PTI

 

Washington, 

Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can reduce the number of bacterial species in a patient’s gut, with the lesser diversity creating space for dangerous microbes to thrive, a new study has found.

According to the study, results showed that the majority of patients had low gut microbiome diversity, with a full quarter dominated by a single type of bacteria. At the same time, populations of several microbes known to include antibiotic-resistant species increased, possible due to widespread antibiotic use early in the pandemic, the study said.

Further, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in the gut were observed to have migrated into the bloodstream in 20 per cent of the patients.

Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the investigation involved 96 men and women hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2020 in New York City and in New Haven, Conn.

“Our findings suggest that coronavirus infection directly interferes with the healthy balance of microbes in the gut, further endangering patients in the process,” study co-senior author Ken Cadwell said.

“Now that we have uncovered the source of this bacterial imbalance, physicians can better identify those coronavirus patients most at risk of a secondary bloodstream infection,” adds Cadwell.

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

According to Cadwell, the new study is the first to show that the coronavirus infection alone damages the gut microbiome, and not the initial use of antibiotics to treat the disease as others experts had thought. He adds that the study also provided the first evidence that the very same bacteria in the gut were also entering the blood stream of patients, causing dangerous infections.

The study built on the realization that widespread use of antibiotics to fight infections with disease-causing bacteria in recent decades has left in place more species that are resistant to antibiotics. In addition, disruptions in gut bacterial ratios have previously been linked to more severe COVID-19.

However, researchers say, it has remained unclear until now which came first, the coronavirus infection disrupting the gut microbiome or an already weakened gut making the body more vulnerable to the virus.

The new study appears to favour the former explanation. The new investigation, which revealed that antibiotic-resistant species can escape into the bloodstream, put patients at greater risk for life-threatening secondary infections, the study said.

The study authors note that further research is needed to uncover why this group was at a higher risk for a secondary infection while others remained protected.

For the investigation, researchers first infected dozens of mice with the coronavirus and analyzed the makeup of bacterial species in their stool samples. This step allowed them to untangle whether the coronavirus could directly disrupt the microbiome independently of hospitalization and treatment.

Next, they collected stool samples and blood tests from COVID-19 patients at NYU Langone Health and Yale University hospitals to assess gut microbe composition and presence of secondary infection. If any bacteria group made up a majority of the bacteria living in the gut, they were considered dominant.

“Our results highlight how the gut microbiome and different parts of the body’s immune system are closely interconnected,” says study senior author Jonas Schluter. “An infection in one can lead to major disruptions in the other.”

Schluter cautions that since the patients received different kinds of treatments for their illness, the investigation could not entirely account for all factors that may have contributed to the disruption of their microbiome and worsen their disease.

According to Schluter, the study team next plans to examine why certain microbial species are more likely to escape the gut during COVID-19. The researchers say they also intend to explore how different microbes interact, which may contribute to this migration into the bloodstream.

November -- An international team of scientists has discovered how cancer cells exposed to high viscosity environments -- or resistance to flow of the extracellular fluid that surrounds cells -- change the way they move to improve their invasiveness and favor metastases.

By The Science Advisory Board staff writers

 

 

In a study published November 2 in the journal 

Nature, the researchers lay out a novel mechanism that promotes cancer cell dissemination which they contend could lead to the identification of potential new targets to combat metastasis.

 

After exposing cancer cells to high viscosity, the scientists found that the first cellular element that responded to this stimulus was the protein actin, which is part of the cytoskeleton and shapes the body of the cell. This initiates a cascade of molecular events that ends with the activation of a protein called TRPV4 -- an ion channel that facilitates the entry of calcium into the cell -- which in turn activates a cascade of intracellular events that result in the reinforcement of the cell cytoskeleton and the activation of motor proteins.

 

When the research team knocked down TPRV4, they blocked the faster movement of cells and their ability to form memory in response to preexposure to elevated viscosities. Using three-day-old zebrafish embryo models, they demonstrated that memory of elevated viscosity can enable cells to move faster through blood vessels in vivo. Chicken embryo and mouse models were also used to show that the memory can bolster cancer cell spread out of blood vessels -- through a process called extravasation -- and result in a greater number of distant metastatic colonies.

