Medical Travel

Latest Health News From Medindia

3D-Printed Jaw Successfully Transplanted to a Patient

A 3D printer-created lower jaw has been surgically transplanted to an 83-year-old woman's face. Doctor's claim it to be the first operation of its kind. The operation was carried out in the Netherlands last June to treat the woman's osteomyelitis (bone infection) of almost the entire lower jawbone. Doctors wanted to avoid traditional reconstructive surgery because of the woman's age and other factors. The operation took 4-hours, about 1/5th of the time required for traditional ...

Movie Helps Discover Secrets of Brain Evolution

Clint Eastwood's movie, 'The Good, The bad and The Ugly', became the instrument of a study to understand the secrets of brain evolution. Researchers scanned the brains of 24 people and four rhesus monkeys while they watched-'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly', to study the evolution of the brain. Earlier research had assumed that human brains and monkey brains were almost similar, except that human brains were bigger. Functions of the brain were pretty much similar ...

Shifting Houses Frequently During Childhood Worsens Ensuing Poor Health Risk

Frequent house moves during childhood seem to increase the risk of poor health in later life, suggests research published in the iJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health/i. The researchers assessed the health of 850 people, taking part in the West of Scotland Twenty-O7 Study. This has tracked the long term health, based on postcodes, of those aged 15, 35, and 55 in 1987/8 over a period of 20 years. The analysis included physical health, such ...

Using Pancreas to Taste Fructose

The tongue's taste receptors aids in telling apart between safe food and spoilt food or toxic. Nevertheless taste receptors are now being discovered in other organs, also. In a study published online the week of February 6 by the iProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences/i of the USA, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) discovered that beta cells in the pancreas use taste receptors to sense fructose, a type of sugar. According ...

Revamped Criteria May Reclassify Lots With Mild Alzheimer Dementia

According to the revised criteria several patients currently diagnosed with very mild or mild Alzheimer disease dementia could be reclassified as having mild cognitive impairment (MCI) states a report published Online First by iArchives of Neurology/i, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association convened a work group to update criteria for MCI, and the revised criteria allow "considerable latitude" as to ...

New Report Points to Soaring Medical Debt

Countless Californians lost insurance coverage across the state as employers removed jobs and the health plans that accompanied those jobs with the advent of the recession, states a new report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Among the most alarming trends resulting from the so-called Great Recession: a significant jump in California's already high rate of residents with medical debt. In 2009, 2.6 million non-elderly Californians had ...

Heart Hormone Plays an Important Role in Breaking Down Fat

Exercise certainly helps in reducing body weight, but a recent study has added another dimension to it - our heart and its role in weight loss. A new study at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) found that the heart also plays a significant part in breaking down fat. The study found that hormones released by the heart activate fat cell metabolism. These hormones actually stimulate a molecular mechanism which works in a similar manner ...

Spinning Sessions and Heart Attacks Spark the Same Biochemical Cues

A short spinning session is capable of setting off the identical biochemical indications as a heart attack. It is a reaction that is perhaps both natural and harmless; however one should be cautious when people seek emergency treatment for chest pain reveals a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Heart attacks increase the secretion of enzymes known as cardiac biomarkers, which can be measured using a simple blood test. This ...

Employers! Retain the Creme De La Creme

While the economy is recovering, most employees will most likely look for better opportunities outside their firms, warn experts. This critical situation demands employers to hold on to their top performers. According to Joyce E. A. Russell, director of the Executive Coaching and Leadership Development Program at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, most firms have depended on exit interviews to learn why their employees ...

'Farmer's Drink', a Relic of S.Korea to Hit US

Korean rice wine, a drink of antiquity is savouring a renaissance at home and in Japan, and is set to penetrate into a major new market as it establishes on popular beverages such as soju. Makgeolli, a smooth milky-white drink famed for its purported health benefits, will be produced overseas for the first time later this year when a brewery opens in Chicago, South Korea's Baesangmyun Brewery has announced. Under a deal with an entrepreneur based in the ...

Cupid's Arrow Is Turning Digital, Shows Online Dating Research

Stigma ridden online dating has surpassed all types of matchmaking in the United States apart from meeting through friends, states a new analysis of research on the emergent relationship industry. The digital revolution in romance is a boon to lonely-hearters, providing greater and more convenient access to potential partners, reports the team of psychological scientists who prepared the review. But the industry's claims to offering a "science-based" approach with ...

Cat Out of the Queen's Handbag

Curiosity has had people fencing for long if Queen Elizabeth II carries cash in her ubiquitous handbag. And after much speculation it has finally been revealed that alongside her must-have lippy and compact mirror she does carry a 'precisely' folded 5 pounds or 10 pounds note - but only to donate to the church on Sundays, according to royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith. Smith unlocked the secrets inside Her Majesty's bag in her new book, Elizabeth ...

Metal Waste Released by Nanodiamonds can Prevent Inflammation in Joints

Researchers from the University of Alabama have found that the metal waste released by nanodiamonds used in reinforcing synthetic joints can also prevent inflammation in the joints. In the study, published in the journal Acta Biomaterialia, the researchers studied the interaction between nanodiamonds and macrophages, the scavenging cells present in our body which react with the debris particle released by metal joints. The researchers found that the debris ...

Panel to Probe How Doctors Failed to Detect Bullet Lodged in the Head of a 11-Year-Old Boy

A Delhi hospital has constituted a panel of three doctors to probe into possible negligence on part of the hospital authorities which led to a bullet lodged in the head of a 11-year-old boy go undetected. Nakul Bhargava was admitted to Dr Hedgewar Hospital after being shot in the head by an unknown person. The doctors at the hospital failed to detect the bullet in his head and discharged him after administering first aid. However when Nakul complained of restlessness ...

Brit Doctors Fertilize Egg Using Sperm Frozen for 24 Years

Doctors in Britain fertilized an egg with a sperm that has been frozen for the past 24 years, making it the longest period that a sperm was frozen before being successfully used in an IVF treatment. Richard Pott was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1987, when he was just 21 years old. The doctors suggested Pott to freeze a sample of his sperms so that he may be able to father children in the future. When Pott and his wife, Rebecca, failed to conceive a ...

Oz Government Orders Recall of Two DIY Teeth Whitening Kits

The Australian government has ordered a dental company to recall two types of do-it-yourself teeth whitening kits following reports that they contain very high levels of hydrogen peroxide and may be responsible for chemical burns. According to reports, Pro Teeth Whitening Australia has been ordered to recall two of its teeth whitening kits, Bright White Express Advanced Teeth Whitening Kit and Pro Teeth Professional Whitening Pen, after they were reported to contain ...

Eradicating of Genetic Diseases Perhaps Via 'Designer' Babies of 3 Parents

In order to avert children from acquiring life-threatening genetic diseases Sydney scientists are now eager to create designer babies with the DNA of three parents. IVF specialists have argued that they could wipe out mitochondrial mutations - which can lead to multi-organ failure and fatal heart, liver and muscle conditions - by removing defective genes and replacing them with healthy DNA from a donor. The procedure, described by scientific opponents ...

Showing Brain Tumour Eradication and Extended Survival: Study Published In Neuro-Oncology

Tocagen Inc. stated in the publication of data presenting the company's investigational treatment for high grade glioma that wipes out brain tumours and presents a vivid survival advantage in mouse models of glioblastoma. Almost all mice receiving the top dose of Toca 511 followed by 5-FC were still alive at 180 days, which was the termination date for the experiment, whereas all control mice died by day 43. The article was published today in the February issue of the iNeuro-Oncology/i ...