Can vitamin D treat pain?

Women with dysmenorrhea who take a single high dose of vitamin D suffer much less menstrual pain and have no need of pain medications for any reason for up to 2 months says Antonino Lasco, MD, from the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Messina, Italy. One should use cholecalciferol in these patients, especially when exhibiting low plasmatic levels of 25(OH)D (25–hydroxyvitamin D). The study is published February 27 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Doctors should eat breakfast to prevent heart disease

Men who skipped breakfast had a higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) compared with men who did not; in addition, compared with men who did not eat late at night, those who ate late at night had a higher CHD risk.

However, these associations appeared to be mediated by body mass index, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes.

Men in middle age and beyond who skip breakfast or eat late at night may be at greater risk of developing coronary heart disease, researchers found.

Male health professionals who said they regularly skipped breakfast were 27% more likely to die during 16 years of follow-up, according to Leah Cahill, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues, who adjusted for diet, demographics, physical activity, television watching, and amount of sleep, reports MedPage. And those who said they ate late at night were 55% more likely to die.

Both relationships, however, fell shy of statistical significance after further adjustment for body mass index, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes, "suggesting that eating habits may affect risk of coronary heart disease through pathways associated with these traditional risk factors," they reported online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The present study provides evidence to support a recommendation of daily breakfast eating by clinicians and health authorities to prevent coronary heart disease.

Previous studies have demonstrated associations between skipping meals and excess weight, dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance and diabetes, but a possible association with coronary heart disease had not been explored.

Cahill and colleagues examined the relationship between coronary heart disease risk and skipping breakfast and other eating habits using data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS), an ongoing investigation of male health professionals.

The current analysis included 26,902 men ages 45 to 82 who were free from cardiovascular disease and cancer in 1992, which served as baseline. At that point, 13% reported not eating breakfast and 0.2% said they ate late at night. Through follow-up, there were 1,527 incident cases of coronary heart disease, defined as nonfatal MI or fatal coronary heart disease.

 The number of times the men ate per day was not associated with the risk of coronary heart disease, even though previous analyses of this cohort have shown relationships between eating frequency and weight gain and type 2 diabetes.

A mix of exercise protocol is better

A combination of weight training and aerobic exercise is the best prescription for overweight patients at risk for diabetes and heart disease. Only aerobic exercise is also as good as it reduces weight and takes inches off the waistlines. Just weight lifting alone has very little benefit.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, people in the weight–training group gained about 1.5 pounds and those in the aerobic group lost an average of 3 pounds and half an inch from their waists. 

Those who did both weight and aerobic training dropped about 4 pounds and 1 waistline inch. This group also saw a decrease in diastolic lower blood pressure and in a metabolic syndrome score.

Both the aerobic–only group and the combined-exercise group also lowered their levels of bad triglycerides.

SC's NEET logic contrary to constitution bench rulings

(Excerpts from Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN)

Points

The Supreme Court quashed the single-window admission system for all medical colleges by faulting the Medical Council of India-prescribed National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Examination (NEET) on three grounds. 

1. The majority judgment, authored by former CJI Altamas Kabir and agreed to by Justice Vikramjit Sen, held that NEET violated Articles 19(1)(g), 25, 26 and 30 of the Constitution, which guarantees a citizen freedom to practice any profession and gives freedom to religious and linguistic minority groups to manage their religious affairs as well as educational institutions. 

2. The bench said neither the Medical Council Act, 1956 nor the regulations framed thereunder empowered the MCI to formulate and enforce a single-window admission process for medical colleges. 

3. The court also said NEET could not ensure a level playing field given the disparity in educational standards in different parts of the country. 

Since the Unnikrishnan judgment [1993 (1) SCC 645], the Supreme Court has been peppered with petitions by private medical colleges whose counsel look for interim orders just before admission time every year either for grant of permission from MCI to admit students or to step around the rules. 

Counter Points

The issues dealt by Justices Kabir and Sen were touched upon by larger benches which decided important questions of law. 

