Health bulletin 27/ February/ 2024

Here are the top health stories for the day:

Delhi man swallows 39 coins, 37 magnets for ‘body-building’

A 26-year-old man underwent surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi after experiencing persistent vomiting and abdominal pain for over 20 days. The surgery revealed an astonishing cause: the patient had ingested 39 coins and 37 magnets, believing the zinc in the coins would aid his bodybuilding efforts. This unusual behavior was noted against a backdrop of psychiatric illness, with the patient having a history of consuming such objects in recent weeks. Initial X-rays and a subsequent CT scan disclosed a significant accumulation of these items in his intestine, causing a blockage that necessitated urgent surgical intervention.

PM inaugurates Rs 491-crore JIPMER-Karaikal campus in Puducherry

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the Karaikal campus of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) through a virtual event. This new extension of JIPMER in Karaikal has been developed at a cost of Rs 491 crore. The campus initially started operating in August 2016, accommodating an annual intake of 50 MBBS students in temporary facilities. To establish a permanent campus, the Puducherry government allocated two plots spanning over 67.33 acres, planning the development in two phases.


New USC Study Reveals Diet That Reverses Aging in Humans
A groundbreaking study from the University of Southern California (USC) has revealed significant health benefits of a diet mimicking fasting, showing potential in reducing insulin resistance, cutting down liver fat, boosting the immune system, and curbing biological aging. Conducted by the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, this research underscores the advantages of periodic adherence to a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD).

Published in Nature Communications, the study highlights the FMD’s role in lessening aging indicators within the immune system, alongside diminishing insulin resistance and liver fat levels, thereby contributing to a younger biological age in clinical trial participants.

The FMD, formulated by img 15 Valter Longo of the USC Leonard Davis School, is a plant-based diet lasting image 16 five days, rich in unsaturated fats and low in calories, proteins, and carbohydrates, aiming to emulate the benefits of water-only fasting while still providing essential nutrients. This makes the diet more feasible for individuals to maintain.

Refrence: Brandhorst, S., Levine, M.E., Wei, M. et al. Fasting-mimicking diet causes hepatic and blood markers changes indicating reduced biological age and disease risk. Nat Commun 15, 1309 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45260-9

 

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Why this kolaveri di? 3 nurses suspended for making reels in Hospital OT

Raipur: Three nurses were dismissed from service for allegedly filming reels in the operation theatre of a Dau Kalyan Singh PG Institute and Research Centre in Raipur in Chhattisgarh and sharing them on social media. 

The services of Pushpa Sahu, Tripti Dasar and Tej Kumari, who were daily wage staff nurses at Dau Kalyan Singh PG Institute and Research Centre Raipur, were terminated on February 23 after a complaint was received against them, said facility deputy superintendent Dr Hemant Sharma. 

Also Read:Wrong blood transfusion on pregnant woman: Two doctors terminated, staff nurse suspended

On February 5, reels shot by the trio inside the operation theatre of the burn and plastic surgery unit came to the notice of the Assistant Nursing Superintendent following which higher authorities were informed, he said.

“Clicking pictures and making reels inside operation theatres is against rules. The nurses are also seen wearing shoes and sandals that they usually wear outside the OT. They allegedly misbehaved with the ward incharge when she objected to their act,” he said.

In one of the two reels shared by the hospital management, the three nurses, wearing green dresses used in operation theatres, are seen dancing holding surgical items to songs like ‘first rahu mai dar badar’ and ‘why this kolaveri di’.

Speaking to media persons, Hemant Sharma posted as the deputy superintendent of the hospital said that as soon the video went viral, a complaint was lodged against them, and they were terminated soon after, reports HT.

 Also Read:3 doctors served notices, Nurse suspended over swapping of newborn bodies at Indore Hospital

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Synokem Pharma Gets CDSCO Panel Nod To Study Antidiabetic FDC

New Delhi: The drug major Synokem Pharmaceutical has got approval from the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) functional under the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to conduct the bioequivalence (BE) study of the fixed-dose combination (FDC) antidiabetic drug Empagliflozin plus Sitagliptin Phosphate Monohydrate plus Metformin Hydrochloride.

However, the approval is subject to the condition that the doctor (MD Medicine) should be present during the study.

This came after the drug maker Synokem Pharmaceutical presented its proposal for the BE study protocol and Phase III clinical trial protocol before the committee.

