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US FDA has recently approved ROFLUMILAST foam for treating moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis.

It is developed by Arcutis Biotherapeutics.

The drug is useful for treating a skin condition called seborrheic dermatitis in individuals nine years of age and older.

Roflumilast becomes the first topical drug for treating seborrheic dermatitis.

Seborrheic dermatitis, a common, chronic and recurrent inflammatory skin disease.

It is a common skin condition that mainly affects your scalp. It causes scaly patches, inflamed skin and stubborn dandruff.

It usually affects oily areas of the body, such as the face, sides of the nose, eyebrows, ears, eyelids and chest.

US FDA has recently recognised a new drug called WELIREG also called as Belzutifan to treat patients with renal cell carcinoma.

It is produced by German based pharmaceutical company Merck.

Renal cell carcinoma is a disease in which cancer cells are found in the lining of very small tubes in the kidney.

Welireg’s approval is based on data from a late-stage trial, where the drug showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) of patient compared to Novartis’ drug, everolimus.

Profession Free Survival (PFS) refers to how long a patient lives without the disease getting worse after treatment.

News 2023:

World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced the inclusion of noma (cancrum oris or gangrenous stomatitis) in its official list of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

What is NOMA?

Noma, a severe gangrenous disease of the mouth and face, primarily affects malnourished young children (between the ages of 2 and 6 years) in regions of extreme poverty.

It starts as an inflammation of the gums, which, if not treated early, spreads quickly to destroy facial tissues and bones.

It frequently leads to death, with survivors suffering severe disfigurement.

Cases of noma are mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa, although cases have also been reported in the Americas and Asia.

How to handle?

Early detection is essential, as therapy is most effective at the early stages of disease when it causes severe swollen gums, known as acute necrotizing gingivitis.

Treatment involves antibiotics, advice and support on practices to improve oral hygiene with disinfectant mouthwash (salt water or chlorhexidine could be used) and nutritional supplements.

How Constipation occurs in Pregnant mothers?

Constipation can be caused due to hormonal changes, especially high progesterone levels, which slow bowel movements.

This problem is further worsened by the growing uterus’s pressure on the intestines during this stage of life.

How to overcome the problems posed by constipation in Antenatal mothers?

Diet plan – including food high in fiber, such as whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables in our daily meals.

Regular exercise – helps to improve bowel function which in turn reduces the chance of developing constipation.

Specific supplements can be tried as per the advice of doctors.

What is Schistosomiasis?

Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a disease caused by parasitic worms that live in certain types of freshwater snails.

According to reports, this parasite kills 20,000 people annually in the European union – As per World health organization.

WHAT IS ALPRAIQUANTEL?

Arpraziquantel is the new drug developed against Schistosomiasis.

The new medicine can be given to children aged between three months to six years.

This drug is developed by Germany based pharmaceutical firm Merck.

It is a 150mg tablet in dispersible form

How does the parasite infect humans?

Considered a “neglected tropical disease”, bilharzia parasites enter the body through the skin when people waded, bathed, swam or washed in contaminated water containing certain freshwater snails in which the parasites hatched.Within several weeks, the parasites developed into adult worms that lived in the blood vessels of the body where females produced eggs.

Some eggs then traveled to the bladder or intestine and were passed through urination or stool.Infection can damage the liver, intestines, lungs and bladder and children who were repeatedly infected could develop anaemia (shortage of red blood cells) and learning difficulties.

Rarely, eggs are found in the brain or spinal cord and can cause seizures, paralysis, or spinal cord inflammation.

How does Alpraiquantel work?

Arpraziquantel induced muscular paralysis in the worms, causing them to lose their grip inside veins.

What is Intermittent fasting?

• Intermittent fasting is also known as Time-restricted eating.
• Intermittent fasting means that you don’t eat for a period of time each day or week.

Common methods in Intermittent fasting

Some popular approaches to intermittent fasting include:

• Alternate-day fasting. Eat a normal diet one day and either completely fast or have one small meal (less than 500 calories) the next day.
• 5:2 fasting. Eat a normal diet five days a week and fast two days a week.
• Daily time-restricted fasting. Eat normally but only within an eight-hour window each day. For example, skip breakfast but eat lunch around noon and dinner by 8 p.m.

Why Intermittent fasting came in the news?

• According to new study, Eating only during an 8-hour window each day can help people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and control their blood sugar levels.
• In this study, Participants were divided into two groups – Time restricted eating group and Calorie restricted eating group. Time restricted eating gives better results with respect to blood sugar control and comparatively easier to follow up.

How does Intermittent fasting help to control sugar level in Type 2 Diabetes?

What is Diabetes Remission?

• Diabetes remission is when HbA1c levels are below 6.5% for at least 3 months after someone stops their diabetes medication.

 

 ICMR [Indian Council for Medical Research] opinion on Superbugs

• In 2017, nearly 80% E.coli and Klebsiella Pneumonia infections in tertiary care hospitals responded well to Carbapenam antibiotic treatment.
• But In 2023, response to carbapenam reduced and these bacteria become superbug.
• ICMR has found the abuse of antimicrobials (antibiotics, antivirals or antifungals) to be the reason for this, which is says has led to widespread resistance among people.
• India faces a “pandemic” of superbugs, the country’s top public health experts have warned, as resistance to common antibiotics has jumped by 10 per cent in just one year
• The resistance level is increasing to five to ten per cent every year for broad spectrum antimicrobials, which are highly misused.

What is Carbapenam?

Carbapenems are a subclass of antibiotics called beta-lactam antibiotics (antibiotics that have a chemical structure called a beta-lactam ring). Beta-lactam antibiotics also include cephalosporins, monobactams, and penicillins.

Carbapenems are broad-spectrum antibiotics. That is, they are effective against many types of bacteria, including bacteria that are resistant to many other antibiotics.

Carbapenems include the following:

Doripenem

Ertapenem

Imipenem

Meropenem

Why recently in news?
Accor¹ding to recent research from the University of Missouri School of Medicine, there may be another approach called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation – to cure cigarette addiction. Researchers observed that theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (TBS) application results in reduced smoking.

How it works?
It uses powerful, rapidly fluctuating magnetic field pulses to influence brain activity, can promote self-control, reduce cravings, and, as a result, lead to reduced smoking.
Research suggests these differences may affect inhibitory control (IC), which is our control over automatic urges and response to stimuli – what enables humans to stop an impulsive reaction to something.

Brain changes that occur in chronic smokers
People with nicotine dependence tend to have significant structural and functional differences in the brain, compared to healthy non-smokers. Smoking cigarettes has been shown to be associated with less grey matter, which means they have less neurons and other cells in the brain.

Mechanism of TBS
TBS refers to when magnetic pulses are applied to the brain in bursts of three and come in two forms: continuous TBS (cTBS) and intermittent TBS (iTBS). cTBS consists of applying these three bursts repeatedly for 40 seconds, whereas iTBS applies the same number of pulses irregularly for more than 190 seconds.

Uses of Magnetic Stimulation
Magnetic stimulation has been used to treat other mental illnesses and disorders. cTBS has been experimentally tested to treat generalized anxiety disorder, whereas iTBS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – a part of your brain responsible for cognitive processes – is FDA-approved for treating major depressive disorder.

Scientists examined the effects of both cTBS and iTBS to the right inferior frontal gyrus, a brain region heavily involved with IC.
Researchers found that cTBS improved Inhibitory Control, whereas both cTBS and iTBS reduced cravings and, subsequently, smoking.

Identifying treatments that improve IC may help reduce smoking and can potentially help with preventing relapse following when a person attempts to quit smoking.

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