National Mosquito Control Week: May 14-20 :

Public awareness vital to curb dengue

By Nilma DOLE

From the beginning of the year, there have been panic attacks and suspicions of dengue breaking out in the city with reports of a three-fold increase in the number of dengue cases. People have misinterpreted signs of a viral fever which is also spreading at the same time as symptoms of dengue.

Patients who have complained of night fever, headaches and joint pains have sought medical attention quickly fearing that it is dengue.

Those with dengue would have a condition more severe than those affected by viral flu and also the presence of a rash much akin to measles will also spread that shows signs of dengue. In addition, extremely low blood pressure caused by low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage can occur.

In relation to the viral flu, they are dengue-like symptoms but you shouldn't worry but that doesn't mean that you should take this illness lightly. It's important to always consult your doctor of an experienced medical professional to determine what is wrong with you.

Weather patterns

According to the Health Ministry's Epidemiology Unit, the change in weather patterns has aggravated the dengue situation but this is not the only problem. The attitudes of people should be part and parcel of the dengue eradication problem. It is unfortunate that only when a fear of an epidemic takes place that people listen to the messages of dengue and start removing mosquito breeding sites. Hence, it is imperative to ensure that on-going activities of mosquito-breeding sites, drainage of stagnant water and prevention of mosquito bites such as sleeping under a net should be done.

Now that the Vesak weekend is drawing to a close, garbage collection and proper solid waste disposal is important to curb the mosquito eradication problem. The good news is that the Colombo Municipal Council has taken measures to clear up garbage and place signboards by giving the name and number of the supervisor of the area. This has seen a considerable public interest where people can directly call and answer their queries to clear their garbage and also seek advice in knowing where they can effectively dispose garbage in a proper manner.

Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena said that even though the number of dengue cases has increased, deaths have been reduced due to the quality of health service and effective manner in which the illness has been controlled.

“Even though the number of dengue patients is increasing, the number of deaths has been reduced due to the good health service in the country.

“According to the statistics of the Health Ministry 50 dengue deaths were reported in 2010 January and only 20 dengue deaths were reported in 2012 January. About 18 dengue deaths were reported in 2010 February and it has been reduced by 0.08 percent in 2012 February. About 21 deaths were reported in March 2010 and only eight deaths were reported in March 2012,” he said.

The Epidemiology Unit said 9,317 dengue cases and 38 deaths were reported in the first three months of 2012, against 3,103 in the first quarter of 2011. The highest number occurred in January, when 3,892 cases were reported, followed by 3,004 in February and 2,421 in March.

It has been reported that over 50 percent of dengue cases occurred in the country’s Western Province, where there is a high density of population especially where slum dwellings are concerned.

He also said that the main responsibility of the health service is avoiding deaths. The Health Ministry cannot destroy all dengue breeding places alone. Other relevant authorities as well as the public have a responsibility towards helping curb the dengue problem.

Mosquito control activities will be carried out in all 305 Medical Officers of Health areas dividing each area into seven zones and inspection being carried out on each zone each day.

Even though dengue can be treated properly, people have to be cautioned about early warning signs and prompt detection measures so that they can prevent the dengue condition from worsening.

There has been the environmental problem where people go to lengths to clear mosquito breeding sites that include cutting down trees and clearing vegetation to clear stagnant waterways, but there are ways around the problem.

Fish such as guppies and Tilapia can be put to stagnant water to feed on mosquito larvae and other measures such as reproduction control methods can be introduced to stop mosquitoes from breeding.

The Presidential Task Force will control dengue with the help of the Armed Forces, the Police, Civil Defence Committees and health authorities to carry out mosquito control activities during the week.

Legal action has been taken against mosquito breeders in and around the city to further prevent the dengue epidemic.

Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes, principally Aedes aegypti. Health Authorities claim that the dengue virus is spread through the genes of these mosquitoes that the dengue virus penetrates in to the eggs.

