Health

London, April 30: A common white flower could revolutionise the treatment of leukaemia, researchers have said.

An extract from the white flower commonly known as Baby’s Breath has been found to boost the efficiency of anti-cancer drugs by a million time.

They found that molecules called saponins, extracted from the Gypsophila paniculata plant, appear to break down the membrane of cancer cells, which makes it easier for antibody-based drugs, known as immunotoxins, to attack the cancerous cells.

Bhopal, April 30: Kartar Adivasi, a one-year-old, weighed just 6.342 kg when he was admitted to the nutritional rehabilitation centre (NRC) at Narwar in Madhya Pradesh.

Born to Banwari and Binia of village Kiranpura (Barkhadi), the child was kept at the NRC for 14 days and then under followup care at his house, with the result that his weight increased to 9.3 kg by the time he was 15 months old.

London, April 29: Britons, who drink an estimated 165 million cups of tea every day, find it difficult to describe how a good cup of tea tastes like. Most said “hot” while some said it was “peely wally”.

Over 2,000 people participated in the survey led by Li Wei, a professor at Birkbeck College, University of London.

“The most frequently used words describe the personal experience of drinking tea rather than the taste,” The Sun Thursday quoted Wei as saying.

Most of the respondents said it was “hot” or just “nice”.

Sydney, April 29: Australia said on Thursday it would become the world’s first country to ban logos and branding on cigarette packets, sparking a furious response from the tobacco industry.

Cigarettes will be sold in plain, standardised packages carrying only graphic warnings against smoking from 2012, under new legislation announced by the government aimed at cutting tobacco use.

“Cigarettes are not cool, cigarettes kill people,” said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. “Therefore the government makes no apology whatsoever for what it’s doing.

Ahmedabad, April 29: A team of military doctors backed by India’s national defence research centre is studying an 83-year-old holy man who claims to have spent seven decades surviving without food or water.

The long-haired and bearded yogi, Prahlad Jani, has been sealed in a hospital in the western city of Ahmedabad where he is under 24-hour observation by 30 doctors and will be subjected to a series of medical tests.

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Washington, April 28: Milk is the primary source of vitamin D in the American diet, supplying nearly half of all of the much-needed vitamin, a new research says.

Using the latest national data on what more than 16,000 Americans aged two and older eat, researchers investigated the contribution of each food group to the total vitamin D intake.

No other food item came close to the vitamin D contribution of milk. In fact, for kids aged two to 18, milk provided nearly two-thirds of all vitamin D in the diet.

Washington, April 29: Hot peppers contain a substance called capsaicin that not only adds spice to our food but can actually cause our body to heat up. Evidence suggests that the heat generating power of peppers can help shed those extra inches.

Researchers assume that plants evolved to contain capsaicin because it protected them from being eaten by insects and other pesky predators.

But they are learning that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to peppers.

Hyderabad, April 28: A cab driver engaged in ferrying people to and from Hyderabad international airport was diagnosed with swine flu, making it the first such case in Andhra Pradesh this summer. “The patient is in his forties and was brought to our hospital in a critical condition.

What aggravated the situation was that he was obese and suffered from diabetes. He is on a ventilator and responding well to treatment,” said Dr K. Subhakar, who is in charge of swine flu cases at Government Chest Hospital in Hyderabad.

New Delhi, April 28: Albupax, a drug used in the treatment of breast cancer, has been declared as sub-standard by the Government due to the presence of certain particles beyond the acceptable limits. The Central Drug Laboratory, Kolkata, in its test report has declared the drug “to be not of standard quality” due to the presence of higher level of Endotoxin than acceptable limits, Health Ministry sources said.

New Delhi, April 28: The Railway Ministry on tuesday said cancer patients can now avail 100 per cent concession in third-AC and sleeper class coaches.

The concession for cancer patients has been enhanced from existing 75 per cent to 100 per cent, Railway officials said.

“The concession for escorts (of cancer patients) in 3-AC and sleeper coaches remains unchanged at 75 per cent. The change has become effective from April 20, 2010,” they said.

London, April 28: The appendix is a small outgrowth of tissue forming a tube-shaped sac attached to the lower end of the large intestine. Inflammation of the appendix presents itself in acute and chronic forms and affects both the sexes equally. This disease accounts for about half the acute abdominal emergencies occurring between the ages of ten and thirty.

