Health

Washington, August 21: Can a romantic candlelit dinner give you cancer? According to a study conducted by researchers at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, burning candles made from paraffin wax, the most popular and cheapest form of candle wax, can be poisonous to your health and even cause cancer.

Presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, the study shows that level of chemicals released by burning paraffin-wax candles can accumulate in an unventilated closed room.

New York, August 20: Caring for obese people is eating up an ever-bigger slice of the US health care spending pie, a new government report shows.

From 2001 to 2006, health care expenditures on obese adults rose from $167 billion to $303 billion, an 82 percent jump, according to an analysis by Marie N. Stagnitti, a senior survey statistician at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, Maryland.

Mumbai, August 20: The carpet in your home is deadly if it’s synthetic. Such carpets cause global warming, as they are not environment-friendly, and can lead to cancer and bronchitis when they’re burnt for disposal.

Since burning and burying are the only ways synthetic carpets can be destroyed, it’s inevitable that synthetic carpets will harm the environment.

Indian shops have been flooded with synthetic carpets made with cheap petroleum byproducts like acrylic and nylon, etc from Gulf countries.

London, August 19: Northern hemisphere countries have so far ordered more than one billion doses of swine flu vaccine, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday, sparking warnings over shortages.

Some countries—notably Greece, The Netherlands, Canada and Israel—have ordered enough double doses to inoculate their entire populations.

Others, such as Germany, the United States, Britain and France, have put in orders that would cover between 30 and 78 percent of people.

Washington, August 19: A specific protein found on the surface of a common bacterial pathogen allows it to subvert the brain, triggering deadly meningitis in infants, scientists have found, possibly opening the way to better vaccines.

“Streptococcus pneumoniae, commonly known as pneumococcus, is responsible for half the cases of bacterial meningitis in humans,” said senior study author Victor Nizet, professor of paediatrics at the University of California, San Diego’s School of Medicine (UCSD-SM).

Sydney, August 19: Dentists can now size up the mineral content of tooth enamel non-invasively with the help of laser-generated ultrasound, says a new study.

This is the first time anyone has employed such a tool to find the elasticity of our teeth, besides assessing dental health and predict tooth decay and cavities.

Enamel goes through a cycle of mineral loss and restoration, through a lifetime, in which healthy teeth maintain a high mineral content.

Washington, August 19: Chronic worrying can hasten death because it is more likely to promote unhealthy behaviours like smoking, warns a new study.

Chronic worrying, anxiety and vulnerability to depression are key aspects of a neurotic personality.

“Research shows that higher levels of neuroticism can lead to earlier mortality, and we wanted to know why,” said Daniel K. Mroczek, professor of child development and family studies at Purdue University (P-U).

Washington, August 19: Children who are highly allergic to milk can drink it safely and eat other dairy products, according to new research.

Investigators followed up with a subset of infants who were part of an earlier Johns Hopkins Children Centre-led study in which patients allergic to milk were given increasingly higher doses of milk over time.

Continuous exposure to milk allergens, proteins that trigger bad reactions, gradually retrained their immune systems to better tolerate the very food they once rejected.

Frankfurt, August 19: A test of lipsticks commissioned by a German consumer protection magazine has found more than half of them to be potential health hazards.

Oeko-Test (Eco-Test) reported in its August issue that of the 306 lipsticks tested – 21 different brands and various shades of colour – 121 had received a failing grade and 44 a grade of “unsatisfactory.”

The magazine said many of the lipsticks contained paraffins and synthetic substances such as silicones that could gradually be “licked off” the lips and accumulate in the body.

Bangalore, August 19:Fast food joints, hotels and restaurants across the city are seeing an upswing in home delivery orders as swine flu wary consumers avoid crowded eating joints.

The parcel counter at various restaurants and hotels are busy thanks to the increase in orders for food to be delivered at home, according to industry sources.

New Delhi, August 18: One infant died of swine flu today as the death toll due to the disease rose to 30 while 99 fresh cases of the viral infection were reported from across the country taking the total count to over 2,000.

A seven-month-old girl, Modia Mohammad Shaikh, died of swine flu at the municipal Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai.

Shillong, August 18: A doctor working in New Delhi and two nurses of Shillong Civil Hospital here were among the five persons suspeted of having swine flu-like symptoms and their throat swab samples were today sent for H1N1 tests.

All the five have been kept in isolation and necessary treatment is being given, state’s Director of Health Services K H Lakiang said.

Dr Natasha Sangma, who had recently returned from New Delhi, and two nurses of Shillong Civil Hospital who had come in contact with the two H1N1 patients admitted at the hospital, have been admitted with flu-like symptoms.

