Health Bulletin 01/January/2024

Here are the top health stories for the day:

Ten-yr old Tripura boy dies medical negligence alleged 

The Tripura government on Thursday ordered an inquiry to investigate the death of a 10-year-old boy at the Agartala Government Medical College hospital allegedly due to medical negligence.

However, to maintain peace a large contingent of police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans were deployed inside the hospital.

According to the report, Ayush Malakar (10) a resident of Khayerpur in Mohanpur near Agartala was suffering from a problem in his urinary tract. The family sought medication from a surgeon in the city in his private chamber in the city.

For more details, check out the link given below:

10-Year-Old Boy Dies At Agartala Govt Medical College, Family Alleges Medical Negligence

MIT Studies Vibrating Pill for Weight Loss

When you eat a large meal, your stomach sends signals to your brain that create a feeling of fullness, which helps you realize it's time to stop eating. A stomach full of liquid can also send these messages, which is why dieters are often advised to drink a glass of water before eating.

MIT engineers have now come up with a new way to take advantage of that phenomenon, using an ingestible capsule that vibrates within the stomach. These vibrations activate the same stretch receptors that sense when the stomach is distended, creating an illusory sense of fullness

For more details, check out the link given below:

Engineers Develop A Vibrating, Ingestible Capsule That Might Help Treat Obesity

Treatment of patient based on telephonic advice from doctor constitutes negligence: NCDRC

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) recently opined that treating a patient on the basis of telephone advice of a doctor, instead of personally examining him, constitutes negligence in care.

Such observation was made by the Apex Consumer Court while it held a Ranchi-based private hospital and its doctors negligent while providing treatment to a patient suffering from Acute Pancreatitis.

For more details, check out the links given below:

Treatment Of Patient Based On Telephonic Advice From Doctor Constitutes Negligence: NCDRC

Sleep may be compromised with a bed partner

In a study led by Ada Eban-Rothschild, an assistant professor in the University of Michigan's Department of Psychology, researchers observed the sleep behavior of mice in a social context. The study, published in Current Biology, revealed that mice exhibit a strong need for physical contact before sleep initiation, engaging in cuddling during sleep, driven by an inner motivation termed "somatolonging."

The researchers found that mice willingly forgo their preferred sleep locations to seek social contact, indicating a motivation for prolonged physical connection. The study utilized advanced wireless devices and video recordings to monitor multiple mice within a group simultaneously, revealing synchronization in various neurophysiological measures, including the timing of sleep/wake onset and REM sleep.

Reference: Maria I. Sotelo, Chelsea Markunas, et al., Neurophysiological and behavioral synchronization in group-living and sleeping mice. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.11.065.