The Capital remained firmly in the grip of dengue, with 68 more patients testing positive for the vector-borne disease on Friday. With this, the total number of cases has touched 2,153.

Delhi has reported five dengue deaths this season. During the same period last year, the number of cases of the vector-borne disease in the city was only 18, while it was 294 and 52 in the corresponding periods of 2008 and 2007.

Civic bodies are attributing the rapid increase in dengue cases this season to the prolonged monsoon and stagnation of water at Games construction sites.

The dengue outbreak has also caused concern among several countries, which are supposed to send teams for participating in the Games. The government has reassured them that all possible steps are being taken to tackle the menace, and the Capital is safe for holding the event.

The Delhi high court slammed the Centre on Wednesday for introducing "irrational" vaccines without conducting research. It directed the Centre to consider every aspect before launching any vaccine into the national immunisation programme.

"The government should look into the side-effects of the vaccine and the costs involved in introducing it," a division bench of chief justice Dipak Misra and justice Manmohan said. The bench has asked the government to formulate a policy and has slated the matter for hearing on December 8.

The government has already constituted a high-level committee headed by scientist Dr NK Ganguly to study the new vaccination policy, additional solicitor general AS Chandhiok told the bench.

The court was hearing a petition filed by retired health secretary KB Saxena, who alleged the government "in the absence of a rational vaccine policy, was introducing newer vaccines having little or no utility into the national immunisation programme, at the behest of vested interests" such as WHO without proper research.

Saxena's plea sought a stay on the introduction of Hepatitis B, Pneumococcal, Hib and Pentavalent vaccines in the universal immunisation programme, till the time an independent body, devoid of conflict of interest, carries out requisite studies.

"At a time when the government has failed to ensure every child receives these vaccines, new vaccines of questionable utility and efficacy are being introduced in an arbitrary and irrational manner, and at huge cost," advocate Prashant Bhushan argued.

The petitioners have, therefore, sought judicial intervention for the formulation of a "rule-based rational vaccine policy".

Cholera and other water-borne diseases that have claimed 39 lives since August have infected 355 more people in Orissa's Rayagada district, an official said Wednesday.

According to the latest data the state health control room received Wednesday night from the district, the number of people and villages affected by the diseases have risen from 784 to 1,139 and from 156 to 240 respectively.

However, there has been no report of fresh deaths from the district. 'The death toll remains at 39,' an official of the control room told IANS.

Cholera and diarrhoea outbreaks are not new in Rayagada district, which has been visited by the water-borne diseases almost every monsoon as rainwater slush from hilltops contaminates water sources.

The district, some 390 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, is among the most underdeveloped parts of the country and is often in the news for starvation deaths.

Till date, sugar has had a bad reputation and is linked seriously to the cause of heart disease, obesity, cavities, hyperactivity in children, and diabetes.

The fact is that sugar per se is a source of 'empty' calories - that is, it provides no nutritional value aside from energy - but it certainly isn't the dietary villain it has been portrayed as.

This white crystalline substance is essential part of our biological system. "There's one organ that runs almost entirely on sugar; the brain. The brain needs the glucose to function properly and you need a pre-activated brain before you face the first challenge at your workplace. Sugar keeps your brain active. It is the fuel for the body to provide energy throughout the day." says Dr. Kajal Pandya, Senior Dietician, Sita Ram Bhartiya Institute of Science & Research Centre, New Delhi.

The hormone called 'insulin' is needed for sugar to be used as fuel for the body. And it is produced by the pancreas and it helps sugar move from the bloodstream into the cells which require energy. Diabetes, a metabolic disorder is not caused by consuming carbohydrates, including sugar. It is caused by the body not being able to produce enough insulin or it is unable to properly use the insulin that is produced. Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes disrupt the body's ability to convert blood glucose (commonly referred to as blood sugar) into energy.

The result is that too much sugar stays in the bloodstream and not enough sugar gets into the cells of the body where it can be used as fuel. This ensures that eating sugar is not the cause for diabetes.

So, not only sugar but other carbohydrates are also converted into glucose. The matter of fact is to manage one's diet along with some physical activity, is very important once a person develops diabetes.

Myths and Facts

Myth1: Eating sugar in large quantity causes diabetes.

Fact: Type 1 diabetes is caused due to destruction of more than 90% of the insulin-producing cells, present in pancreas, which is not related to sugar consumption at all. Type 2 diabetes results. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas continues to produce insulin, sometimes even at higher than normal levels. However, the body develops resistance to the effects of insulin, so there is not enough insulin to meet the body's needs.

Myth 2: Diabetics can never eat sweets.

Fact: Diabetics can eat a certain amount of sugary food as part of a balanced diet, but they need to control the total amount of carbohydrates they eat. Sweets provide only calories, no nutrition so sweet should be limited - but not eliminated.

Myth 3: Low-carbohydrate diets are good for diabetics.

Fact: Carbohydrates are preferred by body as the source of energy. Low-carbohydrate diets are overloaded with proteins and fats. Following a high-fat, high-protein diet over the long term may increase the risks of heart and kidney disease. People with diabetes should adopt a meal plan that helps them in balancing carbohydrate consumption with medication and exercise to control diabetes.

With number of deaths due to diarrhoea and cholera in Orissa's Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) districts and more specifically Rayagada district on the rise, the state government on Monday pressed the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), specialised in search and rescue operations during disasters, to bring in patients from inaccessible areas.

In a re-run of the 2007 cholera outbreak in which 150 people died in Rayagada alone, 49 people have died in the district due to cholera and diarrhoea till now.

Despite the administration pressing more medical teams to the affected areas in Rayagada, many more were reported sick. About 666 patients from 102 villages have been treated over the past weeks in the district.

The near-epidemic situation in the districts has been caused by contaminated water. In Rayagada, six persons have died since Sunday while three died in Gajapati district.

The announcement doubling cash incentive to bring in patients from interior villages have had little effect on the deathtoll.

The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked state Health and Family Welfare Minister Prasana Acharya and Health Secretary Anu Garg to rush to Rayagada.