Four dead and five injured after small plane crashes at Kansas airport

WICHITA: At least four people were killed, including the pilot, and five critically injured when a small airplane crashed into a building at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita on Thursday morning, setting off an explosion and huge fireball, officials said. 

Authorities said they had accounted for four people who had been listed as missing after the airplane, which officials said carried only the pilot, struck a building where pilots train on the airport grounds.

"I heard a big, loud noise, but it was muffled. I saw smoke and flames. I rushed over," said Lana Johnson, 65, who was in a post office near the airport when the plane crashed.

There were about 100 people in the building, which houses the local base of training company FlightSafety International, when it was struck in the morning hours, police said.

The pilot of the twin-engine turbo-prop Beechcraft King Air 200 reported losing engine power just after taking off from the airport and crashed as it tried to return, the Federal Aviation Administration said. 

"The pilot did report that he did have left engine damage," National Transportation Safety Board investigator Leah Yeager told an evening news conference. 

No information has yet been released on the identities of those in the plane or in the building. According to one aviation website, the aircraft can carry as many as 13 passengers.

Fire Chief Ron Blackwell said the plane appeared to strike the top of the building, sparking an intense fire. Parts of the airplane were found on the roof and on the ground, he said. 

Firefighters toiled for several minutes to bring the blaze under control, Blackwell said. 

Heavy, dark smoke rose from the building, which sits between two sets of airport runways and includes a Cessna learning center with flight simulators. It suffered serious damage, including collapsed walls and ceilings, airport authorities said. 

Mid-Continent's commercial flights were largely on schedule, the airport said. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation, the FAA said. 

The airport remains open and some flights were delayed. - Reuters

Can you drink too much milk? Study raises questions

Drink lots of milk to strengthen your bones and boost your health, doctors say.

But a study in The BMJ medical journal Wednesday said Swedes with a high intake of cow s milk died younger -- and women suffered more fractures.

The findings may warrant questions about recommendations for milk consumption, although further research is needed, its authors said, as the association may be purely coincidental.

A Swedish team used data taken from 61,000 women aged 39-74 and monitored for about 20 years, and more than 45,000 men aged 45-79 followed for 11 years. The volunteers gave details about diet and lifestyle, body weight, smoking habits, exercise frequency, education level and marital status.

By the end of this long study period, 25,500 of the group had died and 22,000 had suffered a fracture. Higher milk intake was not accompanied by a lower risk of fractures but "may be associated with a higher rate of death", the study said.

Among the women, 180 per 1,000 in the group which drank three glasses of milk or more a day died during a 10-year period, compared to the group average, independent of milk consumption, of 126 per 1,000.  Among those who drank a glass or less per day, the rate was 110 per 1,000, co-author Karl Michaelsson of Uppsala University told AFP.

The figures for hip fracture was 42 out of 1,000 women who drank a lot of milk, 35 per 1,000 on average, and 31 per 1,000 of women who drank the least milk.

"Women who consumed three glasses or more per day had a 90 percent higher risk of death, 60 percent higher risk of hip fracture and 15 percent higher risk of any fracture compared to those who drank less than a glass," said Michaelsson.

For men, the difference in death rate was less pronounced: 207 per 1,000 among the three-glasses-a-day group over 10 years, 189 per 1,000 on average, and 182 per 1,000 among low consumers. There was no difference in fracture rates.

"The higher risk of mortality was evident with all types of milk: full-fat, half-fat and skimmed milk," Michaelsson added -- and started from a daily intake of about two glasses of milk.

At a lower consumption of half a glass to one glass per day, "there was a tendency of slightly reduced hip fracture risk" compared to zero intake, but the same was not true for mortality risk.

The team found that fermented milk products like cheese or yoghurt were associated with lower mortality and fracture rates, particularly in women.

One reason, the authors speculated, is that milk, but not cheese, is high in D-galactose, a type of sugar that in animal studies was shown to hasten ageing and shorten lifespan.

Caution

The researchers said it was impossible to draw any conclusions or make recommendations on milk consumption until further work is carried out.

The results may not apply to people of other ethnic origins with different levels of lactose tolerance, they said.

Milk also has different nutrient levels that depend on factors like food fortification and cow diet.

And the results could be skewed by a phenomenon called "reverse causation" -- osteoporosis sufferers at high risk of a bone break increase their milk intake, which then gets blamed when they suffer a fracture.

In a comment, Mary Schooling of the City University of New York School of Public Health said "the role of milk in mortality needs to be established definitively now" as consumption would rise with economic development.

Other experts noted shortcomings in the study, including that milk consumption was self-reported, often a flaw in dietary research.

Nor did the authors define the type of physical activity the men and women did -- whether it was weight-bearing and therefore bone-strengthening, or not.

The study "creates more questions than provides answers", said Catherine Collins, principal dietitian at St George s Hospital in London. - AFP

Unmanned NASA rocket explodes on launch

An unmanned commercial rocket headed for the International Space Station to deliver supplies exploded just after launching Tuesday, filling the sky with a massive fireball.

The Antares rocket launched on Tuesday was on a mission to supply the International Space Station when it exploded and crashed back to earth, a NASA TV broadcast showed.

The explosion destroyed the rocket and spacecraft and immediately raised questions about the future of NASA's reliance on private commercial ventures to carry vital payloads into space to supply and support the orbiting space station.

NASA and Orbital Sciences were gathering data to determine the cause of the failure of the Orbital CRS-3, the space agency said.

