‘Artificial pancreas’ shows promise in pregnancy

LONDON: Scientists have shown how an "artificial pancreas" can help pregnant women with type 1 diabetes and say their finding could significantly reduce cases of stillbirth and death among diabetic expectant mothers.

British researchers used a so-called "closed-loop insulin delivery system" or artificial pancreas, in 10 pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes and found it provided the right amount of insulin at the right time, maintained near normal blood sugar, and prevented dangerous drops in blood sugar levels at night.

"To discover an artificial pancreas can help maintain near-normal glucose levels in these women is very promising," said Helen Murphy of Cambridge University, who led the study.

The experimental artificial pancreas was created by combining a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, with an insulin pump, both of which are already used separately by many people with type 1 diabetes.

Previous trials in children with the condition found that using an artificial pancreas system at night improved blood glucose control and reduced hypoglycaemia -- when the level of glucose in the blood falls too low.

The bodies of type 1 diabetes sufferers become unable to properly break down sugar and if untreated, bloodvessels and nerves are destroyed, organs fail and patients can die.

Pregnancy can be particularly risky for women with diabetes as hormonal changes make it very difficult to keep blood glucose levels within a safe range, especially at night.

As a result of high blood glucose levels, babies of women with diabetes are five times as likely to be stillborn, three times as likely to die in their first months of life and twice as likely to have a major deformity, the researchers said.

Data from previous studies suggest that pregnant women with type 1 diabetes spend an average of ten hours a day with glucose levels outside recommended targets, said Murphy, whose findings were published in thejournal Diabetes Care.

This increases the risk of birth defects, stillbirth, neonatal death, preterm delivery, oversized babies and other complications.

Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys its own ability to make insulin, accounts for around 10 percent of all people with diabetes. The more common type 2 diabetes is often linked to bad diet and lack of exercise.

Iain Frame, director of research at the charity Diabetes UK, which part-funded the study, said that although it was a small and early stage trial, the results were encouraging.

"It's a fantastic example of how existing technologies...can be adapted and developed to benefit as many people with diabetes as possible," he said in a statement.

The researchers said more studies were now needed on larger numbers of women to validate their findings, and to see if the system could be developed for use outside of a hospital.

Painkillers 'cause kidney damage

LONDON: Be it a body pain, a headache or the pain of a wound, all we do is to pop in a Painkiller. Soon the pain subsides and you sign off for a peaceful sleep, unaware of the fact that the painkiller is playing tricks on your body organs.

Experts say that occasional intake of Painkillers does not cause harm but regular practice may lead to serious health conditions. Surveys have proved the fast growing practice of Painkiller addiction. Most of the addicts were not even aware that they were addicted to the painkiller.

Painkillers do not work on any specific body part. All they do is to reduce the pain messages sent to brain and relax the reaction. Painkillers do the job of suppressing the pain but they never cure it. If the pain is an outcome of a constant health condition, it will return after a gap of few hours.

The two major body organs damaged by painkillers are Kidney and Heart.

Heart – According to a recent survey, excess consumption of Painkillers can lead to Cardiac Arrest. Cardiac Arrest is the condition when heart stops circulating blood to the body. Excess consumption of painkillers hampers the normal breathing process. This in turn leads to drop in Oxygen supply.

This low level of Oxygen disturbs the heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. In this condition though the heart continues to work, it does not supply enough blood to the body.

Kidney - The medicine which reduces pain is called Analgesic. Some Analgesic which does not need prescription like Aspirin, Ibuprofen etc. Over usage of theses drugs can lead to Kidney damage. These painkillers are not broken by the Liver or by the digestive system. These are excreted through the kidney, thus causing damage to it.

The Analgesic can cause two types of Kidney damage – Acute Renal Failure and Chronic Kidney Disease called analgesic nephropathy.


Other Side Effects Of Painkillers

1.Constipation – Painkillers have the ability to disturb your bowel system. The constipation if not diagnosed it time can be very painful and lead to other major diseases.

2.Dizziness – Painkillers relax your brain and generally makes you feel sleepy. Constant usage of painkillers, can make it a permanent trait. Constant heavy usage can lead to dull brain and depression.

3.Nausea – Some painkillers contain a dose of morphine, which is not tolerated by some body types. This may cause nausea which eventually retreats. Continuous usage of these painkillers may cause serious problems.

In few situations, like after an operation or in times of unbearable pain, painkillers can be used but if the pain persists, it's better to take medical advice. Avoiding these problem with painkillers is sure to lead to serious health conditions.

