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Gonorrhea Shows Antibiotic Resistance

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The standard recommended cure for gonorrhea has been a combination antibiotic that suppresses the bacteria causing the disease. There were a very few cases that could not be cured by this antibiotic. But recently there has been increased number of cases of gonorrhea that cannot be cured by the standard prescribed antibiotics. Neisseria gonorrhea has already shown resistance to several antibiotics. The present day cure has been devised after a tedious research on tackling the bacteria.

Why is the bacterium not responding to the antibiotics?

The bacteria had already adapted and resisted antibiotics like tetracycline, penicillin and more. Fluoroquinolone resistance exhibited by the bacteria, lead to the formulation of the present day antibiotics for treating gonorrhea. The bacterium is continually evolving. It has adapted to the antibiotics.

There has been intensive research going on to study this bacterium. There have been tests conducted to study the reaction of this bacterium to the antibiotics ingested. Scientists have recently observed an increase in the number of cases where the bacteria fight against the drugs.

The underlying issue:

In the recent days, not only Neisseria gonorrhoeae but also several other strains of the bacterium have shown resistance to antibiotics. The whole “disease-free” days will cease to exist if this continues. The advanced lifestyle has resulted in more advanced diseases and more advanced pathogens.

When an infection persists, the bacterium tries fighting the antibiotics. In course of time, the bacterium evolves and adapts to the treatment. It starts fighting the drugs. It sometimes even succeeds in destroying the antibiotics. This is when the real issue starts. The disease then has no cure anymore. This is at least until the scientists figure out a new strain of antibiotic to tackle the bacteria.

Scientists fear that the gonorrhea-causing bacterium is becoming stronger. The new strains are showing a resistance to the present antibiotics prescribed. This is the reason for the increase in the number of cases of untreated gonorrhea.

Antibiotics lead to the modern medicines that began to save lives. The deaths due to untreated infections came down only because of the antibiotics. If the bacteria learn to outsmart the antibiotics, then it would be back to the old days. Minor infections might pose higher risks and might even turn out to be fatal.

What do the experts say?

Scientists are not very sure about how long the present, antibiotics combination can be prescribed for gonorrhea. If there are new strains fighting even the toughest antibiotics, then there might eventually be no cure. Scientists might run out of options to formulate an antibiotic against this bacterium.

The research on the sensitivity of the bacterium to the drug formulated requires sufficient culture media. Only in the accurate culture medium would the study be accurate.

What is the solution?

The only solution currently suggested is prevention. Though the bacteria haven’t fully outlived and won the fight against the drugs, it might happen soon. The effectiveness of the drug would soon be deemed null. So the key is to stay cautious and prevent the disease rather than take chances.

America Has Eliminated Measles

According to the World Health Association and the Pan American Health Organization, part of the UN, infectious measles has been eliminated in the Americas. This includes Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central America, and South America. The United States was the first to eliminate homegrown measles in 2000, and the other countries follow suit quite quickly.

Even with this declaration of measles-free continents, each region still sees some cases of measles every year. How can the Americas get the WHO’s seal of approval if measles still occurs?

Measles: Description and History

Measles is a viral disease that is highly contagious and attacks primarily children. Besides the red, bumpy rash that shares the name with the disease overall, afflicted people can also run a fever, have a dry cough, and have upper respiratory complaints such as runny noses and sneezing.

This infectious disease became such a problem in the past because it is passed from person to person quite easily. The virus can survive in tiny droplets of water, such as those emitted when someone calls or sneezes. It can be contracted by sharing a cup, shaking a hand, or even touching a doorknob or pen that someone with the disease had before you.

Before the development of the vaccine in 1963, over 500,000 cases of measles reported in the United States alone every year. Approximately 500 people died annually. These numbers represent only the amount of people who were reported to the CDC as having measles. Because it was such a common childhood disease, many cases were simply treated at home or by the local doctor and not reported to anyone.

Now, decades after the vaccine became a common thing for all children to get, worldwide measles cases are down below 300,000 annually. In the United States and the rest of North, Central, and South America plus the Caribbean, these cases are virtually nil.

Still Outbreaks of Measles in the Americas

Even though the international health organizations have deemed the Americas measles-free does not mean that no people on these continents will contract it. For example, a 2015 outbreak centered around California’s Disneyland song over 150 people contract this viral disease. However, the source of the problem was a visitor from another country. It did not originate inside the Americas.

While the declaration that America has eliminated measles is very comforting for families with young children, a recent decrease in the vaccination numbers has caused some worry throughout the medical community. During the above mentioned Disneyland measles outbreak, the CDC worked with doctors to determine both the source and the vaccination records of those afflicted. 55 percent of them have not received a vaccination for one reason or another.

