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TTSH first to perform robotic gastrectomy in SE Asia

2012-01-12T22:34:00.001-08:00

More breathroughs, I suppose, in the medical field: would you be operated on by a human doctor when your time comes, or by an android, or perhaps, a really no-frills, no cosmetics metals-and-wires mechanical robot? Who can tell?
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By Olivia Siong | Posted: 26 December 2011

SINGAPORE: A more precise surgery method is now available to those suffering from stomach cancer. Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has become the first in Southeast Asia to perform the robotic gastrectomy procedure.

Stomach cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Singapore, and doctors say that stomach cancer is largely triggered by poor lifestyle choices, such as overeating or eating too much barbequed food. Only a small percentage is caused by genetic factors.

75-year-old Loh Ah Mye was diagnosed with stage one stomach cancer last month. But due to her age, doctors found it risky for her to go through the usual key hole surgery to remove cancer cells.

She opted to undergo the robotic gastrectomy procedure, and became the first person in Southeast Asia to do so. The procedure is commonly performed in Korea and Japan, where the incidence of stomach cancer is high.

Madam Loh said: "I really did recover quite quickly. When I woke up from the operation, yes I was in pain, but I could get up to walk around and also go to the toilet."

The surgeon performing the robotic gastrectomy procedure operates on the patient through the use of a console while watching a 3D high-definition screen. Instruments, which are mounted on robotic arms controlled by the doctor, are then inserted into the body.

The robotic arms are able to mimic the movement of the hand and the wrist within the abdomen. This allows freer movement and precision. This especially helps lymph node dissection, which is much more difficult to perform in laparoscopic surgery.

The portion affected by cancer cells in the abdomen is then removed.

The surgery is typically conducted on people with stage 1 and 2 cancer, when the affected area is still relatively small. Trials are underway to see if such a surgery is suitable for later stages of stomach cancer.

Dr Jaideepraj Rao, a consultant with the Department of General Surgery at TTSH, said: "In this kind of key hole surgery or robotic surgery, the incisions are extremely small, so the pain is much less and they recover faster. We have high-definition cameras that can zoom in, so really we see the field magnified, every small structure can be identified, so our dissection is very meticulous and there's less blood loss."

Madam Loh said she still suffers from some side-effects from the operation, as she still throws up some of her food.

But doctors said that this is a common response to most stomach surgeries.

Currently the robotic gastrectomy method costs more for the patient.

However, doctors said the price is likely to drop, as they expect more people to opt for this kind of surgery. This method has also been used in other hospitals in Singapore for prostate and colon cancer.

-CNA/ac

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
TTSH first to perform robotic gastrectomy in SE Asia

US revokes Roche's Avastin for breast cancer

2011-12-19T19:32:00.001-08:00

Is this a propaganda, or one that is politically-motivated? My mind can't grasp that yet... I really don't know what it is...
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Posted: 19 November 2011

WASHINGTON: US health officials on Friday revoked the authorisation of Roche's Avastin for breast cancer treatment, saying it concluded the drug had "not been shown to be safe and effective for that use."

Avastin will still remain on the market as an approved treatment for certain types of colon, lung, kidney and brain cancer, the US Food and Drug Administration said in a statement.

"This was a difficult decision," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said.

"FDA recognises how hard it is for patients and their families to cope with metastatic breast cancer and how great a need there is for more effective treatments. But patients must have confidence that the drugs they take are both safe and effective for their intended use."

The latest move followed the recommendation of an expert panel that said the drug, also known under the generic name bevacizumab, carries risks such as severe high blood pressure and haemorrhage and does not prolong overall survival in women suffering from breast cancer.

The FDA had accepted the expert report that Avastin was not an effective treatment for breast cancer but Roche decided to appeal.

Hamburg said studies indicate that women who take Avastin for metastatic breast cancer "risk potentially life-threatening side effects without proof that the use of Avastin will provide a benefit, in terms of delay in tumour growth, that would justify those risks."

"Nor is there evidence that use of Avastin will either help them live longer or improve their quality of life," she added.

Avastin, which is marketed in the United States by the firm Genentech for its Swiss parent Roche, was approved for metastatic breast cancer in February 2008 under the FDA's accelerated approval programme.

The program provides early access to promising new drugs to treat serious or life-threatening conditions while clinical trials to confirm their efficacy are conducted.

In the case of Avastin, the accelerated approval was based on promising results from one study that suggested it could extend the lives of women with advanced breast cancer.

Genentech said in a statement it was "disappointed with the outcome."

"We remain committed to the many women with this incurable disease and will continue to provide help through our patient support programmes to those who may be facing obstacles to receiving their treatment in the United States," said Hal Barron, chief medical officer of the group.

"Despite today's action, we will start a new Phase III study of Avastin in combination with paclitaxel in previously untreated metastatic breast cancer and will evaluate a potential biomarker that may help identify which people might derive a more substantial benefit from Avastin."

European medical experts have urged that the drug be restricted to use in combination with paclitaxel only instead of other forms of chemotherapy because benefits were uncertain.

- AFP/de

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
US revokes Roche's Avastin for breast cancer

WHO plans financial reforms

2011-12-14T16:28:00.001-08:00

This is a late covering of the WHO reform...
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Posted: 05 November 2011

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation plans financial reforms as it seeks to cope with budget shortfalls amid the global economic crisis, an official said Friday.

Proposals include reducing the size of the UN agency's Geneva headquarters by sending some staff to work in less expensive areas, the WHO's director of strategy Daniel Lopez-Acuna told reporters.

The WHO's executive body said after an extraordinary session this week that the organisation was planning "ambitious reforms designed to build on the organisation's already strong foundations and better equip it to respond to public health challenges in the 21st century."

But Lopez-Acuna said not to expect a "big bang". Reforms at the 63-year-old organisation with a staff of nearly 8,500 around the world will be "a process that takes some time," he said.

In May, the WHO's 193 members adopted an austerity budget for 2012-2013 in the face of a deficit of some $300 million (215 million euros) in donor contributions prompted by the global crisis.

Some 300 headquarters staff will be axed, but further reforms are needed.

Resources will increasingly be transferred to in-country programmes, Lopez-Acuna said, and some activities could be shut down entirely depending on funding and priorities.

The executive council's statement Thursday following a three-day meeting said the body would meet again in January to examine ways to "better anticipate and be more flexible in its financing".

In the interim, it authorised the WHO leadership to take "immediate measures", the statement said, without elaborating.

- AFP/wk

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
WHO plans financial reforms

World leaders vow to fight polio

2011-11-29T00:28:00.001-08:00

It is good to know that even once is a while, world leaders are united towards a good cause, and not fighting each other...
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Posted: 29 October 2011

PERTH, Australia: World leaders Saturday added their weight to a push to eradicate polio, pledging millions of dollars in new funds to bring an end to the crippling and potentially fatal disease.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, said her country would spend A$50 million ($53.5 million) over four years towards the global fight.

