Snoring could spell serious trouble for us

Posted on: 01 Apr 2012

London: Snorers are three times more likely to suffer a potentially fatal blood clot, a new study has found.

Patients diagnosed with the snoring-related condition -- sleep apnoea -- were three times as likely to develop a deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot that forms within a vein, as non-snorers, the Daily Express reported.

The condition is usually linked to immobility, such as in patients lying in hospital beds for long periods after surgery or in long-haul airline passengers.

The latest investigation, carried out by a team of researchers in Taiwan is one of the first to show a link with DVTs, even though previous studies have suggested sleep apnoea may raise the risk of heart attacks.

A DVT is a blood clot in a vein, usually in the leg, which can break off and cause a life-threatening blockage in the lung, known as a pulmonary embolism.

An estimated three million people in Britain suffer with sleep apnoea.

The results of the research have been published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Snoring could spell serious trouble for us

Posted on: 01 Apr 2012

London: Snorers are three times more likely to suffer a potentially fatal blood clot, a new study has found.

Patients diagnosed with the snoring-related condition -- sleep apnoea -- were three times as likely to develop a deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot that forms within a vein, as non-snorers, the Daily Express reported.

The condition is usually linked to immobility, such as in patients lying in hospital beds for long periods after surgery or in long-haul airline passengers.

The latest investigation, carried out by a team of researchers in Taiwan is one of the first to show a link with DVTs, even though previous studies have suggested sleep apnoea may raise the risk of heart attacks.

A DVT is a blood clot in a vein, usually in the leg, which can break off and cause a life-threatening blockage in the lung, known as a pulmonary embolism.

An estimated three million people in Britain suffer with sleep apnoea.

The results of the research have been published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Army Chief relents, sees bid to drive a wedge 


New Delhi: The tension between the government and the Army Chief appeared to have subsided on Friday, with General V.K. Singh blaming some “elements” for trying to drive a wedge between him and Defence Minister A.K. Antony.

“There are some elements in our society which are playing an active role in trying to project a schism between the Honourable Raksha Mantri and the Chief of the Army Staff. This is untrue and needs to be guarded against,” Gen. Singh said in a statement, a day after Mr. Antony sought to ease the tension by asserting that all three Services Chiefs continued to enjoy the government's confidence.

The Minister's statement came after some Members of Parliament demanded the removal of the Army Chief following the leakage to a newspaper of a confidential letter Gen. Singh wrote to the Prime Minister. The outrage was preceded by the Army Chief's interview with The Hindu, in which he stated that he was offered Rs.14 crore as bribe by a retired senior officer.

In his latest statement, Gen. Singh emphasised that the Army was, by extension, part of the government and was duty-bound to serve the country and protect the institutional integrity at all costs, even if it meant introspection. “We are duty-bound to serve our country and protect the institutional integrity of the Army at all cost, even if we sometimes have to looking within. We have to identify, and within the confines of the system and the law expose these elements. The freedom of speech and individual opinion need to be respected, but frivolous and uninformed comment on these issues will only muddy the matter.”

As for the timing of his disclosure of the bribe issue, Gen. Singh said that after he brought it to the notice of the Minister, “certain steps” were taken institutionally to keep a watchful eye on the retired officer who offered him the bribe. Without naming the officer, the statement said that after 18 months, this person resurfaced and launched a “smear campaign” alleging that the Army had eavesdropped on the Defence Minister. “Once the individual concerned had been identified by the Army Headquarters, his identity and antecedents were made public,” the statement said, in an apparent reference to the March 5 press release that named Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Tejinder Singh.

Gen. Singh said that though there had been a string of selected leaks [to the media] in the past, it culminated in the airing of the letter he had written to the Prime Minister. For the Congress, however, there was little to cheer about, as the party faced fresh embarrassment with a newspaper reporting that Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad wrote to Mr. Antony on October 5, 2009, asking him to investigate the Tatra trucks scam, and though a probe was promised, nothing came out.

Unofficially, sources in the party admitted that since the reason Mr. Antony cited for not acting on a similar complaint from the Army Chief was that it was not given in writing, the fact that he did not act either on a fellow Minister's written complaint required an explanation. But, when the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded Mr Antony's resignation in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress came to his defence. 

Army Chief relents, sees bid to drive a wedge 


New Delhi: The tension between the government and the Army Chief appeared to have subsided on Friday, with General V.K. Singh blaming some “elements” for trying to drive a wedge between him and Defence Minister A.K. Antony.

