Cuba has successfully eliminated
mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis, the World Health
Organization (WHO) says.
The head of the WHO, Dr Margaret Chan, called it one of the greatest public health achievements possible. It
follows years of efforts to give pregnant women early access to
prenatal care, testing and drugs to stop these diseases passing from
mother to child. The WHO hopes other countries will be able to achieve the same.
Eliminating infections
Every year, globally, around 1.4 million women living with HIV become pregnant. Untreated,
they have a 15-45% chance of transmitting the virus to their children
during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding. That risk drops to about 1% if antiretroviral medicines are given to both mothers and their babies. And each year, nearly a million pregnant women worldwide are infected with syphilis. Again, early screening and treatment of these women can avoid complications for their unborn children. In
Cuba, according to the available official data, less than 2% of
children whose mothers have HIV are born with the virus - the lowest
rate possible with the available prevention methods. Globally,
seven in every 10 pregnant women living with HIV in low- and
middle-income countries receive effective antiretroviral medicines to
prevent transmission of the virus to their children. Among the 22
countries that account for 90% of new HIV infections, eight have
already reduced new HIV infections among children by more than 50% since
2009 (based on 2013 data) and another four are close to this mark, the
WHO says. And by 2014, more than 40 countries were testing 95% or more of pregnant women in prenatal care for syphilis. But experts say many countries must still do more to prevent and treat syphilis. Dr
Carissa Etienne, of the Pan American Health Organization, which has
been working with the WHO, said: "Cuba's achievement today provides
inspiration for other countries to advance towards elimination of
mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis."
Some parents' groups have argued the bill is trampling on their rights
California governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill that imposes one of the strictest school vaccination laws in the US.
It would require most schoolchildren to be vaccinated against diseases including measles and whooping cough. The bill has faced fierce criticism from some who say parents should decide whether their children are vaccinated. The move comes after an outbreak of measles at Disneyland in 2014 infected over 100 people in the US and Mexico. Only
children with serious health issues would qualify for exemption from
the new measures. Unvaccinated children would have to be home-schooled. Mississippi and West Virginia are the only other two states with such strict requirements. Parents
opposed to the bill have vowed to take legal action, even though the
issue has been upheld in court, including by the Supreme Court. They
argue that some vaccines are unsafe and claim the legislation is
eliminating informed consent and trampling on parental rights. "The
science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a
number of infectious and dangerous diseases," Mr Brown said in a
statement on Tuesday. "While it's true that no medical
intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunisation
powerfully benefits and protects the community."
The Royal Opera house apologised for any distress caused
The opening night of William Tell at the Royal Opera House has been marked by boos over a rape scene with nudity.
The Opera House issued a statement after the performance of Guillaume Tell apologising for any distress caused. Director
of opera Kasper Holten said: "The production intends to make it an
uncomfortable scene, just as there are several upsetting and violent
scenes in Rossini's score. "We are sorry if some people have found this distressing." Holten
said the scene "puts the spotlight on the brutal reality of women being
abused during war time, and sexual violence being a tragic fact of
war." Rossini's opera of the Swiss patriot, William Tell, who
shoots an arrow that splits an apple atop his son's head, has been
directed by Damiano Michieletto and stars Canadian baritone Gerald
Finley as Tell and American tenor John Osborn. Osborn told Reuters after the performance that the scene "maybe it went a little longer than it should have". "But
it happened and I think it's an element you can use to show just how
horrible these people were that were occupying this town," he said. "If
you don't feel the brutality, the suffering these people have had to
face, if you want to hide it, it becomes soft, it becomes for children."
