Chennai, India – The arrival of Zika, seemingly out of nowhere, on the global health scene and hitting media headlines around the world almost daily, as well as the appearance of Yellow Fever virus for the first time in China…
Category: Medicine
7 Cancer-Fighting Culinary Spices and Herbs
Ginger Ginger has long been used in folk medicine to treat everything from colds to constipation. Ginger can be used fresh, in powdered form (ginger spice), or candied. Although the flavor between fresh and ground ginger is significantly different, they…
More vitamin C in your diet means lower risk of cataract
Including vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables in your diet can prevent your eyes from developing cataract, a new study in twins has found. Cataract is a common condition in which the lens of the eye becomes cloudy as a…
Stroke is no longer a disease only of the elderly
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and adult disability, but quickly recognizing the signs of it and seeking immediate medical care from specialists can minimize the effects of the disease or even save a life, say an…
Heart attack patients getting younger and more obese
Despite increased understanding of heart disease risk factors and the need for preventive lifestyle changes, patients suffering the most severe type of heart attack have become younger, more obese and more likely to have preventable risk factors such as smoking,…
How dogs can sniff out diabetes and cancer
By Liz Langley The black Labrador retriever recently detected a drop in blood sugar in 7-year-old Luke Nuttall, who has Type 1 diabetes. His glucose monitor didn’t pick it up, but Jedi did—and woke up Luke’s mother, Dorrie Nuttall, as…
Parkinson’s: researchers discover point at which protein harms brain cells
Researchers may be closer to unraveling the underlying causes of Parkinson’s disease, after identifying the point at which alpha-synuclein – a protein believed to play a key role in the condition – becomes toxic to the brain.Researchers found that a…
Ladies need to worry about these 5 diseases that can kill them
Another Women’s Day came and went but women’s risk of troubling, and potentially fatal, diseases will remain the same unless they proactively put themselves and their health at par with their family and friends. Heart disease Heart disease kills more…
Reduce prices of medicine, medical equipment: Experts
Experts at a roundtable on Saturday stressed the need for reducing the prices of medicine and lowering the tax to import the machineries related to detection and providing treatment to critical diseases. They also urged the government to take step…
Scientists find cancer’s ‘achilles heel’ the body could be trained to attack
By VICE News A landmark discovery about the genetic make-up of tumors means scientists believe they have now found a way to get the human immune system to recognize cancer as an enemy and attack it. A team of scientists…
Misinformed medicines are causing epidemic death worldwide
Medicine manufacturers are causing biased information to be given to doctors about the efficacy of drugs, causing an epidemic of misinformed practitioners that is “costing hundreds of thousands of lives” across the world, it has been claimed.
New cancer treatment gives exciting results
By James Gallagher A therapy that retrains the body’s immune system to fight cancer has provoked excitement after more than 90% of terminally ill patients reportedly went into remission. White blood cells were taken from patients with leukaemia, modified in…
‘Sexually Transmitted’ Case of Zika found in Texas
The first known case of Zika virus transmission within the United States has been reported in Texas, and was likely contracted through sex rather than a mosquito bite.The announcement was made on Tuesday by local health officials in Dallas, one…
What is Asthma And COPD?
Defining a patient’s symptoms using the historical diagnostic labels of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an outdated approach to understanding an individual’s condition, according to experts writing in the European Respiratory Journal on Sunday.
Is Who secretariat’s medicines shortage proposal windfall for big pharma?
Geneva (K M Gopakumar) – A proposal by the World Health Organization secretariat to address shortage of medicines would be a windfall for big pharmaceutical companies. The 138th session of the WHO Executive Board is to consider a Secretariat document…
Meeting on non communicable diseases Wednesday
Dhaka – The global epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs*) is now widely acknowledged as a major development challenge in the 21st century and a significant threat to achieving internationally agreed development goals. NCDs are the leading causes of death worldwide.…
5 facts about cervical cancer you should know!
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in India, with approximately 1.32 lakh new cases of cervical cancer being diagnosed and about 74,000 deaths occurring annually, accounting for nearly one-third of cervical cancer deaths across the…
Trial of a new Painkiller Left a Person Brain Dead
The trial of a new painkiller has gone drastically wrong in France, leaving one person brain dead and five others in a serious condition.On Friday, one source apparently familiar with the situation initially said the drug was a cannabis-based drug.…
Is the cure for cancer real or rhetoric?
by Jen Christensen, CNN (CNN)President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address announced a new national “moon shot” effort to cure cancer. “For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the…
Heartburn pills linked to kidney disease
A new study suggests that people who take popular heartburn pills known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may be at risk to develop chronic kidney disease, as compared to individuals who don’t use these drugs, Reuters says. “There appears to…
Charlie Sheen seeks alternate treatment for HIV
Charlie Sheen admitted on Tuesday that he has been off his HIV medication “for about a week now” and is seeking alternative treatment in Mexico.“I’ve been off my meds for about a week now,” he said on “The Dr. Oz…
Delaying aging with nanoparticle in food
A study in flies suggests that iron oxide nanoparticles in food could potentially enhance lifespan by reducing oxidative stress. AsianScientist – Scientists have found that feeding flies nanoparticles can promote longevity. The results of this study have been published in…
Type 2 diabetes risks dementia
People with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk for dementia in general. And for one form, called vascular dementia, diabetes brings more risk to women than men, according to a new review.The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s…
Climate change increasing vector-borne diseases
Dhaka – Bangladesh’s parisite experts have said that the frequency of vector-borne parasitic diseases is increasing in human and animals as weather has effects on vector population dynamics and disease transmission. They also said that high temperature and humidity favours…
Cancer rates up in lower-income states
While incidence and mortality rates from several common types of cancer in many high-income countries have gone down, many low-and middle-income countries have seen cancer rates rise, partially due to increases in risk factors that are typical of Western countries,…
TB control faces fund problem in BD
Bangladesh’s tuberculosis control programme is facing new challenges with the shrinking of global funds to fight this infectious disease and rapid urbanisation, experts say.International reviewers have advised Bangladesh to reduce donor dependency for the tuberculosis control programme as global funding…
Prostate cancer therapy may increase Alzheimer
Men taking a treatment for prostate cancer known as androgen deprivation therapy may be almost twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than men not taking ADT, a study has found.While the research in the December 7 issue of the…
LabAid Hospital fined Tk 10 lakh for keeping unauthorised drugs
A mobile court has slapped LabAid Hospital in Dhaka with a Tk 10 lakh fine for keeping “low-quality”, unauthorised medicines. The drugs were found during a raid by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) police unit on the hospital in Dhanmondi…
Do financial contributions from ‘pharma’ violate WHO guidelines?
Geneva (K M Gopakumar) – Millions of dollars given by major pharmaceutical companies to the World Health Organization (WHO) raise questions of compliance with the organization’s guidelines on interactions with commercial enterprises. Currently, WHO’s relations with commercial enterprises are guided…
Sugar-free drinks also bad for teeth
If you have switched to sugar-free drinks to avoid tooth decay, don’t be rest assured that you have got rid of the problem. Even sugar-free drinks and foods may kick-off tooth decay, dentists have warned.The researchers from University of Melbourne…