Vitamin B1 with Thiamin  New

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Clarification on Vitamin B1

Vitamin B1 Clarification #2

Aconite Nap 200

Eupator Perf 200

Learn more about Hepatitis B  

Why Aspirin is fatal  

Source: Ms. Jane G. H. Kaste 

(dengue infected in Dhaka in December 2001), 

Royal Danish Embassy. 

www.danishembassybd.com

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Aconite Nap 200

For sudden severe dis-order and death of fear with symptoms like high fever (100-103°F), restlessness, body ache, only and only in that case take a drop of "Aconite Nap 30 or 200" on tongue before moving to hospital.

You may take another drop after one hour but stop taking this homaeopathic medicine whenever you start sweating, sign of overcoming the danger. This is especially prescribed for all potential dengue victims by Prof. Dr. Chandan Kumar Nath, Pragati Homaeo Research, 82 Chatteswari Road,Chittagong. Tel: 88-031-620648.

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Eupator Perf 200

Whether you had dengue fever or not and if you want to take minimum protection against this deadly disease, take 5 pieces (3 for children below 3 years) of "Eupator Perf 200" every morning in empty stomach until the epidemic/outbreak is over.

There is no guarantee that you won't have dengue fever after taking this homaeopathic medicine, but there is no record that any user was reported to be infected, stated Dr. Mohammad Delwar Hossain, New Niramoy Homaeo Clinic, 312 New Market, Dhaka. Tel: 88-02-507909.

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Never get afraid of!

Fear even after being infected with dengue fever reduces the strength of body immune system and increases the risk of death in case of dengue haemorrhagic fever. So best way to fight dengue is to keep moral high at all times and take preventive measures inside & outside living areas.

This is prescribed from real experience by Khaja Ahamed, survived DHF in August 2000 and at risk of attacks any moment from other 3 serotypes, Eastern Homes, Flat #303, 116 Segun Bagicha, Dhaka. Tel: 88-02-933-7667.

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Fluid therapy

With the onset of high fever, start taking enough fluids (water, juice, soup, orsaline) until 3 days of afebrile stage. This may help in slowing the process of blood platelet reduction even in the critical stage and subsequently in avoiding platelet transfusion.

This is prescribed by Dr. Mahbubur Rahman, Scientist, ICDDRB, Dhaka. Tel: 88-02-881-1751 to 1760 extension 2414.

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The deadly disease called hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is a liver disease caused by HBV infection. HBV can cause short-term (acute) illness that may lead to flu-like symptoms (loss of appetite, diarrhoea and vomiting, fever) and jaundice (yellow skin or eyes), and long-term (chronic) illness that may lead to liver damage (cirrhosis), liver cancer and death. Individuals with chronic infection may become carriers capable of spreading the disease to others.

World-wide, the disease is a major health problem: more than 2 billion people have been infected with HBV, about 400 million are estimated to be HBV carriers, and HBV-associated liver cancer and cirrhosis account for over 1 million deaths each year. About 75 per cent of the long-term carriers live in Asia Pacific.

Global Situation: It is estimated that at least 1 million people worldwide die prematurely each year as a result of Hepatitis B infection and there are more than 350 million long-term carrier of the disease.

* High endemicity - Hepatitis B is highly endemic in developing regions with high population densities such as South East Asia, parts of China, sub-Saharan Africa and the Amazon Basin. In these areas, 70–95 per cent of the population show serological evidence of previous or current HBV infection. Most infections occur during infancy or childhood. Carrier rates are therefore also high, at 8–20 per cent of the population.

* Intermediate endemicity - In parts of Eastern and Southern Europe, the Middle East, Japan, North Africa, Central and Latin America. 20–55 per cent of the population have HBV markers of infection and 2–7 per cent are carriers. There is a high proportion of infection in children, but infection in adults is also quite common.

* Low endemicity - The endemicity of HBV is low in North America, Northern and Western Europe and Australia. In these regions, HBV infects 4–6 per cent of the population. The disease most commonly affects adolescents and young adults. 0.5–2 per cent of the population are chronic carriers.

The patterns of HBV prevalence and the incidence of hepatitis B are constantly shifting. For example, in the 1980s in the US, the number of hepatitis B infections in homosexuals showed a significant decrease, yet the number of infections in heterosexuals increased significantly.Changes in living standards, behavior and vaccination policies can all influence disease patterns.

Population groups at high-risk: In low endemicity countries, the prevalence of hepatitis B in some population groups may be markedly higher than average. For example, in the US 70–85 per cent of immigrants from high endemicity areas have HBV markers indicating past infection, and about 13 per cent are carriers.

