30 November, 2012

Modern eye hospital to come up in Delhi

The Delhi government will set up an ultra-modern eye hospital to prevent cases of blindness, a minister said Thursday. There are around 1.85 lakh blind people in Delhi, of whom 1,14,250 suffer from cataract. ”Of the 90,000 eye patients who are able to get operated, 50 percent come from outside Delhi. It is a big challenge for health planners,” said Health Minister A.K. Walia. These conditions have created the need for another eye hospital so that the growing demand for eye treatment is effectively met, he said while inaugurating 13th Motiabind Mukti Abhiyan (MMA) at Guru Nanak Eye Hospital.

The government already runs two eye hospitals in the city — Guru Nanak Eye Centre and Attar Sen Jain Eye and General Hospital. Under the programme, 39 designated hospitals and 500 referral centres in government, private and NGO sectors will be screening and registering cataract patients till Friday. They will be operated for free at designated referral hospitals.

The minister said since the inception of MMA, 4.03 lakh patients have been screened and about 43,747 cases have been successfully operated. Delhi’s rural areas have been specifically covered as it harbours nearly one third of blinds. There is a strong need to rope in more cataract patients under the ambit of surgical operation, he said.

Source: http://health.india.com

30.11.2012

Seeing someone scratch makes you feel itchy too

If you feel itchy when you see someone scratch an itch, you’re not suffering from any disorder.

A study, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, has suggested that seeing someone scratch an itch could make you feel itchy too.

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Manchester looked at whether images such as those of others scratching or ants crawling on skin, made people scratch.

They asked 30 people how they felt looking at these and “non-itch” images - and found visual cues did provoke a “scratch response”.

And, in particular, it was watching another person scratching - rather than seeing the cause of an itch - that made people feel itchy themselves.

Experts said the work could help understand skin disorders.

“The results suggest that, whereas the sensation of itch may be effectively transmitted by viewing others experiencing itch-related stimuli on the body, the desire to scratch is more effectively provoked by viewing others scratching,” the BBC quoted Prof Francis McGlone, a cognitive neuroscientist at Liverpool John Moores University, who led the study, as saying.

“Our findings may help to improve the efficiency of treatment programmes for people suffering from chronic itch,” he added.

Another study, recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used brain scans to show the same parts of the brain are activated when watching someone else scratch an itch as when someone does it themselves.

That team, including experts from Hull University, suggested that the activation of these areas could explain itching disorders where there is no physical cause.

“It was particularly interesting to see that contagious itch is not only elicited by observing someone scratching,” said lead researcher Dr Henning Holle, of Hull University.

“Simply seeing potentially itchy stimuli, for instance ants crawling on the ground, seems to be enough to induce feelings of itchiness in one's own body.

“This suggests that a process of motor mimicking alone cannot explain contagious itch,” Dr Holle added.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

30.11.2012

You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat

Brown Paul

29 November, 2012

Social media helps prevent illness

When it comes to stopping illness, socialmedia posts and tweets may be just what the doctor ordered.  A Kansas State University-led research team is looking at social media as a tool to reduce and prevent diseases from spreading.

Researchers are studying whether a well-timed post from a public authority or trustworthy person could be as beneficial as flu shots, hand-washing or sneezing into an elbow.

"Infectious diseases are a serious problem and historically have been a major cause of death," Faryad Sahneh, Kansas State University doctoral candidate in electrical engineering who is modeling the spread of epidemics in an effort to reduce them, said.

"During the last decades there has been a huge advancement in medication and vaccination, which has helped save many peoples'' lives. But now there also has been a revolution in communication and information technology that we think could be used to develop an even more robust preventative society against infectious diseases," Sahneh added.

Sahneh is working on the project with Kansas State University researchers Caterina Scoglio, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and expert in complex network modeling; Gary Brase, associate professor of psychology who studies how people make decisions; and Walter Schumm, professor of family studies and human services who studies family dynamics.

