Risk Of Coronavirus

New York: Because of their small and relatively collapsible airways, young children with Omicron are more vulnerable to upper airway infection such as croup, which if severe can lead to cardiac arrest, finds a study. Croup is a type of respiratory illness, known medically as laryngotracheitis, in babies and young children. It is characterised by barking cough, and noisy breathing. In severe cases, it can dangerously constrict breathing. A team of researchers from Universities of Colorado and Northwestern in the US, examined 18,849 children hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2. Their results published in the JAMA Pediatrics showed that upper airways infection increased during the Omicron surge. More than one-fifth of children hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 and upper airways infection in the US developed severe disease. About 384 had upper airway infection. Severe disease, defined as requiring invasive ventilation, vasopressors, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or death, occurred in 81 children. The study also found that children with upper airways infection during the Omicron period were more likely to be younger and less likely to receive dexamethasone or develop severe disease compared with those in the pre-Omicron period. "Children with severe upper airway infection are at risk of cardiac arrest from rapid-onset upper airway obstruction. They may require therapies typically provided in intensive care units, including frequent administration of nebulized racemic epinephrine, helium-oxygen mixtures, and intubation," said the researchers including Blake Martin, from Department of Pediatrics at University of Colorado's School of Medicine. "While the rate of SARS-CoV-2 paediatric upper airway infection is not overwhelmingly high, understanding this new clinical phenotype and the potential for acute upper airway obstruction may help guide therapeutic decision-making," they added. After being detected from African countries in November last year, Omicron soon gained presence worldwide and became the dominant strain, replacing Delta. It became dominant in the US the week ending December 25. "Omicron is known to cause lower severity disease than the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant. This may be because Omicron replicates less efficiently in lung parenchyma and more efficiently in the conducting airways," the researchers said. The team explained that SARS-CoV-2 can cause severe paediatric disease, including acute Covid-19 and multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Published reports associating SARS-CoV-2 with upper airway infection, such as laryngotracheobronchitis (croup), have been limited to small case series. Although non coronaviruses, including parainfluenza and respiratory syncytial virus, most frequently cause upper airway infection, coronaviruses (eg, type NL63) are also commonly implicated. Read More► Study Reveals How Covid Can Lead to Long Term Pain

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