Editorial Team

Omar Akramur Rab, MBBS, FCGP, FIAGP, FRSH (UK) 
Latifa Nishat, MBBS  Shaokat Zaman, MBBS
Thwe Thwe Prue, 
Web Developer

 Reply Mode : e-square@squaregroup.com 

 Post-Herpes Pain Relief! 

Drug eases post-herpes pain                                               Back to Features

A drug commonly used to treat pain in people with diabetic neuropathy may also be effective in easing the pain suffered by many people with herpes zoster. Postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN persists at least three months after the herpes rash has healed. Antidepressants have been used successfully to treat the condition, as have other narcotics and topical analgesics. Researchers tested the use of pregabalin in patients with PHN. Pregablin has shown to be safe and effective in the treatment of neuropathic pain in patients with diabetic neuropathy. The research involved 173 individuals who were randomly assigned to receive pregabalin at either a 600-milligram per day dose, a 300-milligram per day dose, or a placebo dose. Results show patients treated with pregabalin had greater decreases in pain than those treated with placebo. Fifty percent of the patients treated with the drug had a 50-percent reduction in pain, compared with 20 percent in the placebo group. The drug also worked quickly to reduce pain. Sleep also improved in the pregabalin group. Side effects from the treatment were generally mild.

SOURCE: Neurology, 2003;60:1274-1283

Gene & Uveitis 

Gene therapy for uveitis                                                     Back to Features

A new study shows using gene therapy to produce a protein called a-MSH can help treat uveitis and other autoimmune diseases. Researchers injected uveitis-infected mice with a gene that produces a-MSH. Less than 50 percent of the injected mice showed retinal inflammation. More than 80 percent of the mice that were untreated showed major symptoms of uveitis. Eyes injected with a-MSH also had significantly less inflammation than eyes that were not. When the retinas of the eyes treated with gene therapy were examined under a microscope, they appeared normal and healthy, but the untreated eyes showed damaged retinal tissue that was disorganized. Researchers believe treatment with a-MSH not only decreases the risk of severe retinal damage in people with uveitis but also can suppress inflammation and protect delicate tissue affected by other autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe Newswire

SARS! 

Keeping SARS under control                                                 Back to Features 

Researchers in England and China say efforts to reduce the time from the onset of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) symptoms to the person being quarantined in a hospital is one of the most important public health measures to reduce transmission. In a major epidemiological study of SARS, researchers studied 1,425 SARS cases in China. They found, after the initial surge of SARS cases, public health interventions have led to a 20-case per day reduction. These measures include encouraging people to report to the hospital immediately after the onset of clinical symptoms, tracing contacts of confirmed and suspected cases and quarantining those individuals, and monitoring and restricting travel. Results of the study show the average time between SARS infection and the onset of symptoms is about six days. The average time from the onset of symptoms to hospital admission varied from three to five days, with longer times earlier in the epidemic. The estimated rate of death is much higher in older patients than younger patients. Around 13 percent of patients younger than 60 die from the condition compared to 43.3 percent of patients age 60 and older.

SOURCE: The Lancet, published online May 7, 2003

Vitamin Screening!

  Vitamin deficiency screening for the elderly                      Back to Features

A new screening test may identify people at high risk for vitamin B-12 or folate deficiency, a problem common in older people. The prevalence increases with age. Deficiencies of vitamin B-12 and folate can cause anemia, neurological abnormalities, fatigue, malaise and cognitive impairment. Accurate identification of vitamin B-12 deficiency is important because inappropriate treatment with folic acid will correct the anemia associate but not the neurological condition. Tests that measure B-12 concentrations have proven inadequate because a patient’s severity of symptoms has not correlated well with this measurement in the past. Researchers measured blood levels of two metabolites that are elevated in people with vitamin deficiencies. Methylmalonic acid (MMA) is elevated when there is a vitamin B-12 deficiency. Total homocysteine (tHey) is elevated in both B-12 and folate deficiency. Researchers hypothesized that these blood tests would identify people at high risk for developing clinical symptoms of vitamin deficiency who were not readily identified by measuring blood concentrations of the vitamins. Study results indicate 10 percent of people age 65 to 74 and 20 percent of people older than 74 were at high risk of clinical vitamin B-12 and folate deficiency. Researchers also found 10 percent of people with a vitamin B-12 deficiency also had a folate deficiency.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003:77;1241-1247

Zinc & Preemies

 Zinc helps preemies                                                          Back to Feature

Researchers report that giving extra zinc to premature infants helps them grow. Premature birth is often associated with inadequate nutritional intake and impaired growth. Malnutrition, and specifically zinc deficiency, can disrupt the various hormones and growth factors that are responsible for normal growth. Therefore, researchers hypothesized that zinc supplementation may increase the growth of preemies. The study evaluated 36 preterm infants. The infants were randomly assigned to a group fed standard formula supplemented with zinc and a small quantity of copper or a group fed standard formula alone. Researchers examined body length, weight, head size, and total body water. Researcher reports babies in the zinc supplementation group had significantly greater linear growth up until 6 months of age. These babies also had greater weight and head size. The authors conclude that zinc supplementation has a positive effect on growth in premature babies. The absorption of zinc contained in human milk is 30-percent higher than the absorption in formula, thereby placing formula fed infants at a higher risk for zinc deficiency.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, 2003;111:1002-1009