Health

Extensive dumping of poor‑quality PVC resin with high levels of carcinogen compounds by China poses a significant public‑health risk in India, and timely enforcement of the proposed Quality Control Order (QCO) is necessary, a report said on Thursday, November 13.  The report by Centre for Domestic Economy Policy Research (C-DEP.in) launched here said that PVC currently contributes to nearly 30 per cent of use cases in India’s economy, with widespread use across water, sanitation, irrigation, healthcare, construction, and infrastructure. PVCs from China contain Residual Vinyl Chloride Monomer, a Category 1A carcinogen, at concentrations up to five times higher than globally accepted safety limits, the report noted. The United States, the European Union, and Thailand regulate Residual Vin...

Prevalence of hypertension or high blood pressure among children and teenagers has nearly doubled in the last two decades, from 3.2 per cent in 2000 to over six per cent in 2020, according to a global analysis published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health journal. Left unaddressed, hypertension can lead to cardiovascular and kidney disease. Estimates also suggest that nearly a fifth of the world`s children and adolescents with obesity have hypertension -- about eight times the prevalence among those having a healthy weight (2.4 per cent), researchers including those from the UK`s University of Edinburgh said. The findings suggest obesity is a substantial driver of the increase in childhood hypertension. Obesity tends to cause other issues, such as insulin resistance and changes in...

An analysis of four million lab test reports by an online healthcare company in India suggests that every other person could be having high levels of blood sugar. About half of the men and women who tested were found to have had a high blood sugar or `hyperglycaemia`. Further, over 90 per cent of those having a high blood sugar also showed an abnormality in parameters of liver, lipid, heart or thyroid, the `Diabetes: The Silent Killer Sweeping Across India` report by PharmEasy said. Findings of the analysis published ahead of World Diabetes Day on November 14 also show a 22 per cent improvement in blood sugar levels among those who retested within six months, highlighting how regular monitoring can be crucial to managing diabetes effectively, the authors said. Diabetes tests conducted ...

A 52-year-old woman from Mumbai, who had been struggling with poor vision due to high myopia and cataracts, has regained her eyesight and confidence after undergoing advanced cataract surgery.Surajita Swain, a homemaker from Mumbai, lived with a very high number for many years that kept increasing, making her dependent on heavy spectacles. When cataracts developed, her vision worsened drastically, affecting her work, social interactions, and daily comfort. Even basic activities like reading, cooking, and recognizing faces became difficult. Assuming that once again her number has increased, she decided to meet an ophthalmologist this time instead of her routine specs person and visited Apollo Spectra Hospital in search of some relief from her discomfort. The surgery was performed by Dr Nus...

Researchers in Australia have led a first-in-human trial for a breakthrough gene-editing therapy that halves bad cholesterol and triglycerides in people with difficult-to-treat lipid disorders.  The trial tested CTX310, a one-time CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing therapy that uses fat-based particles to carry CRISPR editing tools into the liver, switching off the ANGPTL3 gene. Turning off this gene lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides, two blood fats linked to heart disease, according to a statement released Monday by Australia`s Monash University. The Victorian Heart Hospital, operated by Monash Health in partnership with Monash University, treated three of 15 patients aged 18-75 years with difficult-to-treat lipid disorders in phase 1 of the global trial conducted across Australia, N...

A research team from Nagaland University, the only Central university in the state, has partnered with an Assam-based private varsity to carry out the first comprehensive scientific study on Goniothalamussimonsii, an endangered and endemic medicinal plant found in the forests of Meghalaya. Long used by indigenous communities to treat gastrointestinal complications, throat irritation, typhoid fever, and malaria, this plant had never before been studied for its scientific or pharmacological potential. Nagaland University officials said that the study provides scientific validation for the plant’s traditional use and reveals that G. simonsii is a rich source of bioactive phytochemicals with potent antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities. Using advanced analytical tools and co...

A team of researchers from Japan has successfully treated spinal fractures in animal models using stem cells from fatty tissue.  The team from the Osaka Metropolitan University used stem cells extracted from adipose -- the body’s fatty tissue -- to treat spine fractures in rats similar to those caused by osteoporosis in humans. These cells offer the advantages of being easy to collect, even from elderly individuals, and causing little stress to the body, suggesting a non-invasive way of treating bone diseases. Bone regeneration and strength were significantly improved in rats transplanted with the adipose tissue (ADSCs). The genes involved in bone formation and regeneration were also activated. The study was published in Bone and Joint Research. “This study has revealed the potential ...

Medical specialists have warned residents of Delhi-NCR about a severe health crisis triggered by the high air pollution in the region. Dr Arvind Kumar, Thoracic (Chest) Surgeon & Lung Health Specialist, Medanta Hospital, said that hospitals are seeing a spike in cases related to effect of pollution The NCR Region faces poor air quality with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 345 at 8 am. on Monday, placing the national capital firmly in the `very poor` category. While talking to ANI, Dr Arvind Kumar described how hospitals are overwhelmed with respiratory cases, especially among children, due to air pollution. It includes symptoms like cough, cold, fever and difficulty breathing. "There are patients all around. Everywhere, children are being brought to hospitals coughing, snee...

"We have discovered the secret of life," said American scientist James Watson in 1962, along with Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick, as the trio shared the Physiology and Medicine Nobel Prize for the DNA`s double helix structure discovery.  Famous geneticist Watson, who died at 97 as confirmed by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the US -- where he worked and researched for decades -- was associated with one of the greatest breakthroughs of the 20th century. Although DNA was discovered in 1869, it took scientists until 1943 to discover that it made up the genetic material in cells. To date, the structure of DNA remains a mystery. Watson died on Thursday, November 6 (US time) after a brief illness, according to a statement from his former employer. “I think early on, I wanted to do some...