “Our study is now fully enrolled with over 5,600 patients, and in this abstract for the American College of Cardiology, we wanted to look at baseline characteristics and differences in statin prescribing recommendations,” sai...

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help scientists identify patients at risk of a serious arrhythmia that is capable of triggering cardiac arrest and sudden death.  As part of a new study to be published in European Heart Journal, a network of artificial neurons imitating the human brain was developed by researchers from Inserm, Paris Cite University and the Paris public hospitals group (AP-HP), in collaboration with their colleagues in the US. During the analysis of data from over 240 000 ambulatory electrocardiograms, this algorithm identified patients at risk of a serious arrhythmia that was capable of triggering cardiac arrest within the following 2 weeks in over 70 per cent of cases. Each year, sudden cardiac death is responsible for over 5 million deaths worldwide. AI could help to...