Consumption of More Fruits and Vegetables Does Not Lead To Weight Loss

The researchers in University of Alabama, Birmingham, stated that eating more vegetables and fruits in a diet of the person has no effect on weight loss, as told by the recommenders who tell people looking forward to lose weight to have more of them in order to be in their dream shapes.

A research was conducted on 1,200 subjects wherein they were told to eat more vegetables and fruits n their daily diets in order to check whether it helps in losing weight for them or not.

According to Kathryn Kaiser, the instructor of UAB School of Public Health, there was no effect on people looking forward to lose weight by the consumption of vegetables and fruits. In fact, there were zero results observed by the research team in this experiment.

She also added that eating more will not have a good approach towards losing weight as by adding them on top of other things preferred to be eaten by the people will not have any weight change in the individuals.

According to a study published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in the month of June, while eating more of vegetables and fruits does not make a person lose weight, eating more of it does not make him gain weight either.

Kaiser included that there is no observation of an increased weight in a person with an added serving size of fruits. This states that fruits help in meeting the daily requirements of an individual’s body to have fiber and vitamins.

She also stated that instead of increasing the intake of vegetables and fruits, there is a need to reduce the intake of calories that can be done by the intake of proper food.

There has been a popular belief among people that in order to lose weight, it is essential for them to have vegetables and fruits in larger quantities, however, this belief has now been shattered.

Source:

yottafire.com

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Egypt’s army says ‘virus cure’ needs more tests

FILE - This file image made from undated video broadcast on Egyptian State Television on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014 shows a device that the Egyptian army claims will detect and cure AIDS and Hepatitis. Egypt’s military said Saturday, June 28, 2014 that devices it earlier claimed it invented to detect and cure AIDS and hepatitis C need six more months of testing. The army had earlier promised to reveal the technology to the public this coming Monday after making what experts dismissed as an outlandish claim last February. (Associated Press)

CAIRO — Egypt’s military said Saturday that a device it claimed it invented to cure AIDS and hepatitis C needs six more months of testing.

The army had earlier promised to reveal the technology to the public this coming Monday after making what experts dismissed as an outlandish claim last February.

At a news conference then, the head of the army’s Engineering Agency said the military had produced an “astonishing, miraculous” set of inventions that could detect AIDS, hepatitis and other viruses without taking blood samples and also purify the blood of those suffering from the diseases.

The claim caused uproar among scientists and the public, with many pointing out that the technology had not been properly verified. It was also lampooned in a famous satirical program that has now been taken off the air.

The assertion hit a sensitive nerve in Egypt, where Hepatitis C is an epidemic. Some studies estimate that up to 10 percent of 86 million Egyptians have it, making it the country with the highest prevalence in the world.

In a press conference held in a military hospital in Cairo Saturday, a military doctor said the blood purification device needed further tests before it could be released to the public.

“Scientific integrity mandates that I delay the start of the public release until the experimentation period is over, to allow for a follow up with patients already using it,” Egypt’s state news agency MENA quoted Maj. Gen. Gamal el-Serafy, director of the Armed Forces Medical Department, as saying.

El-Serafy said doctors had already started testing one of the machines, the so-called “Complete Cure Device,” on 80 Hepatitis C patients who were also being treated with medication.

Saturday’s news conference notably dropped any mention of the device as a cure for AIDS, only referring to hepatitis. None of the research involved has been published in a reputable journal.

The original claim in February raised concerns that the military’s offer of seemingly inconceivable future devices would draw Egypt back into a pattern of broken promises by successive rulers who would frequently announce grand initiatives that failed to meet expectations.

Generals working on the project and pro-military media adopted a defensive stance over the matter, insisting that the inventions would be released to the public and that any criticism of them was part of a foreign plot to rob Egypt of a major scientific victory.

El-Serafy said the armed forces will set up a medical center to treat the viruses in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia to carry out the tests and declare results.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source:

www.washingtonpost.com

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FDA approves inhaled form of insulin

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration has approved a long-delayed inhalable diabetes medication to help patients control their blood sugar levels during meals.

The FDA cleared MannKind Corp.'s Afrezza, a fast-acting form of insulin, for adults with the most common form of diabetes, which affects more than 25 million Americans. Friday's approval comes more than three years after the agency first asked MannKind to run additional clinical studies on the drug.

Demand for diabetes treatments is surging globally as the prevalence of obesity explodes. According to the World Health Organization, roughly 347 million people worldwide have the disease, a chronic condition in which the body either does not make enough insulin to break down the sugar in foods or uses insulin inefficiently. It can lead to blindness, strokes, heart disease or death. In type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, the body does not use insulin properly. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. In those cases, the body does not produce insulin.

Afrezza, an insulin powder, comes in a single-use cartridge and is designed to be inhaled at the start of a meal or within 20 minutes. MannKind has said that patients using the drug can achieve peak insulin levels within 12 to 15 minutes. That compares to a wait time of an hour and a half or more after patients inject insulin.

