30 April, 2018

Teenagers: Follow this simple steps for strong and lustrous hair

When the hormones kick in during your teen years, taking special care of your hair will help you in the long run, suggest experts.

Prerna Taneja, Cosmetologist, and Agnes Chen, technical head of Streax Professional, have listed tips for teenagers:

* Get your hair trimmed every 5-6 weeks. Getting rid of dead hair is extremely essential.

* Before you take a shower, apply olive oil to your hair ends in the shower. This will help prevent split ends.

* Take egg whites and massage it into your scalp for about 5 minutes. Rinse off with a bit of shampoo. This will make your hair beyond shiny and soft.

* Shampoos and conditioners are important products to keep your hair clean and healthy. Try to use one that moisturises and hydrates your hair.

* Avoid using hot water to have a hair bath. Hot water can dry out your hair faster and leave your scalp feeling irritated and tight.

* Swimming in chlorine-filtered water can impact your hair.

* Avoid experimenting with hot styling tools as they can have a negative impact on your hair.

* Split ends are exactly what the word states — ends that have split in two or even three strands because of harsh towel drying, excessive combing and unprotected heating. When you get out of the shower, grab a towel and gently squeeze the water out instead of harshly rubbing the hair together.

* Wash your hair using purifying shampoos that are mild and gentle, and aid in getting rid of excess oil and sebum.

* Using hydrating masks on rough and dry ends will not only add the required shine to your hair but will enhance your hair in more ways than one.

* Mid-length and ends generally demand extra attention. So, using the right products such as hair serums will help eliminate frizz and add shine to your crowning glory.

* The one thing that all teenagers enjoy is staying up late and having fun. However, a very important way to have great hair is to rest well and have a good night’s sleep.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

30.04.2018

No one can climb the ladder of success, with both hands in the pocket

28 April, 2018

High blood pressure? Drinking kefir could lower it

Creamy and just a little sour, kefir is becoming a favorite among gourmands and health enthusiasts worldwide. This fermented milk drink has been shown to bring many health benefits, and now, researchers explain how it could protect cardiovascular health.

Kefir is a milk-based drink made by adding kefir grains — whitish grains obtained through the fermentation of specific bacteria and yeast — that allow it to obtain the specific creamy thickness and slightly sour taste.

This probiotic drink has traditionally been tied to numerous benefits — especially its wholesome effects on the gut microbiome and digestion. But now we know that the bacteria in our guts influence more than just a good digestion.

The microorganisms that populate our guts have been shown to communicate with the brain, which gives them the potential to influence plenty of processes in our body.

A study from last year even showed that people with coronary heart disease exhibited differences in the composition of their gut microbiota, compared with people without this condition.

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com

28.04.2018

Don’t blame people for disappointing to you. Blame yourself for expecting too much

26 April, 2018

Stronger people have sharper brains

If you thought hitting the gym only builds your physical strength, think again. A study of nearly half a million people has revealed that stronger people perform better in brain functioning tests.

Muscular strength, measured by handgrip, is an indication of how healthy our brains are, said the study published in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin. “Our study confirms that people who are stronger do indeed tend to have better functioning brains,” said study co-author Joseph Firth from NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Australia.

Using data from the 475,397 participants from all around Britain, the new study showed that on average, stronger people performed better in brain functioning tests that included reaction speed, logical problem solving, and multiple different tests of memory.

The study, which used UK Biobank data, showed the relationships were consistently strong in both people aged under 55 and those aged over 55. Previous studies had only shown this applies in elderly people.

The findings also showed that maximal handgrip was strongly correlated with both visual memory and reaction time in over one thousand people with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.

“We can see there is a clear connection between muscular strength and brain health,” Firth, who is also an honorary research fellow at the University of Manchester in Britain, said.

“But really, what we need now, are more studies to test if we can actually make our brains healthier by doing things which make our muscles stronger — such as weight training,” he added.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

26.04.2018

Easy is to judge the mistakes of others difficult is to recognize our own mistakes

24 April, 2018

New app to help track diabetes in rural India

Researchers have developed an innovative smartphone app that could enable community health workers track the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, especially in the rural areas.

Named "Smart Health", the app will be used by community health workers called as ASHAs, who will be trained to screen and identify people suffering from diabetes or at high risk of the disease in the rural communities.

The ASHAs will then offer them lifestyle and diet advice, refer them to a doctor for drug treatment, and follow up on their adherence to treatment and control.

"Around 50 million people in India have Type 2 diabetes and that number is growing every year. The app will help people living in rural areas to access timely, affordable and guideline-based healthcare in the community, reduce the risk of developing life-threatening complications and ultimately save lives," Vivekanand Jha, Professor and Executive Director of The George Institute for Global Health, said in a statement.

"Digital technology coupled with using the experience and knowledge of local health workers. This is innovation at its best," he added. An estimated 25 million people have diabetes in rural India and the number is rising rapidly, the statement said. 

