PRECAUTION IN PREGNANCY

                        AVOID THESE THINGS DURING PREGNANCY

• Liquor

 In spite of the fact that it might appear to be innocuous to have a glass of wine at supper or a cup of lager out with companions, nobody knows what's a "protected sum" of liquor to drink during pregnancy. Fetal liquor condition (FAS) is brought about by drinking a great deal of liquor during pregnancy. What that sum is versus a protected sum is truly not known. Due to the vulnerability, being wary and not drink any liquor whatsoever during pregnancy is consistently savvy.

Liquor is effectively given to the child, whose body is less ready to dispose of liquor than the mother's. That implies an unborn child will in general foster a high centralization of liquor, which stays in the child's framework for longer periods than it would in the mother's. What's more, moderate liquor consumption, too as intermittent hard-core boozing, might perhaps harm a child's creating sensory system. In the event that you're a drunkard or figure you might tend to drink too much, converse with your PCP about it. The person in question has to know how much liquor you've consumed and when during your pregnancy to find out about how your unborn child may be impacted. Your primary care physician likewise can begin you on a way to getting the assist you with expecting to quit drinking — for the good of you and your child's.

Also, recollect that caffeine isn't just in espresso. Green and dark tea, cola, and other sodas contain caffeine. Take a stab at changing to decaffeinated items (which might in any case have some caffeine, however in a lot more modest sums) or sans caffeine choices.

Assuming you're pondering chocolate, which additionally has caffeine, fortunately you can eat some with some restraint. Some fermented espresso has 95-135 milligrams of caffeine, however the normal chocolate bar has 5-30 milligrams. In this way, limited quantities of chocolate are fine.

• Certain Foods

 Food varieties that are bound to be debased with microorganisms or weighty metals are ones to attempt to stay away from or limit your openness to. Those you ought to avoid during pregnancy include:

1. delicate, unpasteurized cheeses (frequently promoted as "new, for example, feta, goat, Brie, Camembert, blue-veined cheeses, and Mexican queso fresco
2. Unpasteurized milk, juices, and apple juice
3. Crude eggs or food sources containing crude eggs, including mousse, tiramisu, crude treat mixture, eggnog, natively constructed frozen yogurt, and Caesar dressing
4. crude or half-cooked fish (sushi), shellfish, or meats
5. paté and meat spreads
6. handled meats like franks and shop meats (these ought to be very much cooked prior to eating)

Likewise, in spite of the fact that fish and shellfish can be a very sound piece of your pregnancy diet (they contain valuable omega-3 unsaturated fats and are high in protein and low in immersed fat), you ought to try not to eat particular sorts because of elevated degrees of mercury, which can harm the cerebrum of a creating hatchling.

Fish to stay away from:

1. shark
2. swordfish
3. lord mackerel
4. tilefish

fish steak (restricted measures of canned, ideally light, fish is OK)

What are the dangers from my child's perspective? Despite the fact that it's critical to eat a lot of good food sources during pregnancy, you likewise need to keep away from foodborne diseases, like listeriosis, toxoplasmosis, and salmonella, which are brought about by the microbes that can be tracked down in specific food varieties. These diseases can be perilous to an unborn child and may cause birth deformities or premature delivery.

what can be done? Make certain to completely wash all leafy foods, which can convey microorganisms or be covered with pesticide buildup. Also, be aware of what you're purchasing at the supermarket or while eating out.

At the point when you pick fish, eat various fish and shellfish and cutoff the sum to around 12 ounces each week — that is around two feasts. Normal fish and shellfish that are low in mercury include: canned light fish, catfish, pollock, salmon, and shrimp. But since tuna (or white) fish has more mercury than canned light fish, it's ideal to eat something like 6 ounces (or one feast) of tuna fish seven days.

You might need to skirt a couple of food sources during pregnancy that you typically appreciate. In any case, simply think how flavorful they'll taste when you can have them once more!

• Changing the Litter Box

Would it be advisable for me to keep away from it? Indeed. Pregnancy is the ideal opportunity to escape cleaning kitty's litter box. However, that doesn't imply that you need to avoid Fluffy!

