restricting the use of newspapers as food packaging material.
According to the advisory, the use of newspapers for wrapping, packing and serving food is a common practice in India. However, this is a food safety hazard. Wrapping food in newspapers is an unhealthy practice and the consumption of such food is injurious to health, even if the food has been cooked hygienically. Indians are being slowly poisoned due to newspaper being widely used as food packaging material by small hotels, vendors and also in homes in lieu of absorbent paper.
Explaining the logic behind the drive to contain their usage for food items, the advisory mentioned that newspapers and even paper or cardboard boxes made of recycled paper may be contaminated with metallic contaminants, mineral oils and harmful chemicals like phthalates which can cause digestive problems and also lead to severe toxicity. Older people, teenagers, children and people with compromised vital organs and immune systems are at a greater risk of acquiring cancerrelated health complications, if they are exposed to food packed in such material.
ONE IN 100 INDIANS SUFFERS FROM WHEAT ALLERGY
Recognizing the need to create awareness on Celiac disease, an increasingly recognized condition among Indians, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in association with the Celiac Support Organization conducted a session on‘’ Lesser known facts on Celiac disease’.
This disease which is an allergy to gluten, a protein contained in wheat and barley, is being increasingly reported from India. Recent studies from North India suggest that the incidence may be as high as 1 in 100 individuals, which is as high as that reported from Western Europe and North America, considered almost endemic for this disease. Despite this, awareness regarding the disease, in the public remains very poor resulting in delayed diagnosis.
Taking this awareness drive a step forward, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals is Hospitals is joining hands with Hope and Helping Hand Society and Celiac Support Organization is organized a marathon for Celiac awareness on 11th December 2016 at Jawaharlal Lal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, Senior Consultant Pediatric Gastroenterologist & Hepatologist Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, said,“ Till late eighties, celiac disease was considered rare in our country. However, many studies, including the most recent multi centric study carried by ICMR, have shown that the disease affects a significant number of individuals."
LUNG CANCER INCIDENCE AMONG NON SMOKING INDIANS ON RISE
It was considered largely a disease of elderly smoking men till 20 years back, but lung cancer incidence is increasing steadily in women as well as in non-smoking men in India today.
“ While breast cancer remains the leading cancer afflicting women, the incidence of lung cancers are also rising in the fairer sex. However, low survival rates as compared to breast cancer
makes lung cancer deadlier in women. In India, lung cancer constitutes 6.9 per cent of all new cancer cases and 9.3 per cent of all cancer related deaths in both sexes,” says Dr Muzammil Sheikh, Medical Oncologist, Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai.
Dr Anil Heroor, Head of Department of Surgical Oncology, FORTIS Hospital Mulund and Kalyan, Consultant Cancer Surgeon, Anil Cancer Clinic says the incidence is increasing in both men and women but the number of women reporting lung cancer has markedly increased as compared to 10 years back.
“ Common causes attributable to this trend are increase in incidence of smoking in women, exposure to second-hand smoke at home, and other environmental hazards including air pollution. Smoking is the most important risk factor which is said to be responsible for almost 80 to 90 percent of lung cancers. Other factors like passive smoking, exposure to asbestos, radon, metals( arsenic, chromium, and nickel) and radiation are some which may lead to lung cancer,” says Dr Heroor.
MICROSOFT & L V PRASAD EYE INSTITUTE PARTNER TO LAUNCH INTELLIGENT NETWORK FOR EYECARE
Continuing to enhance real life impact through technology, Microsoft India, in collaboration with L V Prasad Eye Institute, on December 19, 2016 launched Microsoft Intelligent Network for Eyecare( MINE). This is a mission-driven global consortium of like-minded commercial, research and academic institutions who have joined hands to apply artificial intelligence to help in the elimination of avoidable blindness and scale delivery of eyecare services worldwide. health
The partner organizations of this consortium include Bascom Palmer- University of Miami, Flaum Eye Institute- University of Rochester( USA), Federal University of Sao Paulo( Brazil) and Brien Holden Vision Institute( Australia). The partner organizations will collaborate and collectively work on diverse datasets of patients across geographies to come up with machine learning predictive models for vision impairment and eye disease. This will include the rate of change of myopia in children, conditions that impact children’ s eyesight, predictive outcomes of refractive surgery, optimal surgery parameters as well as ways to personalize a surgery and maximize its probability of success.
By studying this data and applying advanced analytics with Microsoft machine learning technology to derive insights, MINE will aim to drive strategies to prevent avoidable blindness and help increase efficiency in the delivery of eyecare worldwide. Currently 285 million people are visually impaired, of which 55 million reside in India.
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