The app will expand the role of community health workers with digital technology and help address the growing burden on chronic disease. It can also serve an example to other countries struggling with the rising cost of providing essential healthcare to their citizens, the researchers said. 

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health

24.04.2018

To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all

Peter McWilliams

23 April, 2018

Heart patients who walk faster hospitalised less

Increasing the pace of walking may bring some added benefits as researchers have found that faster walking patients with heart disease are hospitalised less. “The faster the walking speed, the lower the risk of hospitalisation and the shorter the length of hospital stay,” said study author Carlotta Merlo, a researcher at the University of Ferrara in Italy.

“Since reduced walking speed is a marker of limited mobility, which has been linked to decreased physical activity, we assume that fast walkers in the study are also fast walkers in real life,” she added. The study was conducted in 1,078 hypertensive patients, of whom 85 percent also had coronary heart disease and 15 percent also had valve disease. A total of 359 patients were identified as slow walkers, 362 intermediate and 357 fast walkers.

The researchers recorded the number of all-cause hospitalisations and length of stay of the participants over the next three years. During the three year period, 182 of the slow walkers (51 percent) had at least one hospitalisation, compared to 160 (44 percent) of the intermediate walkers, and 110 (31 percent) of the fast walkers, according to the study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The slow, intermediate and fast walking groups spent a total of 4,186, 2,240, and 990 days in hospital over the three years, respectively.

The average length of hospital stay for each patient was 23, 14, and 9 days for the slow, intermediate and fast walkers, respectively. Each 1 km/hour increase in walking speed resulted in a 19 percent reduction in the likelihood of being hospitalised during the three-year period. Compared to the slow walkers, fast walkers had a 37 percent lower likelihood of hospitalisation in three years, the findings showed.

“Walking is the most popular type of exercise in adults. It is free, does not require special training, and can be done almost anywhere. Even short, but regular, walks have substantial health benefits. Our study shows that the benefits are even greater when the pace of walking is increased,” Merlo said.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

23.04.2018

Don’t make a permanent  decision on temporary feelings

13 April, 2018

Sleep late? Night owls have a higher risk of dying sooner

If you are a “night owl”, or one of those who like to stay up late and have trouble dragging yourself out of bed in the morning, there is some bad news. A large study has found that night owls have have a higher risk of dying sooner than morning “larks,” people who have a natural preference for going to bed early and rising with the Sun.

The findings based on a study of nearly half a million participants showed that night owls suffer from more diseases and disorders than morning larks. They have a 10 per cent higher risk of dying than larks, said the study published in the journal Chronobiology International. “Night owls trying to live in a morning lark world may have health consequences for their bodies,” said co-lead author Kristen Knutson, Associate Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, US.

In the study, the researchers found that people who stay up late had higher rates of diabetes, psychological disorders and neurological disorders. For the study, the researchers examined the link between an individual’s natural inclination toward mornings or evenings and their risk of mortality. They asked more than 433,000 participants between ages 38 and 73 years if they are a “definite morning type” a “moderate morning type” a “moderate evening type” or a “definite evening type.”

Deaths in the sample were tracked up to six and half years later.

The findings suggest that employers should allow greater flexibility in working hours in order to help the workers shift behaviours wherever possible. Genetics and environment play approximately equal roles in whether we are a morning or a night type, or somewhere in between, the authors previously reported.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

13.04.2018

Don’t blame people for disappointing you. Blame yourself for expecting too much

10 April, 2018

More physical activity best defence against heart disease

When heart disease runs in the family, more physical activity may be the best defence, say researchers. According to the findings reported in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, greater grip strength, more physical activity and better cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with reduced risk for heart attacks and stroke — even among people with a genetic pre-disposition for heart disease.

“The main message is that being physically active is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, even if you have a high genetic risk,” said Erik Ingelsson, lead study author and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University’s School of Medicine in California. To reach this conclusion, researchers looked at data from roughly a half-million people in the UK Biobank database.

For participants with an intermediate genetic risk for cardiovascular diseases, those with the strongest grips were 36 percent less likely to develop coronary heart disease and had a 46 percent reduction in their risk for atrial fibrillation, compared to study participants with the same genetic risk who had the weakest grips.

Among individuals deemed at high genetic risk for cardiovascular diseases, high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with a 49 percent lower risk for coronary heart disease and a 60 percent lower risk for atrial fibrillation compared to study participants with low cardiorespiratory fitness.

“The study is not a prescription for a specific type or amount of exercise and because the results come from an observational study, Ingelsson said, adding that “we can’t definitely claim a causal connection.” Nonetheless, the researchers said the data is robust and the results are worthy for consideration in guidelines.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

10.04.2018

Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything

George Bernard Shaw

7 April, 2018

High intake of dairy products may improve bone health: Study

Do you include dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese in your daily diet? If not, then start doing so because a new study has revealed that higher intake of dairy products may improve bone mineral density and strengthen the spine.

