London, March 21:  Forget crash diets and obsessive calorie counting. A new study shows that it takes only slight changes to your eating habits to improve your long term health.

Cut back on the number of times you shake the salt cellar or grind your salt mill. A healthy adult intake is 6 grams, so even the smallest reduction has an impact on your health.

Research shows that dropping your salt intake by as much as 3 grams a day would be enough to trigger a measurable fall in blood pressure, reducing your risk of stroke by 13 percent and heart disease by 10 percent, reported dailymail.co.uk.

Reduce sugar in your tea or coffee from two teaspoons to one and you could save yourself up to 30 grams of sugar a day. At 15 calories per teaspoon, that’s a cut of 32,000 calories a year.

Avoid products with the words ‘hydrogenated fat’ in the ingredients list – culprits include low-cost cakes, biscuits and pastries.

Studies show that eating even small amounts of trans fats or unsaturated fat increases your risk of heart disease more than consuming any other food.

Instead of filling your plate with carbohydrates (pasta, rice, potato) and meat, first fill half the plate with salad or vegetables, then split the remaining half between carbohydrates and meat. Like this can cut calorie intake by 200 calories.

Peeling the skin off your chicken drumstick before you eat it will immediately cut out 4 grams of fat without any sense of deprivation.

Make the switch from high sugar fizzy drinks (cola contains eight teaspoons of sugar in every can) to water and you will be reducing your sugar intake by 40 grams of sugar every time.

Adding one more serving of vegetables a day may reduce your risk of breast cancer by 21 per cent

London, March 20 : Japanese scientists have developed a genetically modified mosquito that vaccinates as it bites and could help prevent the spread of malaria.

The research team has created an insect producing a natural vaccine protein in its saliva, which is injected into the bloodstream when it bites.

The “prototype” mosquito carries a vaccine against Leishmania, another potentially fatal parasite disease spread by sand flies, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Leishmania infection can cause painful sores, fever and weight loss and if untreated may destroy the liver and spleen.

The findings revealed that mice bitten by the vaccinating insect generated antibodies against the Leishmania organism, indicating immunisation.

“Following bites, protective immune responses are induced, just like a conventional vaccination but with no pain and no cost,” said study leader professor Shigeto Yoshida, from Jichi Medical University in Shimotsuki, Japan.

“What’s more, continuous exposure to bites will maintain high levels of protective immunity, through natural boosting, for a life time. So the insect shifts from being a pest to being beneficial,” Yoshida added.

Scientists are still working on developing an effective malaria vaccine, so Yoshida’s study was very much a “proof of concept”.

However, ethical considerations may also get in the way of using “flying vaccinators” to control malaria, he said.

The study was published in the journal Insect Molecular Biology.

London, March 20 :Oxford scientists have developed a gel that may soon heal the misery of cleft palates in kids.

Although they can be corrected through surgery, those most severely affected can suffer problems with their speech and appearance for years to come.

According to researcher David Bucknall, the gel is “significantly better than anything we can do now”.

The gel is similar to the one used in soft contact lenses. It slowly absorbs water, swelling to 10 times its original size, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The researchers plan to insert small discs of the gel under the skin, close to the cleft, which expand as they take in water from the body and new skin grows over them. The discs are removed after six or eight weeks and the fresh skin used to stitch up the cleft.

The researchers hope the technique could be in use by 2013.

Hyderabad, March :India’s largest private healthcare provider Apollo Hospitals plans to set up 32 new hospitals in the country over the next two years.

While 11 new hospitals will come up in the next fiscal year, 20 more centres will open in 2011-12, Apollo chairman Prathap C. Reddy told reporters here Thursday.

The chain, which plans to add 1,500 beds in the next fiscal, will open its 52nd hospital in April this year with the inauguration of the new facility in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad.

“Today, we have bed strength of 8,800; and we will soon cross 9,000,” Reddy said. During 2009-10, the group added 2,000 beds with an investment of Rs.2,000 crore.

