World Health Day - 7 April 2014

World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948. Each year a theme is selected that highlights a priority area of public health. The Day provides an opportunity for individuals in every community to get involved in activities that can lead to better health. The topic for 2014 is vector-borne diseases.

Vectors are organisms that transmit pathogens and parasites from one infected person (or animal) to another. Vector-borne diseases are illnesses caused by these pathogens and parasites in human populations. They are most commonly found in tropical areas and places where access to safe drinking-water and sanitation systems is problematic.

The most deadly vector-borne disease, malaria, caused an estimated 660 000 deaths in 2010. Most of these were African children. However, the world's fastest growing vector-borne disease is dengue, with a 30-fold increase in disease incidence over the last 50 years. Globalization of trade and travel and environmental challenges such as climate change and urbanization are having an impact on transmission of vector-borne diseases, and causing their appearance in countries where they were previously unknown.

In recent years, renewed commitments from ministries of health, regional and global health initiatives – with the support of foundations, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector and the scientific community – have helped to lower the incidence and death rates from some vector-borne diseases.

World Health Day 2014 will spotlight some of the most commonly known vectors – such as mosquitoes, sandflies, bugs, ticks and snails – responsible for transmitting a wide range of parasites and pathogens that attack humans or animals. Mosquitoes, for example, not only transmit malaria and dengue, but also lymphatic filariasis, chikungunya, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever.

Blood Clots More Likely In AB Blood Types

AB blood type is a significant risk factor for venous thromboembolism, or blood clots, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Denmark analyzed looked for blood type and the presence of two genetic mutations, in addition to occurrence of blood clots and heart attacks. Type AB blood, they found, was a significant risk factor for blood clots, accounting for 20 percent of the risk for venous thromboembolism. And the risk was especially high when those with AB blood type also had one or both of two genetic mutations, called V Leiden and prothrombin. The researchers also considered incidence of heart attack but found no consistent increased risk.

But don't panic if your blood type is AB. The study's findings are not necessarily new, nor will they change clinical practice- at least not for now.

Links between blood type, clotting (thrombosis), and its opposite, bleeding, may have to do with a blood component called von Willebrand levels, which are associated with bleeding. People with type O blood have the lowest von Willebrand levels (which make them more likely to bleed); those with AB blood have the highest levels (making them likely to clot); and people with type A and type B blood fall in between.

Many people at risk for thromboembolism are at risk because of underlying disease, age, or the fact that they are in the hospital or just had surgery, and they are probably receiving anti-clotting (anticoagulation) medication without knowing their von Willebrand levels. Is it something doctors might eventually measure to prescribe more or less medication? Maybe, but that's far off.

Although the Danish study is relevant, there's not a lot of data on how to turn it into therapeutic decision-making. Maybe in the future. It adds to a literature that's really just beginning to become to convincing.

A simple blood test can now predict your risk of sudden cardiac death

Samuel C Dudley, a lifespan researcher from Rhode Island in the US has found that a simple blood test can predict a person's risk for Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) enabling physicians to more quickly and accurately assess a patient's need for an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD). The new blood test is in a pilot phase and will be validated in a large, multi-site trial led by Dudley and other researchers at Lifespan's CVI anticipated to start this fall.

Currently risk assessments are determined by measuring the fraction of blood ejected from the heart in any one heartbeat, the ejection fraction. When the ejection fraction falls below 35%, a patient may benefit from an ICD.

It is believed that approximately 60% of patients who receive defibrillators as a result of these assessments may not actually need one. This blood test will determine more accurately which patients do in fact need the defibrillator.

Sudden cardiac death is an unexpected death caused by loss of heart function, or sudden cardiac arrest. The incidence rate is quite high in India - about 10% of all cardiac-related deaths are sudden while the mean age of the patients who die is lower than 60 years. Studies have showed that one-third of the patients who die of SCD had heart attacks in the past and 80% of them were smokers or had risk factors like hypertension and diabetes.

SCD is a condition in which the heart unexpectedly stops beating. When this occurs, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. If not treated the sufferer dies within minutes.

Our heart has an electrical system that controls the rate and rhythm of the heartbeat. Abnormal functioning of this electrical system can cause irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slow or with an irregular rhythm. Some arrhythmias can cause the heart to stop pumping blood to the body and this leads to SCA. This, however, is not the same as a heart attack.

A heart attack occurs when the blood flow to part of the heart muscle is blocked but the heart usually doesn't stop beating. People who have heart disease are at higher risk. But people who appear healthy and have no known risk factors can also fall prey to this killer.

Sleep apnea could lead to elevated blood sugar levels

Researchers have linked sleep apnea with elevated blood sugar levels, raising fears that people with this condition could be at an increased risk of cardiovascular illness and mortality.

