The truth about OTC drugs

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: Suffering from headache, loose motions or common cold? Just don't rush to a chemist for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine. Chances are that you may develop nausea, severe allergic reactions, kidney failure or even cancer.
More often than not the blame does not lie with the chemist but with the type of drug he gives you. As many as a dozen generic or basic drugs, which have been banned world-wide, are freely available in twin cities. Strangely enough, these drugs enjoy the legal status as they are yet to be banned by the Indian government.
"For a drug to be banned the Central government needs concrete evidence supported by research studies on its bad side-effects. Unfortunately, in India we do not have post-drug follow-up records. Pharmaceutical companies take advantage of this", argues R Uday Bhaskar, secretary-general of All-India Drug Control Officers' Confederation.
He, however, wants these drugs to be banned as "what is bad for people in the USA and Europe is equally bad for Indians, whether we have post-drug follow-up studies or not".
The Central government has banned 76 categories of Fixed Dose Combination or individual drugs. Ironically, the government banned these drugs only after the manufacturers voluntarily withdrew them. Rofecoxid is one such drug. It was found to be dangerous to heart patients. However, many irrational combination drugs are still sold freely.
Some of the drugs banned in the USA, European Union, Australia and developed countries but still available in India are:
Analgin (pain-killer), Cisapride (acidity, constipation), Droperidol (anti-depressant), Furazolidone (anti-diarrhoea), Nimesulide (pain-killer, fever), Nitrofurazone (anti-bacterial cream), Phenolphthalein (laxative), Phenylpropanolamine (cold and cough), Oxyphenbutazone (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory), Piperazine (anti-worms) and Quiniodochlor (anti-diarrhoeal).
Nimelsulide, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, has been banned in many countries for its reported liver toxicity. The Central government approved Nimelsulide in 1994 for treatment of painful inflammatory musculo-skeletal disorders but many doctors prescribe it for ordinary pain and fever. Nimelsulide and Cyproflaxin (100 mg) have been banned for paediatric use but doctors continue to prescribe them for children.
Dr SV Chandrasekhar, consultant surgeon of Apollo Hospitals, says drugs like analgin should not be used for children while furazolidone is equally bad for adults and children. "Combination drugs are not advisable. When a patient suffers from one problem why should he or she be given a combination of drugs? Vitamins are always sold in combination. A person does not suffer from deficiency of several vitamins or minerals at a time. Overdose may cause severe problems", he points out.


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The side-effects:
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1. Analgin (it is used in dozens of drugs including Novalgin): Causes bone marrow depression, ulcers and reflex action.
2. Cisapride (available under brand names Ciza and Syspride): Causes irregular heartbeat and palpitation.
3. Droperidol (brand name Droperol): Affects the heart and blood circulation.
4. Furazolidone (Furaxone, Lomofen): Nausea, severe headache, cancer and damage to intestines.
5. Nimesulide (Nise, Nimulid): Causes liver failure.
6. Nitrofurazone (Furacin): Causes cancer.
7. Phenolphthalein (Agarol): Found to be carcinogenic.
8. Phenylpropanolamine (D'Cold, Vicks Action-500): May lead to stroke.
9. Oxyphenbutazone (Sioril): Bone marrow depression.
10. Piperazine (Piperazine): Causes damage to nerves.
11. Quiniodochlor (Enteroquinol): Damages eyesight.

There's a link between allergy and asthma, say Hyderabad scientists

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: A group of city scientists has identified the genetic link in Indian population to over-allergic reactions (atopy) and asthma.
Researchers at the city-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Saboo Hospital and Research Centre, Osmania Medical College and Niloufer Children's Hospital came out with a genetic analysis of bronchial asthma in Indian population elucidating the complex genetic regulation of the disease including atopy. The study will help in better understanding of the root causes of these chronic diseases and effective diagnosis and treatment.
The research work gains significance in the backdrop of increasing instances of asthma and active allergic problems in the country. So far, researchers have been looking at asthma from environmental point of view and for the first time in India, the city researchers have turned their concentration on the genetic aspects of this complex polygenic disease. Asthma is commonly associated with familial atopic syndrome and increased levels of total IgE (immunoglobulins E).
The study carried out by GR Chandak, M Mohammed Idris, Sandeep Saboo, GS Ramalaxmi and others points out asthma and allergy are not inherited as single gene disorders and do not follow a simple Mendelian inheritance. A complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors produces the disease susceptibility and expression.
Identifying specific genetic polymorphisms that influence asthma and atopic phenotypes will also help in better screening of the "at risk" population and pave the way for extension of these markers in different population groups in the country. It may also lead to a novel strategy to modulate the course of this disease or identify better therapeutic modalities.
The city researchers investigated the association of polymorphisms and extended haplotype in genes (IL4 and IL4RA) with atopy and asthma in the Indian population and attempted to study whether genotypic and haplotypic differences can account for the phenotypic variations in atopic and non-atopic asthmatic individuals.
The probands (individual subjects of a genetic study) and control subjects were recruited based on the evaluation of clinical and family history using a standardised questionnaire following the guidelines of American Thoracic Society. They were examined for a self-reported history of breathlessness, wheeze, allergic rhinitis and eczema and confirmed by various pulmonary function tests.