The main signs of dengue are less for over 48 hours, body pain, vomiting and drowsiness. Health authorities point out that taking medicine other than Paracetamol could aggravate the disease, and the best remedy for the dengue is to destroy all possible places of mosquito breeding.In 1965, Sri Lanka reported its first dengue case and a majority of them were diagnosed in the Western Province. Dengue as an epidemic was reported first in 1967, and the most number of cases at 15,463 reported in 2004. In 2011, nearly 10,000 dengue patients have been identified in Sri Lanka where nearly 100 of them died.

However, no matter how bad the dengue situation is, we should change our attitudes and start disposing garbage the proper way. This will not only lead to a cleaner environment but also will eradicate the dengue epidemic.

Why do we yawn?

Yawning is usually associated with boredom or being tired, but new research suggests there's far more to this behaviour than what meets the eye.

The first clue that yawning serves a much greater purpose?

We do it involuntarily, like breathing, and it starts even before we're born (as early as 11 weeks after conception).

There are a number of theories out there for why we yawn, but one of the most compelling is being explored by a Princeton University researcher and his colleagues, whose studies suggest yawning performs the important function of cooling your brain.

Animal behaviour

A study in Animal Behaviour explains the hypothesis that “yawning serves as a thermoregulatory mechanism that occurs in response to increases in brain and/or body temperature.

The brain-cooling hypothesis further stipulates that, as ambient temperature increases and approaches (but does not exceed) body temperature, yawning should increase as a consequence.”

Indeed, previous research by Andrew C. Gallup, now a post-doctoral research associate at Princeton University, and colleagues revealed that frequency of yawns more than doubled among parakeets when their ambient temperature increased.

New research, this time on humans, also showed that more people yawned when it was winter compared to when it was summer (45 percent versus 24 percent, respectively), which supports Gallup's theory that people should yawn more in cold weather because the cool air you inhale helps regulate your brain temperature.

He told Discovery News:

“Brains are like computers... They operate most efficiently when cool, and physical adaptations have evolved to allow maximum cooling of the brain.”

To put it simply, it's theorised that the influx of cool air that occurs when you yawn helps cool and increase blood flow in your neck, face, sinuses and head, which together acts like a radiator to cool your brain.

Writing in the journal Medical Hypotheses, Gallup and colleagues suggest this process may also involve your sinuses (the actual function of which is also up for debate):

“The thin posterior wall of the maxillary sinus may flex during yawning, operating like a bellows pump, actively ventilating the sinus system, and thus facilitating brain cooling.

Such a powered ventilation system has not previously been described in humans, although an analogous system has been reported in birds.”

This finding is in line with previous research that shows brain temperatures increase when you're sleep deprived, which may be one reason why exhaustion triggers excessive yawning.

Gallup also suggests that excessive yawning may even be a symptom of health conditions that increase brain and, or core temperature, such as central nervous system damage.

-APR

Sports and energy drinks cause irreversible damage to teeth

A recent study published in the May/June issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry, found that an alarming increase in the consumption of sports and energy drinks, especially among adolescents, is causing irreversible damage to teeth - specifically, the high acidity levels in the drinks erode tooth enamel, the glossy outer layer of the tooth.

“Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are ‘better’ for them than soda,” says Poonam Jain, lead author of the study. “Most of these patients are shocked to learn that these drinks are essentially bathing their teeth with acid.”

Researchers examined the acidity levels in 13 sports drinks and nine energy drinks. They found that the acidity levels can vary between brands of beverages and flavours of the same brand. To test the effect of the acidity levels, the researchers immersed samples of human tooth enamel in each beverage for 15 minutes, followed by immersion in artificial saliva for two hours. This cycle was repeated four times a day for five days, and the samples were stored in fresh artificial saliva at all other times.

“This type of testing simulates the same exposure that a large proportion of American teens and young adults are subjecting their teeth to on a regular basis when they drink one of these beverages every few hours,” says Dr. Jain.

The researchers found that damage to enamel was evident after only five days of exposure to sports or energy drinks, although energy drinks showed a significantly greater potential to damage teeth than sports drinks. In fact, the authors found that energy drinks caused twice as much damage to teeth as sports drinks.