According to Scoglio, having research collaborators from a wide range of relevant disciplines helps the team develop more comprehensive and accurate models that account for realistic human behavior.

Brase, for example, is collecting data by surveying college-age students about social media and what preventative measures they use against illness.  Results indicate that a majority of participants get their information predominately from Facebook and a few other social media sites.

Moreover, the majority of participants stated they would be willing to increase preventative behaviors such as washing their hands more, taking vitamins or getting a flu shot if asked to do so.

"However, we also saw that restricting contact with family and friends is something that people are not willing to do," Brase said.

"If you think about how diseases are spread, one of the best things you can do is to not interact with other people. But we've seen that this is one thing that people are not very excited about doing," Brase added.

Source: www.timesofindia.com                      29.11.2012

Software developed for detecting diabetic retinopathy

A software for the early detection and risk categorisation of diabetic retinopathy (DR) has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur. Diabetic retinopathy is a disease caused by the complication of diabetes that can eventually lead to blindness. DR is an ocular manifestation of systemic disease, which affects up to 80 percent of all patients who have had diabetes for 10 years or more.

Titled Computer Vision Approach to Diabetic Retinopathy Screening and developed by Chandan Chakrabarty of IIT-Kharagpur, the project is now being used on a pilot basis at a hospital in the city with encouraging results. It is being funded by IT major IBM India.

‘The software uses data analytics capabilities to automatically compare and analyse retina images of the patient. It can tell if the patient has DR and also provides risk categorisation ranging from low to medium and high,’ Chakrabarty said.

The project was initiated on March 2011 by the IIT Kharagpur, in association with IBM India and Susrut Eye Foundation and Research Centre (SEFRC), Kolkata.

‘The solution is being used in our clinic and the results are very encouraging, in fact, the accuracy level is as high as 92 percent,’ said Anirudh Maity of SEFRC, where the project is being used on a pilot basis.

Chakrabarty said the project will take at least a year more before it can be marketed commercially.

‘We are using the results generated by the prototype at the SEFRC to enhance its operations and we hope it will ready within a year. Once operational, the solution will help prevent and cure DR which has been increasingly spreading across the country,’ Chakrabarty told IANS.

Source: http://health.india.com

29.11.2012

Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it

Daniels, Josephus

28 November, 2012

Soft drinks can give you prostate cancer!

Men who drink fizzy drinks are not just ruining their teeth but could also be at risk of aggressive prostate cancer, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday. A Swedish study has found just one soft drink a day could increase the risk of developing more serious forms of the cancer by 40 percent. Experts at Lund University also found those who ate a carbohydrate diet heavy in rice and pasta increased their risk of getting milder forms of prostate cancer, which often required no treatment, by 31 percent.

And eating lots of sugary breakfast cereals raised the incidence of milder forms of the cancer to 38 percent. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after lung disease. The study examined more than 8,000 men aged between 45 and73 for an average of 15 years.

Source: http://healyh.india.com

28.11.2012

How general health check ups can do more harm than good

General health checks do not reduce the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease or cancer, a new study has found.

They do, however, increase the number of new diagnoses, the researchers said.

Health checks were defined as screening for more than one disease or risk factor in more than one organ system offered to a general population unselected for disease or risk factors.

Authors from the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Denmark carried out a review of a total of 14 trials that looked at systematic health checks. The studies had between 1 and 22 years of follow-up.

Nine of the 14 trials had data on mortality and included 182,880 participants, 11,940 of whom died during the study period. 76,403 were invited to health checks and the remainder were not.

All participants were over 18 years old and the study excluded trials specifically targeting older people or trials that only enrolled people aged 65 or over.

Despite some variation regarding the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, no evidence was found for a reduction of either total mortality, cardiovascular mortality, or cancer mortality.

Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that health checks did more harm than good as it led to more diagnoses and more medical treatment for hypertension.

The lack of beneficial effects suggests over-diagnosis and overtreatment, the researchers said.

In conclusion, the results do not support the use of general health checks aimed at the general population.

