Archive for category: News

Indore: In a protest against the alleged delay in faculty promotion even after receiving a show cause notice by the Medical Education Commissioner, the faculty members of the Super Speciality Hospital (SSH), Indore have threatened to submit mass resignation from if their demands are not met.

The members have alleged that they decided to take a similar course of action as their counterparts in Rewa due to their frustration with the delay in promotions. Earlier, Assistant Professors in Rewa Medical College, working with SSH in Rewa, had also threatened the authorities, following which orders to promote the faculty members of Rewa were released. 

Also read- NMC Slaps Show-Cause To 100 Medical Colleges, Here Is The Reason

The faculty members of SSH Indore have claimed that the primary cause of the delay has been attributed to the lack of coordination between the Dean of MGM Medical College and the Divisional Commissioner. They also alleged that their promotions have been pending for several months but the MGM Medical College officials are not paying any notice to their demands.

“Promotion of many of the faculty members has been pending since August, last year but the officials are not taking appropriate steps for the same,’ said a faculty member in SSH, Indore.

In response to their concerns, the medical college administration asked the faculty members to delay their protest and gave them assurances to resolve their issues in a week. 

Speaking to Free Press Journal, Dr Sanjay Dixit, Dean, MGM Medical College, Indore said, “We have discussed the demands of faculty members and initiated steps for their due promotions. Their issues will be resolved in a week. We don’t have any information of mass resignation.’ 

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that deans of four government medical colleges of Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Rewa were served with a show-cause notice by the Medical Education Commissioner for the alleged delay in promoting the faculty members of the Super Speciality Hospitals.

Issuing show-cause, the Commissioner asked the officials to submit a reply within three days explaining why action must not be taken against them under the Sections of Madhya Pradesh Civil Sewa Acharan Niyam 1966.

Under the existing rules, the assistant professors in Super Speciality Hospitals get promoted to the post of Associate Professor within a period of two years. On the other hand, Associate Professors must get promoted to the post of Professor after three years.

Also read- Delay In Faculty Promotions: Deans Of 4 MP GMCs Issued Show-Cause Notice

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved hyaluronic acid dermal filler, Juvéderm Voluma XC for use in upper face for first time. The new dermal filler by Allergan Aesthetics’ shall help improve moderate to severe temple hollows in adult patients aged 21 years and older.

JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC is the first and only hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal filler to receive U.S. FDA approval for the improvement of moderate to severe temple hollowing with results lasting up to 13 months with optimal treatment.

“The approval of JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC to treat temple hollows further demonstrates Allergan Aesthetics commitment to innovation and addressing patient needs,” said Carrie Strom, President, Allergan Aesthetics and Senior Vice President, AbbVie. “This is the first U.S. FDA approval of a hyaluronic acid dermal filler for use in the upper face and addresses a real unmet need for patients.”

JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC temporarily adds volume to immediately lift and augment the shape, contour, and structure of the temple, creating a smooth transition from the cheekbone to the forehead, balancing a patient’s overall facial shape. In a clinical study, more than 80% of subjects had at least a one-point improvement in moderate to severe temple hollowing three months after treatment, and the improvement lasted for more than one year (73%). Additionally, more than 85% of clinical trial subjects were satisfied with how balanced, well-proportioned, and symmetric their face looked three months after treatment.

In the clinical study, 68% of subjects reported satisfaction with how fresh their face looked, while 73% reported satisfaction with how rested their face appeared three months after treatment. Additionally, upwards of 80% of subjects were satisfied with how youthful their temples made them look and how well the shape of their temples complemented the shape of their face three months after treatment. With this addition, the Allergan Medical Institute (AMI) team can train aesthetic providers on safe and effective treatments using the Allergan Aesthetics portfolio to address 90% of the face.

