Category: From Sparkhealthmd.com – General

European Union (EU) leaders have finally reached an agreement after almost five days of fraught discussions on a huge post coronavirus recovery package. The package involves 750bn euros which will be given as grants and loans over a period of seven years to the 27-member bloc to counter the impact of coronavirus pandemic. it’s the joint biggest borrowing ever agreed by the European Union.

What is the European Union budget? To finance policies at the European level the European Union has a budget. It is mainly is an investment budget and represents around 2% of all public spending in the EU. It implements priorities agreed upon by all the EU members which in line with the principle of proportionality and subsidiarity adds more effectiveness to EU nations then actions taken at the local, regional, or national level. The commission, the parliament and the council all have a say on how the budget will be allocated and what will be the size of the budget.

The European Commission will borrow the money and give half (390 billion euros) of it as grants to the nations hardest hit by the pandemic including Italy and Spain and the rest (360 billion euros) will be given as loans. A new European budget was also agreed by the leaders of nearly 1.1 trillion euros from 2021 through 2027 which will create a combined spending power of 1.8 trillion euros.

The EU leaders said in a joint declaration that this ambitious and comprehensive package combines the classical budget with a special recovery package designed to overcome the effects of the pandemic and is in the best interest of the European Union. The focus of the coronavirus recovery package is to provide funding on three pillars including investing to help protect from any similar crisis in the future, helping businesses to rebound from the effects of the pandemic, and rolling out new measures to reform economies over the long haul. The decision was made after days of deadlock and talks that can be described as one of the most bitterly divided in years.

Also Read: Covid-19 Vaccine: Oxford’s Vaccine Early Trials Shows Promise

The EU is facing a big recession due to the pandemic and the hardest-hit countries need some economic and financial relief. The European Commission predicted a 7.4% slump IN 2020 in the EU economy but now it has risen to 8.3% which is considerably worse. Before today there were some disagreements regarding the conditions attached to the package, the overall size of the fund, and the mix of grants and loans.

The original plan of the commission included the coronavirus recovery package to be 500 billion euros which were to be distributed as grants and the remaining 250 billion as loans but the size of grants was contested by the so-called frugal countries, which include Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, and Denmark, as they were worried that funding the spending of other governments will burden them with debts.

The frugal nations were given the promise of rebates on their contributions to the EU budget which eventually won them over. French President Emmanuel Macron at one point banged his fists on the table as he believed that the frugal four were putting the European project in danger.

President of the European Council Charles Michel said at a press conference on Tuesday that this is a good and a strong deal and most importantly the right deal for Europe right now. He also said that it is the first time all European Union nations were jointly working to support each other against the crisis.

The post EU Leaders Announce Huge Coronavirus Recovery Package to Help Rebuild Europe’s Economy appeared first on Spark Health MD.

According to the existing evidence, pornography has been described as a public health crisis. But there is a conflict in the researcher’s opinion regarding this issue.

Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers suggest that though pornography may have an undesirable effect on some of the people, considering it a public health emergency can lead to harm. They have reasoned against this claim in an editorial to be published in the February issue of the “American Journal of Public Health“.

Along with their argument against pornography as a public health emergency, they have also provided an explanation about why making such a claim can harm the public’s health.

Dr Emily F. Rothman is a Professor at Boston University School of Public Health in its Community Health Sciences Department. Dr Kimberly M. Nelson had knowledge about both psychology and public health and is an Assistant Professor at the same department of BUSPH.

In the editorial, they have written that presenting pornography as a public health concern or something that can harm public health is a political act. Additionally, this claim doesn’t manifest the best existing evidence and is based on an ideology that negates several fundamental principles of public health promotion.

Pornography has been acknowledged as a public health emergency in almost seventeen states of the U.S. via non-obligatory resolutions. But according to the authors, the public health crisis definition criterion isn’t fulfilled by pornography.

With the passage of time, there has been a slow and gradual increase in the use of pornography instead of a sudden climax.

Also Read: Gender Disparity Related to Poor Sexual Health in the UK

Further investigation has shown that pornography hasn’t any devastating effect on the local health systems. And one can’t expect direct and sudden population displacement, property destruction, disease, or death as a result of pornography.

The available evidence has shown that the use of pornography may lead to adverse effects on the health of some individuals. But Rothman and Nelson explained that many of these adverse health impacts were absent in a considerable number of people.

