Medical Portal

The population of the Earth grows old, and this tendency will be kept for decades. Such conclusion contains the report of the United Nations Secretary General.
The document states that the population of all the countries, irrespective of development level, in forthcoming decades, will grow old. Report marked that in 2050 in the developed countries one child will account for two elderly persons on the average.
In 2007 28 % from 6,6 billion people living on the Earth, children will make, 18 % - youth, 44 % able-bodied citizens and 10 % - older persons.
In the developed states, as it is spoken in the report, the structure of the population differs considerably from average world parameters. In these countries older persons will make 21 %, and children - 17 %.
End of March 2006 the United Nations has announced its demographic report on Ukraine. According to that report Ukraine had the lowest natality in the world.
Till 2050 the number of old aged people in Ukraine will reach 40 % of the population.

A new morbid event of person’s infection with a virus of avian flu has been fixed in Egypt on Sunday, on April, 8. It was officially reported in the interview with journalists by Health Ministry representative Abel Rahman Shahin.
Virus H5N1 has been found out at the 15-years girl living in area Shobra in Cairo. As it was informed, she had direct contact with the domestic birds.
On April, 5 the girl was hospitalized in Abbasia hospital with high temperature. Now she undergoes special preparation treatment, doctors estimate her state as stable.
Egypt is one of the most suffered from avian flu countries. In total there were fixed 34 cases of infection of the person by virus H5N1for about a year. 13 persons have died, 18 persons have completely recovered and three currently undergo medical treatment.

The anemia worsens the prognosis for insult patients.
From 250 patients with an ischemic insult observed by Dr. Mads Nybo and colleagues (the Copenhagen University Clinic, Denmark), 37 (15 %) suffered anemia. Average levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, NT-pro-BNP, measured in 3 days after insult development, were above at persons with an anemia, than without it: 360 against 232 PG /ml, accordingly.
Age, sex, impaired cardial function and renal insufficiency explained 41 % of NT-pro-BNP levels variability. Patients with an anemia were more senior (middle age 73 years against 68 years) and had heavier insult: Scandinavian Stroke Scale 44 points against 48. Besides patients with an anemia smoked less often, they also less often had hypertension and renal insufficiency.
During 6 months of the observation 23 patients (9.2 %), including 8 with an anemia (37 %) and 15 without it (7.6 %) have died. Authors mark, that it is necessary to specify in the future, whether the treatment of an anemia started in hospital allows to improve the prognosis for insult patients.

Scientists have conducted researches and found out that mobile phones nevertheless can lead to development of brain cancer. The chances of disease development increases after long use, namely, ten years of mobile phone conversations. Presumably, the cause of the disease is in permanent wireless signal.
About 3,3 thousand healthy and more than 1,5 thousand patients with a brain cancer took part in the research. Among them 220 persons proved to use mobile phones for more than ten years. Resting on this information researchers came to a conclusion, that people which use this achievement of technique take 1,3 times higher chances of brain cancer development than those who does not use it.
Nevertheless, for the time being scientists are not going to sound the alarm, as all the information is based on polls and demands well-founded scientific confirmation.

30 years scientists of the Institute of nuclear physics (Russian Science Academy) spent for developing cancer treatment by means of ion beam. Recent completion of these researches can apply for sensation. Scientists have managed for the first time in the world to receive an ion beam of only 0,5 mm which can very precisely “operate” a tumor. This method of malignant tumors destruction has no analogues in the world. Authors of a new technique name it “an ionic scalpel”, as it kills cancer cells not affecting healthy tissues.
The idea of a method is simple: the stream of the charged particles - carbon ions, penetrates into the affected tissues and destroys sick cells.
The idea to use “an ionic scalpel” has engrossed scientists all over the world for a long time. For example, the special medical center is engaged in developing the similar problem in Japan. They have been working over the similar methods, but till now nobody managed to implement these theoretical preconditions in practice.
The Russian scientists managed to solve one of the most important radiotherapy problems, which are used today for cancer treatment. Use of x-ray devices for this purpose does not allow to concentrate the maximal energy on a tumor and in the process of radiation treatment healthy tissues are killed as well.