What are the dangers from my child's perspective? A contamination called toxoplasmosis can be spread through ruined feline litter boxes and can create difficult issues in a hatchling, including rashness, unfortunate development, and extreme eye and mind harm. A pregnant lady who becomes contaminated frequently has no side effects except for can in any case give the disease to her creating child.

what can be done? Have another person change the litter box, making a point to clean it completely and consistently, then clean up well a short time later.

• 
  OTC and Prescription Medicines

Would it be advisable for me to keep away from them? Some, yes; others, no. There are many medications you shouldn't use during pregnancy. Make certain to converse with your PCP about which remedy and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs you can and can't take, regardless of whether they seem like no biggie.

What are the dangers from my child's point of view? Indeed, even normal OTC meds that you can purchase in stores without a solution might be forbidden during pregnancy due to their expected consequences for the child. Certain professionally prescribed drugs may likewise hurt the creating embryo. (The sort of mischief and degree of conceivable harm relies upon the sort of medicine.)

Additionally, in spite of the fact that they might appear to be innocuous, natural cures and enhancements are not controlled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That implies that they need to keep no security guidelines and subsequently could be hurtful to your child.

what can be done? To ensure you take nothing that could seriously endanger your child, converse with your PCP about:

any meds you're taking — remedy and OTC — and ask which are protected to take during pregnancy

any worries you have about normal cures, enhancements, and nutrients

Additionally, let all of your medical care suppliers in on that you're pregnant so that they'll remember that while suggesting or endorsing any meds. Assuming you were recommended a medicine before you became pregnant for a sickness, infection, or condition that you actually have, your PCP can assist you with gauging the expected advantages and dangers of proceeding with your remedy.

In the event that you become wiped out (for instance, with a cold) or have side effects that cause you uneasiness or agony (like a cerebral pain or spinal pain), converse with your primary care physician about prescriptions you can take and alternate ways of assisting you with feeling significantly improved without drug.

Likewise, assuming you are in your third trimester, converse with your medical services proficient assuming you are planned to have a medical procedure or an operation that would require the utilization of general sedation. The FDA has given an admonition about its potential impacts on an unborn child's mental health.

• Sporting Drugs

Would it be advisable for me to keep away from them? Indeed!

What are the dangers from my child's perspective? Pregnant ladies who use medications might be setting their unborn infants in danger for:

1. untimely birth
2. unfortunate development
3. birth absconds
4. conduct and learning issues

What's more, their children could likewise be conceived dependent on those medications.

what can be done? In the event that you've utilized any medications whenever during your pregnancy, telling your doctor is significant. Regardless of whether you've stopped, your unborn kid may as yet be in danger for medical conditions. Assuming you're actually utilizing drugs, converse with your primary care physician for assist on how with stopping. Wellbeing facilities, for example, Planned Parenthood likewise can suggest medical services suppliers, at practically zero expense, who can assist you with stopping your propensity and have a better pregnancy.

• Smoking

Would it be a good idea for me to keep away from it? Indeed! You wouldn't light a cigarette, put it in your child's mouth, and urge your little one to puff away. As crazy as this sounds, pregnant ladies who keep on smoking are permitting their embryo to smoke as well. The smoking mother passes nicotine, carbon monoxide, and numerous different synthetic substances to her developing child.

In like manner, you ought to keep away from individuals who are smoking, whether they're associates, companions, relatives, or individuals openly puts.

What are the dangers from my child's point of view? On the off chance that a pregnant lady smokes, it could cause:

1. unsuccessful labor or stillbirth
2. rashness
3. low birth weight
4. unexpected newborn child demise condition (SIDS)
5. asthma and other respiratory issues

What's more, the dangers to an embryo from normal openness to handed-down cigarette smoke incorporate low birth weight and eased back development.

what can be done? In the event that you smoke, having a child might be the explanation you really want to stop. Converse with your PCP about choices for overcoming the vice.

On the off chance that you invest energy with individuals who smoke, ask them pleasantly to do it outside — and away from you assuming you're outside also.

• Fake Sweeteners (Sugar Substitutes)

Would it be advisable for me to stay away from them? Some are OK, others are ideal to keep away from.