“There are some elements in our society which are playing an active role in trying to project a schism between the Honourable Raksha Mantri and the Chief of the Army Staff. This is untrue and needs to be guarded against,” Gen. Singh said in a statement, a day after Mr. Antony sought to ease the tension by asserting that all three Services Chiefs continued to enjoy the government's confidence.

The Minister's statement came after some Members of Parliament demanded the removal of the Army Chief following the leakage to a newspaper of a confidential letter Gen. Singh wrote to the Prime Minister. The outrage was preceded by the Army Chief's interview with The Hindu, in which he stated that he was offered Rs.14 crore as bribe by a retired senior officer.

In his latest statement, Gen. Singh emphasised that the Army was, by extension, part of the government and was duty-bound to serve the country and protect the institutional integrity at all costs, even if it meant introspection. “We are duty-bound to serve our country and protect the institutional integrity of the Army at all cost, even if we sometimes have to looking within. We have to identify, and within the confines of the system and the law expose these elements. The freedom of speech and individual opinion need to be respected, but frivolous and uninformed comment on these issues will only muddy the matter.”

As for the timing of his disclosure of the bribe issue, Gen. Singh said that after he brought it to the notice of the Minister, “certain steps” were taken institutionally to keep a watchful eye on the retired officer who offered him the bribe. Without naming the officer, the statement said that after 18 months, this person resurfaced and launched a “smear campaign” alleging that the Army had eavesdropped on the Defence Minister. “Once the individual concerned had been identified by the Army Headquarters, his identity and antecedents were made public,” the statement said, in an apparent reference to the March 5 press release that named Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Tejinder Singh.

Gen. Singh said that though there had been a string of selected leaks [to the media] in the past, it culminated in the airing of the letter he had written to the Prime Minister. For the Congress, however, there was little to cheer about, as the party faced fresh embarrassment with a newspaper reporting that Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad wrote to Mr. Antony on October 5, 2009, asking him to investigate the Tatra trucks scam, and though a probe was promised, nothing came out.

Unofficially, sources in the party admitted that since the reason Mr. Antony cited for not acting on a similar complaint from the Army Chief was that it was not given in writing, the fact that he did not act either on a fellow Minister's written complaint required an explanation. But, when the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded Mr Antony's resignation in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress came to his defence. 

Ragging: Malayali engg student succumbs to burn injuries

Bangalore: A Bangalore engineering student Ajmal from Chikkaballapur Engineering College, who suffered burn injuries following ragging, died on Thursday night at about 11.30. 

The body of Ajmal will be brought to Kannur on Friday night.

Ajmal was undergoing treatment at the Bangalore Victoria hospital.

Ajmal, hailing from Kannur, is a first year aeronautical engineering student. The boy's burn injuries continues to be a mystery as different versions were given by Ajmal to the police.

Police are probing if Ajmal tried to commit suicide or was he doused with kerosene by some students. 

Ajmal had first given a statement to the police that he wanted to commit suicide because of ragging. Later, he told police that he was pushed into a toilet of the hostel and his friends had poured kerosene on him and set him afire. Infact, in a previous ragging incident, Ajmal had taken his mother's chain and given it to the seniors.

The police registered a case a few days back and are probing his different versions. What emerged is that Ajmal had been ragged in the past. However, the seniors named by Ajmal were not present in Bangalore when the incident took place.

Ragging: Malayali engg student succumbs to burn injuries

Bangalore: A Bangalore engineering student Ajmal from Chikkaballapur Engineering College, who suffered burn injuries following ragging, died on Thursday night at about 11.30. 

The body of Ajmal will be brought to Kannur on Friday night.

Ajmal was undergoing treatment at the Bangalore Victoria hospital.

Ajmal, hailing from Kannur, is a first year aeronautical engineering student. The boy's burn injuries continues to be a mystery as different versions were given by Ajmal to the police.

Police are probing if Ajmal tried to commit suicide or was he doused with kerosene by some students. 

Ajmal had first given a statement to the police that he wanted to commit suicide because of ragging. Later, he told police that he was pushed into a toilet of the hostel and his friends had poured kerosene on him and set him afire. Infact, in a previous ragging incident, Ajmal had taken his mother's chain and given it to the seniors.

The police registered a case a few days back and are probing his different versions. What emerged is that Ajmal had been ragged in the past. However, the seniors named by Ajmal were not present in Bangalore when the incident took place.

UN to observe Earth Hour

Posted on: 31 Mar 2012

United Nations: The UN will observe Earth Hour Saturday by turning off the lights for one hour at its facilities around the world.

The world body, headquartered in New York, will join scores of other landmarks around the globe that are participating in the Earth Hour event. 

Earth Hour, launched in 2007 in Australia by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which is a global conservation group, calls on people, organisations and cities to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour starting at 8.30 p.m. local time.