“As an AMI trainer, I am excited to start training injectors on how to use JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC to help address moderate to severe temple hollowing while reinforcing how treatment in this important area fits into a full-face approach that enhances facial balance (framing) and contour for my patients seeking subtle improvement,” said Dr. Deirdre Hooper, board-certified dermatologist at Audubon Dermatology, and clinical trial investigator. “In the clinical study, we found that patients said they looked an average of five years younger six months after JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC treatment. Additionally, more than 85% of clinical study participants were satisfied with the treatment and would recommend it to a friend more than one year after treatment. Once training is completed, injectors like me will be able to offer patients true pan-facial assessments and treatments for safe, repeatable, and optimal results using the Allergan Aesthetics portfolio of products.”

Per FDA requirement for this new indication, Allergan Aesthetics is providing a product training program for providers, which includes facial anatomy and considerations for patient selection, safe injection in this area, as well as identification and management of potential complications. Successful completion of this training is necessary prior to the administration of JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC, and as such, Allergan Aesthetics anticipates that treatment in the temples with JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC will be available towards the end of this year.

In a randomized, controlled, multicenter clinical study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC for correction of temple hollowing, 112 subjects were randomized to a treatment group and received injections in the temple area during the primary phase of the study; 58 subjects were randomized to a no-treatment control group.1 Touch-up treatments occurred approximately 30 days after initial injection, if needed.1 After the three-month blinded “no treatment” control period, control subjects were offered treatment; 53 control subjects elected to receive treatment.  A total of 40 treatment-group subjects opted for the optional maintenance treatment, which was offered to the treatment group 13 months after the last treatment.

Subjects used electronic diaries to record specific signs and symptoms of treatment site responses (TSR) experienced during the first 14 days after the initial touch-up and maintenance treatments. Subjects in the initial treatment group continued to use the electronic diary on even-numbered days from day 16 to day 30 to record specific signs and symptoms of TSRs. Subjects rated each TSR listed on the diary as “Mild (barely noticeable),” “Moderate (uncomfortable),” “Severe (severe discomfort),” or “None.”

After initial treatment with JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC, 59% of the subjects with diary entries reported experiencing at least one TSR and 70.5% of subjects rated TSRs as mild or moderate (26.3%) in severity, with a majority (60%) of all reported TSRs resolving within three days. The incidence of TSRs for the touch-up and maintenance treatments was lower than that for initial treatment.

JUVÉDERM® VOLUMA® XC, one of six specifically designed products in the JUVÉDERM® Collection of Fillers, is currently also indicated for deep (subcutaneous and/or supraperiosteal) injection for cheek augmentation to correct age-related volume loss in the mid-face, and for augmentation of the chin region to improve the chin profile.

UK: A new research published in Nature Immunology has pointed out ways of preventing or reducing the impact of long COVID by rectifying iron dysregulation in early COVID-19 to prevent adverse long-term health outcomes.

The researchers revealed that problems with iron levels in the blood and the body’s ability to regulate this important nutrient as a result of SARS-CoV-2 infection could be a key trigger for long COVID. 

The discovery not only points to possible ways to prevent or treat the condition, but could help explain why symptoms similar to those of long COVID are also commonly seen in a number of post-viral conditions and chronic inflammation.

Although estimates are highly variable, as many as three in 10 people infected with SARS-CoV-2 could go on to develop long COVID, with symptoms including fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle aches and problems with memory and concentration (‘brain fog’). An estimated 1.9 million people in the UK alone were experiencing self-reported long COVID as of March 2023, according to the Office of National Statistics.

Shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at the University of Cambridge began recruiting people who had tested positive for the virus to the COVID-19 cohort of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) BioResource. These included asymptomatic healthcare staff identified via routine screening through to patients admitted to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, some to its intensive care unit.

Over the course of a year, participants provided blood samples, allowing researchers to monitor changes in the blood post-infection. As it became clear that a significant number of patients would go on to have symptoms that persisted-long COVID-researchers were able to track back through these samples to see whether any changes in the blood correlated with their later condition.

In findings published in Nature Immunology, researchers at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease (CITIID), University of Cambridge, together with colleagues at Oxford, analysed blood samples from 214 individuals. Approximately 45% of those questioned about their recovery reported symptoms of long COVID between three and ten months later.

