Infectious Disease Like Coronavirus

Liver disease has become a lifestyle disease in India, with the incidence of non-alcoholic and alcoholic fatty liver disease now much higher than hepatitis B virus as the main cause of liver disorders, said experts here ahead of the World Liver Day. World liver day is observed on every April 19, to spread awareness about liver related disease. The liver is the second largest and the most complex organ in the body, after the brain. It is a key player in our body's digestive system. Fatty liver condition occurs when fat builds up in the liver that can cause liver inflammation, and damage your liver and create scarring. In severe cases, the scarring can lead to liver failure. Among people who drink a lot of alcohol, the condition is known as alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD), while among those who don't drink a lot, it's metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), earlier known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). MAFLD is associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Lifestyle changes involving obesity, sedentary lifestyle, food rich in sugar, calories and fat, and alcohol are the main reasons behind the poor liver health. According to Dr Bhaskar Nandi, HOD - Liver & Digestive Sciences, Sarvodaya Hospital, Faridabad, till a few decades back, the most common cause of chronic liver disease in India was hepatitis B infection, that led to liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. "However, fatty liver, a metabolic disorder, now constitutes the largest burden of liver disease today due to changing lifestyle of people," he said. Nandi added that as many as "80 per cent of people coming for an ultrasound checkup today are found to have fatty liver disease". While about one in three of these will progress to chronic liver disease, liver cancer, cirrhosis, or end-stage liver disease, it is difficult to predict which ones will fall in that one-third bracket. "India is seeing a significant rise in liver problems due to lifestyle changes. To fight liver disease, it is necessary to change our lifestyle - proper and healthy diet, exercise, avoid drinking alcohol or drink in moderation, increasing our screening," Dr. Pankaj Puri, from Fortis Escorts Liver and Digestive Diseases Institute, told IANS. Often liver disease goes undiagnosed for years, as the initial stages generally have no symptoms and people feel well, and routine blood tests may not show liver abnormalities. Globally, liver condition is seen in about 25 per cent or one in four adults that often goes undiagnosed, raising the risk for heart disease, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement. Nandi said that liver disease is fast becoming a public health problem for India. In 2015, acute and chronic liver diseases accounted for 2 million deaths worldwide, 18 per cent of whom were from India. The burden of liver disease has consistently been increasing in the country since then. While hepatitis B vaccination is commonly given to children for immunisation, it is not popular among adults. "Every year, more than 115,000 people die in India due to hepatitis B related complications. About 4 crore people in the country are carriers of this virus but remain asymptomatic and unaware of the risk they pose to others," Nandi said. "Unlike in the West where main causes of transmission of hepatitis B virus include infected needles and sexual contact, in India, the spread is due to horizontal transmission by staying in proximity with an infected individual, like a family member who is asymptomatic," he noted. Read More► How Exercise Keeps Dementia at Bay

New York: About 25 per cent or one in four adults worldwide has a liver condition, often undiagnosed, that raises risk for heart disease, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement. The condition, called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), occurs when abnormally elevated amounts of fat are deposited in the liver, sometimes resulting in inflammation and scarring. "NAFLD is a common condition that is often hidden or missed in routine medical care. It is important to know about the condition and treat it early because it is a risk factor for chronic liver damage and cardiovascular disease," said P. Barton Duell, chair of the statement writing committee. The statement is published in the Association's peer-reviewed journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. There are two types of NAFLD: one when only fat is present in the liver (called non-alcoholic fatty liver), and the other when inflammation and scarring are also present (called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH). NAFLD often raises risk of heart disease and is the leading cause of death in people with the liver condition. The diseases share many of the same risk factors, including metabolic syndrome (elevated blood sugar and blood triglycerides, increased abdominal fat and high blood pressure); Type 2 diabetes; impaired glucose tolerance (prediabetes); and obesity. However, people with NAFLD are at higher risk of heart disease than people who have the same heart disease risk factors without the liver condition. NAFLD can go undiagnosed for years, as the initial stages generally have no symptoms and people feel well, and routine blood tests may not show liver abnormalities. Often, elevated liver enzymes in blood, a possible sign of NAFLD, may be mis-attributed to a side effect of medication or to recent alcohol consumption. In addition, the absence of elevated liver enzyme levels does not rule out NAFLD or NASH. According to the statement, a specialised ultrasound that measures liver elasticity, fat and stiffness (a result of scarring) in the liver can detect NAFLD. This type of liver scan is a non-invasive way to help diagnose and monitor treatment in NAFLD and NASH, yet it is underused. Liver biopsy is the definitive test for the diagnosis of more advanced stages of NAFLD, however, it is invasive and expensive. However, NAFLD is often preventable by maintaining a healthy body weight, exercising regularly, eating a heart-healthy foods diet and managing conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and elevated triglycerides (a type of fat) in the blood, the statement noted.  (Agency) Read More► Low Dose Lithium May Help Improve Kidney Health

