Non-invasive sensors laid on the skin’s surface to measure bioelectrical activity could offer a better alternative for patients suffering with poor gut health.
Stefan Calder, a recent PhD graduate at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI), at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland is the lead and joint-first author for two papers published in prestigious scientific journals this month on gut health. Stefan says gastric disorders are increasingly prevalent in humans, but reliable non-invasive tools to objectively assess gastric function are lacking.
“Many people suffering with chronic gut issues are on a constant diagnostic treadmill of antibiotics or proton pump inhibitors until they are sent for an endoscopy. A reliable surface-based recording could bridge the gap between symptom-based diagnostics and the more invasive minor surgery tests.”
Like the rhythmic beatings of the heart, gut movements depend on bioelectrical activity – but the electrical activity in the gut has been much more difficult to reliably detect. Researchers at ABI and the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences’ Department of Surgery have employed a novel device using a sticky patch of sensors and a recording device and associated techniques to create a new and reliable non-invasive tool to map electrical waves from the stomach.
healthcare
Coined “Body Surface Gastric Mapping” (BSGM), the method has proven a reliable detector of gastric slow wave activity and has now led to an exciting and unexpected discovery identifying two distinct disease subgroups in chronic nausea and vomiting syndromes.
BSGM has shown to reliably record bio-electrical activity on the gut’s surface and accurately detect changes in both the frequency or rhythm, and direction of electromagnetic waves with intricate detail.
The degree of difference in bio-electrical activity between healthy people and patients with chronic nausea and vomiting syndromes defined by the novel gastric mapping device was set to explore. While previous surgical and non-invasive studies have shown that gastric dysfunctions are associated with abnormal bio-electrical slow waves, the researchers found surprising results.
“Approximately two-thirds of the symptomatic patient group had completely normal bio-electrical activity, while the rest had abnormal activity. We realised there were two sub types of what was previously considered a single disease.
“This may go on to explain or further classify that single disease into two diseases based on different mechanisms. For example, abnormal bioelectrical activity is likely to point to something intrinsically wrong with the stomach itself, but for those patients who show a completely normal slow wave propagation, their issue is likely arising from somewhere else.
“This idea of recording electrical activity on the body’s surface has been around for a long time. ECG machines, recording electrical activity have gained diagnostic acceptance for the last 100 years, but in the gut that is not the case. Through these studies we have validated a device and process that can reliably and accurately evidence bioelectrical activity in the stomach. We also show that bioactivity in the stomach can be a useful biological marker for disease.
“With this bio-electrical information on hand to inform clinical guidance or treatment, people experiencing chronic vomiting or nausea may be directed to different pathways and may receive diagnosis and more appropriate treatment options sooner.”
The viral Lumpy Skin disease has affected more than one million cows in northern states of the country, spreading fears among farmers and authorities as it may affect the procurement and production of milk products in affected states.
Gujarat reported on Saturday that the virus was reported in 109 new villages, taking the total number of affected villages in 23 districts in Gujarat to 3,268. While other states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh are also equally reporting the rapid spread of the disease among the cattle, authorities are procuring general vaccine meant for goat pox and sheep pox to contain it.
Gujarat is procuring 1.1 million doses of the goat pox vaccine and has vaccinated 300,000 cattle so far. Amul, one of the nation’s major milk dairies is located in Gujarat with major milk-sourcing booths all over the affected states in the North.
What’s Lumpy Skin Disease?
The Lumpy Skin disease is a vector-borne pox disease with symptoms of skin nodules all over the body of the cattle, as per the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It affects cows more than buffalos.
The nodules or ringworm will usually heal itself without treatment, but it can take anywhere between three and nine months depending on treatment, which includes application of the medication directly onto the lesion, and giving anti-biotic medication after scraping the crusts.
Caused by Capripox virus, which is genetically similar to the goat pox and sheep pox, Lumpy Skin disease has become a major emerging threat to livestock worldwide. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) in its report said the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) disease is caused by a virus called the Capripoxvirus and is “an emerging threat to livestock worldwide”.
FAO first recorded the endemic disease in Africa and then spread to South Asia in July 2019, with Bangladesh first reporting its outbreak and soon it entered India and China.
The infection is transmitted usually by some species of mosquitoes, ticks and other blood-feeding insects to cattle and often flies and other mosquitoes spread the disease to more animals. The outbreak spreads faster during the monsoon.
Cattles being vaccinated by veterinary doctors in worst affected Kutch and Jamnagar districts./IANS
Treatment
As there are no specific antiviral drugs for the treatment of lumpy skin disease, best supportive care includes treatment of skin lesions using wound care sprays and the use of antibiotics to prevent secondary skin infections and pneumonia.
The disease can cause fever and sterility in cattle, which may affect milk production adversely, affecting millions of rural households, which depend on selling milk for livelihood.
If not contained early, the Lumpy Sin Disease (LSD) has the potential to become another Covid-19 among the animals and affecting the rural economy the most.
Impact on Rural Economy
Due to the rapid spread of LSD, for the third consecutive year, Rajasthan’s famous cattle fair which bring around Rs 80 crore in business has been impacted as covid-19 affected them in the last two years.
“The competitive prices we used to get at the fairs were double of what we could manage at home. During the Covid-19 days, a local trader offered me just Rs 25,000 for a cow, which I could have easily sold for Rs 40,000 at the Tilwara fair. Similarly, for a Sindhi racer horse, I was offered Rs 50,000. I sold it for Rs one lakh at Tilwara, though I had to wait for two years,” says Rathod, who hails from Khara village.
