GANGTOK: Sikkim is the second–smallest State in India in terms of area after Goa. It is also the least populated in the country with just 6,00,000 people. Yet, in some matters, this Himalayan State towers over others, leading the way where the rest of India falters.

Among the most innovative schemes undertaken in this State is the Comprehensive Annual and Total Check–up for Healthy (CATCH) Sikkim. This programme is aimed at tracking the health status of people in the State, so prevention, rather than cure, can become the order of the day when it comes to public health.

Survey Among 1,800 Kids In Delhi, Agra, Bangalore And Pune Throws Up Shocking Facts

An extensive survey among children has found that while 19.2% males and 18.1% females were overweight/obese, a whopping 64.8% of mothers were in a similar condition. These findings were part of a three-year survey done among 1,800 children aged 9-18 years in government and private schools and were recently accepted by international peer-reviewed journal ‘Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism’. It was conducted in Delhi, Agra, Bangalore and Pune by Diabetes Foundation, India (DFI).

The Haryana Health Department has issued guidelines and taken steps to prevent the spread of H1N1 swine flu as 31 cases have so far been reported from the state during the current year.

A spokesman of the department said here today that nine cases had been reported from Karnal district, followed by four each from Kurukshetra and Fatehabad, three each from Hisar and Sirsa, two each from Yamunanagar, Kaithal and Panchkula and one each from Rohtak and Ambala districts. Till yesterday, nine deaths had been reported from five districts-- three in Kurukshetra, two each in Karnal and Sirsa and one each in Hisar and Gurgaon.

NEW DELHI: Diabetes and hypertension, traditionally seen as a rich man's disease, has made its way to the slums. Health ministry's fresh data shows one out of every four persons living in the urban slums of Chennai suffer from diabetes — which is three times higher than the national average of about 7%.
In the slums of Bangalore the prevalence rate of diabetes was reported to be 14.77%, followed by 13.37% in Ahmedabad. Delhi had among the lowest rates of 5.02%.

"The results of Chennai are shocking. I have asked the state health officials concerned to indentify all positive cases and refer them to the nearest centre for treatment," said Dr Jagdish Prasad, the Director General of Health Services ( DGHS).

Kochi: Almost half of the Kochi population is overweight, reveals a 11-city survey on obesity-related trends, putting the city on top of the list. The AC Nielsen survey conducted for a medical company found 46% of the people in the city above their ideal weight, out of which 13% were found to be obese and 7% morbidly obese.

The prevalence of obesity is equally high among men and women (20%) and it is well above the rate in the other cities where it is 8% for men and 11% for women. Morbid obesity was also found to be the highest in Kochi. Delhi, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad were the other cities surveyed.

Fond of making an impression with that extra loud horn in your car? The next time you go for 'pollution under check' (PUC) certification, it is likely you won't get it if your car is found to be too noisy.

Following a PIL, National Green Tribunal has passed an order to curb noise pollution in Delhi, outlining actions that include making noise pollution a compoundable offence.

Thiruvananthapuram: The National Green Tribunal, in a bid to curb excessive honking, has directed the Delhi road transport department to measure decibel levels of pressure horns installed on vehicles while issuing pollution under control (PUC) certificates.

The order was passed by the tribunal while directing the Delhi road transport department and traffic police to check and prohibit the entry of heavy vehicles that have pressure horns. The green order comes following a Public Interest Litigation on noise pollution filed by the Supreme Court Group Housing Society and Indian Foreign Service Group Housing Society in the Delhi high court. The case was later transferred to the National Green Tribunal.

Factors in 2010: diabetes, high blood pressure, tobacco smoking, including second-hand smoking, and alcohol use

The three leading risk factors for global disease burden in 2010 were high blood pressure, tobacco smoking, including second-hand smoking, and alcohol use, while in 1990 the leading risks were childhood underweight, household pollution from sold fuels, and tobacco smoking, including passive smoking.

For a city already troubled by noise pollution, the Deepavali night further took the malaise to new levels, especially in residential areas, anti-pollution control boards have found.

The Central Pollution Control Board had instructed the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board to measure noise levels on November 6, when the twin cities were just getting into a festive mood, and November 13, the Deepavali Day.

AHMEDABAD: Drumit Shah recently woke up with acute pain in the chest. He woke up his father who instantly took him to a physician. The doctor carried out an ECG and concluded that Drumit was suffering from a heart attack. The shocker is that Dhrumit is only 20 years old and is currently studying in third year BCA!

Dr Shamik Brahmbhatt, interventional cardiologist at Krishna Heart and Super Specialty Institutes said that Drumit's main artery supplying blood to the heart was completely blocked. The blockage was removed and a stent was put to restore blood flow to his heart even as he suffered a heart attack.