Cholesterol test to help predict risk to heart
A test due to be launched in North Carolina next month will allow doctors to predict exactly which patients with higher than normal cholesterol levels are at risk of heart disease and who will benefit from cholesterol-lowering drugs. A technique known as proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, developed by …
Ministry sounds States, NGOs on blood policy
The Union Health Ministry has sought the views of State Governments and non-Government Organisations (NGOs) on the draft national blood policy that it has formulated. The policy aims to tone-up the blood transfusion services and ensure the availability of safe and adequate blood and allied products, besides addressing several issues.
Shock wave therapy for rheumatism
British doctors are preparing to conduct the first full-scale clinical trial of a "shock wave" treatment for rheumatism. The treatment has so far been used on chronic calcific tendinitis of the shoulder, in which calcium forms around the joint and tendons and causes great pain. Other joints are susceptible, including …
Health database now in the 'cards'
As Washington bureaucrats struggle to protect the privacy of medical records, some doctors are already using cutting-edge technology to snatch the information they need . Some grab files from another hospital on a secured Internet. Others plug a patient's 'smart card' into a computer to read the most recent records, …
First epidemic forecast centre to be set up soon
The first epidemic forecast centre of India will be set up in Ahmedabad shortly, state health minister Ashok Bhatt announced here. The Centre will be set up at a cost of Rs 12 corre and is likely to be inaugurated on Gandhi Jayanti day on October 2.
Innovative treatment to tackle brain haemorrhage
One of the main reasons for brain haemorrhage is aneurysm or a blister in the brain, which goes largely undetected and if detected is seen as incurable. The only way of removing it was surgery where the survival rate was negligible. But now a treatment has finally been devised which …
Religion saves lives and soul, says research
Church attendance, prayer, and Bible reading may save lives as well souls, a new medical study asserts. Religiously active elderly people have lower blood pressure than their less religiously active peers, the study found. This reduces their chances of suffering heart attacks or strokes.
Hospital junkyard
India has become a dumping ground for low-tech medical devices from the US. And even some third world countries, which have no manufacturing facility, are unloading repacked substandard items .
New treatment for neuralgia
Jaipur based skin specialists claim to have developed a new method for treating a painful viral disease affecting nerves. Post-therapeutic neuralgia is caused by the reactivation of a dormant virus, Varicella zoster, in the body due to waning of immunity.
Chemical treatment to fight deafness
The world is awash with noise, an endless banging, ringing, thumnping and clanging that not only annoys but also steals. The deafening din slowly takes away the hearing of many and, in cases of enormous assault, can result in deafness within days. Military researchers say they have developed a technique …
Viagra may hit health service potency
That the drug Viagra has the capacity to add life to flagging sex lives in not in doubt. Less clear is whether the pill and other lifestyle drugs that are bound to follow it - could have a rather less stimulating effect on Britain's National Health Service. The concern encapsulated …
1,991 people afflicted by dropsy so far
As many as 34 persons were admitted in the various hospitals of the Capital, for treatment of dropsy, while 50 were admitted yesterday, and 42 discharged, taking the total to 1,991 ever since the affliction broke out in August.
Contaminated water, dead livestock raise health risks
Outbreaks of water borne diseases are feared to grip flood stricken areas in South Korea due to a dearth of clean drinking water and delayed disposal of garbage and dead livestock, health officials warned. To prevent outbreaks of epidemics, the Ministry of Health and Welfare dispatched 18 ministry officials to …
Dumps may harm unborn babies
Babies born to mothers who live near hazardous waste landfill sites have a higher risk of serious birth defects, according to a European study. Women who live within three kilometres of a hazardous landfill site are more likely to have babies with nervous-system problems, holes in the heart and malformations …
Major project soon to save biodiversity
The Ministry of Environment and Forests will soon launch an ambitious taxonomical research project as an effort to preserve various lower life forms and help sustain the biological diversity of the country. This was announced here (Dehradun) at the inauguration of the four-day national seminar on wildlife conservation, research and …
Dr Reddy's licenses insulin sensitiser to Novo Nordisk
Dr Reddy's Research Foundation (DRF), part of the Dr. Reddy's group, has licensed another new chemical entity (NCE) developed by it to the Denmark-based Novo Nordisk, the world leader in insulin and diabetes care, for clinical development.
Going, going..gone?
It may soon be possible to eliminate syphilis in America. But to do it successfully will require a new approach to public health : a report.
Aid for health care services
Thanks to a grant from Japan under a scheme, called "Grant Assistance for Grassroots projects", St. Stephen's Hospital here will be able deliver health care services for women and children in the slums of Old Delhi.
MCD starts nail clipping service
"If you don't clip your nails, we will". The municipal Corporation, in an attempt to educate people on personal hygiene, has hired local barbers to go about trimming the fingernails of slum residents and hospital patients. The service is free of charge and a person, if so willing, can get …
