2. Axiostat: A Heamostatic Bandage

An Indian innovation “Axiostat” by Axio Biosolutions, Bengaluru is a haemostatic dressing that stops haemorrhage from actively bleeding vessels within minutes of its application on the wound site. The product is the first Indian wound care product to receive US FDA approval. The USP of the product is the incorporation of chitosan which is a saccharine biopolymer obtained from the hard-outer skeleton of shellfish that can stop bleeding under 4 minutes. Users of axiostat are military, ambulance services, hospitals, industries and relief aid where it has reduced fatality owing to traumatic injuries in battlefields, road traffic accidents, and hospitals world over. The product is available in 12 other countries apart from India and promises to save many more lives in the future.

www.thebetterindia.com/132937/

3. A New Blood Pressure App: A Challenge to Traditional Arm Cuff And Electronic Devices

US-based scientists revealed the new BP app technology which is easy to use, efficient and accurate in the Journal Science Translational Medicine. The scientists targeted a different artery, the palmer arch artery at the fingertip as their new target point to take the count. For measuring the blood pressure, users need to turn on the app and press their fingertip against the sensor unit. Now with the finger on their unit, they would just need to hold their phone at heart level and watch their smartphone screen to make sure that they are applying the right amount of finger pressure. Soon the blood pressure will be seen on the screen.

www.ndtv.com

4. Typbar TCV by Bharat Biotech

India is one of the leading countries facing deaths due to typhoid. Until now the available vaccine for typhoid management could be given to children who were two years old and above but the recently developed vaccine Typbar TCV or typhoid conjugate vaccine is a breakthrough for India as it can be given to children as young as six months old.

The vaccine has been developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech after successful clinical trials in India as well as Oxford. The conjugate vaccine crosslinks the sugar and the protein, successfully fooling a baby’s body into producing antibodies that will give it almost lifelong immunity. The price for one dose is INR 1500.

www.thebetterindia.com/127810/

5. Sticky Patch For Blood-Free Monitoring Of Blood Sugar Levels

Researchers from the University of Bath, UK have developed an adhesive, non-invasive patch which can monitor glucose levels in diabetics through the skin without piercing it. Instead, the patch draws glucose out from fluid between cells across hair follicles, which are individually accessed via an array of miniature sensors using a small electric current. The glucose is then collected in tiny reservoirs and is measured. The sensors ensure its calibrations – free approach without using a single drop of blood. The study is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The aim is to eventually make the patch convertible into a low-cost, wearable sensor that sends glucose measurements to the wearer’s smartwatch or phone to take necessary action in time.

www.thehindu.com/article 23501858

Over the years, several measures have been launched to overcome the problem including imposition of ban on alcohol sale and setting up of de-addiction centres to help the drinkers.

A group of researchers drawn from several national and international institutions have now found that it is possible to address the issue in a significantly effective manner at low costs. They have found that lot of benefit can be derived by merely equipping public health workers with different counselling techniques.

The study was conducted at 10 public primary healthcare centres in Goa. A total of 377 heavy drinkers in the age group of 18 to 65 years were enrolled. They were randomized into two groups- one receiving just the routine care and the other who also received counselling for two months. Their alcohol use was measured after 12 months.

In the group that received counseling, as much as 68 per cent of the men were found to have reduced their consumption to the safe level, as against 40 per cent in the case of the group that received only the routine care. The counselling programme was also not too intense. It consisted of just one to three sessions.

The counselors were also just non-specialist health workers. They had no prior professional training or qualification in the field of mental health. However, they were given rigorous training on various aspects of counselling and they gave advice on how to deal with craving and motivated patients to quit drinking.

Speaking to India Science Wire, Vikram Patel, professor at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine of the Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts in USA, who was the corresponding author for the study, said, “Given the great social and health harms associated with heavy drinking in India, and the effectiveness of this relatively brief and cheap treatment to reduce drinking levels,the government needs to scale up this treatment by training primary care health workers across the country”.

Besides Dr. Patel, the study team included Abhijit Nadkarni, Helen A Weiss, Benedict Weobong, David McDaid, Daisy R Singla, A-La Park, Bhargav Bhat, Basavaraj Katti, Jim McCambridge, Pratima Murthy, Michael King, G Terence Wilson, Betty Kirkwood, Christopher G Fairburn, and Richard Velleman.

National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru and Sangath, a NGO in Goa participated in the study. They collaborated with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford, University of Bath, University of York, University College London and London School of Economics and Political Science in United Kingdom, University of Toronto in Canada, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and Harvard Medical School in United States of America. The Indian Council of Medical Research gave the ethical approval for conducting the trial.

(Article shared from India Science Wire)

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