Insulin Capsules To Stop Daily Injections For Type 1 Diabetics

A world in which Type 1 diabetics no longer need to inject themselves every day may be just a few years away.
This came after British scientists launched a project to create a system which will deliver insulin automatically. Currently, people with Type 1 diabetes must undergo prick tests several times a day to monitor their blood sugar, and inject themselves with insulin when it gets too high.
In the next five years, the daily injection may end as scientists at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, UK, are developing smart capsules which would travel through the body and release insulin when they came across high  levels of blood sugar.
According to a report, the Birmingham scientists said they were confident that the capsule would be ready for animal trials within five years, and humans soon after.
“This could be a step change in the management of Type 1 diabetes,” said Dr. John Fossey, senior lecturer in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham, who is leading the project.
The research team has already discovered molecules which bind to glucose from which they plan to build a shell which can contain insulin, but melts away in the presence of sugar, releasing its payload.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas (a small gland behind the stomach) doesn’t produce insulin – the hormone that regulates blood glucose levels.
If the amount of glucose in the blood is too high, it can, over time, damage the body’s organs. Just 10 per cent of all diabetes is type 1 but it’s the most common type of childhood diabetes.
Fossey said: “We want to make the lives of patients better. Imagine if patients could go through a week without having to worry about their blood sugar levels, or injecting themselves.
“I’ve talked to the parents of kids with Type 1 diabetes and they said, if only my children could do things, like go to sleepovers, their lives would be so much better. Most parents aren’t confident enough to entrust injections to other adults.
“We’re trying to create a system which will deliver insulin in response to glucose levels, releasing more if blood sugar is high.
“We can now recognise glucose in the body and my proposal is to take the same chemistry, take these molecules and build a container for insulin which will break open when it comes across glucose and deliver its cargo.
“The patient could be injected with these containers, say once a week and they would slowly degrade in the presence of glucose to keep blood sugar at a constant level.”
“It will give people the freedom to live their lives without constantly worrying about monitoring their condition.”

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Women Who Have More Sex Have Better Memories - New Discovery

Canadian scientists have affirmed that women who often have sex have better memories. These are the findings of new study published in the journal ‘Archives of Sexual Behaviour’.
Research into how penile- vaginal intercourse (PVI) affects a woman’s brain found that it can help women to remember abstract words.
The research team at McGill University in Canada found a link between sex and the growth of nervous tissue in the hippocampus – the area of the brain that controls emotions, memory and the nervous system.
To make their findings, the team asked a small cohort of 78 heterosexual women under the age of 30 to take part in a memory test involving people’s faces, and another with abstract words.
They also completed a questionnaire to record their Grade Point Average, and whether they used birth control.
The results showed that the women who had sex most frequently were better able to recall abstract words.
Sex didn’t,however, affect their score for remembering faces. According to a report in the ‘independentuk,’ the study’s findings suggest that having sex often is linked with memory function and the hippocampus.
The connection could be due to the fact that sex is a form of exercise, or that it helps to ease mental conditions – such as depression and stress – that impact the memory.
Further research is now needed to pinpoint whether achieving orgasm affects the memory. Reacting to the development, a Professor of Psychology at McGill University, Jens Pruessner said: “The chemicals involved with signaling reward to the brain – hormones and neurotransmitters – have been shown to be associated with both memory and sexual activity.”
The findings follow a separate study which suggested that middleaged women can enjoy sex more as they get older due to a boost in selfconfidence, and better communication skills.
 But does this impact of sex on memory depend on the quality of the sex itself? In a recent study of adults 45 and older, nearly half of women respondent’s reported dissatisfaction with their sex lives with reasons ranging from the lack of available partners to health concerns. At the same time, the majority of the study’s participants age 45 – 59 said sex was an important part of their lives.
“Good sex is a huge quality of life issue,” says OB/Gyn David Eibling, M.D. “It affects the quality of our relationships, how we feel about ourselves and even the divorce rate. If you’re not enjoying sex, it’s important to ask why.”
Eibling and other experts encourage women to talk openly with their doctors about the quality of their sex lives and any associated problems. Everything from chronic pain conditions and medications to hormonal changes can dramatically impact sexual relationships. A good practitioner can help sort through problems and explore solutions.
“As a doctor, I’m very happy to experiment and ally with each individual patient to find out what works,” says OB/Gyn Leslie Hardy-Hood, M.D. “Everybody has their own unique issues. No one single person’s story is ever the same.”
It is hoped that the new discovery on the effect of sex on memory will go a long way in addressing some vital issues confronting sexual partners, especially married couples.

