Use of Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) in Online Retrieval

MeSH is the National Library of Medicine's controlled vocabulary thesaurus. It consists of sets of terms naming descriptors in a hierarchical structure that permits searching at various levels of specificity.

MeSH descriptors are arranged in both an alphabetic and a hierarchical structure. At the most general level of the hierarchical structure are very broad headings such as "Anatomy" or "Mental Disorders." More specific headings are found at more narrow levels of the twelve-level hierarchy, such as "Ankle" and "Conduct Disorder." There are 26,142 descriptors in 2011 MeSH. There are also over 177,000 entry terms that assist in finding the most appropriate MeSH Heading, for example, "Vitamin C" is an entry term to "Ascorbic Acid.

Read more: Medical Subject Heading

 

Critical appraisal is the process of assessing and interpreting evidence by systematically considering its validity, results and relevance to an individual's work. Within the last decade critical appraisal has gained importance to medical education curriculum.

To read more about critical appraisal visit http://www.casp-uk.net/

Harm Reduction

The term harm reduction refers to polices and programs that aim to prevent or reduce the harms associated with injecting drug use.

India is witnessing a steady increase in injecting drug related HIV epidemics in both numbers and locations. Though 87% infections are attributed to unprotected sex, injecting drug use (IDU) remains a major driver of HIV across the country. The last several years have seen a rising body of evidence on the effectiveness of prevention programs for IDUs including sterile needle syringe, oral substitution therapy, and education and outreach services. These programs are founded on a harm reduction approach, in that they aim to reduce harms associated with drug use without eliminating drug use per se.

Read more: India Harm Reduction Network

World Hepatitis Day-28 July

 The theme given by WHO  for this day that will last a year is “It’s closer than you think”

 This campaign focuses on raising awareness of the different forms of hepatitis: what they are and how they are transmitted; who is at risk; and the various methods of prevention and treatment.

Despite its staggering toll on health, hepatitis remains a group of diseases that are largely unknown, undiagnosed and untreated. 

 ABOUT:

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most commonly caused by a viral infection. There are five main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. These five types are of greatest concern because of the burden of illness and death they cause and the potential for outbreaks and epidemic spread. In particular, types B and C lead to chronic disease in hundreds of millions of people and, together, are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis and cancer.

Hepatitis A and E are typically caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water. Hepatitis B, C and D usually occur as a result of parenteral contact with infected body fluids. Common modes of transmission for these viruses include receipt of contaminated blood or blood products, invasive medical procedures using contaminated equipment and for hepatitis B transmission from mother to baby at birth, from family member to child, and also by sexual contact.
Acute infection may occur with limited or no symptoms, or may include symptoms such as jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), dark urine, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

One of the research paper that I found in PubMed database that is relevant to my country is :

Natl Med J India. 2006 Jul-Aug;19(4):203-17.

Viral hepatitis in India

Acharya SK, Madan K, Dattagupta S, Panda SK.

Source

Department of Gastroenterology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India. subratacharya2004@yahoo.com

Abstract

Viral hepatitis is a major public health problem in India, which is hyperendemic for Hepatitis A (HAV) and Hepatitis E virus (HEV). Seroprevalence studies reveal that 90%-100% of the population acquires anti-HAV antibody and becomes immune by adolescence. Many epidemics of HEV have been reported from India. HAV related liver disease is uncommon in India and occurs mainly in children. HEV is also the major cause of sporadic adult acute viral hepatitis and Acute liver failure (ALF). Pregnant women and patients with chronic lung disease (CLD) constitute the high risk groups to contract HEV infection, and HEV-induced mortality among them is substantial, which underlines the need for preventive measures for such groups. Children with HAV and HEV coinfection are prone to develop ALF. India has intermediate Hepatitis B (HBV) endemicity, with a carrier frequency of 2%-4%. HBV is the major cause of CLD and Hepatitis C  (HCC). Chronic HBV infection in India is acquired in childhood, presumably before 5 years of age, through horizontal transmission. Vertical transmission of HBV in India is considered to be infrequent. Inclusion of HBV vaccination in the expanded programme of immunization is essential to reduce the HBV carrier frequency and disease burden. HBV genotypes A and D are prevalent in India, which are similar to the HBV genotypes in the West. HCV infection in India has a population prevalence of around 1%, and occurs predominantly through transfusion and the use of unsterile glass syringes. HCV genotypes 3 and 2 are prevalent in 60%-80% of the population and they respond well to a combination of interferon and ribavirin. About 10%-15% of CLD and HCC are associated with HCV infection in India. HCV infection is also a major cause of post-transfusion hepatitis. HDV infection is infrequent in India and is present about 5%-10% of patients with HBV-related liver disease. HCC appears to be less common in India than would be expected from the prevalence rates of HBV and HCV. The high disease burden of viral hepatitis and related CLD in India, calls for the setting up of a hepatitis registry and formulation of government-supported prevention and control strategies.