This is the third year that the UN joins hundreds of millions of people around the world in switching off the lights, Xinhua reported.

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the UN was turning off its lights 'in solidarity with the men, women and children -- 20 percent of all humankind -- who live with no access to electricity'.

Calling Earth Hour 'a symbol of our commitment to sustainable energy for all', Ban said: 'We need to fuel our future with clean, efficient and affordable energy.'

'By acting together today, we can power a brighter tomorrow. The United Nations is strongly behind this cause from Earth Hour to Rio+20,' the secretary-general said, referring to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development slated for June in Brazil.

In 2011, more than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour to show support for action on climate change.

The Earth Hour event takes place about one week after the vernal equinox -- when night and day are of the same duration in both hemispheres, ensuring that it will be dark everywhere in the world at 8.30 p.m.

UN to observe Earth Hour

Posted on: 31 Mar 2012

United Nations: The UN will observe Earth Hour Saturday by turning off the lights for one hour at its facilities around the world.

The world body, headquartered in New York, will join scores of other landmarks around the globe that are participating in the Earth Hour event. 

Earth Hour, launched in 2007 in Australia by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which is a global conservation group, calls on people, organisations and cities to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour starting at 8.30 p.m. local time.

This is the third year that the UN joins hundreds of millions of people around the world in switching off the lights, Xinhua reported.

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the UN was turning off its lights 'in solidarity with the men, women and children -- 20 percent of all humankind -- who live with no access to electricity'.

Calling Earth Hour 'a symbol of our commitment to sustainable energy for all', Ban said: 'We need to fuel our future with clean, efficient and affordable energy.'

'By acting together today, we can power a brighter tomorrow. The United Nations is strongly behind this cause from Earth Hour to Rio+20,' the secretary-general said, referring to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development slated for June in Brazil.

In 2011, more than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour to show support for action on climate change.

The Earth Hour event takes place about one week after the vernal equinox -- when night and day are of the same duration in both hemispheres, ensuring that it will be dark everywhere in the world at 8.30 p.m.

Your child's milk tooth can save her life

Posted on: 31 Mar 2012

New Delhi: Is your child about to lose her milk tooth? Instead of throwing it away, you can now opt to use it to harvest stem cells in a dental stem cell bank for future use in the face of serious ailments. Now that's a tooth fairy story coming to life.

Still relatively new in India, dental stem cell banking is fast gaining popularity as a more viable option over umbilical cord blood banking.

Stem cell therapy involves a kind of intervention strategy in which healthy, new cells are introduced into a damaged tissue to treat a disease or an injury.

'The umbilical cord is a good source for blood-related cells, or hemaotopoietic cells, which can be used for blood-related diseases, like leukaemia (blood cancer). Having said that, blood-related disorders constitute only four percent of all diseases,' Shailesh Gadre, founder and managing director of the company Stemade Biotech, told IANS.

'For the rest of the 96 percent tissue-related diseases, the tooth is a good source of mesenchymal (tissue-related) stem cells. These cells have potential application in all other tissues of the body, for instance, the brain, in case of diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's; the eye (corneal reconstruction), liver (cirrhosis), pancreas (diabetes), bone (fractures, reconstruction), skin and the like,' he said.

Mesenchymal cells can also be used to regenerate cardiac cells.

Dental stem cell banking also has an advantage when it comes to the process of obtaining stem cells.

'Obtaining stem cells from the tooth is a non-invasive procedure that requires no surgery, with little or no pain. A child, in the age group of 5-12, is any way going to lose his milk tooth. So when it's a little shaky, it can be collected with hardly any discomfort,' Savita Menon, a pedodontist, said.

'Moreover, in a number of cases, when an adolescent needs braces, the doctor recommends that his pre-molars be removed. These can also be used as a source for stem cells. And over and above that, an adult's wisdom tooth can also be used for the same purpose,' Gadre added.

Therefore, unlike umbilical cord blood banking which gives one just one chance - during birth - the window of opportunity in dental stem cell banking is much bigger.

'Of course, age is still a big factor,' added Menon. 'A child's milk tooth has more potency than a wisdom tooth. The ability of a young one's cells to multiply is twice as higher as anyone else.'

Pankaj Kala is one of those who opted for dental stem cell banking for his child.

'I lost my mother to cardiac arrest when she was just 45. She was also a diabetic. After that I decided that I will do everything possible to protect my family from harm. I missed the opportunity of umbilical cord blood banking in the case of my daughter when she was born; so when she was six, we went for dental stem cell banking,' Kala, who is in the jewellery business in Mumbai, told IANS.

