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.
Source: www.timesofindia.com
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.
Source: http://health.india.com
15.11.2012
Trying will do anything in this
world
Theocritus
No comments:
Post a Comment