The researchers say that further research should "be directed at the individual components of health checks e.g. screening for cardiovascular risk factors, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, or kidney disease".

Source: www.dnaindia.com

28.11.2012

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure

Woodberry, George 

27 November, 2012

Fight pre-diabetes to prevent diabetes

Living with pre-diabetes and diabetes is like sitting on the fence - it can get very uncomfortable.

You can fall either on the greener side or the dull side. Pre-diabetes can be avoided, but carelessness may eventually open the gates to full blown diabetes. Dr. Shalini Jaggi, Senior Consultant with Action Diabetic Centre tells us what pre-diabetes is and what you can do to prevent it from causing diabetes.

She explains the term pre-diabetes, "When one's sugar levels are higher than normal but not as high to be treated as diabetes that is known as pre-diabetes. People who have a fasting plasma blood glucose in the 100-125 mg/dl range are defined as having impaired fasting glucose and a post prandial blood sugar between 141-199 are defined as having impaired glucose tolerance. These together are defined as pre-diabetes."

The symptoms of pre-diabeties are:

Feeling hungry often

Weight loss or weight gain

Slow healing of wounds, weakness, and blurry vision

Infection of the gums, skin, vagina and bladder

Dr. Shalini shares some diet tips to fight pre-diabetes: "Since pre-diabetics are at a risk of developing diabetes, they should also take appropriate measures when it comes to their diet. They should have small meals, eat moderately, have foods that are low in fat and carbohydrate content. Further, in addition to the diet, they should indulge in some kind of daily exercise or outdoor activity."

Besides diet, fitness and healthy weight loss can help you prevent the full blown diabetic problem.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

27.11.2012

Indecision and delays are the parents of failure

Canning, George

26 November, 2012 Clippings

Reading and writing keeps ageing brains healthy!

A new study says that reading and writing can preserve brains of older people and insure them against deterioration as they age.

Konstantinos Arfanakis and colleagues from Rush University Medical Centre and Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, examined the effect of late-life cognitive activity on the brain’s white matter, composed of nerve fibres, or axons, that transmit information through the brain. Previous research, unlike that of Arfanakis, had linked late-life cognitive activity with better mental sharpness, according to a statement from Rush University and Illinois Institute.

‘Reading the newspaper, writing letters, visiting a library, attending a play or playing games, such chess or checkers, are all simple activities that can contribute to a healthier brain,’ Arfanakis said.

The researchers used a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method known as DTI to generate data on diffusion anisotropy, a measure of how water molecules move through the brain. These values in white matter drop with aging, injury and disease.

The study included 152 elderly participants with an average age of 81 years, from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a large-scale study looking at risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. They were without dementia or mild cognitive impairment, based on a detailed clinical evaluation. Researchers asked them to rate on a scale of one to 5 the frequency with which they participated in a list of mentally engaging activities during last year, such as reading newspapers and magazines, writing letters and playing cards and board games.

Data analysis revealed significant associations between the frequency of cognitive activity in later life and higher water molecule diffusion in the brain.

These findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago in the US.

Source: http://health.india.com

26.11.2012

Drug that sends cancers 'to sleep' brings hope for millions

Scientists have discovered how to send cancer cells “to sleep” to stop the disease in its tracks.

They have created a new drug that “flips” molecular switches in the cancer’s structure so it cannot multiply, the Daily Express reported.

The drug, called Aflibercept, which is administered as a 30-minute infusion alongside chemotherapy, uses a novel mechanism that effectively fools tumours into becoming dormant.

Trials involving 1,406 patients have shown the breakthrough could prolong life by two years in some patients with advanced bowel cancer who have already undergone chemotherapy.

Aflibercept had a “statistically significant survival benefit” compared to conventional drug regimes treating bowel cancer, the researchers said.

Dr Rob Glynne Jones, Macmillan Clinical Lead for Gastrointestinal Cancer at Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood, Middlesex, said: “The trial results were positive."

