Thursday, May 17, 2007

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 17: Hyderabad sits on carbon monoxide poisoning, a highly
dangerous gas that was once used by kings to execute people.
The average peak level of carbon monoxide or simply CO in the city
atmosphere for the months of January, February, March and April was 18 mg
per cubic metre per hour as against the standard level of 4 mg/cm and
permissible level of 12 mg/cm.
Worse is the case with high traffic areas like Panjagutta where the peak CO
level for the first four months of this year was 26 mg/cm, according to AP
Pollution Control Board ambient air quality studies. The recordings were as
high as 23 mg/cm in Paradise and Charminar and as low as nine mg/cm in
green areas like Nehru Zoological Park and Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
National Park.
City doctors link high incidence of breathing-related problems, nausea and
convulsions among Hyderabadis to constant exposure to vehicular CO
emissions. Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas known to man as
early as 300 years before the birth of Christ and it has emerged as the
single
largest cause of accidentally poisoning among Americans. Increasing number
of vehicles and frequent traffic snarls have turned Hyderabad as one of the
few cities in the country with high CO exposure rates.
"Carbon monoxide can lead to respiratory chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease and allergic bronchitis. It can even lead to death in case of heavy
exposures. At low levels, CO leads to reduced oxygenation which may cause
forgetfulness, fatigue and insomnia. We have been receiving many such cases
of late," says Dr A Raghu, consultant physician at Apollo DRDO Hospital.
This gas has the tendency to freely mix with the blood stream leading to the
formation of carboxyl haemoglobin.
The danger from this gas can be gauged from the fact that haemoglobin
prefers CO to oxygen. The haemoglobin molecule likes to take 200 times
more CO than oxygen, he points out adding that the high levels of CO
concentration in Hyderabad atmosphere will prove disastrous to the health of
the people in the long run.
Though 2.5 per cent carboxyl haemoglobin (at a CO limit of 30 mg/cm for
one hour) is recognised as definitely harmful to health, experts around the
world have now set a standard limit of one per cent carboxyl haemoglobin
(12 mg/cm for one hour). This means in Hyderabad the peak CO level is
more than twice the standard limit.
Senior pulmonologist Dr Pradyut Waghray attributes the high levels of CO in
Hyderabad to fumes from industries and exhaust from diesel vehicles.
"Respiratory cells get affected by carbon monoxide. It also hits RBCs and
reduces oxygen carrying capacity of the blood," he says adding that constant
exposure leads to chronic persistent respiratory asthma.

Hyderabad sits on carbon monoxide poisoning

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 17: Hyderabad sits on carbon monoxide poisoning, a highly dangerous gas that was once used by kings to execute people.
The average peak level of carbon monoxide or simply CO in the city atmosphere for the months of January, February, March and April was 18 mg per cubic metre per hour as against the standard level of 4 mg/cm and permissible level of 12 mg/cm.
Worse is the case with high traffic areas like Panjagutta where the peak CO level for the first four months of this year was 26 mg/cm, according to AP Pollution Control Board ambient air quality studies. The recordings were as high as 23 mg/cm in Paradise and Charminar and as low as nine mg/cm in green areas like Nehru Zoological Park and Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park.
City doctors link high incidence of breathing-related problems, nausea and convulsions among Hyderabadis to constant exposure to vehicular CO emissions. Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas known to man as early as 300 years before the birth of Christ and it has emerged as the single largest cause of accidentally poisoning among Americans. Increasing number of vehicles and frequent traffic snarls have turned Hyderabad as one of the few cities in the country with high CO exposure rates.
"Carbon monoxide can lead to respiratory chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease and allergic bronchitis. It can even lead to death in case of heavy exposures. At low levels, CO leads to reduced oxygenation which may cause forgetfulness, fatigue and insomnia. We have been receiving many such cases of late," says Dr A Raghu, consultant physician at Apollo DRDO Hospital.
This gas has the tendency to freely mix with the blood stream leading to the formation of carboxyl haemoglobin.
The danger from this gas can be gauged from the fact that haemoglobin prefers CO to oxygen. The haemoglobin molecule likes to take 200 times more CO than oxygen, he points out adding that the high levels of CO concentration in Hyderabad atmosphere will prove disastrous to the health of the people in the long run.
Though 2.5 per cent carboxyl haemoglobin (at a CO limit of 30 mg/cm for one hour) is recognised as definitely harmful to health, experts around the world have now set a standard limit of one per cent carboxyl haemoglobin (12 mg/cm for one hour). This means in Hyderabad the peak CO level is more than twice the standard limit.
Senior pulmonologist Dr Pradyut Waghray attributes the high levels of CO in Hyderabad to fumes from industries and exhaust from diesel vehicles. "Respiratory cells get affected by carbon monoxide. It also hits RBCs and reduces oxygen carrying capacity of the blood," he says adding that constant exposure leads to chronic persistent respiratory asthma.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