 NASA said there were no injuries, 

"There has been a vehicle anomaly," Orbital Sciences, the contractor supplying the rocket, said on its Twitter feed. It added later in a statement, "The vehicle suffered a catastrophic failure."

The 14-storey rocket, built and launched by Orbital Sciences Corp, bolted off its seaside launch pad at the Wallops Flight Facility. It exploded seconds later. The cause of the accident was not immediately known, said NASA mission commentator Dan Huot.  

"This has been a lot of hard work to get to this point," Orbital Sciences Executive Vice President Frank Culbertson told the launch team just before lift-off. 

The Launch had been delayed one day after a boat sailed into a restricted safety zone beneath the rocket's intended flight path. 

Virginia-based Orbital Sciences is one of two companies hired by NASA to fly cargo to the station after the space shuttles were retired. Tuesday's planned flight was to be the third of eight under the company's $1.9bn contract with NASA. 

Antares carried a Cygnus spacecraft packed with 5,055 pounds (2,293kg) of supplies, science experiments and equipment, a 15 percent increase over previous missions. 

Cygnus was to loiter in orbit until November 2, then fly itself to the station so astronauts can use a robotic crane to snare the capsule and attach it to a berthing port. The station, a $100bn research laboratory owned and operated by 15 nations, flies about 260 miles (418km) above Earth.

Orbital Sciences is contracted to conduct eight supply missions delivering 20 tons of material to the space station. NASA said engineers from Orbital Sciences were not "tracking any issues" before the launch.

NASA said it is investigating the crash and collecting all telemetry and other data, along with the contractor. The National Transportation Safety Board is monitoring, NASA said. - AP

Dubai-based Indian-origin eye surgeon honoured in London

A Dubai-based Indian-origin doctor has been conferred the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman for his contributions to healthcare. 

Vinod Gauba, 36, who has worked with the less fortunate and visually impaired, was presented with the award earlier this month by Baroness Verma at the House of Lords in London.

He was awarded for his pioneering role in the field of ophthalmology. The 'Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman' is presented to 20 recipients selected from over 30 million Non-Resident Indians or people of Indian origin for exceptional achievements in various fields. 

"With Dubai fast becoming the Middle Eastern healthcare hub, we are proud to possess a premier level of expertise and technology in the UAE, attracting patients not only from the region but from all across the globe," Gauba said. 

Gauba is based at Dubai Healthcare City, a multi-specialty surgery centre for providing specialized eye care - PTI

'Newly Donated Blood Reduces Complications from Heart Surgery, Study Show

TORONTO ─ Heart surgery patients who received newly donated blood have significantly fewer post-operative complications than those who received blood that had been donated more than two weeks before their surgery, a study presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress has shown.

The study examined records at the New Brunswick Heart Centre (NBHC) in Saint John, Canada for heart surgeries performed over the past nine years on patients who received red blood cells either during their surgery or afterwards. 

"The findings show that we need to pay attention to the age of the blood we give cardiac surgery patients," said Ansar Hassan of the department of cardiac surgery at NBHC. 

Of 2,015 patients, just over half (1,052) received only "new" blood, donated within 14 days of the transfusion, while the rest had received only or some "old" blood, donated more than 14 days before.

Given the benefits to patients of timely cardiac surgery, Dr. Hassan believes surgeries should not be postponed if new blood is not available. "Perhaps more importantly, we need new studies to determine what is driving this relationship between the age of blood and the outcomes we are seeing."  Hassan said.

Those given only new blood had fewer in-hospital complications such as re-operation for bleeding, ventilation longer than 24 hours, infection, renal failure and death, showed the study.

Overall the patients who received new blood fared significantly better than those who received some or all old blood, noted the study that was presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress.

"We need to ensure outcomes are as successful as possible. This study is an important reminder for Canadians to donate blood so that blood products are available for these surgeries," concluded Beth Abramson, spokesperson, Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The Canadian Cardiovascular Congress is co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. - IANS

Natural Home Remedies for Asthma

Asthma is a disease affecting the airways that carry air to and from your lungs. People who suffer from this chronic condition (long-lasting or recurrent) are said to be asthmatic.

The inside walls of an asthmatic’s airways are swollen or inflamed. This swelling or inflammation makes the airways extremely sensitive to irritations and increases your susceptibility to an allergic reaction.

As inflammation causes the airways to become narrower, less air can pass through them, both to and from the lungs.

Common Causes of Asthma 

• Allergy to pollen, dust mites

• Air pollution
• Respiratory infections
• Non-specific hyperirritability
• Sulfites in food
• Certain medications

Treatment of Asthma Using Natural Home Remedies

The various natural most powerful remedies for Asthma using kitchen ingredients are given below:

Drink More Water to Cure Asthma:

Take 2 to 4 glass of water in a hour. It refreshes the lungs and gives relief. It is very important to drink more water for asthma patients. You will see a large difference.

Treating Asthma in Natural Way using Kiwi and Cinnamon:

The fruit Kiwi has large amount of vitamins and Cinnamon is known for its immune boosting. Mix five cut Kiwis and three tsps of cinnamon and take it daily in the morning. It will help you a lot.

Home Remedy of Asthma using Yogurt:

Yogurt has an amazing bacterium in it that cures diseases and boost your immune system. Take two cups of yogurt every day, but do not take it at night before going to sleep.

Onion to get rid of Asthma:

Onions have anti inflammatory properties so it opens airways to breathe properly and thus helps to get rid of asthma. Take a small onion and cut it into four pieces. Take crushed garlic and those four pieces of onion into simple filtered water and remain it as it is overnight. The next day, early morning strain it and drink it on an empty stomach. It will get much relief from asthma.