The Stage gave the production one star. George Hall called it
a "dire evening" in which the "gratuitous gang-rape" scene provoked
"the noisiest and most sustained booing I can ever recall during any
performance at this address". "Intellectually poverty-stricken,
emotionally crass and with indifferent stagecraft, the result is nowhere
near the standard an international company should be aiming at", he
said. Michael Arditti, the Sunday Express theatre critic said the
production represented a "new nadir" for the opera house and "heads
should roll". Eaves, which is a charity that supports women who have experienced
violence, said "sexual violence in conflict can be dealt with in
sensitive ways - not gratuitous entertainment - bad call." The opera house put up an article on its website not mentioning the scene, but asking the audience what they thought of the production. Tim
Moorey responded, calling the production "a disappointment from
beginning to end. No wonder it received calls of 'rubbish' and lots of
boos during the performance and at the end. "I should especially
single our the gratuitous rape scene which was totally unnecessary and
received almost universal disapproval and much booing." But some
were upset at the booing in the audience. Janice Evans wrote she was "in
shock at this level of intolerance exhibited in the ROH". "I felt abused by their aggression and ashamed of their disrespect for the performers." Mark Valencia writing for
What's on Stage pointed out that first night booing is "a fast-growing
problem at Covent Garden" that doesn't happen at other opera houses. "It's
become standard practice for the director of practically every new
production to be jeered by practised factions in the audience who object
to ideas that go beyond the literal reading of an opera," he said. But
at last night's first night "the perpetrators did something unheard of:
they booed during the music. And they did so loudly and long." They also booed at the end of the performance when the production team came on stage for the curtain call.
Vitality recently emailed members a reminder about the change to its cinema ticket scheme
A
UK health insurer is facing criticism for advising its members to use a
Facebook-owned fitness-tracking app in order to retain a popular perk.
Vitality
- formerly known as PruHealth - has emailed users suggesting they
download Moves if they want to keep getting a cinema ticket once a week. Privacy campaigners say the app's connection to Facebook has not been made explicit enough. But Vitality says the initiative will "motivate healthy behaviour". Neither the private insurer's emails nor its webpage detailing the activity tracking scheme mention Moves' link to Facebook. Moves' own homepage and app store listings likewise do not flag its relationship with the social media giant, instead listing its developer as being ProtoGeo. Moves is advertised as an "always on" way to track a user's exercise, calorie burn and location
Facebook acquired the Finnish company in April 2014. But
if users click on a link to the app's privacy policy, and read more
than halfway through the 1,276-word document, the connection is
detailed. "We may share information, including personally
identifying information, with our affiliates (companies that are part of
our corporate groups of companies, including but not limited to
Facebook) to help provide, understand, and improve our services," it states. Facebook
told the BBC that it runs Moves as a "stand-alone application" and does
not presently combine information collected via the app with people's
Facebook profiles. But privacy group Big Brother Watch remains concerned. Vitality says that by offering rewards it can motivate healthy behaviour
"Whilst the lure of lower
insurance premiums and free benefits such as cinema tickets is
appealing, the requirement to download an app, provide it with a huge
amount of personal data and give it permission to track your every move
all day every day will raise concern for some customers," said the
organisation's chief executive Renate Samson. "It is not at all
clear that the app is owned by Facebook and there are no specific
details about how the social media company intends to use the data,
either now or in the future. "It is critical that both the app and
the insurance company are clear about who has access to their customers
data and for what purpose. "Sharing sensitive information may
provide interesting algorithms and big data opportunities but exposes
users day-to-day habits and personal lifestyles to unwanted scrutiny by
unseen and unknown organisations." Facebook
bought Moves in April 2014, but it was not listed alongside the firm's
other apps at its F8 developers conference in March
Movie incentives
Vitality
is owned outright by the South African firm Discovery following
Prudential PLC's sale of its stake in the business in November. A
month later, the company first contacted members to tell them about its
change of movie ticket policy, which comes into effect on 1 July. Moves
is not the only fitness-tracking option offered - members can also log
activities via devices and associated apps from Garmin, Fitbug, Fitbit,
Polar and Misfit. However, Moves is listed above the other options
and flagged as being the only way to record time-based running and
cycling workouts that last long enough to unlock a cinema visit code. "[Our]
model helps members understand how they can improve their own personal
