United States: The state released recent news about an elderly person dying from Melioidosis through water contamination that led medical services to issue flood protection warnings for North Queensland residents. 

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Townsville Public Health Unit statistics show that an older person died from melioidosis infection last week because the dengue virus caused three fresh cases. 

Dr. Steven Donohue revealed the rise of melioidosis infections across the wet season as well as throughout the major wet period after the February floods, according to a report done by Yahoo News. 

“Melioidosis is a very serious infectious disease caused by soil bacteria in northern Australia,” Dr Donohue stated. 

“It can enter the body when a break in the skin comes into contact with contaminated water or by breathing in muddy droplets, causing pneumonia,” he added. 

What are the symptoms? 

An outbreak of the infectious disease results in fever alongside cough, chest pain, weight loss, muscle pain, and headaches, which typically emerge within days or weeks after patients are exposed to the bacteria. 

Doctors identify this disease by analyzing blood or urine samples and administering antibiotics as the treatment method. 

Dr Donohue emphasized that people should exercise caution when they participate in flood cleanup tasks. 

“It’s important to wear gloves, shoes, and protective clothing when coming into contact with soil or floodwater, and you should wear a mask if you’re pressure hosing mud to prevent inhaling germs in droplets,” he continued, as Yahoo News reported. 

He also mentioned the necessary precautions against dengue fever, whereas the risk “remains low.” 

“Use a zapper or mosquito coil, keep screens shut to prevent mosquitoes entering your home, remove pooled water where they can breed, and wear protective clothing and repellent to prevent bites,” he added. 

United States: Research from a major clinical trial indicates that aggressive blood pressure management produces more health benefits than possible risks for senior-aged adults. 

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Tight blood pressure control at 120 systolic brought about positive medical outcomes for 85 percent of study participants, according to research findings. 

Study findings demonstrate that the decreased dangers of premature death and heart disease outweigh the medical complications that might stem from aggressive blood pressure reduction, including kidney-related issues and dangerously low blood pressure. 

According to Dr. Simon Ascher, the senior investigator and an assistant clinical professor at the University of California-Davis, “Almost all … participants aged 65 years or greater had a predicted net benefit that favored a systolic blood pressure target of less than 120 mm Hg over a systolic blood pressure target of less than 140 mm Hg,” US News reported. 

Systolic blood pressure refers to pressure within blood vessels during a heartbeat. 

About major findings 

The experts state that elderly patients, weak seniors, and the ones taking several different medications derived “greater absolute harms from intensive blood pressure lowering,” along with higher levels of heart disease, cognitive downfall, and death rate outcomes. 

Major US cardiology groups updated their high blood pressure definition through data collected in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) in 2017. 

Blood pressure at 130 systolic stands as the standard classification of “high” since 2018 following the initial SPRINT findings when the previous target was lower than 140 systolic. 

Regular blood pressure falls below 120 systolic, and resting blood pressure from 120 to 130 remains elevated rather than high. 

The research team performed a detailed examination of approximately 5,100 elderly individuals enrolled in SPRINT and then evaluated those on aggressive treatment versus standard target treatment (140 systolic). 

The researchers concluded, “These findings indicate that when accounting for an individual’s estimated risks and outcome preferences, the benefits of intensive BP lowering outweigh the harms for most SPRINT-eligible, community-dwelling older adults with hypertension, especially among high-risk subgroups who are often assumed to neither tolerate nor benefit from intensive BP lowering,” US News reported. 

“These findings indicate that when accounting for an individual’s estimated risks and outcome preferences, the benefits of intensive BP lowering outweigh the harms for most SPRINT-eligible, community-dwelling older adults with hypertension, especially among high-risk subgroups who are often assumed to neither tolerate nor benefit from intensive BP lowering,” researchers concluded. 

United States: The global number of chronic kidney disease patients stands at 840 million, according to researchers, since this condition causes permanent kidney harm, resulting in reduced organ function. 

Diabetes affects approximately 828 million individuals internationally since their bodies do not produce or process insulin effectively. 

The majority of diabetes patients, or 95 percent, suffer from type 2 diabetes, according to expert estimates. 

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The two distinct chronic conditions create a relationship because type 2 diabetes affects one in every three adults who develops permanent kidney conditions. 

People who have type 2 diabetes or chronic kidney disease develop elevated risks of experiencing patients Heart attacks and Stroke as cardiovascular complications. 

A recent paper in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology demonstrates that sotagliflozin, which functions as type 2 diabetes and kidney disease therapy for heart disease patients, can minimize stroke and heart attack incidences, Medical News Today reported. 

Research findings 

The research evaluated individuals suffering from type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease together with existing heart disease risks. The research subjects either used a placebo or took the medication sotagliflozin. 

According to Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, MBA, director of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and the Dr. Valentin Fuster Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and lead author of this study, “The SCORED trial examined patients with diabetes, kidney disease, and additional cardiovascular risks, because of the known high rate of cardiac problems these people face,” Medical News Today reported. 

“We saw a significant benefit in terms of fewer heart failure and adverse kidney events. We wanted to see if heart attack and stroke risks might also be reduced,” he added. 

Furthermore, “(Sotagliflozin) is a drug that blocks a receptor in the kidneys, called SGLT2 (sodium-glucose cotransporter 2), leading to glucose elimination in the urine, among many additional effects,” Bhatt noted. 

“Other popular medications such as empagliflozin and dapagliflozin also block this receptor,” he continued. 

Bhatt and his team examined the data of approximately 10,600 participants from the SCORED trial who got sotagliflozin or placebo treatment between 2017 and 2020, followed for nearly 16 months. 

Scientists conducting the study discovered that people given sotagliflozin in the study reduced their chances of heart attack and stroke alongside cardiovascular death risks by 23 percent when compared to placebo recipients. 

“The benefit occurred within just three months of starting the drug, which is … quite remarkable to see such an early effect in a stable, outpatient population,” Bhatt noted. 

“Examined separately, there was a 32% reduction in heart attack and a 34% reduction in stroke,” he continued. 

“People with diabetes and kidney disease are at very high risk of cardiovascular complications, such as heart attack and stroke,” he added. “We need new therapies to help reduce these risks.”