“Around 10,000 patients a year die from bowel cancer and most of them are having some form of chemotherapy so it is theoretically applicable to those. I am sure this drug will have a research programme and they will be extending it to all other cancers. Maybe they will find other cancers where it may be more effective,” he added.

The study has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Source: www.dnaindia.com

26.11.2012

Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable

Bacon

24 November, 2012 Clippings

31% men go on secret diet out of sheer embarrassment

About 31% of men have admitted to dieting in secret, as they feel too embarrassing to tell to their friends or family, according to a new survey.

More than 90% of the men questioned want to lose weight, but nearly one in three would not divulge that they were dieting to friends or family, the survey by home delivery diet brand Diet Chef revealed.

Fourteenper cent of respondents said they see diets as something only women do, and 25% wouldn’t tell families and friends out of sheer embarrassment.

Some 29% worry they would be seen as vain, and 18% worry their family and friends would tempt them to break their diet with sugary and fatty treats.

The average weight of the men questioned is 15st and 46% of those want to lose an average of one to two stone to get to their perfect weight.

Over a third of the men questioned admitted to being unable to control their weight because they love eating chocolate.

Pies and the full English are also two things men wish they could give up but just can’t seem to resist, 29% of men wish they could avoid these moreish dishes but struggle to find tasty, healthy alternatives with 26% of men admitting they can’t bear to eat salads as a main meal.

“In modern society men are also very concerned about their appearance,” the Daily Mail quoted Kevin Dorren, Founder and Head Chef at Diet Chef UK, as saying.

“We have had a steady increase in the number of men who sign up to Diet Chef as it helps them bring a pattern of healthy eating and portion control into their lives.

“A lot of the men use the diet plan specifically because it is a way for them to become healthy and see steady progress whilst still enjoying complete meals and healthy snacks,” he added.

Source: www.dnaindia.com

24.11.2012

Now a printer that can print 3D tissues that can be implanted in the human body!

Scientists have developed a hybrid printer which will help print 3D tissue that simplifies the process of creating implantable cartilage. These cartilages could eventually be implanted into injured patients to help re-grow cartilage in specific areas, such as the joints. The printer is a combination of two low-cost fabrication techniques: a traditional ink jet printer and an electrospinning machine, the journal Biofabrication reports.

Combining these systems allowed scientists to build a structure made from natural and synthetic materials. Synthetic materials ensure the strength of the construct and the natural gel materials provide an environment that promotes cell growth.

‘This is a proof of concept study and illustrates that a combination of materials and fabrication methods generates durable implantable constructs,’ said James Yoo, professor at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and study author. ‘Other methods of fabrication, such as robotic systems are currently being developed to further improve the production of implantable tissue constructs,’ added Yoo, according to a Wake Forest statement.

In this study, the hybrid system produced cartilage constructs with increased mechanical stability compared to those created by an ink jet printer using gel material alone. The constructs were also shown to maintain their functional characteristics in the lab and a real-life system.

The key to this was the use of the electrospinning machine, which uses electrical current to generate very fine fibres from a polymer solution. Electrospinning allows the composition of polymers to be easily controlled and therefore produces porous structures that encourage cells to integrate into surrounding tissue.

Source: http://health.india.com

24.11.2012

If you want to be successful, you must either have a chance or take one

23 November, 2012

Walk 6,000 steps daily for a healthier life

Moving 6,000 or more steps a day—no matter how—decreases the risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome (a diabetes precursor and a risk for cardiovascular disease in midlife women, according to a study.

Although other studies have shown the value of structured exercise in lowering health risks such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, this study has shown that habitual physical activity—whether it comes from exercising or just activities of daily living—has the power to improve women's health.

In Passo Fundo, Brazil, 292 women who were 45 to 72 years old wore pedometers and recorded their daily steps.

They also had health checks such as cholesterol and blood sugar and waist and hip measurement (to gauge abdominal obesity, which is a risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease). Women who took 6,000 or more steps per day were considered active and those who took fewer inactive.

