Category: Science

Categories
Science

Management And Treatment Methods For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – What You Need To Know

Before diving into the treatment options, we need to discuss what carpal tunnel syndrome is. Located at the base of your hand is a narrow passage that is constructed with bones and ligaments. The passage transmits 9 tendons along with the Median Nerve.

Management And Treatment Methods For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Now, coming to the mechanism involved in the CTS or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. A specific combination of symptoms can be noticed when the tunnel, especially the nine tendons experience inflammation, and the median nerve becomes entrapped due to swollen tissues.

Thus, these symptoms give rise to the carpal tunnel syndrome. U.S residents suffer a great deal from this syndrome. The compression of the Median Nerve near the carpal tunnel is mainly to be blamed for the occurrence of the syndrome, the symptoms of which include pain, tingling sensation or numbness in the first three fingers of the hand and the thumb.

Can carpal tunnel syndrome be curbed, treated and managed?

You can avail treatment for the syndrome and manage pain through therapy and rehabilitation. However, for severe cases, the option of surgery is also available.

So, here are a few methods of managing and treating this syndrome:

Rehab Program – Physical therapy:

Increased BMI, poor aerobic fitness and CTS are all closely related. Thus, a patient, suffering from this dreaded Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, must be projected to some weight reduction regime as well as aerobic fitness program as part of the physical therapy. Please note that any exercise (cycling or biking) that may involve straining the wrist should positively be avoided.

Management And Treatment Methods For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

It is seen that some patients get temporary relief through therapeutic ultrasound. 31 patients with mild CTS were treated five times a week with a balanced combination of SWD, tendon, and  nerve gliding exercises and hot pack for a continuous stretch of 3 weeks. They were then passed through various tests that showed vast improvement in their condition.

Medical treatment:

Medicines are available and can bring relief to the inflammation, pain and swelling symptoms of CTS. When the swelling is reduced, the median nerve will automatically be relieved of pressure. People commonly use NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to battle against CTS. These medicines are easily available, and there is no restriction of prescription. Even though this medication makes the patient feel much better, it does not free median nerve from the pressure. When NSAIDs do not seem to work, go for corticosteroids, strong medication for inflammation. They can either be taken orally or injected.

Home Remedy:

Apart from applying ice packs, giving rest to the fingers and wrist from the triggering activities, and wearing a night-time wrist splint, a StringyBall can also help in this case. A StringyBall is a therapeutic stress ball that has been uniquely designed to relieve the discomfort and pain in patients with mild CTS. Regular rolling exercises using it can relax the tendon and muscle tension whereas squeezing can protect the carpal tunnel by strengthening the wrist muscle.

Author Bio: Jennifer Collins is a certified and experienced Physiotherapist. She believes and works towards keeping people free from injury and pain as much as possible. Having many successful cases of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in her file, she is a renowned physiotherapist in the U.S.

Categories
Breaking Featured Science

Google Earth In Saudi Arabia Finds Ancient Stone Gates

Researchers have found almost 400 earlier undocumented structures of stone in Saudi Arabia dubbed as “Gates” with the assistance of imagery from Google Earth. While Saudi Arabia is mainly thought of as barren desert and mountains, it was also house to an enormous number of archaeological spots that were still to be recorded, identified, and mapped, claimed David Kennedy to the media in an interview last week. Kennedy is a scientist at Australia in the University of Western. “You cannot see them in any comprehensible way at the sea level but as soon as you get up a couple of hundred feet, or with a slightly higher satellite, they stick out delightfully,” Kennedy claimed to the reporters while speaking of the stones.

The structures seem like flat gates of field in the images from top attained from Google Earth. “I call them as Gates due to the fact that when you look them from a height they seem similar to a simple lying flat field gate, 2 standing posts on the sides, linked by one or more extended bars,” he further added in his statement. They do not seem similar to the structures where individuals would have survived nor do they appear for disposing of dead bodies or for animal traps. It is a secrecy as to what their intention might have been, scientists claimed to the media. Even since 1997, Kennedy has driven in helicopters over Jordan, neighbor of Saudi Arabia, photographing tens of hundreds of stone-built constructions dotted over “harrat” or its lava field.

Shapes tune from kites that might have been utilizes as animal traps, pendants utilized as funerary tombstones, and many more to huge circles of stone that might be 400 Meters across. Not much is recognized regarding the individuals who constructed the edifices, but they are believed to have built them almost 2,000 Years to 9,000 Years ago, researchers claimed to the reporters while briefing about the discovery they made.

They are thought to be the intimates of the modern day Beduin in the area who define them cooperatively as “The Works of Old Men,” they further claimed.