Treatment of Asthma using Coffee :

A regular cup of hot coffee without water is very beneficial in Asthma as it open airways which help you to breathe properly. Try to take strong coffee as it is more effective. Three cups of coffee enough for one day, do not take more than this. The caffeine in coffee helps to prevent and control the asthma attack. You can take hot black tea instead of coffee, if you do not like coffee.

Garlic for Curing Asthma:

Garlic is very helpful in curing Asthma. Boil 10 to 15 cloves of garlic in half cup of water. Take it once in a day to cure Asthma symptoms; but if taken on an empty stomach, it is more beneficial. You can also add it in the tea. This helps to clear congestion in lungs and you will feel better after taking this.

Treating Asthma using Honey:

Honey is rich in alcohol and ethereal oil which helps in removing phlegm from throat. Honey is the oldest natural remedy for Asthma. Just inhaling the smell of honey helps in breathing.

Take a glass of hot water and mix one teaspoon full of honey into it and drink slowly at least three times a day.

One another method of taking honey is mix one teaspoon full of honey with half teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Take that mixture just before going to bed. This will really help you and give relief from Asthma.

Treating Asthma in Natural Way using Mustard Oil:

Massage with mustard oil also gives much relief from Asthma. Mix some mustard oil with little camphor and then use this solution to massage gently back of the chest. Do not put too much pressure. It will clear respiratory passage and help to breathe normally. Repeat this remedy daily until you get relief from various symptoms of Asthma.

Figs to get rid of Various Symbols of Asthma:

Figs are very beneficial in curing Asthma helps in removing phlegm from throat. Figs have nutritional properties which promote respiratory health and help to remove breathing difficulties.

Wash three dried figs and soak them in a cup of water at night. In the morning, eat the soaked figs and drink the fig water on an empty stomach. This way the nutrients present in figs will quickly enter the bloodstream and help in getting relief from asthma symptom.

Treating Asthma using Orange Juice:

Orange juice is rich in vitamin C. Vitamin C is the main antioxidant in the lining of the bronchi and bronchioles. Research discovered that people with asthma had low levels of vitamin C. A person should take least 300 mg of vitamin C a day in their diet which is equivalent to about three glasses of orange juice which is able to cut wheezing by 30 percent. Other foods high in vitamin C include red bell pepper, papaya, broccoli, blueberries, and strawberries.

Fatty Fish for Curing Asthma:

Fatty fish such as sardines, salmon, mackerel, and tuna contain omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids seem to help the lungs react better to irritants in people who have asthma and may even help prevent asthma in people who have never had an attack. Researchers discovered that people who took fish oil supplements, equivalent to eating 8 ounces of mackerel a day, increased their body’s ability to avoid a severe asthma attack by 50 percent.

Chilli Peppers to get rid of Asthma:

Chilli peppers is hot as it contains ‘Capsaicin’, which acts as an anti-inflammatory when eaten. Hot foods such as chilli peppers open up airways. It happens because peppers stimulate fluids in the mouth, throat, and lungs. The increase in fluids thins out the mucus formed during an asthma attack so it can be coughed up, making breathing easier.

WHO: Ebola vaccine trials in West Africa in January

GENEVA (AP) — The hunt for an Ebola vaccine will produce data soon about whether two experimental vaccines are safe and could lead to larger medical trials in West Africa by January, a top World Health Organization official said Tuesday.

Dr Marie Paule Kieny, an assistant director general for WHO, says clinical trials planned or underway in Europe, Africa and the US are being accompanied by a push among governments for immediate "real-world use'' of an approved Ebola vaccine. 

She told reporters Tuesday in Geneva that, if the vaccines are deemed safe, tens of thousands of doses would be used in a West African trial in January. 

Canada has donated 800 vials of the experimental vaccine to WHO but the shipment was delayed by a Lufthansa pilots strike. It is now expected to arrive in Switzerland on Wednesday for testing coordinated by the U.N. health agency among volunteers at the University Hospital of Geneva, and volunteers in Hamburg, Germany, and in Gabon and Kenya, Kieny said.

"These data are absolutely crucial to allow decision-making on what dose level should go in the efficacy testing in Africa," she said, referring to plans for the broader testing starting in 2015.

At a separate news conference, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib promised a thorough public audit of the agency's early missteps in responding to the Ebola outbreak that has already killed over 4,500 people.

"There is certainly a wish and a will to have this review," she said. "We know many elements need to be explained in the future. ... WHO will do that, but in the future; now our focus is on the response."

Could scientists create life?

LONDON: In a virtual computer experiment, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have discovered information strings with peculiar properties that can reveal how the life originated on the Earth. 

"In our virtual molecular laboratory, information strings began to replicate quickly and efficiently as expected. We saw that the system quickly developed an equal number of short and long information strings and further a strong pattern selection on the strings had occurred," said Steen Rasmussen from the Center for Fundamental Living Technology (FLINT) at the University of Southern Denmark. 

According to Steen Rasmussen, a so-called self-organising autocatalytic network was created in the virtual pot into which "he and his colleagues poured the ingredients for information strings". An autocatalytic network is a network of molecules which catalyse each other's production. 

"We might have discovered a process similar to the processes that initially sparked the first life," Rasmussen added. The oldest ancestor of life on Earth was a protocell. 

"The mechanisms underlying the formation and selection of effective information strings are not only interesting for the researchers who are working to create protocells, they also have value to researchers working with tomorrow's technology," concluded Rasmussen. 

