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Healthcare online Keeping you up-to-date
VOL.  20     ISSUE: 8  August  2022 Medical Services Department

SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Features

EDITORIAL TEAM

OMAR AKRAMUR RAB

MBBS, FCGP, FIAGP,

P G Dip. Business Management

MAHFUZUR RAHMAN

MBBS, MBA

RUBYEAT ADNAN

MBBS, MPH

EDITORIAL

Dear Doctor,

Hope that you all  are doing well.
Our current health bulletin issue focused on some latest features like -


"Heart Chamber & Dementia !", "Premature Birth & ADHD !", "COVID Vaccine & Pregnancy !", "Psoriasis solutions !",  "Smoking Alert !", "Fecal Transplant Risk !".

In our regular feature, we have some new products information of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd. as well.

We appreciate your feedback !

Click on to reply mode.

Yours sincerely,

 

Editorial Team

Reply Mode      : e-square@squaregroup.com

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of its editor or SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
 Heart Chamber & Dementia !

Abnormal Upper Heart Chamber May Boost Dementia Risk

If the left atrium of the heart doesn't work properly, chances of dementia climb. One of the new research suggests that found it may raise the risk by 35%, even in people who have never had a stroke or atrial fibrillation. Atrial cardiopathy, an abnormality in the left atrium's structure or function, is frequently a predictor for heart disease risk. Atrial fibrillation and stroke are both linked to an increased risk of dementia, and atrial cardiopathy is associated with the development of both atrial fibrillation and stroke. In the study researchers tried to determine whether there is a connection between atrial cardiopathy and dementia and, if so, whether it is distinct from atrial fibrillation and stroke. Data was taken from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, which began in 1987, an ongoing investigation into heart health among people residing in four diverse U.S. communities. Brief assessments of processing speed, episodic memory, language, attention and executive function were included in the battery of neuropsychological tests. An expert determined a diagnosis of dementia using criteria established by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Over more than 30 years of follow-up, 763 people developed dementia and 1,709 were diagnosed with atrial cardiopathy. Dementia appeared to be 35% more likely to develop in those with atrial cardiopathy. Even after taking into account other vascular risks and accounting for participants who had atrial fibrillation and stroke, the researchers still found a 31% and 28% increase in dementia risk, respectively, in patients with atrial cardiopathy. While acknowledging that the results do not confirm a direct cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers stress the significance of reducing the risk of heart disease. Dementia progresses gradually, so some study participants may have had milder symptoms that were overlooked, and some patients may have passed away before dementia was identified and recorded.
SOURCE: HealthDay News, August 2022

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 Premature Birth & ADHD !

 Premature Birth Tied to Higher Risk for ADHD

Children born a little early before 39 weeks of pregnancy are more likely to have symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While birth before 37 weeks' gestation has known links to hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention, this study investigated ADHD symptoms in children born at term, between 37 and 41 weeks' gestation. The findings add to growing evidence supporting current recommendations for delaying elective deliveries to at least 39 weeks and suggest that regular screenings for ADHD symptoms are important for children born at 37 to 38 weeks. For the study, researchers team analyzed data on about 1,400 people who were around 9 year olds and who were part of a nationwide study that randomly sampled births at 75 hospitals in the USA. The children's mothers were re-interviewed over nine years. During that time, the researchers asked the kids' teachers to evaluate them using a shortened form of the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale. The scale includes symptoms of hyperactivity, ADHD, oppositional behavior, and cognitive problems or inattention. Using that data, the new study found that children born at 37 to 38 weeks scored significantly higher on the teacher rating scales for hyperactivity, ADHD and cognitive problems or inattention compared to children born at 39 to 41 weeks. Gestational age wasn't significantly linked to oppositional behavior. Each week of gestational age was associated with 6% lower hyperactivity scores and 5% lower scores for ADHD, cognitive problems or inattention, according to the report. Birth at 37 to 38 weeks was associated with 23% higher scores for hyperactivity and 17% higher ADHD scores compared with birth at 39 to 41 weeks. Significant growth and development in various kinds of brain cells are observed between 34 and 40 weeks of gestation. Infants born at full-term likely benefit from the additional one to two weeks of brain growth in utero compared with those born early term. Teachers' reports, in conjunction with maternal reports and physician evaluations, provide valuable input for the diagnosis of ADHD. Mother reported symptoms generally reflect behaviors in the home or in small family or social groups, while teacher reported symptoms reflect behaviors in a structured educational setting by professionals who work with a large number of children and observe the range of behaviors that students exhibit in classrooms.

SOURCE: HealthDay News, August 2022

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 COVID Vaccine & Pregnancy !

COVID Vaccine Safe for Pregnant Women

The most popular COVID-19 vaccines are safe to use in pregnancy, a large, new Canadian study has concluded. About 4% of pregnant women given an mRNA vaccine had a significant health event within a week of their first dose, and about 7% did after dose two, according to data gathered from more than 191,000 Canadian women. By comparison, 3% of unvaccinated pregnant women reported similar significant health events, which were defined as an illness that made the person miss work or school, required a medical consultation, or prevented them from participating in regular daily activities. The most common significant health events after dose two in pregnant women were a general feeling of being unwell, headache or migraine, and respiratory tract infection. Among a control group of vaccinated but not pregnant people, about 6% reported a health event after the first dose and 11% after the second, according to the report. Serious health events defined as requiring an emergency department visit or hospitalization were rare in all groups (less than 1%). the study authors reported that miscarriage or stillbirth was the most frequently reported adverse pregnancy outcome, but there was no significant difference between the rates of those in vaccinated and unvaccinated women. About 2% of unvaccinated pregnant women and 1.5% of vaccinated pregnant women experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth within seven days after dose one of any mRNA vaccine. The findings are consistent with and add to the growing body of evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe during pregnancy.

