-AP   The International Diabetes Federation predicts that one in 10 adults could have diabetes by 2030, according to their latest statistics. In a report issued on Monday, the advocacy group estimated that 522 million people would have diabetes in the next two decades, based on aging, demographic changes and other factors. The figure includes both types of diabetes. The group expects the number of cases to jump by 90 percent even in Africa,...

-The Hindu   Cases of crime under various categories in the country increased by about 5 per cent last year as compared to 2009, according to a publication of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Besides, road accidents alone claimed 1.33 lakh lives last year, an increase of 5.5 per cent over 2009 that saw 1.26 lakh deaths. According to “Crime in India 2010,” a total of 22,24,831 crimes were reported under the...

-The Telegraph   The Union health ministry today warned that bottle gourd juice should not be consumed if it comes from bitter-tasting pulp in an advisory on a practice promoted by yoga and Ayurveda evangelist Baba Ramdev among others. “Bitter-tasting bottle gourd juice should not be consumed at all,” the ministry said, urging that a small piece of the pulp of bottle gourd, lauki in Hindi, should be tasted before the extraction of...

Imagine there was one changeable factor that affected virtually every measure of a country's health— including life expectancy, crime rates, addiction, obesity, infant mortality, stroke, academic achievement, happiness and even overall prosperity. Indeed, this factor actually exists. It's called economic inequality. A growing body of research suggests that such inequality — more so than income or absolute wealth alone — has a profound influence on a population's health, in every socioeconomic...

With institutional healthcare being prohibitively expensive, more women in rural India are choosing to deliver at home than in hospitals and healthcare facilities, says a new report brought out by Chittorgarh-based NGO, Prayas, in partnership with Oxfam India. The 'Study of the trends in out-of-pocket payments in healthcare during National Rural Health Mission period (2005-2010)', released on October 12 in the national capital, was conducted across five Indian states - Assam,...