Day: January 12, 2022

Categories : Obstetrics & GynaecologyTags :

Assisted Reproductive Technology Doubled Birth Rates in Middle-aged Women

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Christian Bowen on Unsplash

A study found birth rates among middle-aged women in Northern European increased thanks to assisted reproductive technologies.

The study examined the total population of women aged 40–49 years between 2008–2018 in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, birth rates increased in Denmark and Sweden, and births resulting from assisted reproductive technology doubled in all three countries. The findings were published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica.

The study found that use of hormonal contraception increased among women aged 40–44 years in Denmark from 24% to 31%, in Sweden from 27% to 30%, and in Norway from 22% to 24%. Additionally, birth rates among women 40–44 years increased from 9.5 to 12 per 1000 women in Denmark and from 11.7 to 14.3 per 1,00 in Sweden, while they remained stable in Norway at approximately 11 per 1000 women.

In women aged 40–49 years, there was a doubling of assisted conceptions in Denmark from 0.71 to 1.71 per 1000 women; in Sweden from 0.43 to 0.81 per 1000; and in Norway from 0.25 to 0.53 per 1000. The study also found that Sweden had the highest induced abortion rate (7.7 to 8.1 per 1000 women) in women aged 40–49 years during the study period.

“This study confirms the trend of postponing childbirth observed for most of Europe and demonstrates the important role of assisted reproductive technology on birth rates in this age group,” said lead author Ingela Lindh, MD, of Sahlgrenska University Hospital. “The study provides valuable information to improve women’s knowledge about their fertility.”

Source: Wiley

Categories : Cardiovascular DiseaseTags : 1 Comment

Patient Doing Well after World-first Pig Heart Transplant

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash

David Bennett, a 57 year old US man, is doing well after being the world’s first human transplant of a pig heart, according to the man’s son, David Bennett Jr.

When his father first told him of the pig heart option, his son was incredulous, telling the BBC: “I didn’t believe him, I thought he was suffering from delirium at first.”

However, when he did some research on the work done, he realised it was a reality and that they were “walking into the unknown”.

He added that according to Dr Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery, his father has a good prognosis of 6–9 months. The experimental seven-hour procedure at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore was considered the last hope of saving Mr Bennett’s life, though it is currently unclear what his long-term chances of survival are. 

“It was either die or do this transplant,” Mr Bennett explained a day before the surgery, adding that it was his “last choice”.

Dr Griffith said heart failure and an irregular heartbeat made him ineligible for a human heart transplant or a heart pump.

Xenotransplantation, as these inter-species transplants are called, have failed, largely because patients’ bodies quickly rejected the animal organ. Notably, in 1984, Baby Fae, a dying infant, lived 21 days with a baboon heart. 

What makes this attempt different is that the Maryland surgeons used a heart from a pig that had been genetically modified to remove a sugar in its cells that’s responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection. Many biotech companies are working on adapting pig organs for xenotransplantation.

“I think you can characterise it as a watershed event,” Dr David Klassen, chief medical officer at the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees the US transplant system.

Dr Klassen nevertheless cautioned that it’s only a first tentative step into exploring whether xenotransplantation might finally work this time.

The Food and Drug Administration, which oversees such experiments, allowed the surgery under what’s called a “compassionate use” emergency authorisation, available when a patient with a life-threatening condition has no other options.

Surgeon Bartley Griffith said the surgery would bring the world “one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis”. At present, 17 people die every day in the US waiting for a transplant, with more than 100 000 reportedly on the waiting list. A record 3800 heart transplants were done last year, according to the UNOS.

Source: BBC News

Categories : Pain ManagementTags :

Duloxetine Flops for Osteoarthritis Pain Relief

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Nino Liverani on Unsplash

A new study found that duloxetine, a medication that is prescribed to treat depression and may also reduce chronic pain, did not benefit patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis.

Off-label uses for duloxetine include chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and stress urinary incontinence. It is in the Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) class of medications. 

An open label, cluster randomised trial was conducted in patients experiencing chronic osteoarthritis-related pain in the hip or knee that did not go away with paracetamol and NSAIDs. Of 133 patients, 66 were assigned to duloxetine 60mg/day plus usual care and 66 were assigned to only usual care. 

The findings, published in Arthritis & Rheumatology howed that duloxetine did not lessen WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) pain at 3 months or 12 months. For the subgroup of patients with symptoms of centralised pain no effect of duloxetine was found either.