Categories
Science Technology

Researchers harvest electricity from the flowing blood

For thousands of years, the human race has utilized the energy of falling or flowing water for diverse reasons, initially to drive mechanical machines such as watermills and then to produce electricity by utilizing height differentiations in the sea tides or landscape. But have you ever thought of producing electricity from flowing blood? Yes, this has become a reality now. A team of Chinese researchers have designed a lightweight power generator which can transform even the power of flowing blood into electrical energy.

The research team from the Fudan University in China has developed a fiber with a diameter of less than a millimeter that produces electrical power when enclosed by flowing solution of saline—in a slender tube or a blood vessel. The production principle of the fiber is fairly easy. A structured arrangement of carbon nanotubes was constantly coiled all over a polymeric core.

The carbon nanotubes are renowned to be mechanically stable and electro-active; they can be twisted and lined up in sheets. The sheets of carbon nanotube, in the electro-active threads, covered the fiber core with a diameter of less than half a micron. For energy production, the yarn or FFNG (fiber-shaped fluidic nanogenerator) was attached to electrodes and engrossed into flowing water or merely repetitively rinsed into a saline solution.

The researchers said, “The power was obtained from the relative motion between the solution and the FFNG.” There is a formation of the electrical double layer around the thread and then the flowing solution disfigures the proportioned charge circulation, producing an electricity gradient down the long axis. The energy output effectiveness of this setup was high. In comparison to other sorts of miniature energy-producing tools, the FFNG demonstrated a better power conversion efficiency of above 20%, as said by the research team.

Other advantages are one-dimensionality, tunability, elasticity, & lightweight, thereby providing visions of stimulating technological applications. It is possible to make the FFNG stretchable by simply whirling the sheets around a substrate of elastic fiber. If knitted into materials, wearable electronics turn out to be a very remarkable choice for FFNG application. One more stimulating application is the production of electrical power from the bloodstream for several medical applications. The researchers mentioned the initial experiments with frog nerves to be successful.

Categories
Science

Doomsday Clock Hits two and a half minutes to Midnight

The clock that symbolises the end of the world, The Doomsday Clock, has moved to two and a half minutes to midnight.  This is the closest the clock has come to the end of the world since 1953.

The clock which gauges world tensions was moved to the new time via live stream.  Researchers took the decision to move the hands due to climate change and nuclear war concerns.

Lawrence Krauss and David Titley, of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists which sets The Doomsday Clock said they took the decision as the international community have failed to deal with nuclear weapons and climate change.  In part, the movement of the hands is due to Donald Trump who does not believe in climate change.

Other issues included nuclear weapons being built by India, Pakistan, Russia, North Korea, and China.

In a statement, the group wrote, “A rise in strident nationalism worldwide, President Donald Trump’s comments on nuclear arms and climate issues, a darkening global security landscape that is colored by increasingly sophisticated technology, and a growing disregard for scientific expertise.”

One of the researchers said the fact that 2016 was the hottest on record showed there was nothing wrong with the science behind climate change.  They also said that they hoped the clock hands moving so close to midnight raises the level of conversation and prompts calls to action of people around the world.

Earth Closer to Oblivion than 1984

According to the researchers, this is the closest the world has come to ending than in 1984, when east – west relations were at their iciest.

The clock hands move backwards and forward in line with world events and developments.   Initially, it only took into account the risk of global nuclear war, but now takes into account the risk of climate change, biotechnology advances, and artificial intelligence.

Categories
Science

Experts Believe we will find Alien Life in 2017

Scientists are optimistic about finding alien life in 2017.  The Cassini spacecraft which is currently orbiting Saturn’s moons could, according to the scientific community discover life.  As well as the moons of Saturn, scientists are monitoring Proxima B, a planet they believe could have alien life.

The Cassini space probe left Earth in 1997 on a twenty year mission which is due to finish next year.  It has been orbiting the moons of Saturn giving scientists a close up view of the planet and her moons for the first time.

During its mission, it has made fascinating discoveries, such as a global ocean within Enceladus and liquid methane seas on Titan.  The craft is almost out of fuel and will plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere in a dramatic finale to its mission, beaming back data before it is destroyed.

Dr Simon Foster, a physicist from Imperial College London believes that 2017 could be the year we discover microbial alien life.  He told the Daily Express Newspaper, “In the past, when we thought we had discovered aliens previously, it was a new form of star called the pulsar. What’s interesting is that one of [Saturn’s] moons, Enceladus, is an icy moon and that leaves the tantalising prospect of looking for life.

“The concentration has been on Mars, and I think moons like Enceladus and Europa, there is a good prospect of finding life – microbial that is.”

He added, “We don’t know hardly anything and when we come up against something we don’t know or doesn’t fit into our current understanding, it is quite nice to say that it could be aliens, whereas a lot of it is just a phenomena that we haven’t discovered.

“Either way there is a breakthrough just around the corner.”

