June 29, 2012 Clippings

Brushing soon after meal damages teeth

Brushing your teeth within half an hour of having a meal or drinking a cup of coffee could seriously damage them, dentists have warned.

After drinking fizzy or acidic drinks, the acid burns into the enamel of your teeth - and the layer below the enamel, called 'dentin'.

Brushing at the 'wrong' time - particularly within 20 minutes of finishing a meal - can drive the acid deeper into your teeth, corroding them far faster than they would have rotted by themselves.

"With brushing, you could actually push the acid deeper into the enamel and the dentin", Dr Howard R. Gamble, president of the Academy of General Dentistry was quoted as saying.

Study has shown that teeth corrode faster if they are brushed in the half hour after consumption of an acidic soft drink, which 'stripped' them, thereby demineralising them.

Volunteers wore human dentin samples in their mouths, and tested different brushing regimens.

Brushing in the 20 minutes after a soft drink damaged teeth noticeably.

For those who have just eaten a spicy meal, waiting an hour seems to be enough to avoid the negative effects.

"However, after intra-oral periods of 30 and 60 minutes, wear was not significantly higher than in unbrushed controls", the researchers said.

"It is concluded that for protection of dentin surfaces at least 30 minutes should elapse before toothbrushing after an erosive attack," they added.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

29.06.2012

Alzheimer’s just a normal part of ageing

Alzheimer's is the second most feared disease after cancer, but a mental health specialist has said that it shouldn't be regarded as a tragedy, but as a normal part of the ageing process in people aged 85 and over.

Just as other parts of the body degenerate - eyes, bones, heart and skin - our brain is also likely to degenerate as we enter advanced age.

David Spektor, a specialist in aged persons' mental health, will address the international conference on dementia in Sydney and tell that labelling people in their 80s and 90s with Alzheimer's disease is unfair and may serve no productive purpose.

''We bring fear to millions by telling them they have a disease; everyone's brain ages and in different ways. We risk turning a normal process into a disease,'' the Age quoted him as saying in an interview.

Dr Spektor, senior clinical psychologist at Melbourne Health, a public health provider connected to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said that the reality of ageing was that many people in their 80s and 90s would lose memory and cognitive abilities, just as they were likely to suffer hearing loss and deteriorating eyesight.

''Getting the diagnosis can lead people to overestimate what they can't do and under-estimate what they can do. And the things they can do - laugh, hug, empathise, love - are arguably far more important aspects of being human,'' he said.

Dr Spektor said he did not question the existence of Alzheimer's disease as a medical condition and for people under 85 diagnosis and medication to slow the condition, if appropriate, were useful.

But the focus on Alzheimer's as a disease meant much of the research effort was on finding a cure rather than finding better ways to care for millions of old people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia as they reached the end of their lives.

''We need more research on how people can live with quality and dignity during all the worsening symptoms of the condition,'' he said.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

29.06.2012

A wise man watches his faults more closely than his virtues; fools reverse the order

June 28, 2012 Clippings

Did you know your Coke and Pepsi contain alcohol?

Coca-Cola and Pepsi contain minute traces of alcohol, a study has revealed. According to tests carried out by the Paris-based National Institute of Consumption, more than half of leading colas contain traces of alcohol, Daily Mail reported. These include the brand leaders Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, while it is mainly only cheap supermarket versions of the drink which are alcohol-free.

“60 Million Consumers”, the French magazine, published the results of the tests in its latest issue. The tests suggest that the alcohol levels are as low as 10 mg in every litre, and this works out at around 0.001 per cent alcohol. But the figures will still be enough to upset the thousands of Muslims who regularly drink Cola because their religion forbids them from drinking alcohol, the daily said.

The study found minute traces of alcohol in ten major alcohol drinks including Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Coca-Cola Classic Light and Coke Zero. Michel Pepin, scientific director for Coca-Cola France, said: ‘It is possible that traces of alcohol come from the process of making Coca Cola according to its secret recipe.’ He however insisted that drinks were provably ‘soft’.

A Pepsi insider acknowledged that some drinks can contain minute traces of alcohol because of the Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by the American John Pemberton and was originally patented as a medicine which could cure everything from headache to impotence. It went on to dominate the international soft drinks market and is now a US icon sold in more than 200 countries.

However, caffeine is widely considered to be the main stimulant contained in the drink, along with vast amounts of sugar which have come to associate it with a range of health problems including obesity. Every can of Coke contains approximately 10 teaspoons of sugar.

Source: http://health.india.com

28.06.2012

Women who fear childbirth have longer labours!

Women who fear childbirth tend to have longer labour than women who have no such fear, suggests a new research. Researchers found that average labour duration was eight hours for women with fear of childbirth, compared to six hours and 28 minutes for women without fear. The Norwegian study looked at 2,206 women with a single pregnancy who intended to deliver vaginally. Study co-author Samantha Salvesen Adams, Health Services Research Centre, Akershus University Hospital, University of Oslo, Norway said: “Fear of childbirth seems to be an increasingly important issue in obstetric care.”

“Our finding of longer duration of labour in women who fear childbirth is a new piece in the puzzle within this intersection between psychology and obstetrics,” added Adams, the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reports. Some of the factors linked with this fear, which affects between five and 20 percent of pregnant women, include young maternal age, being a first-time mother, pre-existing psychological problems, lack of social support and a history of abuse or adverse obstetric events, according to a Akershus statement.

