Month: November 2013

Why kids don’t like to eat veggies

A new study has revealed that children tend to dislike vegetables because they may be programmed to avoid plants as part of a survival strategy left over from our days in the wild.

Psychologists at Yale University found that young children didn’t like to pick natural things, like plants, when given an option with plastic or metal objects, News.com.au reported.

According to researchers Dr Annie Wertz and Dr Karen Wynn, this behaviour was programmed into children from birth to avoid them being harmed or poisoned by flowers or plants.

The researchers said that throughout human evolution, plants have been essential to human existence. Yet, for all of these benefits, plants have always posed very real dangers.

Source: News Track India

 

5 ways to ease menstrual cramps

Crankiness, bloating and fatigue are some of the common symptoms of painful periods. Menses can be very uncomfortable, and at times, drain out energy.

Here are a few foods that can help ease period cramps.

Dark chocolates: Eating a small amount of dark chocolate can actually help in easing PMS cramps and bloating as it acts as natural painkiller.

Green Tea: Drinking a cup of green tea can ease cramps as it contains flavanoids and antioxidants which also help boost immunity.

Salmon: Salmon is a rich source of Omega-3 and helps ease inflammation and PMS cramps.

Water: It flushes out all the toxins from the body and also provides fluidity for the flow of blood thereby easing menstrual pain.

Pineapple juice: Pineapples contain an enzyme called Bromelain which relaxes muscle and eases cramps

Source: zee News

Healthy Recipe: Pumpkin Pie

One of my all-time favorite pies, this one is sweet with spices but not very sugary. Because of the small amount of molasses, this is darker than classic pumpkin pie. Make it with fresh roasted pumpkin, or use canned pumpkin. I am finding small “pie pumpkins” in supermarkets, and they’re perfect for the job.

1 gluten-free dessert pastry shell (or another crust of your choosing), lining a 9-inch pie pan (unbaked)

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups puréed roasted pumpkin (see below) or canned pumpkin

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar or raw light brown sugar

2 tablespoons almond flour

1 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups milk

2 tablespoons drained yogurt (or crème fraiche)

To roast the pumpkin: Use a small pie pumpkin, which is perfect for pumpkin pie. Cut away the stem, cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the pumpkin into chunks. Line a baking sheet with foil, lightly brush the foil with butter and place the pumpkin on top. Cover the sheet pan tightly with foil and place in the oven. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until the pumpkin is thoroughly soft. Remove from the oven and allow the pumpkin to cool until you can handle it. Cut away the skin (or scrape the pumpkin from the skin) and purée the pumpkin in a food processor fitted with the steel blade, or with a hand blender.

1. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Place the rack on the lowest setting. Beat the eggs in a large bowl and brush the pastry lightly with the beaten egg. Place in the oven and prebake 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

2. Combine the pumpkin purée, brown sugar, almond flour, molasses, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and salt in a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring with a heat-proof rubber spatula, until the mixture begins to sputter. Turn the heat to low and simmer, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a food processor fitted with the steel blade or to a bowl if using a hand blender. Add the eggs, milk, and yogurt and blend until thoroughly combined and the mixture is very smooth.

3. Scrape the purée into the pie shell. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean and the pie jiggles when gently shaken. It should not bake until it cracks. Remove from the heat and cool on a rack.

Yield: 1 9-inch pie, serving 10 to 12 (small portions)

Advance preparation: You can make the pie a day ahead. It will taste even better the day after it’s made.

Nutritional information per serving (10 servings): 269 calories; 13 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 89 milligrams cholesterol; 33 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 222 milligrams sodium; 7 grams protein

Nutritional information per serving (12 servings): 224 calories; 11 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 74 milligrams cholesterol; 27 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 185 milligrams sodium; 6 grams protein

Source: New York Times

Sandoz recalls wrongly-packed TB drug batch from 5 States

Drug-maker Sandoz has been asked to recall a batch of wrongly-packaged tuberculosis (TB) drugs from the market. The incorrect packaging was first discovered in Mumbai and the recall will cover five States.

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Joint Commissioner S. D. Patil said Sandoz has been asked to recall all 4D and 4D-Plus batches of the tuberculosis combination product after a Mumbai-based doctor complained that his patient suffered from stomach ache and vomiting.

