About 44.3% adults in Karnataka are exposed to passive smoking at their home and 37.2% have to put up with passive smoking in public places, says a new survey.

Global Audit Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted the survey, whose report was released in the banquet hall of Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday. Chief minister Jagadish Shettar, deputy chief minister R Ashoka, cabinet ministers and opposition leaders attended the function.

The survey indicates that more than 28% adults in Karnataka consume tobacco in one form or the other. About 40% male adults and 16% female adults consume tobacco in the state. The estimate puts the number of tobacco users at more than one-and-a-half crore.

On the occasion of the release of the survey report, a few tobacco users who survived cancer narrated their sufferings and pleaded with political leaders to introduce strict norms to discourage the use of tobacco. They said a high-power committee should be set up in this regard and the chief minister/chief secretary should head it. The committee should take a call on issues like controlling the sale of tobacco, raising tax on tobacco products, putting an end to advertising of tobacco products and chalking out strong policies.

Shettar said an alarming number of people lose their life every year because of smoking-induced cancer. He said the state government was spending `3.7 crore to control the use of tobacco products. He said the government had arranged for facilities at Kidwai Hospital to diagnose cancer and treat it.

Former minister Roshan Baig advised parents and adults not to smoke at home or in front of children. He said he himself was a smoker and had picked up the habit after emulating elders. He said he quit smoking owing to health complications, and was feeling better since stopping.

Scientists claimed to have decoded brain activity of monkeys as they were able to predict how two monkeys were planning to approach the same task differently even before they moved a muscle.

Scientists at Washington University in St Louis were able to decode brain activity while monkeys reached around an obstacle to touch a target.

Over the past 30 years, researchers have discovered that clear information can be obtained by decoding the activity of large populations of neurons.

The study published in the online edition of the journal Science demonstrated that multiple parameters can be embedded in the firing rate of a single neuron and that certain types of parameters are encoded only if they are needed to solve the task at hand.

They also discovered that the population vectors could reveal different planning strategies, allowing the scientists, in effect, to read the monkeys' minds.

It was a coincidence that the two monkeys chosen for the study had completely different cognitive styles. One was a hyperactive type, who kept jumping the gun, and the other was a smooth operator, who waited for the entire setup to be revealed before planning his next move, according to scientists.

The difference was clearly visible in their decoded brain activity. "That's what makes this really interesting," Daniel Moran from the School of Medicine at Washington University in St Louis, said.

Seventy per cent of children under 15 suffer from gum diseases, a nationwide survey found out. Conducted by the Indian Dental Association (IDA), it shows dental decay and oral cancer is rising among children.

Dentists say, dental hygiene in children is always neglected and overlooked as compared to lifestyle diseases like obesity and stress. The IDA surveyed 4 lakh children across India, as part of its community health initiative, and found 40% suffering from malocclusion (faulty jawline).

Dr PD Joshi, consultant dentist at Lilavati hospital, says, "At least 75-80% children come to me with cavity problems. Early cavities are leading to more and more children undergoing root canal." The procedure is difficult to do in children as their jaws are not properly formed, which leads to a prolonged treatment, he adds.

Dr Karishma Jaradi, aesthetic dentist, Dentzz dental care centres, said, "We see the dental problems depending on the age group. There's a rise in number of children in the 0-6 age group going for the root canal procedure. Cavities are mainly linked to not brushing the teeth properly after eating."

"Junk and sugary food items are the main culprits. Also, children tend not to pay much attention to oral hygiene. They wake up early for studies, and are in a hurry to leave for school. In their rush, brushing teeth properly takes a backseat," says Dr Ashok Dhoble, IDA secretary.

However, doctors say that dental problems among children are different in urban and rural areas. "In urban areas, we see more of cavity problems than oral cancer. In rural areas, it's the reverse. In a city like Mumbai children eat more of sugary products and junk food, while in rural areas, children start consuming tobacco products," says Joshi.

The IDA is now visiting schools and conducting interactive seminars to teach children the importance of oral hygiene. "Prevention is the best cure. Apart from brushing teeth twice, children should avoid eating chocolates and ice cream between meals," Dhoble says.

The compound, derived from the bryozoan Bugula neritina, a tiny marine organism, could activate latent pockets of the virus that make the disease almost impossible to eradicate, according to researchers at UCLA. Current HIV treatment with antiretrovirals are expensive and require a demanding drug regimen that only affects the active HIV, not the dormant virus found within T-cells. Scientists hope the discovery will lead to a cure for HIV, and possibly for treating cancer and Alzheimer's disease too.

A lack of exercise is now causing as many deaths as smoking across the world, a study suggests.

The report, published in the Lancet to coincide with the build-up to the Olympics, estimates that about a third of adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3m deaths a year.

That equates to about one in 10 deaths from diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and breast and colon cancer.

Researchers said the problem was now so bad it should be treated as a pandemic.

And they said tackling it required a new way of thinking, suggesting the public needed to be warned about the dangers of inactivity rather than just reminded of the benefits of being active.

The team of 33 researchers drawn from centres across the world also said governments needed to look at ways to make physical activity more convenient, affordable and safer.

It is recommended that adults do 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling or gardening, each week.

The Lancet study found people in higher income countries were the least active with those in the UK among the worst, as nearly two-thirds of adults were judged not to be doing enough.

The researchers admitted comparisons between countries were difficult because the way activity was estimated may have differed from place to place.

Nonetheless, they said they remained confident that their overall conclusion was valid.

Pedro Hallal, one of the lead researchers, said: "With the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games, sport and physical activity will attract tremendous worldwide attention.

"Although the world will be watching elite athletes from many countries compete in sporting events... most spectators will be quite inactive.

"The global challenge is clear - make physical activity a public health priority throughout the world to improve health and reduce the burden of disease."

Prof Lindsey Davies, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, agreed.

"We need to do all we can to make it easy for people to look after their health and get active as part of their daily lives," she said.

"Our environment has a significant part to play. For example, people who feel unsafe in their local park will be less likely to use it."

But others questioned equating smoking with inactivity.

While smoking and inactivity kill a similar number of people, smoking rates are much lower than the number of inactive people, making smoking more risky to the individual.

Dr Claire Knight, of Cancer Research UK, said: "When it comes to preventing cancer, stopping smoking is by far the most important thing you can do."