Stethoscopes might disappear soon
Stethoscope, a device used to listen to heartbeats, has been an iconic symbol of doctors for the past 200 years. One cannot imagine a doctor without a stethoscope around his/her neck, but an Indian-origin cardiologist in the US believes that the simple heartbeat listening device might just be dead. The claim came after seeing the increasing trend for use of electronic devices like echocardiograms that are as small as the stethoscope and are several times more efficient. Modern stethoscopes do use digitised circuitry that can remove noise and magnify the signal to aid doctors in diagnosis. In addition, engineers have developed several highly advanced algorithms that analyse data provided through stethoscope and provide a better diagnosis. Apart from all these, experts and cardiologists believe that the device is of no use now and will get obsolete soon. Most of the cardiologists now use echocardiograms and pocket-sized ultrasound devices instead of iconic stethoscope to check heartbeats.
Guests May Improve Your Immunity
like having guests overIJ They may come with a host of unexpected visitors — millions of bacteria cells — that could improve your immunity, scientists say. According to researchers, every guest entering our homes emits 38 million bacterial cells an hour. Even if a guest walked into the kitchen and held their breath, they still would slough off 10 million bacterial cells in just 60 minutes through skin shed, said Jack A Gilbert, associate professor at University of Chicago. “Nearly all of the germs graciously donated by our friends and family are not disgusting. They are probably good for us in many different ways,” said Gilbert.
Online Kidney Donation Process Soon
In a move to bring in greater transparency and tackle the illegal kidney trade while prioritising those in urgent need of renal transplant, the Centre has come out with draft guidelines that aim to determine criteria for receiving a kidney from a cadaver donor. As per proposed norms, patients requiring a kidney transplant will be registered centrally by the hospital through an online process. The registration will be approved by a kidney advisory panel after evaluation. Once approved, patients will be put on ‘active’ or ‘priority list’ based on specific guidelines. At present, kidney donation is a legal maze and the big demand-supply gap drives a black market. The Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation says 1-1.5 lakh patients require kidney transplants in India, whereas only 3,500 to 4,000 patients receive it.