30 April, 2015

Is your body getting enough vitamins?

Did you know that lack of vitamins can cause you great harm? 

Not only do vitamins ensure that your body functions properly, they have a host of other benefits which include improving your immune system, building up bone health and even better your eyesight. When your body does not get adequate vitamins, you will feel tired easily and are more susceptible to different types of infections.

Here's how different vitamins work:

- Vitamin A helps one with healthy eyesight, kickstarts your immune system and makes your bone and teeth stronger. It is also good for the skin and prevents skin problems like acne and pimples.
- Vitamin C works by helping your body absorb iron well. It also protects the immune system against viruses and keeps your tissues healthy.

- Vitamin D is excellent for your bones.

- Vitamin E ensures that there are enough red blood cells in your body and also plays a part in the health of your bones.

- Vitamins B are said to charge up your metabolism, ensure that your brain functions optimally and that your body produces the hormones it requires.

The health problems that vitamin deficiencies can cause

Take a blood test to find out if you are vitamin deficient or feel if you have some of the symptoms. While inadequate B vitamins cause anaemia, a lack of vitamin C can cause your body to produce very little collagen, an important tissue, which will cause health woes like tiredness and joint pain. A deficiency of Vitamin D will cause bone problems, high blood pressure and even autoimmune diseases.

Eat a healthy diet

Instead of relying on health supplements, experts say that one should opt for a healthy diet that comprises vegetables, fruits, dairy, pulses, legumes and beans.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

30.04.2015

Injectable gel to treat knee injuries

A US orthopedics research team is developing an injectable gel that encourages self-healing of damaged tissues after a knee-injury. 

The new solution could result in a minimally invasive, practical, and inexpensive approach for repairing cartilage and preventing osteoarthritis, the study noted. 

"We are creating an (injectable, bioactive) hydrogel that can repair cartilage damage, regenerate stronger cartilage, and hopefully delay or eliminate the development of osteoarthritis and eliminate the need for total knee replacement," said first author of the study Yin Yu from the University of Iowa. 

The researchers had previously identified precursor cells within normal cartilage that can mature into new cartilage tissue. This was a surprising discovery because of the long-held assumption that cartilage is one of the few tissues in the body that cannot repair itself. 

The team also identified molecular signalling factors that attract these precursor cells, known as chondrogenic progenitor cells (CPC), out of the surrounding healthy tissue into the damaged area and cause them to develop into new, normal cartilage. 

One of the signals, called stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF1), acts like a homing beacon for the precursor cells. 

In an experimental model of cartilage injury, the researchers loaded the custom-made hydrogel with SDF1 and injected it into holes punched into the model cartilage. 

The precursor cells migrated toward the SDF1 signal and filled in the injury site. Subsequent application of a growth factor caused the cells to mature into normal cartilage that repaired the injury. 

"The new cartilage integrates seamlessly with the undamaged tissue, it has normal concentrations of proteoglycans, good structural properties, and looks like normal cartilage," Yu noted. 

The study appeared in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatology.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

30.04.2015

The less you respond to rude and argumentative people, the more peaceful your life will become

Mandy Hale