Doctor claims non-invasive treatment for spine problems

A leading Canada-based orthopaedic surgeon has claimed to have developed a technology using sound waves for an effective, non-invasive and painless treatment for spinal ailments including injuries.

“The treatment helps in gentle repositioning of vertebrae, functional restoration of the central nervous system and cellular bio-synthesis which is responsible for restoring and regenerating worn or damaged disks,” said Dr. Aslam Khan.

Called as the Khan Kinetic Treatment (KKT), the new technology, the Indian-origin doctor said, allows people with spine injuries due to accidents, sports injuries, sudden falls, repetitive activity-related injuries, postural abnormalities, stress, genetic pre-disposition to reduce or completely eliminate their pain.

Following this treatment, muscles, blood vessels and neural communication are stimulated and cellular bio-synthesis is triggered, initiating the body’s self-healing process, said 46-year-old Khan who claimed to have developed the KKT technology after 20 years of research.

The special technology device for the treatment has been approved by the USFDA, he said.

Research papers by Khan, Chairman and CEO of KKT International Centre for Spine which opened its first centre here recently, and his colleagues are published in peer reviewed journals such as American Journal of pain management (January 2007) and Journal of Musculoskeletal pain (November 2007).

Asked about the technique, Dr. Pradeep Bhosle, Head of Orthopaedic Department of King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital said, “Yes, we keep hearing about these techniques expecting some magical thing to happen. Personally I do not have any experience“.

These developments have no role in medical text books or exams, he added.

“We are looking at stem cells to play a major role in joint pains,” Bhosle said.

In India, according experts, 50 per cent of the population suffers from backache at some point of time in their life with the incidence being as high as 70 per cent in the geriatric population.

Degenerative changes in the lower back constitute a normal feature of ageing and in young people, back pain is caused more often due to distortion of the gel like disc sandwiched between the vertebrae.


Via : thehindu.com

Marijuana Can Reduce Nerve Pain

New research shows that smoking marijuana can reduce pain in patients with nerve pain stemming from injuries or surgical complications.

The study was led by Dr. Mark Ware, director of research at the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit of the McGill University Health Centre in Canada. Ware and his team studied the pain-relieving effects of smoking cannabis in 21 people with “chronic neuropathic pain”: those who had constant nerve pain, caused by trauma or surgery.

“We found that 25 mg herbal cannabis with 9.4 per cent THC, administered as a single smoked inhalation three times daily for five days, significantly reduces average pain intensity compared with a zero per cent THC cannabis placebo in adult subjects with chronic post traumatic/post surgical neuropathic pain,” the study’s authors concluded in Monday’s online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Approximately 1 to 2% of people have chronic neuropathic pain - pain due to problems with signalling between nerves - but effective treatments are lacking. They also reported that they slept better, and were less anxious and depressed than when they were on the placebo.

The team also noted that those who smoked marijuana with 9.4 percent of the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) also reported sleeping better.

California was the first state to pass a medicinal marijuana law (Proposition 15, 1996), one that was later repeated by more than a dozen other states.

No serious harmful effects were reported during the trial. The most common adverse effects of smoking marijuana — found to be negligible — were headaches, dry eyes, a burning sensation in areas of neuropathic pain, dizziness, numbness and coughing.

Via : healthjackal.com

Factors that make marijuana addictive

The Cannabis Sativa or most commonly known as marijuana, is one of the most widely used illegal substances in the planet these days.

Marijuana use in America has already been rampant for about four decades. In America alone, there are around 5 million users of marijuana. Although there are numerous bills and laws that prohibit marijuana use, there are still a lot of people using it regardless of the consequences.

This is because the penalties are quite lenient for those who are caught using it. Moreover, the availability of marijuana has been very difficult to bar for drug enforcers as more suppliers continue to spread marijuana for public consumption.

Numerous factors make marijuana addictive. However, the addiction is quite more inclined in the psychological aspect of a user. First factor that makes marijuana addictive is the presence of the substance called delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol or more commonly known as the THC. This substance makes marijuana addictive as it causes the feeling of euphoria, which the users commonly crave.