Moving forward, measles will probably continue to be a matter of foreign involvement in the Americas. Maintaining the low levels of cases and the lack of rapidly spreading contagion, vaccinations are recommended for everyone. As they become more readily available on other continents, perhaps measles can be finally eliminated once and for all.

Cell Recycling as Medical Treatment

Over the past decades, human understanding of our body and how they function has evolved. On Monday 3rd of October 2016, a Tokyo-based cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi received the 2016 Nobel in medicine for his brilliant research and uncovering mechanisms for Cell Recycling_ a body defensive process involving the degradation and recycling of cells parts, a process also known as autophagy. The scientist believes this discovery and understanding can be a game changer in the treatment of cells attacking diseases such as cancer, dementia, Type 2 diabetes and numerous other devastating diseases.

What is Cell Recycling?

Cell Recycling is the process of orderly breaking down of old cells,removing the damaged proteins and worn-out organelles and recycling the useful parts of the old cells to create new once. This process is also known as Autophagy process which literarily means literally means “ self -eating ” in Greek.

The Cell Recycling in a simple sense means_ body destroying its own cell to create new once, this is not as bad as it sound, but on the contrary, it’s a crucial fundamental process in cell physiology so much that Dysfunctional autophagy process may have major implications for human health and disease.

The concept of autophagy was first observed during the 1960s but it was difficult to study the phenomenon, therefore only little was known about Cell Recycling until Dr Yoshinori Ohsumi began studying the autophagy by experimenting with baker’s yeast in the 90s.

Dr Yoshinori Ohsumi started studying waste-elimination and cellular renewal in the 80s and then switched to autophagy in mammals by using yeast to identify the genes essential for autophagy and discover that similarly sophisticated machinery is used in human cells.

Cell Recycling as Medical Treatment

The study of Cell Recycling and how autophagy works in our body system are believed to be the key element to treating numerous devastating diseases including cancer and diabetes. According to research carried out by cell biologist, too much cell recycling in the body can lead to cancer by promoting the growth of tumor cells in cancer and also cause resistance to cancer treatments. On the flip side, if this autophagy fails or cell recycling in the body is not enough, it can speed up cell aging which can result in the development of cellular trash that might cause neurological diseases and other diseases associated with aging such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Although, cell recycling is a natural defense metabolism our body use to survive. The process involves capturing cellular junk and sealing it in a sack-like membrane, called autophagosomes. The sealed cellular junk is then transported to the lysosome which then worn-out organelles and clusters of damaged proteins then the useful cell parts are stripped out to build new cells or generate energy.

Thanks to Dr Ohsumi’s work and discovery, scientist now have insight into what goes wrong in a range of illnesses and the possible ways of tacking it. Therefore, intense research is now ongoing to develop an autophagy targeting drugs to treat various diseases, including cancer and dementia.

New Fecal Bacteria is Linked to Body Fat

Recently scientists have discovered a connection between levels of abdominal body fat and the diversity of bacteria thriving in human fecal matter. Although it may seem surprising, these new findings seem to support the genetic influences which play a role in obesity. This seems to be the case due to the heritable bacteria that has recently been discovered in the fecal microbiome. Some argue that the connection may not be heritable, however, because the study conducted investigated twins who share many environmental factors.

In a study which was conducted by the King’s College London, more than 1000 twins were studied and some groundbreaking findings were uncovered. The study was also published in Genome Biology, a journal. This is one of the biggest studies which has produced data indicating the connection between obesity and microbiome.

Those who had more bacterial diversity in their feces were found to have lower levels of fat, specifically visceral fat. The opposite was true for those with high levels of visceral fat who had less microbial diversity. Visceral fat is the fat which is stored around the stomach and close organs. This type of fat also bares the strongest connection to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other similar issues.

There is an obvious connection between markers of obesity and feces. At this point, it is not yet known how or why these bacteria could have an affect on how the body stores fat. There could even be a completely unique mechanism which is responsible for weight gain.

In the study, six different measures of obesity were compared and analyzed. Although upper to lower body fat ratios and body mass index were also looked at, the most obvious connection was with visceral fat. The way that gut bacteria may influence obesity seems to be coming to light and there are other studies underway regarding this very question. At this point, the study revealed that there is a link between visceral fat and microbiome, but much is still unknown. Exactly how these genes influence obesity, if they do, as other evidence could also suggest, is yet to be discovered.

One possible explanation is that when there is a greater degree of microbial diversity it leads to a dominance of specific species of bacteria which are capable of efficiently converting carbohydrates into fat. This is not proven, but it is a plausible possibility.

It could also be possible to improve the composition of bacteria and gut microbiome simply by changing your diet. Eating a wide diversity of whole foods could have a positive affect on the gut microbiome, but even if it doesn’t there are obvious health benefits involved. Some evidence has indicated that changing your diet will lead to changes in the gut microbiome, good or bad, depending on the nature of the change. Studies have proved that our bodies and the gut microbiome within them will adapt and adjust depending on the type of diet one eats. Ultimately there may be more than one reason you should switch to a better diet rich in a diversity of whole foods.