The FDA said in its approval announcement that Afrezza is not a substitute for long-acting insulin and is a new option for controlling insulin levels during meals. The agency approved Afrezza with a boxed warning - the strongest type - indicating that the drug should not be used in patients with chronic lung diseases, such as asthma and smoker's cough, due to reports of breathing spasms. The agency is also requiring several follow-up studies looking at the drug's long-term safety, including its impact on the heart and lungs.

Mannkind first submitted the drug to FDA in March 2009. The Valencia, California-based company has no other products on the market and lost more than $191 million last year.

Several other companies have failed to make inhaled insulin work commercially. In 2007, Pfizer Inc. discontinued its inhaled insulin Exubera after it failed to gain ground on the market. In 2008, Eli Lilly & Co. ended its development program, citing regulatory uncertainty.

MannKind shares fell 5.5 percent in regular trading after the FDA's approval announcement but rebounded 70 cents, or 7 percent, to $10.70 in after-hours trading Friday.

Source:

www.usatoday.com

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Low-Dose Aspirin could Reduce Risk of Developing pancreatic Cancer

A novel study by the Yale School of Public Health unveiled that low doses of aspirin can reduce the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Researchers assessed medical records of 1,052 patients for which data was collected from 2005 to 2009. Out of them, 362 were found to be having pancreatic cancer and others did not have the condition.

In the next step, researchers compared aspirinuse of patients and risk of cancer. Researchers noticed those patients who have taken low-dose aspirin for six years or less than that had a 39% reduced risk of developed pancreatic cancer.Patients who took low-dose aspirin for over 10 years had a 60% reduction in the risk of pancreatic cancer. As per researchers, low-dose of aspirin was between 75 and 325 milligrams.

"We found that the use of low-dose aspirin was associated with cutting the risk of pancreatic cancer in half, with some evidence that the longer low-dose aspirin was used, the lower the risk", said Harvey A. Risch, Professor of epidemiology in the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven.

It is vital to find ways to prevent the cancer as around one in 60 adults will get diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and five-year survival rate is less than 5%. LaPook explained aspirin disturbs the inflammatory pathway in the body.

If the pathways that can lead to cancer are interrupted, then the risk for cancer gets lowered. LaPook said they are not completely sure on this, but that is their thought.

People with family history of pancreatic cancer or who have other risk factors for the disease could be at benefit if they take low-dose aspirin, suggest researchers. But they should discuss it with their doctors and then start the medication.

Source:

uncovercalifornia.com

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Mankind (MNKD) shares Plunge after FDA Approves Afrezza, inhaled Insulin for Diabetes patients

FDA has approved a new diabetes medication yesterday. The newly approved diabetic drug can be inhaled by the patients. It is reported that the drug which was approved by Food and Drug Administration is Afrezza.

ManKind Corporation is the manufacturer of the drug Afrezza.

Afrezza is a fast acting medicine which can be inhaled. It acts like insulin and helps the patients to maintain blood glucose level.

It is already a known fact that diabetes is a chronic condition in which body is unable to secrete enough insulin to maintain the blood sugar levels.

ManKind’s newly approved Afrezza comes in the form of insulin powder. The manufacturers have suggested that it can be inhaled during meal or just before beginning the meal.

However there is a caution issued by FDA with relation to Mankind’s Afrezza.

The patients who are suffering from pre-existing lung diseases or conditions related to lung diseases like broncholitis, pneumonia or asthma are restricted to use the inhaled diabetic medication. There were reports of breathing spasms among these diabetic patients Mankind (MNKD) shares plunged to 20% during Friday’s trading session after FDA mentioned that the drug Afrezza can’t replace the existing long-term insulin dose and there are some associated risks among the patients related to pulmonary diseases.

Source:

www.wallstreetotc.com

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Numbing medications can harm teething babies, FDA warns

Teething infants can come to serious harm or even death from certain "gum-numbing" medications, according to a new warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The agency said Wednesday that local anesthetics known as viscous lidocaine, orbenzocaine-containing teething products, should never be used for teething children, except under the advice and supervision of a health care professional.

Viscous lidocaine contains a local anesthetic in a gel-like syrup. It requires a prescription and is typically used to treat mouth ulcers that can occur in patients undergoing chemotherapy. Parents who happen to have viscous lidocaine on hand may be tempted to use it to help teething babies, but they should not do so, the FDA said in a news release.

There have been reports of teething babies suffering overdoses of viscous lidocaine, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. The FDA noted that in 2014 it received 22 reports of serious incidents, including deaths, tied to use of viscous lidocaine in babies and toddlers under three and a half years of age.

According to the agency, symptoms of overdosing include confusion, jitteriness, shaking, seizures, falling asleep too easily, vision problems and vomiting.

The FDA now requires a warning on the label of all prescription oral viscous lidocaine cautioning against its use in babies and small children for teething pain.