The paper appeared in the journal Europhysics Letters.- IANS

WHO declares Nigeria Ebola-free

ABUJA: The World Health Organization declared on Monday  that Africa's most populous nation Nigeria is free of Ebola, a rare victory in the months-long battle against the fatal disease, but warned that it remained vulnerable as long as the virus was raging elsewhere in west Africa.

Nigeria's containment of the lethal disease is a "spectacular success story," WHO country director Rui Gama Vaz told a news conference in Abuja, Nigeria's capital. Nigeria reported 20 cases of Ebola, including eight deaths. One of those who died was an airline passenger who brought Ebola to Nigeria and died soon after. 

The country representative of the World Health Organization, Rui Gama Vaz, said 42 days -- or two incubation periods of 21 days -- had elapsed without any new confirmed cases of the deadly virus.

"The virus is gone for now. The outbreak in Nigeria has been defeated," he told a news conference in Abuja alongside the country's health minister and survivors of the disease. "This is a spectacular success story that shows to the world that Ebola can be contained."

Nigeria's official Ebola-free status comes after Senegal was given the all-clear on Friday, providing rare good news in the world's worst outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever.

"Therefore there is need to continue to work together with states to ensure adequate preparedness to rapidly respond, in case of any potential re-importation," he said. 

Senegal had one confirmed case, while Nigeria saw seven deaths from 19 confirmed cases according to latest WHO figures.

Both countries are now coming under close scrutiny as public health specialists around the world look to contain the spread of the disease after cases in Spain and the United States.

The WHO said developing countries and wealthier nations concerned about Ebola "may have something to learn" from the response of Nigeria and Senegal.

"We must be clear that we only won a battle. The war will only end when west Africa is also declared free of Ebola," he added.

"While the outbreak is now officially over, Nigeria's geographical position and extensive borders makes the country vulnerable to additional imported cases of Ebola virus disease."

"Therefore there is need to continue to work together with states to ensure adequate preparedness to rapidly respond, in case of any potential re-importation," he said. 

Health officials reached every single known person to have contact with infected people in Lagos and 99.8 percent in Port Harcourt, Nigeria's oil capital where the disease was carried by an infected Nigerian diplomat.

With 18,500 visits to 894 contacts, health workers tracked the progress of all who had come in contact with the disease.

More than 4,500 people have died this year and nearly 10,000 have been infected, most of them in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.-AFP

Obama says Ebola travel ban could make things worse

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans to avoid hysteria over Ebola, and played down the idea of travel bans from Ebola-ravaged countries in West Africa, explaining that restrictions could make things worse.

Lawmakers this week urged Obama to bar people from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea from entering the United States. Obama has said he is not philosophically opposed to travel bans, but in his weekly address made it clear that he is not leaning toward them.

"We can't just cut ourselves off from West Africa," Obama said, explaining it would make it harder to move health workers and supplies into the region, and would motivate people trying to get out the region to evade screening, making it harder to track cases.

"Trying to seal off an entire region of the world - if that were even possible - could actually make the situation worse," he said. Obama said it would take time to fight the disease, warning "before this is over, we may see more isolated cases here in America."

But he sought to put the disease in perspective, reminding Americans that only three cases have been diagnosed in the country, and that it is not easily contracted. "What we're seeing now is not an 'outbreak' or an 'epidemic' of Ebola in America," he said. 

"This is a serious disease, but we can't given in to hysteria or fear." - Reuters 

India test-fires first home-made cruise missile

Missile is intended to cruise like an aircraft, helped by its small fins, and can be launched from land, sea and air

NEW DELHI: India successfully test-fired its first domestically built nuclear-capable long-range cruise missile on Friday, marking another step in building up the country’s defense prowess.

The “Nirbhay,” or “fearless,” missile blasted off from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Missile Test Range in Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa, the Press Trust of India reported.

“The trial was totally successful,” a senior government official associated with the launch told the Press Trust of India national news agency.

“The outcome of the trial was ascertained by analyzing the data retrieved from radars and telemetry points,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Unlike other ballistic missiles, Nirbhay has a wing and tail fins. The missile is intended to cruise like an aircraft, helped by its small fins, and can be launched from land, sea and air.

The surface-to-surface missile is fitted with a turbojet engine and is capable of flying at low altitudes to avoid detection. It can even hover near the target, striking from any direction without being seen on radar.

With a range of up to 1,000-km, it gives India the capability to strike “deep into enemy territory”, NDTV news network reported. The Nirbhay is regarded by military experts as India’s version of the US Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Friday’s success comes after the subsonic missile’s first test launch in March 2013 had to be aborted midway after it veered off course.

India, which shares borders with arch-rivals Pakistan and giant China, both of which are nuclear-armed, is developing the missile system to strengthen its air-defence capabilities.

India already has in its arsenal the supersonic BrahMos missile which it developed jointly with Russia.

India in 2012 successfully launched its nuclear-capable Agni V ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,000-km.

Just last month, Indian government scientists were in the news for winning Asia’s race to Mars when its unmanned Mangalyaan spacecraft successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit after a 10-month journey on a tiny budget. - AFP

Ebola death toll rises to 4,546 in hardest-hit countries - WHO

GENEVA — The death toll in the Ebola outbreak has risen to 4,546 out of 9,191 known cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

A further 20 cases including eight deaths in Nigeria, and one non-fatal case in Senegal, have also been recorded, it said.

In addition, Spain has recorded one local Ebola infection and the United States has three confirmed cases including one death, the WHO said in its latest update.

