emeDinews seCtion
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Ranthambore to have Biosphere Reserve for Tigers
Chronic Itching as Debilitating as Chronic Pain
About 11,500 squares kilometer area around the Ranthambore National Park would be made a biosphere reserve to accommodate the increasing number of tigers in this forest in Sawai Madhopur. This was announced by Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday after his meeting with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Talking to the media, Ramesh said forest parts of Dhaulpur and Jhalawara would come under it and it would create kind of corridor between Ranthambore and these areas, to allow big cats to move around in bigger areas. He said that State Government has been asked to send the proposal for the clearance from his Ministry.
Everyone talks about chronic pain, but no one talks about chronic itching. And yet, researchers reported, chronic pruritus may have a similar effect on qualityof-life as chronic pain. In a convenience sample of patients with chronic pain or pruritus, those with itching were willing to forfeit 13% of their life span in order to live without the condition, according to Suephy Chen, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues. In contrast, those with chronic pain were willing for forfeit 27% of their life span to live in perfect health, Chen and colleagues reported online in Archives of Dermatology. (Source: Medpage Today)
Ramesh said that to save the reserve forests, the State Government would create eco-friendly zones around its 27 reserve forests that are facing the threat from illegal mining and mushrooming of hotels. He said a bypass road would be built, to divert the traffic from Sariska Tiger Reserve. The Center would bear 50% cost of this ‘20-crore project’. Ramesh said that he would visit Jaisalmer to have a first-hand idea about having a cheetah reserve there and also re-demarcate the Desert Sanctuary. (Source: The Pioneer, June 24, 2011) Minimally Invasive Colorectal Surgery Cuts VTE Risk Patients undergoing laparoscopic colorectal surgery had fewer clotting complications than were seen with open procedures, researchers found. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) occurred in 1.44% of patients who had open surgery but in only 0.83% of those having a colorectal resection laparoscopically (p < 0.001), Michael J Stamos, MD, of the University of California Irvine Medical Center, and colleagues reported in the June issue of Archives of Surgery. (Source: Medpage Today) Indian Journal of Clinical Practice, Vol. 22, No. 2, July 2011
Screen Time Driving Youth Obesity Epidemic Too much time parked in front of the television or computer screen is driving the epidemic of childhood obesity in the US, according to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics. And it’s not just that many teens are couch potatoes, the academy argues in the July issue of Pediatrics: TV advertising drives sales of junk food, children and teens tend to snack while watching TV or online, and late-night use may interfere with sleep. (Source: Medpage Today) ADA: Older Diabetics better at Keeping Weight Off Weight loss among diabetic, overweight patients was most durable in those who lost >10% of their body weight in the first year and in those 65 and older, researchers said here. Compared with individuals who lost <5% of body weight in the first year of the trial, participants in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial were nearly 10 times more likely to have maintained weight loss after four years (OR 9.8, 95% CI 6.99-13.74), said Donna Ryan, MD, of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. “The strongest predictor of year four weight loss was year one weight loss,” Ryan said at the 95