Vijay Shankar Balakrishnan
Journalist, Writer, and Podcaster
Reports & writes on science, health, environment, technology and the sociology of all these both in print & online platforms with multimedia and data graphics whenever possible. Founder of BookPodia.
PROJECTS
bioengineeringtoday.org
Whole Body Imaging May Help Researchers Understand Why Heart Attack Survivors Have Cognitive Impairment
When doctors treat patients for heart attack, they usually do not think about the patient’s brain. However, several studies have shown some heart attack survivors can have problems with cognitive functions, such as memory and attention, more frequently than their healthy counterparts.
“This clearly requires more insightful research to understand the mechanism of interaction between cardiac and brain dysfunctions,” said Frank Bengel, a nuclear medicine specialist at the Hannover Medical School...
The Lancet
The birth of consciousness: I think, therefore I am?
Consciousness is an elusive concept, and efforts towards understanding it or its evolution oscillate between philosophy and neuroscience—between thought experiments and measurable tests of brain activity. Consequently, philosophers and scientists are continually coming up with new theories on why or how they think that the physical brain can bring the metaphysical mind into being. In American philosopher Daniel Dennett's latest book, From Bacteria to Bach and Back: Evolution of Minds, he gran...
dw.com
What is the future of animal testing?
For Jo Neill, her workday doesn't end without paying a visit to her lab rats. A professor of psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, Neill finds her field of research to depend upon those rats.
Neill injects her animals with a chemical and observes their learning and memory behaviors. She will only get approval from regulators to test the chemical on humans if it benefits her rats, which are ailing from her experimental imitation of a form of human schizophre...
bioengineeringtoday.org
First National Database of Cardiac Ultrasound Studies Could Help Improve Care
Cardiologists across the United States use a variety of techniques to image heart function, from ultrasound to cardiac catheterization. However, the results from these techniques do not always point to a prognosis in line with patient symptoms, leading to a potentially low quality of imaging-based patient care.
To improve the situation, the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) has come up with ImageGuideEcho, the first registry for cardiologists specializing in ultrasound imaging of the...
The Lancet
In Shock: a book about compassion in the emergency department
On a spring evening about 10 years ago, Rana Awdish experienced intense abdominal pain while dining with a friend. Soon she was rushed to ... // This article is available free of charge. Simply login to access the full article, or register for free if you do not yet have a username and password.
dw.com
Can 'carbon law' help businesses save the climate?
You may never have heard of carbon law — it has nothing to do with the legal system. But the obscure principle seems to be gaining momentum as businesses try to take the lead in a low-carbon economy.
dw.com
Bioeconomy: A global trend?
Against a backdrop of refineries and a tall chimney, hills of woodchips welcome visitors to the Äänekoski Metsä bioproduct mill in central Finland, the largest mill of its kind in the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, it's more than a mill — it's a whole ecosystem of companies that turn a profit from birch, pine and spruce logs trucked in daily from sustainably managed forests around the country.
The Lancet
Germany's delayed coal phase-out and respiratory health
At the time of writing in January, 2018, Germany is in a phase of unprecedented political uncertainty. Months after the general election in September, 2017, it is still unclear who will form the next government. However, after the green party and liberal Free Democratic Party quit coalition negotiations in autumn 2017, the ongoing talks between factions of two conservative parties—the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union—and the Social Democratic Party hint towards a poss...
euroscientist.com
Slumber science
Review of the book, "The Science of Sleep" by Wallace Mendelson for EuroScientist
who.int
Supporting families to care for people with dementia
The burden of care for people with dementia in low- and middle-income countries falls mainly on their families. Vijay Shankar Balakrishnan and Fiona Fleck report on some of the training and support that is available. // Bulletin of the World Health Organization
scroll.in
The Nobel Prize for medicine reminds us how important sleep is. So, how well do Indians sleep?
How well do Indians sleep? Scroll.in Vijay Shankar
The Lancet
UK air pollution declines but more needs to be done
At present, UK air quality is much better than at any time since the industrial revolution, according to a report from Defra. THE LANCET RESPIRATORY MEDICINE
The Lancet
Tuberculosis—know thy enemy
Book review, "Catching Breath" by Kathryn Lougheed for The Lancet Respiratory Medicine
The Lancet
Essential medicines for hepatitis C: at what price?
Effective new hepatitis C drugs have been added to WHO's Essential Medicines List, but governments are struggling to afford them. Vijay Shankar Balakrishnan reports. // The Lancet Infectious Diseases
The Scientist
Emily Balskus Pins Down the Chemistry and Metabolism of Human Microbiomes | The Scientist Magazine®
Emily Balskus Pins Down the Chemistry and Metabolis...