Other groups with a high prevalence of hepatitis B include the institutionalized mentally retarded and the staff caring for them, homosexual males, intravenous drug abusers, household contacts of carriers, patients who require regular blood transfusions or hemodialysis, prisoners and prison staff, health care workers, people with sexually transmitted diseases, prostitutes and the sexually promiscuous. All of these are at increased risk as their activities may bring them into contact with infected body fluids.

Morbidity and mortality: HBV is one of the most significant viruses in terms of world-wide morbidity and mortality. In fact, the data shown here may be grossly underestimating the problem.

The virus has infected over 2000 million people and there are over 350 million chronic carriers. The pool of carriers is increasing by 2–3 per cent a year. These carriers make up an enormous reservoir from which hepatitis B can spread to susceptible individuals.

HBV is responsible for 1 million deaths a year, the majority of fatalities being due to cirrhosis and primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC), a form of liver cancer. Epidemiological data indicate that there is a consistent and specific causal association between infection with HBV and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form of primary liver cancer, and one of the ten most common cancers in the world. Up to 80 per cent of the world’s primary liver cancer cases are attributed to HBV. HBV is second in importance only to tobacco among the known human carcinogens.

After introduction of vaccine in America in 1981 the incidence of Hepatitis B started to fall down from 1985.

In Bangladesh: Not very well studied. Several studies found huge number of patients and carriers. It is estimated that 7-9 per cent of our population may be suffering from the disease or carrying the virus. This is a great cause of concern.

HBV and the chronic carrier state: Every year millions of people are newly infected by the hepatitis B virus. About two-thirds of infected adults will show clinical symptoms which can vary in seriousness from mild to severe. In a small but significant number of cases, the infection is fatal.

Some people who are infected are unable to mount an effective immune response to eliminate the virus. They become long-term HBV carriers.

The risk of becoming a chronic carrier depends on age. Up to 80–90 per cent of newborns and infants infected with HBV may become long-term chronic hepatitis B patients. 5–10 per cent of infections in adults will also lead to a chronic carrier state. The milder the primary infection, the greater the risk of becoming a chronic carrier. Most chronic HBV carriers do not suffer from any clinical symptoms and seem perfectly healthy. However, their livers are being progressively damaged and, eventually, severe chronic liver disease may result.

Chronic carriers are also able to infect others and therefore represent a constant public health risk. It is estimated that there are over 350 million carriers of HBV world-wide - that is about 5 per cent of the world’s population!

How it spreads: HBV is spread through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person, for example, by sexual contact, from mother to child during birth, by intravenous drug use with infected needles or by needle-stick injuries in certain occupations, even sharing toothbrushes or razors. In travelers from developed countries it is the second most frequent vaccine preventable disease.

Prevention of hepatitis B : Vaccination is the most effective way of preventing hepatitis B disease. Vaccination against hepatitis B is recommended for inclusion in childhood immunization programs worldwide and for groups at risk of HBV infection (e.g. healthcare workers and travelers to countries with a high prevalence of hepatitis B). More than 100 countries world wide have implemented this program already. Hepatitis B vaccines are the first which have been shown to prevent cancer (liver cancer).

Vaccination: Vaccination is the most effective and convenient way of preventing hepatitis B disease and the chronic carrier state or liver cancer that can result from it.

From that point of view Hepatitis B vaccine is the first anti-cancer vaccine.

Protection from acute and chronic infection, as well as clinical illness, is virtually complete among persons who develop a protective antibody response (anti-HBs>=10 mIU/ml) following vaccination. It is generally accepted that the threshold anti-HBs titer for protection is 10 mIU/ml. However, some health authorities (e.g. in the UK) have set the limit more conservatively at 100 mIU/ml.

The magnitude of the antibody response induced by the primary vaccination series is predictive of the persistence of detectable antibodies. Current follow-up studies indicate that protection from clinically significant HBV infection and chronic carriage remains intact for at least 15 years in immunocompetent individuals, and that immune memory continues to provide protection even when anti-HBs levels have become undetectable.

Widespread use of hepatitis B vaccine has been shown to dramatically reduce hepatitis B virus infection and the development of liver cancer from chronic hepatitis B infection. Consequently, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) regard hepatitis B vaccine as the first anti-cancer vaccine since it prevents this serious consequence of hepatitis B infection. The WHO states that hepatitis B vaccine is the first and currently the only vaccine against a major human cancer.