Women want rich husbands

LONDON: A new report suggests that gender equality may be a myth after all – it found that women today still want to 'marry up' – they want husbands who earn more than they do.

Catherine Hakim of the London School of Economics suggests men dominate the top positions because women simply do not want careers in business.

"Women's aspiration to marry up, if they can, to a man who is better-educated and higher-earning persists in most European countries,".

"Women thereby continue to use marriage as an alternative or supplement to their employment careers," she added.

"It is thus not surprising that wives generally earn less than their husbands, and that most couples rationally decide that it makes sense for her to take on the larger share of child care, and to use most or all the parental leave allowance," Hakim said.

Hakim also accused feminists of manufacturing 'political ammunition for a war that has ended'.

"Women today have more choices than men, including real choices between a focus on family work and/or paid employment. Despite this, many politicians and feminists appear disappointed with the slow pace of change in women's attainment of top jobs," Hakim said.

Eating carrots 'makes you more attractive': study

LONDON: Eating strongly coloured vegetables and fruit such as carrots and plums makes people more attractive, according to a new British study.

Researchers at St Andrews and Bristol universities studied the relationship between skin colour and attractiveness, and found people with a yellow skin hue were perceived as particularly healthy and attractive, the Grocer magazine reported.

They also established for the first time that yellow pigments, or carotenoids, from certain fruit and vegetables played a key role in producing yellowness in skin.

As part of the study, 40 volunteers rated 51 Scottish Caucasian faces for healthiness and attractiveness.

The results will be published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour in March, the magazine said.

Ian Stephen, one of the scientists involved in the project, said the link between yellowness and carotenoids opened up new strategies for encouraging young people to eat more fruit and vegetables, especially as it took just two months of increased consumption to produce visible results.

He told the Grocer: "Telling people they might have a heart attack in 40 years' time if they don't eat more healthily is one thing. What we can do is say, 'This is what you could look in a couple of months if you increased your fruit and veg intake'."

Europe weather ruins Christmas for airlines, retailers

LONDON: Snow and freezing temperatures grounded flights across northern Europe on Tuesday, while retailers fretted they would struggle to make up sales lost due to bad weather with just four shopping days to Christmas.

Eurocontrol, the umbrella group for air-traffic control across 38 countries, said more services would likely operate on Tuesday after more than 22,000 flights across Europe were cancelled on Monday.

But cancellations remained widespread.

British Airways said it expected to make a "significant number of cancellations" to its shorthaul services from London's Heathrow airport.

"Severe weather continues to cause significant disruption to our operation and will do so in the run up to Christmas," the airline warned.

Analysts believe the freezing conditions will hit BA's profit by around 10 million pounds ($15.55 million) a day.

Shares in BA were 1 percent up at 268 pence by 1022 GMT, in line with the FTSE100 bluechip index, up 0.78 percent.

BAA, the company owned by Spain's Ferrovial which operates Heathrow, said its south runway would remain closed again on Tuesday, meaning the world's busiest international airport would operate at significantly reduced capacity.

Thousands of passengers have been stranded at Heathrow for days as flights have been delayed and cancelled.

The British government has relaxed regulations on night flights at Heathrow, allowing for arrivals until 0100 GMT each day until Christmas.

London's Gatwick Airport re-opened at 0600 GMT after closing overnight.

Flights to and from Frankfurt airport, continental Europe's biggest, also resumed after the airport had been shut for several hours in the morning, operator Fraport said.

"It is our goal to return to normal flight operations as quickly as possible," said a Fraport spokesman.

In Belgium, handling agents at its main airport managed to get hold of de-icing fluid after saying on Monday they might run out, allowing the departure of some planes on Tuesday.

Britain's Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for most of the country for the remainder of the week.

Eurostar said it was running a restricted service due to the bad weather. Big queues of Eurostar passengers were building up at King's Cross St Pancras station in central London.

"We are asking all customers booked to travel before Christmas to refund or exchange their tickets free of charge, if their travel is not essential," the cross-channel operator said.

With most festive shopping done in the two weeks before Christmas, European retailers are worried they are running out of time to make up lost ground.

"The snow across the country (UK) is having a dramatic impact, with sales running as much as down 50 percent in heavily affected areas," said Andrew Wade, analyst at Numis Securities.

With no let-up in the extreme weather in sight pre-Christmas profit warnings from retailers have already started.

Alexon, the womenswear retailer with 990 outlets in the UK and Europe, warned its sales had slumped 20 percent over the last three weeks, sending its shares down a fifth.