Fear of childbirth was assessed by the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (W-DEQ). Women undertook the questionnaire at 32 weeks gestation and fear of childbirth was defined as a score of more than 85. Out of the total number, 165 (7.5 percent) women scored more than 85. The average age of the participants at delivery was 30.9 years and 50.5 percent (1,113 women) were first time mothers. Average labour duration was 8.22 hours for first-time mothers. The study also found that women with fear of childbirth more often delivered by instrumental vaginal delivery (17.0 percent versus 10.6 percent) or emergency caesarean delivery (10.9 percent versus 6.8 percent) as compared to women without fear of childbirth.

Source: http://health.india.com

28.06.2012

Positive anything is better than negative nothing

June 27, 2012 Clippings

India’s oldest grandmother stays fit with a healthy diet

India’s oldest grandmother, Sowmi Akka, 120, says she stays fit due to a healthy diet.

Interacting with reporters here, Akka said that a healthy diet had helped her live a long and problem free life.

“I eat everything. Yes, I take healthy diet, which provides me with strength,” she said..

She said that she was self-reliant to perform all kinds of domestic work, such as cooking, cleaning the house and buying vegetables from the market.

Akka’s granddaughter, Amarawathy said Sowmi Akka's eldest daughter is 95 and the entire family participated in a family reunion recently

"My grandmother's eldest daughter is 95 years old and there are more than 250 members in her family. She gave birth to 10 children and all the members live happily. We participate in all major family functions and reunions," Amarawathy said.

Source: www.dnaindia.com

27.06.2012

IMA doctors’ strike: Lukewarm response by Pune docs

The IMA’s call for strike to protest the National Council of Human Resource and Health Bill 2011 and the Clinical Establishment Act met with a lukewarm response in Pune with most hospitals in the city running as usual.

The new laws will see all medical bodies under the NCHRH umbrella and will be headed up by bureaucrats rather than doctors. It was regular business at most hospitals and other than the fact that doctors were wearing black bands there was no evidence of a strike.

At Ruby Hall Clinic (RHC), medical superintendent Dr Sujata Mallik said a few consultants stayed away from work, but their patients were attended to by other doctors. “As far as possible, no patient was turned away,” she said.

A patient we talked to said that though there were some doctors missing most services were available. Medical superintendent Dr Manisha Bobade at Jehangir Hospital said no services were affected. However, a few patients complained that the consultants they wanted to see weren’t available due to the strike.

Source: http://health.india.com

27.06.2012

The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise

Maya Angelou

June 26, 2012 Clippings

IMA doctor’s strike: SC refuses to stay doctors’ protest

The Supreme Court refused to stay the IMA’s nationwide strike today. The main reason for the protest is the decision to dissolve the Medical Council of India (MCI) and other paramedical bodies like the Nursing Council of India and the Dental Council of India and the formation of National Council for Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) for the strike. The doctors fear the NCHRH will be governed by bureaucrats instead of doctors and this will lead to vested interests.

A bench of justices H L Gokhale and Gyan Sudha Misra, however, hoped the doctors would desist from going ahead with the proposed strike in the interest of the general public. The apex court felt that it was too late to stay the strike as it would be difficult to ensure compliance but issued notice to the Centre on the petitioners’ plea that the doctors going on strike would be illegal and unconstitutional. The apex court also asked senior counsel T S Dhobia, appearing for the Centre, as to why the government failed to take any preventive steps despite the petitioners making a representation to it. “Why don’t you respond. They (petitioners) had earlier made a representation for preventing the strike. You could have acted,” the bench observed.

The Centre’s counsel merely stated that the strike was impermissible and the government was not in favour of it. The apex court was hearing a petition by an NGO, People for Better Treatment (PBT), opposing the doctors’ strike and seeking it to be declared as illegal. PBT has submitted to the apex court that the proposed strike violates, apart from the Hippocrates Oath, several other provisions in the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had called the strike to protest against the Union government’s decision to set up a National Commission for Health and other policy decisions affecting the medical profession The government has also proposed some amendments in laws related to clinical establishment and private practice which is being resented by doctors.

The People for Better Treatment submitted in its petition that the proposed strike also violates medical principles like those of the “Code of Ethics and Regulations”, “Maintaining good medical practice”, “Obligation to the sick” and “The patient must not be neglected.” The PBT said the past experiences show that the doctors’ strike has proved disastrous for the poor and the needy patients. It had urged the apex court to issue a direction to the Centre to hold that any call for “doctors’ strike” should be held as unethical, immoral and against the law. It further wanted disciplinary steps to be initiated against those breaching ethics and law.

Source: http://health.india.com        26.06.2012

Smoking fathers’ genes could increase cancer risk in their children

Smoking has actually been proven to damage the DNA. British researchers at the University of Bradford have now found that these damaged genes could be passed on to their children while raising risk of cancer, particularly leukemia, among them.

Because a fertile sperm cell takes three months to fully develop, fathers should kick the habit 12 weeks ahead of conceiving to avoid the risk, said Diana Anderson of the university of Bradford.

“Smoking by fathers at the time around conception can lead to genetic changes in their children. These changes may raise the risk of developing cancer,” she added.

Meanwhile, scientists at the University of Glasgow have found that the men drinking lots of tea are far more likely to develop prostate cancer. They found that those who drank seven or more cups a day had a 50 percent higher risk of contracting the disease than men who had three or fewer cups.

The warning comes after researchers tracked the health of over 6,000 men for over four decades.

The latest findings contradict a previous research, which suggested that drinking tea lowers the risk of cancer, as well as heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

Source: http://health.india.com        

26.06.2012

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm

Ralph Waldo Emerson