Blood tests mandatory before marriage

Courtesy - Daily Mirror By Sandun A. Jayasekera

Legislation will be introduced soon making it mandatory for couples to undergo blood tests prior to marriage so as to prevent the spread of dreaded Thalassemia, a health ministry spokesman said yesterday.

“The Kurunegala General Hospital’s National Thalassemia Centre (NTC) said the number of Thalassemia patients were increasing and this places a bigger burden on the health ministry because the government was solely responsible for its treatment,” ministry spokesman W.M.D. Wanninayaka said.

He said latest data showed that in Sri Lanka there were 1,600 Thalassemia patients and of them 160 were children.

“The saddest part is that this dreaded disease is incurable  with patients needing life-long treatment and constant medical observation. The only way to contain the disease is to prevent the marriage between two Thalassemia carriers. If  both parents are Thalassemia carriers, their children will definitely end up as Thalassemia patients,” Mr. Wanninayake said.

He said blood tests would be done at government hospitals free-of-charge and a medical certificate certifying the health of the prospective bride and groom would be a must for the marriage. “The health ministry spends about Rs.350 million annually to treat Thalassemia patients,” Mr. Wanninayake added.

New horizons in sexual medicine

Physiology & Sex

[Text of talk given by Emeritus Professor Carlo Fonseka at the International Symposium organized jointly by the Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Family Planning Association on 22 April 2011]

I wish to begin by informing those who care to know that in the last century, when I used to lecture to medical students on the Physiology of Sex, I always began with a certain disclaimer. In those days there was a theory to the effect that those who are bald in front THINK; those who are bald behind are SEXY; and those who are bald both in front and behind THINK THEY ARE SEXY! I pleaded then that I was the rule-proving exception to this theory. I make the same plea today.

Who are We?

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Medical test in Children

Dr. B.J.C.Perera MBBS(Ceylon), DCH(Ceylon), DCH(England), MD(Paediatrics), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(London), FRCPCH(United Kingdom), FSLCPaed, FCCP, FCGP(Sri Lanka) Consultant Paediatrician

In many childhood illnesses, diagnosis and treatment could be undertaken on the basis of a thorough history and clinical examination. Most children have rather mild illnesses and many of them resolve spontaneously with time, quite often without any major forms of treatment. Most of the time all they need are symptomatic treatment to make them less uncomfortable and nature cures these illnesses quite rapidly. Many common childhood illnesses resolve within a period of 7 to 10 days. Thus, in the vast majority, no further investigations or tests are necessary.

However, in certain situations, some forms of tests may be necessary. This is particularly true when there are unexplained symptoms or when the diagnosis is rather uncertain. Tests may also be necessary to ascertain the severity of a disease, the extent to which complications are present or to determine prognosis. There are a legion of tests and medical investigations available to facilitate these processes. Decisions regarding exactly which tests need to be done should be judiciously done, depending on the circumstances. It is a cardinal principle in the care of children that one does not perform all kinds of investigations haphazardly but decide on essential investigations taking into account the clinical status of the illness. Blanket performance of a multitude of tests is generally specifically avoided in children. Quite a few of the necessary investigations are available through the National Health Service in the government hospitals but some of the more sophisticated tests are available only in the private sector. These are of course likely to be quite expensive.

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Teen suicides… why ????

The definition of suicide contains two components – that the individual brought about his or her own death, and that he/she did so knowingly. Attempted suicide or suicide is usually carried out at the height of an interpersonal crisis. Suicides can be grouped in to two broad categories. The first group includes those deaths comes as a surprise to his/her acquaintances.

Often these are individuals who have led stable lives but whose stability has been precariously dependent on one other individual.

The other sub group is chronically maladjusted individuals. They have a long history of personal difficulties, conflicts with the law, work instability and sometimes interpersonal violence.

Teenagers who attempt suicide have similar difficulties to their adult counterparts, but in many cases they also face problems in their relationships with their parents. Although psychological and psychiatric issues are found in most individuals who attempt suicide, only a third are found to have definite psychological disorder. In many cases this is transient, being largely secondary to social difficulties. About 5-8% of individuals suffer from serious psychological illnesses, which require treatment in a hospital. The most common disorder is depression, with anxiety and schizophrenia (a serious psychiatric condition) occurring in few cases.