PMID:

17100109

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Anemia Prevalence in India

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), conducted in 2005-06, presents the statistics that mark a growth in cases pertaining to anemia. Most of the anemic patients, especially women, suffer from mild to severe deficiency of iron. The hemoglobin count in most of the adolescent girls in India is less than the standard 12 g/decilitre, the standard accepted worldwide.While 56 per cent of adolescent girls are anemic, boys too are falling prey to the disease. Around 30 per cent of adolescent boys are suffering from anemia, the report states.

National nutritional anaemia control programme in India

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Anemia+cases+in+India+on+rise:+NFHS+3+report/1/11517.html

The program, implemented through the Primary Health Centers and its subcenters, aims at decreasing the prevalence and incidence of anemia in women of reproductive age. It focuses on three vital strategies: promotion of regular consumption of foods rich in iron, provisions of iron and folate supplements in the form of tablets to the high risk groups, and identification and treatment of severely anemic cases. The program solicits the support of various departments in implementing the dietary modification and supplementation measures.

Source:

PMID;11243085 and India Today

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Anemia+cases+in+India+on+rise:+NFHS+3+report

/1/11517.html

World Population Day: 11th July

 The theme chosen by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA ) to mark this year is 'Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services'. 

Reproductive health is at the very heart of development and crucial to delivering the UNFPA vision — a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

To read more log on to http://www.unfpa.org/public/home

Only by continuous self-appraisal can a large information system make itself responsive to the needs of the scientific community.

                                                         - F W Lancaster

citations-gadget

A Google Scholar Universal Gadget for Scientific Publication Citation Counting

It enables users to search for the total number of citations of author(s). It provides a total citation count, total number of cited publications and Jorge E. Hirsch's H-Index.  The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar.

Death of Skills, Death of Merit. Death of experience. Its a crab syndrome.

 National Urban Health Mission (NUHM)
About:
The NUHM will meet health needs of the urban poor, particularly the slum dwellers by making available to them essential primary health care services. This will be done by investing in high-caliber health professionals, appropriate technology through PPP, and health insurance for urban poor.

Find more about it @ Urban Health Resource Centre

List of publications from AIIMS included in PubMed from Jan-June 2012 searched on 4.7.2012 are:
Click AIIMS and scroll little to find the bibliography. It lists 428 publications.

Anaemic Bill

R. RAMACHANDRAN

The Bill to regulate medical education and govern human resource in health is a highly diluted version of the original draft.

Distortions in the area of Human Resource for Health (HRH) are the root cause of many of the ills facing the health sector in India. Among them is the shortage of qualified medical professionals. The estimated density of 19 health workers (qualified and unqualified) per 10,000 population is nearly 25 per cent less than the World Health Organisation (WHO) norm of 25 (doctors, nurses and midwives). The doctor density is only six. Further, there are large variations across States and the distribution is highly skewed in favour of urban areas. This disparity is particularly significant from the perspective of achieving universal health coverage (UHC) at least in the medium term for a couple of decades.Read more:http://www.frontline.in/stories/20120713291301700.htm

