6 April, 2015

Former health minister urges Narendra Modi to increase size of pictorial warnings on tobacco products

Former health minister Anbumani Ramadoss (May 2004 to April 2009) has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the size of graphic pictorial warnings on tobacco products to 85 percent.

The founder member of the PMK, which is a National Democratic Alliance ally, described arguments against increasing the size of pictorial warnings on cigarette packets as ‘ignorant’ and ‘foolish’.

‘It is high time the prime minister intervened. I appeal to him to order the health ministry to increase pictorial warning to 85 percent immediately,’ Ramadoss told the media.

The health ministry has put in abeyance a move to increase pictorial warning in tobacco products to 85 percent effective April 1.

Ramadoss noted that an MP has stated that there were no studies to link tobacco use leads to cancer, to which another parliamentarian has said by using the same logic, sugar should be banned.

The former minister said both these were ignorant and foolish utterances without any scientific basis and the centre should stop it ‘as the country should not be put to shame’.

He noted that globally acclaimed institutions, including the Indian Council of Medical Research, have done hundreds of studies linking tobacco use to not just cancer, but to diseases related to kidney, lungs and brain as well.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

06.04.2015

Can eggs prevent diabetes?

London, April 3 : If you love eggs, there is good news for you. Egg consumption could reduce the risk of Type-2 diabetes, says a new research. The study, published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that men who ate approximately four eggs per week had a 37 percent lower risk of Type-2 diabetes than men who only ate one egg a week. Type-2 diabetes is becoming increasingly widespread throughout the world. Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland assessed dietary habits of 2,332 men aged between 42 and 60 years during 1984-1989.

During a follow-up of 19 years, 432 men were diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes. The study found that egg consumption was associated with a lower risk of Type-2 diabetes as well as with lower blood glucose levels. This association persisted even after possible confounding factors such as physical activity, body mass index, smoking and consumption of fruits and vegetables were taken into consideration.

Consumption of more than four eggs did not bring any significant additional benefits. In addition to cholesterol, eggs contain many beneficial nutrients that can have an effect on, for example, glucose metabolism and low-grade inflammation, and thus lower the risk of Type-2 diabetes.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

06.04.2015

Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting

Joyce Meyer