GENEVA - Most of the 2.6 million deaths of young people each year are preventable, according to a new study supported by the World Health Organization and released in Geneva Friday.

The main causes of deaths in the 10-24 age group were road traffic accidents, complications during pregnancy and child birth, suicide, violence, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

The study, to be published in the Lancet, a medical journal, found that 97 percent of these deaths were taking place in low and middle-income countries.

“Young people … often fall through the cracks,” said Daisy Mafubelu, WHO’s expert for family and community health.

She said it was important to improve their access to information and services “and help young people avoid risky behaviors that can lead to death”.

There are an estimated 1.8 billion people that fall into this age group, accounting for 30 percent of the world’s population.

Road traffic accidents could be avoided through more appropriate speed limits, strict enforcement of drunk-driving laws and by the use of helmets and safety belts, the WHO said.

Moreover, young people need sex education, condoms and other contraceptives, the ability to perform safe abortions, access to antenatal and obstetric services and testing and care for HIV/AIDS.

The study also led the researchers to conclude that suicide and other violence could be prevented through life-skills training and positive parental involvement in young people’s lives.

Furthermore, the WHO recommended that access to lethal means of all kinds, including guns and toxins, should be reduced, along with limiting the consumption of alcohol.

There also needed to be better care and support for those exposed to child abuse, youth violence, and sexual assault, to help young people deal with the immediate and long-term consequences of these traumatic events.

How Infant Pain Has Repercussions in Adulthood

ATLANTA - Researchers at Georgia State University have thrown light on how pain in infancy alters the brain’s ability to process pain in adulthood.

The study has now indicated that infants who spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) show altered pain sensitivity in adolescence.

The results have profound implications, and highlight the need for pre-emptive and post-operative pain medicine for newborn infants.

The study sheds light on how the mechanisms of pain are altered after infant injury in a region of the brain called the periaqueductal gray, which is involved in the perception of pain.

For the study, graduate student Jamie LaPrairie and professor Anne Murphy used Sprague-Dawley rats to examine why the brief experience of pain at the time of birth permanently decreased pain sensitivity in adulthood.

Endogenous opioid peptides, such as beta-endorphin and enkephalin, function to inhibit pain and they are also the ‘feel good’ substances that are released following high levels of exercise or love.

As these peptides are released following injury and act like morphine to dampen the experience of pain, the researchers tested to see if the rats, who were injured at birth, had unusually high levels of endogenous opioids in adulthood.

Thus, they gave adult animals that were injured at the time of birth a drug called naloxone, which blocks the actions of endogenous opioids.

The researchers observed that after animals received an injection of naloxone, they behaved just like an uninjured animal.

Using a variety of anatomical techniques, the investigators showed that animals that were injured at birth had endogenous opioid levels that were two times higher than normal.

Interestingly, while there is an increase in endorphin and enkephalin proteins in adults, there is also a big decrease in the availability of mu and delta opioid receptors, which are necessary in order for pain medications, such as morphine, to work.

This means that it takes more pain-relieving medications in order to provide relief as there are fewer available receptors in the brain. Studies in humans are reporting the same phenomenon.

The number of invasive procedures an infant experienced in the NICU is negatively correlated with how responsive the child is to morphine later in life.

Thus, the researchers concluded that the more painful procedures an infant experienced, the less effective morphine is in alleviating pain.

The study has been published online in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

GENEVA - India, Nigeria and Congo account for 40 percent of the 8.8 million deaths of children under the age of five years, a new Unicef study released Friday says.

Though a little satisfied over a drop in child mortality, the UN agency said these three countries were a key to the world achieving the millennium development goals by 2015. The goals have been set up by United Nations.

“A handful of countries with large populations bear a disproportionate burden of under-five deaths, with forty per cent of the worlds under-five deaths occurring in just three countries: India, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the global report said.

Unless mortality in these countries is significantly reduced, the MDG (millennium development goals) targets will not be met, said Unicef Executive Director Ann M. Veneman.

