Painkillers Could Cause Heart Attack Within One Week Of Use - Researchers

The way many people use painkillers seem to suggest that there is no risk involved, especially when such painkillers are prescribed by a doctor or a qualified pharmacist.

Yet, millions of people are increasing their risk of a heart attack just by taking painkillers, research reveals.

Experts say there is an added danger, even within the first week of taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that relieve pain.

The highest risk was found to be in the first month of taking the drugs and to those on a high daily dose.

Researchers from Canada, Finland and Germany analysed data on 450,000 people, including 61,460 who had suffered a heart attack, and urged doctors to consider the risks before giving the commonly prescribed drugs.
 

The team’s study, published in The BMJ medical journal, found that whether one uses the painkillers for longer than one month or shorter period, the risks are the same. 

It also found that the overall risk of a heart attack under the circumstances rose between 24 per cent and 58 per cent, compared with not using these drugs.

The authors said: “Given that the onset of risk of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) occurred in the first week and appeared greatest in the first month of treatment with higher doses, prescribers should consider the risks and benefits of Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.”

Dr. Mike Knapton, of the British Heart Foundation, was alarmed by how quickly the risks set in.

He said: “Whether you’re prescribed ­painkillers or buy them, people must be made aware of the risk and alternative medication should be considered.”

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Ebola: Nigeria Intensifies Screening At Airports

Following the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, the Nigerian government has beefed up checks at its various airports.

The federal government also urged Nigerians to remain calm as it is committed to ensuring that the disease is not imported into the country.
 
The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, spoke while inspecting thermal screening machines at the Port Health Stand of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

“We want to assure Nigerians that we have never stopped screening people, it has been going on at the international wing of all the airports in the country, although passengers may not have noticed it”, a statement by the ministry on Monday quoted Mr. Adewole as saying.

“There is no reason to panic, everything is under control. If there is a need to screen local passengers we would do that but for now we are concentrating on passengers on international travels,” he said.

The minister was at the airport to assess if the screening machines were functioning perfectly as Nigeria stepped up surveillance in detecting fever of any kind.

The country began health screening at international airports during the Ebola crisis of 2014, and the screening has continued since then.

Mr. Adewole urged the public to report any signs or symptoms of fever to the nearest health facility.


In his remarks the Director, Port Health Services, Hassan Garba, said that sophisticated thermal camera installed at the airport captures all arriving passengers with or without their knowledge, adding that anyone showing red on the camera would be quietly called aside for questioning.

The Minister directed that any passengers with fever arriving from a county where Ebola has been detected should be taken for further investigation.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an Ebola outbreak in the DRC on Friday, saying that at least one person had been confirmed dead due to the virus in the country’s north-east.

However, the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, assured Nigerians of adequate surveillance at Nigerian airports following the outbreak of the disease.

In a statement on Monday, FAAN assured passengers and airport users of safety at the nation’s airports.
According to the agency’s spokesperson, Henrietta Yakubu, adequate measures have been put in place to checkmate the re-occurrence of any such outbreak in Nigeria.

Mrs. Yakubu emphasized that all measures adopted in 2014 to curtail the dreaded virus remain very much in place and have been fortified.

According to the statement, the Ebola Screening Points and detecting machines have been fully re-instated at Nigerian airports.

She also disclosed that the agency was also collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Health, through the Port Health Service, to reactivate the Ebola Awareness and Sensitization Campaign.

On Monday, the World Health Organization confirmed a second Ebola case in Congo.
“So far there are 19 suspect cases, including three deaths and two lab-confirmed cases,” a WHO spokesperson in Geneva said.

The first case was confirmed on Friday in Bas-Uele province in the north-east of the country.

But in its statement released in Lagos on Monday, FAAN said there was no outbreak of Ebola in Nigeria or at any Nigerian airport.

The agency, therefore, urged air passengers and airport users to go about their business activities without fear.