Himalayas are twice older than believed

2009
By Syed Akbar

How old are the Himalayas, the snow-covered mountains that wall the northern India? Existing scientific records and evidence show that the Himalayas are less than eight million years old. But a group of scientists from India and the United Kingdom has negated this widely held belief and established with latest scientific evidence that the mountains are twice as older. In short, the Himalayas took their birth about 15 million years ago.

The Indo-British team has found evidence for early uplift of Himalayas within the central Indian Ocean. "The discovery that the earth’s strong outer shell — the ‘lithosphere’ — within the central Indian Ocean began to deform and fracture 15.4-13.9 million years ago, much earlier than previously thought, impacts our understanding of the birth of the Himalayas and the strengthening of the Indian-Asian monsoon," says Dr K.S. Krishna of the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography.

According to an official release from the National Institute of Oceanography, India and Asia collided around 50 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics — the large-scale movements of the lithosphere, which continue to this day. The study was published in Geology, a scientific magazine published by the Geological Society of America.

"The ocean floor has been systematically transformed into folds 100-300 kilometres long and 2,000-3,000 metres high, and there are also regularly spaced faults or cracks that are evident from seismic surveys and ocean drilling," points out Dr Krishna in the research study.

The onset of this deformation marks the start of major geological uplift of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, some 4,000 km further to the north, due to stresses within the wider India-Asia area. Some studies indicate that it began around 8.0-7.5 million years ago, while others have indicated that it started before 8.0 million years ago, and perhaps much earlier.

This controversy has now been addressed by Dr Krishna and his British colleagues Prof. Jon Bull of the University of Southampton, and Prof. Roger Scrutton of Edinburgh University. They have analysed seismic profiles of 293 faults (vertical cracks in the ocean floor) in the accumulated sediments of the Bengal Fan. This is the world’s largest submarine fan, a delta-shaped accumulation of land-derived sediments covering the floor of the Bay of Bengal.

The NIO statement points out that the team demonstrated that deformation of the lithosphere within the central Indian Ocean started around 15.4-13.9 million years ago, much earlier than most previous estimates. This implies considerable Himalayan uplift before 8.0 million years ago, which is when many geologists believe that the strong seasonal winds of the India-Asia monsoon first started.

"However," says Dr Krishna, "the realisation that the onset of lithospheric deformation within the central Indian Ocean occurred much earlier fits in well with more recent evidence that the strengthening of the monsoon was linked to the early geological uplift of the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau up to 15-20 million years ago."

Scientists believe that intensive deep-sea drilling within the Bengal Fan would provide better age estimates for the onset of deformation of the lithosphere in the central Indian Ocean and concretise the recent findings. There are more weighty geological questions related to the geodynamics of the Indian Plate yet to be understood.

Principal among these being the issue of how exactly did the ocean floor buckle and crack in space and time, and what will be the future course of this compressional activity in the central Indian Ocean.

The NIO statement said further scientists would like to gather new evidences for understanding of 1) why and how the central Indian Ocean region has now become site where mountains are rising up from the ocean floor and cracks are propagating within the crust; and 2) whether the present process could be a pre-cursor to the formation of a subduction zone in the central Indian Ocean.

India gets nuclear shipment from Russia

2009
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, April 10: India on Friday received 30 tonnes of uranium pellets from Russia. This is the first-ever nuclear consignment from Russia and the second from a foreign country after India signed the nuclear deal with the USA.