The study said achieving the goal of a two-thirds reduction in the under-five mortality rate by 2015 would require a strong sense of urgency with targeted resources for greater progress.

While praising some countries for making efforts in reducing the mortality, Unicef expressed dissatisfaction that South Africa was not doing enough in this regard.

In some countries, the progress is slow or non-existent. In South Africa, the under-five mortality rate has actually gone up since 1990. The health of the child is inextricably linked to the health of the mother and South Africa has the highest number of women living with HIV in the world, the report said.

Recent commitments by the government to scale up interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS should help improve the situation, the UN agency hoped.

Unicef said the progress could be accelerated even in the poorest environments, through integrated, evidence-driven, community-based health programmes that focus on addressing the major causes of death — pneumonia, diarrhoea, newborn disorders, malaria, HIV and under-nutrition.

The two leading causes of under-five mortality are pneumonia and diarrhoea. New tools, such as vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia and rotaviral diarrhoea, could provide (the) additional momentum, the report said.

The data, however, shows a 28 per cent decline in the under-five mortality rate, from 90 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990, to 65 deaths per 1000 live births in 2008 in the world.

According to these estimates, the absolute number of child deaths in 2008 declined to an estimated 8.8 million from 12.5 million in 1990, the base line year for the millennium development goals.

Compared to 1990, 10,000 fewer children are dying every day. While progress is being made, it is unacceptable that each year 8.8 million children die before their fifth birthday, added Veneman.

Bipolar I Disorder is also known as Bipolar 1 or Bipolar Type 1. According to the definition outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), Bipolar I Disorder, considered the most severe form of this mental illness, is “characterized by one or more Manic or Mixed Episodes, usually accompanied by Major Depressive Episodes.”

In a major manic episode of Bipolar I Disorder the patient may become delusional and even suffer from hallucinations, which are symptoms of psychosis. If this occurs, the condition is called bipolar I with psychotic features. Only bipolar I disorder, by definition, can include such psychotic features. Bipolar I can seriously impair day-to-day functioning.

Other symptoms and characteristics of mania include:

    * Grandiosity

    * Decreased need for sleep

    * Pressured speech

    * Racing thoughts

    * Distractibility

    * Tendency to engage in behavior that could have serious consequences, such as spending recklessly or inappropriate sexual encounters

    * Excess energy

Symptoms and characteristics of major depression in Bipolar I Disorder include:

    * Decreased energy

    * Severe withdrawal from normal activities

    * Weight loss or gain

    * Despair

    * Irritability

    * Uncontrollable crying

    * Thoughts of or attempts at suicide

Cryonic suspension is an experimental procedure whereby patients who no longer can be kept alive with today’s medical abilities are preserved at low temperature for treatment in the future. There are many good cryonics resources available online. Remember; cryonic suspension is only the second worst thing that can happen to you!

Alcor

Alcor is the world’s largest provider of cryonics services, and has been around since 1972. Their website provides some useful introductory material, amongst other things.

Cryonet

Cryonet is the home of an active mailing list and online community. Links to sundry resources, opinions and commentaries on Cryonics can be found here.

Scientists’ Open Letter on Cryonics

“Cryonics is a legitimate science-based endeavor that seeks to preserve human beings, especially the human brain, by the best technology available. Future technologies for resuscitation can be envisioned that involve molecular repair by nanomedicine, highly advanced computation, detailed control of cell growth, and tissue regeneration.”

Suspended Animation

Suspended Animation is a research-and-development company located in South Florida. Their goal is to improve and validate procedures and equipment for intervention after cardiac arrest with the intention of delaying cell death in the human brain.

The Cryonics Society

The Cryonics Society aims to foster support for the emerging science of cryonics by educating the public, advocating for more research, and by providing objective and unbiased information about cryonics and its benefits to everyone.

The Timeship

The Timeship is an interesting project that has been in the works for some years now, to be funded by the founders of the Life Extension Foundation. The building, designed by Stephen Valentine, will host research into cryonics and other technologies.