Helping Each Other Make Healthier Choices
A person following a healthy course
like quitting smoking, being active, losing weight is more likely if the
partner joins to make the positive changes too, found a new study.
Scientists at University College London (UCL) looked at how likely people were to make healthier choices in relation to what their partner did, and found that people were more successful in swapping bad habits for good ones if their partner made a change as well.
For example, among women who smoked, 50 per cent managed to quit if their partner gave up smoking too at the same time, compared with 17 per cent of women whose partners were already non-smokers, and eight per cent of those whose partners were regular smokers.
The study found that men were equally affected by their partners and were more likely to quit smoking, get active, or lose weight if their partner made the same behaviour change.
The research looked at 3,722 couples, either married or living together and over the age of 50, who were taking part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
One of the study authors, Professor Jane Wardle, director of Cancer Research UK's Health Behaviour Research Centre at UCL said that unhealthy lifestyles had become a leading cause of death from chronic disease worldwide. The key lifestyle risks are smoking, excess weight, physical inactivity, poor diet, and alcohol consumption.
Swapping bad habits for good ones can reduce the risk of disease, including cancer.
The study is published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Source: www.medindia.net
21.01.2015
New
Delhi Hospital Implants India's First Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator
Doctors at a New Delhi hospital
implanted India's first Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator (S-ICD) on a 48
year old patient.
It is a system that is approved for patients who are at a risk of sudden cardiac death due to life threatening ventricular arrhythmias and those who do not require a pacemaker.
The patient had suffered damage to his heart from a large heart attack in October and his heart was pumping at a low efficiency of only 25-30 percent. He had undergone angiography and angioplasty with three stents after the heart attack and was breathless on occasions. In view of his poor heart function and the risk of sudden death, the decision to implant the subcutaneous ICD was taken by doctors at the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.
"This first case of S-ICD in India will be a strong hope for several potential ICD patients who could be at risk of sudden death, including those with poor veins and those at high risk for major infection associated with a transvenous lead. It is only a matter of time and as this technology becomes more pervasive and affordable to offer patients yet another choice for an enhanced recovery," Fortis Escorts Heart Institute chairman Dr Ashok Seth said.
"Sudden cardiac death is a major public health problem in India and accounts for about 10 percent of all deaths in India. Nearly 80 percent of these deaths are due to ventricular arrhythmias, a large number of which can be prevented by timely resuscitation," he added.
The S-ICD is manufactured by a US-based Boston Scientific and was launched in India around two months ago.
21.01.2015
Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great
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