The two main types of hepatitis B vaccine currently available are:

* plasma-derived vaccines * genetically-engineered vaccines

Plasma-derived vaccines: Preparation of a plasma-derived vaccine.

During an HBV infection, large quantities of the surface antigen HBsAg are synthesized in the liver and released into the blood stream. This phenomenon is exploited in the production of plasma derived vaccines, when HBsAg particles are isolated from the blood of chronic carriers, purified and incorporated into a vaccine.

Plasma derived vaccines were the first vaccines to be used against hepatitis B. They have since been widely used and have been found to be safe and effective.

However, with a production cycle of 1 year, supplies of these plasma-derived vaccines were limited, and there were widespread, but unjustified, fears that the vaccines could be contaminated with other blood-borne diseases such as HIV. Also the complex production procedures and lengthy testing mean that plasma-derived vaccines were expensive.

Genetically engineered vaccines: Preparation of a genetically-engineered vaccine.

The discovery of the gene expressing HBsAg in the 1970s together with developments in molecular biology have made it possible to produce genetically-engineered vaccines against hepatitis B. Today large quantities of HBsAg can be generated by inserting the gene expressing HBsAg into a suitable vehicle such as yeast. As the vehicle multiplies, the implanted DNA induces the production of HBsAg. The surface antigen is then extracted and purified and incorporated into a vaccine.

These genetically-engineered vaccines provide effective protection against hepatitis B. They also have a number of advantages compared to plasma-derived vaccines:

* They can be produced more quickly. * They can be manufactured in larger quantities. * They are produced from cells which contain only part of the genetic code of the hepatitis B virus, so they are free from infectious virus particles. * Their production does not rely on the availability of carrier plasma, with its associated risk of contaminants.

Treatment: Till last year the treatment option for Hepatitis B was very limited. Only Interferon was the drug that was very expensive, toxic and the treatment success was less than 20 per cent. Now an oral medicine is available that developed in the laboratory of GlaxoSmithKline. It available at an affordable price and well tolerated. Still prevention is better and preferable. Emphasis should be given on Vaccination. Prevention is better than cure. Vaccination is preferred and easy means of preventing the deadly disease.

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Aspirin acts as remedy but can be fatal

For every specific illness, there is a specific treatment which takes into account not only the cause of the illness but the patient’s history. Drugs like paracetamol, cetamol and aspirin can prove to be detrimental to the patient’s health and at times even fatal.

When we have headache, or bodyache the easiest thing to remember is the aspirin. Aspirin, otherwise known as acetylsalicylic acid, in its generic form, is a by-product that is derived from the bark of the willow tree. It is used to treat and prevent heart attacks, cerebral thrombosis or blood clots in the brain. It is a substance that prevents clotting all over the body. If anybody suffers from rheumatic fever, or rheumatoid arthritics, aspirin aids in reducing the redness and swelling of joints that are affected.

It is medically believed that anything from a headache to heart attack can be relieved by taking aspirin. But is it really a cure-all or is there a dark side to this white pill?

Friends, do not doctor yourself to diseases! You should know that sometimes saviour turns hostile and aggressive by inducing peptic ulcers and helping fluid retention by the kidneys. Aspirin may not always play a beneficial role in the healing process. I know a tragic case of a middle-aged man who used to work in our college, took two tablets of aspirin to relieve himself of bodyache and fever but within a short time he started vomiting blood. He was rushed to the hospital and treated but could not be saved.

He was an ulcer patient. He was ignorant of the fact that aspirin is dangerous for ulcers and cause perforation especially in the empty stomach.

Those people who have ulcer-problems, can take analgesic with the supporting medicine Ranitidine and Antacid, but of course with the doctor’s advice.

Aspirine and aspirin-like drugs are listed under the category - nonsterodial anticinflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Nsaids exert many useful effects on the human body but have a wide range of clinical side-effects. When we take aspirin or its allied products, body is prevented from efficiently disposing of salt and water.

Another side-effect of ‘Nsaids’ is its proclivity towards developing a sensitivity syndrome amongst genetically susceptible patients. If your father or mother has a medical history of complication developing through intake of aspirin, the sensitivity could pass genetically to you. Aspirins ability to prevent blood from clotting could cause untoward bleeding in patients who go in for tooth extraction or surgery.

Dear ladies and gentlemen, before you let the side-effects of aspirine overwhelm you, remember the most of them occur either when aspirin is taken in large doses or if it is taken over a long period of time or in an empty stomach. Remember! Your "harmless" pills in your hand to give relief to your ‘headache’ and ‘bodyache’ are capable of giving you some dangerous extra "headaches".