health, make it cheaper and easier to get healthy and, offers rewards to
keep members motivated as they take steps to get healthier, through a
range of discounts and incentives," Vitality's commercial director Nick
Read told the BBC. "This model relies on members opting in to
share an amount of activity based data to unlock their rewards, which
they can do through a range of devices, one of which is a free app,
Moves. "Before offering Moves to our members we undertook an
extensive market review to select a provider who offered a free service
available for usage with the majority of smart devices." A
spokeswoman for the firm added: "Third-party and data protection terms
and conditions are made available to members who choose to opt in to the
rewards programme. We of course value any feedback... and whenever
feedback is received, we review accordingly." She declined to say how many members Vitality has. Vitality promotes the Moves app above other activity-tracking options on its website
'Compromise of customer privacy'
Moves does not ask smartphone owners if they have a Facebook account when they activate it. A
health data campaign group said it was concerned that Vitality's
promotion of the app might attract users who had deliberately steered
clear of the social network. "Bribing customers to hand over their
sensitive personal data - including biometric measurements, activity
and location data - is at best questionable, especially when the data is
being shipped out of the UK's jurisdiction," said Phil Booth from
MedConfidential. "Burying the fact that if you use the recommended
free app, Facebook will get all your data - even if you've never had a
Facebook account - is a truly shocking compromise of customer privacy. "That
Discovery hasn't been completely up front about who'll get access to
your data and what it'll be used for is deeply unethical." Facebook
stressed that it does not receive health data directly from Vitality
itself and said its use of Move's data beyond the app was limited. "We share information in order to provide a better experience for users," explained a spokeswoman. "For
example, sharing non-identifiable technical data from Moves with
Facebook enables Moves to provide a quicker, more secure service to the
people who use it."
Sanofi Nigeria, a drug manufacturing
company, has restated its commitment to sound health care delivery
through the provision of affordable medicines that are tailored to the
needs of patients.
Speaking at the public presentation of
Aprovasc, a fixed-dose combination treatment for the management of
hypertension, the General Manager, Sanofi Nigeria-Ghana, Mr.
Abderrahmane Chakibi, said the product offers a wide range of treatment
options for patients with hypertension.
He also said that in order to support
the patients in the management of their disease, the drug firm has
opened diabetes and hypertension clinics in the country, in partnership
with health authorities.
“The first clinic was inaugurated at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital on January 29, 2015,” he said.
He noted that while about 28.9 per cent
of the population is hypertensive, the majority of sufferers are not
aware of their condition; warning that by 2030, up to 39.1 million
people aged at least 20 years may live with hypertension if nothing is
done to reverse the trend.
Associate Professor of Medicine at the
University of Lagos, Dr. Amam Mbakwem, said people with uncontrolled
hypertension are exposed to heart attack and kidney failure.
Fortunately, there are a couple of things you can do to guarantee your shots of skin achievement.
1. Verify you know your skin sort
Knowing your skin sort
is crucial. Is it sleek, blend, dry or typical?
• Normal skin: normally inconspicuous and smooth (you are honored on the off chance that you have this "simple" skin sort)
• Combination skin: normally sleek in the t-zone and ordinary in different zones of the face
• Dry skin: will show slight chipping and redness in spots – it needs loads of lotion
• Oily skin: typically bigger pores and a somewhat of a sparkle – particularly in the t-zone Picture: Instagram
2. Put resources into the right items for your skin sort
Once you've made sense of your skin sort, make sure to utilize a chemical and lotion that suit your skin sort and its needs.
On the off chance that you have exceptionally sensitive, dry skin, attempt a rich chemical that won't further dry out your skin. As indicated by Glamor, salicylic corrosive cleaning agents and cleans are again better for sleek skin with bigger pores.
In the event of grown-up skin break out, make certain to counsel your dermatologist for guidance.
3. Uproot make-up appropriately
Regardless of how tired you are during the evening, evacuate that make-up immediately! There is nothing more terrible than laying down with your make-up on, it stops up the pores (zits!) and can even prompt skin unfavorable susceptibilities and rashes.
On the off chance that you are truly excessively languid, making it impossible to uproot make-up appropriately, i.e. make-up remover, chemical, toner, cream; at any rate utilize a wet wipe and take after with some night cream.
4. Sunscreen
Make sure to apply sunscreen every day. Numerous individuals observe that it stops up their pores and prompts an increment in pimples; if this is the situation, utilize a day cream with an implicit sun hinder as this is normally much lighter on your skin.
