Health

Jhajjar, November 29: The much-awaited project of setting up Central Research Institute of Yoga and Naturopathy with 100-bedded hospital in the district has been further delayed due to official formalities.

Though the district administration had earlier this year decided to provide 10 acres of its land to the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN), New Delhi, for establishing the institute, Director Panchayat Haryana, Chandigarh, has raised some objections in connection with the allotment of land on lease for 33 years.

Bangalore, November 29:GE Healthcare, the $17-billion unit of General Electric, has initiated a project to provide IT solutions to Indian hospitals for affordable treatment.

The $1.5-billion GE Healthcare’s IT business has tied up with the Delhi-based Diwan Chand Aggarwal (DCA) imaging research centre for a pilot project to develop solutions that integrate the various functions of hospitals to deliver quality healthcare.

New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) With seven new dengue cases, the total number of people affected by the mosquito-borne disease in the national capital has reached 1,068, a health department official said Saturday.

“There were seven new confirmed cases in the last 24 hours. The cumulative of dengue affected people is 1,068,” Debashish Bhattacharya, state nodal health officer for dengue cases, told IANS.

Of the total, 1,055 were Delhi residents and 13 were from outside the city.

Geneva, November 28: More than 1,000 deaths from the H1N1 swine flu virus were officially reported in the past week, a sharp rise which brings the global total to at least 7,826, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

More than half of the latest fatalities were reported by health authorities in the Americas region.

The winter flu season arrived early in the northern hemisphere this year and continues to be intense across parts of North America and much of Europe.

New Delhi, November 27: Following directions from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Union Health Ministry is framing a special Act for regulation of medical devices which will bring them on par with global standards.

The directive from the PMO came after it was approached by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) with complaints of complexities in getting medical equipment registered in India, where only 14 such devices are registered till date.

Washington, Nov 27: There’s no evidence that the swine flu vaccine is causing any serious side effects, US health officials has said, in their first report on the safety of the new vaccine.

Since vaccinations began in early October, the government has been tracking the safety of the swine flu vaccine. By mid-November, about 22 million Americans had gotten the vaccine and there were about 3,200 reports of possible side effects, the vast majority for minor things like soreness or swelling from the shot.

Washington, Nov 27: Now there is one more reason why one should quit smoking — as American scientists have claimed that smokers inhale live bacteria which increases the risk of many infections and chronic diseases.

According to researchers at the University of Maryland, cigarettes contain hundreds of different strains of bacteria, including many human pathogens that may play a role in lung diseases and respiratory infections.

New Delhi, Nov 27: One swine flu death was reported today from Punjab, taking the total toll in India to 561, health authorities said here.

Also, 260 new cases were reported in the country, taking the total number of people affected with the contagious flu to 17,486.

With today’s one death in Punjab, the toll in the state has gone up to three.

In the national capital, 82 new cases were reported today, taking the total number of people affected by the influenza A (H1N1) virus to 4,593.

London, Nov 26: Trendy shoes are the latest fashion for teenagers who just can’t resist grabbing a pair, but British experts have warned these stylish footwears could cause severe body pain in the future.

For parents, these shoes look pretty sensible as most have little or no heel, for instance, and they often have rubber soles. But behind the looks, there lies a long-term problems such as clawed toes, calluses, heel and knee pain, the experts said.

Kolkata, Nov 26: A variety of mosquito larvae which feed on the vectors that transmit malaria and dengue infections are being studied by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) laboratory to eliminate these agents causing serious diseases.

Officials of the KMC”s entomology department have discovered the larvae of Toxorhynchitis variety of the mosquito for the first time from Kudghat, Lake Gardens and Park Circus areas of the metropolis.

London, November 26: Dentists can help identify patients who are likely to die of a heart attack or stroke, says a Swedish study.

The study involved 200 men and women aged over 45 who did not have any known cardiovascular problems.

During a routine visit to their dentists in Bor? s and Gothenburg in Sweden, they were also checked for known risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

“These risk factors are not normally manifested in the mouth, which is why the dentists went beyond their normal check-up routine,” says Mats Jontell, professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

Thiruvananthapuram, November 25:The Kerala government Wednesday gave its nod for setting up a new medical university in the state.

“The cabinet has cleared an ordinance to this effect and the governor’s assent has been sought. Once that happens, the Kerala Health University will come into existence and its headquarters will be at Trissur,” Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan told reporters here.

A 90-member senate and a 17-member governing council would run the affairs of the new university.

Shanghai, November 25: AIDS has killed 25 million people worldwide but new infections are slowing sharply, the UN said on Tuesday as it issued its annual report that mixed hope with a warning against complacency.

