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 …
leukaemia breakthrough: A study by a team of scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital in Boston, USA, shows that cancer stem cells are different from normal blood stem cells. Led by Scott Armstrong, the team suggests that targeting these cells would be an effective way to treat …
sterilising produce: A new method to sterilise fruits and vegetables has been developed, which literally sucks life out of germs. It could replace ozone-depleting chemicals, like methyl bromide, which are currently used to sterilise fresh produce. Called metabolic stress disinfection, the technique was developed by Manuel Lagunas-Solar and his team …
the air around us is toxic, full of toxins that cause cancers, along with other serious ailments. The magnitude of air toxics is alarming, especially those emitted by vehicles. These are greater cause for concern because they are inadequately monitored. A recent study, Smoke Screen: Ambient Air Quality in India …
As many as 500,000 women and children die in India each year due to indoor air pollution caused by use of solid biomass as cooking fuel, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The poor in India, who form the majority of the population and live in congested, slum-like conditions, …
a team of scientists at the National Chemical Laboratory (ncl), Pune, has succeeded in propagating the medicinally important tree Calophyllum inophyllum (common names: sultan champa /laurel tree) by tissue culture. Different parts of the tree have been used in traditional medicine to treat ailments like rheumatism, haemorrhage and skin diseases. …
a team of scientists headed by Sangeeta N Bhatia of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, usa, has found an easy way to detect cancer using magnetic resonance imaging (mri). The technique is based on iron oxide nanoparticles which show up on mri scans (because iron has magnetic properties). It does …
3d mouse: Scientists in the US have developed a fast, high-resolution, 3D mouse embryo visualisation technique that may revolutionise the way birth defects and cancer genes are studied in animal models. The new tool, called Virtual Histology, has already boosted the researchers' ability to study the mouse embryo and more …
greenpeace International, a pressure group, has called a recent report by the World Health Organization (who) on the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident a gross underestimation. who had predicted that the accident would cause 9,000 cancer deaths. But Greenpeace quoted data from the Belarus national cancer statistics to say Chernobyl could …
The case of Gleevec, a cancer drug required for 24,000 patients suffering from chronic myeloid leukaemia in India, highlights the problem with tough patenting regimes, including data exclusivity, in developing countries. Gleevec is made by Novartis and costs a patient Rs 120,000 a month, while Indian manufacturers claim they can …
The bedrock of southern Punjab has high concentration of the carcinogenic elements uranium and thorium. A recent study blames the high rates of cancer in this region on this phenomenon. A report to this effect was submitted to the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (pscst) in Chandigarh recently. …
Veznova, Belarus Natasha Popova, 12, and Vadim Kuleshov, 8. Natasha was born with microcephaly; her head is too small. Vadim has a bone disease and is also mentally retarded Gomel, Belarus Annya Pesenko has a brain tumour. She was born in Zakoptye, a village which was heavily contaminated, and ultimately …
The Pentagon has stalled efforts to clean water supplies contaminated by a carcinogenic chemical despite evidence that it posed a significant health risk to millions of people, the Los Angeles Times reported recently. The Environment Protection Agency (epa) had conducted a study in the 1990s to assess the danger of …
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University in the US have discovered a genetic switch that is crucial to cell survival. They found the gene HIF-1 controls the rate at which cells are supplied energy and even helps them cope with the absence of oxygen. A cell's energy demands are met …
compounds derived from cannabis can destroy cancer cells, according to researchers at Barts and the London Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry in the uk. Led by Wai Man Liu, the team had earlier shown that the active ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (thc), could treat some forms of cancer. …
does exposure to cadmium increase the risk of cancer and other malignancies? Although the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies cadmium as a carcinogen, there have been other population-based studies that have yielded inconsistent results. But now, a study by a group of Belgian scientists offers strong indication of …
A patent application filed in India by the Swiss pharmaceutical company, Novartis ag, has been rejected. The company had filed for an Indian patent for the crystalline version of their off-patent anti-cancer drug, Gleevec. Rejecting the application, the office of the controller general of patents, designs and trademarks in Chennai …
Exposure to pesticides as a foetus or as a child can double the risk of developing leukaemia, according to a French study. It also shows, for the first time, that use of insecticides for killing head lice could lead to cancer. Researchers from the Institut National de la Sant
a tree found in India is the world's richest source of camptothecin (cpt), a drug used to treat cancers of the ovaries and the colon. In an effort to ensure sustainable availability of cpt, researchers from Bangalore have carried out a survey of Nothapodytes nimmoniana trees in the Western Ghats. …
