11 June, 2013

‘Calories are good for you’, say experts

New Delhi, June 9 (IANS) Hot and crispy fried snacks, sweets, carbohydrates-rich food and much more should be avoided if you want to keep a check on your weight, but do provide calories to your body, say experts. Though most of us avoid having food items with lots of calories, our body requires some amount of calories.

‘Each and every individual has his own calorie requirement, which is based on their basal metabolic rate. If a person eats more calories than what he needs, he will definitely gain weight or if he eats less calories than what he needs, he will lose weight,’ said Annapurna Agrawal, nutritionist at Snap Fitness India. She explained: ‘Your body requires 2,000 calories and if you eat 2,500 calories, the extra 500 will be converted into fat.’

If you are gearing to adapt healthy eating habits, then shun junk food as it lacks essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals and proteins and is high in fat and calories.‘You need to shun all your favourite fried snacks and those curries that have a lot of fat and are cooked in fair amount of oil,’ Manik Pande and Meghana Surve, nutritionists at Talwalkars National Nutrition Centre, told IANS.

They even warn against intake of carbohydrates.  ‘Carbohydrates actually convert into fats after they are consumed. The body stores this fat and this adds to your body weight,’ explained the nutritionists. Grains and sugar, which are common feature of our diet, contain large amount of carbohydrates so you need to be careful as far as consumption is concerned. Hot summer season calls for chilled sodas and juices that instantly refresh us, but Pande and Surve advised to stick to something healthier.

According to them, stick to water, lime juice and fresh fruit juices. Alcohol also is an evil beverage – 12 ounce of beer equals to 146 calories. Medicines usually help to eliminate diseases, but they can also make you heavier than before.  ‘Anti-depressant medicines, birth control pills, allergy medications, and blood pressure medications are some that may cause weight gain,’ said Agrawal.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.06.2013

Living a healthy lifestyle could help reduce the risk of stroke

A recent study has shown that making small changes in lifestyle could reduce risk of strokes. The finding of the study was based on an assessment using the American Heart Association’s health factors: Be active, control cholesterol, eat a healthy diet, manage blood pressure, maintain a healthy weight, control blood sugar and don’t smoke, reports Science Daily.

‘We used the assessment tool to look at stroke risk and found that small differences in health status were associated with large reductions in stroke risk,’ said Mary Cushman, senior author and professor of medicine at the University of Vermont in Burlington. ‘Compared to those with poor blood pressure status, those who were ideal had a 60 percent lower risk of future stroke,’ Cushman added. Researchers also found that those who didn’t smoke or quit smoking more than one year prior to the beginning of the study had a 40 percent lower stroke risk.

What is a stroke?

Also known as a cerebrovascular accident, stroke is a medical emergency in which a part of the brain doesn’t receive blood supply. Brain cells of the affected region begin to die within a few minutes and often result in long-term dysfunction of the body part controlled by the affected brain area. There are two main types of strokes – Ischemic and Haemorrhagic stroke. An ischemic stroke is caused by a block (blood clot) in the blood vessel and a haemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding through a tear in the blood vessel.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.06.2013

Watching ads on TV can increase your craving for junk food

Los Angeles, June 8 (IANS): Watching food advertisements by parents leads to greater consumption of junk food by their children, as the kids often have distorted views on what constitutes a healthy meal, researchers have found. Kristen Harrison and Mericarmen Peralta, both from the University of Michigan, will present their findings at the 63rd Annual International Communication Association Conference in London, Science Daily reported.

Harrison and Peralta interviewed over 100 parents about a wide variety of home and family characteristics, including child and parent media exposure and child dietary intake. They conducted separate interviews with children in pre-schools to get a sense of what children thought made up a healthy meal.

The goal was to see how family characteristics were associated with children’s dietary intake and perceptions of healthy meals. Using food security as a marker, Harrison found that the media-junk food link was very strong among food-secure people, and almost zero among food-insecure people. Since food insecurity is associated with limited income, it sets limits on how much people can spend on junk food.

Food-secure people, on the other hand, can afford to give in to cravings when watching food advertising. People in this category were more likely to consume junk food, and their children had distorted views on what constitutes a healthy meal.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

11.06.2013

You must do the thing you think you cannot do

Eleanor Roosevelt

10 June, 2013

Soft drink put youngsters at diabetes risk

Young people consuming more than one can of soft drink daily are more likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes, heart disease or a stroke, a new study has claimed. 