Professor Ken Smith, who was Director of CITIID at the time of the study and is now based at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne, Australia, said: “Having recruited a group of people with SARS-CoV-2 early in the pandemic, analysis of several blood samples and clinical information collected over a 12 month period after infection has proved invaluable in giving us important and unexpected insights into why, for some unlucky individuals, initial SARS-CoV-2 infection is followed by months of persistent symptoms.”

The team discovered that ongoing inflammation – a natural part of the immune response to infection – and low iron levels in blood, contributing to anaemia and disrupting healthy red blood cell production, could be seen as early as two weeks post COVID-19 in those individuals reporting long COVID many months later.

Early iron dysregulation was detectable in the long COVID group independent of age, sex, or initial COVID-19 severity, suggesting a possible impact on recovery even in those who were at low risk for severe COVID-19, or who did not require hospitalisation or oxygen therapy when sick.

Dr Aimee Hanson, who worked on the study while at the University of Cambridge, and is now at the University of Bristol, said: “Iron levels, and the way the body regulates iron, were disrupted early on during SARS-CoV-2 infection, and took a very long time to recover, particularly in those people who went on to report long COVID months later.

“Although we saw evidence that the body was trying to rectify low iron availability and the resulting anaemia by producing more red blood cells, it was not doing a particularly good job of it in the face of ongoing inflammation.”

Interestingly, although iron dysregulation was more profound during and following severe COVID-19, those who went on to develop long COVID after a milder course of acute COVID-19 showed similar patterns in the blood. The most pronounced association with long COVID was how quickly inflammation, iron levels and regulation returned to normal following SARS-CoV-2 infection – though symptoms tended to continue long after iron levels had recovered.

Co-author Professor Hal Drakesmith, from the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford, said iron dysregulation is a common consequence of inflammation and is a natural response to infection.

“When the body has an infection, it responds by removing iron from the bloodstream. This protects us from potentially lethal bacteria that capture the iron in the bloodstream and grow rapidly. It’s an evolutionary response that redistributes iron in the body, and the blood plasma becomes an iron desert.

“However, if this goes on for a long time, there is less iron for red blood cells, so oxygen is transported less efficiently affecting metabolism and energy production, and for white blood cells, which need iron to work properly. The protective mechanism ends up becoming a problem.”

The findings may help explain why symptoms such as fatigue and exercise intolerance are common in long COVID, as well as in several other post-viral syndromes with lasting symptoms.

The researchers say the study points to potential ways of preventing or reducing the impact of long COVID by rectifying iron dysregulation in early COVID-19 to prevent adverse long-term health outcomes.

One approach might be controlling the extreme inflammation as early as possible, before it impacts on iron regulation. Another approach might involve iron supplementation; however as Dr Hanson pointed out, this may not be straightforward.

“It isn’t necessarily the case that individuals don’t have enough iron in their body, it’s just that it’s trapped in the wrong place,” she said. “What we need is a way to remobilise the iron and pull it back into the bloodstream, where it becomes more useful to the red blood cells.”

The research also supports ‘accidental’ findings from other studies, including the IRONMAN study, which was looking at whether iron supplements benefited patients with heart failure – the study was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but preliminary findings suggest that trial participants were less likely to develop severe adverse effects from COVID-19. Similar effects have been observed among people living with the blood disorder beta-thalassemia, which can cause individuals to produce too much iron in their blood.

Reference:

Hanson, A.L., Mulè, M.P., Ruffieux, H. et al. Iron dysregulation and inflammatory stress erythropoiesis associates with long-term outcome of COVID-19. Nat Immunol 25, 471–482 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41590-024-01754-8.

A remarkable tale of resilience and medical breakthrough is unfolding in Delhi as a 45-year-old painter, who tragically lost both hands in a train accident in 2020, is poised to wield his brush once more. Thanks to the surgical prowess of a team of Delhi doctors and the selfless act of organ donation by a woman, this individual’s life has been transformed. This groundbreaking bilateral hand transplant, the first of its kind in Delhi, marks a triumph over adversity for the painter, who hails from an underprivileged background and was facing a bleak future. Tomorrow, he will be discharged from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, ready to embrace the world anew. Indeed, in the face of despair, miracles do happen.