Features

Blood Protein & Heart Attack !

Preeclampsia, Easy to Prevent !

Sleep & GI Disorder

Better Test for TB !

Preemies Alert !

Kid's Smoking !

New Products of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

EDITORIAL TEAM

OMAR AKRAMUR RAB

MBBS, FCGP, FIAGP,FRSH (UK)

P G Dip. Business Management

LATIFA NISHAT, MBBS

ASHRAFUL ALAM, MBBS

MAHBUBUR  RAHMAN, MBBS

Blood Protein Predicts Heart Attack Risk

Elevated levels of a blood protein called mannose-binding lectin (MBL) have been tied with a decreased risk of heart attack, especially among diabetics. The new findings may help physicians better identify people at risk of heart attack and design therapy to help prevent it. The study was published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. MBL is a protein that circulates in the blood and plays an important role in the body's autoimmune reaction by binding to pathogens and preparing them for destruction by white blood cells. The level of MBL in the blood is genetically determined and may vary dramatically from person to person. Although the role of MBL isn't completely understood, researchers speculated that the protein lowers heart attack risk by binding to the oxidized form of cholesterol and helping to remove it from the bloodstream. Oxidized cholesterol is abundant in diabetics. This may explain why high levels of MBL are particularly important among diabetics.

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Urine Test Could Detect Preeclampsia

A new discovery could help prevent preeclampsia. Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston found they could detect certain proteins in the urine indicative of preeclampsia, suggesting a simple urine test could potentially serve as a less expensive and less invasive screening tool. Preeclampsia typically develops after the 20th week of pregnancy. The only way doctors have been able to identify preeclampsia is by weekly monitoring of women's blood pressure and testing for abnormal levels of protein in the urine during the third trimester of pregnancy. But researchers say once the blood pressure has risen, it is often too late. Researchers conclude, "Diagnosing this condition earlier could help women with preeclampsia avoid major complications". A simple urine test could help predict the onset of this disease one to two months before the onset of clinical symptoms, and that could make a tremendous difference in outcomes for patients, in particular those women who have limited access to specialized medical care.

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Sleep Problems Linked to GI Disorder

A new study shows gastrointestinal disorders are more common among those who suffer insomnia. Previous studies have shown an association between sleep disturbances and gastrointestinal problems. However, most of these studies have focused on the prevalence of sleep problems among patients with gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn., looked at whether gastrointestinal disorders are more common in people with sleep problems. For the study, researchers interviewed more than 2,200 participants. A little more than half of those who responded to the survey were women with an average age of 45. Researchers say a little more than 13 percent of the participants reported sleep problems. About one-third of those with sleep disturbances reported having irritable bowel syndrome, and 21 percent reported frequent dyspepsia. After adjusting the findings for age, sex and other factors, researchers report irritable bowel syndrome was still significantly more common in those with sleep disturbances. However, study authors say dyspepsia was not more common after the adjustments were made. Researchers conclude sleep disturbances, irritable bowel syndrome, and frequent dyspepsia are all common and that sleep disturbance is associated with irritable bowel syndrome. They say further research is needed to understand this association.

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String Test is Better for TB

Two new studies discover easier tests to detect this deadly disease in infants and children in poor countries. Diagnosing tuberculosis is generally done with a gastric lavage. Researchers from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, conducted a study comparing the use of gastric lavage to a straightforward sputum test. The sputum test simply involves the child coughing up a sample. The two tests were given to 250 children ages 1 month to 5 years. The children were all suspected of having pulmonary tuberculosis. Researchers found the positive results with both tests were similar. However, the sputum test only needed to be done once and with a rapid diagnosis, treatment could start right away. Study authors say sputum induction should become the standard technique for diagnosing tuberculosis. In a second study, researchers used a string test for diagnosis. Basically, the child swallows a string. It's then removed from the upper gastrointestinal tract and a sputum sample is collected. The string helps the child bring up a better sample of sputum. Researchers found the string test helped to detect more cases of tuberculosis than did sputum induction alone.

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Bleak Outlook for Preemies

The prognosis for very premature babies is not good. A new study shows most infants born before 26 weeks gestation have moderate or severe mental impairment. Prematurity is a common and serious problem. The number of preterm births is rising each year, according to the March of Dimes. Babies born prematurely often suffer life-long consequences including cerebral palsy, mental retardation, chronic lung disease, blindness, and hearing loss. A new British study is the largest to date on babies born at 25 weeks gestation or earlier. The children in the study were evaluated at 30 months as well as age 6. The premature babies’ cognitive abilities were compared to other children not born prematurely. The study shows 41 percent of the extremely premature group have severe or moderate mental impairment at 6 years of age compared to 2 percent of their classmates who were born full term. Researchers say 12 percent of the premature children suffered cerebral palsy. The research also shows only 20 percent of children born extremely premature have no neuromotor or mental disability. This means 80 percent of children born premature suffer some disability later in life.

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Secondhand Smoke Harms Kid's Thinking

Secondhand smoke may lower kids' math and reading scores. The estimate comes from a study of almost 4'400 American kids aged 6-16. Researchers tested the children's math, reading, spatial, and memory skills. They also screened the children's blood samples for a chemical derived from nicotine. The chemical called continine showed tobacco smoke exposure. Since all participants said they hadn't used tobacco products for at least five days, they must have breathed someone else's smoke -- most likely, at home. Smoke exposure went hand in hand with lower test scores. Children with the most continine in their blood scored significantly lower on all four tests, compared with those with the lowest continine levels. "Reading ability was especially sensitive to environmental tobacco smoke exposure" according to researchers. Even a little smoke exposure caused a drop in reading and other skills. Test scores fell as smoke exposure rose. That is, The higher the child's continine levels, the lower their scores were in reading, math, and spatial skills.

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