Health
Ukraine war: Attacks, damaged health system may lead to surge in infectious disease cases
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Specialists warn the Russian invasion into Ukraine might trigger circumstances of polio, cholera and measles to surge as a result of the infectious illnesses thrive on the conflict’s unsanitary circumstances, in line with CNN.
“When it comes to what we name vaccine-preventable illnesses, the standing in Ukraine was that the inhabitants was not vaccinated to the extent which you’d get herd immunity such as you would in lots of different European international locations or within the US,” mentioned Kate White, an emergency program supervisor for Medical doctors With out Borders, on Tuesday.
Firefighters evacuate an aged lady from an residence constructing hit by shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine
(Ukrainian State Emergency Service through AP)
Ukrainians aren’t solely now extra vulnerable to those uncommon infectious illnesses due to their identified low vaccination charges, but additionally as a result of the nation’s well being system is now not administering routine vaccinations, the information outlet added.
White added the general public well being scenario is compounded as a result of some locations have poor water provides, are with out electrical energy and now have points with sanitation — all elements ripe for an outbreak like cholera.
The micro organism is transmitted after consuming or consuming contaminated meals or water and identified to trigger gentle to extreme watery diarrhea, the place a small subset can die inside hours of dehydration if not handled promptly, in line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC).
UKRAINIANS IN SHELLED CITIES LIKE MARIUPOL FACING ‘INHUMAN SUFFERING’: OFFICIAL
And the nation has suffered from cholera earlier than.
“Ukraine was the final nation inside Europe to have a cholera outbreak in 2011, and that was in Mariupol,” White added.
Russian assaults have ravaged the town of Mariupol, the place Ukrainian officers estimate roughly 2,500 civilians have died, however round 350,000 persons are trapped with out water, electrical energy, and warmth in circumstances which can be described as “simply hell.”
Refugees wait in a crowd for transportation after fleeing from the Ukraine
(AP Picture/Markus Schreiber, File)
As these conflict circumstances worsen, the chance of different illnesses like polio and measles will increase as extra persons are compelled collectively simply as medical provides proceed to say no, per the information outlet.
Polio is a contagious virus that may trigger paralysis by spreading by person-to-person contact, whereas measles can also be a really infectious virus identified to trigger higher respiratory signs adopted by a crimson bumpy rash that spreads when folks breathe in contaminated air or contact an contaminated floor, per the CDC.
However as conflict circumstances squeeze the Ukrainians into tighter, typically extra unsanitary areas, well being care services throughout Ukraine are struggling at a time once they want them essentially the most, as a result of many aren’t useful anymore or have been focused by the Russian navy, in line with CNN.
Ukrainian official Pavlo Kyrylenko, the top of Donetsk regional administration, accused the Russian navy of holding medical doctors and sufferers in opposition to their will in a regional intensive care hospital in Mariupol, in line with an announcement posted on Telegram.
Ukrainians crowd beneath a destroyed bridge as they attempt to flee crossing the Irpin river
((AP Picture/Emilio Morenatti) )
“It’s unimaginable to get out of the hospital. They shoot exhausting, we sit within the basement. Automobiles haven’t been capable of drive to the hospital for 2 days. Excessive-rise buildings round us are burning. … The Russians have rushed 400 folks from neighboring buildings to our hospital. We will not go away,” Kyrylenko mentioned, quoting a hospital worker, who communicated details about the hospital scenario this Tuesday.
He added that despite the fact that the hospital was “virtually destroyed,” the workers and sufferers stayed within the basement, the place the healthcare staff proceed to deal with them.
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“In Ukraine, for the reason that begin of the conflict, 31 assaults on well being care have been documented through the WHO’s Surveillance System for Assaults on Well being Care (SSA). In line with these reviews, in 24 incidents well being care services had been broken or destroyed, whereas in 5 circumstances ambulances had been broken or destroyed,” in line with a joint assertion by The World Well being Group, the United Nations Inhabitants Fund and UNICEF.
