Editorial

While we are now familiar with the American text books and earlier English books, we were not so familiar with the methods of Russian books. If the English specking countries were cut off from Russian books because of the cold war, it was again thanks to the cold war that we started knowing about Russian work better. After an initial neglect due to underrating of other cultures, in 1 954, when Russia announced that they had also sent a heavy satellite and also could make fusion bomb, every single publication in Russia was made available in English translations by the United States department of commerce and of course atomic energy establishments. Every journal was also translated. The contact with the French culture was again very useful. Simplicity of presentation is the strength of the French. The method of calculating the ground state of the atom, given the electronic configuration is more...

It is a matter of pride for us that scientists of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) at Izatnagar have made a very important contribution for overcoming nagging injuries, particularly in difficult areas such as broken backbones. This is a boon, not only to human beings but also animals, which can be saved in many cases from euthanasia. The stem cells from bone marrow are extracted and transplanted to the damaged part of the body. These cells can turn to any kind of cell that is needed and the body part can work again. Depending on the case, one has to get two to four shots. One of the first trials was on a sniffer dog which suffered a spinal injury causing the loss of legs. The first stem cell shot was successful and the dog could not only get up but even walk briskly. This was tried on another more...

Our hearty congratulations to Dr. Jules A  Hoffmann and Bruce A Beutler and salute and prayers for Dr. Ralph M. Steinman. Dr. Steinman died just before the announcement of the prize but after the selection. The Nobel committee made a great gesture by giving half the prize amount to Steinman's estate. This is a departure from the normal convention of the Nobel committee who do not award the prize posthumously." The outline of the work done by the Nobel prize winners is given below. Innate immunity is the first line of defence against pathogens which cause infection. When a pathogen enters a body, it should be recognized as a foreign body. Then the human body mounts an immune response that destroys the pathogen. Hoffmann, working with fruit flies, identified a gene called Toll, that was necessary for immunity. Thanks to this gene, the body becomes aware of the intruder and more...

The latest application of nanotechnology is in the field of Medicine. To enable half-a-dozen departments in a hospital to study condition of the patient, more than half a dozen times blood has to be drawn from the patient. If one can just take a drop of blood and draw the conclusions, it is a tremendous advance. Researchers in Bombay IIT's centre for excellence in Nano Electronics, have come out with a table top device which uses only a drop of blood of the patient. This kit can show whether a patient has a problem and depending on the condition of the heart the colour of the drop of blood changes. This is assumed to be useful even before ECG can predict the condition of the heart. This is definitely a good device by which one can test himself and the moment there is a tendency for a problem, the patient more...

Indian hospitals are equal to the best in the world and our education is also excellent. It is our fault that the best of students prefer BPO's and MNC's instead of our top universities. But the role of the Governments- States and Centre, are minimal in these two fields. The role is not zero but the bare minimum. We need many government hospitals and private hospitals too. Where there are not many government hospitals, persons have to seek the help of private hospitals. But in private hospitals, the present fee structures and medical expenses will make the middle class broke. Medical expenses are reimbursed by medical insurances. But the insurance money that is paid every year could be more than what a person could save in provident fund. Our biggest challenges at present are in the field of education and health. The solutions for these problems are already there. We more...

Since we wrote an editorial on the unethical methods of high-jacking hospitals by the drug manufacturers, it has come to light that the malise is more serious. The first sin is that the MNC's and other manufacturers are using Indian laboratories for their testing. The money paid to the professor; is a pittance when compared to the capital needed to build laboratories. The second most important sin is the testing of their untried medicines on human guinea pigs without their knowledge. The result of all this is that in the three years of trial and testing, 1500 patients had died. There is no compensation equal to the life lost. How could the manufacturers penetrate the hospitals, including the most prestigious ones ? The professors in charge of clinical research are paid a huge sum by the companies to try their untested medicines. The professors are also members of Ethics committees more...

Recently we learnt from the newspapers, how easily one can set up many research establishments and a battalion of research workers for a paltry sum. Of course as this is medical research, we need guinea, pigs also. But that is not a problem. A dozen foreign companies are successfully making use of this system. The pharma companies are using 40 professors (a professor has his own assistants) and 18 hospitals in a single city alone. The modus operandi is to pay each professor about 50 lakhs of rupees with a share for the hospital. The doctors will be testing the particular medicine developed by the company in their hospitals with trials on the patients who do not know what medicines they are taking and for what purpose. During this process, in 2010 alone, some 25 patients lost their lives. The families of five victims were paid between 1.5 lakhs to more...

There was a lot of opposition to stem cell research even in U.S.A., based on moral grounds. This is because of the various sources for the stem cell collection for human beings. Now stem cell research has arrived. There is at least one field where stem cell research has absolutely no objection. It is in the field of the plant kingdom. Hybridization and grafting had been very successfully used on a mass scale. Thanks to the pioneers of IARI and the many unknown village 'scientists' who have created many new types of mangoes and vegetables. The science of stem-cell research is highly sophisticated. The full processes of this method and propagation and marketing is advocated by many of our television channels in agricultural extension and information programmes and Indian scientists are successfully taking the results to the farmers. Banana is a very important crop in the world, particularly in India. more...

Depression can be due to various reasons- They need not always be due to physical reasons. Often the mind is affected due to various stresses and the morale comes down. This further leads to defeatism and negative thinking. If the mind is affected for a long time, the health is also affected in the viscious circle. The normal method to combat depression is by taking antidepressants regularly. It has now been studied by taking samples of twins that regular use of antidepressants increases the wall-thickness of the arteries. The inner lining of the carotid artery which carries oxygen to the brain is definitely increased in thickness by these medicines. The association between intake of antidepressants and the increase in the intima-media thickness (IMT) has been well established. This leads to the increase in the risk of heart attack .and strokes. Finally, starting from the treatment of depression, one is led more...

It is only right that a brilliant doctor coming from the backwoods should be rewarded, no matter how his college is rated. The Medical Council of India has taken the right step in their decision to give a common lest for all medical graduates so that this certificate will be an additional qualification tor post-graduation studies and employment. To rate all doctors who graduate from a few top institutions as the highest is denying the excellence of other doctors, There is also the additional sin of giving undue advantage to the not so great doctors only because their professors were great. It is true that any institute which has the cream of professors will be able to train the students in better methods of research. These students will be in the top of common tests also. They will not be put to any disadvantage. On the other hand, this common more...