For the first time in the world the British research group under the direction of the leading cardiosurgeon has grown up a part of human heart from stem cells. If tests on animals, planned for the end of the current year will be successful, within the nearest three years tissues - substitutes can be used for transplantation in surgeries of hundreds thousand people suffering from various heart diseases.
Sir Magdy Yacoob, the professor of cardiosurgery in London College Imperial, more than ten years searched the ways to solve the problem of donor hearts shortage. His group, working in a scientific centre at Harefield hospital, has grown up tissues which act the same as human heart valves. Achievement of scientists is an important step on a way to a chief aim - creation of a full heart from stem cells.
According to the World Health Organization, 15 million people have died in 2005 because of cardiovascular diseases; according to experts, by 2010, 600 thousand persons will require transplantation of cardiac valves all over the world.
For the solving of a problem professor Yacoob has united a group of physicists, biologists, engineers, pharmacologists, cytologists and experienced clinicians. Their task - to describe the work of every part of a heart - has taken 10 years.

According to doctor Lorraine Lipscombe from Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada, diabetes incidence rate to provinces of Ontario in 2006 already exceeds forecasts of disease global growth which have been made by the World Health Organization.
According to World Health Organization forecast, growth of diabetes incidence rate from 2000 till 2030 will make 39 %. The number of people suffering diabetes grows within last 20 years. It makes diabetes one of the most widespread illnesses of our time. World Health Organization predicts, that to 2030 6,4 % of adult population of a planet will suffer from diabetes. Thus growth will make 60 % for the period from 1995 to 2030.
According to Canadian physicians, growth of disease in a province of Ontario from 1995 till 2006 has already made 69 % that exceeds forecasts the World Health Organization. Researchers marked, that prevalence of diabetes has grown both because more people fall ill, and because the survival rate of patients with a diabetes grows.

In general vitamins have appeared not so long ago - in 40s years of the 20th century. Then the word an avitaminosis did not exist, instead of it there was a word “scurvy” which ended in lethal outcome. But it is the last rate of an avitaminosis.
Nowadays it declares itself by drowse, fatiguability and a growing skin peeling on palms. And now let we turn to errors. The first: it is necessary to eat great amount of fresh fruit urgently. It is not true, as fruits sold now in shops – have been frozen time and again. So there is no use in eating these fruits. The second error: you can never overdose Vitamin C. Actually, you can. The maximal allowable daily doze - 2,5 mg on kg of a body weight. Error 3: synthetic vitamins cannot help. Everyone who studied chemistry at school will understand the matter at once. Substances with one structure, but received by different ways, have completely identical properties. Error 4: more expensive vitamins are better. This is mistake as well. And the last 5th error: People who never had avitaminosis. The knock-out dose of vitamins will help us. Try to avoid such statements concerning medications and before taking a shock doze of vitamins, better to go to the doctor at first.

According to the researchers from Stanford University (USA), antidepressants do not affect people suffering from kleptomania. For psychiatrists this news was not unexpected - it is known for a long time, that kleptomania is stable to any treatment.
«There are no simple methods of kleptomania treatment. In many cases even the psychotherapy has no effect. Desire to steal something is so obsessive, that some patients continue to steal even when they are revealed», - comments psychiatrist Norman Sussman (New York University, the USA).
Kleptomaniacs usually steal cheap unnecessary things. Larceny is not planned beforehand, and there are no financial motives.
Last research was “blind” and random, but participated only 17 persons. As the research was small, authors do not call to refuse antidepressants completely. «I met people which were cured by different methods, sat in prison, got divorced, but nothing helped them to cope with kleptomania. But, when he started to take antidepressants, the need to make theft really disappeared. It is difficult to believe, that it only placebo effect. Probably, different patients had different biological basis for their kleptomania. Most likely, the effect depends on a doze. We do not know, that happens inside the brain actually», concludes Lorrin Koran, participant of the research.