Verify its higher than SPF 30.
5. Hydrate, eat strongly, practice and rest
Yes, this is somewhat a given, yet its maybe the most critical point.
For getting healthy, the kind of food you eat is everything, rest and do. To enhance the nature of your skin, make sure to drink bunches of water, take after an adjusted eating routine, do consistent activity to sweat out every one of those poisons and open up the pores; and sufficiently rest to maintain a strategic distance from having a dull skin
A low-fat vegan diet may help people with type 2 diabetes reduce
physical pain related to the condition, suggests a small new study. "This
new study gives a ray of hope for a condition where there are no other
good treatments," said Dr. Neal Barnard, the study's lead author and
president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a
non-profit organization that promotes a vegan diet, preventive medicine,
and alternatives to animal research. Diabetic neuropathy common Most people with type 2 diabetes will develop peripheral diabetix neuropathy, the researchers write in Nutrition and Diabetes. People with the condition may feel pain, burning and numbness in their body's extremities. "For
an individual patient, it can be miserable and also depressing because
there are no good treatments and it just gets worse and worse," said
Barnard, who is also affiliated with the George Washington University
School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. "By setting aside
animal products and oily foods, you can become healthier, and your pain
can diminish and perhaps even go away," he told Reuters Health in an
email. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes and is often
linked to obesity. In type 2 diabetes, the body's cells are insulin
resistant which means that insulin isn't properly utilised to regulate
glucose levels in the blood. The disease is thought to
interfere with the ability of nerves to signal the brain about pain,
light touch and temperature. Anti-seizure medications and
antidepressants help relieve nerve pain in some patients but may have
unpleasant side effects. How the study was conducted For the new study, the researchers recruited 35 adults with type 2 diabetes and painful diabetic neuropathy. They
randomly assigned 17 participants to follow a low-fat vegan diet and
take B12 supplements for 20 weeks, with weekly support classes. The
other 18 were instructed to take B12 supplements but maintain their
normal diet. The vegan diet focused on vegetables, fruits,
grains and legumes. Overall, most participants on the vegan diet
appeared to avoid animal products and about half stuck to low-fat diets
throughout the study. Vegan diet assists in weight loss and lower levels of pain After
20 weeks, those on the vegan diet lost an average of about 15 pounds,
compared to about one pound among those in the comparison group. Several
other measures of health, including blood pressure, improved among the
participants on the vegan diet, compared to the control group. Those
on the vegan diet also reported a much greater drop in pain, compared
to the control group, the researchers report. A test of the nerves in
the foot also suggested that the vegan diet may have slowed or halted
nerve function decline, compared to the control group. There
was also a suggestion that the overall quality of life of those on the
vegan diet improved, compared to the control group. The difference may
have been due to chance, however. Limitations of the study Barnard
and his team acknowledged larger trials would still be needed to show a
vegan diet helped relieve pain related to type 2 diabetes. Dr.
Stuart Weiss, an endocrinologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New
York, said the study was "kind of cool," though the number of
participants was small and the length of the study was short. "We
always talk about diabetes and diabetes control being about diet and
exercise, but we end up prescribing a lot of medications and don't
really focus that much on diet and exercise because that's not easy,"
said Weiss, who was not involved in the study. Weiss told Reuters Health that he typically advised patients to eat less processed and refined foods and not overeat. "It
might be that eating less of that in a plant-based diet might be
helpful (in reducing inflammation), but again it was just 20 weeks and
it takes years and years for neuropathy to develop," Weiss said. "We
need to see long-term and nobody's going to pay for that." While
Weiss said it was exciting that researchers were looking for an
alternative to medication, he cautioned that not everyone would go for a
vegan diet.
The sperm of all 18-year-olds should
be frozen for use in later life because of the risks attached with
being an older father, a UK bioethicist has argued.