With a reported 30 to 50 percent of U.S. teens consuming energy drinks, and as many as 62 percent consuming at least one sports drink per day, it is important to educate parents and young adults about the downside of these drinks. Damage caused to tooth enamel is irreversible, and without the protection of enamel, teeth become overly sensitive, prone to cavities, and more likely to decay.

“Teens regularly come into my office with these types of symptoms, but they don't know why,” says AGD spokesperson Jennifer Bone.

“We review their diet and snacking habits and then we discuss their consumption of these beverages. They don't realise that something as seemingly harmless as a sports or energy drink can do a lot of damage to their teeth.”

Dr. Bone recommends that her patients minimise their intake of sports and energy drinks. She also advises them to chew sugar free gum or rinse the mouth with water following consumption of the drinks. “Both tactics increase saliva flow, which naturally helps to return the acidity levels in the mouth to normal,” she said.

Also, patients should wait at least an hour to brush their teeth after consuming sports and energy drinks. Otherwise, says Dr. Bone, they will be spreading acid on to the tooth surfaces, increasing the erosive action.

- MNT

Eye implant trials ‘successful’

The first UK clinical trials of an electronic eye implant designed to restore the sight of blind people have proved successful and “exceeded expectations”, scientists said last week.

Eye experts developing the pioneering new technology said the first group of British patients to receive the electronic microchips were regaining “useful vision” just weeks after undergoing surgery.

The news will offer fresh hope for people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP) - a genetic eye condition that leads to incurable blindness.

Retina Implant AG, a leading developer of subretinal implants, fitted two RP sufferers with the wireless device in mid-April as part of its UK trial.

The patients were able to detect light immediately after the microchip was activated, while further testing revealed there were also able to locate white objects on a dark background, Retina Implant said.

Ten more British sufferers will be fitted with the devices as part of the British trial, which is being led by Tim Jackson, a consultant retinal surgeon at King's College Hospital and Robert MacLaren, a professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford and a consultant retinal surgeon at the Oxford Eye Hospital.

They said: “We are excited to be involved in this pioneering subretinal implant technology and to announce the first patients implanted in the UK were successful.

“The visual results of these patients exceeded our expectations. This technology represents a genuinely exciting development and is an import step forward in our attempts to offer people with RP a better quality of life.”

The patients will undergo further testing as they adjust to the 3mm by 3mm device in the coming months.

Robin Millar, 60, from London, is one of the patients who has been fitted with the chip along with 1,500 electrodes, which are implanted below the retina.

The music producer said: “Since switching on the device I am able to detect light and distinguish the outlines of certain objects which is an encouraging sign.

“I have even dreamt in very vivid colour for the first time in 25 years so a part of my brain which had gone to sleep has woken up!

“I feel this is incredibly promising for future research and I'm happy to be contributing to this legacy.”

The subretinal implant technology has been in clinical trials for more than six years with testing also taking place in Germany. Developers are planning to seek commercial approval following the latest phase of testing.

David Head, head of charity RP Fighting Blindness, said: “The completion of the first two implants in the UK is very significant and brings hope to people who have lost their sight as a result of RP.”

RP is an inherited condition which gets worse over time and affects one in every 3,000-4,000 people in Europe.

PA

Baldness cure hopes sparked by hairless mice

New hopes of a cure for baldness have been sparked after Japanese researchers claimed to have successfully grown hair on hairless mice.

Scientists from the Tsuji Lab Research Institute for Science and Technology at the Tokyo University of Science successfully implanted follicles created from stem cells onto the hairless rodents.

The creatures (pictured) eventually grew hair, which continued regenerating in normal growth cycles after old hairs fell out.

When stem cells are grown into tissues or organs, they usually need to be extracted from embryos. However, Prof Takashi Tsuji, who led the team, found hair follicles can be grown with adult stem cells.

It is now hoped that people could possibly use their own cells for implants that will give them their hair back.

-The Independent