Anosmia is the loss and disturbance of the sense of smell and is intended as a resource for sufferers from olfactory disorders.Distortions to olfactory sensation can therefore cause great disturbance to our lives. There is a loss of quality of life and it can bring anxiety and loss of appetite. It can lead to depression.Other Olfactory disorders can be summed up as below:-

ANOSMIA:a complete loss of smell
HYPOSMIA:partial loss of smell
HYPEROSMIA:enhanced smell sensitivity
DYSOSMIA:distortion in odour perception (includes parosmia & phantosmia)
PAROSMIA:distortion of perception of external stimulus
PHANTOSMIA:smell perception with no external stimulus

Popularity: 7% [?]

A new study by Japanese scientists shows that cells from menstrual blood may be useful in repairing heart damage.

Researchers obtained menstrual blood from nine women and focused their study on a kind of cell that can act like stem cells.

About 20 percent of these cells began beating spontaneously about three days after being put together in vitro with cells from the hearts of rats, the study says. The cells later formed sheet-like heart muscle tissue.

The success rate is 100 times higher than the 0.2 to 0.3 percent for stem cells taken from human bone marrow, researcher Shunichiro Miyoshi, a cardiologist at Keio University’s school of medicine, told French news agency AFP.

Experiments showed that rats who had suffered heart attacks improved after they received the menstrual blood cells, according to the study, which appeared in the medical journal Stem Cell.

Source : FOXNews

Popularity: unranked [?]

Doctors have not found out any cure for the disease.They sometimes prescribe drugs to improve symptoms that often accompany Alzheimer’s disease.The treatment available can be classified as below:-
 
Cholinesterase inhibitors : This group of medications — which includes donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon) and galantamine (Reminyl) — works by improving the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain.Donepezil also appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s for about a year in people who have mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Cholinesterase inhibitors work out in some cases. As many as half the people who take these drugs show no improvement. Other people may choose to stop taking the drugs because of the side effects, which include diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
 
Memantine (Namenda) : The first drug approved to treat moderate to severe stages of Alzheimer’s, memantine (Namenda), protects brain cells from damage caused by the chemical messenger glutamate. It sometimes is used in combination with a cholinesterase inhibitor. Memantine’s most common side effect is dizziness, although it also appears to increase agitation and delusional behavior in some people.

Popularity: 24% [?]

The most commonly known symptom of Alzheimer’s disease is confusion. This behaviour in particular causes us to become ‘estranged’ from others and to be unpredictable in our interactions. Confusion can also occur ‘acutly’ i.e. suddenly and limited in time. The common symptoms that are seen in pateints are forgetfulness, misplacing things, difficulty in remembering names etc.People with Alzheimer suffer mainly from impaired memory and orientation, limitations of concentration, planning and judgement, personality changes and later also perceptual, speech and walking disorders; in the final stage, various other body functions such as swallowing and the excretion process are also affected. During the course of Alzheimer’s disease, patients lose their independence in managing everyday life. There are effects on perception and social relationships; people become more and more dependent on care.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Causes The cause of Dementia is still unknown. There probably is not one single cause, but several factors that affect each person differently. The number of people with the disease doubles every 5 years beyond age 65.Family history is another risk factor. The more common form of Demantia is known as late-onset. It occurs later in life, and no obvious inheritance pattern is seen in most families. However, several risk factor genes may interact with each other and with non-genetic factors to cause the disease. The only risk factor gene identified so far for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease is a gene that makes one form of a protein called apolipoprotein E (ApoE). Everyone has ApoE, which helps carry cholesterol in the blood. Only about 15 percent of people have the form that increases the risk of AD. It is likely that other genes also may increase the risk of AD or protect against AD, but they remain to be discovered.

Popularity: 34% [?]

Dementia is a neurological disorder in which the patient looses its ability to think, speak, reason, remember and move. It is a progressive brain dysfunction, leads to a gradually increasing restriction of daily activities. The most well-known type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia not only affects patients, but also those surrounding them, as most patients require care in the long-term.While Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, many other conditions also can cause similar symptoms.Dementia occurs in people with Alzheimer’s disease because healthy brain tissue degenerates, causing a steady decline in memory and mental abilities.Some of these disorders get worse with time and cannot be cured. Other types respond so well to treatment, their symptoms may even be reversed.After Alzheimer’s disease, the most common forms of dementia are vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia. Frontotemporal dementia is less common.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Bulimia is mainly a psychiatric problem and involves behavioral therapy along with counseling. Therapy is most effective when it concentrates on the issues that cause the behavior, rather than on the behavior itself. The patient is advised to participate in group therapy, where persons suffering from Bulimia meet and talk about their experiences.

The patient may also need Anti-depressants since he usually suffers from depression. Since fluid and electrolyte imbalances are observed, it is prudent to relinquish the reserves with i.v.fluids and electrolytes. The mainstay of the treatment part is Follow-Up. Monitoring of a person’s compliance is vital to the success of treatment.

Popularity: 60% [?]

All fat people know how difficult it is to get rid of their tummy tyres, escpecially if they are lazy.

Now rejoice you lazy bums, according to a new study, help may be just a rub away.
Yes rubbing of a topical cream containing 0.5% aminophylline, two times a day, can burn away the adipose tissue.
This is according to a new study. Though the sample size was small, 50 precisely, with a BMI of 27 and over, still this gives a new hope in research related to weight reduction in the obese.
Aminophylline is a member of the theophylline group and is used in treatment in bronchial asthma.
However this is an add on and is to be used along with calorie maintenance and an exercise regimen.

Popularity: 64% [?]

Japan has the highest incidence of gastric cancer worldwide.

Lower blood cholesterol is always associated with decrease in the incidence of CHD.

However, in a study conducted in Japan, it was found that low blood cholesterol levels were associated with a greater risk of developing gastric cancer, especially the intestinal types.

Till date, no such co-relation has been found between CHD and Gastric cancer.

Doctors now have advised that people having low cholesterol should go for periodic gastrointestinal check ups. Really strange.

Popularity: 64% [?]

This refers to the contraceptive options after unprotected sexual intercourse.

The most popular drug is ‘Ovran’, where the female should take 2 tablets within 72 hours of intercourse and then 1 tablet after 12 hrs of taking the first dose.

Keep in mind that the efficacy of the drug decreases as time goes by, hence it would be better if the pills are taken immediately after intercourse for better results.

Prostinar contains levonorgesterol and is to be taken as a single pill within 72 hours and next pill after 12 hours. You can also take 2 pills at a time within 72 hours.

Mifepristone is a steroid and is to be taken as a single pill. It is very effective, however very expensive.

Centochroman: 2 tablets taken twice in 24 hours within 24 hours of intercourse is also effective

The latest entrant in this segment is Cipla’s I-Pill. It is very easily available over the counter and is to be taken as a single dose within 72 hours. It has virtually no side effects and costs Rs. 75.

If the female doesn’t want to eat pills then she can opt for Copper T, which is to be inserted within 5 days of intercourse.

Popularity: 65% [?]