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Weight loss sharpens your memory

Losing weight not only provides a variety of health benefits, but may also help sharpen your memory. These are the findings of new research from Kent State University recently published in the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.
John Gunstad, an Assistant Professor of psychology and lead author of the study, reported that results of the research indicate that weight loss may improve concentration and overall cognitive ability.
He pointed out, "We've known for a long time that obesity is a risk factor for things like Alzheimer's disease and stroke, and more recent work really shows that obesity is a link to memory problems and concentration problems before that even begins."
Gunstad then explained that his research team set out to answer the question, "If excess weight causes these problems, can losing weight help reverse them?"
For their study, the researchers analyzed the memory and attention of a group of 150 obese people having an average weight of 300 pounds.
At the beginning of the study, each member of the group was given mental skills testing for assessment of baseline abilities of recall and attention.

Drucilla Dyess / AFP / DN

Mother's diet during pregnancy alters baby's DNA

Can a baby predict the environment it will be born into?

A mother's diet during pregnancy can alter the DNA of her child and increase the risk of obesity, according to researchers.

The study, to be published in the journal Diabetes, showed that eating low levels of carbohydrate changed bits of DNA.

It then showed children with these changes were fatter. The British Heart Foundation called for better nutritional and lifestyle support for women. It is thought that a developing baby tries to predict the environment it will be born into, taking cues from its mother and adjusting its DNA.

Studies in animals have shown that changes in diet can alter the function of genes - known as epigenetic change. It is a growing field trying to understand how the environment interacts with genes. In this study, the researchers took samples from the umbilical cord and looked for "epigenetic markers".

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Humans may owe more than smooth feet to pumice, claim scientists

Pumice, the rock used remove dry skin from feet, could have been responsible for the birth of life on Earth, scientists have claimed.

By Richard Gray,

Science Correspondent

It is commonly known for its ability to remove dry skin from feet, but pumice stone may have had a far more important role in our lives than we realise.

Scientists claim the rock, which is produced as volcanic gases bubble through lava as it solidifies, may have been responsible for the birth of life on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago.

In a surprising new theory for how life evolved our planet, palaeobiologists believe the tiny pores in the volcanic rock provided the perfect environment for the first living cells to develop.

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Vegetarian diet good for kidneys

Kidney disease patients must limit their phosphorous intake, as high levels of the mineral can lead to heart disease and death.A new study has suggested that sticking to a vegetarian diet can help kidney disease patients avoid accumulating toxic levels of phosphorous in their bodies.
While medical guidelines recommend low phosphorus diets for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), phosphorus content is not listed on food labels.
Sharon Moe (Indiana University School of Medicine and Roudebush Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center) and her colleagues studied the effects of vegetarian and meat-based diets on phosphorous levels in nine patients with CKD.

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Preparing children for the arrival of a new sibling

By Dr. B. J. C. Perera MBBS(Ceylon), DCH(Ceylon), DCH(England), MD(Paediatrics), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(London), FRCPCH(United Kingdom), FSLCPaed, FCCP, FCGP(Sri Lanka) Consultant Paediatrician

The arrival of a new baby can bring many changes to a family. Parents spend a lot of energy on preparations and getting things sorted out prior to the arrival of the new baby. After the baby arrives, much of the family’s attention involves meeting the newborn’s basic needs. When there are older children, one must remember the impact of the phenomenon on them. All this change can be hard for older siblings to handle. It is quite common for them to feel jealous toward the newborn and to react to the upheaval by acting out. However, parents can prepare their children for an addition to the family. Discussing the pregnancy in terms that make sense to children, making some arrangements and including the child or children in the care of the newborn can make things easier for everyone.

Sibling rivalry usually starts right after or even before the arrival of the second child or subsequent children. The older child often becomes aggressive, "acts out" or even regresses. This regression means acting more like a little baby. Examples are the child wanting a bottle or passing urine in his or her pants and clothes.   It is quite important to prepare an older child when the parents know that the mother is pregnant. Older siblings need to know what to expect and they need time to adjust. Even after the baby arrives, there are many things that one could do to make the adjustment easier. It must be remembered that having a new baby in the family may be one of the tougher things that an older child has to deal with.  However, it may eventually be one of the greatest gifts that the parents can give them.

There is no right time or perfect way to tell a child about an impending sibling arrival. When discussing the pregnancy, it is necessary to consider the parents own comfort level and the child’s maturity level. Preschoolers, for example, may not grasp concepts of time, so it might not mean much if one says that the baby will arrive in a few months. It may be more useful to explain that the baby will arrive in a particular season, referring to perhaps festive days such as the New Year or Christmas or Deepavali. The little ones will then understand the timing.