Sperm becomes more prone to errors with age, increasing the risk of autism, schizophrenia and other disorders. Dr Kevin Smith, from Abertay University in Dundee, says sperm-banking on the NHS should "become the norm". The British Fertility Society said such a move would "provide a very artificial approach to procreation". It called for a greater focus in the UK on supporting young couples to have work and have children. Men are having children later - the average age of fatherhood in England and Wales has increased from 31 in the early 1990s to 33 now. But while it remains possible to have children well into old age, there are consequences. Making his case in the Journal of Medical Ethics, Dr Smith said even small increases in the risk of disease could have a big effect when scaled up across a whole nation.
Dr Kevin Smith says sperm banks should "become the norm"
He told the BBC News website:
"I think on a society-wide basis, we do need to worry about it - it is a
very real and pronounced effect. "It's time we took seriously the issue of paternal age and its effect on the next generation of children." His solution is sperm banking for everyone on the NHS so that in older age men can turn to the sperm from their younger selves. He
said there was no fixed age when someone could become an "older dad"
but that people in their 40s might want to return the sperm bank
freezer. He said sperm should be banked ideally around the age of 18. It costs £150-200 per year to keep sperm privately, although an NHS equivalent should be cheaper to run.
Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield,
said: "This is one of the most ridiculous suggestions I have heard in a
long time." He said the risks from fathering children later in life were "really quite small". "We
know that the sperm from the majority of men won't freeze very well,
which is one of the reasons why sperm donors are in short supply," he
added. "Therefore, men who froze their sperm at 18, and returned
to use it later in life, would essentially be asking their wives to
undergo one or more IVF procedures in order to start a family."
'False security'
Professor Adam Balen, chairman of the British Fertility Society, disagreed with the need for a universal sperm bank. He
said: "Not only does it provide a very artificial approach to
procreation, but also a false sense of security as the technology does
not guarantee a baby." He warned that frozen sperm were less fertile than fresh ones and couples would be likely to have to depend on IVF. Prof
Balen argued: "I don't think we should be advising all women and men to
freeze eggs and sperm for an uncertain future, but support young
couples to have work and have children - that may require a societal
shift in philosophy." He said other countries, particularly in
Scandinavia, were better than the UK at providing childcare and
maternity and paternity leave. Sheena Lewis, the chair of the
British Andrology Society, said: "Men should think about their families
much earlier in their lives. "We need to get the message across
that it's really a much better idea for men as well as women to have
their children in their 20s and 30s."
A mushroom used for centuries in Chinese medicine reduces weight gain in animals, say researchers in Taiwan.
The study, published in Nature Communications, suggested Ganoderma lucidum slowed weight gain by altering bacteria in the gut. The researchers suggested the mushroom could eventually be used in the treatment of obesity. Experts said the science was good, but putting mushroom extract in cans of cola would not help people lose weight. G. lucidum has traditionally been sold for "health and longevity" say researchers at Chang Gung University. They analysed the impact of the fungus on mice being fed a high-fat diet. Those
on just a high-fat diet reached 42g after their first two months
whereas mice that were also fed a high dose of mushroom extract reached
only 35g. Mice were still much slimmer if they were fed a normal diet. In
their report, the team said mushroom extract "may be used as
pre-biotics to reduce body weight gain, chronic inflammation and insulin
resistance [type 2 diabetes] in obese individuals." Although this would, they said, need further testing in people.
Gut bugs
The team in Taiwan showed that adding the mushroom to the mice's meals altered the types of bacteria living in the gut. Gut
bugs are heavily involved in digestion and the release of energy, and
some species are associated with slim people and others with fat people.
The scientists showed that transplanting faeces from the
mushroom-fed mice to other mice - known as horizontal faeces transfer -
helped the recipient keep off the pounds. Prof Colin Hill, a
microbiologist at University College Cork in Ireland, told the BBC News
website: "I like the idea of some of these Chinese medicine stories
coming back into science, I love the idea of revisiting traditional
medicines. "The microbiome is certainly a key player in weight
gain and weight loss, it's certainly involved in extracting energy from
our food. "But no intervention will overcome someone drinking
lots of fizzy drinks, there won't be a magic pill, no mushroom extract
in a can of coke will help people lose weight."
