Traditional medicine & modern saviours
An international conference on medicinal plants is to be held from February 16-19 . The initiative for hosting this conference has been taken by Four Bangalore-based organisations-the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) , the Centre for Ecological Science, Indian Institute of Science and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre …
Role of sanitation in Viral Hepatitis control stressed
The role of environmental sanitation in curbing the incidence of Enteric Viral Hepatitis and other water borne epidemics came into sharp focus at a continuing medical education (CME) programme, organised at Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital and the University for Medical Sciences in New Delhi over the the weekend.
Abortions in India -Taking a heavy toll
According to a recent report published by an indepedent London-based health organisation, abortion among adolescents is on the rise in India, killing many young mothers and causing lifelong health problems.
- Eat banana, beet stem to avoid kidney stones
Scientists of the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre and KEM Hospital here have successfully demonstrated the method to deplete stone forming substances from various dietary material using enzyme oxalate oxidase from banana and beet stem.
Human guinea pigs for AIDS vaccine
Human guinea pigs set to test a live AIDS vaccine will be given free lifetime care if they contact the killer disease, press reports said on Saturday, quoting a physicians group in Chicago.
Norms soon for ayurvedic drug manufacturers
Ayurvedic durg manufacturers in the country will have to conform to certain specific guidelines in manufacturing proctices soon. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has had consultations with ayurvedic durg manufacturers associations and experts in the field on what should be the minimum stipulations that the manufacturers would …
NBA calls off agitation
The Narmada Bachao Andolan activists have called off their 20-day old agitation at the Rs 500 crore Maheshwar hydel project site in Khargaon district. According to NBA spokesman, the activists have also called off their indefinite fast launched since January 26 after the deputy chief minister Subhash Yadav agreed to …
Tobacco industry does about-face, and some see a ploy
Four years after tobacco company officials denied before a congressional committee in US that cigarettes were addictive, a new crop of executives has appeared before the same panel as supplicants, pledging to release secret company documents, combat teenage smoking and acknowledge tobacco risks in an effort to gain protection from …
Her hair loss leads researcher to baldness gene
A computer search of the medical literature on baldness by Dr Angela Christiano's led her to the Pakistani researchers, who had discovered people in a remote village with a rare, inherited disorder that left them without a strand of hair anywhere on their heads or bodies. The result, published in …
108 in Hong Kong mad cow alert
At least 108 patients have been injected with a medical reagent possibly contaminated by the protein which causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)- the human form of mad cow disease. The reagent a radioactive substance used to identify heart and lung ailments, was made in Britain and imported into Hong Kong illegally.
Chicken sales restart as scare ruled over
Hong Kong officials say the bird flu crisis in the SAR is over. Fresh chicken will be back on Hong Kong people's dinner tables on February 7, but consumers have been warned they must change their tastes when a safer central slaughterhouse system opens.
New guidelines to exchange of biomedical materials
To facilitate collaborative research in biomedical science which entails exchange of biological materials between laboratories, the expert committee constituted by the Indian Council of Medical Sciences (ICMR), New Delhi, has drafted expanded guidelines. Chairman of the expert committee and scientists emeritus at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi Ranjit …
Shantha, Biological E to vend hepatitis B vaccine
Shantha Biotechnics Ltd. and Biological E Ltd., Hyderabad entered into a strategic alliance that will make Shanvac-B, the country's first genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, available throughout the country.
Cadila to launch leprosy vaccine by June
The world's first immuno-therapeutic leprosy vaccine Leprovac would be launched commercially by Cadila Pharmaceuticals by June. The company received approval on January 16 from the Drugs Controller of India to manufacture trial batches of the vaccine developed by Dr. Pran Talwar's group at the National Institute of Immunology in New …
National anti-leprosy campaign delayed
A nation wide programme aimed at facilitating the elimination of leprosy has got derailed thanks to the election campaign. The programme, which envisaged bringing out the large number of leprosy cases that still remain hidden because of various factors, particularly the social stigma attached to the disease, was to have …
Gene causing rare form of hair loss found
Scientists have discovered a gene that causes a rare and extreme form of hair loss, a finding they say could one day point to better remedies for common hereditary baldness.
New surgery tried out for heart disease
The Manipal Health Foundation has successfully tried out an advanced technique for treating terminal heart disease on a patient in the Bangalore. The technique aorto coronary caval shunt has become a solution for inoperable terminal heart disease with multiple arterial blockages.
California smoking ban
as the clock struck midnight on December 31, smokers in Californian bars were denied the pleasure of a New Year's Eve smoke as the anti-smoking laws were enforced in all 35, 596 bars currently operating in the state. Beginning January 1, all smokers will have to stub out their cigarettes …
