Blood Flow Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Study : Long Term Impact of Stroke

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 09:36:42 +0000

A new study looks at what problems affect people most after a stroke and it provides a broader picture than what some may usually expect to see.

Stroke affects more than just physical functioning, according to a study recently published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“People who have an only mild disability can often have ‘hidden’ problems that can really affect their quality of life,” said study author Irene L. Katzan, MD, MS, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

“And for people with more disability, what bothers them the most? Problems with sleep? Depression? Fatigue? Not many studies have asked people how they feel about these problems, and we doctors have often focused just on physical disability or whether they have another stroke.”

The study involved 1,195 people who had an ischemic stroke or a stroke where blood flow to part of the brain is blocked. They were asked questions about their physical functioning, fatigue, anxiety, sleep problems, thinking skills such as planning and organizing, how much their pain affects other aspects of their life and their satisfaction with their current social roles and activities. Participants took the questionnaires an average of 100 days after their stroke, and about a quarter of the participants needed help from a family member to fill out the questionnaires. Researchers also measured their level of disability.

The people with stroke had scores that were considerably worse than those in the general population in every area except sleep and depression. Not surprisingly, the area where the people with stroke were most affected was physical functioning, where 63 percent had scores considered meaningfully worse than those of the general population, with an average score of 59, where a score of 50 is considered the population average.

On the question about whether they were satisfied with their social roles and activities, 58 percent of people with stroke had scores meaningfully worse than those of the general population.

“People may benefit from social support programs and previous studies have shown a benefit from efforts to improve the social participation of people with stroke, especially exercise programs,” said Katzan.

The thinking skills of people with stroke in executive functions, or planning and organizing, were also affected, with 46 percent having scores that were meaningfully worse than the population average.

[vc_single_image image=”4937″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”]

“The social participation and executive functioning skills are areas that have not received a lot of attention in stroke rehabilitation,” Katzan said. “We need to better understand how these areas affect people’s well-being and determine strategies to help optimize their functioning.”

Limitations of the study include that the questionnaires did not ask about other problems that can occur after stroke, such as communication issues.

Also, the study participants had milder strokes on average than people with stroke overall and the average age of participants was 62, which is lower than the average age of 69 for people with stroke overall.

Informatively, American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with 34,000 members. AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy.

The post Study : Long Term Impact of Stroke appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

Reason of Aggression After Drink

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 10:40:39 +0000

A new study highlights how portions of the brain that temper aggression get veiled when people gulp alcohol
A new research has found the reason of aggression among people after a drink or two: it is caused because of changes in the working of the prefrontal cortex, the part normally involved in tempering a person’s level of aggression.
A report from Heidelberg, New York says researchers have used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans that measure blood flow in the brain to better understand why people often become aggressive and violent after drinking alcohol.
Also Read: Alcohol Addiction: Counselling Can be of Great Help

After only two drinks, the researchers noted changes in the working of the prefrontal cortex of the brain. The part normally involved in tempering a person’s levels of aggression.
The study was led by Prof. Thomas Denson of the University of New South Wales in Australia in the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience which is an official journal of the Psychonomic Society.
According to most theories, alcohol-related aggression is caused by changes in the prefrontal cortex. However, there is a lack of substantial neuroimaging evidence to substantiate these ideas. In this study, Prof. Denson and his team recruited fifty healthy young men. The participants were either given two drinks containing vodka, or placebo drinks without any alcohol. While lying in an MRI scanner, the participants then had to compete in a task which has regularly been used over the past 50 years to observe levels of aggression in response to provocation.
The functional magnetic resonance imaging allowed the researchers to see which areas of the brain were triggered when the task was performed. They could also compare the difference in scans between participants who had consumed alcohol and those who hadn’t. Being provoked was found to have no influence on participants’ neural responses. However, when behaving aggressively, there was a dip in activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brains of those who had consumed alcoholic drinks. This dampening effect was also seen in the areas of the brain that are involved. Also, heightened activity was noted in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with people’s memory.
Also Read: Alarming! 26.7 Crore Tobacco Users in India

“Although there was an overall dampening effect of alcohol on the prefrontal cortex, even at a low dose of alcohol. We observed a significant positive relationship between dorsomedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity and alcohol-related aggression,” explains Prof. Denson. “These regions may support different behaviors, such as peace versus aggression, depending on whether a person is sober or intoxicated.”
The results are largely consistent with a growing body of research about the neural basis of aggression, and how it is triggered by changes in the way that the prefrontal cortex, the limbic system and reward-related regions of the brain function. The results of the current study are also consistent with several psychological theories of alcohol-related aggression.
“We encourage future, larger scale investigations into the neural underpinnings of alcohol-related aggression with stronger doses and clinical samples. Doing so could eventually substantially reduce alcohol-related harm” adds Prof. Denson.