The death toll for the three countries with intense transmission of the virus includes 62 more deaths than on Wednesday. There are 239 health workers among the fatalities.

Earlier on Friday, the WHO declared an outbreak in Senegal officially over, after twice the maximum incubation period of 21 days had passed. A similar WHO statement on Nigeria is expected on Monday after the requisite 42 days.

A separate Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, from a different strain of the virus, has claimed 49 lives out of 68 known cases, the agency said. — Reuters

6 natural remedies for arthritis

You may feel it in your knees, hips, hands or other joints throughout your body. Pain, for no apparent reason. Often it is a sign of arthritis, a very common problem that can take many forms. Simply stated, arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints.

In addition to pain, some common symptoms are swelling and redness around the joint, limited movement in the affected body parts, and stiffness. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. Arthritis can vary from mild to severe cases. A doctor can prescribe medication or you can take over-the-counter pain relievers. But many people experience improvement simply by staying physically active along with one or more simple natural treatments. 

Here are the top 6 home remedies for arthritis.

Aleo vera: It goes without saying that aloe vera is a powerful herbal remedy that is highly effective in soothing pain and joint inflammation. This naturally available gel is packed with anthraqunones that help in relieving arthritis symptoms both internally and externally. When applied externally or ingested, aloe vera acts as an excellent natural lubricant thereby preventing joint pain and other related disorders caused due to arthritis.

Banana: Of the many health benefits the banana has, providing relief from arthritic pain is one that most people don’t know about. The presence of high level of potassium in banana helps maintain electrolyte balance in the body, thereby lowering bone loss and easing pain.

Carom seeds (ajwain): Along with imparting a unique taste and flavor to food, consumption of carom seeds is known to be an effective home remedy to relieve arthritic pain. Known as ajwain in Hindi, this kitchen ingredient is packed with anti-inflammatory and anesthetic properties that help ease rheumatic and arthritic pain. You can either apply ajwain paste on your aching joints or try to soak them in warm water boiled with few carom seeds to attain good results.

Cinnamon (dalchini): Known as dalchini in hindi, cinnamon is a perfect natural aid to beat arthritic pain in people. This spice contains cinnamomum, a compound known for its anti-inflammatory action, that alleviates joint pain and swelling commonly seen in people suffering from arthritis. Mix one-half teaspoon of cinnamon powder and one tablespoon of honey in a cup of warm water and drink it every morning on an empty stomach. Do this daily for several days. You can also make a paste of cinnamon and honey and massage it gently on the painful area  and place a soft wet cloth over the area for relief.

Garlic: Known for its anti-inflammatory properties, garlic has been widely used to reduce swelling in people suffering from gout and osteoarthritis. Containing diallyl disulphide, garlic helps control a wide range of arthritic symptoms. In order to help keep the symptoms of arthritis naturally, include garlic in your daily meal. Eating raw ginger on a regular basis can help to alleviate pain by improving blood circulation. Simply peel and slice fresh ginger and eat it along with each meal. 

Turmeric (haldi): Packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, turmeric or haldi is a perfect natural remedy to reduce arthritic pain. It is widely used as an effective treatment option to lower inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis and arthritis. To attain its potent health benefits and combat arthritis pain, add this common kitchen ingredient to your dishes. You can take 500mg to 1,000mg turmeric capsules three times per day.You can also drink fresh turmeric juice, or a glass of warm milk mixed with one teaspoon of turmeric powder daily before going to bed.

People suffering from any kind of arthritis will likely get relief from one or more of these remedies. It is essential for arthritis patients also to maintain physical activities to enjoy better health.

Stem cell therapy allows blind patients to see again

Embryonic stem cells can be turned into a therapy to help the sight of the nearly blind. Stem cells injected into the eyes of blind patients have cured them for the first time with no side effects. The breakthrough has proved safe three years after patients were injected with stem cells derived from human embryos. 

In a report published in the journal Lancet, scientists led by Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology, provide the first evidence that stem cells from human embryos can be a safe and effective source of therapies for two types of eye diseases—age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of vision loss in people over age 60, and Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, a rarer, inherited condition that can leave patients legally blind and only able to sense hand motions.

This is the first time that clinical benefits have been demonstrated in the medium to long term in patients with any disese treated with hESC-derived cells, and is a major milestone in the development of the field of regenerative medicine. It’s an achievement that is due to many years of animal research.

Follow-up testing showed that 10 out of 18 treated eyes had substantial improvements in how well they could see, with 8 patients reading over 15 additional letters in the first year after transplant. 

Visual acuity remained the same or improved in seven patients, but decreased by more than 10 letters in one patient. Importantly, untreated eyes did not show similar visual improvements. 

"Embryonic stem cells have the potential to become any cell type in the body, but transplantation has been complicated by problems including the risk of teratoma formation and immune rejection," said lead author professor Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology in the USA. 

"As a result, immunoprivileged sites (that do not produce a strong immune response) such as the eye have become the first parts of the human body to benefit from this technology". 

In the two phase studies, hESCs were differentiated into retinal pigment epithelium cells and transplanted into nine patients with Stargardt's macular dystrophy and nine patients with dry atrophic age-related macular degeneration, the leading causes of juvenile and adult blindness in the developed world, respectively. 

No effective treatments exist for either condition and eventually the light-receiving (photoreceptor) cells of the retina degenerate leading to complete blindness. All participants were injected with one of three different doses of retinal cells (50000, 100000 and 150000 cells) into the sub retinal space (under the retina) of the eye with the worse vision. 

