WELLNESS

New Delhi: The 108th Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young on Monday for unravelling molecular mechanisms that controls the circadian rhythm, or the 24-hour body clock.

Winning a Nobel Prize is a life-changing honour. Whether the laureate is an internationally known figure (such as Mother Teresa or Barack Obama, winners of the 1979 and 2009 Peace Prize, respectively) or a scientist plucked from obscurity (like Richard R. Ernst, who won the 1991 prize in chemistry for refinements in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy), the award brings with it worldwide recognition that highlights one's life work and provides the funds to continue and further the mission. 

New Delhi: The reddish brown insect that succeeds to gross out every single one of us with its mere unpleasant appearance actually feels much more homely on the planet Earth that we humans do. With their existence dated back to the prehistoric era, about 70 million years ago, cockroaches are believed to be the only creatures who would survive a nuclear explosion.

The association between humans and cockroaches is quite remarkable. These rapidly adapting insects have followed humans as pets from the time when our ancestors lived in caves to now when we have moved to skyscrapers. There cannot be a single home in the world which has not been shared with cockroaches. In fact, most of you must be facing these disgusting creatures on a daily basis -- seeing them crawl on your sink, running down the pipe hole, lurking over a pile of garbage or resting peacefully in the corners of your refrigerator. The fact is, cockroaches come out in the daylight only when the place is too crowded for them or when they are ill.

New Delhi: An Egyptian woman believed to be the world's heaviest woman died on Monday in Abu Dhabi after going through severe health conditions.
The 37-year old Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who weighed 1,102 pounds (500 kg), had undergone a weight reduction surgery at Saifee Hospital in Mumbai in the month of March.

Eman Ahmed’s family say the 37-year-old, from Alexandria in Egypt, was born weighing 5kg (11lbs) and had lymphedema, a condition that causes body tissue to swell. She had a stroke aged 11 and has been unable to leave the house in 25 years.

In February, weighing about 500kg, she was flown to Mumbai for treatment by one of India’s leading bariatric surgeons, Muffazal Lakdawala.