11 January, 2014

Popping aspirin daily poses health risk

Health experts have warned that healthy people who take a daily aspirin in a bid to reduce theirrisk of disease should stop doing so because of potential health dangers.

Many people take a dose once a day to ward off the threat of cancer or heart attacks.

But a major new NHS review concluded that it is a "fine balance" due to the dangers of bleeding in the brain and stomach, the Mirror reported.

Overall, it warned against taking the drug until there was more evidence.

Aspirin makes the blood less sticky so it reduces the odds of clots which could cause a heart attack or stroke. Some studies suggest it can cut the risk of cancer.

But the most comprehensive review ever undertaken - by Warwick Medical School for the NHS National Institute for Health Research - concluded that healthy people should avoid aspirin.

Prof Aileen Clarke, who led the research, said that the risks are finely balanced and for now there is not the evidence to advise people to take it.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.01.2014

Hear it loud! Beatboxing good for throat

And you thought daily beatboxing practice with high-octane percussive sounds would ruin your kid's voice? 

Not really. If we believe H. Steven Sims ofUniversity of Illinois in Chicago, beatboxing may actually be gentler on vocal cords - even softer than singing itself! 

Beatboxing (also beatbox) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue andvoice. 

"Little is known about the structures involved in beatboxing and if it poses a risk of injury to the vocal tract," said Sims, associate professor of otolaryngology. 

To achieve positive results, Sims imaged the vocal tracts of four male beatbox artists. He also recorded artists as they performed various isolated and combination beatbox sounds. 

Sims found that beatboxers use the whole vocal tract to produce a range of sounds, spreading the energy among several structures and minimizing wear on any single part. 

"Keeping the glottis -- space between the vocal cords -- open means that beatboxing may actually be protective of the vocal folds," he added. 

The whole vocal tract was used when beatboxers made beats -- spreading the energy around that kept them safe from developing scar tissue that are usually developed in singers who strain their vocal cords. 

In fact, some of the techniques that beatboxers use could help singers relieve stress on their vocal cords. For instance, using muscles to elongate the vocal tract could help singers get themselves a little closer to that high note, before engaging the vocal folds, said the study. 

Next on Sims' agenda is to study female beatboxers as women use their voices differently as their larynxes are smaller and shaped differently than men's, said the study. 

The findings of the study were published in the latest edition of the Journal of Voice.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.01.2014

F-E-A-R means ‘Face Everything And Rise’

Zig Ziglar