Aspartame, sucralose, stevioside, and acesulfame-K have been viewed as protected to use with some restraint during pregnancy. Nonetheless, you ought to stay away from aspartame on the off chance that you or your accomplice has an uncommon genetic illness called phenylketonuria (PKU), in which the body can't separate the compound phenylalanine, which is tracked down in aspartame. All things considered, you ought to stay away from aspartame through and through since your child may likewise be brought into the world with the infection.

Specialists are as yet uncertain about whether saccharin, which is tracked down in certain food varieties and in the little pink parcels, is protected to use during pregnancy — it can cross the placenta and could remain in the embryo's tissue. Likewise, a sugar called cyclamate is restricted in the United States due to worries about a potential connect to disease.

What are the dangers, if any, to my child? Albeit certain individuals say that the fake sugar aspartame is connected to birth deformities and diseases, government specialists and clinical gatherings all through the world have assessed aspartame and endorsed it as safe for human utilization, including during pregnancy.

Research done during the 1970s recommended that saccharin caused bladder disease in guinea pigs when given in enormous amounts. From that point forward, however, those reviews have frequently been raised doubt about. Likewise, an admonition saying that it could cause malignant growth was taken out from all saccharin-containing items' names in 2000.

what can be done? With aspartame, sucralose, stevioside, and acesulfame-K, balance is the key. It's OK to have an intermittent eating routine pop or sans sugar food with these sugars to a great extent. Yet, in the event that you're truly wanting something sweet, it's likely better to have the genuine article, for however long it's with some restraint.

Assuming you've previously had something with saccharin in it during your pregnancy, don't fixate on it. It's exceptionally far-fetched that limited quantities could hurt your child.

In any case, it's wise to check item marks and attempt to stay away from — or possibly limit — anything with counterfeit sugars (particularly saccharin), as a sanity check. All things considered, this is one time in your life when you have a valid justification to keep away from diet food varieties! Also, the more normally seasoned entire food sources you eat during pregnancy, the better.

• Flying

Would it be advisable for me to stay away from it? Actually no, not except if your due date is close or your primary care physician lets you know that you or your child has an ailment that warrants keep.

The following also can be avoided;

1. Hair dyes
2. stressfull exercise
3. spraying chemical
4. overheating etc

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The Cancer Patient’s Family Deny Fundraising Scam Claim

Family of Mayowa Ahmed, a Nigerian woman who raised over N60 million to fight cancer, has decried claims by a blog that they set up the fraud to scam people.

The blog on Thursday published that the family had been told by the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) that at Stage 4 of her cancer, there was no longer hope for her but to wait to die yet went ahead to raise millions of naira locally and up to 100,000 dollars through gofundme.

It was also reported that Nollywood actress, Toyin Aimakhu, who helped with the fundraising, visited LUTH with police men to arrest the alleged scammers.

A source said the effort raised about N64million for the 29-year old woman who suffers from ovarian cancer.

However, the family in a statement, noted that despite LUTH’s verdict, they would not give up on Mayowa.

They noted that efforts are being made to fly her to Abu Dhabi by next week.

Statement reads: “We have been called by friends, family that our raising funds for Mayo is a scam. We were also informed that some persons had made statements concerning her state and her ability to pull through this ordeal.

“As a family we wish to make these affirmative statements:

· Mayowa is presently in LUTH receiving treatments that will prepare her for seven-hour trip to Abu Dhabi. We have also engaged the services of the Flying Doctors to accompany her on the trip based on recommendation by the Doctors in LUTH.

· Mayowa is receiving treatment in LUTH to allow her be able to travel as advised by the Doctors in LUTH and she has been transfused to help improve her PCV.

· The funds are solely for Mayowa’ s treatment and for no other reason.

· We await her Visa for travel documents to commence the journey as we are in touch with the doctors abroad and they are awaiting her arrival.

“We appreciate the contributions made by Nigerians on this journey. Mayowa will live to tell this story and you shall be one of the audiences by His grace.”

When The Nation put a call through to Mayowa’s sister, Tope, it was answered by a family friend, Saheed Badmus, who described Linda Ikeji’s claim as false.