"We clarified how cells sense and respond to physiologically relevant levels of fluid viscosity that are commonly found in the body of healthy and diseased patients," Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, PhD, the study's lead investigator and member of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Invasion and Metastasis Program, said in a statement. "We also showed that cells have the ability to form memory when preexposed to elevated fluid viscosities."

Konstantopoulos believes the team's findings "will compel researchers in other fields, beyond cancer mechanobiology, to consider fluid viscosity as a key physical cue that regulates cell responses."

 

The digital intervention has played a crucial role in transforming the healthcare sector. Undoubtedly, technology has certainly been a blessing amidst the covid-induced global crisis. In diagnostics, the technological transformation has opened new doors of opportunities.

According to an Edelweiss report, Indian diagnostics is one of the fastest-growing markets in the healthcare industry. The segment is projected to be estimated at $9 billion and grow at a CAGR of approximately 10 percent by 2025.The digital intervention has played a crucial role in transforming the healthcare sector. Undoubtedly, technology has certainly been a blessing amidst the covid-induced global crisis. In diagnostics, the technological transformation has opened new doors of opportunities.

According to an Edelweiss report, Indian diagnostics is one of the fastest-growing markets in the healthcare industry. The segment is projected to be estThe digital intervention has played a crucial role in transforming the healthcare sector. Undoubtedly, technology has certainly been a blessing amidst the covid-induced global crisis. In diagnostics, the technological transformation has opened new doors of opportunities.

According to an Edelweiss report, Indian diagnostics is one of the fastest-growing markets in the healthcare industry. The segment is projected to be estimated at $9 billion and grow at a CAGR of approximately 10 percent by 2025.imated at $9 billion and grow at a CAGR of approximately 10 percent by 2025.

Meanwhile, several industry experts emphasise that increased awareness about health, change in people’s outlook towards illness, and prioritisation of preventive testing, and digital interventions among various other factors have become key drivers of growth of the country’s diagnostic sector.

 Chandigarh, 

A 50-year-old woman suffered a "beauty parlour stroke" after getting a hair wash at a salon before taking a haircut in Hyderabad.

Doctors treating her said that a key vessel supplying blood to the brain was pressed when she bent back her neck for the wash. The term "beauty parlour stroke syndrome" was termed after it was first reported in 1993 in the US.

 IANS

New York,

An international team of researchers has identified a pan-variant and ultra-potent neutralising antibody that can offset Omicron variants.

Named 'S2X324', its neutralising potency was largely unaffected by any of the Omicron variants tested, said the study published in the journal Science.

The scientists suggested that combining this antibody with others in a cocktail might reduce the chances of the virus becoming antibody-treatment resistant.

The team looked at several aspects of the effects of exposure to earlier forms of the SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen -- or immune-provoking protein -- on the immune system's reaction to the Omicron variants.

 

Past studies from the same team have noted that the BA.1 Omicron variant emerged as a "major antigenic shift due to the unprecedented magnitude of immune evasion associated with this variant of concern".

They explained that mutations in two of the main antibody targets in the virus explain why there is markedly reduced antibody neutralising ability against these variants, especially in people who have not received booster doses.

"As a result, an increasing number of reinfections are occurring," the researchers wrote, "even though these cases tend to be milder than in infections of immunologically naA-ve individuals".

The recent scientific studies in this area have been led by the labs of David Veesler, associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington in Seattle and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and Davide Corti of Humabs BioMed SA of Vir Biotechnology in Switzerland.

The Omicron variants appeared at the end of 2021 and have marked genetic differences from the ancestral SARS-CoV-2.

The many, distinct mutations in their infection machinery have enabled them to escape from antibodies elicited from the original series of vaccines, from a history of infection, or from both of those two immune-system training events.

 Washington, 

According to new research from Tulane University, a low-carb diet can assist people with uncontrolled diabetes and decrease the blood sugar levels of those who are at risk of developing it.

The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, compared two groups: one assigned to a low-carb diet and another that continued with their usual diet. After six months, the low-carb diet group had greater drops in hemoglobin A1c, a marker for blood sugar levels, when compared with the group who ate their usual diet. The low-carbohydrate diet group also lost weight and had lower fasting glucose levels.