"While polio remains anywhere in the world it is a threat to anyone," she told a joint news conference with leaders from Britain, Canada and two of the world's four polio endemic countries -- Pakistan and Nigeria -- by her side.

"We are here today to demonstrate our commitment to ending the fight against polio, that is ending polio for all time."

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said his country would commit further investments in polio surveillance and immunisations without giving a figure, while philanthropist Bill Gates pledged $40 million in new funding.

"We're at a crossroads," Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said via a video message, adding that recent cases in China highlighted the risk of polio spreading back across the globe.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said he would raise annual spending on fighting polio from $17 million to $30 million from 2012.

Jonathan said while the disease had been reduced by 75 per cent in the African nation, it remained present in some states and had started to make a comeback over the past year.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, whose government in January pledged 40 million pounds ($64.5 million) to fight the disease, said the world was in sight of eradicating the disease.

"Today for the vast majority of countries polio has been eliminated and the harrowing images of children in iron lungs banished to the past," he said.

"But for all this progress we haven't quite finished the job and the truth is that nearly eradicated is just not good enough."

Cameron said the world now ran the danger of going backwards on ending the disease which mainly affects children.

"If we fail to get rid of polio we run the risk of seeing it spread back to countries from which it has been eradicated," he said.

Polio remains a challenge for the 54-nation Commonwealth, with three of the four of the world's endemic countries -- India, Nigeria and Pakistan -- members. Afghanistan is the fourth state in which the highly contagious disease has not been eradicated.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he was concerned that polio had re-emerged in his country, which shares a long, rugged and porous border with war-ravaged Afghanistan.

"This situation is totally unacceptable," he said, adding that medical staff often had difficulty reaching those in need given the difficult terrain and the problem of insurgents.

In areas where the oral vaccine was most needed, he said, there were people who were "so fanatical they don't let the doctors into this area".

"But we are trying our best," he added.

Gillard said it was possible the disease, which in 1954 held Perth in its grip, preventing Britain's Queen Elizabeth II from staying onshore during her maiden visit Down Under, could be ended for ever.

"Change is possible," she said. "This is an issue which within our lifetime was a problem right around the world. Now we are in grasping distance of the end of polio worldwide and that is what we are determined to do."

- AFP/wk

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Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
World leaders vow to fight polio

PSLE results show the inner person

2011-11-27T20:31:00.000-08:00

Image by goh-wz.livejournal.com via Flickr28-Nov-2011

Last week, specifically 24th November, the results for PSLE was out. The many feelings and emotions. Mixed. Varied. Elation. Depression. Name it, and you have it (or others have it).

One student was very brave and forward-looking, the kind of spirit that can survive crises. Although the result indicated failure, the child did not - and was looking forward to making good the next time around.

And many posted their numbers and categories at Facebook.

And their arrogance!

Well, I was keeping my quiet, and my wife and I, we were discussing how some achieved, and some others simply failed.

A remark said on one’s result: “Mana!” (Genetics!)

It was proven come Sunday school class. Whatever triggered the discussion, each one who took the PSLE told of their score in class. And surprisingly (or should I say NOT surprisingly), one boy said out loud, “I got 2xx and the highest in my class is 2xx!”

The figure is the same, so you know what the boy was telling.

Everybody was quiet, until another boy said, “Don’t boast lah!”

And everyone in the class LOL!

Later at home evening time, my daughter told about that incident, and we were all laughing. I was telling her, you should have answered back, “That score is the lowest in our school!”. Okay, okay, that is just an exaggeration, but it is a way to slap the arrogant person, figuratively…

My wife relayed that incident later on to another church mate, and the reply was, “The father is known for that same mark – arrogance.”

So the remark is correct: “Mana talaga!” (Really genetics!).

And these are the kind of leaders we elect… I’m just glad that I had no participation whatsoever in the election…

May God forgive me for being arrogant myself… sometimes… I mean, you don’t have to be the one telling how great you are – wait for others to do that, especially the Lord.

Ps 75:5: God is the judge. He decides who will be important. He lifts one person up and brings another down.

Jer 9:24: but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

Encephalitis in India kills 430

2011-11-24T06:48:00.001-08:00

This is a late post, and just chronicling...
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Posted: 16 October 2011

NEW DELHI: At least 430 people, mainly children, have died from an outbreak of encephalitis in a deeply neglected region of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Saturday.

K.P. Kushwaha, chief paediatrician at the BRD Medical College in the state's hardest-hit Gorakhpur district, said it was one of the worst outbreaks of encephalitis in the impoverished region, which borders Nepal.

"The situation is grim and the epidemic is worse than previous years and with so many patients there are no empty beds at the hospital," Khuswaha said.

"We count such cases since January but most of these casualties have occurred since July."

He said more than 2,400 patients have been admitted to government hospitals in the region so far this year of which at least 430 have died.

"Until Saturday, 336 children and 94 adults have died," Kushwaha told AFP by telephone from the overcrowded hospital where patients were lying two to a bed.

He said 262 patients were undergoing treatment in the state-run facility.

"Everyday between 30 and 40 patients are being brought in for treatment," he said.

Some 215 people, a majority of them children, succumbed to encephalitis in Gorakhpur last year while the death toll from the disease in 2005 was more than 1,400 in Uttar Pradesh.

Eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh are ravaged by encephalitis each year as malnourished children succumb to the virus, officials say.

Encephalitis causes brain inflammation and can result in brain damage. Symptoms include headaches, seizures and fever.

Health experts say 70 million children nationwide are at risk of encephalitis.

Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, has been struggling for years with an encephalitis prevention programme, vaccinating millions of children against the virus.

- AFP/wk

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Encephalitis in India kills 430

Long-Term Unemployment Can Tax Mental Health

2011-10-26T05:45:00.001-07:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeEven in resilient people, six months' unemployment has psychological impact, research shows

October 19, 2011

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Americans who were jobless for longer than 25 weeks in the past year were three times more likely than those who were continuously employed to suffer mental health issues for the first time, a new study finds.

Being jobless also has a greater psychological impact on people with more than a high school education than on those with less education, the researchers found.

The study involved people who had never had clinically defined emotional health issues in their life or who had their first bout of problems in the most recent year.

"In looking at this group of resilient individuals, we compared the psychological health of those who were fully employed with those who were exposed to short-term unemployment or less than 25 weeks of involuntary joblessness, and with people who were exposed to long-term unemployment over the past year," Arthur Goldsmith, an economics professor at Washington and Lee University, said in a university news release.

