Study into near-death experiences By Jane Dreaper Health correspondent, BBC News

I happen to read an interesting article on 'Near -Death Experiences' in BBC news. I wish share this article with you. I am reproducing same with the courtesy of BBC news

Doctors at 25 UK and US hospitals will study 1,500 survivors to see if people with no heartbeat or brain activity can have "out of body" experiences.

Some people report seeing a tunnel or bright light, others recall looking down from the ceiling at medical staff.

The study, due to take three years and co-ordinated by Southampton University, will include placing on shelves images that could only be seen from above.

To test this, the researchers have set up special shelving in resuscitation areas. The shelves hold pictures - but they're visible only from the ceiling.

Dr Sam Parnia, who is heading the study, said: "If you can demonstrate that consciousness continues after the brain switches off, it allows for the possibility that the consciousness is a separate entity.

"It is unlikely that we will find many cases where this happens, but we have to be open-minded.

"And if no one sees the pictures, it shows these experiences are illusions or false memories.

"This is a mystery that we can now subject to scientific study."

Dr Parnia works as an intensive care doctor, and felt from his daily duties that science had not properly explored the issue of near-death experiences.

The complete article can read from the following link.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7621608.stm

Drug for Deadly Prostate Cancer
By Richard Warry Health editor, BBC News website

Scientists are hailing a new drug to treat aggressive prostate cancer as potentially the most significant advance in the field for 70 years.
Abiraterone could potentially treat up to 80% of patients with a deadly form of the disease resistant to currently available chemotherapy, they say.

The drug works by blocking the hormones which fuel the cancer. The Institute of Cancer Research hopes a simple pill form will be available in two to three years.

An advanced clinical trial involving 1,200 patients around the world is currently under way, with more trials likely later this year. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men. It is estimated that up to 10,000 men a year in the UK are diagnosed with the most aggressive - and almost always lethal - form of prostate cancer. Typical life expectancy following chemotherapy is no more than 18 months. It had been assumed that the cancer was driven by sex hormones such as testosterone produced in the testicles. Current treatments work by stopping the testicles from producing testosterone.

For Complete news, please click the follwing link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7502238.stm

Visit to Chattisgarh

I had been to Bacheli on some official work, in Dantewada district of Chattisgarh state, on May 26, 2008 by a car. The distance from Hyderabad to Bacheli is around six hundred plus kilometers. Dantewada district is near to the border of Andhra Pradesh (A.P) state, to which we blong. Our team was consisting of six members and we got divided in to two groups. Our group with three started on the above said date and the other group left on May 27 and reched on same day night to Bacheli, at 9.30 P.M.

We reached Bacheli on May 26 night and stayed in a guest house. Even though our trael was during the peak of summer, we enjoyed our travel as both guest house and car was air conditioned. On May 27 & 28, we were on our official work.

Dantewada is basically a backward district and lot of tribals live in this hilly place. The adivasis (tribals)are uneducated and livelihood is from the near by forests. District HQ is Dantewada is around 40 KM from Bacheli.

By May 28 evening, we were free from work and decided to travel back to Hyderabad on the early hours of May 29, as the area between Bacheli and A.P broder is a strong naxal prone area and risky to travel during night.

On May 28 evening , our team visited Danteswari Devi temple. This temple , which is one among the Shaktipithas of the country, is visited by devotees from different parts of the country through out the year. Constructed, mainly on the South Indian style of (temple) architecture, and located on the banks of the holy rivers Shankini & Dhankini, which flow together. This temple gives a pleasant feeling of peace and immense satisfaction to the minds of devotees who visit.

Brief history of the temple:

Goddess Parvathi, wife of Lord Shiva attended (without invitation) a 'yagna' (sacred fire) being performed by her father Daksha, against the wishes of Lord Shiva. There Daksha insults Lord Shiva by framing false allegations infront of Parvathi and she gets offended and killed her self by falling in to the yagana. Later Lord Shiva destroys yagna and kills Daksha.

Lord Shiva carries Parvathi's dead body moves around all the places by stopping his duties. The Lord Vishnu seeing this cuts the body of Goddess Parvathi in to peices by his chakra (a type of weapon). The body peices (including ornaments) fallen in 51 places in India and in neighbouring countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These 51 places are called as Shakthi Peethas and Dantheswari Devi temple is one them. 'Danta' means teeth. It is believed that Goddess Parvathi's teeth was fallen here and hence the place is called Dantewada and Goddess is worshipped as Dantheswari Devi.

We all felt happy for getting the oppertunity of seeing and worshiping Godess Danteswari Devi. We left Bacheli on the early morning at 4 A.M on May 29 to reach back to Hyderabad. Also enclosing few phots taken during my visit to the temple.

'Heartless Husbands'
Why divorce hurts women but not men.
By William Saletan.

I read the above article and found very informative and wanted to share the information. Pl hit the following link for complete article.

http://www.slate.com/id/2148982

Blogging the Bible: What's really in the Good Book.


I happened to read this blog written by Mr.David Plotz. and found it interesting . He covered the topics, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy of Bible. Pl visit the following link for complete article.

http://www.slate.com/id/2148437

Self Photo

MUSLIM GIRL CONDEMNED TO DEATH FOR KILLING HER RAPIST DURING ATTACK

I came accross a news that a "MUSLIM GIRL CONDEMNED TO DEATH FOR KILLING HER RAPIST DURING ATTACK" in Iran. Pl. visit the following link for the news and give your opinion.
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/83704

Newa courtesy: www.care2.com

Ginger causes ovarian cancer cells to die

Ginger causes ovarian cancer cells to die, U-M researchers find

Cell studies show promise for ginger as potential ovarian cancer treatmentANN ARBOR, MI – Ginger is known to ease nausea and control inflammation. But researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center are investigating a new use for this age-old remedy: treating ovarian cancer.
In laboratory studies, researchers found ginger caused ovarian cancer cells to die. Further, the way in which the cells died suggests ginger may avoid the problem common in ovarian cancer of cells becoming resistant to standard treatments.

News courtesy: www.care2.com

Healing Plants Found in Threatened Borneo Forest,
WWF SaysApril 27, 2006 — By Reuters

GENEVA — Plants thought to help treat or cure cancer, AIDS and malaria have been found in the rainforests of Borneo, a report from the Swiss-based global conservation group WWF said on Thursday. But the rapid destruction of trees, much of it by illegal logging to meet growing world demand for timber, could wreck any chance of using these discoveries in the fight against disease, the WWF declared. A promising anti-cancer substance has been found in a Borneo shrub by researchers for an Australian pharmaceutical firm, while a chemical found in latex produced by a tree appears to be effective against the replication of HIV, the report said. In the bark of another species of tree, the researchers discovered a previously unknown substance which in laboratory tests appeared to kill the human malaria parasite, it added. In all, it said, 422 new plant species had been discovered in Borneo -- shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei -- in the last 25 years and many others were believed to be there which could have medicinal applications. But "all these promising discoveries could eventually be lost if the disappearing rainforests of the heart of Borneo are not adequately protected," the WWF said.

"More forest destruction could well deny science the opportunity to discover and develop further potential sources of life-saving medication," it quoted Murray Tait, vice president of Drug Delivery at Cerylid Biosciences, the Australian company that identified the anti-cancer compound, as saying. Borneo's forest cover has shrunk to 50 percent of its territory today from 75 percent in the mid-1980s, the report said. Source: Reuters