"The key message is that a low-carbohydrate diet, if maintained, might be a useful approach for preventing and treating Type 2 diabetes, though more research is needed," said lead author Kirsten Dorans, assistant professor of epidemiology at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Approximately 37 million Americans have diabetes, a condition that occurs when the body doesn't use insulin properly and can't regulate blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes comprises more than 90 per cent of those cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Type 2 diabetes can severely impact quality of life with symptoms such as blurred vision, numb hands and feet, and overall tiredness and can cause other serious health problems like heart disease, vision loss and kidney disease.

The study's findings are especially important for those with pre-diabetes whose A1c levels are higher than normal but below levels that would be classified as diabetes.

Approximately 96 million Americans have pre-diabetes and more than 80 per cent of those with pre-diabetes are unaware, according to the CDC. Those with pre-diabetes are at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart attacks or strokes and are usually not taking medications to lower blood sugar levels, making a healthy diet more crucial.

The study involved participants whose blood sugar ranged from pre-diabetic to diabetic levels and who were not on diabetes medication. Those in the low-carb group saw A1c levels drop 0.23 per cent more than the usual diet group, an amount Dorans called "modest but clinically relevant".

Importantly, fats made up around half of the calories eaten by those in the low-carb group, but the fats were mostly healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in foods like olive oil and nuts.

Dorans said the study doesn't prove that a low-carb diet prevents diabetes. But it does open the door to further research about how to mitigate health risks of those with pre-diabetes and diabetes not treated by medication.

"We already know that a low-carbohydrate diet is one dietary approach used among people who have Type 2 diabetes, but there is not as much evidence on effects of this diet on blood sugar in people with pre-diabetes," Dorans said.

 Season change brings with it a plethora of maladies like cough, cold, runny nose and fever. Experts say this happens as a result of viruses building up in the environment as the temperature changes from hot to cold or the other way around. Viruses flourish in different temperatures just as our bodies respond in different ways to heat and cold.

As our bodies transition from high temperatures to low in the months of October, November and December, one is at a higher risk of falling prey to colds, flus and other respiratory illnesses. The need of the hour is to keep the body warm inside out so that it gradually adapts to the changes. Nishitha Krishnan T, clinical nutritionist and dietician, Narayana Medical Centre in Bengaluru, explains: “The metabolism is slowed down as the temperature is always low. So, foods that improve metabolism are to be added to the diet and this helps in proper digestion too,” she says.

The only constant food items that change with the weather and have a huge impact on our bodies are seasonal fruits and vegetables. Dr Padmini BV, senior consultant clinical dietician, Apollo Hospitals, says: “These foods help maintain body temperature, metabolism and intracellular fluid balance.” During winters, seasonal fruits like orange, sweet lime, figs, strawberries, guava, pineapple and dragon fruit are beneficial for your health.

During winters, change in bodily temperature also adversely impacts wellbeing and may lead to sickness. At this time, root vegetables help keep the body warm. The role of garlic cannot be denied as it is considered an immunity builder. Siddhant Bhargava, fitness and nutritional scientist and co-founder of Food Darzee that delivers customised meals, says our bodies are designed to keep us regulated and balanced when our surroundings change.

A major part of this process is body temperature regulation. As soon as the cold winter months kick in, our bodies strive to increase our internal temperature and we tend to find ourselves drawn to warm and comforting foods. Since our bodies have to work harder to keep us warm when things cool down, it needs an extra boost from foods or supplements that are high in antioxidants. Therefore, it is recommended to add root vegetables like onion, garlic, potato, sweet potato, and carrots into your diet. While working out, consuming a good source of carbs and protein, ideally in a 2:1 ratio to refill glycogen stores, works,” adds Bhargava.

What to eat (or drink) and what to avoid

• Have plenty of fluids to keep hydrated even during winter
• Include 3-4 servings of green vegetables in your diet
• Ensure intake of fruits
• Restrict the intake of tea, coffee or carbonated beverages
• Avoid excess oily foods and carbohydrate-containing foods that make you dehydrated and produce excess heat inside the body
• Avoid street foods during the season as the food outside can easily get contaminated and can lead to food related infection
• To avoid digestion issues, keep yourself away from uncooked foods, processed or junk foods or foods that are not stored under hygienic conditions.

— Nishitha Krishnan T, clinical nutritionist & dietician, Narayana Medical Centre

New Delhi,

The World Health Organisation’s TB report released today said India recorded 21.4 lakh TB cases in 2021, 18 per cent higher than 2020.