The assertion referred to as for “a direct cessation of all assaults on well being care” in Ukraine, including the assaults led to at the least 12 deaths and 34 accidents that affected entry to important healthcare providers.
The conflict circumstances have created a scenario the place there at the moment are extra folks needing care however fewer hospitals obtainable to truly assist, per CNN.
“Sadly, I do not suppose there may be something notably distinctive, and that actually truly breaks my coronary heart that I’ve seen this too many instances earlier than,” White mentioned.
“We’re solely at the beginning of the burden that the well being system goes to face as this battle continues.”
Health
Scientists May Be Able to Make Grapefruits Compatible With Medications They Currently Interfere With
You may be among the millions of people who have seen a surprisingly specific warning like this on the labels of drugs you take:
Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while using this medication.
Such warnings are issued for dozens of substances, including docetaxel, a cancer drug; erythromycin, an antibiotic; and some statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs prescribed to more than a third of American adults over 40.
The problem is a set of molecules, furanocoumarins. High levels of furanocoumarins interfere with human liver enzymes, among other processes. In their presence, medications can build up to unhealthy levels in the body. And grapefruits and some related citrus fruits are full of them.
But there is no such warning for other kinds of citrus, such as mandarins and other oranges. Citrus researchers at the Volcani Center in Israel reported Wednesday in the journal The New Phytologist that, by crossing mandarins and grapefruit, they’ve uncovered genes that produce furanocoumarins in some citrus fruits. It’s a finding that opens the possibility of creating grapefruit that doesn’t require a warning label.
Scientists had worked out the compounds’ structures and pieced together a basic flowchart of how they are made years ago, said Yoram Eyal, a professor at the Volcani Center. But the precise identities of enzymes catalyzing the process — the proteins that snip off a branch here, or add a piece there — remained mysterious. He and his colleagues knew that one way to identify them was to breed citrus high in furanocoumarins with those without. If the offspring of such a cross had varying levels of the substances, it should be possible, by digging into their genetics, to pinpoint the genes for the proteins.
“We were afraid to approach it, because it’s very time-consuming and it takes many years,” he said, noting how involved it can be to grow new trees from seeds and assess their genetics. “But finally, we decided we have to dive in.”
When they examined the offspring of a mandarin and a grapefruit, the researchers saw something remarkable. Fifty percent of the young plants had high levels of furanocourmains, and 50 percent had none. That particular signature meant something very specific, in terms of how the ability to make these substances is inherited.
“We saw there was only one gene that could have controlled it,” said Livnat Goldenberg, a Volcani Center researcher who is the lead author of the new study.
The researchers soon identified the gene controlling the production of furanocoumarins in leaves and fruit, which produces an enzyme called 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase, or 2OGD for short. Mandarins, it turns out, have a mutated form of this gene that keeps the enzyme from functioning properly. This version cropped up in all the mandarin and orange varieties the researchers checked, explaining why they do not cause the same problems as grapefruit in people taking prescription medications. In these plants, furanocoumarin production is paused.
With gene editing technology, it should be possible to alter the gene in grapefruit as well, Dr. Eyal suggests. The team at the Volcani Center is now exploring that project.
Looking at how widespread this mutated version is in mandarins and some other citrus, the scientists speculate that some gene nearby on the genome must play an important role in a highly prized trait. A long-ago citrus breeder, selecting for some unknown quality, must have unwittingly spread this furanocoumarin-busting version of the gene to an ancestor of modern varieties of mandarins and oranges.
All these years later, that person’s work is coming to light, under the gaze of geneticists, who may, someday, put grapefruit back on the menu.
Cases of tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” are on the rise in the U.S., according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Caused by the bacteria Francisella tularensis, the disease commonly infects rabbits, hares and rodents. However, it is zoonotic, which means it can spread from animals to humans.
The bacteria is a “tier-1 select agent,” a classification given to agents and toxins that “present the greatest risk of deliberate misuse with significant potential for mass casualties or devastating effects to the economy, critical infrastructure or public confidence, and pose a severe threat to public health and safety,” per the CDC.