The findings were scheduled for presentation Wednesday at a Congressional briefing on the emotional impact of unemployment sponsored by the American Psychological Association.

"The reason we focus on this group is that if you're 55 years old, and you've never had a bout of poor emotional well-being that would be described clinically in that way, and have your first bout in the past year when you are exposed to unemployment, it's very unlikely that your poor mental health led to the unemployment rather than your unemployment leading to the poor mental health. Thus, we are able to address the issue of causality that has plagued prior studies of the link between unemployment and mental health," Goldsmith explained.

He and his colleagues found that the risk of first-time mental health issues was about the same for people who were fully employed and those who experienced short-term unemployment.

"On the other hand, we found that people exposed to long-term unemployment were three times as likely as employed people over the past year to be exposed to their first bout of psychological distress in a clinically defined way," Goldsmith said.

Depression and general anxiety are the two primary causes of poor mental health related to long-term unemployment, the study found.

"When people are exposed to long-term unemployment, they obviously feel that they've lost control of their capacity to earn a living and take care of their families," Goldsmith said. "They worry about their futures."

The study also found that the psychological impact of unemployment tends to be greater among people in minority groups and those with higher levels of education.

For a person in a minority group, unemployment likely heightens their concerns about their ability to do well due to a history of job discrimination because of race and ethnicity.

"People with a lot of education tend to believe that they have control of events in their lives and are self-blamers. That is really damaging to emotional well-being," Goldsmith explained.

The research should be considered preliminary because it has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

More information
The Canadian Mental Health Association offers tips for coping with unemployment.
Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Taken from USNews.com, Health News; source article is below:
Long-Term Unemployment Can Tax Mental Health

86% of Workers Obese or Have Other Health Issue

2011-10-19T04:30:00.001-07:00

Image by Augur Marketing via Flickr
OCTOBER 17, 2011

By Phil Izzo

Just 1 in 7 U.S. workers is of normal weight without a chronic health problem, according toGallup polling data, and it could be costing the economy more than $153 billion a year in lost productivity from increased sick days.

Gallup polled more than 100,000 full-time workers, and found that two-thirds of the work force is either overweight or obese and nearly half are both overweight and have at least one chronic health problem. The numbers on obesity are calculated using self-reported height and weight, which means the numbers could be even higher. Studies have shown that people tend to underestimate their weight and overestimate their height.

Workers who were overweight or obese were more likely to miss work than those of normal weight, but chronic health problems were a much bigger factor. Even among those of normal weight, chronic conditions are prevalent, as nearly 60% of those workers report a continuing health issue. Chronic health problems included having ever been diagnosed with a heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, diabetes, asthma, or depression; and recurring physical pain in the neck or back or knee or leg in the last 12 months.

Gallup estimates that 450 million days of work a year are missed because of weight and other health problems, resulting in an estimated cost of $153 billion in lost productivity.

“The $153 billion in lost productivity estimated in this analysis would increase if it included presenteeism, which is when employees go to work but are less productive in their jobs because of poor health or wellbeing. Including part-time employees would also add to the estimate of costs in lost productivity,” said Dan Witters and Sangeeta Agrawal who presented the data on Gallup’s Web site. They also point to a study that puts the figure much higher at $1.1 trillion.

The data were collected this year, and there is a chance that the slow-to-recover economy is making the problem worse. Workers are facing stressful conditions amid a stubbornly high unemployment rate and demands from wary employers to do more with less. The Mayo clinic notes that stress puts people at increased risk for developing health problems including obesity, depression and heart disease.

Taken from Wall Street Journa blogl; source article is below:
86% of Workers Obese or Have Other Health Issue

Overweight Workers With Health Issues Have More Sick Days

2011-10-19T04:29:00.001-07:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
October 17, 2011

UNDATED (WTVB) - If you are a full time worker, there’s an 86% chance you have weight or health problems. That eye-popping number is part of a Gallup Healthways study which says these workers are costing businesses in the U.S. more than 150-billion dollars a year in sick days.

Chronic health problems were defined as past heart attacks, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, diabetes, asthma or depression. Researchers found that overweight workers with at least three chronic health conditions reported an average of 42 days a year in which poor health kept them from their usual activities. That's compared to about four days a year for workers of normal weight with no chronic health problems.

Researchers found that workers took about one day off work for every three of these so-called "unhealthy days."

Taken from WTVBAM.com; source article is below:
Overweight Workers With Health Issues Have More Sick Days

AWAK Technologies' wearable artificial kidney on clinical trials

2011-10-18T04:29:00.001-07:00

Posted: 01 September 2011

SINGAPORE: AWAK Technologies on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with University Children's Hospital Tubingen, Germany, for clinical trials of automated wearable artificial kidneys on paediatric patients.

AWAK Technologies was incorporated in 2007 in collaboration with Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore to design and develop Automated Wearable Artificial Kidney (AWAK) to address end-stage renal disease market.

This marks AWAK's automated wearable artificial kidney's first trial on paediatric patients and the beginning of long-term collaboration in advancement of paediatric renal research.

The collaboration between AWAK Technologies and University Children's Hospital Tubingen aims to bring a much more effective and efficient therapy that suits the life of children while having dialysis.

Children on dialysis tend to have poor appetite which limits their nutritional intake. With little energy intake, this can lead to decreased in activity and resistance to infection.

AWAK's automated wearable artificial kidney allows for better dietary protein intake.

Typical centre-based dialysis requires paediatric patients to spend four hours, three times a week at the centre. The new wearable artificial kidney allows children to undergo dialysis anytime and anywhere.

The greatest benefit of the wearable artificial kidney to paediatric patients is their ability to travel freely, allowing them to attend school and participate in family and social activities.

SPRING Singapore facilitated the meeting between AWAK Technologies and University Children's Hospital Tubingen during a Germany business mission trip in 2009.

"The automated wearable artificial kidney is a major breakthrough in the care of children with renal insufficiency. The children become independent from dialysis centres and will be able to continue a normal life with their families and friends.

"It is an honour that AWAK has chosen our paediatric centre to bring this highly innovative and ground-breaking technique to clinical application," said Professor Rupert Handgretinger, Medical Director of General Paediatrics, Haematology, Oncology (Department I) and Managing Medical Director of the University Children's Hospital Tubingen.

"It is great honour to be able to partner University Children's Hospital Tubingen, a world renowned medical institution of paediatric care and research in the application of automated wearable artificial kidney.

"In our visits to Tubingen, facilitated by SPRING Singapore, we were impressed by the innovative, leading-edge paediatric medicine and great medical care through the leadership of Prof Rupert Handgretinger. I believe the enthusiasm of both parties in bringing an innovative therapy to the world will greatly benefits paediatric ESRD patients," said Mr Neo Kok Beng, Chief Executive Officer and President of AWAK Technologies.