SOURCE: HealthDay News, August 2022

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 Psoriasis solutions !

Nerve Block Plus Lidocaine Clears Psoriasis

Spinal injections of a common anesthetic may help clear the inflammatory skin condition named psoriasis. The study involved four patients with severe psoriasis, and researchers are describing it as a "proof-of-concept" specifically, the idea that targeting certain sensory nerves might help treat the skin disease. But for the four patients treated up to four times over a few months the lidocaine injections led to a significant reduction in skin symptoms. Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that arises from an abnormal immune response that triggers rapid turnover of skin cells, causing them to pile up on the skin's surface. Most people have a form called plaque psoriasis. They periodically develop red, scaly patches on the skin that can be itchy and painful. Standard treatments target the inflammation with topical corticosteroids being the most common. For people with more severe psoriasis, some options include light therapy (exposing the skin to natural or artificial light) and injection medications that suppress the immune system. For the new study, researchers in China tried an entirely different approach, Injecting lidocaine. The researchers decided to try the tactic based on some unusual observations about patients with psoriasis. Researchers said case studies have shown that psoriasis patients have experienced significant symptom relief after receiving epidural anesthesia during surgery. For the study, researcher team recruited four patients with severe psoriasis. Two of them had psoriasis patches all over their bodies, while the other two had the condition mainly on their legs. All received epidural lidocaine where a small, flexible tube is inserted into the lower back to deliver the medication to the fluid-filled space outside the spinal cord. The researchers treated each patient up to four times, over anywhere from two to five months. In the end, the patients saw the severity of their psoriasis drop by 35% to 70%, based on a standard score that measures the extent of the condition. There have been case reports of patients who have neurological issues, and the psoriasis disappears from areas of the skin where there's nerve damage. Scientists said that studies of the nervous system's involvement in psoriasis should continue. They could lead to a better understanding of the causes of the condition, and possibly more treatments.
SOURCE: HealthDay News, August 2022

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 Smoking Alert !

Smoking Can Really Weaken the Heart

Smoking is even worse for heart than people might already think, new Danish research warns. "It is well known that smoking causes blocked arteries, leading to coronary heart disease and stroke," said researcher. "Our study shows that smoking also leads to thicker, weaker hearts," she said. "It means that smokers have a smaller volume of blood in the left heart chamber and less power to pump it out to the rest of the body. The more people smoke, the worse him/her heart function becomes." What's the good news? "The heart can recuperate to some degree with smoking cessation, so it is never too late to quit," she added. For the study, the researchers collected data on nearly 4,000 men and women who took part in the 5th Copenhagen City Heart Study. The participants were between the ages of 20 and 99 and none had heart disease. Participants reported their smoking habits and also had an ultrasound of their hearts, to see how well they functioned. After taking into account age, sex, weight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and lung function, the investigators found that smokers had thicker, weaker and heavier hearts. The more cigarettes people smoked, the more the pumping ability of their heart suffered. The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, in Barcelona. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. "We found that current smoking and accumulated pack-years were associated with worsening of the structure and function of the left heart chamber -- the most important part of the heart. Furthermore, we found that over a 10-year period, those who continued smoking developed thicker, heavier and weaker hearts that were less able to pump blood, compared to never smokers and those who quit during that time," she said in a meeting news release. "Our study indicates that smoking not only damages the blood vessels, but also directly harms the heart," she added. "The good news is that some of the damage is reversible by giving up [smoking]."
SOURCE: HealthDay News, August 2022

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 Fecal Transplant Risk !

Fecal Transplant Treatments Could Transmit Monkeypox, FDA Warns 

Fecal transplant treatments could infect patients with monkeypox, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned. Since May, an outbreak of monkeypox has been spreading in multiple countries, including the United States. Nearly 16,000 people in the United States have already been infected with the virus, which is transmitted through close physical contact with symptomatic individuals. Monkeypox virus DNA has been found in rectal swabs and stool samples from infected people, the FDA said in its alert, which was issued recently. That includes one study where monkeypox virus was found in three people who reported no symptoms of the disease, the agency said. "FDA is advising that clinical use of FMT [fecal microbiota for transplantation] has the potential to transmit monkeypox virus," the alert said. As a result, the FDA has recommended donor screening for clinical trials involving fecal transplants if the studies involve stool donated on or after March 15, 2022. Patients should also be informed of the monkeypox risk, the agency added. Fecal transplants are used as a treatment for persistent Clostridium difficile infections, an opportunistic bacteria that can cause dangerous bouts of diarrhea and inflammation of the colon.
SOURCE: HealthDay News, August 2022

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New Products of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
Product RapilogTM  
Generic Name Insulin Aspart
  Strength 100 IU/ml
  Dosage form Injection (Vial)
Pen Cartridge
  Therapeutic Category Anti-diabetic (Analog Insulin)
Product NasovapTM
Generic Name

Menthol + Eucalyptus Oil 

Strength 100 ml
Dosage form Suspension for Inhalation
Therapeutic Category Nasal Decongestants (Topical Nasal Preparations)
Product TeconinTM
  Generic Name Teicoplanin
  Strength 200 & 400 mg
Dosage form IM/IV Injection
  Therapeutic Category Other Antibacterial
(Glycopeptide antibiotic)

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