India brides had 'virginity test'

India's National Commission for Women wants Madhya Pradesh state to explain why hundreds of would-be brides reportedly underwent virginity tests.

All the women who took part in a state-run mass wedding last month were forced to take the test, witnesses say.

Several of the women later complained that they had found the exercise shameful and humiliating.

Officials deny virginity tests took place. They said the tests had been to ensure the women were not pregnant.

In India, a bride's virginity is highly prized and pre-marital sex is frowned upon...click & read more

Polio threat to Pakistan children

The continuing conflict in Pakistan has left more than a million children at risk of contracting polio.

Vaccination programmes earlier this year were compromised by opposition from militants and by violence, which has made many areas inaccessible.

Pakistan is one of four countries which still see annual outbreaks of polio.

The first few months of the year are crucial for vaccination teams who try to reach children before the polio virus starts to circulate.

This year, their campaigns have been badly disrupted...click to read more...

Proof mounts on restricted diet

Cutting calories may delay the aging process and reduce the risk of disease, a long-term study of monkeys suggests.

Over 20 years, monkeys whose diets were not restricted were nearly three times more likely to have died than those whose calories were counted.

Writing in Science, the US researchers hailed the "major effect" of the diet.

It involved reducing calorie intake by 30% while maintaining nutrition and appeared to impact upon many forms of age-related disease seen in monkeys, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and brain atrophy.

Whether the same effects would be seen in humans is unclear, although anecdotal evidence so far suggests people on a long-term calorie-restricted diet have better cardiovascular health.

The precise mechanism is yet to be established: theories involve changes in the body's metabolism or a reduction in the production of "free radical" chemicals which can cause damage.

The benefits of calorie restriction are well documented in animals, but now the results have been replicated in a close relative of man over a lengthy period.

Over 20 years, monkeys whose diets were not restricted were nearly three times more likely to have died than those whose calories were counted.

Writing in Science, the US researchers hailed the "major effect" of the diet.

It involved reducing calorie intake by 30% while maintaining nutrition and appeared to impact upon many forms of age-related disease seen in monkeys, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and brain atrophy. click for more news..

'Lower' Asian obesity threshold

The threshold for being overweight and obese should be lowered for British Asians, international experts say.

People of South Asian origin are more likely than white people to develop heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

To reflect this, Indian health chiefs have changed their measuring system and said other countries should follow suit for people of South Asian origin.

GPs in the UK agree a better system is needed, but have put forward another option to pick up those at risk.

Standards used around the world to tell when someone is overweight or obese are based on data from Caucasians....click for full news