Chocolate
could reduce stroke risk!
Love chocolate? Here’s why you should love it even more! For
the first time, researchers from Louisiana State University have proved how
eating dark chocolate can benefit the heart. For centuries the health benefits
of eating dark chocolate have been praised, but the exact reason has remained a
mystery, until now. Researchers have from the Louisiana State University have
found out that a certain bacteria in the stomach turns the chocolate into
anti-inflammatory compounds, that are good for the heart.
Their findings were unveiled at the 247th National Meeting
and Exposition of the American Chemical Society. Maria Moore, an undergraduate
student and one of the researchers said, ‘We found that there are two kinds of
microbes in the intestine: the `good’ ones and the `bad’ ones. ‘The good
microbes, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate.
When you eat dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that
are anti-inflammatory,’ she said.
The other bacterias in the intestine are associated with
inflammation and can cause gas, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. These
include some Clostridia and some E. coli, Science Daily reported. ‘When these
compounds are absorbed by the body, they reduce inflammation of cardiovascular
tissue of the heart, reducing the long-term risk of stroke,’ said research head
John Finley. He said that this study is the first to look at the effects of
dark chocolate on the various types of bacteria in the stomach.
Finley said that people could experience even more health
benefits when dark chocolate is combined with fruits like pomegranates and
acai.
Source: http://health.india.com
20.03.2014
Can India
learn from China’s TB control programme?
China has more than halved its tuberculosis (TB) prevalence
over the last 20 years, with rates falling from 170 to 59 per 100,000
population. This unrivalled success has been driven by a massive scale-up of
the directly observed, short-course (DOTS) strategy, from half the population
in the 1990s to the entire country after 2000, according to findings from a
20-year-long analysis of national survey data.
‘One of the key global TB targets set by the Stop TB
Partnership aims to reduce tuberculosis prevalence by 50 percent between 1990
and 2015. This study in China is the first to show the feasibility of achieving
such a target, and China achieved this 5 years earlier than the target date’,
study leader Dr Yu Wang from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and
Prevention in Beijing, China said.
‘Huge improvements in TB treatment, driven by a major shift
in treatment from hospitals to local public health centres implementing the
DOTS strategy, were largely responsible for this success,’ Wang said. China is
a major contributor to the TB pandemic, with 1 million new TB cases every year,
accounting for 11 percent of all new cases globally. Two national surveys of
tuberculosis prevalence in 1990 and 2000 showed that levels of TB were reduced
by around 30 percent in the 13 provinces where the DOTS programme was adopted.
However, national TB prevalence fell by just 19 percent over the decade.
Another survey was done in 2010 to re-evaluate the national
TB burden, providing an opportunity to assess the effect of the nationwide
expansion of the DOTS programme. Nearly 253,000 individuals aged 15 years and
older were surveyed in 2010 at 176 investigation points chosen from all 31
mainland provinces. The results show that between 2000 and 2010, national TB
prevalence fell by 57 percent —tripling the reduction of the previous decade.
The survey is published in The Lancet.
Source: http://health.india.com
20.03.2014
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