Viscous lidocaine also "can make swallowing difficult and can increase the risk of choking or breathing in food. It can lead to drug toxicity and affect the heart and nervous system," Michael Cohen, ISMP president, said in the FDA news release.

The FDA also said that over-the-counter benzocaine products should not be used for children younger than age 2. These products include Anbesol, Hurricaine, Orajel, Baby Orajel and Orabase.

Benzocaine products for mouth and gum pain can cause a rare but serious and potentially fatal condition called methemoglobinemia, a disorder in which the amount of oxygen carried through the blood stream is greatly reduced. Children under age 2 are at particular risk, the FDA said.

In the end, parents may simply have to accept teething as an uncomfortable but transient part of infancy, experts said.

"Teething is a normal phenomenon; all babies teethe," Dr. Ethan Hausman, a pediatrician and pathologist at the FDA, said in the news release. He added that the agency "does not recommend any sort of drug, herbal or homeopathic medication or therapy for teething in children."

If a child has swollen and tender gums, you can gently massage them with your finger and give the child a cool teething ring or a clean, wet, cool washcloth to chew on, the FDA said.

"The cool object acts like a very mild local anesthetic," Dr. Hari Cheryl Sachs, a pediatrician at the FDA, said in the news release. "This is a great relief for children for a short time."

Source:

www.cbsnews.com

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Summer Feeding program begins Monday for north country children

WATERTOWN — Thousands of meals and snacks are expected to be served throughout the north country this summer as part of the annual federal Summer Feeding Program.

At the Community Action Planning Council of Jefferson County open site, 518 Davidson St., children up to age 18 will receive an added bonus — a new summer recreation program.

“It’s the first time we’ve done something like that,” said Mary J. Mathewson, CAPC’s family center coordinator. “Besides the Salvation Army, there are no recreation sites (in Watertown); they’re just feeding sites.”

Many sites outside of the city are recreation sites, providing crafts and entertainment for children, while CAPC’s site and a few others traditionally have just provided meals and snacks during designated times and days.

Ms. Mathewson said CAPC’s new recreation program will operate from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, beginning Monday. Evan Higgins has been hired as the Summer Feeding Program activity and site manager.

Parents or guardians must provide transportation for their children to and from the CAPC recreation site. Any child may attend the program, Ms. Mathewson said, regardless of where he or she resides.

“It’s a piece of the puzzle we were missing in the city,” she said. “It’s about the whole experience — the socialization, physical activity and lunch.”

CAPC also oversees a majority of the Summer Feeding Program throughout Jefferson County. Ms. Mathewson said meals and snacks are prepared at the main CAPC site and delivered to the 17 other sites in Jefferson County.

Sites that begin Monday and end Aug. 22 are CAPC; Maywood; Meadowbrook Terrace; Friends Settlement, Philadelphia; Carthage Recreation; Adirondack Creek, Fort Drum; Crescent Woods, Fort Drum; Rhicard Hills, Fort Drum, and Monument Ridge, Fort Drum.

Other sites throughout Jefferson County include Theresa Recreation; Huntington Heights, Watertown; Evans Mills Recreation and Antwerp Recreation, all of which begin July 7 and end Aug. 15. Franklin Street Park, West Carthage, will offer a feeding site from Monday to Aug. 15, and City of Refuge Church, Great Bend, will offer a feeding site from Tuesday to Aug. 22. From July 7 to Aug. 22, the Watertown Salvation Army will offer a feeding site, while Bodman Memorial Library, Philadelphia, will offer a feeding site from Tuesday to Aug. 22. Disabled Persons Action Organization, Watertown, will offer a feeding site from July 7 to Aug. 8.

“The more people that want to do this is a wonderful thing,” Ms. Mathewson said, regarding volunteers.

Throughout the 2013 program, dozens of volunteers helped serve a total 18,999 meals and snacks throughout Jefferson County.

Additional feeding sites, hosted by the Watertown City School District, and open to all children, are from Monday to July 31 at Case Middle School, Monday to Aug. 15 at Knickerbocker Elementary School, Monday to Aug. 29 at the Fairgrounds Y, Tuesday to Aug. 12 at Watertown High School, July 7 to Aug. 1 at Wiley Intermediate School and July 7 to Aug. 15 at the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

Lyme Central School District, Chaumont, also will offer a meal through the Summer Feeding Program from July 7 to Aug. 14.

In St. Lawrence County, Edwards-Knox Central School District, Russell, will offer meals from July 7 to Aug. 1. All children up to age 18 are invited, and will be given a ticket to put their name on for a chance to win a free Trek bicycle, courtesy of Dannon Yogurt. According to a school district news release, adults may eat with their child for $4 per meal.

Summer Feeding is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to a news release from U.S. Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., there are “more than 1.7 million children who receive free or reduced school lunch, but only 27 percent have access to summer meals.”

For more information, call Ms. Mathewson at 782-4900, ext. 233; Watertown City School District food service director Craig P. Orvis at 785-3717; Lyme Central School District at 649-2417, or Edwards-Knox Central School District cook manager Kathleen Whitmarsh at 562-8130, ext. 1507.