The MOU signing ceremony was witnessed by Mr Png Cheong Boon, Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore and Dr Tim Philippi, Executive Director, Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

- CNA/de

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
AWAK Technologies' wearable artificial kidney on clinical trials

US STD research killed 83

2011-10-16T02:47:00.001-07:00

Posted: 30 August 2011

WASHINGTON: At least 83 people died as human guinea pigs in macabre US research on sexually transmitted diseases in Guatemala in the 1940s, a commission ordered by US President Barack Obama concluded Monday.

Nearly 5,500 people were subjected to diagnostic testing and more than 1,300 were exposed to venereal diseases by human contact or inoculations in research meant to test the drug penicillin, the presidential commission found.

Within that group, "we believe that there were 83 deaths," said Stephen Hauser a member of the commission, which has pored over 125,000 documents linked to the shocking episode since being set up by Obama last November.

Among the 1,300 people exposed to STDs during research between 1946 and 1948, "under 700 received some form of treatment as best as could be documented," Hauser said.

Obama personally apologised to Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom in October before ordering a thorough review of what happened. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the experiments as "clearly unethical."

This sentiment was clearly expressed by the commission, which said US government researchers must have known they were contravening ethical standards by deliberately infecting mental patients with syphilis.

Commission president Amy Gutmann called it an "historic injustice," and said the inquiry aimed to "honour the victims and make sure it never happens again."

"It was not an accident that this happened in Guatemala," Gutmann said. "Some of the people involved said we could not do this in our own country."

The US researchers "systematically failed to act in accordance with minimal respect for human rights and morality in the conduct of research," she said, citing "substantial evidence" of an attempted cover-up.

A Guatemalan study, which was never published, came to light in 2010 after Wellesley College professor Susan Reverby stumbled upon archived documents outlining the experiment led by controversial US doctor John Cutler.

Cutler and his fellow researchers enrolled 1,500 people in Guatemala, including mental patients, for the study, which aimed to find out if penicillin could be used to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

Initially, the researchers infected female Guatemalan commercial sex workers with gonorrhea or syphilis, and then encouraged them to have unprotected sex with soldiers or prison inmates.

Neither were the subjects told what the purpose of the research was nor were they warned of its potentially fatal consequences.

Cutler, who died in 2003, was also involved in a highly controversial study known as the Tuskegee Experiment in which hundreds of African-American men with late-stage syphilis were observed but given no treatment between 1932 and 1972.

The Guatemalan president has called the 1946-1948 experiments conducted by the US National Institutes of Health "crimes against humanity" and ordered his own investigation.

-AFP/wk

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
US STD research killed 83

Australians develop 'smart' bandage

2011-08-11T02:09:00.001-07:00

Are our Aussie friends insisting on being an emerging nation? That's good!
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Posted: 07 June 2011

SYDNEY: Australian researchers have developed a "smart" bandage that changes colour as a wound worsens or improves, potentially leading to the better treatment of ailments such as leg ulcers.

Lead inventor Louise van der Werff, a materials scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, said the dressing would change from red to blue depending on the temperature of the wound.

"If the wound becomes infected then it typically gets warmer. It would get cooler if there were, for example, a compromised blood supply," she told AFP on Monday.

Van der Werff said wound changes were not always obvious and the fibre she helped devise, using liquid crystals which react to different temperatures, could show changes of less than half a degree Celsius.

"A temperature is sort of an obvious indication - if they can see that through a colour change then hopefully it can help a lot," she said.

Van der Werff, who is completing her doctorate at Monash University in Melbourne, said plans were underway to incorporate the colour-changing fibre into a textile which could then be woven or knitted into a wound dressing.

"Our main target is for chronic wound care - the elderly, obese and people with diabetes who can get wounds like leg ulcers and pressure ulcers and things like that which can really last a long time without healing properly," she said.

- AFP/de

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Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Australians develop 'smart' bandage

WHO puts back decision on smallpox virus samples

2011-06-29T19:08:00.001-07:00

Well, this is the answer to the disputes!
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Posted: 24 May 2011

GENEVA - After two days of dispute over the future of smallpox virus samples, member states of the World Health Organization decided Tuesday to postpone their negotiations on the issue for three years.

In a draft resolution put forward on Monday to the 193 WHO member states, Russia and the US sought to conserve the samples, and wanted to begin discussing a possible date for their destruction only in five years.

Many countries, however, want them destroyed as soon as possible and, with no deal in sight after two days, the member states decided to look to the 67th World Health Assembly in three years' time to reexamine the subject.

The question surrounding the destruction of the last official stocks of the deadly virus held by US and Russian laboratories has been recurring at the WHO since 1986.

Washington and Moscow want the viruses kept for scientific reasons, saying that it is necessary to continue research on their vaccines in order to prevent any resurgence of the transmissible disease which was officially eradicated in 1980.

They fear, in particular, that countries may have secretly kept the virus to be used as a biological weapon.

The European Union, Canada, Israel, Monaco, Colombia and China were among countries that support the US and Russia.

However, Iran speaking on behalf of 20 countries, as well as Thailand, Zimbabwe and Malaysia, were strongly against, saying that immediate destruction of the virus must be imposed.

- AFP/al

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
WHO puts back decision on smallpox virus samples

Row at WHO meet over future of smallpox virus samples

2011-06-29T18:56:00.001-07:00

Now, this may be a late news, but it is worth keeping (and reading)...
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Posted: 23 May 2011

GENEVA - The World Health Organisation on Monday held a stormy discussion over the future of smallpox virus samples, which Russia and the United States are seeking to preserve while others want them destroyed.

The question surrounding the destruction of the last official stocks of the deadly virus held by the US and Russian laboratories has been recurring at the WHO since 1986.

Washington and Moscow want the viruses kept for scientific reasons, saying that it is necessary to continue research on their vaccines in order to prevent any resurgence of the transmissible disease which was eradicated in 1979.

They fear, in particular, that countries may have secretly kept the virus to be used as a biological weapon.

In a draft resolution put forward on Monday to the 193 WHO member states, Russia and the US once again sought to conserve the samples, and wanted to begin discussing a possible date for their destruction only in five years.

"We feel that we do not have sufficient guarantees on the efficiency and the preparation of the vaccines," explained the Russian envoy.

"Destruction will be irreversible," he added, noting that it is necessary to be "doubly prudent on a question that concerns security of all humanity."

"After the research, we can determine a date," he added.

The European Union, Canada, Israel, Monaco, Colombia and China were among countries that supported the move.

However, some 20 countries, including north African states, Iran, Thailand, Zimbabwe and Malaysia, were strongly against the resolution, saying that immediate destruction of the virus must be imposed.

