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 …
Two hundred thousand traditional medicine practitioners of South Africa will be officially recognised as health-care professionals. So says a new legislation passed on September 9. According to health minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, the Traditional Health Practitioners Bill received near unanimous backing in the South African parliament. Under the new law, a …
In 1967-68, I was a proud 19-year old soldier with the American army's infantry division (1st/4th cavalry) fighting the Vietnamese. About 25 years later, I suffered severe back pains. I suspected lung cancer and got a full physical examination done. Sure as hell, the cancer was there
a new study is yet another proof of the fact that an environmental apocalypse can have wide-ranging impacts. Researchers studying the population living near central Asia's shrinking Aral Sea have found that the residents exhibit a high level of dna damage, which is linked with the region's alarmingly cancer rates. …
Twisha Lahiri works at the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata. For some years now, she has been busy measuring the impact of air pollution on people in Kolkata and Delhi. Her results should worry us: 56 per cent of people in Kolkata and 46 per cent in Delhi she …
river water contaminated by heavy metals is the main reason why gall bladder cancer is widespread in the alluvial plains of Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar. These are the findings of a study conducted by researchers from the Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Water of the Ganga …
The steep rise in incidences of a cancer type in developed countries is due to the increase in the consumption of soft drinks. For instance, the volume of soft drinks consumed in the US increased five-fold in the last 50 years. So did cancer rates
People in the us, especially children, women and Mexican Americans, carry dangerously high levels of pesticides in their bodies, according to a recent study. Many of these toxic chemicals have serious health effects: cancers, infertility and birth defects. The study also zeroes in on companies responsible for the population's high …
A recent study links exposure to lawn pesticides with bladder cancer in Scottish terriers. Researchers from US-based Purdue University surveyed 83 dogs suffering from the cancer. "As pets tend to spend a fair amount of time in lawns treated with herbicides and insecticides, we checked whether the chemicals were having …
scientists have finally established how a cell molecule combats unhealthy functioning of the human body with the help of the gene silencing process. During the process, functioning of genes in specific cells can be suppressed with the help of ribonucleic acid (rna)
the us Environmental Protection Agency (epa) vastly underestimates the cancer risk from exposure to volatile organic compounds (vocs), which are used for manufacturing many household and industrial products. Researchers from the us-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that residents of Baltimore face three-fold greater cancer risk than …
The WHO estimates that between 100 and 150 million people around the globe have asthma and the figure is increasing. Over 180,000 people die worldwide each year due to asthma. India has an estimated 15-20 million asthmatics. Belgium's UCB Institute of Allergy estimates that asthma has doubled in Western Europe …
x-rays, the largest human-made source of radiation exposure for the general population, are adding in hundreds of more cancer cases every year across the world, indicates a study published in The Lancet (Vol 363, No 9406, January 31, 2004). In the uk
a recent study proffers yet another rationale for not consuming chicken. As per its findings, the foodstuff is not only laced with antibiotics, but is also full of carcinogenic arsenic. The arsenic contamination is higher than what was previously estimated
cancer drug letrozole is at the centre of a controversy over its being promoted as a fertility enhancer. The Union government has issued notices in this regard to Mumbai-based Sun Pharmaceuticals and Uttar Pradesh-based Dabur India Limited. While the latter has removed Foliripe
October 21, 2003. High-level corporate lawyers from ChevronTexaco sit in the same packed muggy courtroom as bare-breasted Amazonian men and women at the start of what the media calls "The Trial of the Century.' In the ramshackle Amazonian town of Lago Agrio, the oil Titan stands accused of severely contaminating …
for the first time in the world, a gene therapy for cancer has been given the go-ahead for commercialisation. The development could usher in a new era to treat the fatal disease. China's State Food and Drug Administration has approved the therapy after it achieved promising results during a clinical …
It is well established that exposure to pesticides can result in cancer, liver damage and nervous disorders. Now, researchers have zeroed down on another harmful effect of the toxic chemicals. Scientists from the us-based Emory University School of Medicine have found that several commonly used pesticides are toxic to the …
militancy-ridden Kashmir has another problem on its hands: over the past decade the state has witnessed a sharp rise in the incidence of cancer. Experts attribute the trend to changed lifestyles, urbanisation and lack of awareness among the people. Coincidentally, the disease has manifested itself more extensively in the valley …
