Breakfast
coffee could stop pain triggered by prolonged sitting at work
Drinking a single cup of coffee at breakfast time
could help millions of workers avoid the pain triggered by spending hours at a
computer, a new study has claimed.
Scientists found that volunteers who undertook
90-minutes of intensive screen-based work without a break suffered fewer aches
and pains in their neck, shoulders, arms and wrists if they downed a coffee
before getting to the office.
The findings by a team of Norwegian researchers
from the University of Oslo suggest that even small doses of caffeine can have
a powerful pain-relieving effect.
The stimulant is already added to some
pain-killing medicines like aspirin and paracetamol, because it is thought to
boost their analgesic qualities.
Coffee has been shown to protect against liver
cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and even strokes but there have been few studies
exploring its pain-busting properties.
For the study, the researchers recruited 48
full-time office workers who were told they could drink coffee with their
breakfast but to limit it to one cup.
The recruits then underwent hour-and-a-half of
computer tasks, which involved correcting typographical errors on a document as
fast and as accurately as possible, using only the computer mouse. They were
not allowed to pause at any time and were assessed for their levels of pain
throughout the experiment.
The results of the study showed that 40 percent
of the workers had drunk coffee with their breakfast. Although both drinkers
and non-drinkers experienced pain in their shoulders, neck, arms and wrists
during the task, coffee consumers reported much lower levels of discomfort.
“The results revealed a significantly lower
increase in pain development for the subjects who had consumed coffee
approximately one and a half hours before the task, compared to those who
abstained,” the Daily Mail quoted the researchers as saying.
“Several other studies have found attenuated pain
during exercise after caffeine administration.
“But we are not aware of any that have examined
the effect of coffee on naturally-occurring pain during work of very low-level
muscle activity, as during computer work,” they added.
The study has been published in the journal BMC
Research Notes.
13.09.2012
Simple
lifestyle changes can prevent diabetes
A
few simple changes in daily life can ultimately prove to be a major help in
preventing two in three cases of diabetes while saving a large number of lives
annually, a British study has found. People from South Asia are particularly
prone to diabetes. According to the findings of the 20-year British study into
Type 2 diabetes, most deaths could be avoided if people ate healthy food, drank
less alcohol, took more exercise and had regular check-ups, Daily Express
reported. The study is the first to reveal the full implications of ethnicity,
with the risk almost doubling for people of South Asian, African and
Afro-Caribbean descent.
According
to Mike Knapton, associate director of the British Heart Foundation, people
underestimate the magnitude of the problem. ”The key is prevention, early
intervention and treatment. There are very simple measures we can take to
reduce levels of obesity. A healthy diet needs to start very early in life
before patients come through my door for a risk assessment for cardiovascular
disease.” The Southall and Brent Revisited study, funded by the Wellcome Trust
and British Heart Foundation, followed the health histories of nearly 5,000
Londoners.
The
study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, starting observing participants
from the ages of 40 to 69.
13.09.2012
Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues
mount
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