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Covid-19 not developed as biological weapon: US intelligence community

The Director of National Intelligence in a report, prepared at the direction of the president, on Friday said SARS-CoV-2 probably emerged and infected humans through an initial small-scale exposure that occurred no later than November 2019 with the first known cluster of COVID-19 cases arising in Wuhan, China in December 2019.

However, there was no unanimity among the intelligence community (IC) on the origins of the coronavirus.

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High blood pressure driven by obesity, poverty – WHO study

Hypertension can be easily diagnosed by monitoring blood pressure, and treated with low-cost drugs, but half of affected people are unaware of their condition which is left untreated, the WHO and Imperial College London said in a joint study published in The Lancet.

While hypertension rates have changed little in 30 years, the caseload has shifted to lower-income countries as wealthy nations have brought it largely under control, the study said.

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Study suggests ways to support kids’ mental health during pandemic

The authors said , “Mental health problems increased dramatically among children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among those who experienced high levels of pandemic-related stressors including serious illness or death of a family member, significant financial loss, and social isolation.”

They concluded, “A number of simple strategies families engaged in appeared to promote better mental health during the pandemic including having a structured daily routine, limiting passive screen time use, limiting exposure to news media about the pandemic, and to a lesser extent spending more time in nature, and getting the recommended amount of sleep.” 

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SIMS Hospital performs total jaw joint replacement surgeries using 3D printed joints

Explaining the uniqueness of the procedure, Dr K Sridhar, Director, Institute of Craniofacial, Aesthetic & Plastic Surgery, SIMS Hospital, said, “We have performed total jaw joint replacement for three different patients. In one patient, who had zero mouth opening following a jaw surgery done elsewhere, the damaged jaw bone part was replaced with an artificial part made of titanium metal. The same was done for the second patient who had complete ‘ankylosis’ (immobile joint) of temporomandibular joint (TM joint), which acts like a sliding hinge, connecting jawbone to skull. This patient also had the complaints of sleep apnoea (snoring and sleep disorder due to less oxygenation) and hypoplasia of jaw bone (smaller than normal jaw bone). For this patient, first the jaw bone was lengthened with distraction and later total joint replacement was performed.

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