The hESC-derived cells were well tolerated for up to 37 months after transplantation. No safety concerns (hyper proliferation or rejection) in the treated eyes were detected during a median follow-up of 22 months. 

Co-author professor Steven Schwartz from the Jules Stein Eye Institute, Los Angeles added "Our results suggest the safety and promise of hESCs to alter progressive vision loss in people with degenerative diseases and mark an exciting step towards using hESC-derived stem cells as a safe source of cells for the treatment of various medical disorders requiring tissue repair or replacement". 

About half of the patients had an improvement in visual acuity of three lines or more, which corresponds to a doubling of the visual angle, and is generally accepted as clinically significant," Dr Lanza said. 

One 75-year-old rancher from Kansas, who was effectively blind in one eye before the treatment, improved to such an extent that he was able to ride a horse again. Other patients reported that they could use their computers or could go shopping, Dr Lanza said.

“Our goal was to prevent further progression of the disease, not reverse it and see visual improvement,” says Lanza. “But seeing the improvement in vision was frosting on the cake.”- TNN

Don’t ignore your child’s leg pain, experts warn

October 12 is World Arthritis day 

New Delhi - Does your child complain of pain in the leg? Don’t ignore this as “growing up pain” but consider it as a signal for bone or knee-related ailments in the future, health experts caution.

They said that young children are affected with various knee problems like genu valgum/genu varum (knock knees/bow legs), discoid meniscus (an abnormally shaped meniscus in the knee), ligament tear, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and obesity-related knee pain.

Yash Gulati, director and head of department, orthopaedics, joint reconstruction and spine surgery, BLK Super Speciality Hospital, said though knee-related ailments and arthritis are not very common among the younger population, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JVA) can affect children at an earlier age and also affect multiple joints.

“Sometimes aching and throbbing commonly felt in the legs of children from the age of three upwards, often at night, is considered as growing up pain. However, this cannot be ignored for long as this could indicate that a child is at risk of osteoarthritis in later life,” Gulati told IANS.

Rajeev K. Sharma, a Delhi-based orthopedic and joint replacement surgeon, explained that in juvenile arthritis the joints of young children become affected by rheumatoid arthritis - a condition which causes joint inflammation and pain - adding that no exact causes are known for the affliction.

“No one knows exactly what causes juvenile arthritis. Researchers believe some children have genes that make them more likely to get the disease. Exposure to something in the environment (for example, a virus) triggers juvenile arthritis in these children. Juvenile arthritis, however, is not hereditary,” Sharma said.

He added that arthritis in children is not so much a lifestyle problem. “But, yes, children who spend non-active lifestyles, are obese and eat unhealthy diets are likely to grow up into adults in whom the wear and tear of joints will start faster,” he said.

According to Raju Vaishya, senior consultant - orthopaedic and joint replacement surgeon, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi, persistent pain in the younger population should alarm the patient and the treating doctor.

“Girls are more commonly affected than boys. Children with knock knees, bow legs and obesity are more prone to develop joint problems... Most joint problems are non-hereditary. But some arthritis like ankylosing spondylitis (arthritis that affects the spine) could be hereditary as they are genetic in nature,” he said.

Surya Bhan, director of orthopaedics and chief joint replacement surgeon, Primus Super Speciality Hospital, said that while JRA is more common to children aged 8 to 18 years, septic arthritis (inflammation of a joint due to a bacterial or fungal infection) occurs in children less than five years old.

So, what measures can be adopted to keep the problem at bay?

“There is hardly anything that can be done to prevent JRA since it is an autoimmune disorder. However, controlling some modifiable factors like childhood obesity can possibly reduce the burden of knee problems in childhood,” Vivek Logani, chief of joint replacement surgery at Paras Hospitals, told IANS.

He added that children should be sensitized to develop healthy food habits and avoid junk food.

“A diet rich in proteins, simple carbohydrates, fresh fruits and veggies, lot of fluids, and antioxidants can possibly reduce incidence of childhood obesity. Apart from this, regular aerobic exercise regimen and swimming can help keep check on body weight and keep good muscle balance required for healthy joints,” Logani said.

However, Gulati suggested early diagnosis, saying it is the only way the condition can be treated.

“The earliest it can be diagnosed the lesser chances will be of worsening the situation. In severe conditions, special types of medicines, called disease modifying drugs, are required and occasionally surgery may also be required. As a matter of fact, if a joint is badly destroyed even its replacement may be required although it happens rarely,” he said. -  IANS

Texas hospital worker tests positive for Ebola — US airports to start screening

A health worker in Texas at the hospital where the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States died last week has tested positive for the deadly virus in a preliminary test, the state’s health department said on Sunday.

U.S. authorities are stepping up efforts to stop the spread of the virus, with medical teams at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Saturday beginning the screening of travelers from the three West African countries hardest hit by the worst Ebola outbreak on record.

The worker at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital had been wearing protective gear during treatment of the patient Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, who died last week. The worker reported a low-grade fever on Friday night and was isolated and referred for testing, health officials said on Sunday.

“We knew a second case could be a reality, and we’ve been preparing for this possibility,” said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the health service.

The worker tested positive in a preliminary test at the state public health laboratory in Austin. “Confirmatory testing will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta,” the department said. The worker is believed to be the first person in the United States to test positive for Ebola who has not been to West Africa.

"This individual was following full CDC precautions, which are barrier and droplet so gown, glove, mask and shield," Dan Varga, the hospital's chief clinical officer told a news conference in Dallas.

