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 British tobacco industry recently got a big boost when the largest legal action against it collapsed, drastically reducing Britain's chances of mounting a successful anti-tobacco litigation like its transatlantic neighbour, the us . The case collapsed on February 27, when 46 of a group of 53 lung cancer victims …
T he collapse of a landmark anti-tobacco case in the uk has severely hit prospects of a us -style litigation against tobacco companies. While this had been successful in the us , where states had sued tobacco companies to recover the costs for treating smoking-related illnesses, the withdrawal of their …
the municipal government of Saitama, Japan, has asked an association of waste facilities to temporarily shut down incinerators after residents called for a boycott of vegetables, which were reportedly contaminated with dioxin. Officials said they will ask more than 100 industrial waste facilities in Saitama to cease operations until March …
what can dock the space shuttle and spot a brain tumour? Not a medically-qualified astronaut but a neural networking computer algorithm designed by engineers at the us National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( nasa ). The system has become so adept at analysing the large amount of data needed to …
Wildlife in the Sariska Tiger Reserve is facing serious health problems. In the past two years, about a dozen tigers and leopards, which were killed in road accidents or found dead, were found to be suffering from tuberculosis (tb) or liver infection. "It is an established fact that tigers and …
A recent decision by the Himachal Pradesh government may not be good news to the endangered Himalayan yew (Taxus baccata). The government has allowed collection and export of yew, which is in great demand in the pharmaceutical industry for manufacturing drugs to treat cancer. In 1995, the government had announced …
THE Japanese government is considering revising its guidelines on gene therapy. Current rules, introduced in 1994, allow only researchers to use gene therapy in the treatment of serious life threatening diseases such as cancer and AIDS. The move follows an application by researchers to Osaka University's ethics committee for permission …
THE UK government will launch an investigation into claims that a rare form of cancer is killing servicepersons who witnessed the Britain's nuclear weapons tests in Australia during the 1950s. UK's ministry of defence agreed to investigate the claims after, media reports in late 1998 suggested the number of test …
Cell Pathways Inc, a tiny US company based in Pennsylvania, recently claimed that it is conducting human trials of a novel drug that can prevent and treat cancer by forcing tumour cells to commit suicide. The company also said that it will soon receive European and US patents for its …
women across the world have been greatly concerned by breast cancer and of late, scientists and researchers have devoted their efforts to find a treatment that prevents the disease. Recently, tamoxifen grabbed headlines as researchers announced that the drug could effectively prevent breast cancer in women who are most likely …
MOTORISED boats are polluting lakes and reservoirs in California, USA, with a cancer causing additive, according to the scientists. The findings coincide with an announcement that the US government is setting up an expert panel to investigate the findings. Researchers at the University of California have just completed the first …
CALCIUM is one of the most important nutrients in our body. There is hardly any organ which is not influenced by it. Calcium has always been considered vital for the formation and maintenance of strong bones and teeth. Now, studies in the US suggest that calcium can play an important …
US regulators have approved thalidomlde, the drug which was banned for causing birth defects. The drug will be tested for cancer treatment. Celgenc, a New Jersey-based company, has been permitted to test Thslomid, the company's version of thabdomide, against multiple myeloma, the most common form of bone marrow cancer. The …
Environment is degrading rapidly in the third world. Air pollution from industrial activity, vehicular emissions and burning of fossil fuels claims more than 2.7 million lives every year, as it results in respiratory diseases and cancer. According to the Human Development Report, 1998, more than 90 per cent of these …
Female flight attendants run a higher risk of getting breast cancer. This could be due to the effects of jet lag on melanin, a hormone, the level of which is up to 10 times higher levels in the blood at night than during the day. Crossing time zones repeatedly may …
A RADICAL form of "face off surgery, being used at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong, aims to rid patients of recurring nasopharyngeal cancer, a deadly cancerous tumour which forms in the centre of the head behind the nose and found mostly in southern China. To cut out the tumour, …
TWO Fox TV reporters in Tampa, Florida, have reported that Monsanto's gene-tically engineered milk hormone, rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hor-mone), may promote cancer in humans. The milk is sold to dairy farmers, who inject it into their cows every two weeks to increase milk production. Monsanto and other organisations have …
HOW do you kill cancer? It is a question that researchers the world over have been trying to answer. They have tried everything: conventional chemotherapy to blocking blood flow to cancerous tissues. Nothing, however, deterred the dreaded disease. So the research teams went back to their laboratories and tried again, …
THE Union ministry of health and family welfare (MHFW) has finally acknowledged the utility of Ayurvedic metal-based formulations or rasa shastra in the treatment of a type of cancer, namely acute promyelocytic leukaemia (AML-3). The formulations have been developed by the Dehradun-based Vaidya Chandra Prakash Cancer Research Foundation. For Vaidya …