Most malaria deaths occur among children living in Africa
The continuing Ebola epidemic in Guinea has set back the country's fight against malaria, say experts.
They
estimate 74,000 cases of malaria went untreated in 2014 because clinics
were either closed or patients were too scared to seek help. They
warn that malaria deaths since the Ebola outbreak began will far exceed
the number of Ebola deaths in the country - which now stand at 2,444. Their report is in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. Both
Ebola and malaria cause fever. The authors of the Lancet report say
fear surrounding the Ebola virus may have stopped patients in Guinea
going to see a doctor to get this symptom checked.
'Extra burden'
Dr
Mateusz Plucinski and colleagues analysed how many patients clinics in
Guinea were seeing before and during the Ebola epidemic that emerged
there in early 2014. They sampled 60 health facilities in the most Ebola-affected districts and 60 in districts unaffected by Ebola. And they looked at malaria prescriptions dispensed before and during the epidemic. There has been a big Ebola public health campaign across West Africa
Once Ebola hit, outpatient
attendances fell dramatically - by nearly half in certain age groups in
the worst-affected areas. And the number of treated malaria cases
dropped by up to 69%. At the same time, the rate of "just in
case" or presumptive treatment of fever cases with antimalarial drugs in
health facilities and by community health workers decreased or did not
change. The US experts warn that malaria deaths will have risen as a result. Meanwhile, Ebola seems to be abating. According
to the World Health Organization (WHO), in the most recent week for
which there is data, there were 10 reported cases of Ebola in Guinea. In
early 2015, cases were in the hundreds. But malaria has been a
long-standing problem in the region - particularly in the young. WHO
estimates suggest it led to around 584,000 deaths globally in 2013. Most
occurred among children in Africa. Dr Franco Pagnoni, from the
WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said untreated malaria cases had placed
an additional burden on an already overburdened health system in the
Ebola-affected countries. He said it was important to ensure that
Ebola containment and prevention activities were accompanied by efforts
to detect, treat and prevent malaria in order to save more lives. Towards
the end of 2014, the World Health Organization recommended mass
treatment of malaria irrespective of symptoms in areas heavily affected
by Ebola. This happened in Liberia and Sierra Leone, but not Guinea. Dr
Plucinski said: "Malaria control efforts and care delivery must be kept
on track during an Ebola epidemic so that progress made in malaria
control is not jeopardised and Ebola outbreak response is not impeded."
Skinny jeans can cause serious
damage to nerves and muscles, doctors have warned. Just how bad for your
health is the definitive hipster garment, asks Jon Kelly.
Someone
warn Russell Brand. Send help to the Duchess of Cambridge. Skinny jeans
have long been the legwear of choice among fashionistas, but it appears
there are health risks associated with dressing like Kate Moss or the
bass player from The Strokes. A 35-year-old Australian woman
developed a condition called compartment syndrome, caused by bleeding or
swelling within muscles, which an article in the Journal of Neurology,
Neurosurgery and Psychiatry said was made worse by her skinny jeans. It's
not the first time tight legwear has been subject to health warnings.
Other researchers have identified several cases where patients have
developed pain or tingling in their thighs after wearing "tight new fashion low cut trousers". Men are warned
that skinny jeans can lead to twisted testicles. They are typically
urged to wear looser undergarments when they and their partner are
trying to conceive, says general practitioner Dr Sarah Jarvis, because
high temperatures are thought to have a negative effect on sperm
production. People with urinary tract infections are advised to avoid skinny jeans. Tight trousers have also been blamed for exacerbating heartburn
by putting pressure on the abdomen, which in turn pushes stomach acid
upwards - although Jarvis says this tends to be more of an issue when
waists are cut unfashionably high. But it's important not to
overstate the risks, Jarvis adds. Compartment syndrome is a fairly
unusual phenomenon and in the Australian case there was a "perfect
storm" of circumstances. The tightness of the woman's jeans apparently
caused her muscles to swell inwards rather than outwards, and the fact
she was squatting for extended periods also worsened the situation. People
should be aware there's a small risk, says Jarvis - if you go to the
gym and forget your tracksuit bottoms, it's best not to exercise in
tight-fitting denims. But this is common sense. "I'm not going to give
up my skinny jeans," she says.
