Fasting ensures good health

Washington: Do you know that fasting, long associated with religious rituals, diets and political protests, also ensures good health and protects your heart?
New evidence from the Intermountain Medical Centre Heart Institute in Utah shows that periodic fasting not only lowers one's risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also causes changes in blood cholesterol levels.
"Fasting causes hunger or stress. In response, the body releases more cholesterol, allowing it to utilise fat as a source of fuel, instead of glucose," says Benjamin D. Horne, the study's principal investigator
"This decreases the number of fat cells in the body," says Horne, director of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology at Intermountain Institute.
"This is important because the fewer fat cells a body has, the less likely it will experience insulin resistance or diabetes," adds Horne, according to an Intermountain statement.
Researchers also found that fasting reduces other cardiac risk factors, such as triglycerides, weight and blood sugar levels.
"These new findings demonstrate that our original discovery was not a chance event," says Horne.
The discovery expands upon a 2007 Intermountain study that revealed a link between fasting and reduced risk of coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death among men and women in the US.
The participants' low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (good cholesterol) increased by 14 percent and 6 percent respectively, raising their total cholesterol level and catching the researchers by surprise.
These findings were presented at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans.

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Teens who read less likely to be depressed

Washington:Teenagers who devote more time to reading books are far less likely to suffer from depression than their peers who listen to music.

The study was one of the first to use an intensive "real-life" methodology, called ecological momentary assessment, to study behaviours in real time.

The method helped researchers recognise this large association between exposure to music and depression, said Brian Primack, assistant professor of medicine and paediatrics at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who led the study.

The study involved 106 adolescents, 46 of whom were diagnosed with major depressive disorder, the journal Archives of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine reports.

Researchers called the participants as many as 60 times during five extended weekends over two months and asked them whether they were using any of six types of media: TV or movies, music, video games, Internet, magazines or newspapers, books.

They found that young people who were exposed to the most music, compared to those who listened to music the least, were 8.3 times more likely to be depressed, according to a statement.

However, compared to those with the least time exposed to books, those who read books the most were one-tenth as likely to be depressed.

"It also is important that reading was associated with less likelihood of depression. This is worth emphasising because overall in the US, reading books is decreasing, while nearly all other forms of media use are increasing," concluded Primack.

 

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Morning mood affects you throughout the day

Washington: The mood of employees when they report for work affects how they feel the rest of the day, besides clearly impacting their performance.

The results of a study showed that when employees started the day in a good mood, they tended to rate customers more positively through the day and also felt more positive themselves.

"We saw that employees could get into these negative spirals where they started the day in a bad mood and just got worse over the course of the day," said Steffanie Wilk, associate professor of management at Ohio State University.

"That's why it is so important for companies to find ways to help their workers start off the day on the right foot," Wilk said, reports the Academy of Management Journal.

Wilk conducted the study with Nancy Rothbard of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, according to a university statement.

The study involved a group of customer service representatives who handled phone calls made by customers to a large US insurance company.

Over three weeks, the participants filled out measures of their mood at the beginning of the workday and two other random times during each day.

At those two other points in the day, they also indicated how their latest customer seemed to them, such as whether they were rude, calm, insulting or cheerful.

"Starting off at work wearing rose-coloured glasses - or grey glasses - shapes the way we perceive events the rest of the day," Wilk said.

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Losing a job increases risk of dying prematurely

Toronto: People without jobs face a 63 percent risk of dying prematurely, according to surveys covering 20 million people in 15 countries over the last 40 years.

A surprise finding was that the link between unemployment and a higher death risk remained the same in all the countries covered by the study, inspite of better healthcare systems.

"Until now, one of the big questions has been about whether pre-existing health conditions, such as diabetes or heart problems, smoking, drinking or drug use, lead to both unemployment and a greater risk of death," said Eran Shor, who led the study.

"This probably has to do with unemployment causing stress and negatively affecting one's socio-economic status, which in turn leads to poorer health and higher mortality rates," said Shor, professor in sociology at McGill University.

The research also showed that unemployment increases men's mortality risk more than it does women's mortality risk (78 percent vs 37 percent).

The risk of death is particularly high for those who are under the age of 50, according to a McGill statement.

"We suspect that even today, not having a job is more stressful for men than for women," Shor said.

"When a man loses his job, it still often means that the family will become poorer and suffer in various ways, which in turn can have a huge impact on a man's health by leading to both increased smoking, drinking or eating," he said.