"There is no longer scientific justification to keep these viruses," said a Malaysian diplomat.

"It's been 30 years since we agreed to keep the stocks," noted an Iranian envoy. "It is about time to fix a definitive date" to eradicate them.

Amid the discord, the WHO decided to create a working group to work towards a compromise draft later Monday.

- AFP/al

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Row at WHO meet over future of smallpox virus samples

Workers, firms benefit from paid sick leave: study

2011-06-13T00:55:00.001-07:00

Image by jungmoon via FlickrI didn't know this, or at least this is to say that there are some companies, perhaps small ones, that don't allow paid sick leave.

this study finds out that providing for workers a paid sick leave is beneficial.

Read on...
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS May 20, 2011, 11:06AM ET
By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI
TRENTON, N.J.

Providing paid sick leave for all New Jersey workers would provide public health benefits as well as financial benefits for businesses, a study found.

Rutgers University's Center for Women and Work, which released the study findings on Thursday, found more than 1.2 million private sector workers in New Jersey don't get paid sick days.

If ailing workers know they can stay home and still be paid, they'll be able to get earlier and preventive health care and would be more likely to avoid costly visits to hospital emergency rooms, its authors concluded. They said that would reduce health care costs and allow workers to return to the job sooner.

"People without paid sick leave often have to choose between going to work sick and paying their bills. This highlights a disconnect between common sense measures that can aid public health and current policies," said Jonathan Heller of Human Impact Partners, a California-based organization focusing on health issues. "We must not only see (providing paid sick days) as good labor policy, but as good public health policy."

Proponents say they're not aware of any lawmakers who are planning to introduce such legislation, though they remain hopeful it will get more attention in the near future.

But the New Jersey Business and Industry Association says mandating paid sick leave would have a "serious, negative effect" on small businesses.

"Most large firms already provide it, so it really is a small business issue. And most small businesses either can't afford to do it or don't have enough people to cover shifts that need to be covered or perform duties that need to be done," associated President Phil Kirschner said. "Small companies also tend to be more flexible on these matters, so not providing paid sick days doesn't mean they don't accommodate employees when they're sick."

-----

Taken from businenessweek.com; source article is below:
Study: Workers, firms benefit from paid sick leave

No Smoking in China

2011-05-15T17:35:00.001-07:00

Image via WikipediaWill they really put a tab on smoking, while they generate tons of money from its sales?
-----

1 May 2011

By Chris HoggBBC News, Shanghai

A ban on smoking in public places has come into force in China - home to a third of the world's smokers.

The move is aimed at curbing the number of deaths from smoking-related diseases, running at a million a year.

But the new rules have been criticised because they do not include punishments for those who choose to ignore them.

Business owners often resent efforts to force them to ban smoking on their premises, because many customers do not like the rules and complain.

The new rules prohibit smoking in places like restaurants, hotels, railway stations or theatres, but not at the office.

Employers will be obliged to warn staff of the dangers of smoking but not to forbid them from lighting up at their desks.

Resistance

Shanghai imposed similar rules a year ago, but people do not seem to take much notice of them.

Often you find people smoking at the next table while you are eating your meal or having a drink in a bar.

The problem is the regulations do not specify punishments for businesses or individuals who flout them.

It appears that many Chinese people are unaware of the dangers of smoking. Research suggests only one in four knows the harm cigarettes or second-hand smoke can cause.

Officials say they have to try to persuade people not to smoke to try to reduce the numbers dying from smoking related diseases.

At the same time though the government makes a lot of money from the sales of cigarettes by the state-owned firm that makes and sells all tobacco products throughout the country.

-----

Taken from bbc.co.uk; source article is below:
China ban on smoking in public places comes into force

Lack of sleep can make you overly optimistic, says study

2011-04-12T19:31:00.001-07:00

And if you stay awake playing games at the casino, you tend to be 'brave' betting more and more...
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Posted: 09 March 2011

WASHINGTON: When people do not get enough sleep, they tend to make overly optimistic decisions and may be more prone to risky gambling, US researchers said on Tuesday.

The study published in the journal Neuroscience provides scientific evidence for what casino managers have long known - that flashing lights and ringing slot machines encourage gamblers to keep going until their money is gone.

Scientists used magnetic resonance imagining (MRI) to examine the brains of people who had spent a night of disturbed and shortened sleep compared to their better-rested counterparts.

The scans showed increased activity in the parts of the brain that assess positive outcomes, and decreased activity in the areas that process negative outcomes.

"Using a risky decision-making task, we showed that sleep deprivation shifted most persons' bias from avoiding loss to pursuing gain," said the study by Duke University researchers in North Carolina and Singapore.

The study examined 29 healthy adult volunteers with an average age of 22, and asked them to perform a series of economic decision-making tasks after a normal night of sleep and again after a night of sleep-deprivation.

Sleep deprivation "appears to create an optimism bias; for example, participants behave as if positive consequences are more likely (or more valuable) and as if negative consequences are less likely (or less harmful)," it said.

Drinking caffeine, getting fresh air or exercising are not enough to combat the effects of fatigue, said lead author Vinod Venkatraman, a graduate student in Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke.

"Late-night gamblers are fighting more than just the unfavourable odds of gambling machines; they are fighting a sleep-deprived brain's tendency to implicitly seek gains while discounting the impact of potential losses," said Venkatraman.

- AFP/de

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Lack of sleep can make you overly optimistic, says study

Outlook: Will Japan recover position as world key player after?

2011-04-04T23:19:00.001-07:00

Image via WikipediaWe had our internal meeting today, and one of the questions that I asked is how the company is managing the supply shortage with Japan out of the supply chain.

"They are scampering to switch substrates," was the answer. Who is the 'they'? Those in-charge, of course.

Anyway, that isn't the point at all.

The point is - that change is so massive, and so massive that if the future, in the event that Japan comes back to the playing field and starts producing, the switch back may not be that easy after all.

So the question is, when the time comes, and Japan springs back to production, will everybody else be willing to switch back?

I'm just preempting the possible extent of Japan's damage, even in its industries.

Will Japan ever recover position as world key player afterwards?

Just my thoughts...

Lesson from Japan's earthquake and tsunami disasters

2011-04-04T18:02:00.001-07:00

Image by Kordian via FlickrThe day Japan was struck by earthquake and tsunami, I briefly discussed with my wife the possible impact to the world of Japan's partial destruction (we know roughly what that means by now, and its extent, current extent).

"In a week's time," I said, "the impact will be felt by the world." And that is true enough. Roughly three weeks after the incident, we are already starting to feel the absence of a major key player in the semiconductor industry - while there are many subsidiaries worldwide, Japan is still the major source of raw materials that these outsourced franchises rely on to build their subsequent products that is consumed by worldwide factories.