Hanumangarh’s famous Gogomedi cattle fair, scheduled for August 11, is postponed indefinitely, as is the case of Parbatsar’s Shri Veer Tejaji fair. Even the Nagar Palika, Nagar Parishad and panchayat level fairs are not happening.
Backbone of rural economy
More than 250 fairs are organised across the state in a year. The high volume of people participating in them ensures that the cattle rearers get a fair price for their livestock and traders get supreme quality animals. Cattle rearers from nearby states also visit, thus promoting cultural relations and state economy.
These fairs also stand as a testimony to the rich history and culture of Rajasthan. Queues of colourfully-decorated animals, the smell of firewood, sounds of folk songs and the tinkling of ghungroo bells are common features of these large-scale events, which are organised by the Animal Husbandry Department to foster business between cattle traders and rearers. Some say the first cattle fair was organised in the region nearly 700 years ago.
Not simply an event of cultural importance, the cattle fairs also spur the local economy, in addition to bringing national and international tourists. Transporters, ornament makers, food vendors, craftspeople and other small businesses rely on these fairs.
Double trouble
“Local traders will never quote good prices for our animals. We have been suffering huge losses in the last two years,” says Chetram, a cattle rearer from Hanumangarh’s Rampura village. Cut from their main source of income, the rearers are forced to stretch their already tight budgets to spend on fodder. Added to this is the risk of losing their animals to LSD.
“During the Covid-19 days, at least our animals were healthy and the only loss was of business. Now, we are losing our livestock, and also our source of income,” laments Shankar Singh, a cattle rearer from Sangriya.
“As of now, the disease has affected about six lakh animals in the state, killing nearly 25,000 of them. The situation is serious,” informs Arvind Jaitly, Deputy Director (Disease Control), Animal Husbandry Department.
“We organise fairs in different locations all through the year, as it serves the interests of both rearers and traders. The department also earns during these fairs. But with the present level of spread of the LSD, stopping of fairs for a while is an imperative,” he adds.
According to a news report, the figures in other states have been soaring too — 74,325 cattle in Punjab, 58,546 in Gujarat, 6,385 in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,300 in Uttarakhand, 532 in Himachal Pradesh and 260 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been affected by the LSD.
Cows/IANS
Milk supply, subsidiary activities hit
The cattle population in Rajasthan is already on the way down. According to the Animal Husbandry Department, the cattle population in the state came down from Rs 5.77 crore in 2012 to Rs 5.68 crore in 2019 — a drop of 1.61 per cent in seven years.
Rajasthan is also the second highest milk-producing state in the country — at 187.7 million metric tonne. In India, the per capita availability of milk is 394 gm, while it is 870 gm in Rajasthan.
With the spread of LSD, the production of both milk and dairy items has come down. If the situation persists, milk production is expected to drop further.
Even the subsidiary activities have been affected. Mangilal Gusai, who sells trinkets for decorating animals, says, “Cattle fairs are our only source of income. As they stand postponed, we don’t know what to do.”
Gusai’s family of seven works out of their home, readying the ornaments during the monsoon season — June to September. “We took a loan to buy raw materials. We have products worth Rs four lakh lying at home, with no place to sell them.”
Tourism hit
Even the Tourism Department is taking the hit, as it works in conjunction with the Animal Husbandry Department to organise events like the Pushkar Fair, a highly-desired travel experience for a tourist.
“The cattle fairs offer a glimpse into the local culture and rural lifestyle of Rajasthan. The trade, competitions and cultural events happening at the fairs draw huge crowds,” says Bikaner Krishan Kumar, Assistant Director, Tourism Department.
Contraceptive pills have become popular now but the impact will lead to higher risk of breast cancer later in life, warn scientists.
Researchers from the University of Michigan found that some commonly prescribed birth control pills can quadruple the levels of synthetic estrogen and progesterone hormones, which increase the risk of breast cancers. The treatment of breast cancer is mainly focused on hormone therapy.
The blood tests on women who use birth control pills contained much higher levels of hormones compared to those who did not and the results showed that 4 out of 7 formulations tested were found to quadruple the levels of progestin, a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone.
Another test showed 40% higher exposure to ethinyl estradiol, synthetic estrogen, another major cause for breast cancer.
Study’s lead author Beverly Strassmann said that there is an urgent need for pharma companies to redesign the birth control pills so they do not cause breast cancer among women. Their research showed that one percent of breast cancer cases are caused by the use of oral contraceptive pills.
“Not enough has changed over the generations of these drugs and given how many people take hormonal birth control worldwide – millions – the pharmaceutical industry shouldn’t rest on its laurels,” she said.
In a previous study, birth control pills were found to have caused a small but significant increase in the risk of the most common type of stroke. The study published in the journal MedLink Neurology in 2015 showed that “the risk seems higher and, in most cases, oral contraceptive use should be discouraged.”
Marisa McGinley, Sarkis Morales-Vidal, and Jose Biller of Loyola University Medical Center and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine studied about 100 million women worldwide who used oral contraceptives. Birth control pills increase the risk 1.9 times, to 8.5 strokes per 100,000 women, which means one out of 24,000 women would experience the stroke.
Early versions of the pill contained doses of synthetic estrogen as high as 150 micrograms, though they have come down to 20 to 35 micrograms now and not more than 50 micrograms. In the United States, there are about 40 brands of oral contraceptives and 21 brands of emergency contraceptive pills.