The post Reason of Aggression After Drink appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

Knowledge of BLS and CPR goes a long way in dealing with emergency cardiac patients

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 07:24:59 +0000

It is believed that by 2030, India alone will account for 60 percent of the world’s cardiac patients, nearly four times its share of the world’s population. The major reason for these alarming statistics is lack of awareness towards- ‘healthy’ lifestyle and the lack of knowledge of few simple steps that can be taken during emergency or before reaching the hospital.

Out of the people who die from heart attack, about 50 percent die within an hour of their initial symptoms before they reach the hospital. The chances of survival of the victim can increase significantly if he is provided Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately. Hence, people present at the scene can help avert the risk of death by proving CPR promptly to the victim.

Providing BLS and CPR during the golden hour can help in preventing pre hospital deaths from injuries as well as heart attack if there is a delay in receiving hospital treatment or medical care. Mostly, the steps we take in haste while attending to an emergency, makes a deep-rooted impact in saving the life of the patient. Thus, it is vital for all to learn the BLS and CPR techniques, so that we can take the right measures when required.

These are simple steps like early recognition and initiating chest compression in cardiac arrest or protecting cervical spine with c-collar in road traffic accident victims and for this you don’t need to be an expert in medicine to take these lifesaving steps. Therefore, CPR and BLS should be made mandatory in secondary level of education and to all public service job holders as the chances of survival of the victim increase double fold if appropriate emergency medical care is provided immediately.

Time is the essence while treating a heart attack and cardiac arrest victims. “When the heart stops beating, blood flow to the body organs ceases. Of all the organs, brain is affected first. People become unconscious within 15 -20 seconds after the heart stops and chances of brain recovery decreases with time so much so that irreversible brain damage is common if circulation is not restored within 5 minutes of cardiac arrest. The need of the hour is to train common people to do CPR and BLS before the victim reaches the hospital. This training will help them to learn special skills required to deal with heart related emergencies. Skills to perform CPR through chest compressions, maintaining victims breathing by providing appropriate rescue breaths, can greatly improve the chances of survival of these unfortunate people.

You too can save a life. And for this you don’t need a medical degree.

Want to write for InnoHEALTH? send us your article at magazine@innovatiocuris.com

Read all the issues of InnoHEALTH magazine:
InnoHEALTH Volume 1 Issue 1 (July to September 2016) – https://goo.gl/iWAwN2
InnoHEALTH Volume 1 Issue 2 (October to December 2016) – https://goo.gl/4GGMJz
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 1 (January to March 2017) – https://goo.gl/DEyKnw
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 2 (April to June 2017) – https://goo.gl/Nv3eev
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 3 (July to September 2017) – https://goo.gl/MCVjd6
InnoHEALTH Volume 2 Issue 4 (October to December 2017) – http://amzn.to/2B2UMLw
InnoHEALTH Volume 3 Issue 1 (January to March 2018) – https://goo.gl/fksdQx

Connect with InnovatioCuris on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/innovatiocuris
Twitter: https://twitter.com/innovatiocuris
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7043791
Stay updated about IC, visit: www.innovatiocuris.com

The post Knowledge of BLS and CPR goes a long way in dealing with emergency cardiac patients appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

NANOCHIP TO DELIVER BIOLOGICAL

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 09:34:19 +0000

[vc_single_image image=”3131″ img_size=”500×203″ alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”]

Researchers at the Ohio State University, Wexner Medical Center and Ohio state’s College of Engineering have developed a new technology, Tissue Nano Transfection (TNT), that can generate any cell type of interest for treatment within the patient’s own body with a single touch. This TNT does not require any laboratory-based procedures and may be implemented at the point of care. This technology may be used to repair injured tissue or restore function of aging tissue, including organs, blood vessels and nerve cells. Results of the regenerative medicine study is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Researchers studied mice and pigs in their experiments where they were able to reprogram skin cells to become vascular cells in badly injured legs that lacked blood flow. Within one week, active blood vessels appeared in the injured leg and by the second week, the leg was saved. The technology was also shown to reprogram skin cells in the live body into nerve cells that were injected into brain-injured mice to help them recover from stroke.

Want to write for InnoHEALTH? send us your article at magazine@innovatiocuris.com

The post NANOCHIP TO DELIVER BIOLOGICAL appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.