Morning Sickness Means a Healthy Baby

While most women develop morning sickness, others experience similar conditions during the day. A hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) is said to be responsible for this. It is the same that is tested for when women go for pregnancy tests. This hormone is present in large quantities during the first couple of months of pregnancy. Another hormone progesterone slows down the process of digestion. There is a lot going on in the body of a pregnant woman some of which includes increased blood volume and functioning of the kidneys.

Women suffering from morning sickness would naturally want to get relieved of pain by looking forward to the day she will deliver. However, all is not lost because there are things you can do to relief yourself of pain during pregnancy.

Have crackers handy by the bedside. Eat some every time before you get out of bed because waking up to an empty stomach is a sure recipe for queasiness.
Avoid eating until unless and until you are really hungry. You should eat small meals continuously throughout the day as this helps to balance the acidity levels in the stomach as well as for sugar quantities.
Desist from drinking and eating at the same time so that you avoid overeating. So, eat and drink but give it a reasonable span in between.
Ensure that your body doesn’t get overly dehydrated especially during hot season. Take plenty of juices such as fruit juices, cold water and milk.
Eat plenty of bland, boring foodstuffs away from spiced menu. You should live on bland until such time when your stomach has settled completely. Avoid spices that might trigger sickness by their smell or taste.
Consume complex carbohydrates contained in foods like potatoes, toast or pasta. These are less likely to make your tummy rumble.
Keep off from greasy, fatty foods such as cheeseburger or pizza.
Avoid cooking foods with great odors. It’s fine if you can make do with a pancake or two.
Discuss with your medical advisor about vitamin B6. Studies show that B6 reduces nausea if administered in low doses. Consider changing your prenatal vitamins because some of them are easily digestible than others.
Adding ginger to tea (ginger ale) can also be of help in alleviating morning sickness.
Walk somewhere outdoors to get fresh air.
Lemon candy plus a number of other sour edibles can help get you past morning sickness.
Brush your teeth as often as you can and use lots of mouthwash while doing so. Get rid of extra saliva in the mouth. It’ll make you feel sick. You can change the brand of your toothpaste if the current one is causing rumbles in your stomach.
Keep your toilet bowl in pristine condition. Trust me, if you are going to face it while vomiting-it ought to be clean very clean indeed.

So, go ahead and eat or do what all that works for you. As long as what you eat appeals to you; even if it is weird, go for it. Stay away from triggers as far away as you can. Ask for help especially on things that make your tummy rumble. Meanwhile, you should stay positive knowing that all the vomiting and sicknesses are short lived and will end as soon as you deliver your healthy bouncing baby.

4th Superbug of the United States

There were four superbug cases reported as per now and the first case was reported in the china that caused death to a man. This death was caused by the bacteria mcr-1 gene that was found to be in the food that the patent has consumed prior to the death as per the reports. The fourth case is also very similar to the first case and this time it caused death to a very small little girl at the age of two who was a resident of the United States of America.

According to the experts, global health crisis one of the major issues that restrict the growth and development of the society as a whole. It can affect nations, countries, states and everyone and could cause serious damage to life on earth. According to the researches carried out 10 million deaths is expected each year by 2050 if no action is taken against the global health crisis. Recently a dreaded superbug was found for the first time in the United States in a woman which is also the 4th case that has been reported so far. Therefore as experts conclude actions should be taken as soon as possible in order to fight back against this global issue that can affect the entire human race. Looking at the sustainability concerns, it is our duty to protect this world and the man kind for our future generations and thus health care crisis is one of the big issues that should be addressed immediately by every nation collectively as well as individually.

According to the reports, the United States officials has detected a potentially harmful and deadly superbug for the fourth time in an US patient. The victim is a small girl who is just two years of age who had been under diarrhea and high feverish conditions after a journey to the Caribbean on visiting friends and the relatives. She has taken meats that were bought from a live animal market for her meals and two days before returning the United States she has been reporting some negative health conditions. However this was not just the normal diarrhea, but it was another bacteria that caused the girl high fever and diarrhea conditions. According to the reports travelers are mostly exposed to these bugs and it can enter even without your notice through food and other mechanisms. Food is the most common way people acquire these superbugs. The girl’s bad healthy conditions are said to be as a result of the mcr-1 bacteria that can be deadly just like the first death reported in China as mentioned above. However as per now no environmental contamination or transmissions to other people are reported but the conditions and likelihood of transmissions are still under investigations.

As mentioned above this can be deadly and can affect the entire mankind if necessary steps are not taken at the right time. People should be educated on this matter to make them aware.

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