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Chinese and the Japanese are notorious for equating the price of a wine with quality. That explains why they are big consumers of the most expensive wines of the world. The joke about them is that they decide which wine to order at a restaurant after checking out the right hand side of the menu. So, does a more expensive wine taste better?

That was exactly the question my favorite website for news on the good things of life, Luxist. com, asked a few days ago, and I was relieved to read the answer: “ Yes, no, and sometimes.” Most expensive wines cash in on one of four factors: history, region, vintage or volume of production. A Bordeaux red with a hoary history produced in limited quantities in a particularly good year will naturally command a hefty price tag.

But I have a problem. I have found that all great and expensive wines, especially the reds, are ready for drinking five to ten years after they’ve been released. It’s because their tannins are still too overpowering and take time to mellow down.

These wines also must be paired with the right food if you wish to get a bigger bang for the buck. Most wine drinkers, though, are like the French or Italian peasants of the past. They pick up a bottle, or maybe a case, only if they’re determined to empty its contents with friends and family in a day or three.

Certainly, for this category of people who drink wine to have their share of uncomplicated fun, an expensive one is just not right. Tell that to the snobs! Researchers at the California Institute of Technology, says Luxist, have found that people appreciate the same wine more when they think it’s expensive.

They’ve conducted brain scans to show that drinking high- priced wine sends extra blood and oxygen to the pleasure centres of the brain. Price, in other words, determines how some people perceive the wine they drink. I think that’s foolish.

Some of the best wines I have had didn’t burn a hole in my wallet.
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THE therapeutic properties of Haldi or turmeric appear to be endless. Two scientists of Indian origin - Subhash Chauhan and Meena Jaggi, working in the University of South Dakota – have found that pre- treatment with curcumin – a component of turmeric - makes ovarian cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The researchers tested the effects of their curcumin formulation on therapyresistant ovarian cancer cells. One strategy to improve the effectiveness and limit the toxicity of cancer therapy is to induce chemo and radio- sensitization in cancer cells using natural dietary chemicals like curcumin. Since curcumin is poorly absorbed by the body, scientists developed a nanoparticle formulation for targeted delivery of curcumin into tumours.

The pre- treatment with curcumin could lower the dose of chemotherapy and radiation treatment needed to suppress the growth of cancer cells. The findings have been reported in Journal of Ovarian Research.
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SMOKERS who find it hard to cut down or quit may be at the mercy of their genes.

Scientists identified three genetic mutations that increase the number of cigarettes people smoke a day. Several also appear to be associated with taking up smoking, and one with being able to quit.

The findings could lead to more personalised — and ultimately more effective — treatments that help people stub out their cigarettes.

Three studies published online in Nature Genetics compared the DNA of about 140,000 people and discovered the desire to give up is down to your genes rather than willpower.

Two of them found regions associated with the number of cigarettes smoked per day. These include two genes that have been linked with nicotine dependence and two others that regulate nicotine metabolism in the body. Mutations in these genes are associated with a small increase in smoking quantity but around 10 per cent increase in risk of lung cancer compared with non- carriers.

Lead author Professor Kari Stefansson, a neurologist at deCODE genetics in Reykjavik, Iceland, said: “ Smoking is bad for anyone’s health. It is worse for some. To some degree these variants suggest those for whom nicotine is more addictive are driven to smoke more.

But it may also be they make people more susceptible to the effects of tobacco smoke. These variants — which are all near genes that encode nicotine metabolising enzymes and receptors — are giving us a solid starting point for finding answers to advance personal and public health.” A third study by Clyde Francks, of the University of Oxford, and colleagues found variants of three genes on chromosome 15 that make people more prone to nicotine addiction. “ Smoking behaviour and nicotine dependence are multifactorial traits with substantial genetic influences,” he said.
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