Source:

www.watertowndailytimes.com

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Watching TV for three or more hours everyday can cause premature death, says study

If you watch television for three hours or more everyday, you may die prematurely.

A new study by the American Heart Association conducted a study on 13,284 young Spanish university graduates to find out the link between three kinds of stationary behaviour abd risk of death: computer accessing, watching television and viewing television, Xinhua reported.

Shockingly, the result found that those viewing TV for three or more hours were twice risky than those who watched for merely one or less hours.

However, the scientists were unable to find any connection between premature death and other activities like accessing the computer or driving.

The researchers said more studies will be needed to ascertain what influences may be connected to computer usage and driving on mortality rates.

It is also important to study the biological mechanisms involved in such cases.

(With IANS inputs)

Source:

indiatoday.intoday.in

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FDA Panel Recommends Waiting for Data Before Olaparib Decision

• An FDA advisory panel on Wednesday recommended that the agency require AstraZeneca to gather more data about olaparib’s benefit for patients before deciding on an application filed earlier this year—threatening to derail the accelerated approval sought by the pharma giant for the ovarian cancer candidate.

  FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted 11–2 to recommend that the agency postpone a decision on approving olaparib until AstraZeneca can present results next year from the Phase III SOLO-2 trial. The FDA is not bound by the committee’s recommendation, but typically follows the advice of its advisory panels.

  SOLO-2 is designed to assess efficacy of olaparib as a maintenance monotherapy in relapsed germline BRCA mutation (gBRCAm) high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) patients (including patients with primary peritoneal and/or fallopian tube cancer) or high-grade endometrioid cancer who have responded following platinum-based chemotherapy. SOLO-2’s primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS) by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) guidelines, with overall survival (OS) a secondary endpoint.

  AstraZeneca has cited an analysis of results from a single Phase II trial (“Study 19”) showing an 83% reduction in the risk of progression or death—as well as a seven-month median improvement in maintenance PFS for a subgroup patients who had the BRCA mutation. The analysis identified 51% of Study 19 patients (136) with either a germline or somatic tumor BRCA mutation. Median PFS in patients with the mutation was 11.2 months vs. 4.1 months with placebo.

  The further look followed a 2012 interim analysis of Study 19’s 265 patients with platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. The interim analysis showed a closer variance in median PFS—8.4 months with olaparib, 4.8 months with placebo.

  But a staff report prepared for ODAC questioned the size of the reanalysis study sample and whether the results looked better because the control arm underperformed. The report also cited concerns about the risk of myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia and the side effects reported by patients in Study 19, such as nausea, fatigue, vomiting, and anemia.

  "There are uncertainties related to the validity and the reproducibility of the magnitude of effect seen in [the study], and there are risks associated with olaparib therapy,” the staff report concluded.

  Olaparib is an oral inhibitor of polyadenosine 5'-diphosphoribose polymerases (PARP). AstraZeneca filed its NDA for olaparib approval in February. Three months later, FDA granted the company a six-month priority review rather than the standard 10-month review, and set October 3 as its Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target date for a decision.

  Solo-2 is unlikely to produce first results before 2015; the trial is set to conclude in 2016. AstraZeneca is counting on olaoparib to deliver as much as a projected $2 billion in annual sales—and help rebuild its pipeline in oncology, one of the company’s three core therapeutic areas.

  AstraZeneca revived olaparib shortly after current CEO Pascal Soriot took office in 2012. A year earlier, Soriot’s predecessor David Brennan suspended development of the compound, following a failed clinical study. Soriot and executives opted for the retrospective analysis, and tried last year but failed to win a breakthrough drug designation from the FDA.

  The ODAC recommendation is likely to raise more questions about the value of AstraZeneca’s pipeline compounds just weeks after the company beat back several takeover offers from Pfizer, the last of which was for £69 billion ($117.2 billion) before throwing in the towel last month.

  Earlier this month, during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, AstraZeneca trumpeted positive Phase II results of olaparib with cediranib in patients with platinum-sensitive high-grade serous ovarian cancer. The combination—which in the study nearly doubled the progression-free survival of patients—“has the potential to replace chemotherapy,” Briggs Morrison, AstraZeneca’s evp and CMO, said in a June 3 press release. 
• Source:
• www.genengnews.com

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A World Cup Visitor: Polio from Africa in Brazil

Gerick Bergsma via Eutrophication & Hypoxia (CC), Flickr

Unnerving news from Brazil, now hosting travelers from all over the world because of the World Cup: The virus that causes polio has been found in sewage in one of the cities where matches are being played.

The World Health Organization, which announced the finding on Monday, says the virus was discovered last week in a sample collected in March at Viracopos International Airport in Campinas, which is about 60 miles outside Sao Paulo, and is where many of the World Cup teams have been landing. The agency said no cases of polio have been identified and there is no evidence the disease has been transmitted.

