It is also possible that in cancer patients, chronic stress could affect DNA repair and, therefore, the progression of the disease. Marshall's team is currently studying whether cancer patients' stress levels are related to their DNA repair capacity. However, Marshall noted, chronic stress may also have indirect effects on health by altering the way people eat and take care of themselves in general. Tens of thousands are feared dead after the Bhuj earthquake in the Indian state of Gujarat. Even worse is that seismologists think that for India the worst is probably yet to come.
Earthquakes happen when the rocky plates that make up the earth s crust shift suddenly.
These plates are in constant, albeit very slow, motion. As a result, huge pressures build up in them over the years, and this accumulated strain is often released as an earthquake. The Bhuj earthquake was unusual because the strain had built up in the middle of a plate. They also tend to recur. According to Dr Bilham, if the death toll in Bhuj exceeds 19,500 as now seems likely it will have been the most lethal earthquake in the history of India.