“There has been a mix up in the packaging of two products (4D and 4D-Plus), and so all stocks from the private market, stockists and retailers have been recalled,” said Patil. The products have been made by a third-party manufacturer, Themis Medicare of Haridwar. The State FDA in Uttarakhand has also been alerted, he added.

A Sandoz spokesperson said that while 4D was marketed across India, “according to our records, this particular batch is restricted to the domestic private market in the five States of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.”

Confirming that the third-party drug maker was Themis, the spokesperson added that as investigations were still on, more details were not being shared.

Themis representatives were not willing to comment on the development.

As a precautionary measure, Sandoz is recalling one batch of the product (No DD 4670) pending further investigation. “In addition, we are investigating a potential second fault related to 4D-Plus, also used to treat tuberculosis, and of a higher strength,” the spokesperson said.

RESISTANCE CONCERNS

Though details on the quantum of stocks recalled are not available, the FDA official clarified that the problem did not relate to all stocks. But they were being recalled “as you cannot take a chance with TB drugs”.

India faces a huge problem of resistance to tuberculosis drugs, wherein medicines become ineffective in treating patients. Resistance occurs when patients do not follow a doctor’s advice and discontinue the medicine or take it erratically.

Source: Business Line

 

CDC importing meningitis vaccine to fight Princeton outbreak

Federal health officials have agreed to import a meningitis vaccine approved in Europe and Australia but not the U.S. as officials at Princeton University consider measures to stop the spread of the disease on the Ivy League campus.

The Food and Drug Administration this week approved importing Bexsero for possible use on Princeton’s campus, said Barbara Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Princeton officials confirmed the school’s seventh case of meningitis in 2013 this week and a spokesman said trustees will discuss the issue this weekend.

No vaccine for use against the type B meningococcal bacteria which caused the cases at Princeton is available in the U.S., Reynolds said, adding that the decision to receive the vaccine would be optional if Princeton and CDC officials agree to offer it to students.

Bacterial meningitis can cause swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The disease is fairly rare in the United States. Those who get it develop symptoms quickly and can die in a couple of days. Survivors can suffer mental disabilities, hearing loss and paralysis.

The bacteria are spread by coughing, sneezing and kissing, and most cases occur in previously healthy children and young adults. The disease can easily spread in crowded conditions, like dorm rooms. All students living in dorms are required by state law to have a licensed meningitis vaccine, but it does not protect against type B.

The school is telling students to wash their hands, cover their coughs and not to share items such as drinking glasses and eating utensils.

Source: WGN tv

 

Mini-Kidney’ Structures Generated from Human Stem Cells for First Time

Diseases affecting the kidneys represent a major and unsolved health issue worldwide. The kidneys rarely recover function once they are damaged by disease, highlighting the urgent need for better knowledge of kidney development and physiology.

Now, a team of researchers led by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has developed a novel platform to study kidney diseases, opening new avenues for the future application of regenerative medicine strategies to help restore kidney function.

For the first time, the Salk researchers have generated three-dimensional kidney structures from human stem cells, opening new avenues for studying the development and diseases of the kidneys and to the discovery of new drugs that target human kidney cells. The findings were reported November 17 in Nature Cell Biology.

Scientists had created precursors of kidney cells using stem cells as recently as this past summer, but the Salk team was the first to coax human stem cells into forming three-dimensional cellular structures similar to those found in our kidneys.

“Attempts to differentiate human stem cells into renal cells have had limited success,” says senior study author Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a professor in Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory and holder of the Roger Guillemin Chair. “We have developed a simple and efficient method that allows for the differentiation of human stem cells into well-organized 3D structures of the ureteric bud (UB), which later develops into the collecting duct system.”

The Salk findings demonstrate for the first time that pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) — cells capable of differentiating into the many cells and tissue types that make up the body — can made to develop into cells similar to those found in the ureteric bud, an early developmental structure of the kidneys, and then be further differentiated into three-dimensional structures in organ cultures. UB cells form the early stages of the human urinary and reproductive organs during development and later develop into a conduit for urine drainage from the kidneys. The scientists accomplished this with both human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), human cells from the skin that have been reprogrammed into their pluripotent state.

After generating iPSCs that demonstrated pluripotent properties and were able to differentiate into mesoderm, a germ cell layer from which the kidneys develop, the researchers made use of growth factors known to be essential during the natural development of our kidneys for the culturing of both iPSCs and embryonic stem cells. The combination of signals from these growth factors, molecules that guide the differentiation of stem cells into specific tissues, was sufficient to commit the cells toward progenitors that exhibit clear characteristics of renal cells in only four days.