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Freida's secret of beautiful skin

London: "Slumdog Millionaire" actress Freida Pinto, who is the face of L'Oreal, says she drinks a lot of vegetable juice to keep her skin beautiful.
"I make loads of fresh vegetable juices with coriander or pepper so that it's tastier. The concoction makes my skin glow and is good for the digestive system too," she said in an interview with the Daily Record newspaper.
Despite being considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, the 26-year-old star admits she used to have doubts about her body and looks, reports contactmusic.com.
"When you doubt something about yourself, you start thinking there's also something wrong with your hair, your body or your clothes."


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Stress taking its toll on your health?

In a city like Mumbai, stress is a given whether you're a student, office employee, housewife or senior citizen. While some are naturally able to handle stress or adopt measures to counter it, a large majority succumb to it, leading to lifestyle-related diseases like diabetes and hypertension.
The trouble is most people go wrong in correctly identifying stress. "We tend to overlook our own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Meeting deadlines at work or home may be a source of worry but it is our procrastination, rather than actual job demands, that leads to deadline stress," says Dr Harish Shetty, one of the leading psychiatrists in the city.
To identify the real source of stress, you need to closely monitor your habits, attitudes and excuses. If possible, maintain a log on what stresses you out, how your body reacts to it and how you cope with the stress. Stress coping strategies like smoking, drinking too much, over-eating or under-eating, withdrawing from friends and family, using sleeping pills or drugs to relax or sleeping too much are temporary solutions and comes with long-term damage.
The healthiest way to cope with stress is to identify the stressor, then avoid, alter, adapt to or accept the stressor. "Stress can be either physical or psychological. Get a full body check-up done, especially of the thyroid. Yoga is extremely helpful and so is finding a sympathetic listener," says psychiatrist Dr Anjali Chhabria.

 

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Self medication can be risky

Popped a painkiller for a headache, took a crocin the moment you felt feverish or a tablespoon of cough syrup to rid that sore feeling in the throat — we all have resorted to such self-medications from time to time.
While most of the time nothing happens, there is always a greater risk attached to self-medication, say doctors.
Sriram Achrekar, 55, who has been suffering from osteoarthritis preferred to live on painkillers instead of visiting a doctor for more than six years. Achrekar is now suffering from chronic kidney failure and has got severe gastro problems.
Dr Shreedhar Archik, orthopaedic surgeon, Lilavati Hospital, said, “Unprescribed painkillers can cause kidney failure. It is dangerous when people think they don’t need to see the doctor again when an ailment reoccurs and just continue taking the pills that were prescribed to them the first time round. People with long-term ailments like Rheumatoid Arthritis turn to alternative therapy like Ayurveda. These contain quantities of metals which could lead to kidney failure.”
Today, over 7,000 drugs and drug combinations are available. Many of them have been released for general use and are sold directly to the public as over-the-counter (OTC) remedies.
The most misused drugs are the analgesics or pain relievers while the most common ailments for which people resort to self-medication are headaches, colds, fevers and digestive problems — diarrhoea, constipation or acidity.
“Cough syrup is the second-most common medicine taken by people as and when they feel like. Being alcohol-based it has addictive powers and generates a high in people. Cough expectorants (syrup that can thin the cough) can also cause the pulse to quicken and that’s why one needs to a consult doctor before taking these,” Dr Pratit Samdhani, general physician, Jaslok hospital said.
“What people overlook in self-medication is that they are at higher risk of overdosing their body with active ingredients that multiply, which can cause serious acidity or stomach cramps. Popping painkillers for a long time can be toxic to the liver, heart and kidneys. Some painkillers are banned, yet are available over the counters. They can cause gastric problems, ulcers.”
Most of the time, people refer to old prescriptions in case they get similar symptoms or prefer taking medicines that were prescribed to a relative with similar symptoms instead of visiting the physician.
According to doctors, this can be dangerous as the combination of drugs that suits one person may not suit someone else and affect him/her adversely. Also, taking the same drugs repeatedly can make the body immune to them, making a person increase the dose to feel any relief.
Antibiotics are the third-most abused medicines. Their use without consulting a doctor can lead to formation of high-resistant bacteria.
Dr Arun Jamkar, vice-chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, says, “The abuse of antibiotics and its side effects has reached alarming proportions. If not controlled, this can lead to disastrous results. For basic ailments, people either resort to self-medication or go to chemists who give them high-end antibiotics, which are not required. The viruses then develop resistance and the medicines don’t work, which means, should anyone get that disease later, it would be difficult to cure that person.”
Self medication had been a major problem while handling malaria cases in the city last monsoon. The civic body had to launch an awareness programme to stop people from going for self-medication for fever and visit doctors instead.


