Hindu scientists say astrology can prevent heart attacks

Bess writes: This sounds completely nuts, bordering on quackery rather than medicine, but the scientists involved swear it works (and surely the funding the project has received from the state has nothing to do with it).
Bernama reports that a team of scientists in a Hindu university in North India claim the astrology
charts of heart disease patients can indicate how, when and where they are more likely to have a heart attack, how to best avoid ´heart-related´ illness and, should they fall ill, when the best time for surgery might be.

Approximately 80 horoscopes have been examined to date by the team at Banaras Hindu University in Varanesi, Uttar Pradesh. They look at the time, date and exact place of the planets on the day a given patient was born. "We refer to ancient astrology books where the knowledge of diseases and its treatment were recorded, ages ago. We have, so far, recorded a 70 per cent success rate," explains the head of the project, Dr Shatrughan Tripathi.
"Heart disease is a major problem and it is even mentioned in over 60 ancient texts like the Rigveda (Hindu sacred book). We are not doing something new, we are only trying to promote traditional astrology in a more scientific method." Astrology is part of Ayurvedic medicine, which traditionally claims that different constellations ruled different parts of the bodies according to texts such as the Virasimhavaloka, written in 1383. For Dr Tripathi, the heart is only the start. He says: "later, we will move to other diseases related to eyes, kidney and liver." There is certainly a willing market in Uttar Pradesh, home to the new trend for "astrology hospitals" in which astrologers prescribe  gems, beads, mantras and herbal medicines to the sick.