The health of 1400 teenagers were followed by The Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, as part of its ongoing long-term Raine Study into children's health. 

The new results showed that drinking more than one can of fizzy, sugary drink resulted in lower levels of good cholesterol and higher levels of bad triglyceride in the blood - regardless of whether the people consuming it were overweight, the Age reported. 

Researchers said that meant that these teenagers were at higher risk of cardio-metabolic disease later in life. 

The Raine Study began in 1989 when 2900 pregnant women were recruited, and their kid's health has been assessed from birth. 

The study has been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

10.06.2013

Unbearable back pain signals pregnancy

In a miraculous incident, a woman inMinnesota who was hospitalized after complaining of severe back pain gave birth to a daughter a day later.

Trish Staine, an aspiring half-marathon runner, thought her unbearable back pain was cause by a two-hour training session.

The 33-year-old said she had no idea she was pregnant before the surprise birth on Monday,Stuff.co.nz reported.

The Duluth mother of three said she hadn't gained any weight or felt fetal movement in the months before. And besides, her husband had a vasectomy.

She and her husband, John, have a daughter, 7, and a son, 11. She's also stepmother to John's three boys, ages 17, 19 and 20.

Staine said she ran for about two hours Sunday in preparation for the Garry Bjorklund half-marathon on June 22.

Later in the evening she had a sore back and her pain got worse the next morning. When her pain became unbearable, her husband called an ambulance.

During the emergency room examination, medical staff detected a fetal heartbeat and she was whisked to the delivery room.

About like 5 minutes later, at 3.25pm on Monday, she gave birth to her daughter who weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces (2.9 kilograms), and was 18.9 inches (48 centimetres) long.

The girl, who is born about 5 weeks early, has been named Mira - short for Miracle.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

10.06.2013

Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, 'Grow, grow’

7 June, 2013

Docs remove 1.5-metre long rope from girl’s stomach

 1.5-metre long rope of hair was removed by doctors from a 14-year-old girl’s stomach, hospital authorities said on Thursday. The rope had been in the girl’s stomach for about four years. ‘Sukanya (name changed) used to complain of severe abdominal pain over the past four years. Her parents eventually took her to Asian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), where we examined her abdomen and found that it was very stiff. A CT scan showed a huge mass of hair in her abdomen,’ Parabal Roy, senior consultant at Asian Centre for Advanced Surgery, said in a statement. ‘Sukanya had eaten her hair, which formed a 1.5-metre rope inside her entire stomach and extended into her intestines, causing intestinal obstruction. The hair was cutting through the bowel wall and could have caused a life threatening perforation,’ Roy said. 

According to doctors, Sukanya was suffering from Rapunzel Syndrome, a condition in which the patient has a tendency to pluck off their own hair and swallow it, resulting in a giant hair ball in their gut that can lead to intense pain and other complications.  ‘Rapunzel Syndrome is an uncommon diagnosis in children with less than 30 cases reported all over the world and only three reported in India. It is an extremely rare intestinal condition in humans resulting from eating hair (trichophagia),’ the doctors said.

Source: http://health.india.com

07.06.2013

Indian doctors body in US launches anti-obesity campaign

The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) has launched a new campaign to check childhood obesity in the US. 

‘With obesity proving to be a major epidemic affecting nearly one third of the nation’s population, we have a responsibility to save future generations by decreasing childhood obesity,’ Jayesh Shah, who assumed charge as the youngest AAPI president last week, said in a statement. ‘We at AAPI are proud to undertake this national educational tour around the United States, impacting thousands of children and their families,’ he added.

As part of the programme to bring about awareness about the problem of childhood obesity, AAPI will hold school walkathons and educate students, teachers and parents about the problem of obesity through a programme called ‘Adopt a School – Childhood Obesity Awareness Campaign’.  The largest ethnic organisation in the US representing 100,000 physicians of Indian origin and fellows, AAPI will work to adopt at least 100 schools in as many states in the US as possible.