1. Unnikrishnan case:  a constitution bench had said education could never be considered trade or commerce under Article 19(1)(g). "We are certainly of the opinion that such activity can neither be a trade or business nor can it be a profession within the meaning of Article 19 (1) (g). Trade or business normally connotes an activity carried on with a profit motive. Education has never been commerce in this country," it had said. 

2. A decade later, an 11-judge bench in T M A Pai [2002 (8) SCC 481] dealt with the subject of 'capitation fee' and whether imparting education could be a trade or business. It had said, "We, however, wish to emphasize one point, and that is that inasmuch as the occupation of education is, in a sense, regarded as charitable, the government can provide regulations that will ensure excellence in education, while forbidding the charging of capitation fee and profiteering by the institution. Since the object of setting up an educational institution is by definition 'charitable', it is clear that an educational institution cannot charge such a fee as is not required for the purpose of fulfilling that object." 

It also had hinted about regulating admissions to private colleges. "Excellence in professional education would require that greater emphasis be laid on the merit of a student seeking admission. Appropriate regulations for this purpose may be made keeping in view the other observations made in this judgment in the context of admissions to unaided institutions," it said. 

3. In the Inamdar case [2005 (6) SCC 637], a seven-judge bench had said a common entrance test (CET) for admissions to medical colleges, including minority institutions, would be ideal and should be conducted by a credible agency, preferably the state machinery. It had also said that a test of this nature, akin to the quashed NEET, would not violate Article 19(1) (g) or the religious rights conferred in the fundamental rights chapter of the Constitution. 

"CET is necessary in the interest of achieving the said objectives and also for saving the student community from harassment and exploitation. Holding of such common entrance test followed by centralized counseling or, in other words, single window system regulating admissions does not cause any dent in the right of minority unaided educational institutions to admit students of their choice. Such choice can be exercised from out of list of successful candidates prepared at the CET without altering the order of merit inter se of the students so chosen," it had said, articulating a vision for transparency sans profiteering in medical education. 

It had said that despite repeated rulings of the apex court against capitation fee, private colleges were indulging in it with impunity and felt that CET could curb this evil.

"If capitation fee and profiteering is to be checked, the method of admission has to be regulated so that the admissions are based on merit and transparency and the students are not exploited. It is permissible to regulate admission and fee structure for achieving the purpose just stated," it had said. 

4. The majority judgment's view that MCI had no jurisdiction to devise and enforce NEET also stands on doubtful legal grounds as a five-judge constitution bench in Dr Preeti Srivastava case [1999 (7) SCC 120] had clearly held that regulations framed by the council were binding on states.

Comments

1. Can it be said that the MCI, set up to ensure excellence in medical education, is barred from infusing transparency and merit into the process of intake of students? 

2. The majority judgment in the NEET case said, "In a single-window competition, the disparity in educational standards in different parts of the country cannot ensure a level playing field." 

Well, if that is the logic, then the court must consider scrapping the Civil Services Examination which through a single-window test chooses officers for IAS, IPS, IFS and other central services. 

Supreme Court to hear PNDT Act new notifications

Govt. of India had issued two PNDT notifications dated 7th Feb 2012 and 4th June 2012. A “Forum for Radiologists/Sonologists” challenged the notification on 29th May 2012 in Delhi High Court. The  petition was dismissed there. The forum again filed review petition on 13th July 2012, which was again dismissed.

Subsequently the forum challenged both notifications Dated 7th Feb. 2012 and 4th June 2012 in Supreme Court. The Hon’ble Supreme Court issued notice to Govt. of India. On 29.01.13 the Govt. of India gave reply to the petition. Next date of hearing in Supreme Court is on 2nd Aug. 2013.

The forum is in process of submitting its counter-reply to the reply by Govt. of India. The forum has invited suggestions for the same.

Similarities between Bihar mid day school poisoning and Spanish toxic oil syndrome of 1982

Forensic tests have confirmed presence of poisonous pesticides in the midday meal served to students of a primary school in Chhapra on July 16, leading to the death of at least 27 children. The cooking oil, used to prepare food at the school, was laced with highly toxic pesticide.