Genetic sequencing of the virus — the WHO didn’t say, but probably done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta  — revealed that it was closely related to a poliovirus that recently caused a case of the disease in Equatorial Guinea in West Africa. Humans are polio’s only host; so that probably means the virus was carried into Brazil by a traveler, likely someone who never knew he was harboring it.

Brazil, like most of the rest of the world, continues to vaccinate against polio, even though there have been no cases of polio in Brazil since 1989, and the Americas were declared polio-free in 1991. The high vaccination rate — 95 percent of children nationwide, and higher than that in Sao Paulo State — kept the  virus from spreading.

Still: not good.

Polio has been creeping back in Guinea; it experienced new cases in January after being free of polio since 1999, one of many Africans countries where the disease has returned after being contained. The virus was carried into Guinea fromCameroon, which was infected by migrants from Chad, which redeveloped polio as a result of vaccine refusal in Nigeria more than 10 years ago.

Though there have been only four cases in Guinea this year, the generally accepted math of polio is that each symptomatic case represents 199 other people who are not showing symptoms but are also carrying the virus and passing it on. That indicates a sizable outbreak — large enough that last week, the CDC issued a“travel notice” for Guinea, urging Americans to get a polio booster before arriving and to be careful of what they eat and drink while in the country. (Polio is spread when the virus from the gut of an infected person gets into the gut of an uninfected one. The usual method is what’s called the “fecal-oral route”: eating food or drinking water contaminated with fecal bacteria.)

Though this is just one finding, it has many important implications. Such as: It illustrates the importance of continuing to do polio surveillance — look for the presence of polio virus — even after polio is presumed to have left a country for good. (Brazil isn’t the only country to have a sewage-surveillance program; Finland, Israel and India do too. Helen Branswell wrote about them in 2011.)

Even more, though, it illustrates how unpredictable the movement of people, and their infections, can be around the world. Guinea from Cameroon: anyone who looks at a map of West Africa could have predicted that. Guinea to Brazil: probably not high on anyone’s list of probabilities.

Most of all, it underlines the daunting problem still facing the international polio eradication effort after 27 years of trying to erase the disease. Until polio is wiped out everywhere, it can be imported anywhere — and it would only take a lapse of interest in vaccination or funding for vaccine programs to get the disease started again in a country that thought its experience with polio was finished. Thus, until global eradication is achieved, countries are forced to keep vaccinating, to protect their residents against just such a random occurrence as this. There have been instances where countries who believed they were done with the disease ceased vaccinating, redirecting the money to other public health efforts. It’s fortunate Brazil did not.

(A postscript for public health geeks: It’s ironic and sad that this importation comes just weeks after the death of Dr. Ciro de Quadros, the Brazilian public health expert who was the architect of the vaccination campaign that blanketed the Americas with polio-vaccine campaigns and made them the first region of the globe to be declared polio-free.)

Source:

www.wired.com

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Case of girl who fought for adult lung transplant leads to policy change

A year ago, Sarah Murnaghan, an 11-year-old Pennsylvania girl, was fighting for her life while her family waged a campaign to change a national policy on lung transplants for child recipients.

Their battle has now led to permanent policy change.

On Monday, the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) announced their decision to allow some children ages 11 or younger to receive additional priority for lung transplants, including lungs from older donors, according to a statement from UNOS.

The previous policy required lung transplant candidates to be at least 12 to receive lungs from an adult donor. Following an appeal by the Murnaghans, in June 2013 a federal judge issued a restraining order to prevent the age-restriction policy from being imposed in Sarah's case.

Sarah received lungs donated by an adult. The first transplants didn't take, requiring a second transplant, again from an adult donor.

"Sarah receiving adult lungs means she is now breathing on her own," her family said last year, "after three years of being tethered to machines."

On Monday, the family called her new lungs "beautiful" and said Sarah will be returning to school in the fall.

"Sarah is still getting physical rehabilitation and we have work in front of us," said the family, "but we are blessed there has been no rejection."

The new policy change to allow some child recipients to receive lungs from adult donors "is meant to provide an appropriate balance for a specific group of candidates," a UNOS statement said Monday.

The Murnaghan family expressed excitement regarding the decision, saying in a statement also released Monday that the policy change "is important for two reasons: More children will be fortunate enough to receive life-saving lung transplants, and the medical community has determined this is the right step to take."

The fight was not just about Sarah, the Murnaghans said, "because there was a very good chance it would have been too late for her -- but for every family in our situation."

Several factors determine a potential child recipient's place in line on the adult list, such as distance from donor to potential recipient, a lung allocation score determined by a patient's diagnosis and test results, and a patient's blood type.

Sarah's parents said her score was a 78 last year and went up to a 91 in June of 2013 according to a family spokeswoman. Anything above 60 is considered a high score, according to the OPTN's ranking system, and means a transplant need is particularly urgent.