Almost 60 million people have been infected by the HIV virus since it was first recorded but prevention programmes are having a significant impact, the UNAIDS agency said in its latest report, released here in Shanghai.

Chandigarh, Nov 25: Two more students of the Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Sector 12, have tested positive for swine flu. After being shut for a week, classes at the college had begun a few days ago.

Of the 21-year-old victims, one lives in Sector 11, Chandigarh. The second student lives in the Himalaya hostel in campus. Both have been quarantined.

With these cases, 16 PEC students have been affected with the virus so far.

Total number of positive cases in the city, meanwhile, has risen to 125. Five more samples from the city were sent for testing on Tuesday.

Ahmedabad, Nov 25: In a bid to combat malnutrition, the state Health Department has decided to form a Nutrition Task Force.

The mortality rate of children below five years is a disturbing 60.9 per cent in Gujarat-apparently due to severe malnutrition.

But it is far worse in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) — 3.

The state Health Department, however, contradicts the NFHS findings.

Geneva, Nov 25: The World Health Organization is looking into reports in Britain and the United States that the H1N1 flu may have developed resistance to Tamiflu in people with severely suppressed immune systems, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Britain’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) said five cases have been confirmed in Wales of patients infected with H1N1 resistant to oseltamivir — the generic name of Roche and Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral drug Tamiflu.

Sydney, Nov 25: A study of blood samples from patients of bone marrow transplants has yielded clues that could help fight cancers and auto-immune diseases.

B cells, the immune cells that produce antibodies, start their development in the bone marrow and complete it in blood and tissues.

The developmental process in humans can be studied in those who have had their bone marrow destroyed and then reconstituted from donors, because clinical samples are collected at defined periods of time following the transplant.

New Delhi, Nov 25: South India has done fairly well in checking the spread of HIV infection in the past eight years with some high prevalence States showing a decline by 54 per cent between 2000 and 2007.

Globally, HIV infections came down to 17 per cent in the same period, and South Asia figures showed a decrease by 10 per cent, says a report of the UNAIDS released here on Tuesday.

New Delhi, November 24:India would be able to indigenously develop swine flu vaccine by June next year, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told parliament Tuesday.

“Three companies are working towards developing indigenous vaccine for the swine flu and it is expected that clinical trials would start in January 2010. If all goes well, indigenous vaccine would be available by June 2010,” Azad said.

In India, three pharmaceutical companies – Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech, and Panacea Biotech – are working on developing the vaccine.

New Delhi, Nov 24: Alarmed by rising incidents of aggression and violence among adolescents, a hospital here has started a life skills training programme for students in various schools in the capital to help them manage behavioural problems.

The ‘pro social peer moderator programme’ launched by the department of mental health and behavioural sciences, Max Healthcare, is based on social learning theory whereby students are trained by their own peers to tackle risk taking behaviours, aggression and violence, substance abuse and delinquency.

Washington, Nov 24: Bacteria living on the surface of the skin helps in maintaining its healthy texture, says a new study.

“These germs are actually good for us,” said Richard L. Gallo, Professor of medicine and paediatrics, who also heads the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) dermatology division.

The study was done on mice and in human cell cultures, primarily performed by post-doctoral fellow Yu Ping Lai.

Washington, November 23:Bacteria living on the surface of the skin helps in maintaining its healthy texture, says a new study.

“These germs are actually good for us,” said Richard L. Gallo, professor of medicine and paediatrics, who also heads the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) dermatology division.

The study was done on mice and in human cell cultures, primarily performed by post-doctoral fellow Yu Ping Lai.

Washington, November 23:Red blood cells (RBC) infected with malaria become 10 times stiffer and stickier than normal ones in later stages, says a new study. They also tend to affect normal blood flow. This explains some of the common symptoms of malaria, such as anaemia and joint pain.

Dmitry Fedosov and George Karniadakis, doctoral student and professor, respectively, at Brown University, developed models to help predict how the disease will spread and thus enhance current malaria treatments.

Washington, November 23: A new study has revealed that common pain relief medication such as morphine can actually encourage the growth and spread of cancer cells.

Opiate-based painkillers have been shown to stimulate cancer growth. Two new studies have shown how shielding lung cancer cells from opiates reduce cell proliferation, invasion and migration in both cell-culture and mouse models.

The researchers focussed on the mu opiate receptor, where morphine works, as a potential therapeutic target.

Sydney, November 22: Breast milk, long revered for the nutritional advantages it gives a newborn, could be just as vital in terms of infant development, a leading scientist will claim this week. Up to three different types of stem cells have been discovered in breast milk, according to revolutionary new research.