A safe, non-surgical cure for breast cancer has been offered in the form of a method that includes freezing tumors with streams of super-cold gas, say researchers.

The "ice-ball" created around a tumour by the jabs not only kills it off but also cuts the recurrence risk, reports The Daily Express.

In a technique known as cryotherapy, fine needles are used to inject the freezing gas around the tumour.

To reach the conclusion, boffins conducted a trial that was carried out on 13 patients who had all refused to have breast operations to remove their tumours.

They remained cancer-free up to five years later when doctors saw no sign of the disease returning and noted no significant complications, experts found.

Dr Peter Littrup, interventional radiologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, who led the study, said the findings suggested freezing tumours was both safe and effective.

"Minimally invasive cryotherapy opens the door for a potential new treatment for breast cancer and needs to be further tested," he said. "When used for local control and - or - potential cure of breast cancer, it provided safe and effective breast conservation."

In this method, cancer cells are destroyed within minutes of the injections and the patient suffers little pain or scarring.

The study was presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Florida.

Cigarette, bidi and other tobacco packets including gutka and zarda would, from June 1, have to portray disturbingly gory pictorial health warnings in order to make tobacco control measures more effective. The pictures would be of a repelling blood-oozing cancerous mouth, that too in colour. They would replace the existing ones like a scorpion or a diseased lung in black and white.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has issued a notification on the amendments to the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules 2008 for specifying the new mandatory pictorial health warnings on both smoking and smokeless forms of tobaccos in the market. They would come into force from June 1 this year.

The necessity to change the pictorial warnings was felt as the conventional warnings like the scorpion and the lung were perceived to have not yielded the desired results. The pictures were soft and thereby ineffective in weaning people away from tobacco or preventing new addictions. The new picture of a cancer-stricken mouth is very strong to the point of being repulsive.

The warning has been put into paper after a vigorous field testing conducted by Voluntary Health Association of India and Healis Sanskaria Institute in both rural and urban settings across eight states. More than 98 per cent people said the notified warning instilled deep fear and would be effective in conveying the dangers of tobacco consumption. "Both smokers and non-smokers in Orissa said that this picture will have a lasting impact on the viewers' mind and discourage people from developing the habit of tobacco consumption," Itishree Kanungo of VHAI said.

By selecting an evidence based graphic health warning, the Union Government has taken a right step since it will effectively communicate the risks and dangers of tobacco use, especially to users with low literacy levels and children, VHAI chief executive Alok Mukhopadhyay said.

Successful treatment for gum disease cuts the risk of pregnant women giving birth early, US research suggests.

The preliminary research showed those whose gum disease was not treated successfully were three times more likely to give birth before 35 weeks.

The study of 160 women was presented to the annual conference of the American Association for Dental Research.

UK experts said the finding was "controversial" but advised pregnant women to take care of teeth and gums.

Doctors have previously established that severe gum infections cause an increase in the production of prostaglandin and tumour necrosis factor, chemicals which induce labour, to be produced.

The study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania enrolled women who were between six and 20 weeks' pregnant.

All of the volunteers had gum disease. These women were given treatment, which was successful in one third of the cases.

The researchers found a "strong and significant association" between successful treatment and full-term births.

Those whose treatment did not work were "significantly more likely" to give birth before 35 weeks.

'Controversial area'

UK experts warned that this was a small study and further research was needed.

Professor Iain Chapple, from Birmingham Dental School, said this was a "controversial area", and that while some previous studies had shown an association between gum disease and early births, others had shown no association.

He said the results "could reflect behavioural differences in the successfully treated group versus the unsuccessfully treated group" such as "poorer diets, smoking status, alcohol intake and many other issues".

But Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said: "This paper adds to the growing evidence around links between gum disease and pre-term babies.

"It is further strong evidence that pregnant women should take care of their periodontal health and receive appropriate treatment during their pregnancy to reduce as far as possible their chance of a pre-term birth."

'Only one clue'

This advice was echoed by the pregnancy research charity Tommy's.

Its consultant midwife, Annette Briley, said: "Women in the UK do get free dental care during pregnancy and for a year after the baby's birth.

"It is therefore good to go to the dentist early in pregnancy and ensure that your mouth, teeth and gums are as healthy as they can be.

"However, the causes of preterm birth are multifactorial and many women with no periodontal disease may still have their babies early, this is only one clue to one cause."

