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An international team, including scientists of Indian origin, has  identified 69 drugs  and experimental compounds which may be effective in treating COVD-19. According to the researchers, some of the medications are already used to treat diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and repurposing them to treat COVID-19 may be faster than trying to invent a new vaccine. In the new study, published on the pre-print website bioRxiv, the scientists investigated 26 of the 29 coronavirus genes, which direct production of the viral proteins. "The team took a different approach, targeting host proteins, not viral proteins. 26 out of 29 SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins were studied in human cells to find out what human proteins they interact with," Gina T Nguyen, Assistant Director of Communications & Events, Quantitative Biosciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the US, told PTI in an email. Around 332 human proteins were found to ...

Be Healthy : Bitter melon, or bitter gourd, has served as a traditional Indian remedy for centuries. Recently, bitter melon extract supplements have been gaining popularity as an alternative medication for diabetes. Now, new research in mice seems to suggest that bitter melon extract may help fight cancer. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia), also known as bitter gourd, is a “relative” of both cucumber and zucchini. It originated in the South Indian state of Kerala. It later became more widespread, with China first importing the fruit in the 14th century. It then spread to regions of Africa and to the Caribbean. Traditionally, bitter melon has helped treat many health concerns, and it has recently gained some popularity as a natural remedy against diabetes. The fruit is also a staple of certain Asian cuisines, adding to local dishes’ unique flavor through its specific bitterness. Read Complete Article

Be Healthy : A recent literature review investigates whether turmeric may be useful for treating cancer. The authors conclude that it might be but note that there are many challenges to overcome before it makes it to the clinic. Turmeric is a member of the ginger family. Native to India and Southeast Asia, people have used turmeric root to flavor their food for thousands of years. Historically, people associated turmeric with healing properties. Even now, some hail turmeric as a panacea for all ills. Recently, its popularity has surged, as evidenced by the recent turmeric latte fad. However, as with many things in life, the reality rarely matches the hype. The chemical in turmeric that most interests medical researchers is a polyphenol called diferuloylmethane, which is more commonly called curcumin. Most of the research into turmeric’s potential powers has focused on this chemical. Turmeric as a healer? Over the years, researchers have pitted curcumin against a number o...

Health News : There’s a common expression that goes — prevention is better than cure. Though clichéd, this wise expression has held true for years, inspiring constructive action to address a problem before it’s too late. The proverb is most commonly used to encourage people to take proactive health measures; by going for regular tests and checkups to identify any potential infections as early as possible. According to a report released by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 2018, cancer took more than 700,000 lives in India. This whopping number, excludes the over 2,000,000 Indians who continue to live and suffer from the deadly disease. As per ICMR’s estimate, the death toll is expected to rise to 880,000 by 2020. When it comes to cancer amongst women, the number of breast cancer cases are the highest. According to the ministry of health and family welfare, the incidence of breast cancer is 25.8 per 100,000 women and is expected to rise to 35 per 100,000 women in 202...

Artificial intelligence can spot breast cancer more accurately than doctors, according to a study by Google Health. The technology’s reading of mammograms reduced both false positives, where healthy patients are mistakenly diagnosed with the disease, and false negatives, where the cancer is missed, the Alphabet unit said in a blog post. The system reduced false positives by 5.7 per cent in the US, according to the data from more than 28,000 mammograms performed there and in the UK. Artificial intelligence is particularly good at reading scans, often outperforming experts. Last year, Google published research that showed how the technology could be used to tell whether breast cancer had spread to surrounding lymph nodes, helping pathologists make more accurate diagnoses. Read Complete Article

How long does a cancer diagnosis take? Six months, according to Bipin Jana, 45, whose eight-year-old son Parmeshwar has stage-4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. That is how long it took the family, travelling 2,000 km across West Bengal, New Delhi and finally, Mumbai, to get an effective diagnosis and start treatment. Parmeshwar is currently undergoing chemotherapy at the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbai, India’s foremost cancer treatment centre. Almost half (43.6 per cent) of the children with cancer admitted here had to travel over 1,300 km to reach the hospital, records showed. Up to 10 per cent travelled over 2,200 km and 20 per cent had undergone alternative or incomplete treatments before reaching TMH. With timely diagnosis, children with cancer have a high rate of survival. If he lived in a high-income country, Parmeshwar would have had a 90 per cent chance of recovery. Since he is being treated, his odds are still better than India’s national survival rate for juvenile cance...