The WHO report notes the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the diagnosis, treatment and burden of the disease all over the world.

The Ministry of Health today said it had taken note of the report and added that India had, in fact, performed far better on major metrics as compared to other countries over time.

18% higher than 2020

• India’s TB incidence for 2021 is 210 per 1,00,000 population — compared to the baseline year of 2015
• One out of every four TB cases worldwide is in India

“India’s TB incidence for 2021 is 210 per 1,00,000 population — compared to the baseline year of 2015 (incidence was 256 per lakh of population in India); there has been an 18 per cent decline, which is 7 percentage points better than the global average of 11 per cent. These figures also place India at the 36th position in terms of incidence rates (from largest to smallest incidence numbers),” the government said.

While the pandemic impacted TB programmes across the world, India was able to successfully offset the disruptions caused, through the introduction of critical interventions in 2020 and 2021 — this led to the National TB Elimination Programme notifying over 21.4 lakh TB cases — 18 per cent higher than 2020, the ministry explained.

It said this success could be attributed to an array of forward-looking measures implemented by the programme over the years, such as the mandatory notification policy to ensure all cases are reported to the government. “Further, intensified door-to-door active case finding drives to screen patients and ensure no household is missed, has been a pillar of the programme. In 2021, over 22 crore people were screened for TB,” the government said.

 Patiala, 

Amid the shortage of medicines and surgical items, the Government Rajindra Hospital has stopped conducting heart surgeries. No bypass and open-heart surgeries have been performed at the hospital since October 15. It has been learnt that 10 planned surgeries are already pending and this number is increasing with each passing day. A superspecialist doctor working at the hospital said poor patients couldn’t buy surgical items and medicines for heart surgeries on their own as they were very expensive. “Around Rs 1.5 lakh-worth surgical items and other medicines are required for one heart surgery. Poor patients cannot afford expensive surgical items on their own,” he said.

The Tribune on Friday found that there was a shortage of even syringes at the hospital. As basic medicines are not available at hospitals, poor patients are the worst hit who have to purchase medicines from private shops.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann had visited the hospital on October 19 and had assured the provision of medicines at the earliest.

When the issue was raised with Health and Medical Eduction Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, he said, “We have already released Rs 13 crore. The issue will be resolved in 10 days.”

Meanwhile, sources said owing to the pending bill worth crores of rupees, Jan Aushadi Kendra couldn’t purchase the medicines.

Employees at Jan Aushadi Kendra informed that they couldn’t purchase the medicines for the past few weeks. Consequently, patients admitted there are not able to buy even the basic medicines from Rajindra hospital’s Jan Aushadi Kendra where medicines are given at subsidised rates.

 When Chastity Murry had her first psychotic break, she went into her bathroom and downed a whole bottle of pills, hoping to die. Her teenage daughter had to perform CPR to save her life.

Around that same time more than a decade ago, the man who would become her husband, Dante Murry, also lost touch with reality and considered suicide.

Different illnesses led them down similar paths bipolar disorder in her case and schizoaffective disorder in his conditions long considered by many to be distinct and unrelated.

But a growing body of research shows that bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and the in-between diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder share common genetic underpinnings as well as overlapping symptoms and signs.

"They can be considered as part of a spectrum, said Dr. Morgan Sheng, who co-directs a psychiatric research center at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Bipolar disorder is known for causing extreme mood swings. Schizophrenia is characterized by delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking. Schizoaffective disorder includes symptoms of both.

The theory that they exist on a continuum has gained ground as more and more studies have found that variations in some of the same genes influence how susceptible people are to these conditions. One of the latest examples is the AKAP11 gene, which scientists at Broad and elsewhere pinpointed as a strong risk factor for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in research published in the journal Nature Genetics this year.

Experts say these insights will help doctors better understand what drives the illnesses, how they affect the body's most notoriously bewildering organ and what more can be done to help people. Down the road, experts envision the research could help guide treatment and lead to better drugs. For now, they hope it reinforces the idea that such disorders are biologically rooted and not moral failings or mysterious, unknowable conditions.