Sarah's parents fought to change the policy regarding lung transplants because their daughter suffered from a lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis. This illness led to a deterioration of her lungs.

In light of Sarah's case the OPTN executive committee a year ago approved a one-year change to the age-restriction policy.

Today, Sarah can be seen riding her bike outside, swimming, even kicking around the soccer ball.

Sarah's case received national attention and was widely covered by CNN. According to policy documents, a high-profile media case was the catalyst for the first change in policy.

Source:

edition.cnn.com

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Our ministers need coaching on how to deal with international organisations and agencies

It is no gainsaying to opine that a good deal of Sierra Leone’s ministers need coaching on how to react to international organisations and agencies.  I noticed with great consternation that the newly appointed ministers are really flaunting on this issue big time. And if such trend is not curtailed, there is every tendency to put the country in a bad light and frustrate the laudable efforts that these international organisations and agencies are investing in the country.  (Photo: Rashid Justice Dumbuya, author)

As genuine and objective as the criticism over the EBOLA OUTBREAK IN WEST AFRICA was, I am still amazed as to why the Deputy Minister of Information in Sierra Leone should take offence and go public to contend one of the most reputed International medical group that has helped the world voluntarily to handle serious outbreaks and health crisis everywhere they have occurred.

Let’s objectively review both statements below from DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS and the Deputy Minister of Sierra Leone and see who is actually not been objective here.

‘’The outbreak is “totally out of control” and the governments involved and international organizations are not doing enough to combat it”, a senior official with Doctors Without Borders said Friday. ”More health experts are needed as is more education about how to stop the spread of the disease”, said Bart Janssens, the medical group’s director of operations in Brussels.’’

‘’But Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Theo Nicol, said that the criticism is unfair, saying that his country has worked hard to educate people about how to stop the spread of the disease and has declared a state of emergency in the area where people have died.’’ “So if (Doctors Without Borders) is now saying that the disease is out of control, then we all share the blame for it being uncontrollable,” he said.’’

NOW, in analysing the two statements above, one would note that, the Official from DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS, is making a case for more attention and support to be provided by the International Community to help curtail the spread of the EBOLA Virus in West Africa and not necessarily trying to cast aspersions as the reply of the Deputy Minister of Information seems to suggest.

Even in doing so, the Senior Official of Doctors without Borders apportioned the blame on International organisations as well and not just the governments. This therefore makes a clear ridicule of the Deputy Minister’s reaction. That beside, he didn’t say, governments are not doing anything but rather he said, ‘both governments and international organisations are not doing enough to combat the spread of the EBOLA disease’. (that’s objective, since he included both governments and international organisations to which Doctors without Borders are a part).. And this could reasonably be true given the number of EBOLA deaths that have recently been recorded by WHO in the three West African countries. (330, the highest so far in history).

Furthermore, the senior official talked about ‘governments’ and did not mention Sierra Leone specifically which perhaps could have warranted a direct reply from Sierra Leone in rebuttal. The use of ‘Governments’ here could have meant the government of Liberia or the government of Guinea. So, I still cannot understand why the Deputy Information Minister in Sierra Leone should have taken offence AND QUICKLY reacted over this statement as if the pronouncement was specifically directed at Sierra Leone.

Please, this unprofessional behaviour of some of our ministers must stop. ‘It is never good to be at loggerheads with the fingers that feed you more so when you are yet in a position to buy a spoon.’ At such a time as this, the need for DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS in Sierra Leone cannot be over-emphasized!

And to add insult to injury, the new Minister of Health also did the same mistake few months ago when a credible international agency launched their report on the health status in Sierra Leone. The Minister was also quick to challenge the accuracy of the report and the credibility of even the international institution. And meanwhile, she had just been appointed few months before the launching of the health report with little knowledge of the hidden realities of the health challenges engulfing the country.

Whilst, I understand the synergy that usually comes with new ministerial appointments, it is perhaps also the right time for the government to have an apparatus or a procedure in place to be vetting the speeches and reactions that ministers intend to make especially when credible international organisations and agencies make findings and reports on Sierra Leone. It is very important to understand the intent behind these pronouncements and reports before even coming out to challenge them so that the country does not score an own goal on itself. These reports are largely intended to make a case for more support for the country…So, there is perhaps no need for the hustle and bustle!

 After all, these organisations have always been around to help us. Hence, the fact that they differ with our objectives sometimes does not necessarily mean we should be antagonistic with them and risk losing their committed support in the long run. Certainly, we cannot successfully fight EBOLA without the support of these international agencies. A Change of result must require a change of approach….and it must first begin with the way our ministers do things.