Nordic walking, an aerobic activity performed with walking poles similar to ski poles, may benefit patients with breast cancer , according to a review of existing research. The low-impact exercise improved swelling, physical fitness, disability and quality of life, the study authors conclude in the European Journal of Cancer Care. “ The main strategy in rehabilitation for women with breast cancer is a change of habits, where physical exercise is a fundamental tool,” said study co-author Jorge Torres of the Faculty of Educational Sciences and Sports at the University of Vigo in Pontevedra, Spain. “ It’s not easy to turn a sedentary person into an amateur athlete, so sports such as Nordic walking are accepted more easily,” Torres told Reuters Health by email, particularly since the activity doesn’t require expensive equipment, can be done in a group with others, and is easy to learn. Readmore

Complications after skin cancer surgery may be more common in smokers and former smokers, a US study suggests. Researchers examined outcomes after “Mohs reconstruction,” a procedure to remove a skin cancer lesion. Once the cancer is removed, often from the head or neck, surgeons may close the site using a flap made from surrounding tissue or a graft of skin taken from another area of the body. For the study, researchers examined outcomes for 1,008 patients who had Mohs reconstruction with flaps or grafts, including 128 current smokers and 385 former smokers. Compared to people who never smoked, current smokers were more than nine times as likely to have complications like infections, clots known as hematomas, uncontrolled bleeding or dead skin tissue. Ex-smokers were more than three times as likely to have these acute complications. Read Complete Article

A recent research has found that if we observe what cells eat, then it may be possible to diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer . In the study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists have developed a new imaging technology to visualise what cells eat. The team has designed chem ical probes that light up when they attach to specific molecules that cells eat, such as glucose. Researchers used microscopes to watch cells eating glucose inside live zebrafish embryos, which are transparent and easy to observe. They found the technique also worked with human cells growing in the lab. The team said their approach could easily be adapted to look at other molecules that are important for health and disease. All cells rely on glucose and other molecules for their survival. If a cell's eating habits change, it can be a warning sign of disease. Read Complete Article

Experiencing menopause before the age of 45 is associated with a higher risk of bladder cancer particularly among smokers, says a new study. Women who entered menopause before the age of 45 were 45 per cent more likely to have bladder cancer than those who had menopause after 50. However, if these women had smoked, the risk of bladder cancer was 53 per cent greater than women who had menopause later, the researchers said. "We found that smoking women who experienced menopause before they were 45 years old had a greater risk of bladder cancer. Smoking remains the most important risk factor for bladder cancer," said lead researcher Mohammad Abufaraj at the University of Vienna. The study will be presented at the European Association of Urology congress in Barcelona. Besides smoking as the underlying reason for the increased incidence of bladder cancer, other factors such as hormonal changes also leads to an earlier menopause, said Arnulf Stenzl, Chairman ...

Infertility is associated with a Higher risk of developing cancer in women of childbearing age, say researchers including one of Indian-origin. The findings, published in the journal Human Reproduction, showed that infertile women had an overall 18 per cent higher risk of developing cancer compared to women who were not infertile. However, the absolute risk is very low at just two per cent compared to 1.7 per cent among women who are not infertile, found researchers at Stanford University in the US. "We do not know the causes of the increase in cancer that we found in this study, whether it might be the infertility itself, the causes of the infertility, or the infertility treatment," said lead author Gayathree Murugappan. "We can only show there is an association between them," she added. For the study, the team analysed data from 64,345 infertile women who were followed for nearly four years. Read Complete Article

Smoking may damage the immune response against melanoma and limit patients' survival chances, according to a new study. Melanoma patients with a history of smoking cigarettes are 40 per cent less likely to survive their skin cancer than people who have never smoked within a decade after their diagnosis, according to the study, published in the journal Cancer Research. Other researchers have reported that smoking have adverse effects on the immune system, but it is not yet known which chemicals are responsible for this. "The immune system is like an orchestra, with multiple pieces. This research suggests that smoking might disrupt how it works together in tune, allowing the musicians to continue playing but possibly in a more disorganised way," said lead researcher Julia Newton-Bishop, Professor at the University of Leeds. Smoking could directly affect how smokers' bodies deal with the melanoma cancer cells, said the researchers. "Overall,...

With marijuana being legalised across North America, there is a changing perception that sees people believing that weed is the safest recreational drug . However, those assumptions are now challenged in an article in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology that examine the story of a patient who developed chest pain and myocardial ischemia after consuming most of a marijuana lollipop. Speaking about it, expert Alexandra Saunders said, " Marijuana can be a useful tool for many patients, especially for pain and nausea relief. At the same time, like all other medications, it does carry risk and side effects. In a recent case, inappropriate dosing and oral consumption of marijuana by an older patient with stable cardiovascular disease resulted in distress that caused a cardiac event and subsequent reduced cardiac function." According to the report, a 70-year-old man with stable coronary artery disease, taking appropriate cardiac medications at most of a lollipop infused with...