That's what the science is giving us a clear indication that there are genetic markers and risk factors, said Dr. Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The Murrys who met through the alliance and married in 2020 hope the research provides answers for them and so many others with mental illness who they've gotten to know. With they help of doctors and one another, they are keeping their disorders in check and have found purpose helping others in similar straits.

Chastity Murry, 48, called them perfect partners; He's the peanut butter; I'm the jelly.

Yes, Dante Murry, 50, added with a smile. She's sweeter than I am.

PASSING DOWN PUZZLING CONDITIONS

Mental illness runs in both of their families haunting hers for at least five generations, she says.

Knowing this helped me to understand why this is happening to me, Chastity Murry said. That possibility was always there.

Sheng said genetics plays a big part in bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia. But experience and environment also play a big part, and these things interact in subtle ways. So it's not like everyone with risk genes is destined to become ill.

Morgan said a severe risk gene for schizophrenia, for example, may increase the chance of getting the disease 10-fold. But that only brings it up to 10%, since the population-wide risk of developing the illness is 1%. Given those odds, parents with the gene might not have any children with the illness.

But if you take a whole extended family that has that risk gene, there will be a number of cases popping up, Morgan said. It's a roll of the dice.

Experts say other illnesses along what some call the psychosis continuum are also more likely. When you look at a family, if you have one person with schizophrenia, you're more likely to have schizophrenia yourself, but you're also more likely to have bipolar, said Dr. Fernando Goes, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University.

The same is true for schizoaffective disorder, studies show.

There are no tests for these conditions which together affect around 9 million U.S. adults so diagnosis is based on history and the sometimes overlapping symptoms. For instance, psychosis can happen in all three illnesses.

This can make diagnosis difficult. Sally Littlefield of Oakland, California, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, then schizoaffective disorder, after spiraling into psychosis during a work meeting in 2018. For 10 months, she was convinced a team of psychologists had assumed control of her life and were experimenting on her against her will.

At one point during a manic episode, Littlefield wandered the streets of San Francisco, breaking into houses and cars, shoplifting and jumping from one car rooftop to another. She was eventually tackled by police and hospitalized. She came to realize she was ill when her delusions got so grandiose she believed she was president of the United States.

She said she's now doing well and willing to tell her story to help dispel stigma, discrimination and shame, which prevents a lot of us from recovering.

A VERY LONG JOURNEY'

People with mental illness hope stigma fades as doctors learn more about how these disorders arise and affect the brain.

A 2019 study said a growing number of experts now recognize that schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bipolar not only share common genetic risk factors and symptoms but also look similar in neuroimaging and may have common treatment regimens. The mood stabilizer lithium, for example, is often used to treat bipolar and schizoaffective disorder. The recent Broad Institute research may provide clues to how the drug works, since AKAP11 interacts with what's thought to be lithium's target.

Other drugs also treat more than one of the illnesses. The Murrys take several of the same medications.

Someday, experts said genetic insights might allow doctors to intervene earlier in the disease process. While few people get genetic testing now except perhaps to see how they might react to a particular drug scientists said that could change in the future. If people knew their genetic risk and family history, Sheng said, they could seek help if something didn't seem quite right, before an illness caused major problems.

Some scientists, while acknowledging common genetic underpinnings of bipolar, schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, are skeptical about framing them as on a psychosis continuum, particularly if that leads to changing categories doctors use to diagnose people with each disorder. They say the current criteria are useful in deciding treatment and care.

Scientists agree that more research is needed. Finding new illness risk genes, for instance, is only the first step toward developing new medicines. A Broad road map says researchers must also figure out how the genes function, understand disease mechanisms and identify targets for the drugs.

NAMI's Duckworth said it might be 5 to 50 years before genetic findings translate into changes in clinical practice. It's a very long journey.

Meanwhile, many people living with mental illness rely on peer support in addition to medication and psychotherapy. The Murrys check on each other daily.

I can always tell when he's having a bad day. He can always tell when I'm having a bad day, said Chastity Murry, who has also been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and an anxiety disorder. If I'm acting a little off or something, he'll ask me: Have you taken your meds today? But I don't get offended because I know he's got my best interest in mind.

Both have also learned and grown from working as volunteers. Together, they facilitate support groups twice a week, check in with peers regularly by phone, and have been trained to help people who are suicidal.

This is my path in life, and his path as well, Chastity Murry said. We're helping them, but they're also helping us.