Intravenous Urography

Intravenous Urography (IVU) is a technique of X-ray projection used to find some disorders in urinary tract, example: kidney stone.
A contrast medium in iodine that appears in X-ray is injected to venous in your arm. Then, medium contrast will pass to kidney trough blood vessel to be filtered from blood to urine, thus get out from kidney to urethra and urinary bladder. Some images of X-ray taken periodic to show medium contrast pass those organs. This procedure is no pain and usually take place about 1 hour.
( picture : www.dkimages.com/.../previews )

Lasik Eye Surgey

from : youtube.com

WARNING!!!! : Blood in Cement

Bloody-cement usually is caused by leak of soft vessel in testis or epididimis (storage of sperm in testis). If it only happens once, no problem. But go to doctor quickly, if happen repeatly. That is maybe caused by symptom of prostate gland infection. ( picture : www.hpb.gov.sg )

Do You Suffer Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD)???

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) occurs when stomach acid leaks back up into the oesophagus. This is known as acid reflux. The oesophagus is the tube that runs from your throat to your stomach.

GORD is often a chronic condition, which means that if you have it, you may experience recurring episodes for the rest of your life.

The symptoms of GORD may be improved by making lifestyle changes that affect acid reflux, such as eating smaller meals and, if you smoke, giving up.

There are also a number of medicines that can be used to relieve the symptoms of GORD. More severe cases of the condition may require surgical treatment.

How common is GORD?

GORD is a common condition, and it is one of the most frequent causes of indigestion and heartburn. It is estimated that between 10-20% of people will have an episode of acid reflux at least once a week.

Oesophagitis

Repeated episodes of GORD can lead to the lining of your oesophagus becoming inflamed. This is known as oesophagitis.

The two most common symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) are:
heartburn, which is characterised by a burning sensation that rises from your stomach, or lower chest, up towards your neck, and regurgitation of acid into your throat, or mouth, which may cause an unpleasant sour taste in your mouth.

The symptoms of GORD usually occur after a large meal, or at night. The symptoms may feel worse when you are lying flat.

In most cases, the symptoms of GORD can be relieved by making changes to your diet and lifestyle, and by using over-the-counter (OTC) indigestion remedies. See the 'treatment' section for more details.

( source : http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article )

Pre-Menstruation Syndrome: Definition and Management

Pre-Menstruation Syndrome is a few of symptoms, they are : become greedy, emotion surge, and breast become sensitive. These usually suffered by women toward menstruation.
These steps can help you to prevent or decrease those symptoms, they are:

1. Decrease stress
2. Do relaxation gymnastics
3. Eat little, but often. Rich in carbohydrate and fiber
4. Decrease consumption of salt
5. Don’t eat fried food and chocolate too much
6. Avoid caffeine, ex: coffee, tea and cola
7. Take B6 vitamin
8. Every evening, use primrose oil
( picture taken from www.angel-healing-extras.com/Menstruation )

Multiple Sclerosis Disease Activity Reduced After Taking Oral Fumarate

An article published in The Lancet reports successful results from a phase II trial for oral fumarate (BG00012). The drug was found to significantly reduce disease activity linked to relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) that was detected by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). A phase III trial is underway and the researchers are awaiting the results.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the immune system's attacking of the central nervous system. This usually leads to the deterioration of the myelin sheath (the electrically-insulating protective layer that surrounds the axons of neurons) followed by physical and cognitive disability. One marker of inflammatory activity in MS patients, on which this recent study focused, is gadolinium enhanced (GdE) lesions in the brain. In addition, researchers looked at T2-hyperintense and T2-hypointense lesions.

Professor Ludwig Kappos (University Hospital Basel, Switzerland) and colleagues studied the immunomodulatory (immune system changing) and direct neuroprotective effect of the oral fumarate BG00012. A sample of 257 RRMS patients (18 to 55 years old) participated in the randomized placebo-controlled trial. The patients were randomly assigned such that 65 patients received placebo and 64 patients each were assigned to a group that received BG00012 120 mg once daily, 120 mg three times daily, or 240 mg three times daily for a 24 week period. The main focus of the researchers was the total number of new GdE lesions on brain MRI scans after 12, 16, 20, and 24 weeks. In addition, the researchers monitored new or enlarging T2-hyperintense lesions, new T1-hypointense lesions after 24 weeks, and the patients' annualized relapse rates. Finally, the researchers included an analysis of safety and tolerability.

Kappos and colleagues report a 69% lower average total number of new GdE lesions from week 12 to 24 in participants who received BG00012 240 mg 3 times compared to those who received placebo. Similarly the fumarate treatment lowered the number of new or enlarging T2-hyperintense and T1-hypointense lesions after 24 weeks. The difference in relapse rate was lower but not significant for participants who received BG00012. Although the treatment seemed to reduce the number of lesions, patients who received BG00012 experienced more adverse events such as abdominal pain and hot flush. Higher doses of BG00012 led to more headaches, fatigue, and hot feelings.

