Jai Ho

Washington: Indirubin, a herbal compound used in traditional Chinese remedies might beat deadly brain tumours.

Indirubin is derived from the Indigo plant, an active ingredient in the Dang Gui Long Hui Wan formula that is used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia.

Researchers from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Centre (OSUCCC) discovered indirubin, a compound that blocks migration of glioblastoma cells and endothelial cells, halting them from forming cancerous blood vessels.

(The endothelium is the thin layer of cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels).

Glioblastomas affect about 18,500 Americans annually and kill nearly 13,000 of them yearly. It is the most common and lethal form of the brain cancer malignancy, with an average survival of 15 months after diagnosis, the journal Cancer Research reports.

'We have pretty good methods to stop glioblastoma from growing in the human brain, but these therapies fail because tumour cells migrate from the original site and grow elsewhere in the brain,' says co-principal investigator E. Antonio Chiocca, professor in neurological surgery at Ohio.

'Our findings suggest that Indirubin offers a novel therapeutic strategy for these tumours that simultaneously targets tumour invasion and angiogenesis,' Chiocca says, according to an Ohio statement.

Angiogenesis is the process involving the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels.

Definitely an acquired taste, bitter gourd (Latin Momordica charantia) is also called Balsam pear or bitter melon. Young immature bitter gourds are the best for cooking: the skin is bright green in color, the flesh inside is white, and the seeds are small and tender. The vegetable is ridged, and the skin is pebbly in texture. Do not use mature bitter gourds, and do not eat bitter gourd if you are pregnant or nursing.


Bitter gourd contains vitamin A, B1, B2, and C. It also contains minerals like calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper and potassium. From the ayurvedic perspective, bitter gourd is excellent for balancing Kapha. It helps purify blood tissue, enhances digestion, and stimulates the liver.


As the name implies, this vegetable is a melon that is bitter.  There are two varieties of this vegetable:  One grows to about 20 cm long, is oblong and pale green in color.  The other is the smaller variety, less than 10 cm long, oval and has a darker green color.

New research suggests that a daily helping ofcheese could increase the risk of bladder cancer. 

Eating more than 53g – roughly the same size as a small chocolate bar – raises the chance of the disease by 50 per cent. 

On the other hand, a daily portion of olive oil, can more than halve the risk of getting the disease. 

Researchers set out to discover if saturated fats, such as those found in meat and dairy products, made cancer more likely and healthier fats, such as olive oil, offered some protection. 

They studied the eating habits of 200 bladder cancer victims and compared them with 386 volunteers who had not developed tumours. 

The results showed eating cheese had little effect unless the amount exceeded 53g a day. After that, the risk went up by more than half. 

But the Dutch and Belgian researchers stressed the numbers of people in the study may be too small to conclude that cheese is a major health threat and called for further investigations to verify their findings. 

Other foods, such as fish, chicken, eggs and margarine, appeared to have little effect. 

"We found a potentially protective effect from a high intake of olive oil and a suggestive increased risk from high cheese consumption," the Daily Mail quoted the researchers as saying. 

• Mix lime juice, honey or sugar crystals to the juice of curry leaf and drink it. This prevents nausea and dry vomiting.
• For Hair: Heat oil and add some curry leaves. When the curry leaves turns dark black remove the oil from heat and let it cool down. Store in a glass container. Apply this oil on your head and leave it overnight. This helps prevent premature aging of grey hair and also nourishes the hair roots. This oil also acts as a very good stimulant and helps in hair growth.
• Mix curry leaf with finely chopped ginger. Mix it with rice and take it early  in the morning instead of water which will reduce dizziness, stomach disorders and constipation.
• Grind Curry leaf, black pepper corns, dried ginger, little cumin seeds and salt to a fine powder . Mix it with rice, make two small balls and eat it.

Washington: Something as simple as sitting for long periods in one posture daily is fraught with grave risks, especially for women.

Such women are two to three times more likely to develop a life-threatening blood clot in their lungs than more active women, according to a new study.

This is the first study to prove that a sedentary lifestyle increases your risk of developing a pulmonary embolism - a common cause of heart disease.

Pulmonary embolism develops when part, or all, of the blood clot travels through the bloodstream from the deep veins in the leg and up into the lungs. Symptoms include difficulty in breathing, chest pain and coughing, reports the British Medical Journal.

While other studies have explored the relationship between physical activity and pulmonary embolism, few data are available linking the condition with physical inactivity.

Christopher Kabrhel, of the department of emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues studied 69,950 female nurses over an 18-year period providing detailed information about their lifestyle habits by completing biennial questionnaires.

They found that the risk of pulmonary embolism is more than two times higher in women who spend most time sitting (more than 41 hours a week outside of work) compared with those who spend least time sitting (less than 10 hours a week outside of work), according to a Massachusetts statement.

The results remained conclusive after taking account of factors such as age, body mass index and smoking, adding to the evidence that physical inactivity is a major cause of this condition.

The study also shows that physical inactivity correlated with heart disease and hypertension could be one of the hidden mechanisms that link arterial disease and venous disease.