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Carrots can help prevent breast cancer

London: Carrots can halt the progression of breast cancer in the early stages of the disease, a study says.

The retinoic acid, which is contained in carrot, also rejuvenates the skin and a weak version of it is used in anti-wrinkle face creams, express.co.uk reported.

The study has shown that retinoic acid reverses early changes in cells that lead to breast cancer. The chemical affects cell growth, proliferation and survival.

The results were presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Orlando, Florida. The study suggests that it can halt cancer progression early on, but not at later stages.

US scientists focused on the key role played by a gene that activates retinoic acid's anti-cancer properties.

"There appears to be no way to revert the tumours with retinoic acid when they become too advanced," said study leader Sandra Fernandez.

But certain experimental drugs may increase the effectiveness of retinoic acid in later stages of breast cancer, she added. These drugs were already being used to manage a certain type of leukaemia.

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Now, girls reach puberty at 8

Girls are facing puberty at the tender age of eight when they are as yet unaware of the physiological, psychological and social impact of this major change in their life. Blame obesity, stress and wrong food, say experts.
They said that this had forced the medical fraternity to lower vaccination recommendation age. According to the Indian Academy of Paediatrics Committee of Immunisation’s (IAPCOI) latest recommendations, cervix cancer vaccine initiation age has been set at eight to nine years. In 2008, it was 11-12 years. Cervical cancer takes the lives of eight women in India every hour.
Dr Purvi Nanavati, gynaecologist working with Naari, a group creating awareness on women’s health issues in association with state’s health department, reiterated: “The prime reason for lowering the age bar is early puberty.”
Early onset of puberty was not thought to be a health concern in India till the last few years. Lifestyle-induced obesity and environmental factors such as the presence of endocrine-inhibiting chemicals in food has changed the scene in Indian metros.
While in India the average age for puberty in urban areas was believed to be around 12, today menarche (first menstrual cycle) happens as early as at the age of eight, say paediatricians and adolescent gynaecologists in the city.
Dr Dewang Parikh, president of Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Ahmedabad chapter, said: “The signs of puberty that include development of breasts and initiation of menstrual cycle are visible in girls aged around eight to nine while a few years ago the age for early puberty was considered 11-12 years.”
The major factors behind this are pollutants in food that play havoc with our endocrine glands, sedentary lifestyle causing obesity and early exposure to sexual knowledge due to TV and internet. Rising stress, both at school and at home, also disturbs the hormonal patterns and can be linked to premature puberty, point out experts. Dr Dipal Parekh, an endocrinologist, said, "The major factors are improved nutrition, added chemicals and other environmental factors." According to him, unlike the developed world where it is present across the population, in India this tends to be an urban phenomenon.
It is indeed difficult to control larger environmental factors affecting puberty. But there is still a vital role that parents can play to delay the onset of puberty, say psychologists.
Parents can create a loving ambience at home and motivate kids to exercise moderately.
There should be an open and sensible discussion about sexuality and changes that puberty brings.
"These techniques can help in reducing the stress and anxiety piling up within young girls due to early exposure to half-baked sexual information. And lowering stress and obesity can yield results in delaying puberty," said Dr Param Shukla, adolescent psychiatrist.

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Scented candles affect our health

And, if you are a fan of scented candles and have put them in various places of your abode for a therapeutic trip, then it’s time to reconsider. As the scented candles and home fresheners tend to contain chemicals that are harmful for us. 

According to experts at the Oregon Environmental Council, some of those chemicals could have a wide-range of health effects.

Some cases have been cited where the people have developed asthma and have become hypersensitive to the fragrances. Ashley Henry, a Portland resident, said, “I was a big fan of scented candles, but I had to eliminate use of those because of asthma problem,” KATU quoted her as saying. 
 
According to Jen Coleman at the Oregon Environmental Council, so-called "indoor air pollution" can cause a range of problems.

While others have complained of itchy eyes and cough due to the fragrance. And, if some smell lingers in the house, Coleman recommends to avoid masking the smell with fragrance, and instead try to increase circulation in the house.  

Coleman said there can be hundreds of chemicals that go into scented candles that consumers don't know about.

The Environmental Protection Agency reported there is evidence that phthalates cause birth defects and reproductive problems.

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