Instead, in some individuals, safer sexual behaviours like solo masturbation were observed as positive effects of pornography. Authors write that rather than ending pornography entirely, it is better to persuade the public to avoid extreme pornography and to limit its frequent use.

Taking these steps can facilitate in reducing the harms caused by pornography. In the same February issue of the journal, Dr Nelson and Dr Rothman have provided an outline regarding their pornography literacy program via the help of their colleagues.

This program may be proved as helpful for adolescents living in Boston. Rothman and Nelson have also answered the question “how describing pornography as a public health emergency may lead to deterioration of health?”

They have written that claiming pornography as public health crisis may cause shifts in funding sources or result in an unwarranted policy that may lead to a reduction in public health workforce to deal with real emergencies or crises.

They added that making such a claim for any sexual behaviour is adversative to public health and may limit sexual freedom.

The post Researchers Opinion Regarding Pornography as A Public Health Crisis appeared first on Spark Health MD.

A major security breach occurred on twitter on Wednesday which saw several high-profile Twitter accounts hacked. Cyber Security analysts have given a warning that the personal data belonging to the accounts targeted in the twitter hack may be compromised. The hackers used these accounts to spread a scam involving cryptocurrency. Official Twitter accounts of health organizations such as NHS, CDC, and WHO are also at the risk of being hacked.

Twitter support team believes that it was a social engineering attack by the hackers who targeted twitter staff with access to the internal tools and systems of twitter and got successful. More than 300 people were fooled by this twitter hack and sent more than 100,000 dollars to the hackers before the tweets were taken down and all the verified accounts were locked.

The accounts that were hacked included that of the former US president Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian West, Jeff Bezos, Kanye West, Warren Buffet and Mike Bloomberg, all of them were saying the same thing that they are feeling generous due to coronavirus and will pay back double in Bitcoins what the people will send to them.

These scams stating “double your Bitcoin” have been seen on Twitter for years but simultaneous hacking of actual accounts of several high-profile people on a large scale is unprecedented. So many people were scammed at the same time which implies that there is a problem with the Twitter platform itself.

Also Read: Putting Exercise Bikes at Offices and Encouraging Employees to Use them Will Improve Heart Health, says the Scientists

The motive of this twitter hack seemed clear that the hackers thought of making what money they can and what little time they had because it was obvious that these fake tweets won’t stay there for long. It’s important to remember however that cyber-criminals are known to fill their bitcoin wallets using their own funds to make the people believe that the scam was successful.

Many angry users and law enforcement will have some questions for Twitter management as to how could this happen. A hack of this nature is not only concerning due to any financial scams but also the majority of world leaders including US President Donald Trump use twitter and make some important announcements on the social media platform. A potential hack that may take control of these accounts could have huge consequences.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said it was a tough day for all the people connected with twitter’s management. He assured the people that he and his team will share complete details when they know more about what exactly happened. Dorsey’s own twitter account was hacked last year but the mechanism due to which that hack occurred was fixed, so that mechanism has no reason to be blamed in this case.

Security experts believe that it is fortunate that the hackers were only interested in earning some bitcoins or else they could have caused mass chaos across the globe. Twitter’s share price suffered due to this hack as it went down by more than 4 percent in late trading. It has started recovering since.

While some states have been known to be involved in the hacking of social media platforms, there are suggestions that this twitter hack was the work of amateurs. This attack has revealed the flaws in twitter’s internal system which could be exploited by terrorist organizations in the future to cause chaos or even start a war.

The post Twitter Hack: Several High-Profile Accounts were Targeted in Arguably the Biggest Security Incident in Twitter’s History appeared first on Spark Health MD.

Infertility in women affects a large number of relationships around the world and one of the primary factors that influence the ability of a person to procreate is age. Infertility is the inability to get pregnant and instead of a deficiency, it is considered as a disease all over the world. Approximately, one of every eight U.S couples is attempting to get pregnant or keep up a pregnancy.

In the course of the most recent six years, a group of Estonian geneticists drove by Associate Professor Agne Velthut-Meikas and Ph.D. student Ilmatar Rooda from the TalTech Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology have analyzed genes previously related basically with female hormone synthesis and ovarian follicle improvement. The findings propose that these genes may play a more complex role in oocyte development than previously accepted

Bidirectional communication i.e. signaling must happen between the cells in the ovary for the generation of a new life and oocyte maturation. A small filled sac called follicle where an oocyte resides ruptures at ovulation and release the oocyte into the oviduct.