The researchers then guided these cells to further differentiated into organ structures similar to those found in the ureteric bud by culturing them with kidney cells from mice. This demonstrated that the mouse cells were able to provide the appropriate developmental cues to allow human stem cells to form three-dimensional structures of the kidney.

In addition, Izpisua Belmonte’s team tested their protocol on iPSCs from a patient clinically diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic disorder characterized by multiple, fluid-filled cysts that can lead to decreased kidney function and kidney failure. They found that their methodology could produce kidney structures from patient-derived iPSCs.

Because of the many clinical manifestations of the disease, neither gene- nor antibody-based therapies are realistic approaches for treating PKD. The Salk team’s technique might help circumvent this obstacle and provide a reliable platform for pharmaceutical companies and other investigators studying drug-based therapeutics for PKD and other kidney diseases.

“Our differentiation strategies represent the cornerstone of disease modeling and drug discovery studies,” says lead study author Ignacio Sancho-Martinez, a research associate in Izpisua Belmonte’s laboratory. “Our observations will help guide future studies on the precise cellular implications that PKD might play in the context of kidney development.”

Source: Science Daily

 

 

CPR for 38 Minutes or Longer Chance to Survive Cardiac Arrest

Performing CPR for 38 minutes or longer can improve a patient’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2013.

Sustaining CPR that long also improves the chances that survivors will have normal brain function, researchers said.

Cardiac arrest occurs when electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic, causing it to suddenly stop beating.

About 80 percent of cardiac arrests — nearly 288,000 people — occur outside of a hospital each year, and fewer than 10 percent survive, according to the American Heart Association.

Research has found that early return of spontaneous circulation — the body pumping blood on its own — is important for people to survive cardiac arrest with normal brain function. But little research has focused on the period between cardiac arrest and any return of spontaneous circulation.

Using a massive registry tracking all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Japan in 2005-11, researchers studied how much time passed between survivors’ collapse and the return of spontaneous circulation, and how well brain function was preserved a month later.

Survivors were considered to have fared well neurologically if they were alert and able to return to normal activities or if they had moderate disability but were well enough to work part-time in a sheltered environment or take part in daily activities independently.

The time between collapse and return of spontaneous circulation for those who fared well was 13 minutes compared to about 21 minutes for those who suffered severe brain disability, said Ken Nagao, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director-in-chief of the Department of Cardiology, CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care at Surugadai Nihon University Hospital in Tokyo.

After adjusting for other factors that can affect neurological outcomes, researchers found that the odds of surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest without severe brain damage dropped 5 percent for every 60 seconds that passed before spontaneous circulation was restored.

Based on the relationship between favorable brain outcomes and the time from collapse to a return of spontaneous circulation, the researchers calculated that CPR lasting 38 minutes or more was advisable.

“It may be appropriate to continue CPR if the return of spontaneous circulation occurs for any period of time,” said Nagao.

The 2010 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC advice bystanders to perform CPR until emergency crews arrive.

Source: Eureka Science News

3 healthy Thanksgiving swaps

Healthy, gluten-free living is an easy endeavor when you consider using “this” instead of “that”. By swapping out less health-conscious ingredients for more nutritious ones, you’re sure to be eating a balanced diet you can smile about.

Try these easy swaps and then check out my gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan Almond Cookies – they’re the perfect guilt-free Thanksgiving dessert!

Apple cobbler

Make your own homemade apple cobbler using almond flour, ground cinnamon and baked apples instead of white flour with refined sugar. It isn’t necessary to use a ton of butter or oil in your holiday baking; use nonstick baking spray to coat the baking dish and bake the apples until tender to ensure they release their natural, sweet juices.

Gravy

Pass on the salty canned gravy. Instead, make your own gravy by saving the drippings from your roasted turkey and adding a bit of fresh herbs, such as 

herbs de Provence, for an extra kick of flavor without the additives in processed gravy.

Potatoes

Swap your white mashed potatoes for sweet potatoes. You can serve mashed sweet potatoes or enjoy sweet potato casserole without the added butter and cream. Simply bake the 

potatoes then mash them together, along with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper for a flavorful side dish without the added saturated fat.

