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 …
A World Health Organisation research centre which has reviewed hundreds of studies on the health effects of mobile phone use has decided to classify the radio frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones as “possibly carcinogenic”. This classification says more about the quality of the evidence available from studies, rather …
The final hearings have started at the Supreme Court regarding Swiss drug-major Novartis' blood cancer drug Glivec. The landmark case will have ramifications on the implementation of the amended Indian Patents Acts, including aspects of interpreting and assessing the efficacy of a medicine seeking a product patent. Novartis had filed …
Samples of rice grown in a town near Tokyo showed no radioactive materials when tested, officials said on Wednesday, a relief for farmers preparing to ship Japan's traditional food staple. Concerns over food safety have grown after radiation from the smashed Fukushima Daiichi power plant has leaked across northern and …
The taller a woman is, the greater her risk for cancer, a large study has found. Researchers at the University of Oxford in England analyzed data on more than 1.2 million British women followed for an average of 9.4 years. There were more than 97,000 cases of cancer among them. …
Actor Vikram hopes tagline “B Podu” catches on This is one campaign that intends to go viral, especially among schoolchildren and college-going youth. “Liver 4 Life”, an initiative launched by MIOT Hospitals, aims to raise public understanding about the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and promote vaccination against infection by organising …
Around one third of the global population, or 2 billion people, have been infected with one of the viruses that causes the liver disease hepatitis, which kills about a million victims annually, the World Health Organisation said. And although most of those carrying hepatitis do not know they have it, …
Children and adolescents who use mobile phones are at no bigger risk of developing brain cancer than those who do not use them, according to a study of patients aged 7 to 19. The research, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on July 27 and partially funded …
Exposure to erionite, an asbestos-like mineral, causes unprecedented rates of malignant mesothelioma (MM) mortality in some Turkish villages. Erionite deposits are present in at least 12 US states. We investigated whether increased urban development has led to erionite exposure in the United States and after preliminary exploration, focused our studies …
THAT day when Darla Dhanalakshmi suffered severe joint pain and numbness in the limbs she knew something was seriously wrong. She had been suffering from the pain since January after she visited a clinic on the outskirts of Hyderabad. There she was asked to pop an unknown pill. The pain …
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is approaching completion of an ambitious study that concludes that a meltdown at a typical American reactor would lead to far fewer deaths than previously assumed. The conclusion, to be published in April after six years of work, is based largely on a radical revision of …
In a closely watched case, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday that genes can be patented, overturning a lower court decision that had shocked the biotechnology industry. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which specializes in patent cases, said that Myriad Genetics was entitled to patents on …
Around one crore people have been suffering from Hepatitis B and C virus in the country, experts said at a seminar yesterday. On the occasion of the World Hepatitis Day different organisations arranged programmes to make people aware of Hepatitis B and C virus, the leading cause of liver cirrhosis …
Tobacco use is rising in Pakistan, with about 30.7 per cent of men estimated to be smokers, while 100,000 people die from tobacco-related causes annually, said doctors at a press conference on Thursday. According to them, smoking has been forbidden in various schools of thoughts in Islam across the world. …
Likewise other countries in world, the 64th "World Hepatitis Day" is being observed on Thursday, July 28, in Pakistan. One in every 12 people worldwide is now grappling with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C, and it is now more widespread than even HIV or cancer. Non-availability of proper facilities …
People living in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida are most at risk in the United States from toxic emissions spewing from coal and oil-fired power plants, two leading American environmental groups said in a report on Wednesday. Electricity generation and chemical processing were the top culprits for dangerous emissions, which can …
A federal advisory committee voted 9 to 6 on Tuesday that a first-of-its-kind diabetes drug should not be approved for use because of safety concerns, including a possible increased risk of breast and bladder cancers. The advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration said that while the drug, dapagliflozin, …
Health Minister of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena will launch a programme named '4 by 4 by 4' to deal with four main diseases, four risk factors and four commitments today at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The programme organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Health …
On Tuesday, a committee that advises the Food and Drug Administration is to consider whether the first of those drugs can overcome safety concerns and reach the market. The outcome of the F.D.A. review is far from certain. The drug, dapagliflozin, might raise the risk of breast and bladder cancer, …
IT IS standard practice in most Indian hospitals to recommend a physical regime consisting of yoga and gentle exercises to patients undergoing cancer treatment. There has been an understanding that yoga improves physical function and emotional wellbeing as chemotherapy—the commonly used treatment for cancer—causes fatigue and weakens the immune system. …