Stating that the need to organise the national level campaign is a way towards realising one of AAPI’s main goals, Shah said: ‘Our primary goal is to educate the public on diseases and their impact on health… AAPI has physicians in almost every city and town of USA. With this extensive network we should be able to spread message on childhood obesity by following the template plan. We are also exploring the use of social media and phone ‘apps’ as healthy lifestyle tools.’

AAPI will organise the campaign in nine cities with seminars and music concerts by popular Bollywood playback singer Shankar Mahadevan.

The tour will begin June 8 in Cleveland, Ohio, and will move on to Los Angeles June 9, Dallas June 15, New York June 16 New Jersey June 22 Atlanta June 2, Tampa June 29, and San Jose, California, June 30.

Source: http://health.india.com

07.06.2013

The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do

6 June, 2013

Heart ailments, diabetes lead to diseased brain

Heart ailments, diabetes lead to diseased brain (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

A recent study has shown that people suffering from type 2 diabetes and heart disease are at an increased risk of dementia and other cognitive diseases.

Lead author Christina E. Hugenschmidt, PhD, an instructor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, said the results from the Diabetes Heart Study-Mind (DHS-Mind) suggest that cardiovascular disease (CVD) plays an important role in the development of cognition problems, and these may take time before becoming clinically apparent. A report of the study appeared in Science Daily.

The research results, which appeared online, will also be followed by a print version in Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications.

"There has been a lot of research looking at the links between type 2 diabetes and increased risk for dementia, but this is the first study to look specifically at subclinical CVD and the role it plays," Hugenschmidt said. "Our research shows that CVD risk caused by diabetes even before it's at a clinically treatable level might be bad for your brain."

"The results imply that additional CVD factors, especially calcified plaque and vascular status, and not diabetes status alone, are major contributors to type 2 diabetes-related cognitive decline," Hugenschmidt said.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

06.06.2013

'People need to get less emotional about antibiotics'

People need to talk about excessive use of antibiotics without getting emotional or mixing politics into the discussion, Ada Yonath, who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, said.

"Perhaps we committed errors in using antibiotics for treating viral diseases ... but we learned that that does not work. We learned a bunch of things ... so it is incorrect to say we are abusing antibiotics," Yonath said.

Yonath is one of the scientists participating in the 3rd World Summit on Evolution on Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.

The summit, which ends Thursday, is taking place in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, where leading scientists are discussing evolution, genomics, microorganisms and diseases, among other topics.

Yonath said antibiotics were extremely useful, but she criticized the "political" use of the issue.

The use of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections has allowed average life expectancies to rise from 40 or 50 years to double that in just a few decades, Yonath said.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

06.06.2013

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen

Frank Loyd Wright

5 June, 2013

Blood vessels in eye may determine IQ

Eyes may be window to brain health!

The width of blood vessels in the retina, located at the back of the eye, may indicate brain health years before the onset of dementia and other deficits, according to a new study.

Psychological scientist Idan Shalev of Duke University and colleagues wondered whether intelligence might serve as a marker indicating the health of the brain, and specifically the health of the system of blood vessels that provides oxygen and nutrients to the brain.

Shalev and colleagues used digital retinal imaging, a relatively new and noninvasive method, to gain a window onto vascular conditions in the brain by looking at the small blood vessels of the retina, located at the back of the eye. Retinal blood vessels share similar size, structure, and function with blood vessels in the brain and can provide a way of examining brain health in living humans.

The researchers examined data from participants taking part in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal investigation of health and behaviour in over 1000 people born between April 1972 and March 1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Having wider retinal venules was linked with lower IQ scores at age 38, even after the researchers accounted for various health, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors that might have played a role.

Individuals who had wider retinal venules showed evidence of general cognitive deficits, with lower scores on numerous measures of neurospsychological functioning, including verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and executive function.

Surprisingly, the data revealed that people who had wider venules at age 38 also had lower IQ in childhood, a full 25 years earlier.

It's "remarkable that venular caliber in the eye is related, however modestly, to mental test scores of individuals in their 30s, and even to IQ scores in childhood," the researchers said.

The study was published in the journal Psychological Science.

Source: www.indianexpress.com

05.06.2013

Stinky feet may lead to better malaria traps

For decades, health officials have battled malaria with insecticides, bed nets and drugs. Now, scientists say there might be a potent new tool to fight the deadly mosquito-borne disease: the stench of human feet.