Reddy announced launch of three new super-speciality cancer hospitals. The first such hospital with Novalis TX, the latest technology in treatment of cancer, will be opened here on March 20. A similar facility in Kolkata will be inaugurated on March 23. Another super speciality cancer hospital is coming up in Delhi.

This will take to four the number of super speciality cancer hospitals of Apollo. It already has a facility in Chennai with Cyberknife technology.

The 100-bed super speciality cancer hospital in Hyderabad has come up with an investment of Rs.100 crore. The facility in Kolkata has been built at a cost of Rs.80 crore while a similar investment would be made for the hospital in Delhi.

Prathap Reddy said Apollo had decided not make any investment in overseas expansion till July in view of the prevailing market conditions.

“Earlier, I was jumping on to overseas expansion. I was about to buy a chain of hospitals in the UK. By doing so, I would have put a thread around my neck,” he said.

He clarified that there would be no overseas projects in addition to the four projects it was commissioning with an option to buy them. These include two projects in Nigeria and a heart hospital each in Shanghai and Vienna.

On the reports that Apollo was planning to buy Coimbatore-based Kovai Medical Centre & Hospital, he said no such proposal has come to the management from the finance division. “The project division sends the proposal to finance division if there is a good opportunity and it is the finance division which says yes and send the same to management.”

The Apollo chairman said though all available funds were tied up for new projects, there would be no dearth of funds if there were good opportunities.

Washington, March 20 :Men and women with a history of alcohol abuse may not see long-term negative effects on their memory and thinking but female smokers do, a new study suggests.

In a study of 287 men and women ages 31 to 60, researchers found that those with past alcohol-use disorders performed similarly on standard tests of cognitive function as those with no past drinking problems.

The findings were not as positive when it came to tobacco, however.

In general, women who had ever been addicted to smoking had lower scores on certain cognitive tests than their non-smoking counterparts. The same pattern was not true of men, researchers report in the March issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

The reasons for the disparate findings on alcohol and smoking are not fully clear. Nor do they necessarily mean that serious alcohol problems would not affect long-term memory and other cognitive abilities.

Most study participants who had ever had drinking problems met the criteria for alcohol abuse rather than the more serious diagnosis of dependence.

The findings are based on assessments of 115 men and 169 women with an average age of 43.

Overall, women who reported having ever smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day scored lower than non-smokers on tests of executive function — that is, “higher-order” brain functions that include the ability to reason, plan and organize.

As for why smoking was related to cognitive scores only among women, it’s possible that there is a role for estrogen, says Kristin Caspers, a researcher at the University of Iowa.

Animal research suggests that nicotine lowers blood estrogen levels and may inhibit the positive effects of the hormone on brain cells.

Sixty percent of the women in the current study were between the ages of 40 and 54, when menopause usually occurs. In theory, nicotine may exacerbate any brain-cell effects of fluctuating estrogen levels in women as they age, the researchers speculate.

(CNS): Sleep is a basic human need, much like eating and drinking. It is crucial for our overall health and well being. Research shows that we spend up to a third of our lives sleeping. Good quality and restorative sleep is essential for day-to-day functioning. Studies suggest that sleep quality, as well as quantity, impacts our life. On an average, a normal adult needs 7-8 hours of good sleep. In teenagers this may go up to 9 hours, while the elderly can do with 5-6 hours of it. World Sleep Day is on 19th of March.

According to Dr Manvir Bhatia, Chairperson Sleep Medicine and Senior Consultant ,Department of Neurology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, “sleep is an essential commodity, which should not be dispensed with, as it cannot be compensated with anything else. It has a strong relationship with health. So we need to look after it well.”

Ghalib, the famous poet has said in one of his couplets “maut ka ek din muayyin hai, neend kyu raat bhar nahin aati”  (the day of death has been fixed by the Almighty, So why spend sleepless nights).

World Sleep Day 2010 is being held on 19th March, under the slogan “Sleep Well, Stay Healthy” . It is an international annual event, intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, and social aspects. It is organized by the “World Association of Sleep Medicine”, with the aim to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society through better understanding, prevention and management of sleep conditions by raising awareness through dissemination of information.