"Longer-term (phase III) studies of BG00012 in larger patient populations are underway to define its place in the future of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis treatment," conclude the researchers. "If these studies show similar relapse rate reductions with BG00012, interferon beta, and glatiramer acetate, BG00012 could be a suitable initial treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Because of the convenience of an orally administered product, BG00012 could also be an alternative for patients who cannot tolerate or choose not to initiate injectable therapies because of injection-related effects or anxiety. The potentially unique mode of action of BG00012 could also be valuable as a monotherapy or combination therapy."

Professor Per Soelberg Sorensen and Dr Finn Sellebjerg (Danish Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark) write in an accompanying comment that: "The balance between efficacy, safety, and convenience will be decisive for the choice of drug. Oral formulations have advantages in convenience and will be preferred by most patients, as long as efficacy and safety are similar to that of injectable alternatives. Although comparison of drugs tested in different placebo-controlled trials is difficult and should be done cautiously, BG00012 might have a favourable benefit-to-risk ratio profile compared with its oral competitors and the currently available first-line injectable drugs. However, we will have to await the results from the ongoing large phase III trials to establish the place of BG00012 and of other oral drugs in the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis." ( source : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com )

Breast Cancer Mortality Gap Grows Between White, Black Women In Chicago, Report Says

Chicago black women's mortality rate from breast cancer was 116% higher than that of white women in 2005, according to a new report from the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The task force last year reported that the mortality gap was 68%.

Steven Whitman, a task force member and director of the Sinai Urban Health Institute, called the gap "unconscionable," adding that "the really shocking thing is that the black death rate has not gone down at all in the last 25 years. There's virtually no other health condition in which there's just no improvement at all."

According to Whitman, a lower awareness of breast cancer and a distrust of the health system among minority women plays a role in the disparity. Elizabeth Marcus, who runs the breast oncology division at Stroger Hospital, said the disparity also is related to minorities having less access to care at facilities that provide high-quality mammograms and breast cancer treatment.

There are some efforts underway to address the gap, including a recent expansion of the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program, which allows uninsured women to receive mammograms and breast exams at no cost. In addition, the state Senate recently approved a bill that would eliminate copayments for mammograms and boost reimbursements for centers providing the screenings in underserved communities (Thomas, Chicago Sun-Times, 10/22).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. ( source : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com )
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Melamine : Next Session

Tiny bit of melamine in food is OK, experts say
But U.S. officials emphasize they won't tolerate deliberate additions
WASHINGTON - Eating a tiny bit of a melamine, the chemical responsible for a global food safety scare, is not harmful except when it is in baby formula, U.S. food safety officials said Friday.
Melamine-tainted formula has sickened more than 54,000 children in China and is being blamed for the deaths of at least four tots. The chemical has also turned up in products sold across Asia, ranging from candies, to chocolates, to coffee drinks, that used dairy ingredients from China. Authorities in California and Connecticut have found melamine in White Rabbit candies imported from China.
But infant formula made in the U.S. is safe, because manufacturers do not use any ingredients from China.
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday its safety experts have concluded that eating a very tiny amount of melamine — 2.5 parts per million — would not raise health concerns, even if a person ate food that was tainted with the chemical every day.
But officials stressed the scientific assessment does not mean that U.S. authorities will tolerate any melamine that is deliberately added to foods. In China, unscrupulous suppliers appear to have been adding melamine to make watered-down milk seem protein-rich in quality-control tests. That's because melamine is high in nitrogen, as is protein.
"If products are adulterated because they contain melamine, (authorities) will take appropriate actions to prevent the products from entering commerce," the FDA said in a statement. The agency said it was setting the 2.5 parts-per-million standard to address situations in which the chemical accidentally comes into contact with food, such as in cases where it is used for industrial purposes in a factory that makes food products.
Keep chemical out of U.S. formula
Officials also stressed that infant formula sold to U.S. consumers must be completely free of melamine.
"There is too much uncertainty to set a level in infant formula and rule out any public health concern," the FDA said.
Melamine first came to the attention of U.S. consumers last year, when it touched off a massive pet food recall. Chinese suppliers of bulk pet food ingredients were found to have been adding the chemical to artificially boost the protein readings of their products. Thousands of pets here were sickened, and hundreds are believed to have died.
Melamine is harmful to the kidneys. It can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it, and in extreme cases, life-threatening kidney failure.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Melamine : Meaning and Toxicity

Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses. Melamine is also a metabolite of cyromazine, a pesticide. It is formed in the body of mammals who have ingested cyromazine. It has been reported that cyromazine can also be converted to melamine in plants.
Melamine combines with cyanuric acid to form melamine cyanurate, which has been implicated in the Chinese protein export contaminations.
Toxicity
Melamine by itself is nontoxic in low doses, but when combined with cyanuric acid it can cause fatal kidney stones due to the formation of an insoluble melamine cyanurate. Melamine is described as being "Harmful if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Chronic exposure may cause cancer or reproductive damage. Eye, skin and respiratory irritant.” However, the toxic dose is on a par with common table salt with an LD50 of more than 3 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. FDA scientists explained that when melamine and cyanuric acid are absorbed into the bloodstream, they concentrate and interact in the urine-filled renal microtubules, then crystallize and form large numbers of round, yellow crystals, which in turn block and damage the renal cells that line the tubes, causing the kidneys to malfunction.
Acute toxicity
Melamine is reported to have an oral LD50 of 3248 mg/kg based on rat data. It is also an irritant when inhaled or in contact with the skin or eyes. The reported dermal LD50 is >1000 mg/kg for rabbits. In a 1945 study, large doses of melamine were given orally to rats, rabbits and dogs with "no significant toxic effects" observed.
A study by USSR researchers in the 1980s suggested that melamine cyanurate, commonly used as a fire retardant[17], could be more toxic than either melamine or cyanuric acid alone.[18] For rats and mice, the reported LD50 for melamine cyanurate was 4.1 g/kg (given inside the stomach) and 3.5 g/kg (via inhalation), compared to 6.0 and 4.3 g/kg for melamine and 7.7 and 3.4 g/kg for cyanuric acid, respectively.
A toxicology study conducted after recalls of contaminated pet food concluded that the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid in diet does lead to acute renal failure in cats.
Chronic toxicity
Ingestion of melamine may lead to reproductive damage, or bladder or kidney stones, which can lead to bladder cancer.
A study in 1953 reported that dogs fed 3% melamine for a year had the following changes in their urine: reduced specific gravity, increased output, melamine crystalluria, and protein and occult blood.
A survey commissioned by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians suggested that crystals formed in the kidneys melamine combined with cyanuric acid, "don't dissolve easily. They go away slowly, if at all, so there is the potential for chronic toxicity." (source : wikipedia.org)

Melamine Invasion

Cadbury: Melamine found in Chinese-made chocolates

Min Lee , The Associated Press , Hong Kong | Tue, 09/30/2008 11:00 AM | World

One of the world's largest chocolate makers, Britain's Cadbury, has become the latest victim of China's tainted milk scandal, ordering a recall of its Chinese-made products after questionable findings in tests.

Two U.S. food makers, meanwhile, were investigating Indonesian claims that high traces of the industrial chemical melamine had been found in Chinese-made Oreos, M&Ms and Snickers, but stressed Monday the same goods had tested negative in other Asian countries.

The milk scandal erupted earlier this month when China's public learned that melamine had been found in milk powder and was linked to kidney stones in children. Contamination has since turned up in liquid milk, yogurt and other products made with milk.

Four deaths have been blamed on the bad milk and some 54,000 children have developed kidney stones or other illnesses after drinking tainted baby formula.

A Cadbury spokesman said Monday preliminary test results showed traces of melamine in chocolates produced at the company's factory in Beijing, but said it was not yet known how much of the chemical was in them.

"These are preliminary findings from tests. And it's too early to say where the source was or the extent of it," the spokesman said, declining to be named because of company policy.

The British manufacturer said it recalled 11 types of chocolate made at the Beijing factory. The recalled chocolates are distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Nauru and Christmas Island, the company said in a statement.

It added, however, that Cadbury factories outside of China don't use Chinese dairy products and that all its dairy suppliers have been cleared by government milk testing. It did not say what governments.

Experts say some amount of melamine, which is used to make plastics, may be transferred from the environment during food processing.

Ingesting a small amount of the chemical poses no danger, but health experts say melamine can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said a dozen products distributed nationwide, including M&Ms, Oreos and Snickers repeatedly tested positive for melamine last week.

Mars Inc., which makes M&Ms and Snickers, and Kraft Foods Inc., which makes Oreos, said they would comply with the Indonesian government's recall but questioned the test results.

Mars said in a statement issued in Hong Kong that tests by the governments of Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia had cleared Mars chocolate and other candy products. Chinese regulators and a German laboratory also found milk powder supplied to Mars' factory in China free of melamine, the company said.

"The vastly different results give Mars significant reason to question the validity of the Indonesian laboratory results," the statement said.

Kraft took a similar position.

"We are trying to understand what methodology was used," Tod Gimbel, Kraft's director of corporate affairs for the Asia Pacific, told the AP by phone from Singapore.

The two companies said they would conduct their own tests and were looking into the possibility the suspect products were counterfeit.

Meanwhile, police in China's Hebei province arrested 22 people and seized more than 480 pounds (220 kilograms) of melamine in the raid, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xinhua said 19 of the 22 detainees were managers of pastures, breeding farms and purchasing stations. It did not say when the raids took place.

Authorities believe suppliers added melamine, which is rich in nitrogen, to watered-down milk to deceive quality tests for protein. (source : thejakartapost.com)