He said the family only got to know Mayowa’s ailment was cancer about a month ago after about a year of regular tests at LUTH and the Reddington Hospital and are continuing with medical treatment because Mayowa’s wish to fight for her life.

“The true story is that the girl is very sick. She was in my house in March and up till that time LUTH and Reddington could not give us the cause of her sickness.

“It is not as if the family knew she had cancer like three or four months ago. We just learnt about the cancer last month because LUTH and Reddington could not give us a diagnosis from the results of the tests they had been conducting since last year. 

They are the major cause why we are in this situation. We had to send the test results abroad before we were told she had ovarian cancer.

“The girl said she doesn’t want to die like this. She is not giving up on herself. It is not like the hospital she is going to in (Abu Dhabi) is promising a miracle. But they can take care of her.

“Linda Ikeji is not being open-minded. Watch her (Mayowa’s) videos. She says she just wants a chance to live,” he said.

Badmus also told this reporter that he was the one that urged the family to seek help from the public in their struggle to save their daughter’s life.

“The family does not want thi publicity. I was the one that said they should seek support. They are not hungry people without jobs. But I advised them that with the enormity of the problem, they should seek help,” he said.

Another source close to Mayowa’s sister (names withheld), defended the family, saying she demonstrated integrity when they were in school together.

She added that one dose of injection for Mayowa’s treatment costs up to N4million.

She said Linda likely published the post because people normally give up when cancer gets to advanced stage.

“Linda Ikeji is going based on the stage of her ailment and the theory that once it’s stage IV there is no remedy and that is not true. It all depends on how much money you have to treat yourself; and most especially God’s grace,” she said.

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Need for immediate intervention to save 2.5 million children on the verge of death

In the recent release by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) indicating that 2.5 million children are malnourished in Nigeria; UNICEF has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on child malnutrition. 

Indeed, there is an urgent need for the call to be extended to all governments in the country, as a problem once believed to be restricted to the North East on account of terrorism in that region, has now been confirmed to be nationwide in its spread.

Undernutrition in Nigeria is a social cancer with several causes. The most emphasised cause in the media refers to negative outcomes of Boko Haram terrorism. Since its inception, both Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and others living in the precarious environment of Boko Haram have been experiencing periodic undernourishment. 

But other causes of malnutrition in the country at large include gradual impoverishment of parents who have primary responsibility to feed their dependents and the resultant growth of child poverty arising from mass unemployment and failure of many states to pay salaries of workers, most of whom are parents and guardians.

The traditionally, a dominant aspect of family values across the country is parental obligation to feed their children to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, this value has been under severe attack by economic dislocation of many parents and guardians. Undoubtedly, the gloomy statistics about child malnutrition in Nigeria is an indication of its failure, as in many other countries in similar brackets, to respond adequately to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which included halving extreme poverty rate by 2015.

With the dismal picture of child undernourishment, it has become imperative for government leaders to pay more serious attention to the current Sustainable Development Goals that include ending poverty in all its forms everywhere and ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition.

Dangers inherent in child malnutrition are too serious for governments to ignore. Undernourishment doubles the risk of children dying before they turn five. It also increases the risk of children having brain damage, stunted growth, and lack of normal cognitive development that can destroy their chances of leading a normal life in their adulthood. 

Therefore, the call by UNICEF for declaration of a state of emergency is apt. It has come at a time that the Federal Government is embarking on the train of change that includes commitment to WHO’s polio-free certification; social welfare payments to the most vulnerable in the society; improvement in agriculture and food security; and provision of free food for children in primary schools.

This Nation believes that immediate declaration of a state of emergency as the first of many steps to contain this social cancer is in order and calls on the Federal Government to conduct, in collaboration with state and local governments, research to identify malnourished children in the country. Such children must be put immediately on Ready-to-use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs) to stop the threat of death or brain damage. Parents of such children should be provided with immediate social welfare support to provide nutritious food after the regime of RUTFs.

