Center of Gurah Treatments

Giriloyo's formula

Giriloyo's status as the center of gurah treatments has seen many locals try to profit from the practice: One can see signboards on practically ever street corner in the hamlet, directing newcomers to this or that gurah expert.

Hisyam and Ali Sarpan, as the pioneers of the treatment in the village, have the two busiest practices in Giriloyo.

There are people in the hamlet who even claim to be Hisyam's nephews or students.

"None of my students or nephews have opened a gurah business here. What can you do about people who are just seeking their fortune?" Hisyam said.

Ali Sarpan cautioned people to be aware, saying some people claiming to be practitioners had added different ingredients to the original Giriloyo formula, or had changed its form to reap more profits.

He cited the popular gurah "capsule" as one example.

"Many of my patients, both local and from abroad, said they had used gurah capsules, which cost them hundreds of thousands of rupiah. But their health conditions hadn't improved (after using them)," Ali said.

Based on research carried out by a team from Gadjah Mada University and Sardjito Hospital in 1998 and led by Prof. Soepomo, gurah is a safe health treatment provided the patient doesn't have an infection.

Soepomo said the root of Cherodentum serratum contains two key substances -- serotannin and tannin. The function of serotannin is to stimulate nerves; this helps expel the mucus after the herbal mix is inserted in the nasal passage.

"The tannin makes the mucus congeal and closes wounds after the mucus has been expelled," said the retired former lecturer of ear, nose and throat disorders and medications.

Patients who suffer from allergies or sinusitis have been known to enjoy improved health after undergoing gurah treatment.

"It's said that it can also cure breathing problems and asthma but we don't focus on those claims. It's only logical that people who can hardly breathe because they have an excess amount of mucus in their airways will experience improvements in their breathing once the mucus is out," Soepomo said.

However, he said, there is a need to be cautious: People with infected tonsils should avoid the treatment.

"This is because when you cleanse the nose hairs, which filter bacteria, they get disturbed. If someone with an infection has the treatment, their infection may become worse."

Satellite Launch Deal

Russian firm to sign satellite launch deal with Indonesia

Kuala Lumpur (dpa) - A Russian satellite firm expects to get the go-ahead to use Indonesia's Biak Island as its launch pad next month, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

Air Launch Aerospace Corporation President Anatoly Karpov said that Russia and Indonesia had already finalized a government-to-government agreement on cooperation in exploration of outer space for business purposes and would "initial" the pact next month, paving the way for the use of Biak, in Papua province, as a satellite launch base.


"It is already approved. It will be initialled in January, but the signing will involve a big ceremony with the presidents of the two countries," Karpov said.

"As soon as the agreement is initialled then we've got the permission from our government to go into official partnership with the Indonesian company - PT Alai (Air Launch Aerospace Indonesai) - as a joint venture," Karpov told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, speaking at the sidelines of the 2nd Russia-ASEAN Business Forum being held in Kuala Lumpur.

Plans to use Biak as a Russian satellite launch base have been on and off for years, partly due to the many changes in Indonesian governments.

"Biak is the best place for launching satellites on the equator," said Karpov. Satellite launches are risky business, and east of Blak is several thousand nautical miles of sea in case something goes wrong and the satellite plunges to earth.

The Russian Air Launch Aerospace Corp bills itself as a cheaper alternative for satellite launches, specializing in smaller satellites of up to 4 tons.

"The anticipated average launch rate of small satellites for the next 12 years may exceed 100 launches per year," Karpov told the Russian-ASEAN Business Forum, which drew more than 40 Russian companies and scores of Malaysian firms.

Efforts to boost Russian-ASEAN economic cooperation will be highlight at this year's annual ASEAN Summit, which for the first time will hold an ASEAN-Russian Summit on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian-ASEAN bilateral trade is currently negligible, amounting to 4 billion dollars in 2004.

Pomegranate Juice Has Health Benefits

The pomegranate fruit has been used for centuries in ancient cultures for medicinal purposes. The fruit has been shown to suppress inflammatory cell signaling proteins in colon and prostate cancer and also possesses other remarkable anti-tumor-promoting effects.

Researchers are adding to the list of cancer types for which pomegranates seem to halt growth. A recent study at the University of Wisconsin--Madison using a mouse model shows that consuming pomegranates could potentially help reduce the growth and spread of lung cancer cells or even prevent lung cancer from developing.

In a recent issue of Cancer Research, researchers led by Hasan Mukhtar, co-leader of the Cancer Chemoprevention Program of the University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center, demonstrate that drinking pomegranate fruit extract helps slow the growth of lung cancer in mice, Science Daily says.

“Pomegranate fruit continues to show great promise,“ says Mukhtar, professor of dermatology at the School of Medicine and Public Health and a member of the Carbone Cancer Center. “We have earlier shown that pomegranate fruit contains very powerful skin and prostate cancer-fighting agents. These recent findings expand the possible health benefits of the fruit to the leading cause of cancer death in the country and worldwide: lung cancer.“

The key to the cancer-fighting capabilities of pomegranate lies in its abundance of antioxidants that have an anti-inflammatory effect. In fact, researchers say pomegranate juice has higher levels of antioxidants than do red wine and green tea, which have also been investigated for their potential cancer prevention effects.
Lung cancer has increased at alarming rates in the last decade, particularly because of trends in smoking. Lung cancer is now the most common cause of cancer death in the world, representing 28 percent of all cancer deaths. Physicians have found this cancer difficult to control with conventional therapeutic and surgical approaches, and the prognosis is poor with an overall five-year survival rate of 10-14 percent in the United States.

Researchers believe delaying the process of lung cancer development could be an important strategy to control this disease. Mukhtar says that the use of fruits and vegetables endowed with cancer-fighting properties is the best way to achieve this goal.