India is a cradle of languages

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 9: India has long been known as the sojourn of early human
migration from Africa and latest research studies by city scientists based on
male sex chromosome shows that the country also served as the cradle of
languages.
The forefathers of Austro-Asiatic linguistic family originated in India and
later dispersed themselves to different places, according to a joint study by
the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and
Molecular anthropology group of Biological Anthropology Unit of Indian
Statistical Institute and the Shillong-based North Eastern Hill University's
Department of Anthropology.
The Austro-Asiatic linguistic family is considered to be the oldest
in the country and people who speak these languages are scattered all over
Southeast Asia. The scientists' team analysed the male Y-chromosome
to trace the origin and historic expansion of Austro-Asiatic groups of India.
The report was published online in the latest issue of science journal of
international repute BMC Genetics. The city team studied genetic data of
1222 individuals from 25 Indian populations, covering all the three branches
of Austro-Asiatic tribes, Mundari, Khasi-Khmuic and Mon-Khmer. The
team, comprising among others Dr Lalji Singh, K Thangaraj and BM Reddy,
compared the data with the already available scientific information on 214
relevant populations from Asia and Oceania.
The results suggested a strong paternal genetic link, not only among the
subgroups of Indian Austro-Asiatic populations but also with those of
Southeast Asia. However, maternal link based on mitochondrial DNA is not
evident.
The haplogroup in the Austro-Asiatic populations had originated around
65,000 years ago and the ancestors of this linguistic family carried it
further
to Southeast Asia via the Northeast Indian corridor. "Subsequently, in the
process of expansion, the Mon-Khmer populations from Southeast Asia seem
to have migrated and colonised Andaman and Nicobar Islands at a much later
point of time," the study pointed out.
The present findings are consistent with the linguistic evidence, which
suggests that the linguistic ancestors of the Austro-Asiatic populations have
originated in India and then migrated to Southeast Asia. Four major
linguistic
groups, Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian, Indo-European and Tibeto-Burman, are
present in the Indian sub-continent and the ancestors of speakers of these
languages might have entered at different points of time.
The Austro-Asiatic languages include Mundari, spoken by a number of tribes
living in Chota-Nagpur plateau in Central and Eastern India, Mon-Khmer
(Nicobarese and Shompen tribes from Andaman and Nicobar islands) and
Khasi-Khmuic (Khasi subtribes from Northeast India).
The team sampled almost all the Austro-Asiatic populations of India covering
the entire geographic and micro-linguistic heterogeneity inherent among
them, including the molecular genetic data on the Austro-Asiatic Khasi from
Northeast India, considered as an important corridor for human
migrations to Southeast Asia.
"Austro-Asiatic populations of India are not only linguistically linked to
Southeast Asian populations but also genetically associated. It is most
likely
that these populations have come from Central Asia through the Western
Indian corridor and subsequently colonised Southeast Asia, although more
data on Y-chromosome and mtDNA are needed from other relevant
populations to draw firmer conclusions," the study pointed out.

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Indian doctors link heart diseases to food habits

2007
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, May 5: Aping the West in food and lifestyle is proving to be dear to people in Andhra Pradesh with heart diseases linked to food habits emerging as the leading cause of death.
According to a recent survey published by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, ischemic heart disease characterised by reduced blood supply to the heart has been killing 13.21 per cent of people in Andhra Pradesh. It is the cause of death in 12.2 per cent of women and 14.08 per cent of men.
Incidentally ischemic heart disease tops the 10 important causes of death in people of the State.
Doctors link the disease to smoking, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, excessive use of hydrogenated fats (vanaspathi) and foods containing high cholesterol levels. So far, ischemic heart disease has been the major cause of death in the US and Europe. That it has emerged as the top killer in Andhra Pradesh is a cause for concern, says senior cardiologist Dr PC Rath.
In patients suffering from ischemic heart disease the flow of blood to the heart is obstructed and thus the heart is deprived of oxygen. This leads to death if not attended to immediately. According to Dr Rath, a little change in lifestyle and food habits will help in controlling cardiovascular diseases.
Cerebrovascular disease (bleeding in brain or cutting supply of blood or oxygen to the brain) is the second leading cause of death in Andhra Pradesh, though it is the third leading cause of death in the West. Cancer or malignancy, which is the second leading cause of death in the West, is incidentally the 10th cause of death in Andhra Pradesh.
While lower respiratory (lung) infections is the third over all leading killer in the State, diarrhoeal diseases occupy the third position in case of women and tuberculosis in case of men. Self-inflected injury is the seventh leading killer both among men and women while asthma and stomach cancer is the eighth major cause of death among men and women respectively, according to the CBHI report.
Road accidents occupy the 10th slot in case of men and dementia (group of disorders relating to brain) is the 10th cause of deaths among women. Cirrhosis of the liver is the cause of 2.19 per cent of deaths among men but incidentally it is absent among women. Cirrhosis is linked to alcohol.
Women tend to be more prone to unintentional injuries than men. Statistics show that 4.09 per cent of deaths in women and 3.81 per cent of deaths in men are attributed to unintentional injuries.