Major Benefits of Siesta

April 1st, 2013 Mark

http://www.healthcare-opportunity.com/major-benefits-of-siesta/
During this week there are activities and conferences to help raise awareness of problems caused by lack of sleep and its results: increasing levels of stress and chronic impact on physical and mental health.

Argentine researchers recommend giving pause to the pace of life to feel the powerful natural physiological effects generated by the good sleep.

Sleep is a vital function as important as eating or breathing. During sleep develop various fundamental physiological processes that are related to neurocognitive function, immune, endocrine and metabolic diseases.

However, an average of Argentines sleep two hours less than 60 years ago, and this brings a profound impact on the quality of life and health of people.

“Change the way you breathe and our heart beats. And prolonged changes in the quantity or quality of sleep are associated with the onset of various diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, “said Daniel Vigo, CONICET research assistant at the Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Neurology, Psychiatry Tags: , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Hand Osteoarthritis

March 28th, 2013 Mark

http://www.healthcare-opportunity.com/hand-osteoarthritis/
Osteoarthritis is a wear and aging process that begins on joints and articular cartilage. Under normal conditions, the cartilage, which is a vital tissue to the slide, has the ability to replace their cells as these are worn. “In older people the rate of removal is not sufficient to maintain the joint thickness, so the cartilage thins and may begin to be contact between the bones devoid of cartilage, causing joint inflammation, pain and limited range of movement, “said Dr. Alfredo Olazabal, president of the Argentina Association of Surgery of the Hand (AACM).

“There are two factors, age and menopause, women become particularly vulnerable to osteoarthritis,” explained the expert.

According to a new study led by Maria Loreto Massardo specialist Vega, of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the incidence of osteoarthritis of the hands is 80% in women over 65 years and 50% in men the same age. Between 55 and 65, affecting 60% of women and 45% of men. Another more generic study, presented by Dr. Ricardo de Felipe under the XI National Congress of Health and Women’s Medicine (SAMEM) in Spain, highlights that osteoarthritis is one of the most prevalent rheumatic diseases and affects 80 % older than 65 years.

What is osteoarthritis of the hand

It is a degeneration of cartilage in the joints of the hands, which can cause pain, difficulty moving the fingers and deformity. Can be caused by prolonged and repetitive activity of the joints (such as manual labor, for example), the wear of the passage of years or for hereditary reasons also, in which cases the disease recurs (and to the affected area ) from generation to generation. In addition to these causes, any joint that has suffered a fracture or inflammation for a long time may develop post traumatic osteoarthritis.

“The destruction of articular cartilage brings other side effects such as damage to the bone itself, which may trigger new tensions in the ligaments, tendons and muscles,” explained Olazabal.

Symptoms

Early predictors for hand osteoarthritis are the intense pain that appear to move the fingers and the Read the rest of this entry »

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Antiretroviral Vaccines

March 20th, 2013 Mark

http://www.healthcare-opportunity.com/antiretroviral-vaccines/
A group of Spanish and French experts, composed of some of the leading researchers in the field of HIV, has a therapeutic vaccine, which is not curative (not preventive), with which to appease the effects of the AIDS virus. The trial is in its early stages and their results, positive so far, are published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases’.

The research involved 24 people with HIV, until then, had not been treated. The experts drew a series of blood samples which, in addition to know the profile of each vaccine manufactured ‘custom’.

Thus, immunizations are created from dendritic cells (defensive cells) and dose of HIV-heated to 56 degrees to switch it off without destroying it-, obtained from the patients themselves and then cultured.

“The virus, weakened, is as dendritic cells, which are responsible for carrying pathogens to the immune system,” said Felipe Garcia, a researcher at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and lead author of the work.

Cells not infected

Normally, HIV infects the above cells, which act as a ‘Trojan horse’, infecting the rest of the immune system, “but as the virus is inactive, dendritic cells can perform their work without infecting presentation” .

In fact, after receiving three doses of the vaccine, patients showed an increase in their defenses and a significant reduction in viral load (90% less in eight of 18 patients treated over one year).

However, as acknowledged by Josep Maria Gatell, Chief of Infectious Disease in the same Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Medical News Tags: , , , , , , No Comments »

Kidney care

March 11th, 2013 Mark

In advanced stages of chronic kidney disease is essential to the replacement of renal function by dialysis (hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis) waiting (for cases where possible) of a kidney transplant. Transplantation, an excellent alternative for many patients, the act requires solidarity donation.

Increased awareness in the population allowed Argentina is at the head of Latin America in the donation of organs for transplant, whose numbers are growing year after year. Growth in the number of donors was held, and almost doubled the proportion of people who remain on the waiting list that they get a kidney transplant in less than a year (11%).

However, they are more than 5,800 Argentines awaiting a transplant. In turn, they constitute only about 20% of the dialysis population, according to official records amounting to more than 26,000 in early 2012.

Chronic kidney disease remains a concern in Argentina and the world.

“Importantly, said Dr. Felipe Inserra, nephrologist in charge of the Renal Health Program of Fresenius Medical Care Argentina-that the progression of kidney disease can be controlled if diagnosed early and treated adequately the factors responsible for deterioration of the renal function, and we insist much on the other central element of renal health care, which is the prevention and management of Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Health and Society, Immunology, Medical News, Prevention and Health Promotion Tags: , No Comments »

All about Osteoporosis

March 10th, 2013 Mark

http://www.healthcare-opportunity.com/all-about-osteoporosis/
The evidence is not unequivocal, but numerous studies have warned of the risks they may pose long-term use of bisphosphonates, a class of drugs commonly used in people with osteoporosis to improve bone quality. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA, for its acronym in English) has met with a committee of experts to decide if treatment is safe from the fifth year. In Spain, according to some experts, have been required “in excess”.

“Our country is the biggest spender in the world and such drugs, however, is not more records broken,” said Santiago Munoz, president-elect of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology (SER). In order to “prevent and good will,” adds, “have been treated with bisphosphonates for women from the onset of menopause [circumstance that accelerates bone destruction], which were healthy and had had no fracture.”

In recent years, this system is changing. Given the potential adverse effects that may result from this treatment five years, “just type it in groups at risk.”

As explained in this specialist densitometry (test to determine bone mineral density) should not be the sole criterion for prescribing bisphosphonates. There are other risk factors: whether the patient has had a previous fracture, age (increases the chance of osteoporosis), family history of hip fracture, low bone mass, if too thin, if you have diseases that cause osteoporosis ( as rheumatoid arthritis) or taking drugs that increase the likelihood (such as corticosteroids).

“Combining all these aspects, we can get an idea of ​​the risk of fractures, there are also scales that help decide who can benefit most from Read the rest of this entry »

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