What will Jack Welch and John Maxwell write about the Japan incident that we will learn from, all of us, not just leaders?

That book, if I live to see and read it, I am sure will be worth waiting for.

Perhaps it is too much of a tragedy that struck Japan, but were the japanese people thinking of being hit? they got hit, and they asked what anybody who gets hit asks, "Why me?!" That is as if to say, "Why not the others?"

Well, were they thinking of the others that got hit when they're not?

I'm not saying that all those who perished or suffered in that tragedy well deserve it, whatever that means. Sometimes we reap the consequences of our actions, but I am not saying that all who died or affected deserved the rightful judgement. Who am I to say that?

But this is my point. Were those who cried 'Foul!' rightly playing by the rules? Did they stop to think and empathize with those who were recently hit by similar tragedies in other parts of the world? Japan's case isn't the first one - there's been too many - and it won't be the last. As predicted, the belt would be continuously moving, once it moves. How many more earthquakes are we therefore expecting?

And so, with a short thought from me, I hope we learn from what has happened to Japan, now, and then. And not only Japan, but also from Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, and from all the other countless incidents and accidents that has happened in the past - to prioritize what we should, and not live in this world alone, not mindful of others who are suffering, simply because we are well off and convenient in our small, little place. Let our mind be broader and our perspective wider, and we would be living in a better world, whatever hardship we face.

Hopefully, I live long enough to see and read and learn from the book that Jack Welch or John Maxwell will write about leadership lessons from the Japan earthquake and tsunami incidents.

I hope we all do.

Till then!

Money crisis and mental health

2011-03-23T20:19:00.001-07:00

Image by bitzcelt via FlickrI came across this article from MoneySavingExpert.com, and it seems a sensible article to be read, and apply or implement the suggested solutions/resolutions.

What think ye? Read on, and let us know.

There is actually a sort of caveat indicated at the end of the article from the source, so take note!
-----

Guy Anker
News Editor
24 February 2011

People suffering from mental health problems are almost five times as likely to have severe debts compared to everyone else.

That is the most shocking finding from a MoneySavingExpert.com poll to determine the scale of the problem of mental health and debt.

We are today launching a campaign to tackle the marriage made in hell of mental health and debt, including a major new free guide for sufferers and their carers (see the free Mental Health & Debt Help booklet).

Research for the guide showed that mental health problems cause debt, while debt worries also cause mental health issues.

In the poll of 6,700 people, 44% of those who've had mental health problems (or have partners who do) have had severe or crisis debts, nearly five times as many as everyone else (9%).

We asked the same questions of those with mental health problem and those without. Here are the results:

Those who've had or have mental health issues, including where partner had mental health problems.

Never been in debt – 18%
Only ever had limited debts – 22%
Big debts but not a problem – 16%
Severe or crisis debts – 44%

No mental health issues

Never been in debt – 34%
Only ever had limited debts – 41%
Big debts but not a problem – 16%
Severe or crisis debts – 9%

In both cases, mortgage and student loan debts are excluded.

Separate figures also show one in four British adults experiences at least one mental health problem a year such as clinical depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder.

Meanwhile, 38% of those seeking debt help had considered or attempted suicide. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg this month pledged to give an extra £400 million to mental health services to put the sector on an equal footing with physical health.

Free guide

MoneySavingExpert.com today launches the first detailed guide of its type, to provide help and info for those with mental health and debt problems. It also provides help for family, friends, carers and counsellors.

The free PDF booklet was written with guidance from several leading charities including Mind, Rethink and Christians Against Poverty. It includes help on where to find free one-to-one debt counselling, working with banks, tips for bipolar and depression sufferers and how friends and carers can help.

The Mental health and debt booklet can be downloaded free.

Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com creator, says: "Those who have never experienced problem debt often consider it to be a purely financial issue – it's not. It can break up families, take the roof from your children's heads, kill confidence, pile on stress, cause depression and lead to suicide.

"As the UK's biggest money site, we can no longer divorce how people deal with debt emotionally and how they deal with it practically.

"I've often argued we need to focus on responsible borrowing, as you can't expect lenders to be responsible – their job is flogging debt. Yet with so many suffering from mental health problems, as a nation we need to think about how we help those who, often temporarily, cannot be responsible for themselves.

"We need to do some joined-up thinking to tackle this, such as banks allowing people to voluntarily register their mental health problems so they can track unusual spending patterns, then cut off accounts until a trusted friend says it's ok. We must help people take control.

"As debt problems tend to lag until after a recession, these days the suicidal emails we receive from people in debt are a regular, not surprise, occurrence. We've already heard from people that launching this guide has made them feel better, because they realise they're not the only ones suffering."

John Kirkby, founder of UK-wide debt-counselling charity Christians Against Poverty, says: "Life can be seriously miserable when you're dealing with problem debts. For the vast majority of our clients, these debts are not the only stressful thing going on in their lives.

"There's often relationship breakdown, illness or job loss all adding to the pressure. Feelings of hopelessness and isolation can quickly affect mental health. The good news is we see these same vulnerable people become debt free every day and this great guide from Martin Lewis and his team shows there is hope."

Paul Farmer, head of mental health charity Mind, comments: "Living with unmanageable debt is known to cause problems such as depression and anxiety, but the tactics of debt collectors can be one of the worst stresses of all.

"Mind has spoken to people who have been hounded day and night by debt agencies, had their houses invaded by bailiffs and have had to pay fees for the privilege many times greater than the original debt.

"When people's mental health deteriorates, it can be even harder for them to deal with debt, and the more their debts add up, the worse they feel, setting up a cycle of debt and despair that is very difficult to break.

"MoneySavingExpert's new guidance should be a first port of call for anyone worried about the impact of debt on their lives, so they can manage their money and seek advice before it gets out of hand."