The importantly, the government needs to have a long-term strategy to end the scourge of child malnutrition in Africa’s largest economy. There are many successful models in other parts of the world to consider for adoption. Child malnutrition often starts from undernourishment of low-income and poorly educated pregnant women and nursing mothers. 

A time that the country seems poised to revitalise agriculture is appropriate for the Federal Government to initiate a programme similar to the United States of America’s WIC, a supplemental nutrition initiative by the Federal Government for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children under five.

And the country’s mass media should intensify campaign to educate parents and guardians about the importance of feeding children adequate portions of the four crucial food groups: carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, protein, and fats. 

Such campaign should not be limited to newspapers but must be extended to radio, television, and social media in the form of mass messages to the millions that now carry cell phones. Educational institutions from pre-school up should include modules on food and nutrition education on their curriculums. 

All patriotic hands need to be on deck to save the country from losing 1,000 of its future leaders daily to a preventable problem.

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The board dissolution: Medical council seeks exemption

Nigeria Medical and Dental Council (NMDC), has  expressed concern with the way the board of the council was dissolved alongside other government parastatals and agencies.

Council is pushing for a review of its establishing law that will exempt it from  government arbitrary dissolution.

The registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council (NMDC), Dr. Abdumumuni Ibrahim  said arbitrary dissolution of board hampers the council’s operations.

Council, he said, has been in abeyance since last July when the last board was dissolved by President Muhammadu Buhari alongside other boards of parastatals and agencies.

Ibrahim said in the last one year,the council has received about 60 complains about medical practitioners and health facilitates but has been  unable to  investigate the cases due to the absence of board.

He explained that by the  Act establishing the Council, it is only the board that can order an investigation and trial of practitioners.

The way out he further explained is the review of the At, which the council is working on right now.

He said: “The council is in abeyance. You all know very well that the journalist, last year in July the present government dissolved all boards of parastatals, including some commissions and councils that were not listed in the portion of the constitution of this country that includes this our… So currently it is the secretariat that works in conjunction with some aspects that requires clearance from the honorable minister of health.

“Currently we are reviewing the Act, this will involve  presentation of all amendments and part of the amendment, we want the council to continue to exist in perpetuality,  that is the council should never be dissolved by the government, when boards of most of the parastatls are dissolved. Because, the council is made up of professionals and not politicians, so we are pleading with the government not to dissolve the council again.

“So that whatever complain  made against practitioners can be promptly investigated and any doctor found wanting tried before the tribunal. So almost a year now the council has been in abeyance. Between then and now we have  received a lot of complaining against practitioners and this complaint cannot be investigated.

“In the absence of the council, we report to the honorable minister when the council is in place, the chairman of the council lead the council and execute any policy that is formulated by the council decision. The implication of this dissolution is quite enormous because I made mention in my speech that we have disciplinary organs which includes the investigation panel and the medical and dental Tribunal. The investigative panel is the panel that investigates any complaints made against the doctors either practicing in public health institution, private health facility.”

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Sleeping boosts women's brain power but men benefit more from naps, research suggests

Getting a good night’s sleep boosts women’s brain power, while men benefit from shorter naps, research has suggested.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Munich analysed the sleep patterns of 160 adults to consider how sleep affects intellectual capacity. Their study has been presented at the Forum of Neuroscience in Copenhagen. 

The researchers monitored the cohort’s sleep patterns, as well as performing intelligence tests on them to assess their reasoning and problem solving skills, Mail Online reports. They monitored sleep spindles, which are bursts of brain activity to consider correlation with different forms of sleep, cross-referenced with gender.

They found that sleep spindles, which are associated with higher IQ scores, were boosted when women entered dreamless sleep. For men no such correlation was found during dreamless sleep.

However, analysis of men’s brain activity found the same stimulation occurred when they had naps.

Professor Martin Dresler said: “Our results demonstrate that the association between sleep spindles and intelligence is more complex than we have assumed until now.

“There are many factors involved in intellectual abilities, and sleep is just one of them. This large study of men and women gives us a more accurate framework for the next phase of research which will involve differences in individuals sleep patterns.”