Empagliflozin is in a class of medications called sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. It lowers blood sugar by causing the kidneys to get rid of more glucose in the urine. Empagliflozin works by inhibiting the sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) found in the proximal tubules in the kidneys. Through SGLT2 inhibition, empagliflozin reduces renal reabsorption of glucose and increases urinary excretion of glucose. The glucose-lowering effect of the drug is independent of insulin.

Sitagliptin belongs to a class of drugs called dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors. Inhibition of DPP-4 by sitagliptin slows DPP-4-mediated inactivation of incretins like GLP-1 and GIP. Incretins are released throughout the day and upregulated in response to meals as part of glucose homeostasis. Reduced inhibition of incretins increases insulin synthesis and decreases glucagon release in a manner dependent on glucose concentrations. These effects lead to an overall increase in blood glucose control which is demonstrated by reduced glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c).

Metformin is in a class of drugs called biguanides. Metformin helps to control the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood. It decreases the amount of glucose absorbed from food and the amount of glucose made by the liver.

At the recent SEC meeting for endocrinology and metabolism held on 24th January 2023, the expert panel reviewed the proposal presented with the BE study protocol and Phase III clinical trial protocol of the FDC antidiabetic drug.

After detailed deliberation, the committee recommended the grant of permission to conduct the BE study with the condition that a doctor (MD Medicine) should be present during the study.

Accordingly, the expert panel suggested that the firm should submit a BE study report for review by the committee to make further decisions on the Phase III clinical trial protocol.

Also Read:Submit Safety Data From Phase I CT : CDSCO Panel Tells Novo Nordisk on CagriSema

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AYUSH Ministry, Ministry of WCD join hands for integration of Ayush systems with ongoing nutrition interventions

New Delhi: A national event on collaboration between Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Ayush for nutritional improvement in adolescent girls took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. 

Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister for Women & Child Development and Minority Affairs and Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Shipping & Waterways & Ayush graced the event.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the occasion for implementation of a project to control anemia among adolescent girls through Ayurvedic interventions in the five districts under ‘Mission Utkarsh’ between the Ministry of Ayush and the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Also Read:Smriti Irani launches protocol for identification, management of malnourished children at anganwadi level

The Union Minister for Women and Child Development announced that the Ministry will also take up a joint venture with Ministry of Ayush and ICMR for effective interventions like Yoga in Polycystic Ovarian Disease (PCOD) among adolescent girls. The Union Minister hoped that India could lead in the prevention of anemia through providing cost effective and palatable Ayush medicines for better compliance with minimum adverse effects. She highlighted the coming together of 18 Ministries to address the issue of nutrition (Poshan Abhiyan).

The Minister also mentioned that, for the first time an Ayush intervention is being evaluated by ICMR. A positive outcome would allow the intervention to be rolled out all across the country and also outside. This evaluation is being done by topmost medical institutions of the country like AIIMS which provides excellent credibility to the study.

Union Minister for Ayush emphasized the need for a “Anemia Mukt Bharat”. We need to adopt healthy lifestyle and inculcate practice of Yoga for holistic health care, he added. Dr Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush stressed for strategic partnership and innovative intervention for better health outcomes. Mr Indevar Pandey, Secretary, Ministry of WCD emphasized and appreciated traditional healing through Ayush.

Under this Mission Utkarsh program, over 94,000 adolescent girls between the age group of 14-18 years registered under Poshan Tracker at approximately 10,000 Anganwadi Centres will be benefitted in 12 months period of program. The coordinating agency for the project will be Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS).

Classical Ayurveda medicines (Drakshavaleha and Punarnavadi mandoor) for better nutrition to improve the health of the anemic adolescent girls will be provided for a period of 3 months. The districts to be covered include; Dhubri, Bastar, Paschimi Singhbhum, Gadchiroli and Dhoulpur from the states of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Rajasthan respectively.

This project is being jointly funded by both the Union Ministries and will be executed in the five districts through Central Ayurveda Research Institute, Guwahati; All India Institute for Ayurveda, New Delhi; CARI, Bhubaneshwar; Regional Ayurveda Research Institute, Nagpur and National Institute Ayurveda, Jaipur. Public Health Foundation of India’s IIPH, Delhi will also play an important role by assessing the outcomes of this project.