Read more- Zero Calorie Artificial Sweeteners Prevent from Fatty Liver Disease

For oocyte maturation and its release from the follicle, the follicle, and the oocyte cells i.e. granulosa cells encompassing it must exchange signals with one another over a specific timeframe. Some hormones are also produced by these granulosa cells that are important for effective adherence of the embryo to the uterus wall and the survival of early pregnancy. 

Some common causes of infertility in women are endometriosis, implantation failure, problems with the menstrual cycle, structural problems of the reproductive system, failure of an egg to mature properly, infections, and failure to ovulate.

Study in detail here.

Velthut-Meikas, an associate Professor says that in addition to other things, the production and working of two proteins in ovarian granulosa cells are required. These significant proteins are aromatase and the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR). FSHR gets the signal of a follicle-stimulation hormone from the pituitary organ, prompting the growth of ovarian follicle and proliferation of granulosa cells.

The present study demonstrates that these genes are produced besides the small RNA molecules (microRNAs) and the hitherto known proteins which after binding to their target genes, determine if these genes assume their expected role in a cell. The microRNA targets are responsible for crucial infertility in women.

In this way, the previously mentioned proteins, already undescribed short microRNA atoms are from aromatase and FSHR genes. The microRNA targets got from the FSHR gene assume basic roles in activating the oocyte maturation and ovarian follicle development. The microRNA targets derived from the aromatase gene are associated with initiating changes in the ovarian tissue required for the process of ovulation.

Both microRNAs probably regulate the functioning of different tissues including mammary glands, the endometrium, adipose tissue, etc and the synthesis of steroid hormones in the ovary.

Read more- Hate Crimes Against Chinese Increase as the UK Mourns with Coronavirus Deaths

Agne Velthut-Meikas says that these study findings are helpful because they provide completely new information on how ovaries function. This information is extremely valuable for diagnosing the reasons for infertility in women and finding new treatment options for them. 

Another highly topical issue is the fertility of cancer patients and everyone around the globe is trying to preserve its ripeness. This includes a process where some portion of the patient’s gonad tissue is frozen before chemotherapy that demolishes the follicles. So, women can conceive their biological children after treatment. The way toward continuing oocyte development from frozen tissue should be studied more.

 

The post New Study Explains What Causes Infertility in Women appeared first on Spark Health MD.

Forgetting about Russia’s ongoing battle against covid19 President Putin celebrated the country’s victory against Nazi 75 years ago. He presided over a huge mask free victory parade that included thousands of soldiers without facemasks ignoring coronavirus pandemic.

Thousands of Russian people turned out to celebrate the annual celebration of the Russian army defeating the Nazis but only a few of them remembered that Russia is the third most affected country by the coronavirus pandemic with more than 600,000 cases as they ignored social distancing and wearing masks.

Also read- Face Masks May Also Help In Social Distancing

The parade was initially scheduled on 9^TH of May, a festive annual holiday which they call as Victory day. The outbreak of the virus delayed it for 6 weeks. The virus is still growing in Russia with nearly 614000 cases and 8600 deaths, though its spread is slowed.

Veterans aged between the 80s and 90s attended the celebration at which 14000 soldiers marched to martial music in tight formations. Nearly all of these veterans forgot about masks and ongoing pandemic.

So how did the veterans defy the virus? Well according to Mr. Putin 28 of those veterans spent more than 14 days in quarantine at a place outside Moscow.

Mr. Putin was hoping that this celebration will lift the mood of his country. The coronavirus pandemic has reduced his approval rating to an all-time low. By celebrating victory day Mr. Putin was surely looking to undo some of the damage the pandemic has done to his rating.

Some of the world leaders were planning to attend the celebration in May before it was moved. Among those were President of France Emmanuel Macron, President of Serbia, Alexander Vucic, and the leaders of Moldova and Belarus.

India and China, looking for Russia’s support due to their recent clashes in the border region of Ladakh, sent some of their leaders and soldiers. China sent the biggest foreign contingent.

Some critics were wary that Mr. President is gambling with the health of the public to gather more votes for his future. The voting will begin on Thursday that could give Putin the presidency of Russia till 2036 if he wins of course.

Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, requested the public to watch the parade on their TV screens instead of coming out as they usually do. But tens of thousands ignored his request and went out anyway. The gathering was still smaller than the usual.

One of the residents who ignored the request of the mayor said she went out to watch the parade as it was much more interesting to see it live.

Also read- Coronavirus May Be Causing Diabetes- Experts Warn

Russia reported around 7500 cases on Thursday which is still less than a daily count of 10000 in May, but the public officials are concerned as the battle with coronavirus pandemic is still not over.

The risks of the spread of coronavirus can be estimated by the fact that two of the official delegates traveling from Kyrgyzstan were tested positive for the virus. The Kyrgyz President who was with them stayed away from the parade.

Whether this mask free victory parade was a wise move or not. The outcomes of Mr. president’s celebration in times of coronavirus pandemic will be here in a few weeks.

 

 

The post President Putin hosted a Mask free Victory Parade to Boost Approval Ratings appeared first on Spark Health MD.

The U.S President Trump is again in news for claiming that Americans hate face masks. For them, wearing a mask to prevent coronavirus infection is not the reason for wearing it. They wear it to tell that they disapprove of wearing it in public and they hate it.

This new statement by the American President is quite contrary to the recommendations shared by the Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC). As to CDC, wearing a mask is one of the biggest tools to prevent catching the deadly virus which has infected millions of people worldwide.

Also read-British Women delivers a baby in the Toilet, Completely Unaware of her Pregnancy

Trump says that it is observant from their gestures that they disapprove of wearing it. They take it off from their faces and touch their nose, mouth, and eyes after it. And still, when they end up at a hospital, they ask, how did they get coronavirus?

Trump shared this during his recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.

CDC has warned all public to wear any type of face mask even the cloth mask to prevent catching the infection. In addition to this, it has recommended the following social distancing by avoiding large gatherings and standing close to the people in public.

Medical experts warn that coronavirus has a high community-based transmission rate. Still, people are not using a face mask to prevent coronavirus.

President Trump who is often in public without a face mask finds these public opinions disturbing. Him condemning this face mask issue while he didn’t wear it during his visit to Ford’s plant in Michigan are quite opposite to each other.

Upon asking him this same question, he said that he was wearing a face mask to prevent coronavirus. It’s just that he didn’t want media to see it so he removed it. before this visit, two weeks ago Trump was also spotted not wearing a mask during a tour of Arizona Honeywell plant.

Despite the public anger and opposition, the CDC still recommends using a face mask to prevent coronavirus. It is not just for individual safety but also saves other people from catching the virus.

Trump, on the other side, says that the US is doing good in managing coronavirus cases. However, there are numerous new cases reported in multiple US states. Coronavirus is a relatively new virus that has no previous information, medicine, or vaccine available.

Also read- Germany Reports Over 600 New Cases of Coronavirus in Slaughterhouse Workers

The only way to prevent catching the disease is by following the general recommendations. People who are old, feeble, or have an underlying medical condition are at a higher risk. CDC shares that coronavirus is deadly for people 65 years of age or over it.

As to medical conditions; those who have lungs, heart, genetic diseases, obesity, or diabetes are at a significantly higher risk. The coronavirus cases in the US have crossed 2 million, out of which, more than one million have lost their lives.

Social distancing and wearing a mask to prevent coronavirus are things that could help in viral transmission. People have to make sure of following these recommendations for their own safety. Whether or not how wearing a mask feels like, it is still necessary to wear one.

 

 

The post Trump Says that Americans Hate Wearing a Mask to Prevent Coronavirus appeared first on Spark Health MD.

A 32 years old woman, Grace Meachim from Sussex gave birth to a baby in the toilet completely clueless of her pregnancy. This shocking case came into local news telling an unknown pregnancy while the couple was on contraceptives and all set to get vasectomy later this year.

Grace reports her unbelievable experience when she woke up early morning to use the toilet. She suddenly felt water breaking and contractions and her partner, James called an ambulance. However, before the ambulance arrived, Grace delivered a baby girl at home. The little one named Sienna weights 7lb 5.5oz. Both mother and the baby are doing well.

Also read- Three US States with Highest Coronavirus Cases Might Need another Lockdown Soon

Grace is a sales advisor who finds this unbelievable. When she went to use the loo, it was something that she was definitely not expecting. She reports no pain, no cramps nothing throughout this time period.

