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May 2015 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
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MAKERS
India is Global Ground Zero
For Super Bugs
Animal Hibernation May Be
Clue for Alzheimer’s Cure
Super bugs are bacterial infections
that are resistant to antibiotics. In
India, 58,000 of the 800,000 annual
infant deaths are from these bugs.
While now just a fraction of the
total newborn deaths, the super bug
population is rising and could have
global implications. Today, close to 100
percent of newborns in India have multidrug-resistant infections. Researchers
say there is overwhelming evidence
that a significant share of the bacteria
present in India – in its water, sewage,
animals, soil and even its mothers – are
immune to nearly all antibiotics. India’s
resistant infections have already been
seen in France, Japan, Oman and the
United States. Developing countries
seem to have higher rates of antibioticresistant bugs compared to developed
nations, but India is the global ground
zero. India has the highest rates of
bacterial infections in the world due
to the country’s underdeveloped
sanitation systems. In response, people
in India take the most antibiotics,
which are sold over the counter. India’s
top neonatologists warn these super
bug infections are originating from the
maternal genital tract, which means
they are not confined to hospital cluster
infections.
When animals go into hibernation,
their brain synapse numbers decrease
to allow them to enter a prolonged state
of inactivity. When hibernation is over,
a cold-activated protein called RBM3
rebuilds the synapses and restores
normal brain activity. Humans also
have RBM3, but it has been found to be
missing in Alzheimer’s patients, whose
brains also commonly have a reduced
number of synapses. Researchers at
Leicester University believe a drug that
mimics RBM3 could have the potential
to restore lost brain function in people
suffering from neurodegenerative
disorders. The researchers say they now
need to find something to reproduce
the effect of brain cooling – drugs that
can induce the effects of hibernation
and hypothermia. They theorize that
enhancing cold-shock pathways in the
brain without cooling the body could
act as a protective therapy for treating
neurodegenerative disorders. Their
findings were published in the journal
Nature.
Today, close
to 100 percent
of newborns
in India have
multidrugresistant
infections.
Inhalable Insulin
Now Available
Pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and
MannKind Corporation have released
the first inhalable insulin. The new drug,
Afrezza, has been approved by the FDA
and is available now by prescription.
The inhaler administers a dried-out
form of human insulin. Patients inhale
Afreeza at the beginning of a meal. It
dissolves rapidly and peak insulin levels
are achieved within 12 to 15 minutes,
which is among the fastest delivery rates
already available.