PM urged to form food safety council
Taking a serious cognizance of the steady rise in dropsy deaths resulting from intake of contaminated mustard oil, the Delhi Government has requested the Prime Minister to set up a National Food Safety Council.
Unraveling the mysteries of meiosis
Egg and sperm cells form through meiosis, a delicate process in which mistakes can later cause birth defects. Stanford researchers have now found that a key event in meiosis-a genetic shuffling called recombination-is started by the same protein in two very different organisms, yeast and worms. Given the evolutionary distance …
Method allows monitoring of single cells
In a development that is good news to allergy sufferers, a research team from Hiroshima University said it has designed a new way to monitor and measure the release of specific molecules from single cells. The same technique can be used to measure the release of insulin from single cells, …
Roche wins EU approval for weight-loss drug
Roche, the Swiss pharmaceuticals company, has won European Union approval to sell Xenical, the first of a new type of weight loss drugs. The clearance could help it restore its reputation after recent setbacks.
Going out on a limb
Pioneering surgeons used to wait until the operation before claiming their 15 minutes of fame. Not anymore. In Louisville, US, last week a team of doctors announced their intention to perform "the world's first successful hand transplant"-using a limb from a fresh cadaver-before lifting a scalpel or even picking a …
One more reason to fight the fat
New evidence strongly suggests that it is time to add triglycerides to cholesterol and homocysteine as substances in the blood that influence your chances of developing heart disease. Triglycerides are basic particles of fat carried through the bloodstream by various molecules. They are derived from fats eaten in food or …
Nancy Reagan may participate in conference on Alzheimer's disease in September
Sponsored by the Wrold Health organisation, World Federation of Neurologists, World Psychiatric Association and International Psychogeriatric Association, the 14th International conference on Alzheimer's disease ("Dementia, the Global Challenge") will be held from September 24 to 27 for the first time in India, at Cochin.
Asthmatics taking risks, warn experts
Hundreds of Australians are dying unnecessarily each year because they are not taking their asthma medication as directed, respiratory specialists have warned. A report released yesterday by the National Asthma Campaign said half of the country's asthmatics were not taking their medicine as directed. And one in four asthmatics took …
Food tagging faces review
The health ministry in Japan will review its food tagging system in an attempt to ease fears about allergic reactions and genetically manipulated produce, ministry sources said today. The ministry-appointed Food Sanitation Investigation Council, at a general assembly Tuesday, will establish a committee of experts to discuss the issue, the …
Female infanticide alarming in Dharmapuri
On an average 105 female infants were killed every month in Dharmapuri district throughout 1997. This was desptie the tall claims of successive state governments and the many schemes launched to protect girl child. The alarming data of 1260 deaths in that year was furnished to the chairperson of the …
First-of-its kind surgery
A woman, who did not have most of her reproductive organs since birth, has delivered a baby boy after a rare surgical intervention, the first of its kind in India, by a gynocologist in Calcutta.The baby was born on Friday after a series of sic operations by Dr B.N. Chakraborty …
High-heeled shoes could cause aches and arthritis
High-heeled footwear may be considered trendy, but it could also mean asking for joint problems. A large number of women wearing high-heeled shoes are at an increasing risk of developing arthritis in their knees, warn recent studies.
State rejects Karnataka proposal on Krishna waters
Major irrigation minister Tummala Nageswara Rao on Wednesday rejected the proposal made by his Karnataka counterpart Nage Gowda that an authority be constituted for Krishan waters, on the lines of the one for Cauvery waters, which could help resolve the dispute between the two states over the raising of the …
Tokyo team creates miniliver in mouse
A team from Tokyo University of Technology's Faculty of Bioscience and Biotechnology reports the successful culturing of liver cells into a mass that functions like a second liver inside a mouse. The result brings the medical world a step closer to the advent of artificially grown liver tissue, that, though …
Italian 'cancer cure' leaves bitter taste
Claiming to have discovered a miraculous treatment for cancer, Dr. Luigi Di Bella, an 85 year old physiologist in Modena, has for the last year held center stage in Italy, fighting and almost winning-an astonishing battle for legitimacy. Hailed by some as a savior, derided by others as a dangerous …
Does she have a choice of life and sex?
One woman dies in the world every minute during pregnancy or at the time of delivery. About 30 million children born every year are "unwanted." Forty five million are killed in the womb because they are girls or their parents did not use any contraceptive. For all the strides made …
430,000 lepers cured in China
Out of the 472,000 lepers diagnosed in China from 1949 to 1997, 430,000 have been cured and there were only about 6,000 lepers in the country by the end of 1997, according to one expert. Chen Xiangsheng, who is associated with a National Center for the Control of Venereal Diseases …
Experts introduce plan to end Yellow River Water shortages
Chinese hydropower experts contend that power generated in southern China can help to alleviate seasonal water shortages along the Yellow River in the northern part of the country. Water shortages have for many years interrupted the flow of water in many sections of the Yellow River during the dry season …
World's first diarrhoea vaccine okayed
The world's first vaccine against the leading cause of childhood diarrhoea, a virus that hospitalises thousands of children each year and kills one million in other countries, has won approval by the US Food and Drug Administration.Widespread vaccination with Rotashield could prevent on million American pre-schoolers every from getting diarrhoea …
