NEWS AND VIEWS |
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Biotea set to take on health
drinks
anchurian
tea or Biotea, a unique brew made in countries such as Russia, Japan,
China and Korea, has caught the attention of all as ‘a health drink’.
The drink, in recent times, has gained popularity not only outside India
but also in the rural parts of the country. Apr
17, 2002 The Hindu Business Line **** Dealing with arthritisThe word ‘arthritis’
means ‘inflammation of joints’. It comes from two Greek words, athron meaning joints and tis
meaning inflammation. July, 2002 Health Action **** |
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Skinned at lastThe genome-wide
research for genes involved in cancer has revealed that mutations in a
single gene are to be blamed for the most malignant melanomas – the
deadliest form of skin cancer. The discovery was made by researchers
involved in the cancer genome project of the Cambridge-based Sanger
Institute. They discovered that the gene called BRAF, which controls the
growth of cells, was mutated 66 per cent of malignant melanomas and 10 per
cent of colon cancer patients surveyed.
**** Pranayam for stressResearchers at the All India Institute
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here have discovered a clear link between rhythmic
breathing process and a state of relaxed alertness and recommended the
practice of ‘pranayam’ and ‘sudarshan kriya’ for August
8, 2001 TOI **** Regular Graft RejectionAchieving
immune tolerance to transplanted tissues remains a major hurdle in organ
transplantation. Increasingly, it is becoming clear that protocols aimed at
improving graft-specific tolerance will need to consider regulatory T cells,
because these lymphocytes are known to be important in suppressing immune
responses. July 5, 2023 SCIENCE Vol. 297 **** |
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A Matter of fat
lthough adipose tissue (body fat)
generally gets a bad rap in the context of human health, a growing body of
research indicates that this tissue produces several hormones, or “adipokines,”
that are essential for normal feeding behavior, metabolism, energy balance
and vascular tone. Among the fat-derived hormones is adiponectin, a
protein whose serum levels are high in lean individuals and low in obese
individuals. July 5, 2023 SCIENCE Vol. 297 ****
he US Food and Drug Administration
issued a new warning on the drug tamoxifen, advising doctors that it may cause
an aggressive cancer of the uterus. July 6, 2023 BMJ Vol. 32 **** Heart patients to get faster
rom this week all patients in England who have been waiting on a thrust’s waiting list for more than six months for heart surgery will be offered the chance of having treatment in an alternative hospital. It could be in the public sector or the private sector, in this country of abroad. July 6, 2023 BMJ Vol. 325 United States sets new anthrax vaccination policy
accination against anthrax is to be
provided for members of the US forces who are expected to spend at least
15 days in regions where the threat of anthrax attack is considered high,
namely Iraq, the Persian Gulf, Korea and possibly Afghanistan. About half
of the military’s supply of
anthrax vaccine will be stockpiled
for civilians in case of a bioterrorist attack. July 6, 2002 BMJ Vol. 325 **** Mosquito costMosquito-borne diseases cause millions of deaths every year. We all produce a cloud of chemicals and mosquitoes can track the odour trail that we leave for quite a distance’, says Laurence J. Zwiebel, assistant professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN, USA). Zwiebel’s group have isolated four highly conserved genes from the genome of Anopheles gambiae- an African mosquito that feed primarily on humans and spreads malaria – that are extremely similar to genes encoding odorant receptors in Drosophila. Odorant receptors are proteins that extend beyond the olfactory neurons, and cause a cascade of electrochemical events on contact with chemical odours, producing the sense of smell. These genes were found to be expressed only in the antennae and maxillary palps of mosquitoes. By investigating the ligand specificity of these receptors, it is hoped that this information will accelerate the development of insecticides and repellent sprays that are more specific and less poisonous than those in common use. ‘Molecular biology provides a new arrow in the quiver of both high and low tech methods that the World Health Organization and other groups are using to combat this scourge,’ says Zwiebel. Not only could malarial outbreaks be reduced in less-developed countries but also, within America itself, recent outbreaks of West Nile fever indicate that the threat of mosquito-borne diseases cannot be ignored. In addition, the highly conserved nature of the olfactory system means that similar approaches are likely to work in other insects that pose threats as agricultural pests. S de B. January 1,2024 Trends in Better Heparin for Severe MI?