Sleep problems constitute a global epidemic that threatens health and quality of life, for up to 45% of the world’s population. There is substantial evidence that sleep plays an important role in metabolic, cognitive, restorative, immune, and endocrine functions. Hence disruption in sleep affects all these.

Most sleep disorders are preventable or treatable, yet less than a third of sufferers seek professional help. Sleep medicine is a recent speciality which deals with various problems related to sleep, ranging from obstructive sleep apnoea – with predominant symptoms of snoring, to insomnia (30-45% adults suffer from it) or reduced and poor quality of sleep. Narcolepsy is another cause of excessive daytime sleepiness. Very often, persons suffering from these complaints are not aware of the health hazards associated with them.

Persons with sleep disorders may suffer from insufficient sleep at night and wake up listless, spending the day poorly, with little concentration and more aches and pains. Or they may have loud snoring and also wake up tired.  In both cases there are periods of irresistible tendency to take a nap or doze off during work. This affects day time concentration, and, hence, productivity. It also increases the chances of having other diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, heart attack etc. Apart from this, hundreds of people lose their lives unnecessarily every year due to sleep-related traffic accidents, including airlines and railways accidents.

Dr Bhatia laments the ‘junk sleep syndrome’ prevalent in the modern day teenagers. They are prone to using a whole lot of gadgets like I-Pod, internet, video games, television, or simply studying till late in the night, thus pushing their sleep time too late. Obviously they have difficulty in waking up in the morning and concentrating on their studies in school. They reach home tired, take a nap and the pattern repeats itself. It is not very uncommon to find such students having a ‘black out’ during examination time. These children are likely to develop a poor memory and low scholastic aptitude, and also an impaired immune function, thus inviting a host of diseases.

It must not be forgotten that poor sleep is a symptom of a cause like obstructive sleep apnoea, poor life style, anxiety, depression etc. Very often the sufferer resorts to the use of sleeping pills, which causes more harm than good. This self medication often becomes addictive in the long run, resulting in more problems.

More must be done to completely understand sleep and to understand better the cause of sleep disorders. We need to increase awareness about sleep related disorders particularly in students, and those working in BPO industry, railways, airlines and road transport services.

Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of these disorders can prevent serious health conditions and improve the quality of life.

SIR GANGARAM HOSPITAL and NEUROLOGY AND SLEEP CENTRE have taken a step in the direction of increasing awareness among general public about sleep disorders by organizing free Sleep Camps, under the guidance of Dr Manvir Bhatia. These camps provide free consultation by sleep specialists, besides offering dietary advice, yoga training, and psychological counselling related to sleep with provision for blood investigations and sleep studies.

A good night’s sleep takes care of many of the physiological and metabolic parameters of our life.

So look after your sleep and enjoy a good health. Wake up every day feeling refreshed to face the challenges of life with renewed vigour.

Shobha Shukla – CNS

(The author is the Editor of Citizen News Service (CNS), has worked earlier with State Planning Institute, UP, and teaches Physics at India’s prestigious Loreto Convent. Email: shobha@citizen-news.org, website: www.citizen-news.org)



Canadian researchers have decoded opium poppy which will lead to cheaper and mass production of the current costly pain killers. Currently, the morphine is the most used painkiller around the world.

Researchers at Canada’s University of Calgary revealed Sunday that they have decoded the unique genes in the opium poppy that allow it to make codeine and then morphine painkiller.

The enzymes in these unique genes can be harnessed to readily and easily mass produce pain killers, said researchers led by biological sciences professor Peter Facchini.

“The enzymes encoded by these two genes have eluded plant biochemists for a half-century,” Facchini told the Canadian Press Sunday.

“In finding not only the enzymes but also the genes, we’ve made a major step forward. It’s equivalent to finding a gene involved in cancer or other genetic disorders,” said the Canadian professor who has been doing research on poppy opium for about 20 years.

Facchini and fellow researcher Jillian Hagel uses state-of-the-art scanners to unlock the genetic secrets of poppy opium.