In a laboratory study, researchers found that mosquitoes infected with the tropical disease were more attracted to human odours from a dirty sock than those that didn't carry malaria. Insects carrying malaria parasites were three times more likely to be drawn to the stinky stockings.

The new finding may help create traps that target only malaria-carrying mosquitoes, researchers say.

"Smelly feet have a use after all," said Dr James Logan, who headed the research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. "Every time we identify a new part of how the malaria mosquito interacts with us, we're one step closer to controlling it better."

The sock findings were published last month in the journal, PLoS One. Malaria is estimated to kill more than 600,000 people every year, mostly children in Africa.

Experts have long known that mosquitoes are drawn to human odours, but it was unclear if being infected with malaria made them even more attracted to us. Infected mosquitoes are believed to make up about 1 per cent of the mosquito population.

Using traps that only target malaria mosquitoes could result in fewer mosquitoes becoming resistant to the insecticides used to kill them. And it would likely be difficult for the insects to evade traps based on their sense of smell, scientists say.

"The only way mosquitoes could (develop resistance) is if they were less attracted to human odours," said Andrew Read, a professor of biology and entomology at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not part of Logan's research. "And if they did that and started feeding on something else – like cows -- that would be fine."

Source: www.indianexpress.com

05.06.2013

Along with success comes a reputation for wisdom

Euripides

4 June, 2013

Andhra Lokayukta questions state support to ‘fish medicine’

Uncertainty looms over the annual distribution of fish ‘prasadam’ (medicine) for asthma patients here as the Andhra Pradesh Lokayukta observed that the state government should not extend any help to the event. It said since the fish medicine’s scientific value was yet to be proved and it was being administered by private people, the government should not make any arrangements for it. The Lokayukta also directed Hyderabad police commissioner and Exhibition Society secretary to appear before it Tuesday.

The ombudsman reserved its orders on a plea filed by Andhra Pradesh Balala Hakkula Sanghham, a body fighting for children’s rights. Achyuta Rao, president of the Sangham, told IANS that the orders would be pronounced Tuesday. The petitioner questioned the government’s action in making all arrangements for the gathering of people like supply of fish, security arrangements, water, sanitation and other facilities. Lokayukta Justice B. Subhashan Reddy observed that the state government’s action in permitting such a conglomeration and allotting public property not for any public purpose comes within the ambit of “maladministration” – an aspect triable under the Lokayukta Act 1983.

The Goud family of Hyderabad has already announced that it would distribute the fish medicine at Exhibition Grounds June 8 and 9.

Various departments submitted their reports to Lokayukta. Ranga Reddy district collector, in his report, informed that five acres of government land allotted to the family would be taken back. The land was allotted a few years ago at Katedan on the city outskirts for the family to grow the herbs, whose paste is stuffed in the mouth of a ‘murrel’ fingerling before it is slipped through the patient’s throat.

Thousands of people every year take the ‘wonder drug’ administered on the occasion of ‘Mrigasira Karthi’, which heralds the onset of monsoon. It is believed that if taken for three consecutive years, it cures asthma. The family claims to be distributing the fish medicine free of cost for over 160 years. It renamed the drug as ‘prasadam’ a few years ago following controversies after some groups approached courts, seeking a ban on unscientific medicine.

Source: http://health.india.com

04.06.2013

Bill Gates and Aamir Khan discuss better healthcare and sanitation

At first glance, the diminutive perfectionist of Bollywood Aamir Khan and computer whiz and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates have little in common. But on closer inspection one can see several similarities. They’re both influential people who have realised that the power they yield could be used to make a difference in society. While Gates has been championing various causes through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Aamir Khan has been advocating various philanthropic activities in India which became more prominent after his reality TV show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ hit the small screen.  So it was quite interesting as the two philanthropists with different backgrounds met up on May 30.

Gates was enthusiastic about meeting the actor and mentioned in his blog, TheGatesNotes, ‘I’m looking forward to meeting Aamir Khan, the Bollywood star and activist. I want to hear about his work as a UNICEF ambassador for child nutrition. I also want to hear about his TV show, Satyamev Jayate (Truth Alone Prevails), which is shining a light on some critical issues facing India. And maybe, if I’m lucky, he’ll show me a few dance moves.