atients with myocardial infarction
(MI) characterized by ST-segment elevation who are treated with the blood
thinner enoxaparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin, plus a clot dissolver
are significantly less likely to die or have repeat MI within 30 days than
patients receiving unfractionated heparin, say Harvard Medical School
investigators. March 27, 2024 JAMA Vol. 287 No. 12 ****Toddler TV Ban Urged
hildren under the age of 2 should not watch television, and older children should not have television sets or computers in their bedrooms, the American Academy of Paediatrics has concluded after a two year study. Babies and toddlers needed “direct interaction with parent and others significant care givers” for the development of appropriate social, emotional and cognitive skills, the association said in the journal Paediatrics. BMJ Vol. 319. **** |
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S |
cientist at the University of
Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Bangalore have developed an indigenous
recombinant rabies vaccine that comes in the shape of a musk melon or a
bunch of lettuce leaves, rather than a glass vial.
Animals and human beings can now just eat the vaccine vegetable and
stay immune to rabies – after the vaccine passes mandatory animal and
human tests. UAS scientists have successfully tested these vaccine
vegetables on rats.
“The vaccine will be ready for commercial use in about a year’s
time and the UAS has applied for the patent.” Currently the rabies
vaccine for people involves several tests and at least three injections.
August
2002, Health Action
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A |
lzheimer’s disease (AD) is the
end result of a long chain of events, many of which may be modifiable. As
ongoing research offers more clues on how to reduce the risk of being
disabled by AD, here are seven steps to keep the brain function sharp for
as long as possible.
·
Establish a brain
reserve: Research has found that interesting work, hobbies and an
active social life can all help reduce AD risk. Researchers believe that
any challenging activity – such as doing crossword puzzles, learning a
new language, or taking up an instrument – may help build new brain
cells.
·
Exercise your body: Regular
physical activity improves blood supply to the brain and helps one stay
mentally alert.
·
Eat well: Diet can
help protect against four potential causes of Alzheimer’s –
inflammation, oxidative stress, elevated homocysteine levels and minor
strokes. Avoid oily food and eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole
grains. This is especially important for people with an inherited
susceptibility to AD.
·
Get enough folic acid:
Adequate levels of folate keep down serum levels of homocysteine, which
increase the risk of both heart disease and AD.
·
Maintain a positive
attitude: A positive emotional state may help hold off cognitive
decline. People with a positive attitude may be more successful at dealing
with stress and have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which
can damage the hippocampus, an area of the brain that shrinks in AD.
·
Avoid tobacco and
excess alcohol: Cigarette smokers are more than twice as likely to
develop AD compared to nonsmokers.
·
Treat chronic
conditions that can affect cognitive function: If you have untreated
hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes or depression,
your risk for Alzeimer’s may be higher.
Apr / Jun. 2002 Capsule
R |
esearchers let by Chad Mirkin,
PHD, at Northwestern University report in the February 22 issue of Science
that they have developed a new technology simplifying DNA detection that
could lead to the creation of a handheld device that is more accurate,
less expensive, and faster than conventional methods. The method involves
a pairing of microelectrodes and gold nanoparticle probes that is 10 times
more sensitive and 100,000 times more selective than conventional methods.
Eventually it could be used to quickly detect biological weapons such as
anthrax and smallpox as well as genetic and pathogenic diseases.
The researchers say the technology could process and interpret
results at a fraction of the cost of conventional technologies, and could
not only displace polymerase chain reaction and conventional fluorescence
probes in clinical diagnostics but make point-of-care DNA testing possible
in physician’s office.
March 27, 2024 JAMA Vol. 287 No. 12
****
An international team of
scientists has discovered a hormone that can significantly decrease the
appetite and reduced the amount of food eaten in a day by one third.
The research, published on Thursday in Nature, shows how scientists
from Imperial College, London, with assistance from Oregon Health and
Sciences University, USA, and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research,
Australia, discovered the novel action of hormone pyy3-36.
Pyy3-36 is normally released from the gastro-intestinal tract after
eating, in proportion to calorific meal content. It tells the brain the
body is no longer hungry.
When a group of volunteers received artificial infusions of the
hormone at normal post-feeding concentrations, their food intakes was
reduced by a third for a day.
The report says the discovery that pyy3-36 suppresses appetite
could be of huge benefit to those struggling with weight problems.
“It may be possible to identify foods which cause the release of
more pyy3-36, helping to naturally limit appetite, or it may be possible
to create a tablet with a similar effect, providing an excellent, natural
and safe long term treatment for obesity,” the authors of the study say.