Appendicitis symptoms
Pain in centre of abdomen, discomfort in abdomen

London, April 28: Wondering how to keep your hair healthy and shiny despite growing age? British experts have dished out some simple ways that can help reverse the damage.According to Zoe Irwin, Wellaflex Silvikrin style director, “Hair feels rougher and drier as we age because it lacks moisture in the hair shaft. Over styling and exposure to the elements also contribute to the hair shaft rising, which makes it feel rougher and appear less shiny.”

London, April 28: A new study has revealed that women with diabetes are 25 percent more likely to develop cancer.The study, led by Tel Aviv University Medical School involving 17,000 diabetics, showed that male patients were far less likely than healthy men to develop prostate cancer – which meant there was no rise in their overall cancer risk.

The women, however, were found to be particularly more at risk from colon and genital organ cancers, giving them an overall higher cancer risk of 25 percent, reports dailymail.co.uk.

London, April 28: In addition to the domino effect of joy and amusement, laughter is the best medicine, for a new study has found that it can be as healthy as exercise.

Scientists have found that laughter affects the body in a similar way to exercise, say a jog around the park —— in fact, it lifts the mood, decreases stress hormones, enhances immune activity, lowers blood pressure and bad cholesterol.

Surabaya (Indonesia), April 27: More than 4,000 children die every day across the globe due to lack of sanitation and access to clean water, the World Bank said here Tuesday.

The bank’s communication officer Chrishtopher M. Walsh said most of the deaths occurred in the developing world, Xinhua reported.

Washington, April 27: Regular exercise speeds learning and improves blood flow to the brain, says a new study.

While there is ample evidence of the beneficial effects of exercise on cognition (mental condition) in animal models, it has been unclear whether the same holds true for people, said study author Judy L. Cameron, a psychiatry professor at the Pitt School of Medicine.

Testing the hypothesis in monkeys can provide information that is more comparable to human physiology.

London, April 27: People who eat a classic Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, fruits, olive oil, cereals and fish improve their brainpower, says an ongoing prospective study.

Called the Chicago Health and Aging Project, the study has shown that adherence to the Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of cognitive decline with older age.

Berlin, April 27: A child having a coughing fit or wheezing may be choking on food or other object obstructing the airway, the German Otolaryngologists Association said. If the child is unable to cough up the foreign object, it must be removed by a doctor or in a hospital. Quick action by parents is necessary if the child has acute difficult breathing, however.

London, April 27: People who are depressed eat more chocolate than people who are not, US researchers said on Monday, in a study that puts numbers behind the link between mood and chocolate.

They said people who were depressed ate an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate per month, compared with 5.4 servings among those who were not.

And people who had major depression based on results of a screening test ate even more — 11.8 servings per month. A serving was considered to be one small bar, or 1 ounce (28 grams), of chocolate.

London, April 27: Sally, age four, routinely wakes up in the mornings with a wet bed. Joe is five years older. But even at age nine, he tries to stay awake all night whenever he sleeps over at a friend’s house. He’s still terrified he will wet the bed in his sleep.

Sally and Joe share a common childhood problem: bed-wetting. About one in five 4 and 5-year olds wet the bed, and as many as one in ten boys still has a problem by age 12. ( For some reason, it’s more common in boys than girls.)

London, April 27: According to the scientists of Britain, smoking is not going to make people slim. Millions of people have the wrong notion that smoking can reduce their extra amount of fat. But it is not going to work as per the recent report published in UK. Moreover, these people are risking their health while living with the misconception.

Some people believe that cigarettes prevent them to take food again and again. Hence they can loose some of their unwanted weight by this.

Brasilia, April 27: Brazilian Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao Monday recommended that Brazilians have sex up to five times a week as a way to prevent chronic health problems such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular trouble.

“Dance, have sex, keep a stable weight, do physical exercise, and above all measure your blood pressure,” Gomes Temporao said in Brasilia, as he launched a hypertension prevention campaign.

New Delhi, April 26: With women comprising about 20 percent of the world’s more than one billion tobacco users, the health ministry Monday called for creating awareness among women about the risks of using tobacco.

“The tobacco industry is now focusing on women as it needs to recruit new users to replace the nearly half of current users who will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases,” Ministry of Health and Family Welfare joint secretary Jagdish Kaur said.

London, April 26: Researchers disclosed that millions of Britons who smoke to remain slim are risking their physical condition for nothing as tobacco users tend to be fattier.

The popular belief that butts stop you eating has been debunked, with specialists stating that individuals who have never smoked tend to be in proper shape.

The research is likely to upset many die-hard tobacco users, mainly females who were influenced by effigies of waifish models like Kate Moss drawing on a cigarette.

These effigies had helped to be responsible for the belief that smoking keeps you slim.