How veggies protect against cancer

A new research by scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham has shown how vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage help reverse or prevent cancers and other aging-related diseases.

"Your mother always told you to eat your vegetables, and she was right,” says co-author Trygve Tollefsbol, a biology professor in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences. “But now we better understand why she was right - compounds in many of these foods suppress gene aberrations that over time cause fatal diseases.” Epigenetics is the study of the changes in human gene expressions with time, changes that can cause cancer and Alzheimer’s, among other diseases. In recent years, epigenetics research worldwide, including numerous studies conducted at UAB, have identified specific food compounds that inhibit negative epigenetic effects.

Those foods include soybeans, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. Green tea, fava beans, kale, grapes and the spice turmeric round out the diet.

"The epigenetics diet can be adopted easily, because the concentrations of the compounds needed for a positive effect are readily achievable,” says lead author Syed Meeran, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in Tollefsbol’s UAB Department of Biology laboratory.

"Compounds in the epigenetics diet foods can, at the very least, help us lead healthier lives and help our bodies prevent potentially debilitating diseases like breast cancer and Alzheimer’s,” Tollefsbol says.

The research review is published in the journal Clinical Epigenetics.

Giving museums a life

ramod Kumar's story should make a good movie: young man gets an MBA, leaves hometown, works in the corporate sector in Mumbai and then quits it all to pursue his passion for arts and culture, turns entrepreneur and a sought-after museologist. And so far, there have been only inspiring twists to this story.

New Delhi-based Pramod Kumar K.G. was in the city, his hometown, to participate in the World Dance Forum that brought together academics and artistes last weekend. Sitting in his home in Jawahar Nagar, Pramod goes through the various milestones in his life so far.

Managing Director of Eka Cultural Resources and Research, Pramod started out with a regular nine-to-five job in Mumbai with Apollo Hospitals, more than a decade ago. Even during the two years he spent in corporate India, Pramod read extensively on textiles, art management and culture. In fact, as he was marketing healthcare services, he was involved with a commercial art gallery project at Apollo.

The decision to quit the comfort of a secure corporate job came quite easily to Pramod who grabbed a life-changing opportunity and moved to Delhi. Working with Rajeev Sethi, the well-known scenographer and designer gave Pramod his first major break in the field of art and culture.

“I was the head of a research project for the Smithsonian Museum, Washington,” he says, chronicling the rich and significant impact the international project had on him. For Pramod, this prestigious Smithsonian project was even better than getting a degree in Museology as it gave him hands-on training and exposure to the art and culture of 22 countries.

Jaipur festival

Armed with this experience, Pramod moved to another city, painted vibrant-pink with history and culture – Jaipur. It was there that he met John and Faith Singh of the Jaipur Virasat Foundation that was waiting to meet the right person to organise the Jaipur International Heritage Festival.

Pramod went on to work with the festival and ran it for a year. “At that time, back in 2004 or so, this was the only city festival in India,” he says, underlining the experience he gained from working with the Foundation.

It was around then that Pramod and a few friends realised there was a need to promote reading and books in Jaipur. What started out as an idea for a book club became the Jaipur Literature Festival. He directed the first edition of the festival in 2005.

It was around the same time that he set up India's first museum on hand-block printing – the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing in Jaipur. The next milestone was his work with the Alkazi Foundation in New Delhi. During his four years with the Foundation, Pramod worked with Ebrahim Alkazi to bring his entire collection of photographs to India. The Alkazi collection of photography is considered India's largest archive of 19th and early 20th century photographs.

Soon after, another challenging and prestigious project came along: to be the consultant curator of the City Palace Museum-Udaipur. It was then that Pramod realised it was time to set up his own consultancy and Eka was born.

Eka is perhaps the sole cataloguing and archiving company in India today. “We catalogue and archive collections in India and abroad, create galleries and spaces for art, curate and facilitate dialogues between museums in different parts of the world,” he explains.

The jewel of Jodhpur

Mehrangarh is sheer majesty. As I stand high above the city looking down from the Fort, the past and present seem to fuse seamlessly. Below are the painted houses of the old Brahmin quarter that make Jodhpur a blue city, in contrast to the pink of Jaipur. The Mehrangarh Fort has an allure all its own — the massive citadel reaches out to you with its mixture of history, aesthetics and legend; and, the fact the kingdom it once defended is uniquely situated at the edge of the Thar Desert. Jodhpur owed its legendary wealth to being located on the famed Silk Route — it is easy to stand here and imagine camel caravans carrying silk, spices and gems.

The Fort, whose construction was begun by Rao Jodha in the mid 15th Century, is excellently maintained, thanks to Gaj Singh, the present scion of this ancient dynasty. The floors are spic and span, and there is no trace of cobwebs on the beautifully-latticed jharokhas. There are so many of these balconies, looking like finely-crocheted lace, sculpted painstakingly from the sandstone that is unique to the historic buildings of Rajasthan.

Only in India!