Hagel, who herself scanned nearly 23,000 different genes on a tiny slide, finally decoded the gene called codeine /O/-dementhylase which produces the plant enzyme that converts codeine into morphine.

Calling it their ‘eureka moments,’ the Canadian researcher said, “Science is like that. It’s a lot of tedious work, then you have these seconds of sheer excitement because you know you’ve found something.”

Facchini, who has filed a patent for his work, said their discovery will soon help produce morphine cheaper to benefit users.

Their work was published Sunday in Nature Chemical Biology.

Mumbai, March 15 : Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories Friday said it will launch anti-diabetic drug Actos in the US by 2012.

Ranbaxy, majority owned by Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo, said it has settled litigation with the country’s Takeda Pharmaceutical over a generic equivalent version of the medicine and received a non-exclusive royalty free licence for its US patents covering Actos.

“The agreement will allow Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals to bring to patients with diabetes a generic alternative in this therapeutic area,” vice president for sales and distribution Jim Meehan said in a regulatory filing.

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ranbaxy, is based in Florida and engaged in the sale and distribution of generic and branded prescription products in the US. According to IMS Health, Actos had a $3.4 billion market in 2009.

London, Jan 27 (ANI): The world’’s second known “pregnant man” is set to give birth to a baby boy with his transgender husband next month.

Scott Moore and his partner, Thomas, were both born as girls. However, they underwent surgery and hormone treatments to change their sex.

While Scott, 30, is legally married to Thomas, he still has a female birth certificate.

“We know some people will criticise us, but we are blissfully happy and not ashamed,” the Telegraph quoted Scott as saying.

The couple from California already has two adopted boys, Gregg, 12, and Logan, 10,

Both are the children of a former female partner of Thomas’’s.

“We want to show the world that trans-families can be healthy, loving and nurturing,” said Thomas.

Scott originally born a girl called Jessica. He first realised he wanted to be a man when he hit puberty aged 11.

And started taking male hormones at the age of 16, with the consent of his parents. He also got his 36DDD chest removed.

Thomas, who was originally born Laura began his transition aged 19.

He also started taking testosterone in 1999 and had his 44GG breasts removed at the UCSF medical centre in San Francisco in 2004.

(ANI)

Washington, Jan 27 (ANI): A new study by American researchers has shown that changes in body fluid odours can be used to identify presence of lung cancer tumours.

The research by scientists at the Monell Center and collaborators may help in methods to identify potential diagnostic biomarkers for lung cancer in human urine.

Monell biologist Gary K. Beauchamp, a senior author on the study, said: “Cancer tumors result in a change in body-related odours that can be detected both by trained animal sensors and by sophisticated chemical techniques.

“These findings indicate that odour sensing has the potential to improve early diagnostic and prognostic approaches to lung cancer treatment.”

The scientists used a controlled animal model to reduce many confounding factors frequently found in human patient studies.

In behavioural studies, sensor mice were first trained to recognize the scent of urine of animals with lung cancer tumours. The trained sensor mice were then able to use urine odour to make a difference between tumour-bearing from healthy animals.

Chemical examination of urine compounds showed that the amounts of several chemical compounds differed significantly between tumour-bearing and healthy mice. Interestingly, the levels of many of these compounds were lessened in tumour-bearing mice rather than increased, which is often expected.

After experimenting more, the researchers were able to identify tumour-bearing from control mice simply by measuring the amounts of these biomarker chemicals in mouse urine and then creating chemical profiles. This chemical classification was accurate enough to identify 47 out of 50 mice as tumour-bearing or healthy.

The findings show that lung cancers produce changes in odorous compounds secreted in urine and that these changes can be detected and used as markers for the disease.

Steven M. Albelda, a senior author on the paper and William Maul Measey Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said: “Finding new ways to screen for early lung cancers in patients at risk, such as smokers, is one of the best ways we have to reduce the high death rate from this disease,”

Albelda added: “Using the same chemical approaches as in this paper, we hope to be able to detect odors in urine of smokers that could be used to identify lung cancer at a very early stage.”

The study has appeared online in the journal PLoS One, (ANI)