Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS & Others Vs Union of India & Others dated 24/02/2025. The Supreme Court (SC), February 24, 2025 has directed all states to file their affidavits addressing concerns raised about antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs …
A TEAM of researchers from Mumbai's University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT) have discovered a potential 'magic bullet' to be used in the war against AIDS. The group of students led by professor V M Kulkarm have developed a drab-looking and colourless substance which works wonders against an HIV enzyme. …
Scientists warn that taking iron indiscriminately can be toxic for the body. In fact, it can make the heart, liver and pancreas more vulnerable to disease. Iron tablets may increase stamina in people who have iron- deficiency anemia, it won't give extra pep if there is no such complaint, warns …
SNAKEBITES could spell death to countless victims had there been no antidotes available. But these commonly available antivenins also have their share of side effects, including strong allergic reactions that could even prove fatal. Thus, a new generation of antidotes to snakebite becomes significant. It promises faster treatment, smaller doses …
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 plight of large carnivores worldwide has come to a sorry pass. In India, a country having the largest remaining tiger population of the world, according to recent estimates, poaching poses the danger of decimating the population within five years. In North America, large carnivores generally survive in appreciable numbers …
Poaching of endangered animals has a lot in common with drug trafficking. It has added fillip to the international medicine trade based on animal parts -an organised crime stretching from North America to Asia. Policing the activity is difficult, although there have been seizures by IUCN/WWF supported TRAFFIC-international, and India's …
Glaucoma is an eye disease resulting in the loss of eyesight due to fluid accumulation inside the eyeball which in turn builds-up pressure over the optic nerve, eventually leading to blindness. A new drug developed by the US-based Pharmacia Upjohn Incorporated, latanoprost, is more effective than the standard drug for …
ORGAN transplant rejections could soon become a thing of the past. A new drug which can halve the rejection rate of transplanted organs and billed as 'the most exciting development in transplantation in the 'last decade', has been recently developed by the UK-b6sed Roche company. Though the drug, CellCept, could …
An antiviral drug, which was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating AIDS, has been found to have the potential to treat chronic hepatitis B infection too. Lamivudine, or 3TC, .the drug manufactured by the Glaxo Wellcome group under the brand name Epivir, is reported to …
MELATONIN gets secreted by the pineal gland, a pea-size structure at the centre of the brain. A potent hormone, melatonin is the natural nightcap. It sets the body's clock and helps it sleep. Most animals, including humans, produce a lot of melatonin early on in life but its level in …
A CHANGE of attitudes coupled with doses of a new drug, according to researchers, is all that is required to help nervous stroke victims keep disability at bay. Doctors need to radically change their attitude towards those who show symptoms of a stroke so that the new genetically engineered drug …
Hitahitam sukhant dukhmayustsya hitahitam Manum ch tachh yatroktmayurved sa uchhyate (Ayurveda is the knowledge that indicates the appropriate and inappropriate, happy or sorrowful conditions of living, what is auspicious or inauspicious for longevity, as well as the measure of life itself) - Charaka Samhita 1.41 AYURVEDA, literally, means 'the science …
The Central Council of Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS), Delhi, has developed several drugs from herbal extracts and found them effective in the treatment of many diseases. One of them is the Ayush-64, an ayurvedic anti-malarial drug, which was used by the government to control the malaria outbreak in …
Surgeons perpetually fear risking the life of the patient they keep under anaesthesia. Deciding on the exact dosages of the drugs required bothers many of them. The problem has been resolved by a team of scientists in the UK (New Scientist, Vol 148, No 2005). Researchers at the Royal Adelaide …
A PORTABLE infusion pump that allows patients to carry their 'drip' around, is certainly a boon for them. This electronic pump developed by the UK medical equipment company, Smith and Nephew Industry, will enable patients to undergo treatment in the comfort of their homes while they go about their normal …
THE battle against the dreaded AlDs disease may yet be won. The Food and Drug Administration in the us recently approved a new class of drugs which inhibits the ability of the HIV virus to cause the disease. Manufactured by Hoffman-La Roche Inc of Nutley in New Jersey, the drug …
THE French- controlled us drug company, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (RPR) has initiated a novel concept in selling its cancer drugs in the UK. Their sales representatives have an interesting message to convey: if the drug does not cure, payment need not be made. RPR is willing to bear the financial expenses …
RECENTLY, AIDS drug researchers found two reasons to celebrate. Firstly, a new anti-viral drug that could help solve the drug resistance problem posed by HIV was developed. And secondly, the efficacy of a drug that protects monkeys from infection from a related virus called SIV was confirmed (New Scientist, Vol …
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 …