Liberia is the country worst affected by the virus with 2,316 victims, followed by 930 in Sierra Leone, 778 in Guinea, eight in Nigeria and one in the United States, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Some 4033 people are known to have died in seven countries from the outbreak, it said.

The U.S. government has ordered five airports to start screening U.S.-bound travelers for fever from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. John F. Kennedy Airport began the screening on Saturday and will be followed on Thursday by four others: Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O’Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of an affected person or contamination from objects such as needles. People are not contagious before symptoms such as fever develop.

The United Nations said on Friday that its appeal for $1 billion to respond to the West Africa outbreak was only 25 percent funded and a surge in trained healthcare personnel was also needed to help tackle the crisis.

Cyclone Hudhud: Five killed in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha; normal life hit

VISHAKAPATNAM: Severe cyclonic storm Hudhud hit the port city of Vishakapatnam on Sunday bringing with it torrential rains in three coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and leaving five persons dead in the state and neighbouring Odisha besides snapping power and communication lines.

Normal life was thrown completely out of gear as winds with a speed of 170 to 180 kmph battered Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts. The very severe cyclonic storm made landfall in Visakhapatnam before noon.

The gale, accompanied by heavy downpour, resulted in trees being uprooted and roofs of thatched huts and sheds being swept away. While authorities in Andhra Pradesh evacuated 90,013 people across the four districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhaptnam and East Godavari, about 68,000 people were evacuated from coastal districts of Odisha.

Normal life was thrown completely out of gear as winds with a speed of 170 to 180 kmph battered Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts.

In Delhi, IMD Director-General Laxman Singh Rathore said that “Due to the hilly topography, the cyclone’s intensity will reduce in next six hours and further reduce in next 12 hours. However, the area (Vizag) will experience heavy to very heavy rainfall for the next three days.”

As the storm progresses, it will bring heavy rainfall to very heavy rainfall in Chhatisgarh, Bihar, East Madhya Pradesh and East UP and Gangetic belt of West Bengal. 

"We are in touch with the chief secretaries of these state governments and providing with bulletins. Warnings have also been issued to shift crops which have been harvested to minimise the impact of heavy rains in these areas,” Rathore said.

Aircraft services will be able to operate from Monday morning as the weather is expected to improve.“The PMO is monitoring the situation arising out of the cyclone at regular intervals,” he said. While three persons were killed in rain-related incidents in Andhra Pradesh, two were killed in Odisha.

“Three deaths have been reported due to impact of Hudhud. Two died after trees fell on them and one in collapse of compound-wall in Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts, respectively,” AP Chief Secretary I V R Krishna Rao said.Casualty in cyclone Hudhud rose to two in Odisha.

A fisherman was caught in the sea current amid a tidal surge while he was trying to save his fishing boat anchored in the coast of Puri, Special Relief Commissioner PK Mohapatra said.

On Saturday, a nine-year-old girl drowned when a boat engaged in evacuation of the people in Satbhaya area of Kendrapara district capsized in the Baunsagadi rivulet.

Union Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth said the Prime Minister was concerned not only about AP and Odisha but also wanted other states, which could face heavy rains minus the cyclone, to be alerted.

“We have done that,” Seth said, adding that while the Prime Minister reviewed the situation last night, he himself has been reviewing the situation closely and holding meetings with Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha twice daily.

He said once the initial brunt has been taken at the time of the landfall of the cyclone, there is a lull as the centre or eye of the storm passes but thereafter the wind speed is going to pick up again and it is going to be the same as was when it hit the coast first.

Seth said the government does not have the total estimate of the damage caused due to the cyclone as yet. "State government, central agencies are on their job. They have done their job. The Army, the Navy and all other agencies are already there.

“Both the governments were well-prepared. We have been reviewing the situation with them ... They have got their act together. They have taken necessary precautions and alerted the local population,” Seth said.

In Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the cyclone had its impact in different districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Puri, Kalahandi and Kendrapara.

At least 68,000 people have been evacuated to safe places, the Chief Minister said, directing the officials to continue the evacuation of people from vulnerable areas as the complete impact of the cyclone would be felt some hours after the landfall.

The affected people have been accommodated in 604 shelter homes, Patnaik said, adding the state government was prepared to face the situation caused by the cyclone and possible floods thereafter.

Under the impact of the cyclone, the entire coastal and southern region experienced moderate to heavy rainfall since early morning though the maximum wind speed was below 60 kmph.

However, the weather office predicted an increase in the wind speed in eight southern districts.The state government has identified the eight districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kandhamal and Kalahandi which will bear the maximum brunt of the cyclone. — PTI

Americans living longer, but suicide rate rising

NEW YORK — Americans are living longer than ever before, according to a new government report filled mostly with good news. US life expectancy inched up again and death rates fell.

Rates also dropped or held steady for nearly all the leading causes of death. The one exception: The suicide rate reached its highest point in 25 years. That figure has been increasing since 2000 and "it's really hard to say why," said Robert Anderson, who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention branch that issued the report Wednesday.

The suicide rate rose more than 2 percent, to 12.6 per suicide deaths per 100,000 American. That's the highest it's been since 1987, when the rate was 12.8.

Some research suggests suicides increase during hard economic times, but this trend has persisted before, during, and after the recession of 2007-2009. Some experts have said the sale and abuse of prescription painkillers in the last decade have been a contributing factor.

Whatever the reason, "it's kind of surprising," said Solveig Cunningham, an Emory University researcher who has studied death rates during eras of financial hardship.

