Public Health

News papers don’t stop reporting anyone get side effects of herbal drugs or side effects of taking uncontrolled amount of herbal drug. Allopathic drugs also harm or give reactions sometime but I have not seen any adverse report on allopathic drugs. The question is do herbal drugs harm. My simple question is do fruits and vegetables harm human body ? There was report in Hindustan Times about someone developing higher rate of palpitation by taking excessive cups of green tea. There was some report of side effects of taking excess of fenugreek. Put simple logic how much salad do we eat each day…

“What really determines whether fluoride is safe, is the amount that is swallowed,” says Amid I. Ismail, BDS, MPH, MBA, DrPH, and Dean, Temple University, School of Dentistry in Dear Doctor Magazine. (1)  Dr. Ismail says, “Fluoride occurs naturally in soil, fresh and seawater varying dramatically in levels from as low as 0.01 to 8ppm or more....In actuality the “optimal” (most desirable or satisfactory) level is virtually impossible to calculate because of variations in fluoride levels in all sorts of foods and beverages.    'For example, people living in temperate…

I was away from the site for a while now. I have a good excuse for it since all this while- I got my Ph.D. award, my work recognized by my peers and took up a new job – all at one time. Dynamics of my life were seemingly distracting me from writing. However, now I have settled, I am back to writing and blogging. Reading the opening lines, you may have realized that I was quite stressed up with my life, grappling all the frontiers together in a single time frame. I had intentionally pushed myself to this discomforting stressful situation for past some months. Surprised, well- I have come up…

Many of you, especially in the UK will have undoubtedly heard of the collapse of Fabrice Muamba. A Bolton Wanderer's football player, who at the time was playing in a FA cup football match watched by thousands. But is this a one-off or are we scratching at the surface with what happened? Recent media spotlight I’m really glad he made a full recovery and is on his way to regaining his match fitness, albeit at a gradual pace. The tragedy highlighted and sparked debate within the public about such incidences, that even in a fit young male a cardiac arrest can strike. Unfortunately the same level…

Separate Study Links Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure to High Short-Term Mortality   Two studies presented at the International Liver Congress(TM) 2012 show the true impact that liver disease has across Europe. One highlights the financial cost of liver disease to the community and the second highlights the high mortality rates associated with cirrhosis. A naturalistic, multicenter, retrospective, Cost of Illness study (COME) was developed to assess costs occurring in 1,088 patients over six months. Patients enrolled had liver diseases including hepatitis C, cirrhosis, hepatitis B,…

Nnew data presented today at the International Liver Congress(TM) 2012 shows the gut microbiota's causal role in the development of diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), independent of obesity[1]. Though an early stage animal model, the French study highlights the possibility of preventing diabetes and NAFLD with gut microbiota transplantation - the engrafting of new microbiota, usually through administering faecal material from a healthy donor into the colon of a diseased recipient.[2]   In the 16 week study, two groups of germ free mice received gut microbiota…

Close to supermarkets or not, fat poor kids are different than fat rich kids Over the past decade, the American obesity epidemic has provoked a wide range of possible solutions, from soda-pop bans in elementary schools to salad bars in high school cafeterias. Some cities have begun retooling their recreation infrastructure, making playgrounds and public sports fields safer and more accessible. The jury is still out on such measures, but there remain two fundamental truths. One: Obesity, especially childhood obesity, is real and getting worse. Two: Obesity eludes simple, popular fixes. Come…

Why take something for free and feel cheap if you can pay half a grand and support quackery? Precisely! Hangovers from alcohol are almost entirely due to dehydration, read: too little water in your body. Although you drank a lot of water along with the spirit, the alcohol made your body dehydrate; no matter you didn’t even dance enough to break a sweat. Our bodies also do not like the alcohol metabolites, the main problem being acetaldehyde from the action of the liver enzyme alcohol-dehydrogenase, and then acetic acid. I wrote about these and why Asians should be especially careful with…

Euphorbia tirucalli L.: Family: Euphorbiaceae Genus: Euphorbia Species: tirucalli, insulana Common names: English: Indian tree spurge, Milk hedge, Petroleum-plant, aveloz, milk bush, pencil tree, Sehund, Thohra, and Konpal-sehnd. E. tirucalli is a succulent cactus-like plant growing to a height of about 10 m. It was introduced from Africa as a garden plant; and it is now naturalized in tropical areas and rainforests in the Amazon, Madagascar, and South Africa. The main trunk and branches are woody and brown, but the younger branches are green and cylindrical, looking like many pencils and…

"This gum prevents ice crystal formation and also creates the smooth, silky sheen in shampoos. As an additive gum is used extensively by cosmetics, textile, health and paper industry for retaining moisture, emulsifying and maintaining crispiness. For years researchers have been trying to identify this so called 'ice cream gene' which provides energy storage for seeds and cellulose to support cell walls in the guar plant. GS Randhawa, department of biosciences and biotechnology, IITRourkee, who was part of this research team in the final stage of the isolation process said, "This breakthrough…