DOCS GROW EYE CELLS IN LAB

Times Of India
03 July 2012
Experiment By Chennai Scientists Raises Hope Of Curing Blindness Considered Irreversible
There is new hope for millions of people suffering from "irreversible" blindness due to retinal degeneration or damage. Scientists at Chennai–based Sankara Nethralaya say retinal cells grown from the remains of eyes donated for corneal transplant can be used to correct blindness and retina degeneration.
The scientists said they drew pigment cells from the iris (circular structure in the eye) and ciliary (circumferential tissue) from the donated eyes after the cornea was removed. When these cells were cultured in a petri dish and mixed with growth factors, it produced more cells. Genetic tests showed that these cells resembled and had characters of retinal cells. The study, accepted for publication in the journal Stem Cell Review and Reports, is funded by the department of bio–technology of the Union ministry of science and technology. "This experiment takes us closer to the hope that these cells may be able to cure blindness," said S Krishnakumar, head of Vision Research Foundation at Sankara Nethralaya.
A significant number of the 12 million blind in India suffer from preventable or reversible blindness, but doctors say the prevalence of retinal ailments such as diabetic retinopathy, degeneration and detachment is gradually increasing. Some of these diseases don’t have a cure and leave the affected people with permanent blindness. Across the world, scientists have been pinning their hopes on stem cells for treating retinal diseases. In April 2011, Nature published a report on how retina of rats could be created in a Petri dish from its own stem cells. In January 2012, Lancet reported that scientists used embryonic stem cells to improve the sight of two almost–blind women, a breakthrough that they say raises the hope of a cure for age–related vision loss.

  The Road to Universal Health Care

Universal health coverage (UHC) has now been widely adopted by Canada and many other developing countries both as a developmental imperative and the moral obligation of a civilised society. India embraced this vision at its independence. However, insufficient funding of public facilities, combined with faulty planning and inefficient management over the years, has resulted in a dysfunctional health system that has been yielding poor health outcomes. India's public spending on health — just around 1.2 per cent of GDP — is among the lowest in the world. Private health services have grown by default, without checks on cost and quality, escalating private out-of-pocket health expenditures and exacerbating health inequity. While the National Rural Health Mission and the several government funded health insurance schemes have provided a partial response, out-of-pocket expenditure still remains at 71 per cent of all spending, without coverage for outpatient care, medicines and basic diagnostic tests.

Excerpts from The Hindu

Ability is nothing without opportunity.
                                                -Napoleon Bonaparte

‘India will miss 2015 millennium development goals’

One of the MDG goals is to reduce under-five mortality rate to 42 per 1,000 live births by 2015. India will reach 52 by that year missing the target by 10 percentage points. The national level estimate of infant mortality rate is likely to be 44 against the MDG target of 27 in 2015. Some of the largest states like Madhya Pradesh (62), Odisha (61), Uttar Pradesh (61), Assam (58), Meghalaya (55), Rajasthan (55), Chhattisgarh (51), Bihar (48) and Haryana (48) still have IMR above the national estimates.

The national level measure of the proportion of one-year old (12-23 months) children immunized against measles has registered an increase from 42.2% (1992-93) to 74.1% (2009). India is, however, expected to cover about 89% children in the age group 12-23 months for immunization against measles by 2015 — short of universal immunization of one-year olds against measles by about 11 percentage points.

India will reach maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 139 per 100,000 live births by 2015, falling short by 30 percentage points. 

Read more: TOI

The science of transplants breaches new frontiers

Transplantation of Human Organs Bill, 1994

‘Donors are less; demand much more’

Numbers and the need:  Every year, 1.5 lakh Indians need either transplantation or dialysis Just 3,500-4 ,000 kidney transplants performed annually in India. In Mumbai, 18 cadaver kidney transplants done in 2012, but 2,250 have registered 800 liver transplants done annually; 10% are from cadavers

Buzz around body parts  : Lot  needs to be done in India. The lack of a national registry, says Dr Umesh Oza, secretary of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation, means there's no knowledge of how many transplants have been done. Cherian says it's time there was an all-India data base of donors. Examples can be gleaned from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network of the US or UK Transplant Centre . "Co-ordination between hospitals will reduce the demand-supply burden. 

Read More: TOI

Doctors' Day celebrated on July 1

The Doctor's Day is celebrated on July 1 all across India to honour the legendary physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Roy. He was born on July 1, 1882 and passed away on the same date in 1962, aged 80 years. Doctor Roy was honoured with the highest civilian honour of Bharat Ratna in 1961.

Read more at: http://doctor.ndtv.com/