Category Diseases

What is pollen allergy?

Allergic reactions can happen around the year, but people who are prone to pollen allergy experience severe bouts of it during spring and summer, when trees, plants grasses, and weeds release tiny pollen particles into the air to fertilize other plants. And this particular time of the year is often referred to as the ‘allergy season.

A new research from Germany suggests that climate change is causing allergy season to last longer, as rising temperatures are causing plants to bloom earlier, and pollen from early blooming locations are travelling to later blooming locations. This means more days of itchy eyes and runny noses for people with pollen allergy.

Researchers found that certain species, such as hazel shrubs and alder trees, advanced the start of their season by up to 2 days per year, over a period of 30 years (between 1987 and 2017). Other species, which tend to bloom later in the year, such as birch and ash trees, advanced their season by 0.5 days on average each year.

The effects of climate change on the pollen season have been studied at length. It has been established that greenhouse gas emissions and weather variables, mainly air temperature, sunlight and rainfall, are affecting plant phenology – the timing of plant life-cycle events, such as flowering, fruiting and pollen production.

Pollen travels

Climate change has had a negative impact on the movement of pollen and atmospheric pollen concentration. The changing weather patterns and atmospheric circulation may spread pollen to new areas and expose people to different allergens their immune systems are unprepared for. Such pollen movement can also introduce invasive species into new environments.

 

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What is anaemia?

Anemia is defined as a low number of red blood cells. In a routine blood test, anemia is reported as a low hemoglobin or hematocrit. Hemoglobin is the main protein in your red blood cells. It carries oxygen, and delivers it throughout your body. If you have anemia, your hemoglobin level will be low too. If it is low enough, your tissues or organs may not get enough oxygen. 

Anemia affects more than two billion people globally, which is more than 30% of the total population. It is especially common in countries with few resources, but it also affects many people in the industrialized world. Within the U.S., anemia is the most common blood condition. An estimated three million Americans have the disorder.

Anemia can have other affects on your body in addition to feeling tired or cold. Other signs that you might be lacking in iron include having brittle or spoon-shaped nails and possible hair loss. You might find that your sense of taste has changed, or you might experience ringing in your ears.

Different types of anemia may lead to other serious problems. People with sickle cell anemia often have heart and lung complications.

 

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What is bloating?

Bloating is a condition where your belly feels full and tight, often due to gas. When you are bloated, you feel as if you’ve eaten a big meal and there is no room in your stomach. Your stomach feels full and tight. It can be uncomfortable or painful. Your stomach may actually look bigger. It can make your clothes fit tighter.

Bloating happens when the GI tract becomes filled with air or gas. This can be caused by something as simple as the food you eat. Some foods produce more gas than others. It can also be caused by lactose intolerance (problems with dairy). 

Your doctor can generally diagnose the cause of your bloating through a physical exam in the office. He or she will ask you questions about your symptoms. They will want to know if your bloating is occasional or if it occurs all the time.

Temporary bloating is usually not serious. If it happens all the time, your doctor may order other tests. These could include an imaging test to look inside your abdomen. This could be an X-ray or CT scan.

 

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What is stomach flu?

The stomach flu (gastroenteritis) is a nonspecific term for various inflammatory problems in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Food allergies may produce eosinophilic gastroenteritis, a sign of which is increased eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) seen in the blood. Children with the stomach flu or gastroenteritis have similar symptoms to adults, but also may have symptoms such as refusing to drink or being very thirsty.

The main way contagious causes of the stomach flu are spread is person to person via the fecal-oral route. Individuals at most risk of catching the stomach flu are those in close association with an infant, child, or an adult that has a viral or bacterial cause of stomach flu .

Stomach flu is diagnosed in most cases without specific tests, however, tests can help define the underlying cause. Home remedies may reduce symptoms of stomach flu, including diet changes. Most people with viral or mild bacterial gastroenteritis require no treatment. Some individuals may require symptom reduction with medications but more serious bacterial infections may require antibiotic therapy.

 

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COVID-19 vaccines in India: quick facts

The year 2021 has brought new developments on the vaccine front. On January 3, India approved the emergency use of two coronavirus vaccines, namely Covishield and Covaxin. When this article was taking shape, nationwide drills were being held to train more than 90,000 health care workers to administer these vaccines. The dry runs were also intended to avoid logistical loopholes during the actual vaccination drive that will cover crores of people across the country. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government expected the first phase of vaccination – targeting around 30 crore people on priority – to be completed by August 2021. While preparations are in full swing, some scientists expressed concern over the rushed approval given to the indigenous vaccine, Covaxin.