The forensic science laboratory  said the contaminated food contained monocrotophos, an organophosphate insecticide, after experts examined samples of oil from the container, food remains on the platter and remains of food items in the utensils, additional director general of police.

The peak area of the poisonous substance in the oil was more than five times in comparison to the commercial preparation used as pest control. The police are probing how and from where the poisonous substance got mixed in the oil. The postmortem report had confirmed presence of a poisonous substance in the potato-soyabean curry served to the children.

Toxic oil syndrome

Toxic Oil Syndrome or simply Toxic Syndrome (in Spanish: síndrome del aceite tóxico or síndrome tóxico) was the name given to a disease outbreak in Spain in 1981, which killed over 600 people.

The cause was traced to the consumption of colza oil that had been intended for industrial rather than food use. It had been imported as cheap industrial oil and sold as "olive oil" by street vendors at weekly street markets and was therefore used on salads and for cooking. 

The conclusion that oil was the cause for TOS is based on strong epidemiological evidence, since up to now, experimental studies performed in a variety of laboratory animals have failed to reproduce the symptoms of human TOS. None of the in vivo or in vitro studies performed with toxic-oil-specific components, such as fatty acid anilides and esters of PAP, have provided evidence that these markers are causally involved in the pathogenesis of TOS.

The fact that the first cases of the syndrome were located in Madrid, near the U.S. military base in Torrejón de Ardoz, and the secrecy surrounding the huge investigations, spread the idea of a conspiracy. 

Also, several of those affected by the TOS claim they never consumed that oil. Although the oil was mainly sold on street markets, a considerable percentage of the patients were upper class.

Another theory suggests the toxic reaction was triggered by organophosphate poisoning and covered up by the Spanish Government and the WHO.

NEET update

1. IMA TN unit welcomes SC verdict: Point Counterpoint

IMA TN: Conducting tests nationwide simultaneously was not possible as Medical Council of India was not the competent authority and did not have enough manpower and infrastructure.

A: Exams are not being taken by MCI buy by CBSC for UG and NBE for PG. 

IMA TN: There is a possibility of entire examination system collapsing if one person in the council became corrupt.

A: MCI is an elected body and one person getting corrupt can not make any difference. The ministry does not collapse if the minister turns out to be corrupt.

IMA TN:  Government should bring in stringent law and strictly implement the existing law to curb the menace of collecting huge sum of money towards fees by private medical colleges, 

A: that was the purpose of NEET.

2. Lucknow Activists demand probe in NEET decision

Activists have prayed new CJI for an independent enquiry into various allegations including alleged leak of an order on NEET.

1. At 8.36am on 18th July, GS a lawyer from the Supreme Court published an article 'Into the Darkness' on a website 'Bar and Bench'. 

The article stated, "In a little while, on his last day in office, the Chief Justice's court will deliver the much awaited judgment concerning the validity of the national medical entrance test to be conducted by the Medical Council of India. 

For the better part of the last week, senior counsel and junior advocates alike have without compunction shared a story that the appeals by the private colleges will be allowed with a declaration that the MCI has no jurisdiction, and one if the judges will dissent from this view. 

The judgment, it is confidently touted, runs into more than 190 pages and in excess of 300 paragraphs. It is my fervent hope that this tale is false - a figment of some perverse and destructive mind. In a few hours, we will know the truth."

On the same day at 11am, the three Judge bench delivered exactly the same judgment.

3. Report from the Hindustan Times, says...

"Meanwhile, CJI was caught unawares when informed that an article by SC advocate GS - uploaded on a website two hours before the verdict - had leaked the judgment and even mentioned that Justice D would be the dissenting vote. The article talked about "gossip" within court circles that the appeals by private colleges against the NEET would be allowed.  When questioned about the 'leak', CJI said he was surprised and shocked. "What can I say about it?" he said.  The outgoing CJI was on his way to his farewell party when media persons questioned him."

4. Times of India on 19th July titled "Collegiums stalls outgoing CJI's attempt to push judge's appointment to SC" also talks about former CJI Kabir's meeting with the Collegium. It says...  (SOURCE: MONEY LIFE)