Earlier this year, researchers at Loughborough University Sleep Research Centre found women may need more sleep as their brains are more complex than men's. Professor Jim Horne, who has researched the issue said: “Women tend to multi-task — they do lots at once and are flexible — and so they use more of their actual brain than men do. Because of that, their sleep need is greater."

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Statins linked to dramatic reduction in cancer death rates, research suggests

The statins may significantly cut the risk of dying from four of the most common cancers, research has suggested.

Scientists have found the number of deaths among cancer patients diagnosed with high cholesterol see “striking” reductions following treatment with the cholesterol-lowering drugs. 

A study has found that those diagnosed with high cholesterol have a 43 per cent lower risk of dying from breast cancer, 47 per cent from prostate cancer, 30 per cent from bowel cancer and 22 per cent from lung cancer. 

Study evaluated health records of close to a million cancer patients admitted to UK hospitals between January 2000 and March 2013. The data was then compared with mortality figures obtained from the Office for National Statistics.

Findings support previous research indicating that statins may offer protection to cancer patients. The scientists said that the tests indicate the blocking of the hormone oestrogen, which causes high cholesterol through statins, could slow cancer growth dramatically.

Researchers have called for further studies on the cholesterol-lowering drugs in light of the findings.

Dr Paul Carter, from Aston University in Birmingham, UK, who presented the new findings at a cardiovascular conference, said: “Our research suggests that there's something about having a high cholesterol diagnosis that improves survival and the extent to which it did that was quite striking in the four cancers studied.

“Based on previous research we think there's a very strong possibility that statins are producing this effect.”

Dr Rahul Potluri, from Aston University which conducted the investigation, said: “Statins have some of the best mortality evidence amongst all cardiovascular medications and statin use in patients with a diagnosis of high cholesterol is possibly the main reason that this diagnosis appears to be protective against death in patients with lung, breast, prostate and bowel cancer.

Lead researcher Dr Lesley-Ann Martin added: “This is hugely significant.”

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The link between Paracetamol and Autism dismissed by scientists

Recent study had claimed a link, but even the study’s authors conceded the evidence was vague

Scientific experts have dismissed claims of a link between paracetamol and autism.

Recent study published in the Journal of Epidemiology found young boys who had been persistently exposed to paracetamol in the womb were at higher risk of autism. But the director of science at autism charity Autistica, Dr James Cusack, insisted there was “not sufficient evidence” to back the suggestion.

He said: “This paper does not provide sufficient evidence to support the claim that there is a strong association between paracetamol use and the presentation of symptoms of autism.

The results presented are preliminary in their nature, and so should not concern families or pregnant women."

Initial findings were collected when researchers in Spain recruited 2,644 mother-child pairs in a birth cohort study during pregnancy, and questioned the mothers about their use of paracetamol while pregnant.

According to the findings, when assessed at age five, exposed children were at higher risk of hyperactivity or impulsivity symptoms.

But exact doses could not be noted due to mothers being unable to recall them exactly, which experts say makes the claims insufficient. “As the authors correctly state, more research, with careful control for other factors is required to understand whether a link exists at all,” Dr Cusack said.

He added that there had been "an array of environmental factors which have been associated with autism, only to be rejected later", emphasising the importance of collecting sufficient evidence before making such claims.

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Artifical Pancreas For Diabetices Seeks FDA Approval

A medical device that works as an artificial pancreas to help diabetes sufferers control their glucose levels could hit the market next year after the company behind it filed for U.S. approval.

The MiniMed 670g, developed by Dublin-based firm Medtronic, automates the process of monitoring blood sugar levels and delivering insulin to prevent hypoglycaemic attacks.

The device combines a glucose sensor with an insulin pump connected to a patch designed to deliver insulin into the body—all of which work together with a smartphone-sized display that provides information to the wearer.

“Severe hypoglycemia can have devastating effects on people with diabetes and even milder episodes can really impair quality of life,” Pratik Choudhary, senior lecturer and consultant in diabetes at King’s College London, said at the start of a 2015 trial of a Medtronic artificial pancreas.

“The more we can do to minimize the impact of hypoglycemia, the better we can make lives of people with diabetes. That is why patients in our user evaluation really loved MiniMed 640g… because it effectively and unobtrusively reduced hypoglycemia.”

