Coffee-based AIDS drugs
The next generation of anti-AIDS drugs could be based on a chemical extracted from green coffee beans, US researchers claim. Edward Robinson and colleagues from the University of California made extracts from over 60 plants routinely used by medicine men of the Kallawaya people in Bolivia. They discovered that one …
Growth hormone abuse
Patients deficient in human growth hormone (HGH) are not receiving essential supplements of the drug. Instead supplies are being used by athletes, dieters and anti-aging clinics, say US doctors. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), which has just drawn up the first guidelines for HGH use by adults, says …
Leeches could treat arthritis
Leeches could hold the key to a new treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. New Zealand scientists claim to have discovered a chemical in a European species of leech which can slow the growth of cells in joints ravaged by the disease. The European leech has long been valued for its medical …
Prestigious journal attacks alternative medicine
One of the world's leading medical journals is calling for herbal remedies and other alternative treatments to stop being given a 'free ride'. Such treatments are unproven, unregulated, occasionally dangerous and should be subjected to the same rigorous standards as conventional treatments, says the influential New England Journal of Medicine. …
Dropsy scare in Canada
The dropsy scare in India seems to have spread to fareway Canada with the country's health department warning consumers not to use mustard oil which may be contaminated. Though there are no reports of illness from consumption of contaminated mustard oil in this country, reports of dropsy deaths from India …
NGOs to take up water distribution in Rajasthan
In its first step towards privatisation of water distribution for irrigation, the Rajasthan government has decide to allow non-govenmental organisations to distribute irrigation water. The scheme has already been tried at micro level at some places where villagers' associations were given the opportunities of water distribution in their areas.
A surprise in slow motion
Tai chi, a slow motion martial art improves ciculation, aid flexibility and helps the nervous system. It harmonizes the body and mind and fosters an inner quiet that leads to improved self awareness and a more peaceful attitude. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore report that tests show tai …
Formula alert
Bottle-feeding can lead to dim children. This warning comes from Scotland, where Dr. Peter Willats of Dundee University says that most infant formulas lack a class of ingredients known as long chain polyunstratured fatty acids. These elements, which are found in breast milk, as well as in cod liver oil, …
Rodent ghosts return to plague flood-hit Surat
History repeats itself every four years so it is said. The same city of Surat, the same river, the same water and the same dam of Ukai. But for the change in the officials who man the city and the district and the turnaround in the city by former municipal …
20m likely to be attacked by water-borne diseases
At least 20 million people are feared to be attacked by diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases after the recession of flood waters in the badly affected areas of Bangladesh, a primary estimate of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
Faster and cheaper aren't always better, U.S. space agency finds
One success and one failure : In pursuit of its new "faster, better, cheaper" philosophy, NASA sent its Pathfinder mission to Mars, which was a stunning success in July 1997. But its Lewis satellite, fell out of orbit and burned up in the atmosphere after being sent into space a …
Project to study cervical cancer
Dr. B. Nagrajan, Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai, has been awarded a grant of about Rs. 68 lakhs from the Indo French Centre for advanced research on cancer in collaboration with Dr. E. Tartour, Curie Institute, Paris.
WHO claims victory in Asian fight vs polio
The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday it may declare Western Pacific countries finally free of polio. The 27 countries in the region had not recorded any case of polio this year, paving the way for its formal certification by 2000 as having eradicated the disease, WHO said in an …
Seawater clue to flesh-eating disease
Doctors have revealed a rising incidence of a flesh-eating disease which can kill up to half its victims. Young, healthy people with no external wounds have been found to be at risk from the bacteria, previously thought to attack elderly people, already weakened from other conditions, through an open cut. …
Hearing aid promises good vibrations
A hearing implant that relies on magnetic rather than acoustic vibrations promises to overcome many of the problems with traditional hearing aids. Researchers at the University of Virginia are developing a device that uses an electromagnet to stimulate the inner ear. It leaves the middle ear system intact, allwing the …
US cancer research helps lift Powderject
Research into a potential cancer vaccine has given encouraging initial results, Powderject Pharmaceuticals said. Its scientific collaborators at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the US showed that vaccination with a "differentiation antigen", using Powderject's technology, "may boost the immune system so that it can recognise and destroy cancerous cells …
Goa not to allow Mahadayi diversion
Goa Chief Minister Wilfred De Souza said his govenment would not allow any diversion of water from the Mahadayi river by the Karnataka government into the Malaprabha basin for its proposed hydel power project as such a move would dry up the Zurai and Mandovi river basins in Goa resulting …
Conspiracy behind mustard oil adulteration
The chairman of national expert group on agriculture marketing suspected a well planned conspiracy in the recent incidence of mustard oil adulteration with argemone seeds.
Govt will charge for blood
The government will now charge a processing fee for blood. A unit of blood will cost Rs 250 at a government or voluntary blood bank. Private hospitals will be allowed to charge a maximum of Rs 500 per unit. However, the government has made a provision that patients of thalassemia …
