Capsules

Apollo care for WWF staff

Conservation group WWF-India and Apollo Hospitals have announced a one-year partnership for forest guards to address their medical conditions and provide immediate medical relief and support. Forest guards play an indispensible role in protecting the forest habitat and species. Their job involves patrolling vast swathes of often-inhospitable terrain with bare minimum protection and hardly any access to emergency medical facilities in case of any severe mishaps or illnesses suffered on-job. The Chennai-based hospital chain will provide treatment and recovery support for frontline staff in case of a severe medical emergency while on the field, a WWF note said.

FDA-approved drug for melanoma

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec), the first of its kind oncolytic virus therapy to be approved for the treatment of melanoma lesions in the skin and lymph nodes. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the US. And melanoma (a type of skin cancer) is the leading cause of skin cancer related deaths, and is most often caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. Imlygic is injected directly into the melanoma lesions, where it replicates inside cancer cells and causes the cells to rupture and die. The drug is manufactured by BioVex Inc, a subsidiary of Amgen Inc.

Diet and weight-loss conundrum

Low-fat diets do not lead to greater weight loss in the long term compared to higher-fat diets of similar intensity, according to an analysis of more than 68,000 adults, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal. “Behind current dietary advice to cut out the fat, which contains more than twice the calories per gram of carbohydrates and protein, the thinking is that simply reducing fat intake will naturally lead to weight loss. But our robust evidence clearly suggests otherwise,” according to lead author Dr Deirdre Tobias from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, US.