As the world observes World Kidney day, it is shocking to know that upto 80 percent of critically ill newborns in our country suffer from Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), commonly known as Acute Renal Failure.

As many as 30 - 50 % of patients in the ICU and about 5% of hospitalized children overall have this condition.

Again, Chronic Kidney disease (CKD) together with End stage renal disease (ESRD) has a worldwide incidence of 75 - 350/million population.

Approx. 3,00,000 ESRD children exist in India with fewer than 5% receiving renal replacement therapy.

Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is commonly precipitated by -Acute Gastro Enteritis, blood loss, shock, inflammation of the Liver (Known as Fulminant Hepatitis), heart failure etc. In this background, assessing Kidney function precisely assumes particular significance.

Early detection of a functional abnormality leading to a prompt intervention can prevent significant kidney damage. Unfortunately, as of now we don't have many diagnostic methods or tests in place, which could help us detect these abnormalities early especially before the disease has become clinically manifest.

Kidney function so far is gauged by creatinine & its small rise increases risk of mortality. Creatinine tends to be an unreliable indicator of AKI (Variations with age, gender, muscle mass & metabolism, hydration status) & does not change until 50% of Kidney function is lost.

In the near future there would be novel biomarkers for early detection & management of kidney injury including Urine panel of NGAL, IL-18, KIM-1, & Plasma panel of NGAL & cystatin C. These biomarkers are sensitive much before rise in Sr. creatinine.

Various drugs & agents including painkillers & anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, herbal & alternative medicines also cause kidney injury.

The Symptoms & Signs are often Subtle & hidden! Laboratory investigations include detailed blood and urine analysis with radio imaging. Management of AKI (Accute Kidney Injury) is treating the basic causes, management of complications e.g. Fluid overload, Hypertension, etc. Occasionally dialysis is required to sustain kidney function.

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is a common cause of chronic kidney damage. 150 million people per year become infected. 5% of general practitioner visits are for UTIs. Prevalence - In girls <1 year is 6.5%, boys is 3.3%, in girls >1 year is 8.1%, boys is 1.9%, <1 year, uncircumcised boys have a 10 fold increase in risk.

Urinary Stone Disease: "Renal stone disease in children is not uncommon, and can present in classical or atypical manner. It is more common in children < 5 years, with 90% of infective causes. Stones have to be removed; Antibiotics are an important treatment modality. The Long-term outcome is Good, with < 10% recurrence. A metabolic cause can be identified in 50% of the cases", says Dr. P.P. Singh, Sr. Consultant Urologist, Batra Hospital.

Overall, formulating strategies for controlling CKD is of the utmost importance. Control of CKD is with managing fluid electrolyte disturbances, hypertension, protein in urine, obstructive changes etc., Medication for hypertension, control blood sugar levels in diabetics, lifestyle changes especially in adolescents, including physical exercise, avoiding smoking and alcohol intake, restricting sodium intake etc. are all important. CKD must be detected early, regular screening of children in "at risk" category & Nation wide school screening programmes are crucial for detection of Proteineuria, Haematuria, Hypertension etc.

Disproving the beliefs that only the close ones, family members and relatives can give away their kidneys, professor Susan Hou, an internationally renowned renal expert from Chicago had created history seven-and-a-half years back when she donated her kidney to her own patient.

On Monday, she was in the city to give a talk on renal disorders in pregnant women ahead of the World Kidney Day on March 11.

It is believed to be the first time when a physician had donated an organ to an unrelated patient since living unrelated transplants don't happen too often.

The lady doctor changed the relationship between a doctor and patient and took organ donation to a higher level. Susan Hou is an expert on renal disorders in pregnancy and a humanitarian and her husband professor Mark Moli is an expert on prolactin, endocrine testing during pregnancy and management of many endocrine problems during pregnancy.

In an interview, Susan said, "If we believe in the brotherhood of men, then there should be no second thought in donating your kidneys to anybody as no donation is unrelated." Speaking about her donation experience, she just said, "It felt great." In fact every nephrologists should donate his kidney for the cause of healthcare, she noted. Though her husband Mark was worried the day before the surgery, post that he was fine, said Susan. She said that donors should be sensitised too and they should be aware that health complications can crop up after donation.

It is an irony that at the time when she donated her kidneys, there was a lot of criticism from India stating that in countries where women's rights are not recognised, this kind of practice will force them to donate their kidneys for their husbands.

But today, times have changed, says Susan.