The entrance to the fort brings memories of the cobbled path leading to the Tower of London. But then, only in India will you have an elephant gate! A few chambers have been converted into well-maintained museums to house the splendid possessions of this dynasty — a variety of hookahs, cradles, arms, Ragamala paintings. “This is a three-in-one — gun, sword and spear,” says our turbaned, angrakha-clad guide pointing to a deadly weapon. Another famed exhibit is Emperor Akbar's sword. The fort was witness to the changing relationship between the Mughals and the Rathore rulers — often allies and sometimes adversaries. Palanquins are in plenty as are elephant howdahs with images of bemused-looking tigers flanking the seats. “This palanquin was gifted by the Queen of England to the then maharani when she visited London.” We see an odd-shaped carriage showing an unfamiliarity with the idiom of palanquin-making.

A documentary explains how Gaj Singh managed to turn adversity into advantage after the abolition of the privy purses. He turned to tourism and helped generate revenues for Rajasthan. Also touched upon are his efforts to bring water to a water-starved area.

Climbing stairs is never more profitable than in Rajasthan. We enter glittering glass walled and painted chambers — Sheesh Mahal, Rang Mahal, Phool Mahal, Moti Mahal, Takhat Vilas… The fort and the palaces with their seven gates (pols) were built over a period of 500 years. The Zenana Deodhi, the women's quarters, is the oldest surviving part of the palace. Pointing to a tiny chamber, the guide says: “Here is where the royal births would take place; the midwife would drop a lemon to the ground below to indicate the arrival of a new royal.”

Do you want to visit the temple of Goddess Chamundi, we are asked. We nod sombrely — it was here that many people lost their lives in a stampede recently. The goddess is the tutelary deity of the Rathore rulers.

We return via the Loha Pol, which has palms carved on the walls. These commemorate the women who passed through the gate on the way to the funeral pyres of their husbands. We make our way down gloomily, and our spirits rise only when we turn back from our vehicle to see the majestic Mehrangarh outlined against the sky.

Indian infants make 25 per cent of global diarrhoea deaths

Indian infants, below the age of five, make for one-fourth of the total global deaths due to diarrhoea-related causes, experts here said on Wednesday.

“Of the 610,000 infants below the age of five years who die because of severe gastroenteritis or diarrhoea, nearly 152,000 are Indians. The disease burden of rotavirus associated diarrhoea is attributing to high child mortality rate in the country,” said Rohit Agarwal, president-elect of the Indian Association of Pediatricians at the launch of pentavalent rotavirus vaccine in the country.

RotaTeq vaccine, priced at Rs.900, is aimed to help children fight rotavirus gastroenteritis, also the cause of severe and fatal diarrhoea among infants below five years.

“India suffers from high disease burden of the rotavirus associated diarrhoea which also leads to high child mortality rate in the country. We are also in talks with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to introduce the vaccine in public health centres,” said K.G. Ananthakrishnan, Managing Director of MSD pharmaceuticals.

The vaccine has been approved in 98 countries of the world as per the prequalification status granted by the World Health Organisation.

Globally, rotavirus causes approximately 114 million cases of diarrhoea, while every one in 200 children below the age of five dies due to the virus in the country.

A few days of dry spell in the third week of November last year bestirred us to forage into the eastern portions of Indira Gandhi National Park in search of less known pre-historic remains.

We chose a Sunday, (November 21) for our trip to Maraiyur that is cradled in between the hill ranges of Udamalpet and Munnar of Kerala State. It was evident that there was a downpour the previous night in Udamalpet and its surrounding areas. It became more evident when we touched Kurichy Kottai village, a few kilometres from Udamalpet, on the Udamalpet-Munnar road.

As we progressed on the Munnar road, there was hope of seeing some of the pre-historic remains.

Maraiyur is located at a distance of 40 kilometres from Udamalpet. An hour-and-a-half drive from Maraiyur leads to Munnar, the home of tea and thar. The Udamalpet range and its thick flora looked greener due to the sharp showers received. This chunk of forest falls under Indira Gandhi National Park. Crossing the Tamil Nadu forest check-post, we were led into the Chinnar Games Sanctuary. Beyond it lies the Alampetti tribal centre where trekking to Thoovanam waterfalls, amidst dolmen and rock art, high on the hill. Staying in camp in log houses are arranged. Since these tourist destinations are situated on different routes, a guide fee of Rs.100 per individual is levied for each trip. We planned to visit these places on our return journey from Kovilkadavu, near Maraiyur, where we witnessed the pre-historical remains.

We drove to Maraiyur, which is five kilometres away from Alampetti. But instead of heading straight to Maraiyur, we decided to take diversion and reached Kovilkadavu, a small township on the banks of Pambar River. It is located in the valley below the Munnar road.

Dolmens of pre-historic age

Overlooking Kovilkadavu are rock outcrops where dolmens of neolithic and megalithic ages are sighted. We went up to two such rocky outcrops, one on the road–side leading to a Ramar temple and the other at the backyard of Government Higher Secondary School on the upper stretch of the road that connects Maraiyur.

Near Ramar temple, which commands the view of the surrounding hills of Munnar Range and Kovilkadavu, we could see dolmens of Pre-historic Age. They are ascribed to megalithic age dating back to 10,000 B.C. They are 70 cm in height, built with rough granite stone slabs on three sides and a cap stone placed over them to serve as a roof. The stones used were all roughly hewn.