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Mouthwash Can Prevent Gonorrhea - Research

Regular use of common mouthwash can help curb spread of gonorrhoea infections. A commercial brand of mouthwash that is readily available from supermarkets and pharmacies can help curb the growth of the bacteria responsible for gonorrhoea, reveals preliminary research published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Daily rinsing and gargling with the product might be a cheap and easy way of helping to control the spread of the infection, suggest the researchers.

New cases of gonorrhoea among men are on the rise in many countries amid declining condom use, with the bulk of cases among gay/bisexual men, say the researchers.

Rising rates of gonorrhoea heighten the risk of the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of Neisseria gonnorhoeae, the bacteria responsible for the infection, making the need for a preventive measure that doesn't rely on condoms even more urgent.

As far back as 1879, and before the advent of antibiotics, the manufacturer of Listerine, a commercial brand of mouthwash, claimed that it could be used to cure gonorrhoea. But no published research has tested out this claim.

In a bid to rectify this, the researchers assessed whether Listerine could curb the growth of N. gonorrhoeae in laboratory tests and in sexually active gay/bisexual men in a clinical trial.

For the laboratory tests, different dilutions (up to 1:32) of Listerine Cool Mint and Total Care, both of which contain 21.6% alcohol, were applied to cultures of N. gonorrhoeae to see which of any of them might curb growth of the bacteria. By way of a comparison, a salt water (saline) solution was similarly applied to an identical set of cultures.

Listerine at dilutions of up to 1 in 4, applied for 1 minute, significantly reduced the number of N. gonorrhoeae on the culture plates, whereas the saline solution did not.

The clinical trial involved 196 gay/bisexual men who had previously tested positive for gonorrhoea in their mouths/throat, and who were returning for treatment at one sexual health clinic in Melbourne, Australia, between May 2015 and February 2016.

Almost a third (30%; 58) tested positive for the bacteria in their throat on the return visit.
Thirty three of these men were randomly assigned to a rinse and gargle with Listerine and 25 of them to a rinse and gargle with the saline solution.

After rinsing and gargling for 1 minute, the proportion of viable gonorrhoea in the throat was 52% among the men using Listerine compared with 84% among those using saline.

And the men using Listerine were 80% less likely to test positive for gonorrhoea in their throat five minutes after gargling than were the men using the saline solution.

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Lassa Fever Kills Mortuary Attendant, Nurse In Ogun State

