Troponin elevation in acute ischemic stroke (TRELAS

coronary calcium scoring

specks of calcium in the walls(alcium deposits ) of the coronary (heart) arteries. These specks of calcium are called calcifications (KAL-sih-fih-KA-shuns).

Chronotropic incompetence (CI),

Chronotropic incompetence (CI), broadly defined as the inability of the heart to increase its rate commensurate with increased activity or demand, is common in patients with cardiovascular disease, produces exercise intolerance which impairs quality-of-life, and is an independent predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events and overall mortality.

Chronotropic incompetence

Chronotropic incompetence

The inability to achieve 85% of the maximum predicted heart rate (MPHR) on dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) is defined as chronotropic incompetence.

TUDORZA™ PRESSAIR™

TUDORZA™ PRESSAIR™

TUDORZA™ PRESSAIR™  is a prescription medicine used long term, 2 times each day to treat symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

http://www.tudorza.com/How-To-Use-Tudorza-Pressair-Inhaler.aspx

http://www.tudorza.com/instructional-video.aspx

source:
http://www.tudorza.com/

Prothrombin Time and INR

Prothrombin Time and INR

Prothrombin time (PT) is a blood test that measures how long it takes blood to clot. A prothrombin time test can be used to check for bleeding problems.

Specific Genetic Disorders

Specific Genetic Disorders list

1. Achondroplasia
2. Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
3. Antiphospholipid Syndrome
4. Autism
5. Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease
6. Breast cancer check
7. Charcot-Marie-Tooth
8. Colon cancer
9. Cri du chat
10. Crohn's Disease
11. Cystic fibrosis
12. Dercum Disease
13. Specific Genetic Disorders
14. Down Syndrome
15. Duane Syndrome
16. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
17. Factor V Leiden Thrombophilia
18. Familial Hypercholesterolemia
19. Familial Mediterranean Fever
20. Fragile X Syndrome
21. Gaucher Disease
22. Hemochromatosis
23. Hemophilia
24. Holoprosencephaly
25. Huntington's disease
26. Klinefelter syndrome
27. Marfan syndrome
28. Myotonic Dystrophy
29. Neurofibromatosis
30. Noonan Syndrome
31. Osteogenesis imperfecta
32. Parkinson's disease
33. Phenylketonuria
34. Poland Anomaly
35. Porphyria
36. Progeria
37. Prostate Cancer
38. Retinitis Pigmentosa
39. Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)
40. Sickle cell disease
41. Skin Cancer
42. Spinal Muscular Atrophy
43. Tay-Sachs
44. Thalassemia
45. Trimethylaminuria
46. Turner Syndrome
47. Velocardiofacial Syndrome
48. WAGR Syndrome
49. Wilson Disease

source:

http://www.genome.gov/10001204

Mucolipidoses

Mucolipidoses

The mucolipidoses (ML) are a group of inherited metabolic diseases that affect the body’s ability to carry out the normal turnover of various materials within cells. In ML, abnormal amounts of carbohydrates and fatty materials (lipids) accumulate in cells

?What are the different types of mucolipidoses?

mucolipidosis I

mucolipidosis II

mucolipidosis III

mucolipidosis IV

?How are the mucolipidoses diagnosed?

Blood test that measures enzyme activity in the patient's white blood cells. Activity levels that are lower than normal indicate specific enzyme deficiencies.

skin biopsy. A small sample of skin is taken from the patient and grown in a cell culture. The activity of a particular enzyme in the cultured skin cells is then measured.

cardiac perfusion scan

Cardiac perfusion scan 

A cardiac perfusion scan used to measures the amount of blood in your heart muscle at rest and during exercise.

What Is Metabolic Syndrome?

What Is Metabolic Syndrome?
Metabolic (met-ah-BOL-ik) syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetesexternal link icon and stroke.

The term "metabolic" refers to the biochemical processes involved in the body's normal functioning. Risk factors are traits, conditions, or habits that increase your chance of developing a disease.

In this article, "heart disease" refers to coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD is a condition in which a waxy substance called plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary (heart) arteries.

Plaque hardens and narrows the arteries, reducing blood flow to your heart muscle. This can lead to chest pain, a heart attack, heart damage, or even death.