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Broken heart hurts as much as physical pain

A new study has shown that a broken heart ‘’hurts’’ in the same way as intense physical twinge does.

The research demonstrated that the same regions of the brain that become active in response to painful sensory experiences are activated during intense experiences of social rejection. "These results give new meaning to the idea that social rejection ‘hurts’," said University of Michigan social psychologist Ethan Kross, lead author of the article.
"On the surface, spilling a hot cup of coffee on yourself and thinking about how rejected you feel when you look at the picture of a person that you recently experienced an unwanted break-up with may seem to elicit very different types of pain.

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Study: Sex Increases Heart Attack Risk for Lazy People

Researchers at Tufts Medical Center in Boston say sedentary
 people who suddenly have sex or exercise have an increased chance
of a heart attack.

If you sit on your butt most of the time, this news may make you break out in a sweat: Sporadic bursts of sex or exercise can increase the risk of a heart attack.

Dr. Issa Dahabreh and Dr. Jessica Paulus, researchers at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, made this discovery after reviewing 10 studies investigating physical activity, three involving sexual activity and one study that looked at both.

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Mild stress leads to long-term disability

Stress...stress..

A new study has revealed that even relatively mild stress can lead to long-term disability and an inability to work.

It is well known that mental health problems are associated with long-term disability, but the impact of milder forms of psychological stress is likely to have been underestimated, say the authors.

Between 2002 and 2007, the authors tracked the health of more than 17,000 working adults up to the age of 64, who had been randomly selected from the population in the Stockholm area.

All participants completed a validated questionnaire (GHQ-12) at the start of the study to measure their mental health and stress levels, as well as other aspects of health and wellbeing.

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Cannabis addiction: Colossal mental health problem

“I will not be a slave of any appetite.”

Lord Byron

Cannabis is an illicit and also a dangerous drug. According to Police reports cannabis usage in Sri Lanka is increasing. A large number of people use cannabis day-to-day basis in rural and urban areas. Many consider cannabis is a harmless also an Aurvedic preparation which cause no harm to the human body.

This is totally a misconception. The empirical findings indicate that cannabis abuse can cause severe psychological as well as sociological ill effects despite this misconception. Drug awareness as well as health education is needed to eradicate such misconceptions in the society.

Serious adverse effects of Cannabis have been reported. Among the adverse effects dependence on Cannabis, adolescent developmental problems, permanent cognitive impairment as well as development of psychosis are evident. Prolonged use of cannabis can lead to depression, lack of volition and a history of gradually deteriorating social ability and contact with others. People who are addicted to cannabis suffer from very poor memory and concentration.

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Children and tolerance

Sri Lanka is perhaps a great "melting pot" with a rich blend of cultural traditions from all over the country. It is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual conglomerate with many customs dating back to many a century. Quite a few families can trace their histories to travelling from place to place, enduring risk and hardship and finally ending up in a place to make a home where they would be comfortable and happy. Others have been staying put in ancestral properties and residences. In such a society, there is a great variation in the beliefs, customs and preferences of many different shades which percolate into the behaviour patterns of the populace. In the midst of such an environment, today, more than ever before, children have to interact with people of differing ethnicities, religions, and cultures. Classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse, reflecting the communities where families live and work. Given the things that children are exposed and subjected to, the need to develop tolerance to many different things is indeed a necessity.

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Men lead in Prostate cancer

Today one of the leading cancers among men, across the world is prostate cancer. There are many factors which are considered as risk factors. Various researches have shown that smoking could be one of the risk factors in causing this cancer as well as in aggravating the condition in men stricken with the disease. Researches have also shown that smoking worsens the side effects of prostate cancer therapy.

