In India, a country with a vast population and a diverse socio-economic fabric, healthcare remains fraught with challenges including disparities in access. These socio-economic disparities are deep, and they influence health outcomes. It is imperative to bridge these gaps amid the ongoing epidemiological, nutritional and demographic transitions that are bringing …
CANCER remains a mystery in its aetiology even today. Death tolls from cancer are gaining staggering proportions; the us recorded 538)000 deaths from cancer in 1994, which amounts to one-fifth of the nation's population. The basic problem in cancer research is the unavailability of conclusive causative agents The disease finds …
CANCER patients at a hospital in Edinburgh are being treated with a drug that gums up the molecular :ccelerator pedals' on the surface of tumour cells. Blocking these sites could halt the growth of tumour cells, so that they wither and die. The drug is designed to treat small-celllung cancer, …
TOUTED to be the best if not the only option for cures against major diseases, biotechnology had seemed to falter midway. Now, however, it is poised for a major breakthrough in treating cancer. A monoclonal antibody - a product of medical innovation - will soon have a go at treating …
Researchers contend that a large number of women undergo masectomy (removal of breast) unneces- sarily, when a tiny tumour is detected. Called ductal carcinoma, this cancer is contained in the milk ducts in the breast. Sometimes they are so small that they go unnoticed till breast x- ray is conducted. …
A TEAM of researchers from the school Of biotechnology of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) in Tamil Nadu, has developed a new drug that could relieve the burden of treatment expenses for cancer patients. They have developed an inexpensive version of the anti-cancer antibiotic, adriamycin, which is being imported currently. The …
Medical researchers of the Kimmel Cancer Centre at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, US, have identified a gene linked to three types of cancers and potentially, to other types as well. The gene called fragile histidine triad (FHIT), offers doctors valuable clues in spotting inllerited genetic mutations that can cause …
WHILE anti-cancer drugs kill turnout cells, healthy tissues in the patient's body cannot escape the chemical crossfire. This leads to vicious side effects that sometimes lead the doctor to halt the treatment before completion of the dosage. Scientists have now come up with a solution to this problem. A drug …
The standard practice of removing small throat tumours using laser is ineffective against the larger ones, so a new procedure using a special drug and light rays can reduce the suffering of patients, if not cure them. The drug called photofrin - manufactured by QLT Phototherapeutics Incorporated of Vancouver in …
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the drug used to fight breast cancer all over the world can actually be a carcinogenic agent by increasing the risk of contracting endometrial cancer. The disturbing news about Tamoxifen, the medicine given to women after breast cancer operations, was the result …
BETA carotene, the amazing vitamin found primarily in carrots and promoted as a preventive cure for both cancer and heart disease may not work wonders after all. Contrary, to popular beliefs, two studies financed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), US, reveal that beta carotene is completely ineffective in preventing …
SERIOUS efforts are on in the us to develop vaccines to fight cancer. Cancer could be described as the inability of the body's immune system to recognise a sudden, inexplicable mutation of cells and the manufacture of killer T-CeIIs to destroy these cells. Scientists are not entirely sure as to …
Nepalese herbs with anti-cancer properties of which little was known earlier, has stirred a lot of interest in the medical circles in Kathmandu. The leaf of Land Sallo, a herb found in plenty in Nepal, consists of a vital anti-cancer AW agent - Taxis regin - which is now being …
CANCER, the Scourge Of the modern world, seems to have had its deadly effects even on the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, leading to their deaths. Juan Collar of the University of Carolina, us, believes that subatomic particles called neutrinos released from dying stars after collision with the nuclei of …
The glamour of the profession apart, airline crew face a heightened risk of cancer. Researchers of the Finnish Cancer Registry conducted a study of the extent to which airline staff were exposed to cosmic radiation and the consequent risk of cancer harboured by them (British Medical journal, Vol 311, No …
THEY have finally caught the nasty genes - which have been plaguing women with breast cancer -- red-handed. Breast cancer research took three significant strides this year with the isolation of the BRCA-2 gene, with scientists zeroing in on the relationship between cancer gene mutation and the type of cancer …
A NUCLEAR reactor in your vicinity could be the best way to contract breast cancer, as the latest Greenpeace report reveals. The report titled, "Nuclear Power, Human Health and the Environment: The Breast Cancer Warning in the Great Lakes Basin", endorsed by 13 us cancer experts, indicates that toxic chemicals …
FINDING a cure for cancer has been unending drive for many a drug fil for years now. But the UK-based Brit Biotech company seems poised to lea the others far behind with its flagst anticancer drug, Marimastat showi positive results in trial tests. Such is t euphoria surrounding its new …
THE battle to conquer this killer disease is on. Scientists work relentlessly to devise better ways of diagnosing and eliminating deadly tumours. Recently, two groups of researchers, working separately, made yet another breakthrough in this direction, reports New Scientist, Vol 148, No 1998. Two techniques were developed - one for …