Hyderabad, August 18: DNA technology is set to witness dramatic changes in the next five years resulting in reduced time needed for conducting tests with increased accuracy, said former Director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Lalji Singh.

Singh who undertook DNA tests in several sensational cases across the country said, “The newer technologies for conducting DNA tests would drastically reduce the time needed for conducting tests with increased accuracy.”

London: The British Government has written to senior neurologists to warn them that the new swine flu vaccine may trigger a deadly brain disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Medical experts have been asked to look out for cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, which can paralyse its victims, once the national vaccination programme begins.

In its letter, the Health Protection Agency refers to the use of a swine flu vaccine in the US in 1976, when 25 people died from the syndrome, while just one died from flu.

Melbourne, August 17: Scientists claimed to have developed a new variety of broccoli that is not only grown naturally, but also tastes sweeter and has 40 per cent more anti-oxidants than the normal to reduce risks of heart disease and cancer.

Scientists at Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) here, have discovered “Booster Broccoli”, a new variety that is the first in the group of super vegetables and contains more anti-oxidants than the usual variety , the ABC report said today.

Sydney, August 17: Relying on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the extent of early breast cancer has not been shown to improve surgical planning, reduce follow-up surgery, or reduce the risk of local recurrences, according to a recent study.

Evidence shows that MRI increases the chances of more extensive surgery over conservative approaches, with no evidence that it improves surgical care or prognosis.

Washington, August 17: More than a third of pictures in women’s magazines depict babies in unsafe sleeping positions, possibly heightening the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), says a new study.

SIDS is the sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant during sleep.

The study led by Rachel Moon, a paediatrician and Brandi Joyner at Children’s National Medical Centre (CNMC), analysed pictures of sleeping infants in 24 magazines with wide circulation among 20 to 40-year-old women.

Bhopal, August 17: The number of suspected swine flu cases in Madhya Pradesh has reached 66, though there is no confirmed case so far, officials said here Monday.

Meanwhile, the report for five samples, including three from Bhopal that were sent for swine flu testing have been negative.

Kolkata, August 17: Five people tested positive for the Influenza A(H1N1) virus here Monday, taking the total number of swine flu cases to 44 in West Bengal, a health official said.

‘Five people have tested positive today (Monday), raising the tally to 44 in the state so far. They have been admitted to Beliaghata Infectious Disease (ID) Hospital,’ Tapas Sen, the state’s nodal officer for swine flu, told.

The state has not reported any death from the virus so far.

New Delhi, August 16: Indian security forces will soon have a new weapon to take on insurgents or rioters — a chilli bomb.

With the pattern of wars around the world changing to more low-intensity conflicts, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is testing hand grenades stuffed with Bhut Jolakia chillies from Assam — termed the world’s hottest chillies.

Washington, August 16: The challenge posed by many potentially effective anti-cancer drugs is how to use these deadly compounds to fight disease without harming the rest of the body.

Dr. Sam Wickline may have found one solution. He develops tiny nanoparticles that carry medicine to the spot where it’s needed.

New Delhi, August 16: 165 positive cases of sine flu were reported on Saturday while two persons in Bangalore died of the virus. The highest number of cases -97 — were reported from Maharashtra alone, none with any travel history, indicating that the virus in mainly human-to-human transmission.

The swine flu pandemicSo far 1555 persons have tested positive for H1N1 out of which 689 have been discharged.

New Delhi, August 16: To ease the burden on the National Institute of Communicable Diseases and other government agencies, private laboratories will be allowed to test suspected swine-flu samples. Some private laboratories have approached government for the permission.

But the government wants to weigh the pros and cons of allowing private laboratories to test swine flu. Hence government hasn’t drawn up any guidelines or protocols yet.

Aurangabad, August 15: Three persons, suspected to be suffering from swine flu, died in Marathwada region of Maharashtra, health officials said Saturday.

The causalities were reported from Latur and Jalna districts of Marathwada region.

If the reports of the three test positive for H1N1 virus, the nationwide toll due to swine flu will reach 26.

Yesterday, Pune District Collector Chandrakant Dalvi had told reporters that of the 15 deaths reported so far from the city, only 12 were due to the virus as the three patients who had died of suspected flu, have tested negative.

New Delhi, August 14: A doctor, who was a member of the team of experts testing samples for swine flu at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, has been suspected to have contracted the virus.

A professor at department of Microbiology, who is heading the team of six experts testing the samples, has sent her sputum samples today for testing.

“I have sent my sputum samples and waiting for results. I have been feeling feverish and sever body ache since a couple of days. The results will be available within 24 hours,” she said.