Prof. Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General, CCRAS delivered his speech on the topic “Role of Ayush Systems for overall holistic health and Perspective on Ayush Intervention in Utkarsh Districts”. The WHO representative, Dr Pushpa Chaudhari also delivered her talk on “Importance of Diet Diversity and Local Dietary Practices for promoting Wellness”. The DG, ICMR Dr Rajiv Bahl, spoke on “Collaboration with Ayush for empirical evidence and clinical trials on traditional interventions.”

He briefed the already ongoing research project on the Ayurveda interventions in Anemia being conducted at 9 prime institutes like AIIMS Jodhpur, AIIMS Bhopal, AIIMS New Delhi, AIIMS Bibi Nagar, ICMR-NITM, Belgavi; RIMS, Ranchi; MGIMS, Wardha and KEM Hospital, Pune. He also mentioned the encouraging outcomes of research on Yoga in PCOD.

Also Read:AYUSH bringing health and wellness to the world: Minister Sarbananda Sonowal

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P9 Biomarker Panel to Predict Hepatocellular Cancer Risk in Cirrhosis Patients

A recent study published in the BMJ Gut unveiled a novel biomarker panel that could revolutionize the prediction of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) risk in patients with cirrhosis. This research was conducted as a part of a longitudinal phase III study explores the intricate relationship between inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers and the onset of HCC.

This study led by a team of Hashem El-Serag utilized data from a prospective cohort of 2266 adult patients with cirrhosis, who were meticulously monitored until the emergence of HCC. Through a meticulous process, the study custom-designed a FirePlex immunoassay to gauge baseline serum levels of 39 biomarkers by ultimately identifying a set of nine biomarkers with the highest discriminatory ability for HCC.

These nine biomarkers was collectively termed as P9 included insulin growth factor-1, interleukin-10, transforming growth factor β1, adipsin, fetuin-A, interleukin-1 β, macrophage stimulating protein α chain, serum amyloid A, and TNF-α. When integrated into existing clinical models, P9 expressed a promising predictive performance.

The addition of P9 to established clinical models, like the AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) model and aMAP score resulted in substantial improvements in the prediction of HCC risk. When combined with the AFP model, the incorporation of P9 boosted the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) by 4.8% and 2.7% at 1 and 2 years, respectively. Also, when added to the aMAP score, P9 enhanced AUROC by 14.2% and 7.6% at 1 and 2 years, respectively. The potential to refine risk stratification models for HCC offers clinicians a more precise tool to identify patients who are at heightened risk.

Reference:

El-Serag, H., Kanwal, F., Ning, J., Powell, H., Khaderi, S., Singal, A. G., Asrani, S., Marrero, J. A., Amos, C. I., Thrift, A. P., Luster, M., Alsarraj, A., Olivares, L., Skapura, D., Deng, J., Salem, E., Najjar, O., Yu, X., Duong, H., … Kaochar, S. (2024). Serum biomarker signature is predictive of the risk of hepatocellular cancer in patients with cirrhosis. In Gut (p. gutjnl-2024-332034). BMJ. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2024-332034

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Learning and memory problems in Down syndrome linked to alterations in genome’s ‘dark matter’

Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) have found that the Snhg11 gene is critical for the function and formation of neurons in the hippocampus. Experiments with mice and human tissues revealed that the gene is less active in brains with Down syndrome, potentially contributing to the memory deficits observed in people living with the condition. The findings are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

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Researchers uncover new clues about links between parent age and congenital disorders

A new paper in Genome Biology and Evolution finds that the link between paternal age and rare congenital disorders is more complex than scientists had previously thought.

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Risk profile tool provides clearer insight on hospitalized COVID-19 patients who benefit most from baricitinib treatment

A post-hoc analysis of ACTT-2 (Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial-2) found that the use of a risk profile may more precisely characterize high-risk patients who may benefit from the use of baricitinib. The analysis is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

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Race, racism, and COVID-19 in the US: Lessons to be learned

In a publication in The BMJ, Keisha Bentley-Edwards at Duke University, North Carolina, and colleagues argue that systemic racism and economic inequality are at the root of disparity in COVID-19 outcomes and suggest ways to distribute resources more equitably.

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UK cancer treatment falls behind other countries, research finds

People in the UK have been treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy less often than patients in comparable countries, and faced long waits for treatments, according to two new studies published in The Lancet Oncology.

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