'It's been two years now and I have decided to go for the procedure for the second child too. Even my wife will go for stem cell banking using her wisdom tooth. In my case, however, it will be difficult since I had gone for root canal treatment in my wisdom tooth and therefore it's not healthy,' he added.

Anish Jain, another parent who has got his son's milk tooth extracted for stem cell banking, said: 'I know stem cell therapy is a relatively new field, but I didn't want to have regrets later about not doing anything that could help my child if he suffers from any ailment.'

As of now, dental stem cell banking in India is offered by a select few companies, like Stemade and Store Your Cells. The procedure and then preservation of the stem cells can cost around Rs.100,000 for a period of 21 years.

'Around 20 percent of those who have come to us for dental stem cell banking are doctors,' said Gadre, who added they collect 60-70 samples every month.

There are however sceptics.

'Research is still on in stem cell therapy; so to tell people that harvesting your stem cells can save you from any serious disease is still a premature statement,' said a doctor.

(Azera Parveen Rahman can be contacted at azera.rahman@gmail.com)

Your child's milk tooth can save her life

Posted on: 31 Mar 2012

New Delhi: Is your child about to lose her milk tooth? Instead of throwing it away, you can now opt to use it to harvest stem cells in a dental stem cell bank for future use in the face of serious ailments. Now that's a tooth fairy story coming to life.

Still relatively new in India, dental stem cell banking is fast gaining popularity as a more viable option over umbilical cord blood banking.

Stem cell therapy involves a kind of intervention strategy in which healthy, new cells are introduced into a damaged tissue to treat a disease or an injury.

'The umbilical cord is a good source for blood-related cells, or hemaotopoietic cells, which can be used for blood-related diseases, like leukaemia (blood cancer). Having said that, blood-related disorders constitute only four percent of all diseases,' Shailesh Gadre, founder and managing director of the company Stemade Biotech, told IANS.

'For the rest of the 96 percent tissue-related diseases, the tooth is a good source of mesenchymal (tissue-related) stem cells. These cells have potential application in all other tissues of the body, for instance, the brain, in case of diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's; the eye (corneal reconstruction), liver (cirrhosis), pancreas (diabetes), bone (fractures, reconstruction), skin and the like,' he said.

Mesenchymal cells can also be used to regenerate cardiac cells.

Dental stem cell banking also has an advantage when it comes to the process of obtaining stem cells.

'Obtaining stem cells from the tooth is a non-invasive procedure that requires no surgery, with little or no pain. A child, in the age group of 5-12, is any way going to lose his milk tooth. So when it's a little shaky, it can be collected with hardly any discomfort,' Savita Menon, a pedodontist, said.

'Moreover, in a number of cases, when an adolescent needs braces, the doctor recommends that his pre-molars be removed. These can also be used as a source for stem cells. And over and above that, an adult's wisdom tooth can also be used for the same purpose,' Gadre added.

Therefore, unlike umbilical cord blood banking which gives one just one chance - during birth - the window of opportunity in dental stem cell banking is much bigger.

'Of course, age is still a big factor,' added Menon. 'A child's milk tooth has more potency than a wisdom tooth. The ability of a young one's cells to multiply is twice as higher as anyone else.'

Pankaj Kala is one of those who opted for dental stem cell banking for his child.

'I lost my mother to cardiac arrest when she was just 45. She was also a diabetic. After that I decided that I will do everything possible to protect my family from harm. I missed the opportunity of umbilical cord blood banking in the case of my daughter when she was born; so when she was six, we went for dental stem cell banking,' Kala, who is in the jewellery business in Mumbai, told IANS.

'It's been two years now and I have decided to go for the procedure for the second child too. Even my wife will go for stem cell banking using her wisdom tooth. In my case, however, it will be difficult since I had gone for root canal treatment in my wisdom tooth and therefore it's not healthy,' he added.

Anish Jain, another parent who has got his son's milk tooth extracted for stem cell banking, said: 'I know stem cell therapy is a relatively new field, but I didn't want to have regrets later about not doing anything that could help my child if he suffers from any ailment.'

As of now, dental stem cell banking in India is offered by a select few companies, like Stemade and Store Your Cells. The procedure and then preservation of the stem cells can cost around Rs.100,000 for a period of 21 years.

'Around 20 percent of those who have come to us for dental stem cell banking are doctors,' said Gadre, who added they collect 60-70 samples every month.

There are however sceptics.

'Research is still on in stem cell therapy; so to tell people that harvesting your stem cells can save you from any serious disease is still a premature statement,' said a doctor.

(Azera Parveen Rahman can be contacted at azera.rahman@gmail.com)