The public has been admonished to be careful and to take issues of personal hygiene seriously as an outbreak of Lassa fever in Abeokuta, Ogun State has claimed the lives of an Assistant Chief Nursing Officer, Mrs. Abolanle Adesuyi, and a mortuary attendant, Mr. Great Okusaga.
Okusaga was said to have recently completed his one year compulsory service with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Apart from the deceased, two others, including a doctor and a nurse at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, have allegedly been infected by the dreaded disease and placed under surveillance.
The outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever came barely four months after the state was declared Lassa-free by government. The resurgence of the disease has, however, ignited panic among staff of the hospital, patients and other members of the public.
But government yesterday allayed the fears of members of the public, saying it was on top of the situation. It was learnt that the mortuary attendant died on Friday while Adesuyi died on Saturday night.
Sources said the nurse had earlier attended to the morgue attendant when he was rushed to the FMC and the tragic events which followed sparked suspicion.
The autopsy subsequently conducted on the late nurse at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, was said to have confirmed that she died of Lassa fever.
As information spread about the disease, some patients on admission were said to have asked the authorities to hurriedly discharge them for fear of contracting the disease. It was also learnt that Okusaga’s father is the consultant in charge of the morgue at the hospital.
When contacted, the FMC Public Relations Officer, Abeokuta, Segun Orisajo, confirmed the incident.
He said two other members of staff had been placed under surveillance. Orisajo said the Ministry of Health had embarked on a contact tracing exercise to ascertain the number of people who could have also contacted the disease.
He said: “They are also doing decontamination of thematic areas but the management of FMC has assured members of the public not to exercise fear because it can only be contacted only through fluid.
“Officials of the state Ministry of Health led by the Commissioner, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, was at the hospital to render their support.” But reacting, Ipaye said panic over the outbreak of Lassa fever in the state was presumptuous and unnecessary.
He promised that all those who might have had contacts with the victims had been placed under surveillance. According to him, the disease could be transmitted where there was contact with the body fluid of a victim.
The commissioner explained that government had always been proactive on issues relating to public health. He added that the state never recorded any case of Lassa fever except for the two cases imported to the state from Ebonyi and Kogi states a few months ago. Ipaye disclosed that Ministry of Health, in collaboration with FMC, would quickly set up an isolation centre at the hospital to attend to any emergency.
He said: “We are going to immediately create an isolation centre here at FMC to cater for unexpected cases and emergency on public health issues like Lassa fever to include other communicable diseases. I have sent medical officers out to confirm the root of the case.”
Ipaye, however, urged the nurses to always attend to all patients in the most hygienic and clinical manner.
The commissioner said continuous sensitisation was ongoing on the need for the public to maintain high personal hygiene, get rid of rats in and around the houses, proper food storage procedures and constant hand washing.

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Nigerian Customs Intercept 102 Bags Of Plastic Rice

The Federal Operations Unit, Ikeja, of the Nigeria Customs Service has intercepted 102 bags of plastic rice branded “Beat Tomato Rice’’ with no date of manufacture.

The Customs Area Controller of  F.O.U. Comptroller Mohammed Haruna, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria yesterday in Lagos.

He said that the commodity was stored for distribution as Yuletide gifts for the public.

Haruna said that officers of the unit intercepted the plastic rice along Ikeja area on Monday, adding that a suspect was arrested in connection with the seizure.

“Before now, I thought it was a rumour that the plastic rice is all over the country but with this seizure, I have been totally convinced that such rice exists.

“We have done the preliminary analysis on the plastic rice. After boiling, it was sticky and only God knows what would have happened if people consumed it.

“I advise those economic saboteurs who see Yuletide season as a peak period for nefarious acts to desist from such illegal business.

“The unit has decided other operational modalities that will give them a run for their monies and count their losses,” NAN quoted the controller as saying.

He described smuggling as a global phenomenon, adding that such act could not be curbed entirely but could be brought to its barest minimum.

Haruna appreciated well-meaning Nigerians who provided the service with prompt information that led to the discovery of the bags of plastic rice.

The controller, however, advised the media to educate the public on the existence of plastic rice, adding that it was no longer a rumour.

Haruna assured Nigerians that the distribution point of the particular plastic rice seized by the unit had been blocked with immediate effect.

He said that investigation was still ongoing.

The controller said the unit would hand over the plastic rice to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control for proper investigation.

Plastic rice is toxic to the body and can lead to a host of health issues including even death. 

