Category: Health

A Canadian man who was believed to have been in a vegetative state (coma) for 12 years, has been able to tell scientists that he is not in any pain.

It’s the first time an uncommunicative, severely brain-injured patient has been able to give answers clinically relevant to their care.

Scott Routley, 39, was asked questions while having his brain activity scanned in an fMRI machine.

His doctor says the discovery means medical textbooks will need rewriting.

Vegetative patients emerge from a coma into a condition where they have periods awake, with their eyes open, but have no perception of themselves or the outside world.

Mr Routley suffered a severe brain injury in a car accident 12 years ago.

None of his physical assessments since then have shown any sign of awareness, or ability to communicate.

But the British neuroscientist Prof Adrian Owen – who led the team at the Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario – said Mr Routley was clearly not vegetative.

“Scott has been able to show he has a conscious, thinking mind. We have scanned him several times and his pattern of brain activity shows he is clearly choosing to answer our questions. We believe he knows who and where he is.”

Prof Owen said it was a groundbreaking moment.

“Asking a patient something important to them has been our aim for many years. In future we could ask what we could do to improve their quality of life. It could be simple things like the entertainment we provide or the times of day they are washed and fed.”

Scott Routley’s parents say they always thought he was conscious and could communicate by lifting a thumb or moving his eyes. But this has never been accepted by medical staff.

Prof Bryan Young at University Hospital, London – Mr Routley’s neurologist for a decade – said the scan results overturned all the behavioural assessments that had been made over the years.

“I was impressed and amazed that he was able to show these cognitive responses. He had the clinical picture of a typical vegetative patient and showed no spontaneous movements that looked meaningful.”

Observational assessments of Mr Routley since he responded in the scanner have continued to suggest he is vegetative. Prof Young said medical textbooks would need to be updated to include Prof Owen’s techniques.

BBC report

The government has urged local leaders to embark on a rigorous campaign to sensitise residents on the need to pay their health insurance cover.

According to recent survey, about 35% of the population paid this year’s community medical insurance commonly known as Mutuelle de Santé.

Depending on the economic status of each family, residents pay between frw3000Frw and frw 7000 per for each member in the family.

Prime Minister Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has urged local leaders to put more efforts in sensitizing citizens to pay the needed money for Health coverage.

The Premier added among the remaining number 35% of them are able to pay but until now they didn’t.

Other 35% need help to secure that amount of money.

Local government Minister James Musoni has noted that residents must ensure the payment of their Health insurance coverage by 30th November, 2012.

The Ministry of Health will have paid for those in category I and II and by Novemebr 30.

Those who are able should have paid by November 30th.

(more…)

Although Rwanda’s medical care system is globally respected, mothers at Muhima Hospital that fail to clear their bills after giving birth are held at the hospital.

Its not known for how long they are held but there are cases where some of their children are already walking and talking.

However, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho the Health Minister has embarked on a mission to rescue these mothers held at the hospital for defaulting payment.

Earlier IGIHE had contacted the Minister about this situation and she had said there is no mother held at the hospital for failing to pay their bills.

Dr. Binagwaho this time told IGIHE she is personally following up the case after Muhima Hospital management confirmed to her that indeed there are many of such cases at the hospital.

The Minister said these Mothers held at Muhima Hospital must be released immediately if they are indeed held there.

IGIHE again visited the hospital and spoke to Dr. Patrick Mulindwa who said that the Minister had advised that the defaulters be handed to police.

However, Dr. Mulindwa expalined that most of such mothers and other patients being held at the hospital are brought in by police.

“The Police in most cases brings to the hospital such people in need of medical care. They recieve necessary treatment but cant pay. Some dont even have identification papers. Some dont have relatives.”

Dr. Mulindwa said such people cannot be released.

By Press time, officials from the office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Local Government and Ministry of Health are said to be visiting Muhima hospital to investigate the matter.

A permanent solution to the spread of AIDS could be round the bend as Canadian researchers say they may have found a solution to the humble condom’s fatal flaw – nanoparticles.

Researchers say Photodisc Nanoparticles may be the solution to condoms’ 15% failure rate.

Condoms have a 15% failure rate, so a University of Manitoba team tried soaking condoms in a solution packed with “remarkable” microscopic silver nanoparticles, and the treated condoms appeared to kill all HIV and herpes in lab experiments, the scientists reported.

This could be a major breakthrough in the fight against HIV/AIDS worldwide. The AIDS scourge is responsible for the deaths of more than half the world’s population and continues to spread at an alarming rate.

Yet how, exactly, the silver nanoparticles neutralize HIV and other viruses is still a bit of mystery. It could be the particles or the silver ions they release attach to the virus and prevent it from binding to cell “receptors” in the host’s body, said Dr. Yao, a medical microbiologist.

Or they could actually change a key protein on the virus’s surface, and in that way stop it from sticking to host cells. Some condoms are now treated with an anti-microbial substance, called Nonoxynol-9.

Recent studies, though, have shown that N-9 can trigger inflammation and ulceration in the genitals, actually making infection more likely.

The silver nanoparticles do not cause inflammation, said Dr. Yao. The nano-treated condoms have the added advantage of being quickly discarded, meaning the potentially toxic metal does not linger in users’ bodies, the study notes.

