Chikungunya Cases On A Rise Since 2006

Chikungunya is an infection caused by the chikungunya virus. The virus is passed to humans by two species of mosquito of the genus Aedes: A. albopictus and A. aegypti.Since 2004, the disease has occurred in outbreaks in Asia, Europe and the Americas.Characteristic symptoms include sudden onset with high fever, joint pain, and rash. Other symptoms may occur, including headache, fatigue, digestive complaints, and conjunctivitis.chikungunya may cause long-term symptoms following acute infection termed chronic chikungunya virus-induced arthralgia. The increase this year in cases of the dreaded vector-borne chikungunya disease across the…

Gallstone Disease May Increase Heart Disease Risk

Individuals with a history of gallstone disease may increase the risk of coronary heart disease, reveals a research. Gallstone disease is a hardened deposit within the fluid in the gall bladder — a small organ under the liver. The findings showed that a history of gallstone disease was linked with a 23 per cent increased risk of developing coronary heart disease. “Our results suggest that patients with gallstone disease should be monitored closely based on a careful assessment of both gallstone and heart disease risk factors,” said Lu Qi, Professor…

Kidney Disease Sufferers Doubled In India In 15 Years

The number of Indians suffering from chronic kidney ailments has doubled in the past 15 years, and at present 17 in every hundred citizens suffer from some form of kidney disease, health experts have said. The experts noted that several Indian population-based studies in the past estimated that some 150-230 persons suffer from End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) in every million people, and about 2,20,000-2,75,000 new patients need Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) every year. “The number of patients undergoing dialysis in India is also increasing by 10-15 per cent every year,…

Symptoms, Causes and Treatment of Chikungunya: Things You Must Know

While the capital city, along with many parts of the country, grapples with the rising instance of dengue, experts signal the outbreak of another mosquito-transmitted disease – chikungunya. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines it as, “A mosquito-borne viral disease first described during an outbreak in southern Tanzania in 1952. The name ‘chikungunya’ derives from a word in the Kimakonde language, meaning “to become contorted”, and describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain (arthralgia).” According to the WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, a person…

Chronic Kidney Disease May Lead to Diabetes

Establishing a novel link between chronic kidney disease and diabetes, a team of researchers have identified molecular mechanisms that may be responsible for the increased blood glucose levels in such patients. Previous studies have found that type 2 diabetes is one of the causes of chronic kidney disease – that is characterised by the progressive and irreversible loss of kidney function in filtering and eliminating toxins from the blood. “However, our observations in mice and in human samples show that chronic kidney disease can cause secondary diabetes,” said lead researcher…

Pain drugs in pregnancy tied to behavior issues in kids

When the kids were 5 years old, more than 80 percent of the women and their partners used acetaminophen. Women who take the common pain reliever acetaminophen during pregnancy may be more likely to have children with behavior problems than those who don’t use the drug, a British study suggests. Researchers analyzed survey data from about 7,800 mothers and found more than half of them took acetaminophen at some point during pregnancy. Overall, about 5 percent of their children had behavior problems by age 7. The odds of hyperactivity, conduct…