Scientists are also focusing on Proxima 3 and probes are currently orbiting Jupiter.

Categories
Science

Nuclear Power Plant on Alert as Fukushima Earth Quake Strikes

According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 has struck in the Kanto area of Japan.  This region borders the Tōhoku area where the Fukushima Power Plant suffered a meltdown in 2011.

The Japanese news agency NHK reported that the epicentre was not at sea which means a repeat of 2011’s Tsunami is unlikely to occur again.  Nonetheless, tremors were felt in a “wide area” on Japan’s east coast.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company which is currently decommissioning Fukushima nuclear plant is investigating the impact the earthquake may have had.  In a statement, the company said, “At the moment, we have not confirmed the impact of the earthquake on our main power facilities (including nuclear power plants).”

The earthquake struck Ibaraki Prefecture at 9.38 pm local time.  There were no reports of injuries or damage.  Last month a larger earthquake struck Fukushima.  The country is situated on one of the most volatile places on the planet in terms of seismic activity.  The Pacific Ring of Fire stretches from Japan to the U.S.

Ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes and 81 percent of the most powerful earthquakes on the planet happen in the Pacific Ring of Fire.  As well as the Japan earthquake, a series of earthquakes has struck the U.S on the Nevada and California border.  Although no reports of damage or injury have yet to be reported, the quakes are believed to be at a magnitude between 2.8 and 4.

Fortunately, seismologist Lucy Jones believes the quakes were decaying and this was not a prelude to a bigger quake.  She tweeted, “They could be foreshocks but much more likely that we’ve already seen the largest.  Sequence decaying normally.”

Since the 2011 Fukushima meltdown, any kind of seismic activity near the area tends to raise the alarm of those in charge of dismantling the reactor of the plant.

Categories
Science

Pluto’s Icy Surface Suggests Human Could Live There

It’s a long shot, but it may still push the boundaries to become a habitable zone.
There’s a small chance that Pluto’s subsurface ocean might harbor primitive life, and that could spread the quest of finding life far out in other areas of the Kuiper Belt.

Latest studies based on a combination of computer modelling and data from the New Horizons mission, suggest that there is a possible ocean hiding under the icy exterior of Sputnik Planitia, it is the flat cold valley found in the western lobe of Pluto’s famed heart-shaped feature.

If that ocean exists, suggests William McKinnon, professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University, and co-author on two of the most recent studies. It raises the questions on whether there could be life under the frozen nitrogen that surrounds Pluto’s icy core.

It’s a remote possibility, but it raises very interesting questions about the potential for life in wholly unexpected places on the outskirts of our solar system.

The chances of life existing on Pluto is remote at the moment, it is possible what, but in what form? Will it be based on the chemical composition of its surrounding layer and the ocean.

In a recent Nature paper, planetary scientist James T. Keane at the University of Arizona stated that it is most probably made of hydrocarbons. That makes the chemistry of life possible, and temperatures might be survivable for microorganism. On our planet the entire food chains thrives under ice sheets at temperatures as cold as 23°F.

Of course, water alone isn’t sufficient for life to arise or sustain itself; energy is critical, which could be something similar to the deep-sea hydrothermic vents here on Earth.

The scientists have also hypothesized on Europa and other icy planets. However, there’s no clear evidence to support that idea of life on Pluto as yet.

However, the theory is still hotly debated, but for now we will just have to wait for more concrete evidence, that human could actually live on planet Pluto.

Categories
Science

Amoeba Which Can Attack the Brain Found In Louisiana Parish

On Thursday, an announcement was made that deadly amoebas which can potentially damage the brain have been found in Louisiana’s water supply. The name of the amoeba is Naegleria fowleri, and it breeds on neti pots, lakes, swimming holes and hot springs. According to officials, the drinking water it is in is quite safe; however, if it goes up the nostrils, then it can be a serious issue. As Dr. Clayton Wiley, who is the Director of division of neuropathology at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said, “If it gets in your brain, then you’re hosed.”

Fortunately infections of this kind are quite rare and till 1962 there have been only 132 cases. There is however, one bad news, almost all the cases were fatal and only three people survived.

Drinking water infected with this amoeba is not going to harm you because the stomach acids kill them. Care has to be taken that the water does not reach your nose, otherwise if it goes up to the brain through the nose. As Dr. Nicole Iovine, who is a doctor of infectious disease and the Director of the  Antimicrobial Management Program at University of Florida said, “They can literally travel up these nerve cells like they’re on a highway and get into the brain,”, “That’s really where they do the most significant damage.”

Once it reaches the brain and starts reproducing, it will be immune to the white blood cells. Dr. Wiley remarked, “If you had it live under a microscope, you can watch it wander around and absolutely destroy cells.” Those with face injuries are at greater risk and of course children.