Skinny jeans can seriously damage muscles and nerves, doctors have said.
A
35-year-old woman had to be cut out of a pair after her calves
ballooned in size, the medics said in the Journal of Neurology,
Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. She had spent hours squatting to
empty cupboards for a house move in Australia. By evening, her feet were
numb and she found it hard to walk. Doctors believe the woman developed a condition called compartment syndrome, made worse by her skinny jeans. Compartment
syndrome is a painful and potentially serious condition caused by
bleeding or swelling within an enclosed bundle of muscles - in this
case, the calves. The condition caused the woman to trip and fall and, unable to get up, she then spent several hours lying on the ground. On examination at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, her lower legs were severely swollen. Although her feet were warm and had enough blood supplying them, her muscles were weak and she had lost some feeling. As the pressure had built in her lower legs, her muscles and nerves became damaged. She was put on an intravenous drip and after four days was able to walk unaided. Other medics have reported a number of cases
where patients have developed tingly, numb thighs from wearing the
figure-hugging low-cut denim trousers - although the chance of it
happening is still slim for most people. Priya Dasoju,
professional adviser at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said:
"As with many of these warnings, the very unfortunate case highlighted
is an extreme one. "There's no need to ditch the skinny jeans just
yet, simply avoid staying in the same position for too long and keep
moving throughout the day. If you do suffer any prolonged pain you
should of course seek help, but no-one should be alarmed by this warning
or change the cut of their jeans."
Researchers at Dundee University
have discovered a new compound which could treat malaria while
protecting people from the disease and preventing its spread, all in a
single dose.
The compound, DDD107498, was developed by the university's Drug Discovery Unit and the Medicines for Malaria Venture. Scientists said the "exciting" new drug could work well against parasites resistant to current treatments. Details of the discovery have been published in the journal Nature. The
World Health Organisation reported 200 million clinical cases of
malaria in 2013, with 584,000 people dying from the mosquito-borne
disease, most of them pregnant women or children under five. Concerns have been growing about strains of malaria which are resistant to current treatments, which have already appeared on the border between Myanmar and India.
'Real threat'
Dr Kevin Read, joint leader of the project, said new drugs were "urgently needed". He said: "Resistance to the current gold-standard anti-malarial drug is now considered a real threat. "The
compound we have discovered works in a different way to all other
anti-malarial medicines on the market or in clinical development, which
means that it has great potential to work against current drug-resistant
parasites. "It targets part of the machinery that makes proteins within the parasite that causes malaria."
The university's has been working with MMV since 2009 to identify new treatments for malaria
Dr David Reddy, CEO of MMV,
added: "Malaria continues to threaten almost half of the world's
population - the half that can least afford it. "DDD107498 is an exciting compound since it holds the promise to not only treat but also protect these vulnerable populations." The
university has been working with MMV since 2009 to identify new
treatments for the disease. The project was initiated by testing a
collection of about 4,700 compounds at the Drug Discovery Unit (DDU), to see if any would kill the malaria parasite. This
provided the chemical starting-point for the new compound, which was
optimised through cycles of design, preparation and testing. The compound is now undergoing safety testing through MMV, with a view to entering human clinical trials within the next year. Prof
Ian Gilbert, head of chemistry at the DDU, who led the team which
discovered the compound, said he was "very excited" by the progress
made. He said: "The publication reveals that DDD107498 has the
potential to treat malaria with a single dose, prevent the spread of
malaria from infected people, and protect a person from developing the
disease in the first place."
The new compound is undergoing safety testing ahead of human clinical trials
Some parents' groups have argued the bill is trampling on their rights
The Royal Opera house apologised for any distress caused
Vitality recently emailed members a reminder about the change to its cinema ticket scheme
4
Dr Kevin Smith says sperm banks should "become the norm"
Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield,
said: "This is one of the most ridiculous suggestions I have heard in a
long time."
Ganoderma lucidum growing on a fallen tree
Most malaria deaths occur among children living in Africa