Source: Fox News

 

World Bank Urges Cleaner Stoves to Save Lives, Fight Global Warming

Simple measures to reduce pollution from cooking stoves in developing nations could save a million lives a year and help slow global warming, a World Bank study showed on Monday.

Tighter restrictions on diesel emissions, for instance from car exhausts, could also avert 340,000 premature deaths annually by reining in soot and other heat-trapping pollutants that are also stoking climate change, the report claimed.

The study called for tough limits on pollution from methane and soot, which can settle on snow and ice and hasten a thaw by darkening its surface, in everything from cooking and heating to mining and flaring by the oil and gas industry.

“The damage from indoor cooking smoke alone is horrendous – every year, four million people die from exposure to the smoke,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement of the study “On Thin Ice: How Cutting Pollution can Slow Warming and Save Lives”.

Many people in developing nations cook on open fires with wood or coal, exposing people – mainly women and children – to fumes that cause everything from respiratory problems to heart disease.

“If more clean cook-stoves – stoves that use less or cleaner fuel – would be used it could save one million lives,” the report said.

Permafrost

Mass produced, such stoves can cost a few dollars each.

Monday’s study was co-written by the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative – the cryosphere is the world’s ice, snow and permafrost, from Siberia to Antarctica.

New stoves use fans to improve combustion, or less-polluting fuels such as gas from crop waste or manure.

“If we act fast and cut common pollutants like soot and methane we can slow the rate of warming… and if we did so we can save millions of lives,” Rachel Kyte, World Bank vice president for sustainable development, told a telephone news conference.

Tighter controls on pollution could also boost crop growth, the report said. Plant growth can be hampered by a haze of pollution.

A 2011 U.N. study estimated that measures to limit air pollutants such as methane and soot could slow the pace of global warming by 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 Fahrenheit) by mid-century.

A study in August 2013, however, said the benefits would be far less. Temperatures have risen by about 0.8 C (1.4 F) compared to before the Industrial Revolution.

Almost 200 nations will meet in Warsaw from Nov. 11-22 to consider ways to combat global warming. They have agreed to work out by the end of 2015 a deal that will enter into force from 2020.

Source: Voice of America

 

4 minor measures that could save your life

Breathe easy: Simply switching inhalers could prevent more than half of the 2.1 million asthma-related ER trips per year, according to a recently released U.K. study.

What gives? The bulk of asthma-related ER visits result from people losing track of how much medication they have left—or taking breaths from inhalers that are actually empty, researchers say.

But a rescue inhaler—featuring a dose counter that shows how much medicine is left—can cut hospital admissions. The gadgets are widely available, but if you’re insurance doesn’t cover them, companies like Puff Minder offer an attachment that will help you keep track.

Give your airways a break by avoiding these 5 Health Threats to Your Lungs.

Here are three other simple tips or innovations that could save your life:

The right kind of smoke detector

Unlike ionization detectors—the most-common type in the U.S. and great at sensing flames—photoelectric detectors are quicker to recognize the smoldering, toxic smoke released by slow burns from frayed electrical cords or forgotten cigarettes. That’s according to experiments from Texas AM professor B. Don Russell, who recommends ponying up a few extra bucks to buy a dual detector equipped with both technologies. First Alert offers a popular option.

Can’t remember the last time you checked to see if your smoke alarm was working? Know these 4 Dangerous Home Mistakes You don’t know you’re Making.

Car technology

Like airbags and electronic stability control, forward collision assistance—auto-braking—is one of those innovations that works so well it’ll probably be in every car a decade from now. Your risk of ending up in an accident falls 20 percent if your ride has this technology, according to research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. If you can afford it, most luxury car brands currently offer these systems.

We drove thousands of miles to find Our Favorite Road Trip Cars that are perfect for any vacation.

Coffee

Swallowing some Joe could counteract some of the airway-closing effects of a severe reaction to allergens like nuts, shows research from Korea. By blocking the release of throat-tightening histamine, coffee’s compounds cut the rate of death among allergy-ridden rodents by half, the research shows. It’s not yet proven to be effective in humans, so never count on it over emergency help—but if you ever find yourself waiting for paramedics or without an epinephrine shot, it’s worth a try.

Don’t fall into the medicine trap! Check out these 5 Allergy Medicines to Avoid.

Source: health Medicine Network