Wednesday, 14 November 2012

15 November, 2012 Clippings


Honest people healthier and happier
Being honest may actually improve your health suggests a study that found that telling fewer lies benefits people physically and mentally.

For this 'honesty experiment', research from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, studied 110 individuals aged 18 to 71 over a 10-week period.

Each week, the participants visited a laboratory to complete health and relationship measures and to take a polygraph test assessing the number of major lies and white lies they had told that week.

"Recent evidence indicates that Americans average about 11 lies per week. We wanted to find out if living more honestly can actually cause better health," Sydney Morning Herald quoted lead author Anita Kelly, a psychology professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, as saying.

"We found that the participants could purposefully and dramatically reduce their everyday lies, and that in turn was associated with significantly improved health," she said.

Researchers instructed half the participants to stop telling lies for the 10 weeks. The instructions said "refrain from telling any lies for any reason to anyone. You may omit truths, refuse to answer questions, and keep secrets, but you cannot say anything that you know to be false."

The other half - who served as a control group - received no such instructions. Over the study period, the link between less lying and improved health was significantly stronger for participants in the no-lie group, the study found.

As an example, when participants in the no-lie group told three fewer white lies than they did in other weeks, they experienced, on average, about four fewer mental-health complaints and about three fewer physical complaints.

For the control group, when they told three fewer white lies, they experienced two fewer mental-health complaints and about one less physical complaint. The pattern was similar for major lies, Kelly said.

For both groups, when participants lied less in a given week, they reported their physical health and mental health to be significantly better that week.

And for those in the more truthful group, telling fewer lies led them to report improvements in close personal relationships. Overall, they reported that their social interactions had gone more smoothly, the study found.

15.11.2012
‘50 million diabetics in India’
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimation, nearly 200 million people all over the world suffer from diabetes. This estimate is likely to be doubled by 2030. About 80% of the diabetes deaths occur in middle-income countries, says WHO.
According to the statistics of the International Diabetes Federation, there are nearly 50 million diabetics in India. Also, there is a rise in the complications associated with diabetes. Doctors say that awareness among the people should be increased and health and fitness education should be imparted to reduce the number of patients in India.
Uncontrolled diabetes can damage the organs and impair the immune system. People with diabetes have foot problems which can get serious very fast. Long standing diabetes increases the risk of developing complications like diabetic neuropathy and diabetic foot. According to statistics approximately a quarter of all people with diabetes worldwide will develop sores or breaks (ulcers) in the skin of their feet at some point during their lifetime. Chances of complications can be minimised with regular foot care.
Diabetes can cause difficulties during pregnancy such as a miscarriage or a baby born with birth defects, Dr Abhay Mutha, senior consulting physician at Ruby Hall Clinic was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
4 to 21 per cent women 0ut of an estimated 62.4 million diabetics in India suffer from gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). GDM, also called glucose intolerance, is a temporary form of diabetes during pregnancy in which the body produces inadequate amounts of insulin to deal with sugar. Obesity or a history of abortions increases the risk of gestational diabetes in pregnant women. However, it can be treated through diet alteration, medications and regular exercise.
Screening for gestational diabetes is performed during pregnancy. Use of an advanced technology called continuous glucose monitoring system for patients with diabetes is suggested by endocrinologists. If a patient with diabetes plans pregnancy, it is absolutely important to control blood sugar throughout the pregnancy.
15.11.2012




Trying will do anything in this world

Theocritus

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