Metabolic Risk Factors

The five conditions described below are metabolic risk factors. You can have any one of these risk factors by itself, but they tend to occur together. You must have at least three metabolic risk factors to be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

A large waistline. This also is called abdominal obesity or "having an apple shape." Excess fat in the stomach area is a greater risk factor for heart disease than excess fat in other parts of the body, such as on the hips.
A high triglyceride level (or you're on medicine to treat high triglycerides). Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood.
A low HDL cholesterol level (or you're on medicine to treat low HDL cholesterol). HDL sometimes is called "good" cholesterol. This is because it helps remove cholesterol from your arteries. A low HDL cholesterol level raises your risk for heart disease.
High blood pressure (or you're on medicine to treat high blood pressure). Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage your heart and lead to plaque buildup.
High fasting blood sugar (or you're on medicine to treat high blood sugar). Mildly high blood sugar may be an early sign of diabetes.
Overview

Your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke increases with the number of metabolic risk factors you have. In general, a person who has metabolic syndrome is twice as likely to develop heart disease and five times as likely to develop diabetes as someone who doesn't have metabolic syndrome.

Other risk factors, besides those described above, also increase your risk for heart disease. For example, a high LDL cholesterol level and smoking are major risk factors for heart disease, but they aren't part of metabolic syndrome.

Having even one risk factor raises your risk for heart disease. You should try to control every risk factor you can to reduce your risk.

The risk of having metabolic syndrome is closely linked to overweight and obesity and a lack of physical activity. Insulin resistanceexternal link icon also may increase your risk for metabolic syndrome.

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body can't use its insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that helps move blood sugar into cells where it's used for energy. Insulin resistance can lead to high blood sugar levels, and it's closely linked to overweight and obesity.

Genetics (ethnicity and family history) and older age are other factors that may play a role in causing metabolic syndrome.

Outlook

Metabolic syndrome is becoming more common due to a rise in obesity rates among adults. In the future, metabolic syndrome may overtake smoking as the leading risk factor for heart disease.

It is possible to prevent or delay metabolic syndrome, mainly with lifestyle changes. A healthy lifestyle is a lifelong commitment. Successfully controlling metabolic syndrome requires long-term effort and teamwork with your health care providers.

Source:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/ms/

BRCA1 and BRCA2: Cancer Risk and Genetic Testing

What are BRCA1 and BRCA2?

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are human genes that produce tumor suppressor proteins. These proteins help repair damaged DNA and, therefore, play a role in ensuring the stability of the cell’s genetic material. When either of these genes is mutated, or altered, such that its protein product is not made or does not function correctly, DNA damage may not be repaired properly. As a result, cells are more likely to develop additional genetic alterations that can lead to cancer.

Specific inherited mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 increase the risk of female breast and ovarian cancers, and they have been associated with increased risks of several additional types of cancer. Together, BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations account for about 20 to 25 percent of hereditary breast cancers (1) and about 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers (2). In addition, mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for around 15 percent of ovarian cancers overall (3). Breast cancers associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations tend to develop at younger ages than sporadic breast cancers.


A harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation can be inherited from a person’s mother or father. Each child of a parent who carries a mutation in one of these genes has a 50 percent chance of inheriting the mutation. The effects of mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 are seen even when a person’s second copy of the gene is normal.

Source:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA

 

phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5)

Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) 

he phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors cause vasodilation in the penis and lung by blocking the breakdown of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) which results in prolongation of the action of mediators of vasodilation including nitric oxide (NO). The type-5 phosphodiesterases are isoforms of this enzyme that are found primarily in the penis and lung. For these reasons, the two major actions of the PDE5 inhibitors are to prolong penile erection and decrease pulmonary vascular pressure. They have little effects on the systemic vasculature.

Four PDE5 inhibitors are currently approved and in use for treatment of erectile dysfunction including sildenafil (Viagra: 1998), tadalafil (Cialis: 2003), vardenafil (Levitra: 2003) and avanafil (Stendra: 2012), all of which are recommended to be taken orally one-half to 4 hours before sexual intercourse. Typically, no more than once daily use is recommended. The PDE5 inhibitors are not approved for use in women. Sildenafil is approved for use in pulmonary hypertension where two to three times daily chronic dosing is used. Its safety and efficacy are still under experimental evaluation, particularly in patients with end-stage liver disease (hepato-pulmonary syndrome) and in patients with sickle cell anemia with pulmonary hypertension.

Rare single case reports of acute liver injury have been reported with use of PDE5 inhibitors, mostly with sildenafil, as tadalafil, vardenafil and avanafil have been used less widely. The four agents share a similar mechanism of action but have structural differences, and it is not clear whether liver injury is a class effect or specific to sildenafil. Chronic sildenafil use has not been associated with serum aminotransferase elevations.

