According to the media reports, the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of Tropical Bedding mattresses due to a violation of flammability standards. The commission said that about 15,000 mattress sets were manufactured by Tropical Bedding Mfg. of Caguas, Puerto Rico, and sold in Puerto Rico from July 2007 through September 2009 for between $30 and $135.
From crib-sized mattresses to full king sized, the recall involves mattresses in a variety of sizes. The crib mattresses do not have labels. The larger sizes are labeled as "Classics," 'Classics II," "Image," "Sweet Mysteries," "Treasures," or "Comfort Dream."
It was advised to the consumers to stop using the mattresses and return them to the manufacturer for a full refund.
Consumers can call 787-586-1139 for information. (With Inputs from Agencies)
The health experts engaged in the awareness programme to guide doctors on Asthma said that proper cure of the disease is the only medication for controlling the disease that has affected over 30 million people allover the country.
A group of well-known physicians had began a programme known as 'Progress to Prosper'(P2P) in which they have trained over 600 doctors of the rustic and semi-urban regions of Uttar Pradesh during the last two years.
P2P is the initial and only plan in India on diagnosis and management of the disease.
The physicians said asthmatics can live a normal life if they use inhaler and medicine on a regular basis.
While addressing a press meeting, Dr. B P Singh of Surya Chest Foundation said that continuous cure of asthma is the only cure to control the disease.
'' We have received tremendous response from the doctor community in UP as they have benefited from P2P in terms of knowledge upgradation and winning patient trust,'' he added. (With Inputs from Agencies)
An American professional has said that drinking lemon juice can help prevent kidney stones.
Roger L. Sur, director of UC San Diego Comprehensive Kidney Stone Center, said that having lemonade daily is one of five methods to prevent kidney stones.
Besides, drinking enough fluids can lessen your ingestion of salt, dietary calcium as well as protein.
In a new research carried out by Sur, having four ounces of reconstituted lemon juice in two litres of water on a daily basis - was shown to cut the rate of stone formation from 1.00 to 0.13 stones per patient.
Other fruit juices contain less citrate and are often supplemented with calcium and have oxalate, one of the main elements of kidney stones.
In actual fact, the most usual kidney stone is a calcium stone, which is composed mainly of calcium oxalate.
According to Sur, calcium stones can be caused by excessive intake of salt that arouses calcium excretion in the urine.
Some individuals will not even be familiar with that they have a small stone in their kidney until it leaves the kidney and enter the ureter, causing severe pain.
Another type of stone, called a uric acid stone is produced from uric acid, a waste matter normally passed out of the body through urine.
Struvite, or infection stones take place with kidney or urinary tract infections while cystine stones make up less than 1% of kidney stones.
Sur said: "There is a 50 percent chance of getting another stone within five to ten years if you''ve already had one.
"The UCSD Kidney Stone Center can determine the cause of a kidney stone 97 percent of the time through a combination of tests and scans. These provide us with the pertinent information we need in order to create an individualized prevention plan that incorporates dietary changes and the necessary follow-up." (With Inputs from Agencies)
Researchers have discovered news methods of assessing biological markers present in the blood that could be used to identify osteoarthritis sooner.
The new biochemical examination known as metabolomics permits the researchers to examine for 163 chemical signals simultaneously from a single sample of blood.
These chemical indications are intermediate products of the metabolism of human cells and their 26,000 metabolite proportions show the rate of the chemical reactions inside the body of a human being.
Scientists at King's College London's Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, based at St Thomas' Hospital initially researched 123 white females suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee and 299 healthy females from the Twins UK register, comparing the difference in the metabolites and the 26,000 metabolite ratios between the two groups.
The researchers discovered that 14 metabolite ratios were significantly linked with osteoarthritis. Then, the group examined these signs to witness if they were replicated in an independent sample comprising 76 females suffering from knee arthritis and 100 females in good health.
Two ratios - valine to histidine and xleucine to histidine - were successfully confirmed in the replication sample.
Lead author Dr. Guangju Zhai said, "The search for biomarkers, or traits, which can be used to measure or indicate the effects or progress of a condition is a hugely exciting area of clinical research. The two novel metabolic biomarkers found through our study could indicate increased cartilage breakdown and we now want to study these mechanisms in more detail."
Prof. Tim Spector, senior author of the paper stated, "Ours is the first study using a metabolomics approach to identify novel metabolic biomarkers for osteoarthritis."
The results of the study have been published in the journal, Annals of Rheumatic Diseases. (With Inputs from Agencies)
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Malaria, which poses a risk to 77% of the South-East Asian population and takes many lives every year, requires more dedication and larger funds for successful interventions from donors and states.
Calling Malaria, an illness having no borders, Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, stated, "Increasing funding for effective interventions could significantly reduce malaria deaths in many countries."
"In WHO's South-East Asia Region, several countries have made good progress and demonstrated that support for malaria control is working," he said ahead of World Malaria Day April 25.
For example, Sri Lanka and South Korea have both arrived at the eradication stage in malaria.
Bhutan has also made fine progress and is now directing towards malaria ending. Reported malaria fatalities have decreased considerably in Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar with bettered case management, the statement said.
"Nevertheless, malaria is endemic in all the countries in the South-East Asian region, except the Republic of Maldives, and the situation is becoming increasingly difficult to control due to several technical and managerial problems," Plianbangchang added.
Plianbangchang also said that World Malaria Day is a chance to remind the human beings around the world that though progress has been made in malaria control, this ancient illness remains a risk to humankind.
As per WHO figures, there are around 2.5 million confirmed malaria cases reported on a yearly basis, but the definite figures are much higher. Estimations are that there are around 20-30 million cases and 100,000 casualties every year. (With Inputs from Agencies)