Budget 2019 : Patients suffering from cancer and those treated with chemotherapy may be at 40 per cent increased risk of developing shingles, compared with those not having cancer, finds a new study. Shingles (herpes zoster) -- marked by painful rashes and skin blisters -- is caused by the varicella zoster virus that causes chickenpox. The virus remains dormant in the body but causes shingles if it reactivates later in life. The study showed that patients with a blood-related cancer had the greatest shingles risk of more than three times compared to people without cancer, the Health Day reported. The higher risk among blood cancer patients was present two years before their cancer diagnosis. In addition, those with a solid tumour including cancer in the lung, breast, prostate or other organs had a 30 per cent higher risk of shingles than people without cancer, lead researcher Jiahui Qian from the University of New South Wales in Australia was quoted as saying. ...

Budget 2019 : Like every year, the CES 2019 too witnessed a number of interesting innovations one of them being an AI-powered robot called Kiki. Kiki looks like Eva from the movie Wall-E and has cat ears. The robot is powered by artificial intelligence, which basically means it learns human behaviour over time to respond to situations. According to Cnet, Kiki is a companionship robot. It features a camera in its nose to help identify the environment and remember people. Once it locks on a face, it can track the person by moving its head, much like a real pet would. Depending on your body language, the robot is also capable of identifying if you are upset and will cheer you up by singing or dancing . Even as it is a smart pet, Kiki needs to be fed. Well, almost virtually. When owners are done petting or scratching it, they need to draw common food items, which it recognises through a connected app. Interim Budget 2019

Budget 2019 : Using Oral-B Glide dental floss could contribute to elevated levels of toxic chemicals that can lead to health problems, especially in women, including kidney and testicular cancer, high cholesterol, low birth weight, among others, says a study led by US-based Silent Spring Institute. In the study, the team measured the presence of 11 different PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) -- water- and grease-proof substances -- in blood samples of 178 middle-aged women. The findings, appearing in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (JESEE), showed that women who flossed with Oral-B Glide tended to have higher levels of a type of PFAS called PFHxS (perfluorohexanesulfonic acid) in their body compared with those who did not. "This is the first study to show that using dental floss containing PFAS is associated with a higher body burden of these toxic chemicals," said lead author Katie Boronow, a scientist at the institute...

Business Standard : The findings of a recent study suggest that artificial sweeteners may not help with weight loss. The research, published in the journal The BMJ, also stated that there is not enough evidence on their safety. Growing concerns about health and quality of life have encouraged many people to adopt healthier lifestyles and avoid foods rich in sugars, salt, or fat. Foods and drinks containing non-sugar sweeteners rather than regular ("free") sugars have therefore become increasingly popular. Although several non-sugar sweeteners are approved for use, less is known about their potential benefits and harms within acceptable daily intakes because the evidence is often limited and conflicting. To better understand these potential benefits and harms, a team of European researchers analysed 56 studies comparing no intake or lower intake of non-sugar sweeteners with higher intake in healthy adults and children. Measures included weight, blood sug...

Business Standard : Turns out, the drugs taken during the treatment of breast cancer have some side effects that impact the brain . Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the research established the common marmoset as an important non-human primate model for studying the effects of estrogen-reducing treatments on the nervous system. Letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor used to prevent breast cancer recurrence, have side effects such as mood disturbances and memory issues in both humans and animals as it interferes with the production of estrogens. Little is known about how the drug impacts the brain. Although Researchers administered Letrozole to male and female marmosets via pudding for four weeks and observed many of the same behavioural changes, including hot flashes and increased anxiety. It also compromised the function of neurons in the hippocampus and impaired spatial memory. BS

Business Standard : Over 10,000 Mumbaikars , including cancer patients and farmers, will march for healthy and 'toxicity-free' good foodstuff grown naturally without using deadly chemicals or pesticides, an organiser said here on Friday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is expected to lead the Help Our Society Health (HOSH) Walk with celebrities on Sunday morning. The event is organised by AmbaGopal Foundation in collaboration with Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital and University Of Mumbai. According to the AmbaGopal Foundation founder-trustee Harish Shetty, the HOSH Walk is the first-ever initiative of its kind in Mumbai, intended to highlight how people suffer in different ways by unknowingly consuming foods that are laced with dangerous chemicals , besides air and water pollution compounding problems. "We have also launched a public campaign demanding a complete ban on the use of all chemical fertilisers or pesticides in agriculture, and to ...

Business Standard : According to a recent study, only some women who are at higher risk of developing breast cancer think they need to take a drug proven to help prevent the disease . The researchers, led by a team from the University of Leeds, asked more than 400 women at a higher risk of breast cancer, whether they thought they needed to take tamoxifen and their concerns about medication. Around 72 per cent said that they were worried about the long-term effects of tamoxifen and 57 per cent believed that the drug would give them unpleasant side-effects. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of Clinical Breast Cancer . The researchers found that almost 29 per cent of women thought doctors prescribed too many medicines, and more than 35 per cent thought that the doctors would prescribe fewer drugs if they had more time. Around a quarter 24 per cent of them had experienced bad reactions to medicines in the past. Almost 24 per cent of women thought pe...