Yoga pioneer Pattabhi Jois dies – BBC

One of the leading figures in the world yoga community, Sri K Pattabhi Jois, has died at the age of 93.

Jois, from India, was widely considered to be the modern founder of the ashtanga branch of yoga and credited with popularising it in the West.

His many thousands of students include the pop musicians Sting and Madonna, and the actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

Ashtanga yoga is based on synchronising the breath through a progressive series of postures.

He was a massive influence on the development of yoga, and greatly respected Pierre Bibby British Wheel of Yoga

It is the most rigorous form of yoga, and its practitioners claim it can produce positive effects on mind and body.

The theory is that it produces intense internal heat, which purifies the muscles and organs, expelling unwanted toxins as well as releasing beneficial hormones and minerals which can nourish the body when the sweat is absorbed back into the skin.

However, many in the medical establishment remain yet to be convinced by its supposedly therapeutic qualities.

Research institute

Introduced to yoga at a demonstration in 1927 at the age of 12, Jois immersed himself in the discipline, studying under the guru Krishnamacharya who had revived the ancient practice of yoga in the early years of the 20th century.

Jois developed and refined Ashtanga yoga after translating ancient texts on the technique, eventually establishing the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Lakshmipuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

In 1964 a Belgian named Andre Van Lysebeth spent two months studying under Jois, and wrote a book which mentioned him and included his address.

This marked the beginning of Westerners travelling to India to study under Jois, who moved his base to Mysore.

In 1975 he visited California, triggering a huge surge in popularity among Americans for asthanga yoga.

He continued to travel the world into his nineties, developing a loyal band of followers.

Jois considered yoga to be a form of mind medicine.

“Ashtanga yoga is helping many people throughout the world to balance the mental, physical and spiritual pressures and stresses posed by the modern world we live in today,” he said.

Pierre Bibby, chief executive officer of the British Wheel of Yoga, said: “He was a massive influence on the development of yoga, and greatly respected.

“He did a great deal to broaden the appeal of yoga, and make it more accessible to a Western constituency.”

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IVF weight limit ‘not justified’

Overweight and obese women have as much chance of having a baby through fertility treatment as normal weight women, a Scottish study suggests.

IVF treatment is no more expensive for most obese women, the report in the journal Human Reproduction added.

But women should be advised to lose weight because of the high risk of complications, the researchers said.

Most primary care trusts limit IVF to women with a body mass index under 30, which excludes women classed as obese.

The research, on 1,700 women who underwent their first cycle of IVF between 1997 and 2006 in Aberdeen, found 28% were overweight, 8% were obese and 5% had a BMI over 35 – classed as heavily obese.

No significant difference was found between groups in the proportion of women having a positive pregnancy test, ongoing pregnancy, and live birth.

And there was no difference in the cost of a live birth between normal weight women and women with a BMI up to 35.

But a higher proportion of women in the overweight or obese groups had a miscarriage.

And they needed higher doses of drugs used to stimulate the ovaries.

Age ‘more important’

Study leader Dr Abha Maheshwari, clinical lecturer in reproductive medicine at the University of Aberdeen, said they had expected costs to be higher in overweight and obese women.

But the study showed patients should not be discriminated against because of their size, she said.

“It shows that age is a more important factor than weight.

“Everybody should be encouraged to lose weight, but treatment shouldn’t be declined on weight alone.”

She said women with a BMI over 35 should not be offered IVF until they had lost weight because of the particularly high risk of complications.

The British Fertility Society agrees that no one with a BMI over 35 should get IVF, but says that for those with a BMI over 30, fertility treatment should be delayed until they have lost weight unless their age is against them.

Professor Adam Balen, an expert in reproductive medicine at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and author of the British Fertility Society guidelines, said these were put together on clinical grounds, not cost grounds.

“If you look at all the data, there is no doubt that obesity has a powerful effect on fertility but you can overcome it with fertility drugs.

“However, you still have a high risk of miscarriage and it is associated with maternal and foetal deaths.”

Dr Virginia Beckett, a spokeswoman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the study would get people talking but she would want to see bigger trials done before practice was changed.

“There is well-established data that over a BMI of 30 you have a much higher risk of complications.”

UK funds for S Africa Aids fight – BBC

The UK is to give South Africa’s new Health Minister Barbara Hogan £15m to help combat Aids in the country.

Ms Hogan was appointed health minister in September to help shake up a health service in crisis.

South Africa has one of the most severe HIV/Aids epidemics in the world, with 800 people a day dying a day from Aids-related disease.

The policy of former President Thabo Mbeki has been directly blamed for 330,000 Aids deaths in the country.

President Mbeki denied the scientific consensus that Aids is caused by a viral infection that can be controlled by powerful drugs.

He rejected these drugs and as a consequence most adults and children infected with HIV in the country did not get the drugs that could have helped them.

A team from Harvard University quantified the effect of Mbeki’s stance on HIV/Aids, blaming his policies for hundreds of thousands of deaths.