Chart of prostate cancer

While smoking may help the growth of prostate cancer in several ways in your body, it influences the progression of prostate cancer through a process that affects certain genes in the body and it is also likely to alter one’s hormonal balance by creating an environment conducive to tumor growth. Smoking can increase the amount of steroid hormones called androgens, which can fuel the growth of malignant prostate cells in one’s body. Also, tobacco is a source of cadmium, a heavy metal that interacts with zinc found in the prostate, which leads to prostate cancer. This human carcinogenic metal inhibits DNA repair in one’s body, which allows cancer cells to mutate and multiply.
Several research findings have shown that men under age 65, smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 40 years would face a 100 percent increased risk of developing the more aggressive forms of prostate cancer as compared to non-smokers. Also, compared to non-smokers, current smokers face a 40 percent increase in the risk of developing prostate cancer, Dr Thomas Vaughan, in the PHS Division and researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine collaborated on the study, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute.
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Cyber bullying and children

Courtesy - The Island By Dr. B.J.C.Perera

MBBS(Ceylon), DCH(Ceylon), DCH(England), MD(Paediatrics), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(London), FRCPCH(United Kingdom), FSLCPaed, FCCP, FCGP(Sri Lanka) Consultant Paediatrician

Bullying is not a new phenomenon but thanks to the Internet children are now being bullied even in the comfort of their own homes. Online harassment, more often called cyber bullying, is a serious problem. It is the use of modern technology to harass, threaten, embarrass or target another person. Cyber bullying has been defined as "when the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person" or as "when an electronic device is used to attack or defame the character of a real person". Almost by definition, it occurs among young people and when an adult is involved, it may meet the definition of cyber-harassment or cyber-stalking, a crime that can have legal consequences and involve jail times in many countries. When bullying comes home through the Internet it can leave victims feeling helpless and overwhelmed. This hottest new trend has children using those keyboards to send vile, hateful and highly slanderous messages about their peers through the Internet. Bullying that was once confined to playgrounds, has now hit cyberspace, cell phones and pagers. Most unfortunately, it is both serious and sophisticated.

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GOING IT ALONE

Courtesy- Daily mirror - By Sirohmi Gunesekera

She read through the letter twice with great self-control and then she burst into tears!

So Ramesh had made up his mind to leave her and break up their ten year partnership.  They had been married for nine years and now he told her he had found someone else.

What could Elsa do?  She had built her life around Ramesh.  The couple had no children but Ramesh’s companionship had filled the lacuna in her life.

“Surely, I should have seen the signs but maybe I was blind,” she thought to herself.  They hadn’t kissed and hugged each other for a while but she had put it down to the fact that both were too busy with their jobs.  “It’s a warning to other women and men that if there is a cooling off in their relationship, it is a sign of danger,” she told her best friend, Miriam.

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Want to live longer?

London: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Now, scientists claim the fruit may help one live longer - at least among flies.

Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found that when given an apple extract, fruit flies, which share many genes with humans despite their tiny size, lived 10 percent longer than those fed normally. The flies with normal diet lived an average of 50 days - five days fewer than those whose food was supplemented with apple extract, the Daily Mail reported.

Not only did the flies given the apple extract live 10% longer, they also found it easier to walk, climb and move about as they aged.

The apple extract also cut levels of various biochemicals found in older fruit flies and linked to age-related deterioration, the researchers found. They believe that the antioxidants in the extract mopped up free radicals, the dangerous chemicals blamed for a host of ills, including ageing.

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Teasing, bullying and children

DR. B. J. C. Perera

MBBS(Ceylon), DCH(Ceylon), DCH(England), MD(Paediatrics), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(London), FRCPCH(United Kingdom), FSLCPaed, FCCP, FCGP(Sri Lanka) Consultant Paediatrician

The progression in development and growing up in children is fraught with of all kinds of challenges for many of them. In addition to the stresses imposed by the necessity to do well in studies, dealing with changes in body stature and the ever present need for personal achievements, there are quite a few other challenges that children may have to deal with during their childhood. One such issue that has come into prominence in the last few decades is teasing and bullying. It is certainly not something new but has come into the limelight more in modern times due to the many different ways in which it occurs and the amount of distress it causes. In some instances, it has assumed such grave proportions, that the situations has necessitated many authorities to specifically look at these as very special and complex problems in child rearing.

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Smoking and alcohol enhance kill factors for men – World Bank Report

By Steve A. Morrell

Life expectancy in Sri Lanka is now at 74 years and rising. However, attendant progress is marred by urbanization, smoking and alcohol consumption among men, mainly. These attendant risk factors completely nullified progress in health care achieved since 1920, says Julie McLaughlin Sector Manager, Health, Nutrition, and Population of the World Bank.

"Life expectancy for women made steady progress but such gains are not enlisted for men because of described social mores causing serious affectation ultimately resulting in Non Communicable Diseases. (NCD)", she told a press conference in Colombo last week.

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