Another factor that makes marijuana addictive is the feeling of an improved well-being. As a user smokes marijuana, he or she feels more confident of him or herself. The user tends to become more talkative and easier to socialize with. As this effect continues to surface among users, people tend to become closer with the users and the users tend to use marijuana more frequently to get the sense of improved confidence.

The feeling of relaxation is also a factor that makes marijuana addictive. As the user smokes marijuana, the user tends to feel more relaxed. For people who are stressed out, marijuana may be addictive as it gives relaxation not only to the mind but to the muscles as well.

In addition, it can be used to mitigate chronic pain making marijuana addictive. For those who are experiencing chronic pain, marijuana may be necessity as it brings relief that the chronic pain causes. In a recent study conducted by researchers at the Alan Edwards Pain Management Unit of McGill University’s Health Centre, it showed that marijuana have affected the increased relief from chronic pain. The study involved 21 people with chronic neuropathic pain.

This type of condition involves pain in the nerves due to trauma or surgery. The researchers led by Dr. Mark Ware administered THC, which was smoked on pipes on one group and a placebo substance to the other. The result showed that the group who smoked THC had a significant decline in their pain averages compared to those who smoked the placebo.

Via : seerpress.com

Osteoporosis drugs may heighten esophageal cancer risk

Findings of a new study have established a link between consumption of bisphosphonates, a commonly used class of osteoporosis drugs, 

and development of esophagus, the cancer [abnormal cells that divide without control, which can invade nearby tissues or spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body. ]  of the gullet.

The study researchers aver that the findings are worrisome since this class of osteoporosis drugs are routinely prescribed to old people for strengthening feeble bones.

Merck & Co's Fosamax, Roche's Boniva, and Novartis's Reclast are all bisphosphonates prescribed to prevent bone fractures and make up for bone weakness linked with menopause and osteoporosis. 

Need to evaluate risks and benefits

However, the results should not prompt doctors or patients to instantaneously stop prescribing or taking bisphosphonates, claim the scientists.

"We have to be concerned, but this is the first large study with long-term follow up that has found this effect, and it is just one observational study," lead author of the study, Jane Green of Oxford University's Cancer Epidemiology Unit, said.

"Also, because esophageal cancer [abnormal cells that divide without control, which can invade nearby tissues or spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body. ] is uncommon, even a doubled risk is still a low risk," noted Green.

"It's important to see our findings as part of a wider picture. These are very commonly prescribed drugs and we don't have enough information about the long-term risks and benefits," Green added.

The study

For the purpose of the study, Green and her colleagues examined 3000 cases taken from the UK General Practice Research database on men and women aged over 40.

The participants in the study had one of the following cancers diagnosed between 1995 and 2005: esophageal, stomach, or colorectal.

The study established that people with 10 or more prescriptions
for bisphosphonates, or with prescriptions over about five years, were twice more susceptible to contracting esophageal cancer vis-à-vis their counterparts who had no bisphosphonate prescriptions.

"In Europe and North America, the incidence of esophageal cancer at age 60-79 is typically 1 per 1,000 population over five years, and this is estimated to increase to about 2 per 1,000 with five years' use of oral bisphosphonates," declared the study authors.

The study found no relation between bisphosphonate prescriptions and stomach or bowel cancer.

The National Osteoporosis Society said of the findings, "It is a case of balancing the reduced risk of fractures against the side effects of treatment.”

"When you consider the fact that there are 230,000 osteoporotic fractures every year in the UK and 1,150 hip-fracture-related deaths every month, the case for treatment is strong," stated the society.

The findings of the study have been published in the British Medical Journal.

Via : themedguru.com

Osteoporosis drug 'doubles cancer risk'

Those who have taken oral bisphosphonates for five years or more are twice as likely to develop the cancer than those who have not, the analysis of medical records found. 

