Sanjay Gupta Continues to Make Us Look Lazy

Photo courtesy of CNN

If Katie Couric doesn’t quite do it for you, there will soon be another reason to tune in to the CBS Evening News.

Yesterday the network announced Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be joining the news team, contributing up to 10 reports a year.

Gupta, currently CNN’s chief medical correspondent, is a practicing neurosurgeon at the Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He is also a columnist for TIME magazine.

So here’s the question: Will you make the switch to CBS if it means getting to spend some QT with Gupta?

Size Does Matter

“60% of Indian men have penises which are between three and five centimeters shorter than international standards used in condom manufacture.”

That’s according to a two-year long study carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

So why is this a big deal?

Because it means “one in every five times a condom is used in India it either falls off or tears”—a failure rate disastrous for a nation that continues to struggle with epidemic-levels of HIV infection.

Go here for the full BBC report or visit today’s Gawker for an analysis of the, um, Rise of Taj.

Becoming Family: A Tsunami Relief Documentary

A small coastal village’s tsunami memorial to the 136 people who died there. (typecastingfilms.com)

I remember attending a five-college production of Richard III years ago and being struck by the dynamic lead actor Rahmi Mowjood. He brought Shakespeare’s portrayal of a bitter, power-hungry royal to life. Mowjood went on to complete medical school, and recently worked with filmmaker Carl Strecker to produce a documentary recording the efforts of U.S. physicians, including himself, who flew to Sri Lanka to provide medical relief in the months following the tsunami. Becoming Family: A Tsunami Relief Documentary premiered at the South Asian International Film Festival in NY this fall. An upcoming screening is on December 25 in Los Angeles (details).

More information: Videos, Pictures
CMC Magazine story on filmmakers

Happy Cranberry-Colored Holidays

Cranberry harvest. (British Columbia Cranberry Growers Association.)

As a fruit indigenous to North America, the cranberry was around long before Thanksgiving. It’s a berry that adds color and flavor to some of the holiday’s traditional foods. And to some not-so-traditional foods. My mother has been known to stockpile bags of the berries in the freezer this time of year in order to create some colorful dishes like her cranberry take on pulihara. (It was tangy enough to compete with the likes of gongura, in my opinion.)

You may already know about the many health benefits of the tiny berries “rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients. Research indicates they may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, urinary tract infections, gum disease and ulcers. They’re also high in vitamins A and C and in potassium.” (NPR.)

Further research into the “health-giving” properties of the cranberry will be made possible by a $2 million gift to the University of British Columbia from the heirs of cranberry farmer Rashpal Dhillon (half of the gift will be used to fund research into pulmonary fibrosis, the fatal lung disease he died of). Dhillon was B.C.’s first Sikh police officer in 1954 and pursued cranberry farming before Ocean Spray became a household name.

More information: The Vancouver Sun

India on the Verge of Epidemic

The numbers are sobering.

According to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 400,000 people in India die of AIDS each year. An estimated 5.7 million are carriers of the HIV virus.

That’s more than any other country in the world.

In a Reuter’s report published earlier today, Ashok Alexander, head of the Foundation’s $258-million Indian HIV-prevention project, says the situation is serious: “The huge challenge is scaling up prevention efforts. 2007 is when we need to have this done by.”

If not, the predictions are dire, with estimates suggesting the HIV virus could infect as many as 30 million people in India within the next ten years.

Last week Bill Gates made headlines with his pledge of $23 million to help the Indian government with its prevention and treatment efforts.

Visit the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to learn more.

Pink is the New Black

October might previously have been known as a time for ill-fitting polyester Halloween costumes and Columbus Day furniture sales, but now there’s something you can really look forward to.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

That’s right—’tis the season for fab pledge drives, spirited 5Ks and an endless stock of pink ribbon pins–all for a terrific cause.

So lace up your sneakers and start spreading the message: annual mammograms for the over-40 crowd are an absolute must and monthly self-examinations are critical for women of all ages.

Remember that breast cancer can hit anybody—and South Asian women are certainly not exempt (according to a recent public health study conducted by a team at UCLA, breast and cervical cancer rank as a top cause of death amongst Asian American women).

For information about events near you, check out the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer site (http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/ ) or the Susan B. Komen Foundation’s Race for the Cure (www.komen.org).

A note from Ismat: Thanks for bringing this up, Hilal! Nirali actually did a story on breast cancer in South Asian women back in October 2004 (oh, how the time flies!). Read “Breast Left Unsaid” in our old (and soon-to-be-converted) archives.

Help Baby Nirali

Help save baby Nirali Naik’s life.

In October 2004, we featured “Hoping for a Match” in which we addressed the dire need for more South Asians to join the bone marrow registry. Megan Jacob, the lovely 22-year-old we profiled in the piece, suffered from Hodgkin’s disease. Alongside receiving chemotherapy treatments, Megan spent much of her time campaigning for South Asians to join the National Marrow Donor Program. Sadly, Megan never received the transplant that could have saved her life—she died in November 2005.

But there are thousands of other South Asians who still need your help. One of them is baby Nirali Naik, an 18-month-old suffereing from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy but needs a marrow transplant from an Indian donor to avoid relapse. Unfortunately, South Asian donors are grossly underrepresented in the donor registry.

But you can help! Join the NMDP registry—you could provide a life-saving match for baby Nirali or numerous others. Remember, bone marrow donation has no long-term side effects. The simple procedure, which entails drawing a bit of blood or getting an oral swab, is free for minority races (such as South Asians).

Check out an upcoming donor drive today.