टोरंटो: किडनी की बीमारी से पीड़ित व्यक्तियों को न सिर्फ कैं सर होने का अधिक खतरा होता है, बल्कि उनकी कैंसर से मौत होने की संभावना भी अधिक रहती है। अमेरिकन जर्नल ऑफ किडनी डिजीजेज में प्रकाशित शोध अध्ययन के मुताबिक जो व्यक्ति लंबे समय से किडनी की बीमारी से जूझ रहे हैं, उनके कैंसर ग्रसित होने का खतरा भी अधिक है। टोरंटो यूनिवर्सिटी के अभिजात किचलू इस शोध रिपोर्ट के सह लेखक हैं। किचलू कहते हैं कि किडनी संबंधी बीमारी से ग्रसित व्यक्ति को कैंसर होने का खतरा अधिक होता है। जो व्यक्ति हल्के और थोड़े अधिक रूप से किडनी की बीमारी से ग्रसित हैं और जिनका किडनी प्रत्यारोपण हुआ है, उनको कैंसर होने का अधिक खतरा है। उन्होंने कहा कि जिन लोगों को किडनी की बीमारी होती है, उनके कैंसर पीड़ित होने पर मौत का अधिक खतरा रहता है, खासकर अगर उन्हें यूरोलॉजिक कैंसर, पेट का कैंसर या मल्टीपल माइलोमा हो जाये। उन्होंने कहा कि किडनी की बीमारी से लंबे समय से पीड़ित व्यक्तियों में कैंसर की जांच की रणनीति बनानी जरूरी है। शोध के दौरान 58,82,388 लोगों के आंकड़ों का विश्लेषण किया गया। ये वो लोग थे, जो किडनी की बीमारी से ग्रसित थे या डायलिसीस पर थे या उनका किडनी प्रत्यारोपण हुआ था। (एजेंसी) यह भी पढ़े► नशीली दवाओं के सेवन से गर्भस्थ शिशु हो सकता है मोटापे और मधुमेह का शिकार

New York: A team of researchers has provided important insights into how SARS-CoV-2 the virus responsible for Covid-19 can lead to long-term pain. Using a hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the research team found that the infection left a gene expression signature in the dorsal root ganglia that remained even after the virus cleared. The signature matched gene expression patterns seen in pain caused by other conditions. "A significant number of people suffering from long Covid experience sensory abnormalities, including various forms of pain," said researcher Randal (Alex) Serafini from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. "We used RNA sequencing to get a snapshot of the biochemical changes SARS-CoV-2 triggers in a pain-transmitting structure called dorsal root ganglia," Serafini added. For the study, to be presented at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics' annual meeting, the research team involved a hamster model of intranasal Covid-19 infection that closely reflected the symptoms experienced by people. The researchers observed that SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters showed a slight hypersensitivity to touch early after infection, which became more severe over time, up to 30 days. They then performed similar experiments with the Influenza A virus to determine if other RNA viruses promote similar responses. In contrast to SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A caused an early hypersensitivity that was more severe but faded by four days post-infection. Analysis of gene expression patterns in the dorsal root ganglia revealed that SARS-CoV-2 caused a more prominent change in expression levels of genes implicated in neuron-specific signalling processes compared to influenza. Additional experiments showed that four weeks after recovering from a viral infection, flu-infected hamsters had no signs of long-term hypersensitivity, while SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters showed worsened hypersensitivity, reflecting chronic pain. The hamsters that had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 had gene expression signatures similar to those seen in the dorsal root ganglia of mice affected by pain that was induced by inflammation or nerve injury. Read More► Covid Not Only Infects Human Retina, But Can Also Replicate in It