The following links are to individual drug records.  References to hepatotoxicity and safety of the PDE5 inhibitors are given together in this overview section. 

• Avanafil
• Sildenafil
• Tadalafil
• Vardenafil

WHO | WHO calls for higher tobacco taxes to save more lives

WHO calls for higher tobacco taxes to save more lives

News release

27 MAY 2014 | GENEVA - On World No Tobacco Day (31 May), WHO calls on countries to raise taxes on tobacco to encourage users to stop and prevent other people from becoming addicted to tobacco. Based on 2012 data, WHO estimates that by increasing tobacco taxes by 50%, all countries would reduce the number of smokers by 49 million within the next 3 years and ultimately save 11 million lives.

Today, every 6 seconds someone dies from tobacco use. Tobacco kills up to half of its users. It also incurs considerable costs for families, businesses and governments. Treating tobacco-related diseases like cancer and heart disease is expensive. And as tobacco-related disease and death often strikes people in the prime of their working lives, productivity and incomes fall.

“Raising taxes on tobacco is the most effective way to reduce use and save lives,” says WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “Determined action on tobacco tax policy hits the industry where it hurts.”

The young and poor people benefit most

High prices are particularly effective in discouraging young people (who often have more limited incomes than older adults) from taking up smoking. They also encourage existing young smokers to either reduce their use of tobacco or quit altogether.

“Price increases are 2 to 3 times more effective in reducing tobacco use among young people than among older adults,” says Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of the Department for Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases at WHO. “Tax policy can be divisive, but this is the tax rise everyone can support. As tobacco taxes go up, death and disease go down.”

Good for economies too

WHO calculates that if all countries increased tobacco taxes by 50% per pack, governments would earn an extra US$ 101 billion in global revenue.

“These additional funds could – and should – be used to advance health and other social programmes,” adds Dr Bettcher.

Countries such as France and the Philippines have already seen the benefits of imposing high taxes on tobacco. Between the early 1990s and 2005, France tripled its inflation-adjusted cigarette prices. This was followed by sales falling by more than 50%. A few years later the number of young men dying from lung cancer in France started to go down. In the Philippines, one year after increasing taxes, the Government has collected more than the expected revenue and plans to spend 85% of this on health services.

Tobacco taxes are a core element of tobacco control

Tobacco use is the world’s leading preventable cause of death. Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 600 000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke. If no action is taken, tobacco will kill more than 8 million people every year by 2030, more than 80% of them among people living in low- and middle-income countries.

Raising taxes on tobacco in support of the reduction of tobacco consumption is a core element of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), an international treaty that entered into force in 2005 and has been endorsed by 178 Parties. Article 6 of the WHO FCTC, Price and Tax Measures to Reduce the Demand for Tobacco, recognizes that “price and tax measures are an effective and important means of reducing tobacco consumption by various segments of the population, in particular young persons”.

Editor’s note

In September 2011, world leaders adopted a UN Political Declaration on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) at the United Nations General Assembly and committed themselves to accelerate implementation of the WHO FCTC. WHO was requested to complete a number of global assignments that would accelerate national efforts to address NCDs.

Since then a global agenda has been set, based on 9 concrete global NCD targets for 2025 organized around the WHO Global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013-2020. The plan comprises a set of actions which, when performed collectively by Member States, UN agencies and WHO, will help to achieve a global target of a 25% reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2025 and a 30% reduction in the prevalence of tobacco use. The WHO Global action plan indicates that the reduction of affordability of tobacco products by increasing tobacco taxes is a very cost-effective and affordable intervention for all Member States.

The United Nations will hold a comprehensive review on the prevention and control of NCDs 10-11 July 2014 in New York. The review will provide a timely opportunity for rallying political support for the acceleration of actions by governments, international partners and WHO, included in the WHO global action plan – including raising tobacco taxes.

http://buymoringaplantproducts.com/

WHO | Tobacco Fact sheet

WHO | Tobacco

Key facts

• Tobacco kills up to half of its users.
• Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people each year. More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030.
• Nearly 80% of the world's one billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.

---

Leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment

The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing nearly six million people a year. More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Approximately one person dies every six seconds due to tobacco, accounting for one in 10 adult deaths. Up to half of current users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease.

Nearly 80% of the more than one billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.

Tobacco users who die prematurely deprive their families of income, raise the cost of health care and hinder economic development.

In some countries, children from poor households are frequently employed in tobacco farming to provide family income. These children are especially vulnerable to "green tobacco sickness", which is caused by the nicotine that is absorbed through the skin from the handling of wet tobacco leaves.

