Month: December 2016
Coughing can certainly give you rib pain…
I have recently been quite unwell – my doctor confirmed that I had a chest infection and prescribed antibiotics. After a few days I had occasional rib pain and decided to confer with ‘Mr Google’ and he linked me to the below article. Some cough mixture has eased the coughing and helped to get rid of the phlegm. On the road to recovery now.
Happy New Year friends and readers!
http://www.newhealthadvisor.com/Sore-Ribs-from-Coughing.html
BEYOND THE BACK – BOOK REVIEW…
New kiwi drug allegedly helps gout sufferers…
Hope for gout sufferers worldwide in the future…
A sore and swollen toe is often a telltale sign of gout…
A sore and swollen toe is the telltale sign of gout, which affects more than 45,000 New ZealandersA New Zealand research company has invented a new drug which it hopes will help the millions of people worldwide who suffer from gout.
The drug has just begun clinical trials in humans with the debilitating disease and if it is successful it could bring millions of dollars into the New Zealand economy.
A sore and swollen toe is the telltale sign of gout, which affects more than 45,000 New Zealanders.
But a home grown research team headed by Richard Furneaux has invented a new treatment which it hopes will bring more effective relief to those affected in New Zealand and overseas.
“It may turn out as effective or more effective and easier to take and will have less side effects,” he says.
Gout is caused by too much uric acid in the blood which causes crystals to form in joints.
Mr Furneaux says inflammation then causes a sort of arthritis.
“It’s very painful and quite crippling,” he says.
The new drug aims to prevent uric acid being formed.
Human trials of around 200 gout patients are currently underway in 20 hospitals across the United States.
Gout is the third most common form of acute arthritis in New Zealanders.
Sandra Kirby, chief executive of Arthritis NZ, says in some centres it is the leading cause of people missing work.
“There’s some studies in South Auckland where incidence are very high which shows that it’s one of the leading causes of people taking time off work,” she says.
“So you can imagine if your foot is swollen and sore, your hand is swollen and sore, and then working, walking, many of the things that are good for you become impossible.”
The seven year project is a combined effort between a Kiwi company and an American company which has injected more than $200 million into research.
“We’re hoping that more and more of this will be done here and so we can actually have a pharmaceutical development industry in New Zealand,” a company spokesman said.
There are already effective treatments for the illness but 5 percent of gout patients can’t tolerate them.
It’s hoped this treatment will not only suit everyone but will also lead to other significant drug developments.
Comments:
There is no intention to promote the company involved in this story, rather to inform readers on what is being done to help future gout sufferers. I have no connection to the research company or any other company. If successful this could help sufferers worldwide.
I have withdrawn links to other sites to keep within the guidelines of this site. Readers who wish to find out more can leave a message in the comments section of this blog. I receive no financial gain for anything I write or post here. I have also had no feedback since this post was published.
Peter Petterson
COURAGE…
DAILY LIVING AIDS – THE GIFTS THAT KEEP ON GIVING…
The 12 Ways to Health Holiday Song
LIFE IS ALL ABOUT BALANCE…
Syphilis :A historic disease that has made a comeback…
Syphilis cases almost double in one year
Syphilis infections almost doubled in Auckland between 2014 and 2015 in a trend that has medical professionals worried.
A study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal found the Auckland Regional Sexual Health Service treated 152 cases of the sexually transmitted infection in 2015.
This was a 78 per cent increase on the 84 Auckland cases the year before.
“The 152 cases treated in 2015 is the largest number to date and is a worrying trend, particularly because the total number of cases in Auckland is likely to be higher due to under-reporting,” the report said.
This trend corresponded to rising rates of syphilis infection in Australia, the UK and US as well, the report said.
It said a dedicated New Zealand public health response was needed because syphilis can cause serious complications, including miscarriage or still-birth if a woman is infected during pregnancy
Common symptoms include genital ulcers and rashes on the body or palms of hands and soles of feet.
Alarmingly, researchers also found that just over one-third of those seeking treatment for syphilis were additionally infected with HIV, while 22 per cent had another STI, most commonly chlamydia.
Syphilis infections were far more common among gay or bisexual men, who accounted for 77 per cent of those seeking treatment, while 15 per cent were heterosexual men and 8 per cent heterosexual women.
Although the number of heterosexual men diagnosed with syphilis in 2015 was small at 35 people, the report said this was an almost quadrupling of the nine Auckland cases reported in 2014.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/87631696/Syphilis-cases-spike-in-Auckland
The Major Way Israel Is Putting America to Shame on Marijuana
Israel has long been at the forefront of marijuana research, and the country is budding into a hub for cannabis-related startup companies, Quartz reported.
Crowds from around the globe flocked to Tel Aviv in March for the second annual CannaTech conference. The summit was aimed at attracting fledgling marijuana ventures to the country and included speakers from medicine, politics, science, agriculture, and investments.
“Everything is set up here to be the epicenter of cannabis research,” organizer Clifton Flack told Quartz.
Read more here:
Hutts Health & Happiness 