Online Medicine

I’m often asked for suggestions about exercises to do indoors.  Now more than ever if you live where there were fires, it’s important to exercise indoors to avoid inhaling the poor air quality. 

Try this simple exercise to tone your buttocks and thighs.

Squat and Back Kick: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.  Sit back like you’re sitting in a chair.  As you stand up, kick your left leg straight back behind you.  Repeat on that side 10-15 reps then switch sides.  Work up to 3 sets on each leg.

HOUSTON -- (October 30, 2007) -- A $2.3 million grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute will enable researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center in Houston to determine the genetic code of bacteria that colonize healthy humans and study the structure of microbial communities from five regions of the human body.

The grant is part of the first phase of the Human Microbiome Project, a Roadmap initiative of the National Institutes of Health, which will request proposals for sequencing individual bacteria that normally inhabit various parts of the human body as well as metagenomic sequencing of the communities that these bacteria create.

The Roadmap grant adds to ongoing pilot Human Microbiome Projects at the BCM Human Genome Sequencing Center, supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health. Altogether the microbiome activities will produce reference sequences for 150 bacteria and sample the communities from the gut, vagina, skin, mouth and nose.

"The Human Microbiome Project seeks to describe the microbial community that colonizes you," said Dr. George Weinstock, co-director of the BCM Human Genome Sequencing Center and principal investigator of its bacterial sequencing activity. "It also seeks to understand how this community changes and correlate those changes with health, disease and new opportunities for early diagnosis."

The project also provides opportunities for new treatments and therapies that are either preventive or reactive to disease, said Weinstock, who has been a leader in developing this research area.

"That's the whole idea of probiotics – manipulating your microbial communities," he said. The studies could lead to new understanding of a host of diseases –even some kinds of cancers.

In many ways, the Human Microbiome Project is more ambitious than the Human Genome Project was at the beginning.

"Next generation DNA sequencing technology, which enables us to produce genetic sequences quickly and accurately, has finally reached a state where such a large project is possible," said Dr. Richard Gibbs, director of the BCM Human Genome Sequencing Center.

The effort will start with determining the genetic sequence of various bacteria that colonize humans, he said. Then researchers plan to look for variation among individuals and populations.

"Are there different types or combinations?" said Weinstock. "Is there one type of flora in this group of people and another in a different group?"

Then the project will transition into metagenomics – determining the genetic sequence of communities of bacteria that colonize human beings.

"We are colonized by thousands of species of bacteria," said Weinstock. "There are only 20,000 or so genes in my genome and all my cells have the same genes. Each bacterium has on the order of 1,000 genes, but there are thousands of species of bacteria and each has different genes. That means there are millions of bacterial genes in you. Collectively, they are a metagenome. You carry them with you, and the activity of their genes affects you. We want to do the DNA sequencing on the community itself."

"One of the major selective forces in all evolution has been micro-organisms," said Weinstock. "Nothing has happened in evolution that didn't have microbes crawling all over it."

Understanding the activities of those bacteria, how they bind to different tissues and evade the immune system may provide important understanding about life and disease.

For more information, please go to http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/hmp/ on the NIH web site.

After a week of being evacuated from the fires here in Poway, CA, I have learned so much about what is truly important.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily stresses of life, business, etc….but when it comes down to it there is NOTHING more important than our family.  In the week I’ve spent with my two beautiful boys, I’ve been filled with more joy and laughter than I’ve felt over the entire year!  Even though I didn’t know if our house would be standing, I wanted to keep it as stress-free as possible for my boys so we made up games.  One day we went to a mall and my 4 year old son went up and down the escalator with my husband while I helped my toddler learn how to climb up and down stairs. In the week away from our home they matured more than they do in a month.  After my husband installed a generator so we could return home yesterday, my 4 yr. old said, “Thank you so much Daddy, you made my day!  I love my family!  Let’s do a group hug.”  We both sensed my son’s security in being home and back to “normal”.

As I pass my burned neighbors homes, I’m filled with sadness.  In many areas it looks like a war zone.  Yet, everyone moves on filled with being blessed that they have their family and friends safe and together.

NEW DELHI: Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre (EHIRC) on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court against the Delhi Development Authority's notice to vacate the land allotted to it for alleged violation of provisions of lease deed.

DDA had sought eviction on the grounds that the charitable hospital had violated the terms and conditions of the lease deed according to which it was to provide free beds to 25 per cent of the patients, and was not to sub-let it.

EHIRC counsels Arun Jaitley and Sanjeev Puri sought stay on the eviction proceedings initiated by the Estate Officer against the charitable hospital under the Public Premises (Eviction and Unauthorised occupants) Act.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan refused to grant a stay while posting the matter for hearing on October 29.

The building was never given on lease to the hospital by the DDA and the Estate Officer had no right to initiate proceedings, EHIRC stated.

The Delhi High Court in September this year had dismissed EHIRC's petition challenging the Estate Officer's notice issued in October 2005, asking why eviction orders should not be passed against it in respect of 6.9 acres of land as the hospital authorities had violated the lease terms.

The High court had also rejected the hospital's plea that DDA should have filed a civil suit for taking back the possession of the land instead of conducting proceedings under the Act.

BANGALORE: Fortis, a leading healthcare providers entered into an agreement with Microsoft India to deploy solutions and services based on the Microsoft platform aimed at enhancing knowledge management and productivity.

Based on the four-point vision of healthcare- prevention, prediction, personalisation and participation, Microsoft solutions will enable Fortis Healthcare collaborate on various processes online using Office and Exchange applications.

Microsoft will focus towards making documents, workflows, projects and performance management on a common sharePoint portal available to Fortis employees, doctors and nurses across all its centres.

Essentially the deployment of the solutions will bring together diverse patient data from multiple sources and make it instantly available at the point of care, thereby enhancing productivity and most importantly, patient care.

Announcing signing the pact, Shivinder M Singh, Managing Director, Fortis Healthcare, said "the association with Microsoft will give us access to latest technologies for better collaboration, amongst all our staff to focus single-mindedly on enhanced patient care".