Treat Swine Flu – how to treat swine flu and health tips

The Swine Flu is getting worse in many countries. We are facing the worries of the second wave and probably more adverse situation worldwide. The best thing we could do is to strengthen our own immunity and to be prepared for the upcoming crisis.

Here are some of the facts recap about swine flu from WHO’s website:

What is the new influenza A(H1N1)?

This is a new influenza A(H1N1) virus that has never before circulated among humans. This virus is not related to previous or current human seasonal influenza viruses.
How do people become infected with the virus?

The virus is spread from person-to-person. It is transmitted as easily as the normal seasonal flu and can be passed to other people by exposure to infected droplets expelled by coughing or sneezing that can be inhaled, or that can contaminate hands or surfaces.

To prevent spread, people who are ill should cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, stay home when they are unwell, clean their hands regularly, and keep some distance from healthy people, as much as possible.

There are no known instances of people getting infected by exposure to pigs or other animals.

The place of origin of the virus is unknown.
What are the signs and symptoms of infection?

Signs of influenza A(H1N1) are flu-like, including fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and runny nose, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhoea.
Why are we so worried about this flu when hundreds of thousands die every year from seasonal epidemics?

A screening technique can double the chance of IVF success, giving hope to tens of thousands of women struggling to have children, say experts.

The test boosts the odds of success

Doctors at an annual US fertility meeting heard for the second year running of the merits of a test that screens embryos for genetic faults.

So far more than 20 babies have been born using the technique.

The UK researchers say they are now able to back the method with “great confidence”.

They hope it will eventually be available to all. Currently, it is offered in a few private UK clinics.

Doctors believe the £2,000 test, called comparative genomic hybridisation or CGH, will be particularly useful to older women, whose embryos have a greater risk of carrying genetic errors that cause conditions like Down’s syndrome.

The screening checks chromosomes in the developing embryo when it is a few days old, meaning only those embryos with the best chance of success are used in fertility treatment.

Dr Dagan Wells from Oxford University, who led the study, described the latest results on 115 women – six times as many as last year – as “astonishing”.

The results are particularly impressive as many of the women were on their “last chance” at IVF – they were typically aged 39 with two failed IVF cycles behind them. Read more….

BBC News

Scientists have pinpointed a gene linked to more than half of all breast cancers.

The gene plays a role in many cases of breast cancer

The gene, NRG1 (neuregulin-1), is also thought to play a role in many bowel, prostate, ovarian and bladder tumours.

The University of Cambridge team said the breakthrough should provide “vital information” about how cancer spreads.

Experts agreed the finding, published in the journal Oncogene, could represent a very significant advance in the fight against cancer.

The Cambridge team showed that the gene – which helps to suppress the growth of cancer – is located on chromosome 8.

Cancerous cells are known often to miss part of that chromosome, and when the researchers analysed breast cancer samples they found that at least part of the key gene had often been lost.

Everybody is born with an intact NRG1 but it seems that in some cases it can become damaged – leaving the way open for cancer to thrive.

Lead researcher Dr Paul Edwards said: “I believe NRG1 could be the most important tumour suppresser gene discovery in the last 20 years as it gives us vital information about a new mechanism that causes breast cancer.Read more…

By PEGGY PECK
MedPage Today Executive Editor
Abc News

A firestorm of controversy erupted today when a top official with the American Cancer Society let slip that the benefits of breast cancer and prostate cancer screening may have been oversold.

The epicenter of the controversy is statement by Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the ACS. Brawley made the statement in an interview with the New York Times about a Journal of the American Medical Association analysis of breast and prostate cancer screening, which raised questions about claims that screening saves lives.

Brawley said the questions raised in the journal article were legitimate, and he said the ACS was in the process of reworking its message on breast and prostate cancer screening. According to the Times report, he said the benefits of screening had been “exaggerated.”

When ABC News contacted the ACS for an interview with Brawley, it was told that he was attending a family funeral and was not available for comment.

The ACS did, however, release a prepared statement under Brawley’s name: “While the advantages of screening for some cancers have been overstated, there are advantages, especially in the case of breast, colon and cervical cancers. Mammography is effective – mammograms work and women should continue get them… The American Cancer Society stands by its recommendation that women age 40 and over should receive annual mammography, and women at high risk should talk with their doctors about when screening should begin based on their family history.”Read more…

By PEGGY PECK
MedPage Today Executive Editor
Abc News

A firestorm of controversy erupted today when a top official with the American Cancer Society let slip that the benefits of breast cancer and prostate cancer screening may have been oversold.

The epicenter of the controversy is statement by Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the ACS. Brawley made the statement in an interview with the New York Times about a Journal of the American Medical Association analysis of breast and prostate cancer screening, which raised questions about claims that screening saves lives.

Brawley said the questions raised in the journal article were legitimate, and he said the ACS was in the process of reworking its message on breast and prostate cancer screening. According to the Times report, he said the benefits of screening had been “exaggerated.”

When ABC News contacted the ACS for an interview with Brawley, it was told that he was attending a family funeral and was not available for comment.

The ACS did, however, release a prepared statement under Brawley’s name: “While the advantages of screening for some cancers have been overstated, there are advantages, especially in the case of breast, colon and cervical cancers. Mammography is effective – mammograms work and women should continue get them… The American Cancer Society stands by its recommendation that women age 40 and over should receive annual mammography, and women at high risk should talk with their doctors about when screening should begin based on their family history.”Read more…