The overall statistics suggest our society is getting better at medically managing conditions like diabetes and heart disease, she said. But maybe "we're not able to manage mental health as well, resulting in devastating results" — the increasing suicide rate, she said.

The CDC report compiles information from all US death certificates from 2012. Researchers use the death rates to project how long people will live. — AP

Indian carried father on his shoulders to Haj pilgrimage

Dubai: An Indian man carried his 80-year-old father on his shoulders throughout the Haj rituals instead of using a wheelchair because he found it better and comfortable, a news report has revealed.

Mohammed Rasheed, who is in his 50s, said he could have brought a wheelchair to transport his father but could not find a better and more comfortable means of transport than his own shoulders.

"I could have pushed him on a wheelchair or a cart but my shoulders were more comfortable and convenient to him," he was quoted as saying by the Saudi Gazette. Rasheed is his father's only son and his only support after his mother's death.

"I became more attached to my father especially after the death of my mother," he said.

He said his father used to carry him on his shoulders all the time when he was young and it was time he reciprocated in kind.

According to the report, Rasheed's father wished to perform Haj but his financial conditions did not permit him.

"When my father became 80, I decided to bring him to the Haj no matter what the expenses," he said. He also said many times in his dreams he saw his father performing Haj and he was carrying him on his shoulders.

"I made a solemn pledge that my father would not put his feet on the ground" he said.

PTI

Woman has baby after womb transplant in world first

              The first baby from a transplanted womb was born last month in Sweden (Pic: The Lancet)

According to The Lancet medical journal,  A 36-year-old in Sweden has become the world's first woman to give successfully birth to a baby after  receiving a womb transplant. 

The baby boy was born last month, it said, describing the event as a breakthrough for infertile women.  Both mother and baby are doing well.

The baby, weighing 1.775kg (3.9 pounds), was born by Caesarean section at 31 weeks after the mother developed pre-eclampsia, it said.

The transplanted womb was donated by her 61-year-old mother who had gone through the menopause seven years before the surgery. The woman had a genetic condition that meant she was born without a womb but her ovaries were intact.

The organ was transplanted in an operation last year.

A British gynecologist from Queen Charlotte's& Chelsea Hospital Dr J Richard Smith is also leading efforts in the UK to start a womb transplant programme. 

He has founded a charity called Womb Transplant UK with the aim of raising £500,000 to perform the first five operations. 

In the 15 to 24 year old age group in the UK, around a thousand young women have hysterectomies every year which is a commonly performed procedure for the treatment of cervical cancer - many of these cancer victims have not completed their families when they have their wombs taken away. 

The recipient underwent in-vitro fertilisation, in which eggs were harvested from her ovaries and fertilised, and then cryogenically preserved.

A year after the transplant, a single early-stage embryo was inserted into the transplanted womb. A pregnancy test three weeks later was positive.

"Our success is based on more than ten years of intensive animal research and surgical training by our team and opens up the possibility of treating many young females worldwide that suffer from uterine infertility," the British journal quoted Professor Matts Braennstroem of the University of Gothenburg, who led the operation, as saying.

For women without a womb, the only two options which are available are adoption and surrogacy, both acceptable options but fraught with moral, ethical and financial difficulties.

Why a steady heartbeat is bad for you

According to a new study, if a person has a solid heartbeat when he is disturbed about something than he competence be some-more receptive to stress.

The investigate conducted by a Concordia University in Qubec showed that a reduction non-static heartbeat when disturbed creates a person rarely stressed after on.

‘At rest, a more variable heartbeat is a good thing. It shows that your parasympathetic nervous system is hard at work. That is the system that is responsible for the ‘rest-and-digest’ state of being – the opposite of ‘fight-or-flight’,’ explained psychology professor Jean-Philippe Gouin.

The rest-and-digest phase puts you in a calm state that allows you to conserve and replenish your energy. 

During the study, Gouin followed 76 university students during periods of lower stress at the beginning of term and higher stress during the exam period. 

He found that, although all students experience similar challenges during finals, only some of them develop significant distress.

Researchers recorded participants' heart rate variability while they were relaxing and while they were thinking about things they tend to worry about most. They also tracked participants' moods at low stress and high stress periods during term.

"By pinpointing those in the general population who are most vulnerable to stress, we can intervene before they hit the breaking point - and hopefully prevent the negative consequences of stress by doing so," Gouin added.

The findings have been published in the journal Stress. 

Why are Americans more depressed today

US citizens are more depressed now than they have been in decades but most of them are not aware of their conditions, says a new study.

Analysing data from 6.9 million adolescents and adults from all over the country, the study found that people in the US now report more psycho-somatic symptoms of depression, such as troubled sleep and trouble in concentrating, than their counterparts in the 1980s.

"This study shows an increase in symptoms most people do not even know are connected to depression, which suggests adolescents and adults really are suffering more," said study author Jean M. Twenge from the San Diego State University in the US.

Compared to their 1980s counterparts, teenagers in the 2010s are 38 percent more likely to have trouble remembering, 74 percent more likely to have trouble sleeping, and twice as likely to have seen a professional for mental health issues.

College students surveyed were 50 percent more likely to say they feel overwhelmed, and adults were more likely to say their sleep was restless, they had poor appetite and everything was an effort – all classic psycho-somatic symptoms of depression.

‘Despite all of these symptoms, people are not any more likely to say they are depressed when asked directly, again suggesting that the rise is not based on people being more willing to admit depression,’ Twenge pointed out.

The study appeared in the journal Social Indicators Research.