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Global Update Indian Pediatrics 2000;37: 1290-1291. |
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News in Brief |
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The Nobel Prizes for Medicine and Physics this year are curiously similar. Both have honored mechanisms of information flow, one in the circuitry of the brain and the other on silicon chips. The Nobel Prize for Medicine has been shared by 3 scientists, Arvid Carlsson of the University of Gothenberg, Paul Greengard of the Rockerfeller University in New York, and Eric Kandel of Columbia University. Carlsson discovered that dopamine was a neurotransmitter by which several neurons communicated and the localized deficiency of it in certain areas can lead to Parkinsonism. He also developed L-Dopa as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease and elucidated the mechanism of action of several anti-psychotic drugs. Greengard discovered that protein phosphorylation was the way many neurotransmitters worked. Kandel’s breakthrough research was on the way long-term memories differed from short-term memories by creating permanent changes in the synapses. The Physics prize was shared by Zhores Alferov of the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute in St Petersburg, Russia, and Herbert Kroemer of the University of California at Santa Barbara and Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments in Dallas. Alferov and Kroemer were honored for developing fast opto-electronic and microelectronic components made of layered semiconductors while Kilby is famous as the father of the microchip which kick- started the information revolution ( New Scientist 9 Oct 2000). Policy Scandal in Spain: The incident which has been rocking Spain recently could have happened in any of India’s large government hospitals. A 3 month old baby who had been brought to a hospital in Mellila died because treatment was delayed while waiting in the queue. The child had been brought with the complaints of respiratory distress and had to wait 1 hour and 22 minutes before a doctor could see her. The Health Minister of Spain is busy giving explanations that it was not medical negligence but lack of prioritization of medical care. The triage unit to assess seriousness of patients’ illness that the hospitals doctors had been asking for several years is now being built post haste. How many children must be sacrificed before enlightenment dawns on administrators (eBMJ 26 Sept 2000). To Iodize or not to Iodize The government statute making iodination of salt compulsory in India in 1998 has been recently reversed in September. Consumer activists, scientists and the Indian Council for IDD’s has taken up cudgels and will fight it out in the Supreme Court. Pricing issues may be one of the reasons for the sudden change in policy (The Lancet Interactive 23 Sept 2000). Technology Orange potatoes: It is interesting to note that Western African children rarely have vitamin A deficiency unlike their sub-Saharan brethren. The reason touted is the red palm oil used in Western Africa. Now the International Potato Institute in Lima has come up with a new orange colored potato, 100 grams of which, eaten daily will prevent Vitamin A, B complex and iron deficiency. The strategy may work since sweet potato is the staple food in sub Saharan Africa. The wise use of technology may well be the solution for the world’s hunger ( eBMJ 30 Sept 2000). Cyber Watch Online pharmacies: A recent study from Austria has exploded several myths about internet drug prescriptions. Over a 6 month period, 27 drugs were studied in 20 online pharmacies. For a first it is not faster than the routine supply from the pharmacy - some drugs were received after a 73 day delay despite repeated reminders. In one third cases drugs were never received even after credit card payments were made. Wrong drugs were prescribed including anti-parkinsonism drugs for mild headaches. Further it was not cheaper as imagined since costs of packaging and transport were added. In one sixth cases there were no prescription information and packaging was often not conforming to mechanical and thermal standards (The Lancet Interactive 30 Sept 2000). Gouri Rao Passi, |
