Contact Lenses Could Damage The Eye

Health officials in the United States (U.S) have raised the alarm on the improper use of contact lenses (CL) and warned it can lead to serious eye infections and long-term damage.
The warning is contained in a new report from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was released at the weekend. The FDA regulates contact lenses as medical devices.
A contact lens is a thin lens placed directly on the surface of the eye. CLs are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, or for cosmetic or therapeutic reasons.
In 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use CL worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 90 per cent of visually impaired people live in developing countries.
However, considering that globally, 80 per cent of all visual impairment can be prevented or cured, efforts to reduce poor vision are at country and continental levels.
According to the new report, nearly one in five contact lens-related eye infections reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the last decade resulted in eye damage.
The report reviewed 1,075 reported contact lens-related infections between 2005 and 2015. The patients in those injuries said they had a scarred cornea, needed a corneal transplant or suffered a reduction in vision. According to report the CDC said, “More than 10 per cent of the patients sought emergency care…”.  The Director of CDC’s Healthy Water Program, Michael Beach said, “Contact lenses are a safe and effective form of vision correction when worn and cared for as recommended. However, improper wear and care of contact lenses can cause eye infections that sometimes lead to serious, long-term damage.” As part of the strategy to prevent damage including poor vision, the CDC further urged contact lens users not to sleep wearing contact lenses. “Always use fresh contact lens solution, and replace lenses often,” the statement added.    Story By JOHNSON OKPUSA OBASI

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Long life depends on lifespan of parents

A study, believed to be the largest of its kind ever conducted, has shown that the longer parents live, the longer their offspring are likely to live. The research, released yesterday by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in London, also indicated that children of long-lived parents are more likely to stay healthy in their 60s and 70s.
The eight-year study, led by the University of Exeter, also involved an international team of academics from the University of Cambridge. Also involved in the research, are UConn Centre on Aging at UConn Health in Connecticut, U.S., the French National Institute of Health and the Indian Institute of Public Health. The researchers noted that those with longer-lived parents had much lower rates of heart conditions and cancers.
They said that the study, funded by the MRC and involving almost 190,000 participants in the United Kingdom Biobank, was the largest of its kind. “It found that chances of survival increased by 17 per cent for each decade that at least one parent lives beyond the age of 70. It found evidence showing for the first time that knowing the age at which parents died could help predict risk not only of heart disease, but many aspects of heart and circulatory health,” they said.
The researchers disclosed that they used data on the health of 186,000 middle-aged offspring aged 55 years to 73 years, followed over a period of up to eight years.
The team found that those with longer livedparents had lower incidence of multiple circulatory conditions, including heart disease, heart failure, stroke, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.
It found that the risk of death from heart disease was 20 per cent lower for each decade that at least one parent lived beyond the age of 70 years. In addition, those with longer lived-parents also had reduced risk of cancer; a seven-per cent reduced likelihood of cancer in the follow-up per longer-lived parent.
It, however, noted that although factors such as smoking, high alcohol consumption, low physical activity and obesity were important, the lifespan of parents was still predictive of disease onset after accounting for these risks. Dr. Janice Atkins, a Research Fellow in the Epidemiology and Public Health group at the University of Exeter Medical School and lead author on the paper,said that the research was intensive.
He said that the research showed that “the longer your parents live, the more likely you are to remain healthy in your sixties and seventies.” Atkins said that the study was built on previous findings published by the University of Exeter Medical School researchers earlier this year, which established a genetic link between parents’ longevity and heart disease risk.
Professor David Melzer, leader of the Research Programme, said that it had been unclear why some older people developed heart conditions in their 60s while others only developed these conditions much later in life or even avoid them completely.
He said that the research showed that, while avoiding the well-known risk factors such as smoking, it is very important that there are also other factors inherited from parents. “As we understand these parental factors better, we should be able to help more people to age well,” Melzer said.

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Red Alert: Smallpox May Soon Come Back! - Experts

Medical experts have raised the alarm over the possible return of smallpox – a deadly disease eradicated from the world in 1977.
That is as frozen tundra of Siberia melts and releases the virus from the corpses of people, who died in a major epidemic about 120 years ago.
Smallpox is a disease caused by the Variola major virus. Some experts say that over the centuries, it has killed more people than all other infectious diseases combined.
The disease was once one of the most feared in the world. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), up to 30 per cent of people who caught smallpox would die after experiencing symptoms including a high fever and the characteristic pus-filled spots.
The pores of potentially fatal anthrax from dead people and reindeer that had been entombed in the permafrost are already thought to have infected 24 patients currently in hospital in Salekhard near Russia’s north coast, reports the independent uk. But health experts told the Siberian Times this was a warning sign that there could be worse to come.
Boris Kershengolts, of the Siberian branch of the Academy of Sciences, said: “Back in the 1890s, there occurred a major epidemic of smallpox.
There was a town where up to 40 per cent of the population died. Naturally, the bodies were buried under the upper layer of permafrost soil, on the bank of the Kolyma River.
“Now, a little more than 100 years later, Kolyma’s floodwaters have started eroding the banks.”
The melting of the permafrost has speeded up this erosion process.
After anthrax spores have been found in Yamal peninsula near Salekhard, experts from the Novosibirsk- based Virology and Biotechnology Centre have been testing for other diseases. They found corpses that bore sores that look like the marks left by smallpox. While the experts – dressed in protective clothing because of the risks – did not find the virus itself, they did detect fragments of its DNA. Story By JOHNSON OKPUSA OBASI

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Hidden Tooth Infections Could Raise Heart Disease Risk