August
9, 2001 TOI
****
The
researchers of Purdue University, the United States, have unveiled the
structure of dengue virus. They worked along with scientists from the
California Institute of Technology, the United States. This opens new
avenue for research about the ways through which the virus is transmitted
and how to prevent its spread. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a potentially
lethal complication that causes high fever, rash and extreme pain in the
head, muscles and joints. It can cause internal bleeding, vomiting, severe
abdominal pain and at times even death. Mosquitoes in tropical and
subtropical regions transmit the virus, which causes more than 50 million
cases of infection and 24,000 deaths worldwide each year. The virus is a
member of the flavivirus family, which includes the viruses that cause
yellow fever, Murray Valley encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis.
May-June 2002 VATIS UPDATE: Biotechnology
****
S |
cientific evidence and numerous case histories
support the use of “cold-water therapy” as an adjunct to standard
treatments for frequent colds, insomnia, high blood pressure – even cancer and other serious disorders.
·
Stabilizes blood
pressure: Cold water triggers the autonomic nervous system – which
controls involuntary functions, such as heartbeat and breathing to raise
blood pressure, increase heart rate and constrict blood vessels.
The autonomic responses
strengthen with each cold bath exposure, stabilizes blood pressure,
improves circulation and balances other bodily functions.
·
Enhances immunity: Cold
water stimulates the release of cytokines
and other hormone-like substances that are vital to immune function.
·
Recent findings:
Breast cancer patients who underwent cold-water therapy for four weeks
experienced significant gains in their levels of disease-fighting white
blood cells, according to a German study.
·
Reduces pain: Cold
causes the body to release endorphins, hormones with proven pain-fighting
properties.
·
Improves moods:
Cold water activates sensory nerves that lead to the brain. A cold,
exhilarating shower can be emotionally uplifting and prime a person for
new experiences.
If you
can’t tolerate the cold: Keep the water cold but expose only your
feet, hands and face. Gradually increase the duration and area of
exposure.
Caution: People
who are very thin or frail may be unable to tolerate cold showers in the
beginning. If you do not feel warm and invigorated after the shower,
decrease the length of your next cold shower.
If you still don’t feel warm within minutes, forgo cold showers.
Instead, condition your body with cold sponge bath of the feet, hands,
face and then the rest of your body – after your warm shower.
Do not try cold-water
therapy if you suffer from an acute illness, such as severe back
pain…have hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis)…. Raynaud’s
disease…. or have high blood pressure not controlled by medication.
Cold water causes a spike in blood pressure, which can be dangerous
for those with conditions such as unmanaged hypertension.
The therapy can be safely used to reduce mildly high blood pressure
(150/100 and below) or to raise low blood pressure.
Jan / Mar 2002 CAPSULE
F |
or the first time, one
type of human cells have been turned into another kind. Conventional
scientific wisdom states that once a skin cell, always a skin cell. But
the researchers at the University of Oslo, Norway, have recently proved
this wrong. The scientists used chemicals found in the body to
‘re-programme’ skin cells and turn them into nerves and immune cells.
They took skin cells and grew them in liquid containing chemicals
that are produced by the nerves. The researchers found that after some
time the skin cells started to look like nerves and they even activated
genes which nerves use. Similar changes occurred when the researchers put
skin cells in chemicals made by the immune cells.
Although the researchers have not yet checked whether the new,
re-programmed skin cells function as nerves or immune cells, they say
their discovery can lead to treatments which carry the same promise as
stem cell treatments without any ethical complication. If ordinary adult
cells really can be re-programmed in this way, there is no reason in
theory why cells from skin or hair could not eventually be used to replace
damaged brain tissues, or rebuild a defective organ.
May, 31, 2002 Down to Earth
WHO has launched a global plan to make the use of
traditional medicine safer, more accessible, and sustainable. Up to 80% of
people in developing countries use traditional, complementary or
alternative medicine (TM/CAM) as part of primary health care, and its use
is increasing in the north. The global market for traditional therapies is
US $ 60 billion and growing. This trend brings with it the risk of making
some traditional therapies unaffordable to those who now depend on them.
The plan points out the need for policies to protect indigenous and
traditional knowledge, and for ways to ensure the safety of therapies and
prevent their misuse.
The WHO strategy aims to assist countries to build policies for the
evaluation and regulation of TM/CAM product and practices; strengthen the
evidence base for the safety, efficacy and quality of these products and
practices; ensure their availability and affordability; and promote their
sound use by providers and consumers.