“There was no clinically relevant effect of duloxetine added to usual care compared to usual care alone for chronic osteoarthritis pain, and it should not be implemented,” the authors concluded.

Source: Wiley

Categories : COVIDTags :

Quebec to Impose Health Tax on The Unvaccinated

On By ModernMedia
Source: Raghavendra V Konkathi on Unsplash

The Canadian province of Quebec will impose a health tax on residents not vaccinated against COVID. The province is experiencing a surge in cases, and its 12 028 deaths as of Tuesday are the highest in Canada.

The province’s Premier Francois Legault announced on Tuesday that it would be the first in the nation to financially penalise the unvaccinated.

Around 12.8% of Quebec residents are unvaccinated, yet make up nearly half of all hospital cases.

At a news conference, the premier said that people who have not had a first vaccine dose will have to pay a “contribution”, which will be “significant”.

“I think right now it’s a question of fairness for the 90% of the population who made some sacrifices,” Mr Legault said. “I think we owe them this kind of measure.”

The province also announced last week that proof of vaccination would be required to shop in government cannabis and liquor stores.

Death rates are similar to January 2021, before widespread vaccinations had begun in the province. Unvaccinated patients make up 45% of COVID ICU cases.

Hospitals in Montreal, the province’s largest city, are nearing 100% capacity and have already started limiting non-Covid related care. Quebec’s positivity rate stands at 20%.

Though such approaches are rare, some unvaccinated individuals in other parts of the world face penalties from their governments.

Greece is set to require those over 60 to pay a €100 (R1750) fine for each month that they remain unvaccinated. Austria is considering an even stiffer €7200 (R126 000) fine for unvaccinated individuals. Unvaccinated COVID patients in Singapore will also have to pay their own medical bills: with ICU stays, this has been estimated at a median of S$25 000 (R287 500).

Source: BBC News

Categories : Neurology Substance UseTags :

A Brain ‘Breathalyser’ for THC Intoxication

On By ModernMedia
Image by Falkurian Design on Unsplash

Scientists have developed a noninvasive brain imaging procedure to identify individuals whose performance has been impaired by THC, the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis. As reported in Neuropsychopharmacology, the technique uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure brain activation patterns linked to THC intoxication. The technology could have a great impact on road and workplace safety. 

The increasing legalisation of cannabis has driven the need for a portable brain imaging procedure that can distinguish between THC-caused impairment and mild intoxication. “Our research represents a novel direction for impairment testing in the field,” explained lead author Jodi Gilman, PhD. “Our goal was to determine if cannabis impairment could be detected from activity of the brain on an individual level. This is a critical issue because a ‘breathalyser’ type of approach will not work for detecting cannabis impairment, which makes it very difficult to objectively assess impairment from THC during a traffic stop.”

In previous studies, THC has been shown to impair cognitive and psychomotor performance essential to safe driving, a factor thought to at least double the risk of fatal motor vehicle accidents. However, concentration of THC in the body does not correspond well to functional impairment. Regular cannabis users often can have high levels of THC in the body and not be impaired. Metabolites of THC can remain in the bloodstream for weeks after the last cannabis use, well beyond the period of intoxication. Thus, there is a need for a different method to determine impairment from cannabis intoxication.

In the study, 169 cannabis users underwent fNIRS brain imaging before and after receiving either oral THC or a placebo. Participants who reported intoxication after being given oral THC showed an increased oxygenated haemoglobin concentration (HbO) – a type of neural activity signature from the prefrontal cortex region of the brain – compared to those who reported low or no intoxication.

“Identification of acute impairment from THC intoxication through portable brain imaging could be a vital tool in the hands of police officers in the field,” said senior author and principal investigator A. Eden Evins, MD, MPH, founding director of the Center for Addiction Medicine. “The accuracy of this method was confirmed by the fact impairment determined by machine learning models using only information from fNIRS matched self-report and clinical assessment of impairment 76% of the time.”

The study suggested the feasibility of inexpensive, lightweight, battery-powered fNIRS devices that could be incorporated into a headband or cap, and thus require minimal set-up time.

“Companies are developing breathalyser devices that only measure exposure to cannabis but not impairment from cannabis,” said Dr Gilman. “We need a method that won’t penalise medical marijuana users or others with insufficient amounts of cannabis in their system to impair their performance. While it requires further study, we believe brain-based testing could provide an objective, practical and much needed solution.”

Source: Massachusetts General Hospital