Nigeria was declared free of Ebola virus by the WHO in October 2014 and the country praised for its handling of the disease which caused about 4,500 deaths across West Africa.

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Ebola: Nigeria's Health Minister Orders Screening Of Fever Patients

Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has directed Nigerian health workers to screen haemorrhagic fever patients for Ebola.

This followed the outbreak of the disease in Congo.

In 2014, Nigeria recorded cases of the disease after a Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, imported it into the country.

Ebola had ravaged Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, but it was eventually contained in the West African countries.

 

But last Friday, a case of the disease was confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a statement, Boade Akinola, spokesperson of the ministry of health, said the minister urged the public to observe high levels of personal hygiene and to report all cases of fever to the nearest health facility.

“The health minister directs all Nigerian health workers to maintain a high index of suspicion by screening all haemorrhagic fever patients for Ebola,” she said.

“Similarly, the minister encourages the public to observe a high level of personal hygiene, which includes regular hand washing and to also report all cases of fever to the nearest health facility.

“The federal government, in response to the announcement by the WHO on confirmed cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has directed port health officials to step up inspection activities and to report any sick person or suspects to ensure that Epidemiologists in the states conduct relevant tests.

“The symptoms to look out for include: fever, fatigue, weakness dizziness and muscle aches. Patients with more severe cases show bleeding under the skin, internal organs or even from bodily orifices like mouth, nose and ears.”

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Diets Rich In Vitamin D Reduces Risk Of Early Menopause

Indication has emerged that women can cut their risk of an early menopause by eating oily fish and eggs. This is according to a new study published in the ‘Journal of Clinical Nutrition.’ It said a high Vitamin D intake via food and supplements lowers the risk of early menopause by 17 per cent.

Vitamin D is thought to slow the ageing of women’s ovaries while calcium-rich foods make women 13 per cent less likely to suffer. Around one in 10 women go through menopause before the age of 45, increasing their risk of osteoporosis and heart disease and reducing their chances of conceiving.

Menopause is the time in most women’s lives when menstrual periods stop permanently and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause typically occurs between 49 and 52 years of age.

Medical professionals often define menopause as having occurred when a woman had not had any vaginal bleeding for a year.

The main natural source of Vitamin D is sunlight; however, it also appears in oily fish, egg yolks and fortified cereals.

In the United States, where Vitamin D is added to milk and cheese, the researchers found that dairy products specifically cut the danger of an early menopause, but the effect may be limited elsewhere.

Additional studies were needed to see if Vitamin D supplements affect early menopause, the researchers concluded.

The new United States’ study, which involved Harvard University researchers, analysed 116, 430 female health workers over two decades.

Their diet was recorded in food questionnaires five times over that period, during which 2,041 women entered menopause.

The results revealed that among those who consumed the most Vitamin D, their risk of entering menopause was 17 per cent lower.

A high calcium intake reduced the risk by 13 per cent, which was thought to be due to cows’ milk containing menopause-delaying sex hormones.

These results were found after adjusting for other risk factors, such as weight and breastfeeding history.

According to the lead author, Alexandra Purdue- Smithe, from the University of Massachusetts; “Not only is early menopause associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and osteoporosis, it can also affect women’s chances of conceiving for years. “For example, a woman set to have her menopause when she is 43 could be struggling to conceive from the age of 33.


“Scientists are looking for anything that can reduce the risk of early menopause and things like diet, which can be easily altered, have wide-ranging implications for women.

“Women may reduce their risk of early menopause by eating foods rich in Vitamin D and Calcium, such as dairy foods and fatty fish.”

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Synthetic Retina Offers Hope For The Visually Impaired

A synthetic, soft tissue retina developed by an Oxford University student could offer fresh hope to visually-impaired people. this is contained in a study published in the journal, ‘Scientific Reports.’

A ‘science daily’ report stated that until now, all artificial retinal research had used only rigid, hard materials.

The retina is the lightsensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eyeball. Images that come through the eye’s lens are focused on the retina.