“Traditional or complementary medicine is the victim of both
uncritical enthusiasts and uninformed sceptics,” explained Dr. Yasuhiro
Suzuki, WHO Executive Director for Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals.
“This strategy is intended to tap into its real potential for people’s
health and well-being while minimizing the risks of unproven or misused
remedies.”
About a quarter of today’s modern medicines have been developed
from plants first used traditionally. The Chinese herbal remedy Artemisia annua, which has been in use for almost 2000 years, was
recently found to be effective against drug-resistant malaria. In South
Africa, the Medical Research Council is conducting studies on the plant Sutherlandia
microphylla, traditionally used as a tonic and now thought to increase
energy and appetite in people living with HIV / AIDS. Meanwhile, people in
rich countries are turning increasingly to alternative
medicines and treatments, especially for preventive and palliative
care. Details of the strategy for making the most judicious and just use
possible of TM/CAM can be found at www.who.int/medicines
/organization/trm/orgtrmmain.shtml.
2002,
Bulletin of the World Health Organisation Vol. 80(7)
Patients with chronic disease such as cancer and AIDS often develop cachexia, a life threatening disorder characterized by extensive weight loss and degeneration of skeletal muscle. The molecular pathogenesis of cachexia is poorly understood. Zimmers et. al. (p. 1486) show that mice develop a wasting syndrome resembling human cachexia when they are systemically administered high levels of myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor-b family. Prior administration of proteins that inhibit myostatin activity, such as follistatin, slowed weight loss in the mice. These results suggests that myostatin may be a useful drug for target for prevention or treatment of cachexia, which is estimated to be the ultimate cause of death in about 25% of all cancer patients.
May
24, 2002, SCIENCE Vol. 296
H |
igh levels of leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells in the body, could explain why obese people develop dangerous blood clots more often than people who are not overweight. The association between obesity and blood clots is well known, but the cause has remained a mystery. Now, new research with mice, conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan (U-M) Medical School, USA, indicates that leptin may be responsible. “Our results suggests that clot formation begins with some type of interaction between leptin and the leptin receptor on platelets – blood cells which stick together to make clots,” says Daniel T Eitzman, a cardiologist at the U-M Cardiovascular Centre.
May
15, 2002 Down To Earth
****
Successful
fighting
I |
ndia is making dramatic progress in its fight against tuberculosis. The disease infects two million Indians each year – one-quarter of all new cases globally. A treatment campaign that started in 1998 has now reached 40 per cent of India’s population, up from two per cent at the outset, according to a report by an Indian government and US Disease Control and Prevention. Four-fifths of patients are now recovering after the treatment, with the death rate in the treated areas slumping from 29 per cent to four per cent.
May
15, 2002 Down To Earth
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A |
nger and loneliness are just some of the feeling people express when they discover they have Alzheimer’s. But what if you knew 20 years beforehand that this was to be your fate? This disturbing possibility has moved a step closer with researchers from St Louis-based Washington University School of Medicine developing a blood test for Alzheimer’s in mice. The test spots the chemical markers for the disease long before any symptoms appear. Many experts opine that the test would help in evolving better treatment for the disease that is the most common form of dementia in older people across the world.
May 15, 2002 Down To Earth
T |
he
chief economist of Deutshe Bank, Prof. Nobert Walter at a press meet, in
his talk on “World Economy: Muted recovery,” said that the Enrons and
Worldcoms showed that the risk to capitalism is from the inside. The
public has lost confidence in stock markets and balance sheets and there
has been a negative impact on consumer spending and investment climate.
Professor Walter said that the incidents are a pointer to the fact
that capitalism was allowed to deteriorate. Shareholders have changed to
sharehoppers, they want profits every four months. The management of
companies reflect this trend.
“This does not mean that the American financial system should be
rejected by Europe and the rest of the world,” he said. Instead there
should be pressures put on for ethical behaviour by corporates from the
press as well as NGOs. Prof Walter is also a member of the management of
Deutsche Bank’s think tank, which covers a wide spectrum of issues from
economic rating and sector analysis to country.
The crisis in the financial system caused
by the collapse of Enron and the controversy over Worldcom has led to the
American government passing a tough piece of legislation called the
Sarbanes-Oxlay Act, which will try and prevent such occurrences. This was
stated by Prof. Walter.
August 9, 2001 TOI
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