Top ten tips for dealing with mental health and debt

There's no such thing as an unsolvable debt. Martin Lewis says: "For as long as I've been doing my job, I've never once seen a debt case that isn't solvable. It may not be easy, it may not be quick, but it's always doable." If you start to sort it out, it gets better.
Know the early warning signs. Even when people plunge into debt, depression doesn't bite overnight. Dr Rob Waller, consultant psychiatrist and director of Mindandsoul.info advises working out your warning signs such as tension headaches, arguments at work, back pain or bad skin. This is the time to take steps to keep on top of debt and depression.
If in crisis, get free debt help. If you've not got enough to pay the bills, visit a non-profit free debt counsellor, whose job is to help you, not to make money out of you. Try Christians Against Poverty, which specialises in helping those in debt who are emotionally struggling, or agencies such as the Consumer Credit Counselling Service and Citizens Advice.
Stop borrowing. It sounds obvious, but sorting out existing debts is harder if you keep adding to them. If you feel up to tackling your finances, the easy start point is to do a budget and work out where the money's going (see the free Budget Planner).
Consider informing your bank. Once a lender is aware a customer has a mental health condition, it has to make adjustments. The Lending Code says banks should consider keeping a debt in-house rather than passing it to debt collectors and make court action the last resort. Though telling your bank is a decision to discuss carefully with a case worker or debt counsellor.
Check if you qualify for disability living allowance (DLA). In some cases, mental health issues mean you qualify for DLA of between £19 and £121 per week (though this is currently under government review). Do Benefitsandwork.co.uk's quick DLA test see if you qualify.
Banking control if you have bipolar. A few banks have procedures that allow you to register your mental health issues and stop your overdraft going beyond a certain amount. Bipolar disorder sufferers, who may be prone to overspending during a problem episode, could consider discussing this with their bank (worth chatting through with a debt counsellor or case worker first).
Consider adding a note on your credit file. If you overspend when you are unwell, you can volunteer to add information on mental health problems to credit files in what is called a notice of correction, which alerts potential lenders so they don't lend further credit. This can be added or removed whenever you want. There is full help to evaluate this decision in the guide.
Cut interest rates. The lower your interest rate, the more of your repayment goes towards clearing the actual debt, rather than just servicing the interest. For example, if you have credit cards, see if it's possible to do a balance transfer that pays off the debts on old cards for you, so you owe the new card the money at a cheaper interest rate.
Repay highest rates first. Try listing your rates, then focusing all spare cash on clearing the highest interest debts first; just pay the minimum on everything else. Once the highest is clear, you can shift to the second costliest.

Taken from MoneySavingExpert.com; source article is below:
44% with mental health problems have crisis debts

Plus-sized athletes to First Lady: Fat can be fit

2011-03-08T23:49:00.001-08:00

A new era of athletes - fat and fit!
-----

Posted: 14 February 2011

WASHINGTON: A lifelong acolyte of exercise and fitness, Sandy Shaffer works out three times per week, eats a diet loaded with fruits and vegetables, and somehow finds time to teach a weekly aerobics class.

At five-foot, five inches (1.65 meters) and 320 pounds (145 kilograms), Shaffer also is considered obese.

But the plus-sized sports enthusiast insists that the label says little about the generally excellent state of her health.

And that is the single biggest problem she has with Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" health initiative.

"I'm glad they encourage people to move, but it's still a negative message," said Shaffer, an administrator at a New York City labor union.

"You can be healthy even if you're 300 pounds," Shaffer said.

First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" signature initiative, which marked its one year anniversary this week, aims to help kids slim down by eating better and getting more active.

The fitness community by-and-large has embraced the first lady's signature program, but a contingent of health experts and aficionados balk at equating improving one's health with lowering one's weight.

They say it is possible to be extremely fit and also "overweight" by societal norms.

"What if they end up with all the health benefits of movement, but they don't end up losing weight? Since this is an anti-obesity thing, are they not failures?" said Shaffer.

"Ballet dancers look good, but you wouldn't necessarily call them healthy if you look at what they have to do to keep at that weight," she said.

"If you take weight out of the picture and take diet out of the picture, you might get people to move longer and more often," she said.

GeMar Neloms, a physical trainer in Silver Spring, Maryland, like Shaffer has been active for decades in the realm of sports, including as a varsity lacrosse player at Oberlin College in Ohio.

She teaches a popular spinning class at Washington Sports Club in Silver Spring, Maryland where many of her students tell her that she is a role model as a "real sized" fitness instructor.

Neloms has attained an admirable level of fitness over the years in spite of a body mass index that suggests she should be considered overweight.

"I can cycle circles around a lot of thinner people. I can hold a plank position longer than a lot of thinner people," she said of a challenging yoga pose.

She confesses that she would like to be a bit thinner, but only if it happens organically as a result of her efforts to attain greater fitness -- not as a primary goal.

"Appearance plays a part, but it's not my priority, my priority has to be my overall health," said Neloms, an officer at a Washington-area non-profit.

She added that as an African-American woman she felt that metrics for what constitutes thinness may be inaccurate.

"We're built differently across cultures," she said. "We all have different body types."

Dr Kenneth Cooper, one of America's leading experts on health and obesity, told AFP that the awareness that a robust body need not mean poor health is something that he has stressed for years.

"We've incorporated both fitness and fatness into all of our studies," said Cooper, head of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, Texas and founder of the non-profit Cooper Institute which conducts health and fitness research.

"We look at fitness as measured by treadmill time as opposed to body mass index," he said.

With the current thinking, he said "I think you put too much emphasis on obesity," adding that one effective measurement of how fitness has actually improved is having a subject walk on a treadmill at 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) per hour.

"I would focus first on inactivity, then on obesity," Cooper said.

Another pet peeve he has with the "Let's Move" program, he said, is a lack of hard metrics to determine whether participants' fitness goals are actually attained.

"I think they're scratching the surface," he said.

"Unless you have some measurement you don't get anywhere. There's no means of quantifying it."

While Cooper would add hard numbers to the First Lady's program, Shaffer said she would change its public face.

One of its most visible spokespeople is diminutive former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes. Shaffer said heavyset kids might draw more inspiration from a fleshier celebrity.

How about Mo'Nique?," she suggested, referring to the full-figured Oscar-winning actress and comedian.

"She works out a lot," Shaffer said, "and she also embraces her size."

-AFP/jl

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:Plus-sized athletes to First Lady: Fat can be fit

Gates renews fight against polio

2011-02-10T00:49:00.001-08:00

Isn't this encouraging, a man who made so much money is now sharing his fortunes?
-----

Bill Gates urges renewed polio effort
Posted: 01 February 2011

NEW YORK: Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates has called for a renewed global effort to wipe out polio, warning that a resurgence of the disease could cripple and kill thousands.

"Eradicating polio is not something we can hesitate over now and say we'll get it done later," Gates told a packed room at the New York house where Franklin Roosevelt recovered after being stricken with polio at age 39, before he ran for president.

"If we stop the intense pressure we have put on polio, the virus will spread again," Gates told the audience which included famed violinist Yitzhak Perlman, who contracted polio at age four, Roosevelt's grandson Jim and grandchildren of Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, who invented vaccines against the disease decades ago.

Gates pleaded for a "renaissance" of awareness and of funding to fight polio on the day the annual letter of the philanthropic foundation he set up with his wife, Melinda, was released.

This year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's letter focuses on what the software billionaire called a "terrible disease that kills many and paralyzes others."

Polio killed 350,000 children worldwide in 1988, the year a global effort was kicked off to try to make the disease only the second after smallpox to be eradicated.

