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 controversy over the cancer drug trial at the Regional Cancer Centre of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has taken a new turn. A high power team, set up by the Union health ministry to probe the incident, has upheld allegations that the trials were conducted in gross violation of the laws. According …
the us Environmental Protection Agency (usepa) has greatly underestimated the cancer risks of arsenic in drinking water, indicates a study of the National Academy of Sciences. Following the report, for the first time, usepa under the Bush administration is conceding that it will be hard-pressed not to accept stringent arsenic …
Why was Health Effects Institute (HEI) established? hei was founded in 1980 to conduct research on the health effects of air pollution and help policymakers to evolve strategies to tackle this problem. The us Environmental Protection Agency (usepa) and the worldwide motor vehicle industry fund us on the grounds that …
A Californian court has reduced the compensation liability of Philip Morris to a Marlboro smoker dying of lung cancer. The court has reduced the compensation from us $3 billion to us $100 million, on condition that Richard Boeken, the petitioner, accepts it. In June 2001, a Los Angeles jury found …
Forty three per cent of the children in urban Kolkata suffer from respiratory disorders. In rural Kolkata the figure dips to 14 per cent. A study conducted by analysing the effect of air pollution on lungs of 153 children from urban Kolkata and 116 children from rural areas of the …
- Cancer risk from dioxins among people eating large amounts of fatty meats and dairy products. - Dioxin exposure linked to a variety of health problems, including diabetes, developmental problems and irregularities in the immune system. - Children's intake of dioxins is greater than those of adults. - Dioxins are …
SURENDRANATH C “In research on humans, the interest of science and society should never take precedence over considerations related to the well being of the subject.”
if the molecular-remodelling trick used by the body to defend itself against any disease goes wrong, a deadly form of cancer can result, new research suggests. ( Nature , 341
Even small doses of paan masala, which mimics the taste of betel nut and leaf, taken for a long time can cause cancer, confirmed a team of researchers at the National Institute of Occupational Health in Ahmedabad. The researchers put 180 mice on a diet containing two per cent paan …
rachel Carson couldn't have been more accurate. A disturbing silence is the overarching presence in lands doused with chemical pesticides. Not just Padre
Many cancer patients receive chemotherapy at the end of life, even if their kind of cancer is known to be unresponsive to the drugs, according to a study reported at the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists held in San Francisco. "Many are concerned with the …
Banned toxic chemicals that can cause cancer are sneaking into food more often and at higher levels than anyone suspected. Tests on over 20,000 food samples in Belgium in the wake of a massive food scandal in 1999 have revealed that up to four per cent of the samples contain …
A new study suggests that the engraftment process following a bone marrow transplantation could be improved by enriching the graft with stem cells that express a ligand for e-selectin, a molecule expressed on bone marrow microvascular cells. The engraftment process depends on effective seeding of the recipient's bone marrow with …
A chemotherapy drug with few side effects has been developed by the University of Maryland's Greenebaum Cancer Center, in Baltimore, USA. The drug prevents further division of mutated cancerous cells. When the drug was tested for safety on 34 adult patients of leukemia, it was found that the drug did …
Vitamin C, an essential nutrient found in fruits and vegetables, is a double-edged sword, providing benefits and also inducing the production of compounds associated with cancer, say researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, when added to solutions of a degraded version of …
tobacco giant Philip Morris has been ordered to pay a record fine for misleading consumers about tar levels in its products. A Los Angeles court directed the company to pay a compensation of over us $3 billion to a chain smoker suffering from lung cancer. In addition, Richard Boeken, the …
an anti-cancer drug which specifically targets the cancer cells and not the normal cells has entered the market. Unlike the conventional methods like chemotherapy which have their toll in the healthy cells also, the new smart drug zeros in only on the cancer cells. Under the guidance of Manju Ray, …
until recently, most biologists classified cell deaths into two categories. In apoptosis, genetically programmed suicide shapes an organism or rids it of diseased cells. Necrosis, in contrast, includes cell deaths resulting from some outside force. But the simple classification is being challenged by new revelations. And the new classification emerging …
Modified poliovirus may be used to cure brain tumours in future. A study carried out by researchers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, USA , shows that the virus is effective in killing the cells of malignant gliomas, the most common and lethal type of brain cancer. The tumour …