The active women were much less likely than the inactive ones to be obese and have metabolic syndrome or frank diabetes, whether or not they had gone through menopause-when these risks usually go up-and whether or not they were using hormonetherapy.

The study was published online this month in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

23.11.2012

Mumbai winning the battle against AIDS?

While there are still concerns about the battle against HIV/AIDS considering the diminishing global funds there is good news for Mumbai – the city christened the ‘HIV capital’ of India. Casualties have from AIDS have gone down to just two this year, a staggering 86% dip from last year and also the lowest in the city since prevention initiatives kicked in almost a decade and a half ago.

The Mumbai District AIDS control Society (MDACS) made the figures public before World AIDS On December 1. The number of people suffering from AIDS has also gone down from 790 to 416.

The city has come a long way from 2004 when there was a jump in the figures with nearly 278 deaths. However, the figures for Maharashtra aren’t that great with 1,243 lives lost due to AIDS in the state. 9,973 tested positive for HIV compared to 12,944 last year.

In the past three years, over 2 lakh people have walked into Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC) out of which 5-8% tested positive. This year, out of the 2.01 lakh who got tested around 5% tested positive. MDACS additional project director Dr Balkrishna Adsul attributed the dip to awareness and integrated approach by agencies. ‘We are aiming towards zero positive cases and deaths,’ he said. Adsul said most of those who tested positive are in the 20-30 years age group.

The figures also show a trend where more pregnant women were also approaching ICTC centres for testing and counselling. Of the 1.03 lakh pregnant women tested,

The MDACS figures also show a trend where more pregnant women are approaching the ICTC centre.. This year, 1.03 lakh pregnant women got tested for HIV out of which 365 tested positive. More and more children are receiving Nevirapine, the drug given to babies born to HIV positive mothers. Official stats suggest 88.9% babies have received the drug that reduces their chances of getting HIV from 30% to around 12-15 %. However, unregistered deliveries of HIV positive mothers remain a grey area.

Source: http://health.india.com

23.11.2012

Everything is possible for him who believes

22 November, 2012 Clippings

Don’t touch these after exercising

You may be working out right, but eating wrong. Don't touch these after exercising

Cheese
High fat and processed cheese is not what you should be eating after running a mile. The reason is that cheese has a large amount of saturated fat, and salt too. If you are craving a salty snack, munch on soya crisps that are cheese flavored.

Processed meats

Rustling up a salami sandwich after an aerobic session sounds divine, but processed meats are high in fat and salt. They end up slowing down your digestion. Bacon, salami, and sausages have fat marbling. Eat a sandwich with boiled chicken instead.

Bread
The starch in bread turns quickly into sugar, and that's not something your body needs after a workout. It needs nutrients. But if you must have bread, go for a small portion of whole-grain bread. White bread is off the list.

Fruit drinks

Fruit drinks are very high in sugar, which ruins the gradually raise in blood sugar levels plan. If you crave something other than water after you workout, have an iced herbal tea. Or drink a glass of coconut water. It's healthy and natural.

Eggs
Eggs are considered a good postworkout snack since they are packed with protein and choline that are good for the heart. But avoid them fried. When eggs are fried, they are cooked in fat. It's better you eat them boiled.

Milkshakes
Smoothies are fine, except you need to be sure about what has been dunked into the blender. If milkshakes are made with fruit, it becomes very high in sugar. Replace it with almond or regular milk, or even green tea.

Uncooked veggies

Raw vegetables may be packed with nutrients but they lack the ability to keep you energised after a workout. You need something more substantial if your muscles must recover from the wear and tear, and your metabolism going. Nutritionists suggest you add high-protein add-ons to the veggies. Think hummus or a yogurt dip.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

22.11.2012

Why fat people are jollier than others

Canadian researchers believe there could be genetic evidence which explains why fat people are often happier than their skinny friends.

McMaster scientists have uncovered evidence that the gene FTO - the major genetic contributor to obesity - is associated with an eight per cent reduction in the risk of depression. In other words, it's not just an obesity gene but a "happy gene" as well.

