Yoga Can Benefit Lower Back Pain Patients: Study

Good news for people suffering from chronic non-specific lower back pain, yoga can help alleviate the condition. Yoga asanas, if performed under proper guidance and supervision, can help reduce pain and allow movement in patients. The trials for the study were conducted in India, the UK and the US. All participants had chronic non-specific lower back pain. “Our findings suggest that yoga exercise may lead to reducing the symptoms of lower back pain by a small amount,” said lead author Susan Wieland from Centre for Integrative Medicine at University of…

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Study says diabetes spikes death risk in patients on dialysis

Kidney disease can be a silent killer. Before symptoms are seen or experienced by the patient, the kidneys can degenerate to the point of not working. And diabetes only makes it worse.The risk of death is several times higher for diabetics on haemodialysis, scientists have found. The final stage of chronic kidney disease, called end stage renal disease, is when the kidneys are no longer able to remove enough wastes and excess fluids from the body . At this point, patients are put on dialysis or advised a kidney transplant.A…

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Capsule sized pacemaker: A boon for patients

It was the size of a capsule, but for Kumar*, it provided a new lease of life. The 87-year old, with a heart rate of less than 60 a minute, received a pacemaker, one-tenth the size of a traditional device, directly in the heart. After a 20-minute minimally invasive procedure at Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre’s cath lab, the device began sending electrical impulses to stabilise the heart rate and he was discharged in three days. Dr T R Muralidharan, cardiology department head, said the new generation pacemaker made of a…

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One Fifth of Brain Stroke Patients Aged 40 and Below

Neurosciences experts from around the world on Friday warned that patients with brain stroke are continuously rising in India and nearly one-fifth of patients with first-ever stroke admitted to hospitals are aged 40 years or less. Doctors participating at a three-day international meet to discuss the epidemic of stroke cases, also said that India had witnessed a extreme rise in smoking, systolic hypertension, high fasting blood glucose level, and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the population at a younger age predisposing to a stroke sooner. The first day on Friday…

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Electro-acupuncture may improve sleep in breast cancer patients

Electro-acupuncture may be an effective method in improving sleep quality in patients suffering from breast cancer, a study has shown. Electro-acupuncture is a form of acupuncture where a small electric current is passed between pairs of acupuncture needles. Compared with women who undergo natural menopause, nearly 30 to 40 per cent of women with breast cancer are at a greater risk of experiencing hot flashes, partially as a result of the premature menopause that results from chemotherapy and surgery, as well as estrogen deficiency caused by the use of breast…

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Scientists solve blood clot deaths in cancer patients

New Zealand scientists have unlocked the mystery of why so many cancer patients die of blood clots while undergoing chemotherapy in a study. Chemotherapy stimulates release of tiny bubbles from the surface of cancer cells, causing the potentially fatal clots, said the study by University of Otago researchers that came out on Wednesday, Xinhua news reported. Most deaths from cancer were caused by uncontrolled growth of tumour in vital organs, but the second most common way that cancer kills is by triggering blood clotting resulting in thrombosis. The clots cause…

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