When they met they discussed some pressing issues like healthcare in India. Gates wrote, ‘Talking toilets with Bollywood star Aamir Khan, discussing how satellites help fight disease’, an issue not very funny considering that a lot of people in rural India don’t have access to hygienic sanitation.

He wrote: ‘We were filming a question-and-answer segment in front of a studio audience for his show on New Delhi Television, one of India’s largest news networks. Prannoy was asking me and Bollywood star Aamir Khan about philanthropy, health, and India’s development…’

Source: http://health.india.com

04.06.2013

Pakistan takes lessons from India in combating polio

Pakistan is taking oral vaccination tips from India, which has been polio-free for over two years, and wants to replicate its success story, the head of the neighbouring country’s polio programme says.

‘But what hinders Pakistan in containing the dreaded virus is insurgency, violence and illiteracy,’ Pakistan National Polio Plus Committee Chairman Aziz Memon told IANS in an interview during a visit here.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s polio campaign suffered a major setback when a volunteer in the vaccination campaign was killed and her colleague wounded in a militant attack near Peshawar. The attack came soon after nationwide polio campaign started on May 28.

Memon said Pakistan is taking lessons from India for the way it reached out to its population.

‘We are taking lessons from India. Our teams visited Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to see the way they vaccinated children,’ Memon said.

Both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were the hotbed of the paralytic disease in India. Some members of the Muslim community in the two states resisted polio drops being given to their children as they feared that it could make them children impotent.

After 741 polio cases surfaced in 2009, India started using bivalent vaccines (targetting Polio 1 and Polio 3 viruses) in its national vaccination programme from 2010 January. This showed dramatic effects and India moved out of WHO’s list of endemic countries in 2011.

‘We picked many tips (from our visit). We learned how to involve hundreds of volunteers (involved in the campaign), how to handle the resource center and how to immunize children at the transit check posts,’ he said.

As India remains free from polio for the past two years, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only three countries in the world now where the highly infectious, crippling disease still remains endemic.

Source: http://health.india.com

04.06.2013

Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, perspiration and inspiration

Evan Esar

3 June, 2013

Prolonged painkiller use ups heart attack risk

A group of most commonly used drugs known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can increase long-term users' heart-attack risk by more than a third, a study has shown.

In the study, the researchers analysed 639 random drug trials and assembled information on more than 350,000 patients, and found that for every 1,000 arthritis sufferers, the rate of people who suffered a "major vascular event" like heart attack, stroke or death increased from 8 per 1,000 to 11 per 1,000 with long-term, high-dose use of common NSAIDs, the Independent reported.

These drugs have also been linked to illnesses like stomach ulcers.

A new generation of NSAID painkillers known as coxibs were introduced, which had a lesser risk of stomach pains, but they were widely linked to an increase in heart attacks, leading to public concern and withdrawal of the popular drug Vioxx from shelves in 2004.

The study's authors believe that high-dose treatments with older NSAIDs could be as big a risk factor for heart attacks like Vioxx.

They said that all NSAIDs double the risk of heart-failure and produce a two- to four-times increased risk of gastrointestinal complications.

The study has been published in The Lancet medical journal.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

03.06.2013

Children of long-lived parents disease free

Children of parents who live to a ripe old age are more likely to live longer, and are less prone to cancer and other common diseases associated with ageing, according to a new study.

Experts at the University of Exeter Medical School, led an international collaboration which discovered that people who had a long-lived mother or father were 24 percent less likely to get cancer.

The scientists compared the children of long-lived parents to children whose parents survived to average ages for their generation.

The scientists classified long-lived mothers as those who survived past 91 years old, and compared them to those who reached average age spans of 77 to 91. Long-lived fathers lived past 87 years old, compared with the average of 65 to 87 years. The scientists studied 938 new cases of cancer that developed during the 18 year follow-up period.

The researchers found that overall mortality rates dropped by up to 19 per cent for each decade that at least one of the parents lived past the age of 65. For those whose mothers lived beyond 85, mortality rates were 40 per cent lower. The figure was a little lower (14 per cent) for fathers, possibly because of adverse lifestyle factors such as smoking, which may have been more common in the fathers.

The study has been published in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

03.06.2013

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt

Abraham Lincoln