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 …
It is a story about underground water: when the nectar turns into poison. When a daily task of drinking water from the handpump becomes the source of crippling disease and death. This is not a "natural' disaster
Pollution US-based environmental pollution crusader Erin Brockovich and her partner Ed Masry are at it again. The target of their attention this time is three oil firms who, they accuse, are emitting cancer-causing poisons into the streets of Beverly Hills. Brockovich and Masry indicate they would soon take legal action …
Asbestos-related litigation in the us runs into billions of dollars today. So much so that the amount is estimated to exceed the combined cost of destruction caused by 9/11 and Hurricane Andrew. The trend has been accentuated by a spate of new lawsuits against relatively less risky industries that used …
the Union budget provides cancer-stick manufacturers and sellers huge reasons to feel puffed. The excise duty on nicotine (the narcotic used to spike tobacco with) has been reduced from 16 per cent to 8 per cent. An excise duty has been levied on chewing tobacco; since demand may now shift …
The incidence of cervical cancer is on the rise in India. It afflicts as many as 25 women per 0.1 million, making it the commonest cancer in the country. The disease, which affects the female genital tract, is both preventable and curable if detected early. But almost 70 per cent …
for the first time, cancer has been successfully treated by removing an organ from the body, giving it radiotherapy and then re-implanting it. The out-of-body operation allows doctors to administer high doses of radiation to widespread tumours without affecting other organs. Doctors in Italy recently announced that they have used …
here, children are resigned to walking with a limp. And women, weighed down by sheer pain, have stopped looking skywards. In fact, age and sex appear to be no bar as infirmity pervades the entire area. Welcome to the Kachnarwa panchayat in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh, where disability has …
On November 19, the Allahabad High Court (HC) ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to file an affidavit within three weeks indicating steps taken to prevent, treat and control fluorosis in Chopan block of Sonbhadra district. It also demanded details of the measures taken to rehabilitate the affected villagers. The court …
Up to four per cent of breast cancers in the developed world can be attributed to alcohol, according to a new analysis by Oxford-based research organisation Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. The analysis was based on data from 53 previous studies, during which 58,515 with breast cancer …
a study conducted on a very large-scale once again proves that pesticide exposure at home increases the risk of leukaemia during childhood. This was the finding of a study conducted by researchers from us-based University of California, California department of health services and Stanford University School of Medicine, usa. During …
• It is now evident that health risks related to consumption are on the rise. Some suffer from plenty, others from scarcity. • Among the 170 million underweight children in poor countries, over 3 million will die this year • Among the 300 million clinically obese people, half a million …
It is well established that exposure to dioxins can lead to reproductive problems and cancer. Now, a recent analysis has found a correlation between the harmful chemical and diabetes. Researchers from Ontario-based University of Guelph have analysed a variety of epidemiological studies and found that high levels of dioxins can …
this year, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm that decides the winners of Nobel prize, showed an admirable grasp of reality. The Nobel prize for physiology or medicine went to Sydney Brenner from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, John Sulston from the Sanger Centre at Cambridge University and …
one would think that if lethal effects of a drug were proven, the pharmaceutical world would give it a quiet burial. Surprisingly, this does not hold true for thalidomide
an ayurvedic detoxification procedure can reduce the body's pesticide and toxin levels by as much as 58 per cent, shows a study conducted by researchers from the Maharishi University of Management, usa. High levels of toxins can disrupt hormones and lead to cancer. During their study, the researchers tested and …
An Israeli research chemist, who is suffering from cancer, has alleged that his disease was triggered by unsafe conditions at a chemical warfare laboratory where he worked as a young soldier. Avi, a doctor of chemistry, now wants the army to pay him compensation. During the 1980s, Avi undertook three …
Farmers in Raipur division, Dehradun, have been reaping unprecedented profits from their rocky, infertile lands. But it took Vaidya Balendu Prakash, eminent ayurvedic physician and director of the Vaidya Chandra Prakash Cancer Research Foundation, quite a bit of convincing before they agreed to cultivate medicinal plants in place of their …