Dairy intake seems to be most beneficial for men over age 50 and continues to have positive associations irrespective of serum vitamin D status, according to researchers, including one of Indian origin. They said that dairy products are linked with higher volumetric bone mineral density and vertebral strength at the spine in men.

Shivani Sahni from Institute for Ageing Research in the US said,"This study related dairy intake with quantitative computed tomography (QCT) - derived bone measures, which are unique because they provide information on bone geometry and compartment-specific bone density that are key determinants of bone strength."

For the study, the researchers examined 1,522 men and 1,104 women aged 32-81 years.

They examined QCT measures of bone to determine associations with dairy intake.

"The results of this study highlight the beneficial role of a combination of dairy foods upon bone health and these beneficial associations remain irrespective of serum vitamin D status in a person," Sahni said.

The study was published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Density.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health

07.04.2018

Failure is not our only punishment for laziness, there is also the success of others

Jules Renard

6 April, 2018

Taxes on soft drinks, alcohol most beneficial to poor: Lancet

Taxes on unhealthy products like soft drinks, alcohol and tobacco, have the potential to produce major health gains among the poorest in society who are disproportionately affected by diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, researchers suggest.

The study helps counter fears that such taxes will necessarily disproportionately harm the poor. In a series of five papers published in The Lancet, the researchers argued that taxes are a powerful response to rising rates of chronic diseases and an inescapable solution to tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs) — stroke, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease and cancer.

NCDs are responsible for 38 million deaths each year, 16 million of these are among people aged under 70 and “are a major cause and consequence of poverty worldwide”. “Responding to this challenge means big investments to improve health care systems worldwide, but there are immediate and effective tools at our disposal,” said Rachel Nugent from the RTI International in the US.

In India, wealthier households spent seven times more on alcohol and three times more on soft drinks and snacks compared to poorer households. Increased taxes on unhealthy products will, therefore, affect a larger number of high-income households than low-income households, meaning that the revenues generated by taxes will come disproportionately from high-income households.

The analysis is based on data from 13 countries – Chile, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Albania, Poland, Turkey, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Niger, Nigeria, India and Timor-Leste. The study helps counter fears that such taxes will necessarily disproportionately harm the poor.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

06.04.2018

Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind

 Jeffrey Eugenides

4 April, 2018

This new drug could make your blood kill mosquito

A team of researchers has discovered a new drug that could make our blood kill the mosquito. Sounds bizzare, right? The drug named Ivermectic is widely used in the treatment of other tropical diseases, reportedly.

Research team from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study where people were dosed with Ivermectin to make them deadly targets for the mosquitoes that transmit Malaria.

The study showed that adding high doses of ivermectin to the antimalarial dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) had a major and prolonged effect on mosquito mortality, reportedly.

According to a report in Science Daily, the research team evaluated doses that were predicted to give drug levels that were 2 times and 4 times higher than the standard dose. They combined it with the Malaria drug DP which is routinely used in mass drug administration in many Malaria-endemic countries. They found that three-day courses of Ivermectin 300 and 600 mcg/kg/day were safe and routinely killed mosquitoes feeding on the blood of the treated individuals for at least 28 days post-treatment.

The findings, funded by Malaria Eradication Scientific Alliance (MESA) and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that Ivermectin at both doses assessed was well tolerated and reduced mosquito survival for at least 28 days after treatment. Ivermectin could be the potential new tool for elimination of Malaria.

The study was originally published in the journals of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health

04.04.2018

Never design your character like a garden where anyone can walk… Design your character like the sky where everyone desire to reach

3 April, 2018

Smoking may cause hearing loss: study

Smoking may significantly increase the risk of hearing loss, a study of more than 50,000 participants over 8 years has found. Researchers from Japan's National Center for Global Health and Medicine analysed data from annual health checkups, which included audio testing performed by a technician and a health-related lifestyle questionnaire completed by each participant.

They examined the effects of smoking status (current, former, and never smokers), the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and the duration of smoking cessation on the extent of hearing loss.Even after adjusting for factors including occupational noise exposure, researchers noted a 1.2 to 1.6 increased risk of hearing loss among current smokers compared with never smokers.

While the association between smoking and high-frequency hearing loss was stronger than that of low-frequency hearing loss, the risk of both high- and low-frequency hearing loss increased with cigarette consumption. The increased risk of hearing loss decreased within five years after quitting smoking.

"With a large sample size, long follow-up period, and objective assessment of hearing loss, our study provides strong evidence that smoking is an independent risk factor of hearing loss," said Huanhuan Hu of Japan's National Center for Global Health and Medicine.

"These results provide strong evidence to support that smoking is a causal factor for hearing loss and emphasize the need for tobacco control to prevent or delay the development of hearing loss," said Hu, the lead author of the study published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

Source: www.deccanherald.com

03.04.2018

We do not heal the past by dwelling there; We heal the past by living fully in the present