Every year almost 8,000 people in Britain are diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus, or gullet cancer, and about 7,500 people die from it.

Survival rates are low compared to other cancers, with only three in 10 surviving more than a year after diagnosis.

Among the general population of people aged 60 to 79, the chance of developing oesophageal cancer is about one in 1,000 over five years.

But researchers found that among those who had taken oral bisphosphonates for five years or more the rate doubled to two in 1,000 over the same period.

Among men it increased from 1.5 to three per 1,000 and among women from 0.5 to to one per 1,000.

Last night the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Government's medicine's regulator, said there was "no need" for patients to stop taking the medication on the basis of the study alone.

The MHRA collaborated with academics at Oxford University's Cancer Epidemiology Unit to look at data from the UK General Practice Research Database, which has anonymised patient records for around six million people.

Among those aged 40 and over, 2,954 had oesophageal cancer, 2,018 had gastric cancer and 10,641 had bowel cancer, all diagnosed between 1995 and 2005.

The results also showed that the chance of oesophageal cancer was 30 per cent higher in people with one or more previous prescriptions for oral bisphosphonates, compared to people who had never taken the drugs.

The risk was almost double for those who had 10 or more prescriptions compared with those who had had between one and nine, according to the study, published today in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) online.

There were no links between the drugs and stomach or bowel cancer.

Some three million people suffer from osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Society. The Duchess of Cornwall, whose mother and grandmother both died of the disease, is president of the charity.

More than a million people were prescribed a bisphosphonate in 2009/10, according to the MHRA, which work by preventing bone loss and rebuilding lost bone. More than 6.5 million prescriptions were issued.

They are a group of drug that include alendronate, etidronate and risedronate.

Doctors often prescribe them as a preventative measure for those who might be at a higher risk of osteoporosis, such as post-menopausal women.

However, some doctors are becoming concerned that they are being over-prescribed with scant thought of their side effects, which are known to include difficulty swallowing, chest pain and heartburn.

Dr Des Spence, a Glasgow GP who has also written on the subject in the BMJ, said doctors should focus less on the drugs and more on how to avoid falls, as well as on improving diet and increasing targeted exercise.

Dr Spence described the study as "very telling".

While he said oral bisphosphonates were commonly used to prevent fractures in people who might be at risk of osteoporosis, he thought that approach "isn't supported by the evidence".

He was unconvinced the benefits outweighed the risks, he added.

If the cancer link proved correct, he said "this would be an opportunity to reflect and think about the use of this medication, particularly in people who havenot had a history of fracture."

Dr Jane Green, lead author of the study, said their results were "part of a wider picture" because bisphosphonates were "increasingly prescribed to prevent fractures".

She said: "what is lacking is reliable information on the benefits and risks of their use in the long-term."

But she added: "Oesophageal cancer is uncommon. The increased risks we found were in people who used oral bisphosphonates for about five years, and even if our results are confirmed, few people taking bisphosphonates are likely to develop oesophageal cancer as a result of taking these drugs."

Their study contradicts one published only a few weeks ago, using the same dataset, that showed no link between the drugs and the disease.

However, the latest research followed patients for almost twice as long and had greater statistical power.

A spokesman for the MHRA said: "On the basis of the findings of this study there is no need for patients to stop taking their bisphosphonate medicine.

"However, in order to reduce the risk of oesophageal irritation, which is a recognised risk associated with bisphosphonate use it is important to carefully follow the instructions in the Patient Information Leaflet.

"Patients should also report any signs of oesophageal irritation such as difficulties or pain on swallowing, chest pain, or heartburn to their doctor."

He added: "The safety of all bisphosphonates will continue to be closely monitored."

Dr Laura Bell, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "This is an important study that will help doctors understand more about the risks and benefits of oral bisphosphonates but it's important to stress that even if people take oral bisphosphonates for a long time the risk of developing oesophageal cancer is still small.

"Anyone who is taking these drugs and is worried about their risk of cancer should talk to their doctor."