Prevention is better than cure when it comes to chronic diseases

That prevention is better than cure was the loudest message at the World Kidney Day event at the Madras Medical College here.

While longevity had increased substantially, it did not necessarily mean good quality of life, Principal Secretary, Health, V.K. Subburaj pointed out.

A number of non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, hypertension and stroke were causing health problems for the people living longer. It is believed that there are 100 crore people across the world with hypertension, and that the figure is only set to increase. About one crore people globally developed kidney disease every year, and 10 lakh of them go for dialysis. About a lakh need kidney transplant, but only about 5,000 transplants were being done, he added.

“The main reason for this is the changed lifestyle of the people – fatty diets, lack of exercise and high cholesterol levels,” he explained. While self-discipline is essential for those who live with a chronic disease, all efforts will be wasted if the patient's family does not co-operate.

N. Gopalakrishnan, head, Nephrology department, Madras Medical College, explained the genetic predisposition south Indians showed for Diabetes Mellitus. In addition, there were diet and environment factors. With high blood pressure and blood sugar, the chances of get kidney disease would rise proportionately. Also, these factors were silent at onset and no signs or symptoms that would aid detection are present in the beginning. However, every one over 40 years must have an annual check up at least once a year to ensure that any chronic disease is picked up early and treated.

Once kidney disease sets in, treatment procedures are available, including dialysis for patients with end stage disease. A number of people would require transplantation, Dr. Gopalakrishnan added.

Tamil Nadu had evolved a system by which cadaveric organs could be used for transplant, and this had enabled a number of patients with end stage kidney disease to get a new lease of life. The waiting time for a kidney had also been cut down substantially, J.Amalorpavanathan, convenor, State Cadaver Transplant Programme, said.

Weave of glory

At a time when the Parsi-Zoroastrian community records a drastic decrease in its population with every count, what's the point of basking in its glorious past, a few cynical minds can always ask, but a balanced outlook will only appreciate the agenda behind “Parsi Panorama” a four-day festival celebrating different aspects of Parsi culture with a thrust on its textiles.

Dr. Shernaz H. Cama, Director of the UNESCO-Parzor Project, aimed at documenting different aspects of the community, tells you that the dwindling numbers are a reason to be concerned, but that can't be interpreted as a void of traditions in the community. However small it may be in numbers — the last census conducted in 2001 put the Parsi population at 64,000 in India which is dropping by 10 per cent every year — Parsis remain a vibrant society, very proud of its heritage.

“Parsis are either looked at as a highly westernised society or very rich people. We are neither. The idea is to present Parsi culture as a living tradition,” says Cama. The UNESCO-Parzor Project, in collaboration with the Craft Revival Trust and India International Centre, gives a peek into lesser known rituals and customs of the small community, which is believed to have migrated to India from Persia in the 7th Century following an attack on Persia by Arab armies.

With a large part of the festival unfolding before viewers the rarely known world of Parsi textiles, including embroidery and exotic and forgotten stitches, the emphasis on Parsi crafts become clear. Cama, establishing the relationship with the craft of weaving, informs us, “Every Parsi has to wear a sacred girdle called kusti around the neck and that's woven.” She adds that nature was a source of abundant joy to Parsi culture and Parsi women wove motifs like flowers, peacocks and the bird of paradise to express their happiness.

So, kors, which are exquisitely embroidered sari borders, gara, embroidered saris (a traditional Chinese silk sari which is an important part of the trousseau of a Parsi bride), ijaras, a special kind of salwar that Parsi women wore, jhablas, coats worn by children, will be displayed to give the viewers a sense of Parsi craft techniques. Some of the aforementioned items are a century old, and one particular jhabla dates back to 1830.

The viewers will be able to savour these visual delights and, in addition, a variety of stitches like Gujarati mochi stitch, ari, which is a fine chain stitch again from Gujarat, pieces of tanchoi weave and the one-of-its-kind khako stitch — known as The Forbidden Stitch, since it was so fine and complex that executing it made women go blind. Cama informs us that the last practitioner of the stitch is still alive but blind and lives in Navsari.

The organisers are also bringing in Kusti weavers who will be doing live demos for the guests. Toran making will also be showcased. “Parsi torans are different from Gujarati torans because they are woven — that too in glass,” says Cama, whose Parzor has been researching into the origin, development, techniques of Parsi textiles since 1999 aiming to preserve the craft forms. “The basic idea is to present a grassroots Parsi culture. On the one hand, the community is dwindling in numbers but on the other, traditions are kept alive in tiny places like Navsari and Bharuch in Gujarat,” states Cama. Despite the low numbers of Parsis living in Navsari and Bharuch — Navsari has 2000 Parsis and Bharuch has less than a 100 — the culture has been well preserved here.

Another section on photographs, both recent ones on the water harvesting system, traditional medical healers and original archival photos, besides photos by famous Parsis like Homai Vyarawalla, Sam Maneckshaw will also be displayed. A series of workshops teaching Parsi embroidery techniques — single silk thread, kasti weaving — are also planned. To enroll for the workshop, visit www.unescoparzor.com