An undetected infection at the root of a tooth could put one at the risk of heart disease. This is the outcome of a Finnish study published in the latest issue of the ‘Journal of Dental Research’.
According to Researcher John Liljestrand, “Acute coronary syndrome is 2.7 times more common among patients with untreated teeth in need of root canal treatment than among patients without this issue.”
An abscessed tooth is a painful infection at the root of a tooth or between the gum and a tooth. It is most commonly caused by severe tooth decay. Other causes of tooth abscess are trauma to the tooth, such as when it is broken or chipped, and gingivitis or gum disease.
The study included 508 Finnish patients with a mean age of 62, who were experiencing heart symptoms at the time of the study. Gum disease, such as periodontitis, is regarded as an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease and diabetes.
Infections of root tips have been studied relatively little in this context, even though they appear to be connected with low-grade inflammation as well. Cardiovascular diseases cause more than 30 per cent of deaths globally.
They can be prevented by a healthy diet, weight control, exercise and not smoking. With regards to the health of the heart, measures should be taken to prevent or treat oral infections, as they are very common and often asymptomatic. Root canal treatment of an infected tooth may reduce the risk of heart disease, but the researchers note that more research is needed.
The newsmaxHealth reported that the coronary arteries of the patients were examined using angiography, and 36 per cent of them were found to be suffering from stable coronary artery disease, 33 per cent were undergoing acute coronary syndrome, and 31 per cent did not suffer from coronary artery disease to a significant degree.
Their teeth were examined using panoramic tomography of the teeth and jaws. As many as 58 per cent were found to be suffering from one or more inflammatory lesions.

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The Dangers Of Taking Paracetamol Pregnancy

Pregnant women who take paracetamol are more likely to have children with behavioural problems.
This is the result of a new study by scientists at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom (UK).
According to the study, scientists found an association between mothers who took the drug in the first and third trimester of pregnancy and hyperactivity and emotional problems in their sevenyear- old children. The first trimester begins on the first day of your last period and lasts until the end of week 12.
This means that by the time a woman knows for sure that she is pregnant, she might already be five or six weeks pregnant. A lot happens during these first three months.
On the other hand, the third trimester of pregnancy is from week 29 to week 40. Paracetamol is the world’s most popular painkiller and is the only one deemed safe to take during pregnancy.
However, there is a growing body of research suggesting it could affect the development of children in the womb, with studies linking it with conditions as diverse as asthma, infertility and autism.
Pregnant women have been told there is no need to panic – they should continue to take the lowest dose needed for the shortest time possible and see their doctor if they have any concerns.
In the latest research, carried out by the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom (UK), scientists analysed records of 7,796 mothers in the UK. The mothers had been asked at 18 weeks and 32 weeks of pregnancy whether they had taken any paracetamol.
They and their partners were asked again about their paracetamol use when the child was 61 months old. Children were then tested at seven years old to see if they had any emotional or behavioural problems. Just over half of mothers had used the painkiller at 18 weeks, with 42 per cent using it at 32 weeks. Following birth, 84 per cent of mothers and their partners used it.
Around five per cent of the children studied had behavioural problems. The results showed a link between use of the drug at 18 weeks with increased risk of conduct problems and hyperactivity symptoms in children, while taking paracetamol at 32 weeks was linked with emotional symptoms and overall difficulties. Researchers suggested that paracetamol could affect a mechanism in the womb which affected brain development.
Author Dr. Evie Stergiakouli, said the extent of the results was ‘surprising’. She added: “We found that maternal prenatal (paracetamol) use at 18 weeks was associated with higher odds of the offspring having conduct problems as well as hyperactivity symptoms. “(Paracetamol) use at 32 weeks was associated with higher odds of emotional symptoms, hyperactivity, as well as total difficulties.’
The study found the link between taking paracetamol and multiple behavioural and emotional problems was strongest when mothers took it in the third trimester of pregnancy. Story By JOHNSON OKPUSA OBASI

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Coffee Reduces Cardiac Damage

Drinking at least one cup of coffee a day could boost survival after a heart attack. These are the findings of a study published in the journal ‘Coronary Artery’. According to the researchers, patients who drink one to two cups a day are 20 per cent less likely to die prematurely from heart damage than those who never touch coffee, while those downing more than two are nearly half as likely to die early.
The findings, by the British team at York University in Canada, support other recent research suggesting coffee – once considered a potential danger to the heart – may actually have a protective effect when drunk in moderation. Although, around 70 million cups of coffee are consumed every day in the United Kingdom (UK), not as much is consumed in Nigeria.
Many Nigerians are also not only known to drink coffee, some are addicted to it. Coffee is slightly acidic and can have a stimulating effect on humans because of its caffeine content. Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, after water.
The popular beverage has been shown to protect against liver cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and even strokes. Last year, experts at the renowned Harvard School of Public Health in Boston in the United States (U.S), found three to five cups a day reduced the risk of dying from heart disease, as well as incurable conditions like Parkinson’s, according to reports.
Now a British team has found coffee may also help those who have already had a heart attack. The findings are potentially very significant because this group of patients is at high risk of another heart attack, or developing heart failure as a result of severe scarring in the cardiac muscle.
The team tracked 3,271 victims across the UK, including 604 who survived but later died as a result of their condition. The patients had all taken part in research which chronicled their coffeedrinking habits as part of a wider lifestyle study. ‘Light’ drinkers, who got through just one or two daily were also at much lower risk of an early death, with the dangers reduced by about a fifth.
Few studies have looked at how coffee might improve the health of this large group of patients. The York researchers said it’s still not entirely clear how coffee might boost the heart but noted there were a host of potentially beneficial ingredients in coffee beans, not just caffeine. These include healthboosting plant chemicals, called flavonoids, as well as compounds called melanoidins, which can reduce the build-up of fatty deposits.

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