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 …
researchers have found a gene that may help combat cancer and degenerative diseases linked to ageing. The gene has been cloned by two teams of researchers separately - one led by Thomas Cech, a biochemist at the University of Colorado and the other by Robert Weinberg, a biochemist at the …
a settlement in Florida has pressed panic buttons for the tobacco industry worldover. Setting a precedent, the government of Florida signed a us $11.3 billion settlement with us cigarette manufacturers to recover costs of medical treatment for curing ailments caused due to smoking. The cigarette companies, apart from promising to …
Women suffering from severe morning sickness (nausea) may run an increased risk of breast cancer. A study conducted by Leslie Bernstein and her colleagues at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, USA, seems to support this theory. The researchers studied the medical records of nearly 450 women who …
We take life for granted because that is all we see around us, till death steps in to remind us how easy it is to take life away. The tobacco industry is not dying, but those who smoke are. Slowly but surely they are killing themselves to fill the coffers …
doctors often warn women who have breast cancer not to get pregnant. Since estrogen is believed to stimulate tumor growth, nine months of elevated levels of the hormone seem just too big a risk. But a study conducted by scientists in Copenhagen suggests that the risk may be worth taking. …
Consumption of green tea may help prevent cancer, suggest epidemiological studies conducted by researchers at the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA. Green tea contains chemicals called cathechins, including epigallo-cathechin-3 gallate (EGCG). EGCG inhibits urokinase (uPA), an enzyme which promotes cancerous growth. Researchers say that cancers need enzymes like uPA to …
according to a study printed in the British medical journal, The Lancet, industrialisation has brought a host of diseases, from cancer and brain tumours to depression. It says that development also increases people's susceptibility to respiratory diseases and allergies. British and Ethiopian doctors sent questionnaires to some 10,000 households in …
Mother's milk contains carcinogenic toxins. But health authorities still advocate breast feeding as the benefits far outweigh the risks. According to a report of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food and Consumer Products and the Environment, UK, British infants are consuming large quantities of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and …
exposure to nuclear tests conducted in the early '90s at the Nevada test site near Las Vegas may have caused 10,000 to 75,000 thyroid cancers among Americans, 70 per cent of which have not yet been detected, states a recently released report of the usa -based National Cancer Institute. "There …
betel chewing is a national pastime in Taiwan. But now Taiwanese officials have decided to destroy the plantations that are growing on government-protected land, shut down the roadside stalls and impose a sin tax on betel nut vendors. While the official campaign against the betel nut chewing may be something …
Mice could be used to make a range of human proteins that are useful in fighting cancer and auto-immune diseases and infections (caused by the body's abnormal reaction to some of its own tissues leading to production of antibodies against them). Geneticists at the Kirin Brewery Technology Laboratory, Yokohama, have …
THE latest source that promises new hope for cancer patients is an African tree. A drug derived from the bark of the African bush willow has been found to hamper blood supply to cancer cells. Tests have shown that it can kill up to 95 per cent of solid turnour …
The new regulations proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act have kicked up a storm. Although few of its earlier targets have been achieved, the agency has 1@roposed even more difficult regulations. EPA itself predicts that the cost of new regulations will fhr exceed …
The first lawsuit seeking damages for injury suffered through passive smoking in flight cabins began recently in Florida, USA. The case was filed by Norma Broin, a former airline stewardess, who is suffering from lung cancer. A non-smoker herself, she has blamed her illness on her exposure to secondhand smoke …
FOR those women who are still not convinced of the usefulness of physical activity, here is another reason to put on the track suit. A recently published report of a study conducted on more than 25r,000 women in Norway suggests that, compared to sedentary women, those who exercised regularly had …
Women who gave birth to twins may be protected against breast cancer, says a study from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London. This population-based study reports that their risk was reduced by almost a third as compared with mothers who had only one baby. Data was taken by examining 47,000 …
FOR the first time sharks may have to play the role of lifeguards for humans. An extract from shark tissues will be tested on cancer patients later this year. The extract, called squalamine, could help in cutting the blood supply of the tumours. The extract was discovered in the stomach …
mammography, a low energy x-ray suitable for soft tissues is considered by oncologists as the best method available for early detection of breast cancers. But a lot of conflicting reports are appearing about the use of this diagnostic test. Two diametrically opposite views have been taken by the major agencies …
for the people of Karain, a small village in central Anatolia, Turkey, cancer is a way of life. Over the last several decades, cancer has led to the death of over half of its population. There are several explanations for the high rate of cancer cases. Many local homes are …