However, the new research by Vanessa Restrepo- Schild, a 24-year-old DPhil student and researcher at Oxford University, Department of Chemistry, was the first to successfully use biological, synthetic tissues, developed in a laboratory environment.

The study could revolutionise the bionic implant industry and the development of new, less invasive technologies that more closely resemble human body tissues, helping to treat degenerative eye conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP).


Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment due to the progressive degeneration of the rod photoreceptor cells in the retina. Just as photography depends on camera pixels reacting to light, vision relies on the retina performing the same function.

The retina sits at the back of the human eye and contains protein cells that convert light into electrical signals that travel through the nervous system, triggering a response from the brain, ultimately building a picture of the scene being viewed.

Restrepo-Schild led the team in the development of a new synthetic, double layered retina, which closely mimics the natural human retinal process. The retina replica consists of soft water droplets (hydrogels) and biological cell membrane proteins.

Designed like a camera, the cells act as pixels, detecting and reacting to light to create a grey scale image. The Colombian native said: “The synthetic material can generate electrical signals, which stimulate the neurons at the back of our eye just like the original retina.

The study’s findings showed that unlike existing artificial retinal implants, the cell-cultures were created from natural, biodegradable materials and do not contain foreign bodies or living entities.

In this way, the implant was less invasive than a mechanical devise, and was less likely to have an adverse reaction on the body.

Restrepo - Schild added: “The human eye is incredibly sensitive, which is why foreign bodies like metal retinal implants can be so damaging, leading to inflammation and/or scaring."

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Too Much Exercise Risky To Health – Study

Scientists have alerted the global community that long periods of intense exercise can change the composition of gut bacteria in humans, thereby posing danger to health.

According to a new study, which unveiled these, the prolonged exertion during intense exercise could trigger ‘leaky guy syndrome’ – a condition that could let harmful substances leak into the bloodstream.

The study is published ahead of print in the ‘American Journal of Physiology’ – Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.

The research looked at soldiers taking part in an intensive training programme and found that prolonged exercise caused the protective barrier in their guts to become permeable.

With the gut health and overall health believed to be strongly linked, intense  physiological stress could therefore raise the risks of many types of illnesses.

The new research is the first to investigate the response of gut microbiome – the term for the population of microbes in the intestine – during military training. It provides a stark warning for endurance athletes and military personnel.

“Most of us are aware that the bacteria in our gut play an important role in digestion.

Furthermore, they are known to aid the production of certain vitamins – such as vitamins B and K – and play a key role in immune function.

But increasingly, research is emerging showing how poor gut health is linked to conditions ranging from irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, obesity, childhood asthma, to colitis and colon cancer.”

The study is the first to investigate the response of gut microbiome – the term for the population of microbes in the intestine – during military training.

It looked at a group of 73 Norwegian Army soldiers taking part in a militarystyle cross country skiing training programme.

The group skied 31 miles (51 km) while carrying 99-pound (45 kg) packs, across four days. Before and after the training exercise, researchers collected blood and stool samples from the soldiers.

It was found that the microbiome and metabolites – the substance formed in or necessary for metabolism – in the soldiers’ blood and stool altered ‘significantly’ by the end of the aggressive training period.

Furthermore, sucralose excretion in their urine samples rose considerably, indicating an increase in intestinal permeability (IP).

According to a ‘mailonline’ report, scientists know that healthy intestines have a semi-permeable barrier, which acts as a defence to keep bacteria and other harmful substances out, while allowing healthy nutrients into the bloodstream.

It is thought that physical stress can increase IP, increasing the risk of inflammation, illness and symptoms such as diarrhoea.

The researchers wrote that intestinal microbiota appear to be one influencing factor in the gut’s response to physical stress.

“Our findings suggest that the intestinal microbiota may be one mediator of IP responses to severe physiologic stress, and that targeting the microbiota before stress exposure may be one strategy for maintaining IP.”

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