Earlier, the country received 60 tonnes of uranium oxide fuel from a French firm. India will receive a total of 300 tonnes of nuclear fuel from France. Russia has promised 150 tonnes of nuclear fuel under an agreement and of this 30 tonnes was delivered to the city-based Nuclear Fuel Complex.

With this India has thus far received 90 tonnes of uranium after the Nuclear Suppliers' Group lifted restrictions on the nation, following India signing an agreement on September 6, 2008. NFC officials confirmed arrival of the fuel from Russia.

The Russian consignment was delivered by TVEL, a subsidiary of government-controlled nuclear power corporation, Atomenergoprom. The Russian fuel will be used in heavy water reactors, particularly the one in Rajasthan.

The country signed a 700 million US dollar contract with the Russian firm on February 11, further boosting the nuclear cooperation between the two countries. Moreover, Russia will build four more nuclear reactors in the country. It has already constructed two reactors at Kundankulam nuclear power plant.

Recently NFC officials visited TVEL plant in Russia and signed protocols confirming acceptance of 30 tonnes of nuclear fuel.

Uranium: India gets biggest-ever nuclear consignment

2009
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, March 31: In the biggest-ever nuclear consignment, India
on Tuesday received 60 tons of uranium from French nuclear supplier
AREVA NC. This forms part of the 300 tons of uranium ore
concentrate, which India will get under Indo-French bilateral
agreement in the aftermath of clearance by Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The remaining nuclear consignment will reach the country later this
month. India will also get 120 tons of uranium ore from Russia in the
next few days.

RN Jayaraj, chief executive of city-based Nuclear Fuel Complex, which
handles this uranium ore for conversion into nuclear reactor grade
pellets, told reporters that "India has wonderful days ahead".

Though NFC supplies nuclear fuel to 15 Pressurised Heavy Water
Reactors and two boiling water reactors, the present nuclear
consignment will be used only in two reactors covered under
"safeguards domain" as per Indo-US nuclear deal and 123 agreement.
The reactors, where the imported fuel is used, are open for international
inspections.

The French consignment and the proposed Russian nuclear supplies
will boost India's plans to generate green energy from uranium. The 60
tons of fuel India got on Tuesday will generate 256 crore units of
power.

The material from AREVA NC will be processed in the designated fuel
plants at NFC. The uranium ore concentrate is converted into nuclear
grade pellets and sintered at high temperature to get high density
uranium dioxide pellets. These pellets are stacked and encapsulated in
thin walled tubes of zirconium alloy. Nineteen such fuel pins are
assembled to form a fuel bundle for PHWR 220 megawatt plants. The
bundles so produced will be loaded in the safeguarded nuclear plants,
he said.

By 2030 the country's installed nuclear capacity could grow to 63,000
megawatts.

Nuclear Fuel Complex Makes A Mark At International Level

2009
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, March 31: From a stage where it has to struggle to put together
components for India's nuclear reactors, the city-based Nuclear Fuel Complex has
now graduated to the level of exporting technology to third world countries.

In the next few days, NFC is all set to export "End-closure Welding Machine"
through International Atomic Energy Commission. The Nuclear Fuel Complex
emerged successful in international bidding on this critical machine employed in
bundling fuel for nuclear reactors.

"We are exporting the End-closure Welding Machine to a third world country
through IAEC. We got the order to manufacture this critical equipment. It is now
ready for despatch. Two decades ago we could not secure the machine because
of international restrictions. We have to develop it using indigenous
technology and today we are in a position to export it," RN Jayaraj, NFC
chief executive said.

Fuel bundles loaded with uranium pellets are used in nuclear reactors. The
bundles have to be welded at both ends using precision technology without
any leakage. The bundles have to pass through the critical helium testing to
ensure that the welded ends are strong enough to withstand the heat and do
not leak in the least. The Nuclear Fuel Complex team has mastered the art.
The machine has been developed by the automation group of the NFC.

The integrity of the fuel bundle depends primarily on the integrity of the end-
cap weld. NFC has always worked on improving the technology. "These
tubes undergo helium leak tests which give us an integrated picture in the
case of end-cap welds," said deputy chief executive Sai Baba. The NFC has
also introduced robotic handling system for bigger fuel bundles which weigh
24 kgs.

Jayaraj told reporters that the GE has expressed interest in seamless Calendria
tubes used in nuclear reactors. "Seamless calendria tubes improve the
reliability and yield. GE wants these tubes for its nuclear reactors," he added.