The device is already used in several countries, including the U.K., but is yet to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to Bloomberg, Medtronic submitted an application to the FDA based on trials conducted on 124 patients. Newsweek has sought confirmation of the application and will update this article when the company responds.

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Easy way to improve your mood and your health

Now that summer is here, there is nothing better than going outside. But if you need a little extra motivation, consider this: Only 30 minutes spent outside per week can reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure and depression.

This advice comes from a new study that analyzed data from 1,538 residents in Brisbane, Australia. The researchers asked the city residents about their weekly habits when it came to nature and physical activity; then they assessed their mental and physical health.

The results showed that people who made regular long visits to green spaces (like city parks) had lower rates of depression and high blood pressure. Those that went frequently experienced greater social cohesion — meaning that they were more willing to cooperate with others in social situations.

The study has some limitations, especially since the participants self-reported their outdoor activity. Still, these findings are in line with previous research on similar issues.

Earlier this year, a study in the journal Environment and Behavior suggested that a small dose of nature — even a simple walk down a tree-lined city street — can reduce stress. A 2015 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found that people who took a 90-minute stroll through nature experienced fewer negative thoughts and showed less activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, a brain region that seems to play a key role in some mood disorders. Other research has suggested that outdoor walks can boost short-term memory, reduce inflammation, and even improve your vision.

Today, over half of the world’s population live in urban areas, and that number, according to the World Health Organization, is only expected to rise over the next few decades. In addition, urbanization itself has been shown to increase levels of mental illness, though the exact reasons why are still unclear.  So, if you do live in the city, why not get out go out for a walk in the park? After all, it will only do you more good than harm.

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FDA approves first pill to treat all types of hepatitis C

Federal health officials on Tuesday approved the first pill to treat all major forms of hepatitis C, the latest in a series of drug approvals that have reshaped treatment of the liver-destroying virus.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the combination pill, Epclusa, from Gilead Sciences, for patients with and without liver damage. The new drug's broad indication could make it easier to use than five other hepatitis drugs recently approved by the FDA, which are each tailored to different viral strains or stages of liver disease.

Gilead's previous two hepatitis drugs have raked in billions of dollars by replacing an older, less effective treatment that involved a grueling pill-and-injection cocktail. But the company's aggressive approach to pricing has drawn scorn from patient groups, insurers and politicians worldwide.

The company said Epclusa will cost $74,760 for a 12-week course of treatment, or roughly $890 per pill. That's less than the initial price for company's previous drug, Harvoni, which cost $1,125 per pill. Gilead's first hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi, cost roughly $1,000 per pill, touching off a national debate about escalating drug costs.

Since 2014, the FDA has approved rival medications from AbbVie Inc., Merck & Co., and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. that have helped curb prices.

Hepatitis C affects at least 2.7 million people in U.S. and caused more than 19,000 deaths in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus develops slowly over decades and many people don't realize they are infected until signs of liver damage emerge, including yellowish skin, dark urine and fatigue. Some develop liver cancer or cirrhosis and require a liver transplant, but many die before a match is available. Baby boomers are five times more likely to have the virus than people in other age groups.

Gilead's new pill combines Sovaldi with a new drug that attacks the virus using a different mechanism. The daily pill can treat all six genetic subtypes of the virus and cures 95 percent of patients in three months, according to clinical trial data reviewed by the FDA. The drug is designed to be used in combination with ribavirin, an older antiviral drug.

The most common side effects with Epclusa included headache and fatigue, according to the FDA.

Although professional medical societies recommend Gilead drugs as first-line treatments for anyone with hepatitis C, a Senate investigation last year found that high costs resulted in less than 3 percent of the potentially eligible Medicaid beneficiaries getting treatment in 2014. Medicaid is the federal-state health program for low-income people.

In 2015, Harvoni was the top-selling prescription drug in the world with over $18 billion in global sales, according to IMS Health. Sovaldi ranked eighth, pulling in $6.6 billion in sales.

Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc., which is based in Foster City, California, rose $4.06, or 5.2 percent, to $82.31 on Tuesday.

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