Who has developed Covishield and Covaxin?

Covishield is the Indian variant of AZD1222, the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and University of Oxford. Pune-based Serum Institute of India developed and manufactured Covishield through a licence from Astrazeneca and Oxford.

The overall efficacy of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine has been found to be 70.42%. Serum Institute of India has said it would price the vaccine at Rs. 440 for the government and around Rs. 700-800 for the private market.

Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology. The vaccine is yet to complete late-stage human clinical trials and its efficacy rate has not been released. The price of Covaxin has not been made public

What does “restricted use approval in an emergency situation” mean?

During an emergency such as a pandemic drug regulators may allow vaccines to be given to certain people even when the studies of safety and effectiveness are ongoing. This form of approval is called Emergency Use Authorisation. Normally, the process to approve a new vaccine can take years, sometimes more than a decade. But the COVID-19 pandemic has urged governments around the world to relax certain rules and to not only speed up the process of vaccine development, but also go ahead with emergency use.

Instead of the usual requirement of “substantial evidence of safety and effectiveness, they allow products into the market as long as their benefits are “likely” to outweigh their risks.

In the case of Covishield and Covaxin, Indian pharmaceutical regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), has imposed certain conditions on the vaccines developers. The developers have to continuously submit safety, efficacy and immunogenicity data from their ongoing trials until these are complete.

They also have to submit safety data every 15 days for the next two months, and after that monthly for the duration of their trials.

Who will get vaccinated first?

Covishield will be given in the first phase of the vaccine drive. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that Covaxin will be used only in ‘clinical trial mode, where consent will be taken and side effects monitored.

The Covishield vaccine will first be given to around one crore healthcare workers in both government and private hospitals. It will also be given to two crore frontline workers associated with the state and central Police department, armed forces, home guard, disaster management and civil defence organisation, prison staff municipal workers and revenue officials engaged in COVID-19 containment, surveillance and associated activities. People above the age of 50 years and those with comorbidities are next in line to get the vaccine.

How will the vaccines be given?

Both Covishield and Covaxin are meant to be administered in two doses and stored at temperatures of 2 degrees C to 8 degrees C. While Covishield will be given between four and 12 weeks apart, the DCGI has not clarified the intervals between the shots of Covaxin. (The vaccines do not need the ultra-cold storage facilities that some others do. They can be stored in refrigerators. This makes them feasible candidates.)

The remaining population will be inoculated after the people on the priority list are covered. Once it is open to the public, beneficiaries will have to register on the COWIN app and submit ID proof for vaccination.

The Union Health Ministry has said that getting vaccinated for COVID-19 will be voluntary. However, it has ‘advised’ all to get vaccinated.

What is CoWIN app?

For a smooth implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, the government has developed the COWIN app, which stands for Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network. Registration on the app is mandatory to receive a vaccine.

Why are some experts concerned about the vaccines’ approval?

Some doctors have criticised a lack of transparency in the approval process.

The main concern is that developers of both the vaccines have not presented to the CDSCO the results of their respective phase 3 efficacy trials conducted on Indian participants, Covishield is backed by phase 3 data from studies in Brazil and the United Kingdom, The data from the “bridging study” showing its vaccine can elicit an immune response in the Indian population comparable with the original AstraZeneca vaccine has not been analysed fully. Further, out of a pool of 1,600 Indian participants, the Serum Institute submitted data pertaining to only 100 volunteers to the CDSCO’s subject expert committee.

In the case of Covaxin, there is no efficacy data. While Bharat Biotech has said that phase 1 and phase 2 trials have shown good results, the drug regulator has simply said the vaccine is safe and effective. Covaxin is expected to be a “backup,” to be deployed only if India faces a surge because of the new coronavirus variant that has been recently identified in the U.K.

 

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What is Treeman syndrome?

EV, known colloquially as tree man syndrome, is an incredibly rare genetic condition. It leads to chronic HPV infections that result in characteristic skin growths and lesions.

People who may have EV or a family history of it should notify a doctor, ideally a specialized dermatologist, as soon a possible. The goal is to manage symptoms and prevent severe complications. A person may also benefit from genetic counseling.

Symptoms can appear at any age, including infancy. In more than half of EV cases, symptoms first appear in children between the ages of 5 and 11. For nearly a quarter of people with EV, symptoms first emerge during puberty.

Symptoms may include a mix of:

  • flat-topped or bumpy lesions
  • small, raised bumps known as papules
  • large patches of raised and inflamed skin, known as plaques
  • small, raised brown lesions that resemble scabs

 

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