Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
according to a study printed in the British medical journal, The Lancet, industrialisation has brought a host of diseases, from cancer and brain tumours to depression. It says that development also increases people's susceptibility to respiratory diseases and allergies. British and Ethiopian doctors sent questionnaires to some 10,000 households in …
a large arsenal of germ-resistant goods have occupied store shelves in Japan to tackle an imminent outbreak of the Escherichia coli ( E coli ) bacteria this summer. More than 9,000 people fell ill and around 11 died during last summer's E coli 0157 food poisoning epidemic. So far, only …
Fish meal sprinkled on a beach polluted by an oil slick helps the bacteria in the sand clean it up. Stephane Lefloch, chemist at the Centre for Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution, Brest, France, says the fish meal rekindles microbes and provides the sustenance and the time …
Afro-American children are more likely to suffer from asthma than their Caucasian counterparts in the US due to greater exposure to environmental pollution. Studies show that 7.2 per cent of Afro-American children are prone to asthma whereas in Caucasian children, the figure is 3 per cent. Asthma in children from …
a team of researchers from the us has developed a blood test that would help identify people likely to suffer heart failure or stroke (such as paralysis) years before the appearance of warning symptoms. Doctors will be able to take preventive measures and avoid future emergencies, say the researchers. Results …
the difference between business-class and economy-class tickets could be more than the money for some. The lack of leg-room in economy-class can lead to the development of blood clots in the legs known as deep-vein thrombosis ( dvt ) in middle-aged passengers, says Kevin Burnand, head of surgery at Guy's …
Mother's milk contains carcinogenic toxins. But health authorities still advocate breast feeding as the benefits far outweigh the risks. According to a report of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food and Consumer Products and the Environment, UK, British infants are consuming large quantities of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and …
British doctors are quite poor at breaking bad news to patients, says a report from the Royal College of Physicians, UK. The report, titled Improving Communication Between Doctors and Patients, suggests formal training in the medical schools on how to communicate with patients who are very old, very young, mentally …
a reversible male contraceptive has been been developed by a team of scientists at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, which could be an alternative to vasectomy. According to S K Guha, who headed the team, a polymer
Cosmonauts aboard the damaged space station Mir, are cleaning up the ship and are preparing to return home after the most troubled mission in the space station's 11-year history. They are waiting for the arrival of the new crew said spokesperson Vera Medvedkova from the Russian mission control outside Moscow. …
the Organ Retrieval and Banking Organisation ( orbo ), the first of its kind in India, has been launched at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( aiims ). A 24-hour emergency national facility, the organisation will function under the Cardio-Thoracic Centre of the aiims . It will encourage …
The fear of famine has returned to haunt Ethiopia after poor harvests, with the northern region of Amhara and the south of the country especially under threat. Ethiopia had enjoyed a respite from famine for three years, but the Amhara disaster prevention officials were quoted as saying, that the people …
a strain of bacteria has won devotees among mathematicians, engineers and physists due to its several applications. A mutant form of a common, rod-shaped bacterium, Bacillus subtilis was discovered in 1975 by Neil Mendelson, a microbiologist of University of Arizona, usa. Today, it is being used by scientists to develop …
a study funded by the British department of health has found plutonium in the teeth of children throughout England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The study shows that the radioactive discharges from Sellafield plutonium reprocessing factory have contaminated people throughout the region. The study involved the examination of over 3,300 …
The poisoned hearth A study established that PCBs were posing a threat to human health in Delhi . A DOCTORATE study submitted by Satya Prakash Saxena to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( aiims) 12 years ago presented evidence that highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyls ( pcbs) are present …
SAXENA's study was conducted over three years under the supervision of top medical practitioners in obstetrics and gynecology, reproductive biology and forensic medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( aiims ). The additional director of the Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences, Delhi, was one of the …
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly toxic chemicals whose production and use has been banned all over the world. • PCBs are heat resistant, but when they burn at high temperatures they produce one of the most lethal toxins. • PCBs degrade very slowly in the environment, polluting it for …
Mixtures of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were manufactured for commercial purposes from 1929 onwards. They were chiefly used as coolants and insulation fluids in transformers and capacitors, and as lubricants and fire retardants. Most PCBs do not easily react to other chemicals and are heat-resistant. There are some 180 commonly known …
PCBs have polluted rivers and the Great Lakes of the US mid-west. Studies conducted on the Mississippi, the Ohio rivers, and the Fox have found PCBs associated with the sediments and the organic content in the water. PCBs were most concentrated in fish in the Mississippi near Pepin (Wisconsin) and …
