India completes three years without polio

India has completed three years without polio, a landmark achievement which would pave the way for a polio-free certification from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the health ministry Monday said. The ministry said 40,000 reporting units, including health facilities, annually report 60,000 cases of paralysis to the polio surveillance network – National Polio Surveillance Project. […]

E-cigarette ‘smoke’ raises health ministry’s ire

The union health ministry has told the civil aviation ministry and Air India that the display of electronic cigarettes in some of its publications violates the law against tobacco advertising. In separate letters to the ministry of civil aviation and Air India sent this week, the health ministry said Air India through discount booklets “Air […]

Polio drive begins in Peshawar amid heavy security

Authorities launched a polio drive in Pakistan’s Peshawar city and adjoining areas Sunday morning amid heavy security, a media report said. The authorities suspended mobile phone services and banned pillion-riding, citing security reasons. The ban would be effective from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday when the polio vaccine would be administered to children, Dawn […]

New laser that can detect disease in your breath!

Here comes an exciting new laser that can detect very low concentrations of gases – paving the way for accurately analysing breath for disease diagnosis and remote sensing of critical greenhouse gases. The physicists at University of Adelaide in south Australia have developed a new type of laser that produces 25 times more light emission […]

Humans got four limbs because of belly

The secret behind humans having four limbs is hidden in their belly! If we believe researchers at University of Vienna and the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, the paired appendages in backboned animals (with jaws) have modified dramatically in the course of evolution – into fins, legs, arms, flippers and wings – […]

Drinking during pregnancy could lead to badly behaved kid

A new study has suggested that indulging in a drinking binge even once during pregnancy could have long lasting effects on the child’s behaviour in later years. According to the Danish study, the infants exposed to one or two binges of alcohol in the womb were more likely to have short attention spans and be […]

US FDA bans more products from Ranbaxy

In another setback to Ranbaxy, the US drug regulator has prohibited the Indian drugmaker from producing and distributing drugs for the US market from its Toansa facility in Punjab. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Thursday notified Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd that its facility in Toansa had been added to the consent decree of permanent […]

Diabetes runs at home: Indian-origin researcher

You are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes if your spouse has it. According to a new research led by an Indian-origin scientist at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) in Montreal, Canada, living together under one roof could also imply sharing diabetes. “We found a 26 percent increase in the risk […]

Human touch key to rehabilitate patients better

It does take two to tango when it comes to performing a physical task better. According to a new study, human touch is the key and people improve their performance more when they practise with a partner rather than on their own. Scientists from Imperial College London and two Japanese institutions explored whether physical interaction […]

Get married to have better bones!

Are you 25 or older? Getting married won’t be a bad idea for the health of your bones, especially spinal ones. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), found evidence that men who married when they were younger than 25 had lower bone strength than men who married for the first time at […]