WHERE UK FUNDS WILL GO More protection for mothers and babies: Better availability of free tests for mothers during pregnancy, and anti-HIV drugs for pregnant mothers and children National HIV awareness campaign: Information on safe-sex and HIV health issues will be sent out via radio, newspaper, text messages and street posters Better nurses, doctors and clinics: Medical staff and managers helped to improve the quality of advice and service to patients, and staff morale improved through stronger incentives for quality care HIV and Aids watchdog: National Aids Council strengthened and given a clearer remit to hold all parts of government to account Susan Watts’ blog

The hope is that Ms Hogan will change all that.

On Monday, World Aids Day, she is to announce a return to the National Aids plan, dropped under Mr Mbeki’s rule, at a stadium event designed to mobilise the nation in the fight against the epidemic.

The high-profile media campaign to raise awareness is planned, including persuading famous people to have themselves tested for HIV.

UK International Development minister Ivan Lewis said it was vital that Ms Hogan succeed in overturning myths about HIV/Aids.

He said: “For too long, South Africa has been fighting Aids with its hands tied behind its back.

“Those ties have now been removed and the country has a fantastic opportunity to finally turn the tide in its struggle against this epidemic.

“Barbara Hogan has set a bold and exciting vision on HIV and Aids and that is why the UK is fully committed to working with her as she embarks on this new approach.”

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UK Minister Ivan Lewis on why Britain is giving money

There is now a critical window of opportunity before next spring’s elections in South Africa.

Jacob Zuma, leader of the ANC (African National Congress) is widely anticipated to become the new president at those elections, when cabinet positions will once again be up for grabs.

The unspoken fear is that priorities could switch back to the previous position of denying the HIV/Aids link.

Early treatment

Professor Diana Gibb is one of the world’s leading authorities on HIV and its transmission from mother to child in developing countries.

She told Newsnight that getting anti-HIV drugs to babies early is vital in saving lives.

Dr Gibb played a key role in a trial carried out jointly by a British and South African team which found dramatic reductions in mortality in infected babies if they are treated early, rather than waiting until the children show clinical symptoms.

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, were so compelling that they have changed international guidelines on how best to treat HIV-infected babies.

But how to make best use of those findings is a challenge that epitomises the difficulties ahead for South Africa and Ms Hogan.

Hospitals need to find and identify infected babies as early as possible, perhaps by testing as they arrive for immunisations and then administer the necessary drugs.

And there are difficult diplomatic choices too, for example whether to stick with expensive drugs from named drugs companies – sometimes in liquid form that is hard to transport.

The alternative is to opt for cheaper generic versions in tablet or powder form – but that risks upsetting drugs company sensitivities.

It may sound easy, but in practice it is a heavy demand for a health service whose skilled staff are leaving the country and struggling after years of inadequate funding and support.

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South Africa ‘at risk of cholera’ – BBC

A leading South African scientist has warned that gross underinvestment in water management has left it at risk of a cholera outbreak.

Five people have died from cholera in South Africa, after crossing from Zimbabwe, where a recent outbreak has killed more than 300 people.

Anthony Turton told the BBC that unless South Africa increased its spending on water, it was heading for disaster.

He was recently sacked from a state body over his report on water safety.

Mr Turton was suspended by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) last week after being prevented from presenting a paper in which he concludes that South Africa is “heading for a significant crisis in the water sector”.

His report said:

• Investment in South Africa’s water quality has fallen sharply since the 1980s

• Decades of mining for gold and other minerals has left much of the water supply heavily polluted with heavy metals and other pollutants

• Many municipalities across South Africa have no qualified engineers.

Mr Turton said the situation was still very different to that in Zimbabwe but compared it to a plane losing height.

“Unless we alter course, we are heading for a disaster,” he said.

Cholera is a water-borne disease, which spreads rapidly if water supplies are contaminated – there is no evidence that this is the case at the moment in South Africa.

Skills shortage

In the paper, Mr turton outlines the issues that have led to this situation, saying that South Africa has failed to maintain its investment in the infrastructure needed to maintain a clean water supply.

In the decades since the 1980s, spending on treatment works, pump stations, reservoirs and other items has fallen sharply.

In the 1980s it hit 40,000m rand ($4,080m).

By the 1990s this had fallen to around 17,000m rand ($1,734m) and then to about 4,000m rand ($408m in the 2000s.

This fall, says Mr Turton, was matched by a skills shortage. Qualified engineers, most of whom were white, were not replaced by younger, men and women.

Many are now close to retirement age, and younger whites, says Mr Turton, have been discouraged by affirmative action and many have simply left the country.

As a result, Mr Turton argues, South Africa is faced with increasing problems of water quality.

The CSIR has issued a statement denying reports that it had gagged Mr Turton and that he was suspended for what are called “inappropriate statements” to the media.

The CSIR says Mr Turton’s presentation used inappropriate material, including an image of a person being executed by a burning tire placed around their necks during the 1980s.

They also question his scientific argument.

Water tested

But a number of organisations have come to Mr Turton’s support.

A petition launched by the Federation for a Sustainable Environment described Dr Turton as a “present-day giant” and called for him to be reinstated.

South Africa’s Minister of Health Barbara Hogan said South Africa was not facing a severe cholera crisis, but said the country was dealing with the disease as a matter of urgency, with nearly 200 cases reported so far.

Local government officials said the quality of water at the town of Musina and the crossing of Beit Bridge had been tested and that it showed no signs of being contaminated with cholera.

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