"The difference of eight per cent is modest and it won't make a big difference in the day-to-day care of patients," said senior author David Meyre, associate professor in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and a Canada Research Chair in genetic epidemiology;

"But, we have discovered a novel molecular basis for depression."

The McMaster discovery challenges the common perception of a reciprocal link between depression and obesity: That obese people become depressed because of their appearance and social and economic discrimination; depressed individuals may lead less active lifestyles and change eating habits to cope with depression that causes them to become obese.

"We set out to follow a different path, starting from the hypothesis that both depression and obesity deal with brain activity. We hypothesized that obesity genes may be linked to depression," Meyre said.

The McMaster researchers investigated the genetic and psychiatric status of patients enrolled in the EpiDREAM study led by the Population Health Research Institute, which analyzed 17,200 DNA samples from participants in 21 countries.

In these patients, they found the previously identified obesity predisposing genetic variant in FTO was associated with an eight per cent reduction in the risk of depression. They confirmed this finding by analyzing the genetic status of patients in three additional large international studies.

Meyre said the fact the obesity gene's same protective trend on depression was found in four different studies supports their conclusion.

It is the "first evidence" that an FTO obesity gene is associated with protection against major depression, independent of its effect on bodymass index, he said.

The study was recently published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

22.11.2012

People who know the least always argue the most

21 November, 2012 Clippings

Unemployment ups heart attack risk

Unemployment, multiple job losses and short periods without work may be associated with an increased risk for acute myocardial infarction, researchers say.

Matthew E. Dupre and his colleagues from Duke University, Durham, N.C., examined the associations between different dimensions of unemployment and the risks for AMI in 13,451 U.S. adults aged 51 to 75 years in the Health and Retirement Study with biennial follow-up interviews from 1992 to 2010.

"Results demonstrated that several features of one's past and present employment increased risks for a cardiovascular event. Although the risks for AMI were most significant in the first year after job loss, unemployment status, cumulative number of job losses and cumulative time unemployed were each independently associated with increased risk for AMI," the authors wrote.

The study group (median age 62 years) had 1,061 AMI events (7.9 per cent) during 165,169 person-years of observation. In the study group, 14 percent of the individuals were unemployed at baseline, 69.7 percent had one or more cumulative job losses, and 35.1 percent had spent time unemployed, according to the study.

Statistical analysis indicated that AMI risks were significantly higher among the unemployed (hazard ratio [HR], 1.35) and that risks increased incrementally from one job loss (HR, 1.22) to four or more cumulative job losses (HR, 1.63) compared with no job loss.

The risks for AMI also were "particularly elevated" within the first year of unemployment (HR, 1.27) but not thereafter, according to the results.

"We found that the elevated risks associated with multiple job losses were of the magnitude of other traditional risk factors, such as smoking, diabetes mellitus and hypertension," the authors said.

"In the context of the current U.S. economy and projected increases in job instability and unemployment among workers, additional studies should investigate the mechanisms contributing to work-related disparities in AMI to identify viable targets for successful interventions," they added.

The study has been published online by Archives of Internal Medicine.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

21.11.2012

Scared of dentists? Blame your parents

Fear of visiting the dentist is passed on to kids by their parents, a new study has revealed.

The study conducted by scientists at the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid also highlighted the important role that parents play in the transmission of dentist fear in their family.

America Lara Sacido, one of the authors of the study explained that “along with the presence of emotional transmission of dentist fear amongst family members, we have identified the relevant role that fathers play in transmission of this phobia in comparison to the mother.

The study analysed 183 children between 7 and 12 years and their parents in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. The results were in line with previous studies, which found that fear levels amongst fathers, mothers and children are interlinked.

The authors confirmed that the higher the level of dentist fear or anxiety in one family member, the higher the level in the rest of the family. The study also revealed that fathers play a key role in the transmission of dentist fear from mothers to their children as they act as a mediating variable.

“Although the results should be interpreted with due caution, children seem to mainly pay attention to the emotional reactions of the fathers when deciding if situations at the dentist are potentially stressful,” stated Lara Sacido.