Gradual killer

Because there is a lag of several years between when people start using tobacco and when their health suffers, the epidemic of tobacco-related disease and death has just begun.

Tobacco caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century. If current trends continue, it may cause one billion deaths in the 21st century.

Unchecked, tobacco-related deaths will increase to more than eight million per year by 2030. More than 80% of those deaths will be in low- and middle-income countries.

Surveillance is key

Good monitoring tracks the extent and character of the tobacco epidemic and indicates how best to tailor policies. Only one in four countries, representing just over a third of the world's population, monitor tobacco use by repeating nationally representative youth and adult surveys at least once every five years.

Second-hand smoke kills

Second-hand smoke is the smoke that fills restaurants, offices or other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products such as cigarettes, bidis and water pipes. There are more than 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer.

There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.

• In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden death. In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.
• Almost half of children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places.
• Over 40% of children have at least one smoking parent.
• Second-hand smoke causes more than 600 000 premature deaths per year.
• In 2004, children accounted for 28% of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke.

Every person should be able to breathe tobacco-smoke-free air. Smoke-free laws protect the health of non-smokers, are popular, do not harm business and encourage smokers to quit.

Over 1 billion people, or 16% of the world's population, are protected by comprehensive national smoke-free laws.

Tobacco users need help to quit

Studies show that few people understand the specific health risks of tobacco use. For example, a 2009 survey in China revealed that only 38% of smokers knew that smoking causes coronary heart disease and only 27% knew that it causes stroke.

Among smokers who are aware of the dangers of tobacco, most want to quit. Counselling and medication can more than double the chance that a smoker who tries to quit will succeed.

National comprehensive cessation services with full or partial cost-coverage are available to assist tobacco users to quit in only 21 countries, representing 15% of the world's population.

There is no cessation assistance of any kind in one-quarter of low-income countries.

Picture warnings work

Hard-hitting anti-tobacco advertisements and graphic pack warnings – especially those that include pictures – reduce the number of children who begin smoking and increase the number of smokers who quit.

Graphic warnings can persuade smokers to protect the health of non-smokers by smoking less inside the home and avoiding smoking near children. Studies carried out after the implementation of pictorial package warnings in Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand consistently show that pictorial warnings significantly increase people's awareness of the harms of tobacco use.

Just 30 countries, representing 14% of the world's population, meet the best practice for pictorial warnings, which includes the warnings in the local language and cover an average of at least half of the front and back of cigarette packs. Most of these countries are low- or middle-income countries.

Mass media campaigns can also reduce tobacco consumption, by influencing people to protect non-smokers and convincing youths to stop using tobacco.

Over half of the world's population live in the 37 countries that have implemented at least one strong anti-tobacco mass media campaign within the last two years.

Ad bans lower consumption

Bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship can reduce tobacco consumption.

• A comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship could decrease tobacco consumption by an average of about 7%, with some countries experiencing a decline in consumption of up to 16%.
• Only 24 countries, representing 10% of the world’s population, have completely banned all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
• Around one country in three has minimal or no restrictions at all on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

Taxes discourage tobacco use

Tobacco taxes are the most cost-effective way to reduce tobacco use, especially among young people and poor people. . A tax increase that increases tobacco prices by 10% decreases tobacco consumption by about 4% in high-income countries and about 5% in low- and middle-income countries.

Even so, high tobacco taxes is a measure that is rarely used. Only 32 countries, less than 8% of the world's population, have tobacco tax rates greater than 75% of the retail price. Tobacco tax revenues are on average 175 times higher than spending on tobacco control, based on available data.

WHO response

WHO is committed to fighting the global tobacco epidemic. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control entered into force in February 2005. Since then, it has become one of the most widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations with 178 Parties covering 89% of the world's population. The WHO Framework Convention is WHO's most important tobacco control tool and a milestone in the promotion of public health. It is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of people to the highest standard of health, provides legal dimensions for international health cooperation and sets high standards for compliance.

In 2008, WHO introduced a practical, cost-effective way to scale up implementation of provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on the ground: MPOWER. Each MPOWER measure corresponds to at least one provision of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The 6 MPOWER measures are:

• Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies
• Protect people from tobacco use
• Offer help to quit tobacco use
• Warn about the dangers of tobacco
• Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
• Raise taxes on tobacco.

For more details on progress made for tobacco control at global, regional and country level, please refer to the series of WHO reports on the global tobacco epidemic.

For more information contact:

WHO Media centre
Telephone: +41 22 791 2222
E-mail: mediainquiries@who.int