By Rashid Justice Dumbuya

Rashid Dumbuya is a practicing Barrister and Solicitor from the Republic of Sierra Leone and an International Human Rights Advocate and Public Defender.  He holds a Master of Laws degree in International Human Rights Law from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa and has worked for the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone and the UNDP Access to Justice Office in Freetown. Rashid is currently a Commonwealth Scholar and an LLM candidate pursuing Petroleum Law and Policy at the University of Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Source:
www.sierraexpressmedia.com

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Ebola called 'out of control' in West Africa

Healthcare workers from the organization, prepare isolation and treatment areas for their Ebola, hemorrhagic fever operations March 28, 2014, in Gueckedou, Guinea. / Associated Press/Kjell Gunnar Beraas

The deadliest-ever outbreak of the Ebola virus has surged in West Africa after slowing briefly, and the pandemic is now "out of control," according to Doctors Without Borders.

Nearly 600 infections and 340 Ebola-related deaths have been recorded in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the most since the virus was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan almost 40 years ago, the World Health Organization said this week. There's no cure or vaccine for the highly contagious disease, which has mortality rate of up to 90%.

"The reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave," Bart Janssens, the medical charity's operations director, told the 

Associated Press on Friday. "And, for me, it is totally out of control."

He criticized the WHO and African governments for not doing more to contain the outbreak and to thoroughly trace everyone who has had contact with the sick or the dead.

"There needs to be a real political commitment that this is a very big emergency," he said. "Otherwise, it will continue to spread, and for sure it will spread to more countries."

As of Friday, the WHO was not recommending any travel or trade restrictions to the three countries.

"We think that the situation can be controlled with the measures that are being vigorously implemented,"Francis Kasolo, the director for disease prevention and control at the WHO's regional office in Republic of Congo, told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

The virus, one of the world's most virulent, is transmitted by contact with the blood, fluids or tissues of infected animals or people. It causes high fever, vomiting, muscle pain and diarrhea, and can result in unstoppable internal bleeding and organ failure.

Transmission risk is especially high among doctors, nurses and other health care workers.

The latest outbreak began in January or December in the forests of southeastern Guinea and spread to urban areas. Guinea has been the hardest hit, with 264 deaths recorded by Wednesday. Sierra Leone has reported 49 deaths and Liberia 24.

"This is the highest outbreak on record and has the highest number of deaths, so this is unprecedented so far," Armand Sprecher, a public health specialist with Doctors Without Borders, told the AP.

Sierra Leone has stepped up measures to prevent and contain the disease, the country's health minister said Thursday.

In Liberia, nurses fearful over the Ebola death of a colleague abandoned a hospital in New Kru Town, forcing it to close. During a solidarity visit to the hospital Tuesday, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf declared the outbreak a national emergency.

Source:

www.freep.com

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Sierra Leone defends Ebola record

Sierra Leone is defending its response to the Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa, saying it is dismayed by allegations affected governments are not doing enough.

The deadly disease, which causes bleeding, high fevers and organ failure, has been linked to more than 330 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization.

The outbreak has killed more people than any other on record, according to Doctors Without Borders.

The outbreak is 'totally out of control' and the governments involved and international organisations are not doing enough to combat it, a senior official with Doctors Without Borders said on Friday.

More health experts are needed as is more education about how to stop the spread of the disease, said Bart Janssens, the medical group's director of operations in Brussels.

But Sierra Leone's Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Theo Nicol said on Saturday the criticism was unfair and that his country had worked hard to educate people about how to stop the spread of the disease and also declared a state of emergency in the area where people had died.

'So if (Doctors Without Borders) is now saying that the disease is out of control, then we all share the blame for it being uncontrollable,' he said

'We should all share the blame and later on share the credit when we finally combat the disease, which will be soon.'

The current outbreak, which began in Guinea either late last year or early this year, had appeared to slow before regathering in recent weeks, spreading to the capital of neighbouring Liberia for the first time.

Experts say the disease is particularly difficult to contain because it has spread to multiple locations, including densely populated urban areas. Ebola usually strikes in eastern or central Africa.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected people and has no cure or vaccine. Containing an outbreak, therefore, focuses on supportive care for the ill and isolating them to limit the spread.

The highest previous death toll was in the first recorded Ebola outbreak in Congo in 1976, when 280 deaths were reported, according to the WHO.

Source:
www.skynews.com.au

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Pope Francis travels to mob heartland

ROME — Brushing aside worries about his health and veiled threats against his safety, Pope Francis headed deep into Italian mob territory Saturday to pray in a town where a three-year-old child was gunned down in a January shootout.

After a period of focusing on international issues — including war-torn Syria, a trip to the Holy Land, Vatican visits from the leaders of Israel and Palestine, plus a recent visit from President Obama — Francis again turns his attention to Italy, where he first made his name as a tradition-busting pontiff.

THE VATICAN: Pope prays with Israeli, Palestinian leaders

Francis travelled by helicopter to Cassano all'Ionio, around 275 miles southeast of Rome. The town earned headlines in January, when three-year-old Nicola "Coco" Campolongo and his grandfather were hit by stray bullets and killed during a shootout involving the 'Ndrangheta — the organized crime organization that exercises a commanding influence in Calabria, the area at the toe of Italy's boot-shaped peninsula.