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Hydrochloric Acid In The Stomach Is Strong Enough To Melt Razor Blade - New Study

In the following article, Eric Troy writes on the recent report from medical research that the Hydrochloric acid found in the stomach is strong enough to melt a razor blade.
There is a report that your stomach acid is so strong that it can dissolve a razor blade. I'd hate to be the guy to test that assumption, but it is true that the hydrochloric acid in your stomach is some strong stuff. While your blood has a pH of around 7.4, your stomach acid has a pH of 1. That means it is a strong acid indeed. But surely, if your stomach acid could dissolve the metal of a razor blade, it would dissolve itself? Surely not! It turns out, according to at least one study, that stomach acid can do a pretty good number on a razor blade.
Of course, if there was a razor blade in your stomach, it would do a lot of damage. So, researchers did not have someone ingest a razor blade to test this. Instead they studied metal corrosion by stomach acid in vitro, meaning "outside the body in a simulated environment." According to the study by Paul K. Li, et al. corrosion of razor blades occurs fairly rapidly in the normal stomach. Now, I think that this is a stretch, because a stomach with a razor blade in it probably wouldn't be a normal stomach for long, and the  oesophagus wouldn't be very happy, either. Nevertheless, according to the research, double-edged blades become fragile and easily-breakable within 24 hours, having only 63% of their original mass. You should note, however, that the stomach acid had no effect on pennies within this time-frame, nor did it cause disc batteries to spring a leak within the same amount of time.
It would be a stretch to say that stomach acid would have a large effect on a big chunk of steal within 24 hours, and of course, things do not sit in your stomach for that long. Razor blades are already very thin and flexible pieces of metal, so to corrode them enough to be brittle is perhaps not as much a feat as it seems. We do not know how long it would take to completely dissolve one.
Regardless, stomach acid, it appears, can begin to dissolve a razor blade in a reasonable time period, perhaps underscoring just how awesome our digestive system is. But if the acid is so strong, how can your stomach hold it without the acid eating right through? If you eat a steak, it will be nothing more than a liquid slurry of mushy nastiness in no time. And your stomach is, essentially, meat, right? At least, it is made of proteins. Well, the truth is that your stomach acid would happily digest your stomach if given a chance. And, when things don't go right, we get things like ulcers, which are open sores or raw areas in the stomach. When this happens, it is because a large enough amount of acid has come into contact with the stomach wall on a regular enough basis.
Normally, however, the stomach has a protective lining. This lining consists of a layer of mucosal protein (just think mucus) that is covered with molecules of sugar, held together tightly through the magic of chemical bonds. The sugars are really good at resisting the acid. You have a bunch of specialized epithelial cells that produce this mucous stuff.
It's not perfect protection, and some stomach acid gets through now and again. Now, there is a lot of blood flow in the stomach wall, so that helps to neutralize and wash away some of the acid, but it still does damage and it destroys some of the cells of the stomach. In fact, a whole lot of your stomach cells get destroyed, all the time. Thankfully, they are such busy little buggers when it comes to reproducing themselves. They do NOT take days off, at least normally. When cells are damaged, newly generated cells move up to take their place. In fact, the entire stomach lining is replaced about every three days.
When things go wrong and the mucus lining is damaged, and more acid than normal gets through, damage can occur faster than cells can be renewed, and thus a sore, or even a hole, can form. This is called an ulcer. People used to think that ulcers were caused by a bad diet. Spicy foods or fatty foods were often blamed, as well as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and just a predisposition for producing excess stomach acid. While there is not a lot of evidence that food habits or stress causes ulcers, some of these other factors may be at work. Mostly, though, these earlier beliefs about the causes of ulcers were a matter of correlation. It is true that the pain and discomfort of ulcers can get worse when we eat spicy foods, drink alcohol, or during periods of stress.
The theory now is that the most common cause of an ulcer is a bacterial infection. It usually happens when the stomach becomes infected with a bacteria called Heliobacter pylori (H. pylon). Most of us already have these bacteria in our digestive tract. These bugs can secrete an enzyme around them that protects them from the stomach acid, and then they can invade the mucosal layer, taking up residence there and weakening the stomach lining, allowing too much acid to leak through, resulting in an ulcer. That is why one of the standard treatments for ulcers, today, is an antibiotic.

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