It is not the first pregnancy of grace. She has three previous pregnancies and knows how it feels. This was so sudden that she was in a deep shock to see what’s coming next ending at giving birth to a baby in the toilet. James is equally surprised on this; sharing his experience that he called for help and told that maybe it is a baby. But Grace was not pregnant so it is uncertain.

All that he can remember is that within seconds he was handing down to get the baby. It was all very fast and it is just like a movie scene, he says. Although it is not something that this couple was expecting they are sure that it would never happen again.

The couple shares that they were on contraception and planning to go for a vasectomy as they don’t want any more kids. Grace shares that she was all set to work extra so that they can file for a home mortgage.

This whole time, Grace felt no pain because she was on strong medicines for her shoulder. There was absolutely no change in her body size and it is still unbelievable how was she pregnant all this time.

Also read- New Summer Swimming Guide During Coronavirus Pandemic

Instead of calling it a problem, the couple says baby Sienna is a “nice surprise”. She would always be a special baby and nothing would change their love for her. The couple is informing their families about the new family member.

Who thought that waking up at 4 am would eventually bring a baby into this world, says Grace. She also tells that even the families are surprised to know it and still processing this new information. The couple has now made this announcement on Facebook for friends and extended family members.

Many people are finding it hard to believe that Grace was pregnant in the first place. May be because she didn’t look pregnant throughout this time. The couple was considering two names Sienna and Alexandra for their newborn daughter. However, the final decision is made by baby’s siblings, Tyler, Jessica, and Blake who chose “Sienna” for their baby sister

The post British Women delivers a baby in the Toilet, Completely Unaware of her Pregnancy appeared first on Spark Health MD.

The coronavirus cases in the US are increasing every day and the situation is worse with the ease of shutdown across the country. The economy shattered under the pandemic and many people lost their jobs. But ever since the government announced to reopen the states, coronavirus cases are also increasing.

Recently, President Donald Trump attended a roundtable event in which he addressed the coronavirus situation. He said that the coronavirus cases in the US will reduce if they stopped testing for the virus. Trump also suggested stopping contact tracing of coronavirus patients.

Also read- Are Face Masks Making Communication Difficult?

Previously Trump gave the same remark on coronavirus testing at an occasion. He said the media is maligning their image by reporting the highest coronavirus cases. They have the highest cases of coronavirus in the country because they are doing the highest number of tests. He said that we should reduce our testing during a conversation with Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa.

Trump also said that the media is reporting there are more COVID cases in America than any other country. Also, the cases exceeded coronavirus cases in China. He said that these statements are not true since America is doing more tests than any other country.

Trump commented on the spike in coronavirus cases in many states of the US. The cases surged after the government announced ease in the lockdown. Many states relaxed the preventive guidelines and social distancing in public places.

Johns Hopkins University provided the data for coronavirus cases in the US. Currently, there are 2.1 million cases of coronavirus in the country. Also, the number of fatalities due to this infection reached 116,000.

Initially, the prominent states including New York, California, and Washington were leading in the number of cases. Later, the state governments implemented a strict lockdown policy and shut down most of the businesses. Also, the government ordered the non-essential workers to work from home.

This led to a significant reduction in the number of coronavirus cases in these states. Also, there were fewer fatalities and hospitalization after the lockdown. This shows that the shutdown helped reduce the impact of the coronavirus on these states.

Since these states eased the shutdown and the businesses are reopening gradually, the cases will surge again. The experts predicted that the number of cases will increase as the people will come out of their homes again.

Also read- Can CBD Cure Everything?

The cases of coronavirus will also surge due to the Black Lives Matter protests all over the country. The countrywide protests are going on against the killing of George Floyd. People are protesting against the brutality of the police and systemic racism in the country.

An increase in coronavirus infections is seen within the past 15 days. The deputy director of the Rural Health Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Carrie Henning-Smith said that the rural communities will be more affected due to coronavirus. If the coronavirus cases surge again, the rural areas will hit hardest.

These communities usually have more older people with less economic growth. These people also have more underlying health conditions with less health care facilities. Hence, these people will suffer more due to spike in coronavirus cases in the US.

The post Trumps Suggests to Stop Coronavirus Testing in America for Reducing Cases appeared first on Spark Health MD.