The research is still in its early stages, however, with animal studies on the nanoparticle contraceptives the next step, and possible entry on the market relatively far off.

Dr. Julio Montaner, one of Canada’s leading HIV scientists, said the idea is “intriguing” and welcome in the field.

Meanwhile, though, the most significant problem with condoms is not the 15% that fail to prevent STIs, but the fact many people simply neglect to use them.

“Unfortunately, at the most critical moment when these decisions are so important, people’s judgment may be impaired,” said Dr. Montaner. “At the end of the day, if they stay in the pocket, it’s not going to do the job.”

As well as providing extra protection to sexual partners when a condom fails, nanotechnology could have other benefits, too, said Dr. Yao.

There are reports from developing countries such as India of children and others finding and touching used condoms, then contracting STIs, he said.

Treated with nanosilver, the chances of discarded condoms infecting anyone might be greatly reduced.

Adopted from Nationalpost.com

If you’re embarrassed that you’re popping the blue pill for medical reasons or simply for more of that “oomph” in the bedroom, and would rather purchase Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate) in the comfort and privacy of your computer via the Internet, think again.

A study published in the November edition of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers highlight a growing problem, counterfeit medication, specifically Viagra.

Researchers procured Viagra tablets from websites that did not require a prescription or a health screening survey for purchase.

Of the sample tablets examined, 77 per cent were counterfeit, 18 per cent were authentic and 1 per cent was of an illegal generic.

Notably, the four internet pharmacies claiming to be Canadian did not ship from Canada.

So how can consumers tell that their purchased Viagra is really the real deal?

Common to the counterfeit sample tablets, packages lacked product information leaflets, including appropriate safety warning, and genuine Viagra formulations.

However, medical professionals warn that if purchasing Viagra via the Internet is a must, then caution should be practiced.

Source: Campbell N, Clark JP, Stecher VJ, and Goldstein I. Internet-ordered Viagra (sildenafil citrate) is rarely genuine. J Sex Med 2012;9:2943–2951.

Family medicine is the medical specialty which provides continuing, comprehensive health care for the individual and the family.

It is a specialty in breadth that integrates the biological, clinical and behavioral sciences.

The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages, both sexes, each organ system and every disease entity.

The concept of the specially trained Family and Community Physician to deliver high quality primary health care is now the norm in most countries of the world.

Although Family Medicine is a post-graduate specialty which is active and well recognized in much of the world, and forms the backbone of the health system of many Western countries (such as the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Canada, United States), it is still developing in many African countries.

In Rwanda, the Ministry of Health recognized that the health and well-being of a population is still dependent on high quality primary health care, which is easily accessible to all members of that population; requested to start the family medicine program in 2006.

The Family and Community Medicine (FAMCO) was started in August 2008 as a full time Master program in National University of Rwanda.
The University of Colorado in USA helped to develop and monitor the training.

The FAMCO training focuses on training medical doctors in the primary health care setting; based in the district hospitals with outreach to the health centres (almost 85% of Rwandan population get the health care at the community and the district level).

The first group of six Family Physicians graduated from the National University of Rwanda In October 2012.

The Rwandan Family Physician is supposed to provide comprehensive, continuous, person-centered, cost effective and district-based high quality health care, with the vision of improving the total health of individuals and families, which is a major element in the overall socio-economic development of Rwanda.

To enhance the Family Medicine practice, The Rwanda Family Medicine Association (RFMA) was created in June 2011, an Association which aims and objectives are to unit, to provide advice and spokesmen to all its members; to strengthen the position and unanimity of the Family Medicine profession in Rwanda.

Dr KABERA René

Family Physician/RFMA

Twitter:@KaberaRene

Email:renekabera@yahoo.fr

Members of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have citied irregularities in the implementation of the health insurance scheme, Mutuelle de Sante.

Appearing before the Committee this week, the minister of health, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, was informed that some medical personnel ask the scheme’s subscribers to come along with their own equipment when seeking medical help in public hospitals.

The revelations were made during the minister’s appearance before the Committee to explain issues in a special value-for-money audit report of the health insurance scheme for 2009-2010.

The lawmakers, who said they witnessed such incidents, said that even though Rwanda’s health system was considered a global model, it did not mean that there were no challenges.

Hon. Jean Baptiste Musemakweli said: “The minister has told us that there are enough medical equipment and drugs, but recently, I visited a patient at CHUK who was set to undergo surgery and I found out that the doctors were requesting for many things from the patient, including various surgical utensils.

“I got a bit uncomfortable. I wondered whether that was the practice every other day or simply an isolated incident. I asked around and I was informed that when one is going to be operated on, they are required to bring their own equipment.

“Minister, you probably do not know about it, but it is happening. Patients are being asked to come with their own surgical material.”

PAC Chairperson Juvenal Nkusi also weighed in, stressing the need for more improvement in the functioning of the scheme.

“Many things have been mentioned about Mutuelle, but let’s also consider the manner in which patients are received during the process of transfers. The service is not good. And honourable minister, these are things we have seen with our own eyes.

NewTimes