The Vatican said Francis would address two of southern Italy's most endemic problems during his one-day trip: the influence of organized crime and unemployment among young people.

However, the trip comes amid speculation about Francis' health. While the Vatican says he is fine, the 77-year-old pontiff cancelled a handful of obligations this week and doctors have said he should scale back his schedule to conserve his strength.

Calabria is the source of alleged mob threats against Francis. Last year, anti-mob prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said the pope's reform agenda was making the 'Ndrangheta "very nervous" and that Francis could become a target for the group.

"For many years, the mob has laundered money and made investments with the complicity of the church," Gratteri said, noting those activities have become more difficult due to recent reforms. The Vatican has downplayed the threats.

According to retired church historian Fr. Alistair Sear, it is unlikely any of that was taken into consideration when Francis planned his trip.

"I think we have seen enough to know that the Holy Father is a man who decides to do something and then does it, whatever the circumstances," Sear said.

For the faithful in Rome, there was a tinge of worry as the pope headed south.

"He is a holy man who knows what he is doing and who is surrounded by smart people, but I still pray for him and his mission," said Sister Maria Theresa Nuñez, 30, a Venezuelan nun living in Rome.

Pasquale Paci, a 54-year-old hotel worker, said: "It seems strange to say after he gets involved with Syria and Israel and Palestine, but I worry a little about a trip like this one," he said.

The 'Ndrangheta, less well known internationally than the Sicilian Mafia, is Italy's most entrenched organized crime organization, in part because its reliance on family ties rather than friendships or ceremonial rites make it difficult for police to infiltrate. The organization has operations that stretch as far as Australia and Germany, resulting in annual revenue in the range of $75 billion — around 3.5% of Italy's gross domestic product — according to Demoskopika, a research firm based in Calabria.

But the 'Ndrangheta is also highly religious, often paying for Catholic church initiatives and seeking the blessings of local priests, who will change their plans on short notice to officiate at mob weddings, funerals and baptisms. Sometimes, religious processions will pause in front of the homes of 'Ndrangheta leaders in order to bless the inhabitants.

In April, bishops in Calabria raised eyebrows by issuing a statement calling the mob a "cancer." Francis is expected to further probe that sentiment as he seeks to sever ties between the church and crime gangs. Previous popes have denounced the mob's influence in Italy but none have been successful in curbing it.

Additionally, the pope will broach the topic of youth unemployment, which, according to Eurostat, is a bigger problem in Calabria than in any other part of the European Union, with 56% of workers under the age of 25 unemployed.

"I think it's very positive that the pope is getting involved in issues as complex as these," said Ornella Sgroi, a Sicilian journalist who writes about organized crime. "But whether he can do anything about it we'll have to wait and see."

Source:

www.usatoday.com

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PTSD treatment for veterans appears to be ineffective, report finds

The government has little evidence that its treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome at Veterans Affairs and other medical facilities has been effective. (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)

Despite spending billions of dollars a year to treat military service members and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, the government has little evidence that its efforts are working, according to a new report commissioned by Congress.

The report described PTSD care in the military health system as "ad hoc, incremental and crisis driven" and said the Department of Veterans Affairs had not hired mental health providers fast enough to keep pace with the rising demand.

The government spent $3 billion on PTSD treatments for veterans in 2012 and $294 million more for service members, according to the report.

But neither the Defense Department nor the VA have consistently collected data on how patients are faring or even what treatments they have received, making it impossible to assess the quality of care.

"Both departments lack a coordinated, consistent, well-developed, evidence-based system of treatment for PTSD," said Dr. Sandro Galea, a Columbia University epidemiologist who led the Institute of Medicine committee that produced the 301-page report.

Researchers estimate that between 7% and 20% of veterans of the recent wars have suffered from PTSD at some point.

As the stigma of the disorder has lifted, large numbers of veterans from earlier eras are also being diagnosed. They account for more than 75% of the roughly half a million VA patients receiving treatment for PTSD.

The VA has trained more than 6,000 mental health care providers in prolonged exposure therapy or cognitive processing therapy, two methods that have proved effective in clinical trials.

But the authors of the report noted that the VA was still not meeting its own requirement of offering those therapies to every veteran in need.

Both the VA and the Defense Department offer a wide range of other treatments and programs for the disorder, from medications to unproven alternatives such as yoga, acupuncture and relaxation exercises.

"There have been many well-intentioned programs done quickly," said Dr. Elspeth Ritchie, a former Army psychiatrist who served on the committee. "The critical importance of objectively measuring the effects of those programs has not been given the proper priority."

A Pentagon spokeswoman said that all branches of the military had already been working to solve that problem. Last fall, they began collecting data on symptom severity and treatment outcomes for PTSD as well as depression and anxiety, said Lt. Col. Cathy Wilkinson.

The VA is currently modifying its electronic medical record system to specify which type of PTSD treatment a patient is receiving. But those records will not report outcomes.

Source:

www.latimes.com

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