According to a new study, even a little extra weight can increase the risk of heart disease. People who are not obese but a little overweight, have an increase in heart failure risk, reported Dr. Satish Kenchaiah, lead author of the study.

The study has followed 21,091 smart and healthy doctors with no evidence of coronary disease over 20 years. In this group, which now averages 53 years of age, as per pound added on, the risk of heart problem increased. The obese doctors show 180% of increase in the risk of heart failure than the leaner ones.

According to a new study, chocolate, tea and wine can improve people's memory. Researchers have discovered that wine is most effective in boosting the memory.

Researchers in Norway and the Oxford University conducted the study on 2,031 older people aged between 70 and 74. They studied the relation between cognitive performance and the consumption of three common foodstuffs (chocolate, wine and tea). Research showed that those who consume all three in modest amounts everyday were found to perform best when asked to carry out a series of brain tests than those who did not.

C Das, a former government employee from Orissa, was diagnosed with prostate cancer two months ago. He and his family decided to follow a new form of treatment - prostate brachytherapy.

Dr Vivek Anand, consultant radiation oncologist at Hinduja Hospital in Mahim said: "This is the first time that we will use brachytherapy to treat prostate cancer in India.''

A recent study revealed that every extra pond of weight increases the risk of heart disease. The study also revealed that even a little amount of physical activity appears to decrease the risk of heart failure.

Research team led by Dr. Satish Kenchaiah followed more than 21,000 physicians for two decades, measuring among other factors like the influence of overweight and physical activity on development of heart failure, the progressive loss of ability to pump blood, which is often a prelude to major coronary events.

Recent research has shown that intake of chocolate, wine and tea in moderation can help in improving cognitive performance. Research team from Norway and the Oxford University collected data from 2,031 older people aged between 70 and 74.

The study subjects were asked to fill a questionnaire regarding their habitual food intake. Mental ability of study subjects was also tested.

The administration has strengthened its efforts to put a control over the recent “bird flu” (or avian influenza) epidemic in West Bengal as well as Assam.

As per the report issued today by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the steps taken by the government in order to verify the epidemic in West Bengal include deployment of 328 animal health workers who have achieved culling of a total of about 32,000 poultry birds up till now.

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, notified the bird flu eruption in Englishbazar block in Malda region of West Bengal earlier this month.

Moreover, the early announcement of the flu in Assam came on 27 November in Hajo block of Kamrup area.