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Although tularemia is relatively rare, with only 2,462 diagnoses between 2011 and 2022, cases have risen 56% compared to the prior decade (2001 to 2010), as reported in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Cases of tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” are on the rise in the U.S., according to a new report from the CDC. (iStock)
“Increased reporting of probable cases might be associated with an actual increase in human infection, improved tularemia detection or both,” the report states.
Millions of new cases of diabetes and heart disease every year are caused by sugary drinks, according to newly published research.
Tufts University in Boston led the study, which found that about 2.2 million new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease were attributed to sugar-sweetened sodas and juices each year, according to a press release.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine this week.
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The highest rates were found in Colombia, where 48% of new diabetes cases were linked to sugary drinks, and in Mexico, where nearly a third of cases were attributed to them.
Meanwhile, in Latin America, more than 24% of new diabetes cases were linked to sugary beverages, and 21% in sub-Saharan Africa, the study found.
About 2.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease occur each year worldwide due to consuming sugar-sweetened soda and juices, according to the findings of a new study. (iStock)
In South Africa, 27.6% of new diabetes cases and 14.6% of cardiovascular disease cases were attributed to sugary drinks.
Sugary drinks are rapidly digested, causing a spike in blood sugar levels with little nutritional value.
Sugary drinks cause blood sugar to spike because they are “rapidly digested,” the research team said.
When consumed on a long-term basis, these types of beverages, in addition to increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, can also lead to weight gain and insulin resistance, the researchers added.
Men are more likely than women to suffer the consequences of sugary drink consumption, as are younger adults compared to their older counterparts, a new study asserts. (iStock)
Professor Dariush Mozaffarian, the study’s senior author, said in a university press release, “Sugar-sweetened beverages are heavily marketed and sold in low- and middle-income nations.”
He added, “Not only are these communities consuming harmful products, but they are also often less well-equipped to deal with the long-term health consequences.”
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Certain groups are more likely to experience negative health effects from sugary drinks, including men and younger adults, the researchers noted, as news agency SWNS also noted.
New Jersey-based registered dietitian Erin Palinski-Wade, who was not involved in the research, said the findings were to be expected, as diets rich in added sugars are more likely to increase the risk of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes.
When consumed on a long-term basis, these types of beverages can also lead to weight gain and insulin resistance, experts say. (iStock)
“Sugar-sweetened beverages are a major cause of added sugar in the diet and easy to overconsume, as they provide little fullness,” she told Fox News Digital.
“The high calorie content and lack of satisfaction due to little protein, fat or fiber in these drinks can lead to excess calorie consumption, which can lead to weight gain — especially gains in visceral fat (belly fat), which has been found to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes,” she went on.
“Sugar-sweetened beverages are easy to overconsume, as they provide little fullness.”
Palinski-Wade pointed out that there were some limitations to the new research.
“This was an observational study, not a causation study, and shows only an association between diets containing sugar-sweetened beverages and diabetes,” she noted.
“It does not prove that those drinks alone trigger an onset of type 2 diabetes.”
What needs to change?
To remedy the issue, the study authors called for a “multi-pronged approach,” including public health campaigns, regulations on advertising and taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, the release stated.
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“We need urgent, evidence-based interventions to curb consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages globally, before even more lives are shortened by their effects on diabetes and heart disease,” first author Laura Lara-Castor, now at the University of Washington, said in the release.
Approximately 65% of adults in the U.S. consume sugar-sweetened beverages daily. (iStock)
Mexico implemented a sugary drinks tax in 2014, which has shown to be effective in reducing consumption, the researchers stated.
“Much more needs to be done, especially in countries in Latin America and Africa, where consumption is high and the health consequences severe,” wrote Mozaffarian.
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“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
Many different factors are involved in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, Palinski-Wade noted.
“As a species, we need to address sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.”
“However, reducing your intake of sugar-sweetened beverages can go a long way toward improving overall blood sugar regulation and future health.”
The new research was supported by the Gates Foundation, the American Heart Association and Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for further comment.
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