Consequently, transmission of fear from the mother to the child, whether it be an increase or reduction of anxiety, could be influenced by the reactions that the father displays in the dentist.

Amongst the possible implications of these results, the authors outline the two most salient: the need to involve mothers and especially fathers in dentist fear prevention campaigns and to make fathers to attend the dentist and display no signs of fear or anxiety.

The study has been published in the “International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry.”

Source: http://health.india.com

21.11.2012

If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest

Syrus, Publilius

20 November, 2012 Clippings

Dysfunctional kidneys can affect mental processes!

Faltering kidneys can hit mental processes involved in thinking, understanding, reasoning or remembering, according to a American study. ‘The brain and kidney are both organs that are affected by the cardiovascular systems,” said Adam Davey, associate professor of public health in Temple’s College of Health Professions and Social Work, who led the study,

Researchers from the Temple, Maine and Maryland Universities examined longitudinal data, five years apart, from 590 people, according to a Temple statement. What the researchers found was the greater a person’s decrease in renal functioning, the greater the decrease in overall cognitive functioning, particularly abstract reasoning and verbal memory.

“They are both affected by things like blood pressure and hypertension, so it is natural to expect that changes in one organ are going to be linked with changes in another,” says Davey. ”Those two tracked together, so this study provides us with evidence that the rate of cognitive decline is associated with deterioration in kidney function” adds Davey. Davey said that this information emphasizes two important points: the importance of diagnosing and managing chronic kidney disease and the extent of decrease in cognitive functioning.

“As we get older, our kidney function tends to decrease naturally, so if there’s an extra issue involved in renal function like chronic kidney disease, we need to know about it as soon as possible,” he said. ”That is something that needs to be managed, just like you would manage hypertension.”

Source: http://health.india.com

20.11.2012

Why washing chicken before cooking it is injurious to health

If you wash your chicken before you cook it, think again.

Washing chicken puts you at a higher risk of getting food poisoning, spreads bacteria around the kitchen, a study has revealed. “Home cooks are probably following what their parents or grandparents did in the past by washing poultry, not to mention probably patting it dry with a tea towel,” Food Safety Information Council Chairman, Dr Michael Eyles, said.

“But washing poultry splashes these bacteria around the kitchen cross contaminating sinks, taps, your hands, utensils, chopping boards and foods that aren’t going to be cooked like salads or desserts,” he said. The Newspoll survey also found that the washing phenomenon isn’t just restricted to chicken. 68% of respondents wash turkey and 74% wash duck before cooking, News.com.au reported.

Doctors believe this could be one of the reasons why notified cases of illness from Campylobacter and Salmonella - bacterias associated with food poisoning - have almost doubled over the last 20 years in Australia.

But the zealousness of trying to rid chicken of bacteria isn’t entirely unfounded.

According to the survey, 84% of raw chicken carcasses tested positive to Campylobacter, and 22% to Salmonella. This is similar to the findings of other surveys overseas. However, all you really need to do to make sure you don’t get sick from your chicken is cook it: “Cooking poultry right through kills these bacteria, making it safe,” Dr Eyles insists.

To reduce the risk of getting sick from poultry, one is advised to not wash raw poultry before cooking as this will spread any bacteria throughout your kitchen. Instead, mop up any excess moisture with a paper towel.

Always wash and dry hands and clean surfaces after contact with raw poultry.

Be careful not to let raw poultry juices contaminate other foods, especially things like desserts or salads, which won’t be cooked again. You are also advised to use clean plates and utensils, and wash and dry thoroughly between using for raw and cooked poultry.

Never place cooked food back on the same plate or cutting board that previously held raw poultry. Cook any poultry meat to 75°C and use a meat thermometer to check if juices run clear and are no longer pink rather than popping a piece in your mouth.

Make sure frozen poultry is defrosted right through to the centre in the fridge or microwave in a sealed container before cooking.

Source: www.dnaindia.com

20.11.2012

Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you