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 …
the European Commission has given its go-ahead to imposing restrictions by 2003 on the public use of 43 chemicals which could cause cancer, damage reproduction or pose a danger to human genes. These gender-bending chemicals are compounds used in special paints, printing inks, varnishes, pesticides, detergents and adhesives. "The commission …
Up to 20 per cent of women with inherited breast cancer have a mutation in the gene that is responsible for repairing damage by radiation therapy. A team, comprising Australian and German researchers, recently found two key mutations in the gene called ATM. "If one copy of the mutated non-functioning …
some brain tumours may be caused by a common virus, indicates a new study conducted by researchers of the Philadelphia-based Temple University. During their study, they analysed a particular type of tumour called medulloblastoma. The tumour is the most common type of malignancy found in the brains of children across …
What is the general understanding of the term ‘pesticides’? In the Asian and South Asian countries, people often term pesticides as ‘medicines’. I have heard this in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and India. This is a wrong notion that the pesticide manu facturers have succeeded in implanting in the minds …
Associations have been found between day-to-day particulate air pollution and increased risk of various adverse health outcomes, including cardiopulmonary mortality. However, studies of health effects of long-term particulate air pollution have been less conclusive. To assess the relationship between long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution and all-cause, lung cancer, …
A vaccine effective against human papillomaviruses (HPV), which are thought responsible for most cases of cervical and anal cancers, enters clinical trials in Japan this month. If the trial is successful, the vaccine would be the first used to prevent cancer, claim its developers, a group of researchers from the …
"there is no evidence to implicate or exonerate endosulfan as (the) causative factor of the health problems.' It is on this inconclusive note that the Achyuthan committee has summed up its report. The panel had been set up by the Kerala government to analyse the health and environmental effects of …
A simple blood test might be used successfully to predict the chances of a person contracting lung cancer. Researchers at Columbia University, New York, USA, used blood samples that had been collected 13 years ago and found that people whose white blood cells were damaged were at a higher risk …
the death rate in Italy's industrial regions is higher than the less industrial ones, reveals a recent World Health Organisation (who) report. Covering the period from 1990 to 1994, the who study compared death rates in 15 heavily industrialised areas, which account for 20 per cent of Italy's population, against …
a plant derivative might be the promising cancer cure that oncologists have been seeking. Researchers from the University of Washington, usa, claim that a derivative of Artemesia annua (wormwood) could help cure cancer. The derivative called artemisinin is used extensively as a remedy in malaria prone regions of Asia and …
Using data on cancer incidence, Richard Doll and A B Hill of Oxford University School of Medicine, London, way back in 1950 linked lung cancer directly to cigarette smoking. Similar epidemiological studies conducted the world over have found how a diet rich in fats but lacking green vegetables can cause …
Source: Indian Council of Medical Research 1992, Biennial report 1988-1989 - An Epidemiological Study, New Delhi, July, p 29. The Indian Cancer Society, Mumbai Cancer Registry 2001, Cancer Mortality in Greater Mumbai 1998, p 44-45. Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (Delhi Cancer Registry), Biennial report 1994 and 1995, p 56, 58. …
Expanse of the cancer web Some cancers are common for all cities. New ones are emerging Mumbai Chennai Males Females Males Females 1998 Lung Oesophagus Prostrate Larynx Stomach Mouth (others) Lymphomas Hypopharynx Tongue Leukemia AAR 10.5 7.9 6.7 6.6 5.4 5.4 5.2 4.9 4.6 4.5 1998 Breast Cervix Ovary Oesophagus …
A specific condition that occurs in the bodies of inactive and overweight individuals may actually encourage the process of cancer development, claim researchers from the Washington dc -based American Institute for Cancer Research. They say being overweight can cause the body to release high levels of insulin and other hormones …
What is the need of regulating biotechnolgy? Biotechnology products have acquired a special significance today as they can be used to cure diseases where conventional drugs have failed. Unfortunately, despite a growing demand for these products, the existing regulations are not comprehensive enough to address the market needs adequately. What …
A study of commonly used pressure-treated lumber boards in the US suggests that the risk of arsenic exposure from these is higher than previously feared. Environmental Working Group, an environmental organisation, in conjunction with public interest groups and an US government-approved lab have made this claim. The group said it …
The prestigious Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, US , has admitted that one of its researchers used patients at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Kerala as human guinea pigs to test experimental cancer drugs. The internal investigation conducted by the varsity has found that its faculty member carried …
exposure to environmental pollutants present in mothers' blood and breast milk can hinder the development of a baby's brain before and after birth, research shows. Gerhard Winneke and colleagues from Heinrich-Heine University, D
living in an environment polluted with even low levels of benzene can cause cancer. While exposure to benzene at work places have been known to cause cancer, a study published recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology shows that exposure to low concentrations of the chemical such as those present …
