Reader’s DigestA Super Drug For
Superbugs?Heard of superbugs? They
are bacteria that have be-
come resistant to antibiotic
drugs, leaving millions of
patients vulnerable. In
fact, according to a United
Nations-backed panel, by
2050, around 10 million
people could die every year
globally, exposed to super-
bugs. But here’s a glimmer
of hope. A group of Indian
researchers at the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT),
Kanpur and the Lucknow-
based Central Drug Research
Institute (CDRI) have come
up with a drug molecule that
could destroy superbugs. The
scientists chose the staphylo-
coccus aureus bacteria that
have become resistant to
several antibiotics in recent
years. The superbug did not
allow the drugs to bind with
it. The new molecule, if
used along with antibiotics,
latches on to the germs and
prevents them from multi-
plying, making the drugs
effective. The molecule,
however, is still in a proof-
of-concept level and may
take many stages before
it is approved.
—WITH INPUTS FROM
V. KUMARA SWAMYBENEFITS AND RISKS
OF DIET COLAS
Science has documented that fizzy drinks can
pack on the pounds, hurt your heart and even
increase your risk of some versions of cancer.
But debate continues about diet colas.
The American Heart Association issued an
advisory last year saying that short-term use of
low-calorie artificially sweetened drinks to re-
place sugary ones “may be an effective strategy”
to promote weight loss in adults.
One recent study even found that diet bev-
erages might save lives. A survey of 1,018
patients with stage III colon cancer showed
that those who consumed at least one 350-ml
serving of a low-calorie drink daily were nearly
50 per cent less likely to see their cancer recur or
to die during the 7.3-year follow-up period, com-
pared with those who mostly abstained from diet
drinks. The researchers also found that the more
diet colas people drank, the better their chances
of survival. On the other hand, a new study
of more than 80,000 postmenopausal
women found that those who con-
sumed two or more
artificially sweetened
beverages each day were
31 per cent more likely
to have a clot-based
or ischaemic stroke,
29 per cent more likely
to have heart disease and
16 per cent more likely to
die from any cause than
women who drank diet
beverages less than once a
ind week or not at all.
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