Giving birth to 10 or more kids
reduces the risk of cancer!
Amazingly,
women who give birth to 10 or more children are at a reduced risk of developing
cancer, a new study has claimed. Researchers examined cancer risk in
nearly 5,000 Finish women who gave birth at least 10 times before
2010. Over a three-decade period, there were 656 cases of cancer in these
women, about 200 fewer cases than would be expected based on cancer rates in
the general Finnish population, researchers said. The rate of new cancer cases
was 24 per cent lower among women who delivered 10 or more babies compared to
those in the general population, they said.
The rate
of new cancer cases for breast cancer and gynecological cancers, including
ovarian and endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterus lining), was about 50 per
cent lower in women with 10 or more deliveries, compared to the general
population.
In the study,
women who had 10 or more babies were about five years younger when they gave
birth to their first child, compared to average Finnish women, said study
researcher Dr Juha Tapanainen, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
at Helsinki University Central Hospital. It’s known that becoming pregnant
at a young age helps protect against breast cancer, Tapanainen said. Many
women in the new study who had 10 or more children were members of the
Laestadian movement, which is part of the Lutheran Church in Finland,
researchers said.
Women in
this group are similar to average Finnish women in terms of their lifestyle,
but their religion prohibits the use of contraceptives, ‘LiveScience’
reported. Studies on the effect of hormonal contraceptives on cancer risk
have been inconclusive, but some studies suggest that the contraceptives reduce
the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer.
Thus, it’s
possible that if Laestadian women in the study also took contraceptives, and
still had multiple pregnancies, it would even further reduce their risk of
these cancers, Tapanainen said. The study also linked having 10 babies
with a reduced risk of basal cell skin cancer, and an increased risk of thyroid
cancer. The reason for this link could not be determined.
Source: http://health.india.com
11.03.2014
India pledges new low-cost drugs to
developing nations
Stressing
that India’s pharmaceutical technology was appropriate for Africa, Commerce
Minister Anand Sharma said India is committed to making available to developing
countries newer generation life-saving drugs also. ‘Eightyseven developing
countries, their entire health care system is supported by Indian medicines,
and we’re committed to ensure that even the new generation of life-saving
drugs, the Indian pharmaceutical industry will make, are available to our
people and people of developing countries,’ Sharma said here at Sunday
evening’s inauguration of the 10th CII-Exim Bank conclave on India-Africa
Project Partnership.
Describing
India as a leader in the production of finished generics, Sharma told the
gathering, which included ministers from many African countries, how the
arrival of Indian generic drugs has changed the global discourse on
anti-retrovirals (ARVs) for the treatment of HIV-AIDS rampant in Africa.
He pointed out how ARV costs have been brought down from $1,900 to $1,100 to
treatment cost levels of a dollar a day.
‘India has
become the pharmacy of the world. We’re the largest maker of finished generics
and our biggest exports are to the US. And in the US, after the US pharma
companies, the second largest FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approvals are
with the Indian pharma companies,’ Sharma said. This comes in the context of US
pressures on India to increase its intellectual property rights (IPR)
protection beyond the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
agreement under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The US
International Trade Commission (USITC) has initiated a probe against India’s
domestic trade and investment policies, particularly intellectual property, or
patent laws. At a US Trade Representative (USTR) hearing Feb 24, several
US-based organisations recommended that India be designated as a priority
foreign country, alleging it lacks adequate and effective protection of
intellectual property rights. India’s patent laws include provisions to ensure
that intellectual property rights do not hinder the government taking measures
for promoting public health. This includes making life saving medicines
available at affordable rates.
Source: http://health.india.com
11.03.2014
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