"Since then, vaccination coverage has increased significantly and the number of cases has gone down by 99 percent," Gates said. "That's incredible progress, but the last one percent remains a true danger."

The Microsoft founder said the dangers of polio had slipped from the forefront of the minds of people in the developed world, where the illness was eradicated decades ago.

Young Americans are unaware that polio killed or paralyzed 24,000 people as recently as 1952 in the United States, and have never seen "grim hospital wards full of children in iron lungs that maintained their breathing," Gates said in his letter.

Not only is waning awareness in the developed world of the severity of polio threatening to derail efforts to end it, but the global economic crisis has seen donor nations cut aid budgets as they rein in spending.

Two billion dollars are needed over the next two years to eradicate polio, and "there's a $720 million shortfall," Gates said.

Gates said his foundation could fund 15 percent of the effort to wipe out polio, but called for donor nations to follow the lead of Britain and Abu Dhabi and not cut funds for polio eradication.

British Prime Minister David Cameron joined Gates last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos to pledge 130 million dollars to help eradicate the disease.

Days before that, crown prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan also announced a grant to fight polio, which remains endemic in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan and recently resurfaced in southwest Africa and Tajikistan, after a decade with no cases.

"The majority of cases in 2010 were in countries that had been polio-free until the virus travelled back across borders and caused outbreaks in areas where people had gotten lax about vaccination," Gates said in his letter.

"Polio is kind of like fire. You have to damp it down or it will flare up in places, like it has in Tajikistan or Congo. It's a terrible thing and that is why getting to zero is so important," Gates told the gathering in New York.

Wiping out polio would save the world up to $50 billion over the next 25 years, not to mention the countless children it would spare the pain of paralysis or even death, he said.

"If eradication fails because of a lack of generosity on the part of donor countries, it would be tragic," said the billionaire philanthropist, whose foundation gives about $200 million a year to fight the disease.

-AFP/sf

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:Bill Gates urges renewed polio effort

Exec women getting serious ‘male’ health problems

2011-02-09T23:51:00.001-08:00

I think this is where women are not equal with men...
-----

Executive women face serious ‘male’ health problems
PUBLISHED | JANUARY 31, 2011

While women are fighting for equality in the workplace and are taking on executive positions in the corporate world, there is a downside to their professional success and it comes in the form of serious health problems, once typically associated with men.

Macquarie University’s Faculty of Business and Economics and iConneXX Pty Ltd are bringing together a blend of business, law, risk management, psychology and health experts at the inaugural ‘The Body & Mind Corporate’, a strategic workshop to explore the serious psychological and physical health conditions that have started to surface in executive women.

Experts such as general practitioner Dr Carole Hungerford, author of Good Health in the 21st Century and Nicola Gates, a registered Clinical Neuropsychologist, who has trained in executive coaching and cognitive behaviour training for anxiety and depression, will discuss strategies to address women’s health issues at ‘The Body & Mind Corporate’.

Dr Annette Davison, Director of iConneXX and organiser of the event said, “There is so much pressure now for women to take on these high power roles and still have a strong presence in the family home that it is no wonder that our health is struggling.”

“We’re seeing more cardiac illness and psychological problems associated with busy lifestyles as well as fertility issues associated with stress and the fact that professional women are leaving children until later, but there is not enough knowledge out there about how work places can identify the risks and then do something about them!”

Addressing the health and wellbeing issues associated with executive roles and providing options for workplaces to make the necessary changes is an essential part of growing and maintaining a healthy community and creating successful businesses.

Taken from DynamicBusiness.Com.Au; source article is below:
Executive women face serious ‘male’ health problems

Burned Biscuits

2011-01-21T00:04:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaAuthor: Unknown

When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed!

Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"

Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I'm not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker!

We could extend this to any relationship. In fact, understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your own."

So please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burned one will do just fine.

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” - Proverbs 4:7

“Die beginsel van die wysheid is: Verwerf wysheid en verwerf insig deur al wat jy besit.” - Proverbs 4:7

Blood test for cancer gets US boost

2011-01-20T18:54:00.001-08:00

Posted: 04 January 2011

WASHINGTON: Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson said Monday it is partnering with US doctors to improve a blood test that could replace biopsies and transform the field of cancer treatment.

The Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) technology, which inventors describe as a "liquid biopsy," has been touted as a revolutionary approach to diagnosing cancer since it was first developed several years ago by doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital.

It works by detecting cancer cells that have detached from a tumor and are circulating at very low levels in the blood.

But until now, the technology has been unable to do much more than count cells, giving doctors an idea of what is happening with a patient's cancer but not delivering the precision that the latest version can.

"The new technology allows us to not just count them but to understand the molecular changes that lead to the disease progression that is occurring in the cells," said Nicholas Dracopoli, vice president of Ortho Biotech Oncology Research and Development (ORD), a unit of Johnson & Johnson.

With just a single blood draw, the new technology can find and trap a single cancer cell from among a billion blood cells without the patient having to undergo invasive and often painful surgical biopsy procedures.

"That will then allow us to do sophisticated molecular analysis of those isolated cells so that we can then look and see if there are therapies that are optimally suited to a patient with those particular abnormalities," Dracopoli told AFP.

The new technique "allows us... to monitor in real time what is happening in the tumor in a way you never could if you had to do a surgical procedure each time in order to get the samples, as we do today."

In other words, doctors could know a lot sooner whether a therapy for cancer is succeeding or failing, and they could possibly tailor a patient's treatment accordingly.

The partnership brings Veridex -- the company which brought the earlier version of the test to the US market -- together with ORD and clinical researchers to develop an improved version of the current technology.

"This collaboration is an opportunity to apply our past learning to the advancement of a platform that will ultimately benefit patients with cancer," said lead CTC chip researcher Mehmet Toner in a statement.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the earlier generation technology for use in detecting cancer cells in the blood of patients with metastatic, or advanced stage, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer.

The planned "next-generation system" would be used by oncologists "as a diagnostic tool for personalizing patient care, as well as by researchers to accelerate and improve the process of drug discovery and development," Veridex said in a statement.

For instance, the test could allow for advances in treatment of lung cancer, where the tumors are not easy to feel and where research has shown certain genetic mutations respond best to specific treatments.

Dracopoli said it could be three to five years before FDA clinical trials produce results that show the technique works for detecting and treating a broader range of cancers.

"A big part of the collaboration over the next few years will be testing the technology in prospectively defined clinical trials and confirming that this information actually helps guide therapies and improves patient outcomes," he said.

"We hope this will be a means of significantly improving the way that patients are treated, in the sense that we can get information about how a patient is responding to therapy in a way that we cannot right now."

-AFP/ac

Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below: Blood test for cancer gets US boost

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