A spokesman for the National Osteoporosis Society said: "When you consider the fact that there are 230,000 osteoporotic fractures every year in the UK and 1,150 hip-fracture-related deaths every month, the case for treatment is strong.

"In addition, the researchers point out that the risk is small and that few people taking bisphosphonates are likely to develop oesophageal cancer."

Via : telegraph.co.uk


 

Where an infant fixes their gaze 'could be an early indicator of autism'

Source : autismcauses1.com

An early sign that a child may develop autism could be as simple as noting where they fix their gaze.

Those considered at 'high-risk' of developing a form of the disorder were far more likely to become fixated with a non-social toy when left to their own devices.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability and part of a spectrum disorder. The main symptoms are difficulties with social interaction, impaired communication skills and unusual thought and behaviour patterns. 

Autism is thought to affect one in 100 children in England and those with autistic siblings are 25 times times more likely to develop the condition than those with no family history of autism.

Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger institute and University of Delaware studied 25 six-month-old infants in this 'high-risk' group along with 25 of their peers. 

The youngsters were placed in a chair with a simple joystick. When they moved it the musical toy was activated and they were given more attention by their caregiver. When actively engaged the children in both groups spent a similar amount of time looking at the person as they did at the toy.

However, the team found that when the babies were not being engaged, those in the high risk group spent far more time gazing at the toy than the caregiver.

Study author Dr Rebecca Landa, said the study showed a subtle early marker for autism.

'This study shows that there is a particular vulnerability in high-risk siblings at six months of age,' she said.

'They are not as socially interactive and engaged on their own as their peers, but still respond typically when engaged by their caregivers, making for a subtle difference that could be easily overlooked by both parents and some professionals.'

The study suggests that like older children, infants at high risk of autism may benefit from frequent exposure to simple cause and effect lessons to aid their development.

'Babies in both groups of the study learned the multi-stimuli task to the same degree,' Dr Landa said.

'The high-risk siblings still have the capacity to learn cause and effect as well as their low-risk peers at this young age.'

Dr Gina Gomez de la Cuesta, Action Research Leader at The National Autistic Society was cautiously optimistic about the findings.

She told the Mail Online: 'There has been a lot of research which examines a child's level of joint attention or eye gazing patterns and the potential links to autism.

'This study of siblings is interesting as it shows more problems in initiating joint attention with others than responding to joint attention.

'However, until the children reach an age where diagnosis is possible, it is difficult to say how accurately these behaviours can be used to predict a diagnosis of autism.'

Via : dailymail.co.uk

Autism - Infant's Gaze a Possible Marker

Source : from nichd.nih.gov

Infants who show delayed communication and social skills are at a high risk of developing autism that may be indicated by unprompted gazing at people.

Published in the September issue of the Journal of Child Psychology
and Psychiatry, the study also found that six-month-old high-risk infants demonstrated the same level of cause and effect learning skills when compared to low-risk infants of the same age.

The study observed 25 infant siblings of children with autism (high-risk group) and 25 infants with no family history of autism (low-risk group) at six months of age in order to assess cause and effect learning as well as social engagement.

Infant siblings of children with autism are considered at high-risk for the disorder, as they are 25 times more likely to develop autism. Researchers at Kennedy Krieger, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Delaware, created a novel, multi-stimuli social learning task, where infants were seated in a custom chair with an attached joystick within easy reach, a musical toy located to the right and their caregiver on the left. Researchers evaluated how quickly the infant learned that the joystick activated the toy and the infant's level of social engagement with their caregiver.

Researchers found that, like the low risk group, the high-risk siblings exhibited typical levels of social gazing when their caregivers actively engaged them, such as pointing at the toy and expressing excitement.

However, high-risk sibs spent less time looking to their caregivers and more time fixated on the non-social stimuli (toy or joystick) when the caregiver was not engaging them, which could indicate a disruption in development related to joint attention. Joint attention is often a core deficit for children with autism.

Via : medindia.net