Sleep apnea is a type of sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from at least ten seconds to several minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour.

The researchers measured levels of HbA1c, which correlates with average plasma glucose concentration. This measurement allows researchers to gain an understanding of blood sugar levels over a period of time.

People with diabetes have higher levels of HbA1c and the risk of developing cardiovascular complications is increased as these levels are raised. (The target levels for HbA1c are 4.09 per cent for non-diabetics and up to 6.5 per cent for diabetics).

The results found that levels of glucose concentration were significantly linked with the severity of sleep apnea. The participants in this research were divided into groups based on their level of sleep apnea severity and HbA1c levels rose from 5.24 per cent in the group with lowest severity to 5.50 per cent in the group with the highest severity. The findings highlight the need for clinicians to be aware of the risks of diabetes when treating sleep apnea. The findings have been published online in the European Respiratory Journal.

Medilab Palarivattom branch is being shifted to a new location

We feel great pleasure to kindly inform you that Medilab Speciality Laboratories’ Palarivattom branch is being shifted to a more convenient location on the highway near Muthoot Honda, opposite to Global Tyres and below Joy’s Dental Clinic. We have facilities for entire range of laboratory testing, ECG and digital X-Ray at this new centre which also offers different packages for preventive health checkups.

Medilab Speciality Laboratories is NABL accredited (ISO15189-2003), the second laboratory in Kerala to obtain this international quality certification. We also adhere to in-house quality control system in line with ISO 15189: 2007 and we have on going participations with the External Quality Assurance Schemes set up by CMC Vellore, AIIMS, New Delhi and Randox Laboratories, UK.

Sir, we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to the formal launch of our new Palarivattom centre by Padma Shri Dr. Philip Augustine at 10:30 AM, on Wednesday, 9 April 2014. We thank you so much for your past patronage and assure you of better and brighter service in future.

Sincerely,

For Medilab Speciality Laboratories (India) Pvt. Ltd
Dr. T.A. Varkey
Managing Director

Program:

Venue: Medilab, NH 47, Near Muthoot Honda, Palarivattom
Lighting the Lamp: Padma Shri Dr. Philip Augustine
Time: 10:30 AM, on Wednesday, 9 April 2014

Difference Between Blood Pressure in Both the Arms

Have you ever had your blood pressure checked in both arms at your doctor’s office? Researchers at Mass General Hospital say you probably should. A small difference between the two arms is normal. But a larger one could mean you’re at risk for heart disease.

Dr. Ido Weinberg, a vascular medicine specialist, and colleagues at MGH, looked at data on nearly 3,400 local residents over the age of 40 enrolled in the Framingham heart study. “Patients who have that difference between arms could end up developing heart and blood vessel disease,” Dr. Weinberg said.

Researchers found that people with a systolic blood pressure difference of 10 points or more between their arms were 38% more likely to develop a blood vessel disorder like a heart attack, stroke, or blockages in their legs. The theory is that a significant difference in blood pressure between arms could indicate plaque in the arteries feeding the arm with the higher number. And having plaque in the vessels that feed your arms probably means you have plaque elsewhere, too.

Everyone over the age of 40 should have their blood pressure measured in both their arms at least once in their lives. “If you do have a difference, then you’d like your blood pressure to be managed according to the higher of the two,” Dr. Weinberg says. If you do have your blood pressure measured in the office setting, and you do find that difference, that may mean you may have an increased risk and that’s something most people may want to know.

Blood test could predict obesity in children

A simple blood test can measure the levels of epigenetic switches in the PGC1a gene, the gene that governs the body's fat storage.

Obesity is often the product environmental factors: a poor diet and not enough exercise. But people are also -- to varying degrees -- predisposed to obesity.

Recently, researchers at the Universities of Southampton figured out a way to test for obesity. A simple blood test can measure the levels of epigenetic switches in the PGC1a gene -- the gene that governs the body's fat storage.

Epigenetic switches are the subtle changes in gene activity, not sequence, that happen during early development and affect how our genes express themselves in form of physiological traits. These switches take place via chemical changes called DNA methylation, and researchers were recently able to show that higher levels of DNA methylation -- more switching -- predicted a greater likelihood of obesity. Specifically, DNA methylation levels measuring above 10 percent in five-year-olds were associated with a 12 percent increase in body fat nine to ten years later.

It can be difficult to predict when children are very young, which children will put on weight or become obese. It is important to know which children are at risk because help, such as suggestions about their diet, can be offered early and before they start to gain weight. The results of this study provide further evidence that being overweight or obese in childhood is not just due to lifestyle, but may also involve important basic processes that control our genes.