Month: March 2014

How to Never Have Another Headache Ever Again

Painkillers will do the trick for the occasional headache, but if you’re slammed with them on a weekly or even daily basis — as 45 million Americans are — you need a better solution. Here, proven strategies that can ease, and even eliminate, chronic headache pain

Rack open a window
When a home is well-sealed, indoor levels of mold, perfumes, smoke and other irritants can skyrocket, worsening headaches for one in four sufferers, according to research at Johns Hopkins University. An easy Rx: Open a few windows to air out those pollutants. Keep them open long enough for a refreshing breeze to sweep out stale smells. Repeat as necessary to circulate some fresh air throughout your home, study authors say.

Sneak in some ginger
Add 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ginger to your daily diet, and you could tamp down even chronic headaches within one week, say researchers at Connecticut’s Manchester Memorial Hospital. Credit ginger’s active ingredient, gingerol. Danish studies suggest this powerful anti-inflammatory that is chemically similar to aspirin blocks the formation of pain-triggering compounds called leukotrienes in the brain.

Tip: Use ginger to add a zesty dash of flavor to stir fries, rice dishes, soups, casseroles and dipping sauces, grate it over ice cream, or steep it to make a tea.

Sport sunglasses
One in three headaches are triggered — or made worse — by blasts of sunlight, say UCLA researchers. The reason? When bright light hits the delicate retinas in your eyes, it activates your brain’s pain nerves. To stay ache-free, slip on shades before you head outdoors on bright days, even if you don’t think you need them.

Sniff tangerine essential oil
Spend one minute three times daily relaxing and inhaling the tangy, sweet smell of tangerine essential oil, and you could reduce your risk of tension headaches in as little as one week, say Stanford University researchers. Tangerine’s aromatic compounds soothe the central nervous system, relax tight neck and scalp muscles, plus boost your brain’s production of a pain-soothing compound called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), says Hyla Cass, M.D., author of Eight Weeks To Vibrant Health. Look for it in health and whole foods stores.

Avoid herbal slip-ups
If you use prescription pain medication to tame your worst headaches, check with your doctor or pharmacist before trying any herbal remedies. Surprising University of Utah research suggests that some of today’s most popular herbs — including ginkgo, ginseng, St. John’s wort and valerian — can counteract prescription pain meds, leading to nasty headache flare-ups.

Warm up before working out
According to Columbia University researchers, up to one in four headache-prone women are hit with brain pain within five hours of exercising if they jump into vigorous workouts without warming up. The culprit? Rapid changes in blood flow can trigger painful swelling of brain blood vessels. To prevent the problem, do your first 10 minutes of exercise at a leisurely pace, then gradually pick up the speed, Columbia researchers suggest.

Eat more vegetarian meals
When women pile their plates with fruits, vegetables, legumes and 100-percent whole grains, their headache frequency is reduced by 70 percent, and their attacks are 66 percent shorter and less painful, say doctors at California’s Loma Linda University. “These healthy carbs contain hundreds of natural anti-inflammatories that quickly lower the amount of headache-triggering inflammation your body produces,” says Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C.

Sip mullein leaf tea
Drink 16 ounces of this herbal brew daily and you’ll tamp down blood vessel and scalp muscle inflammation, reducing your risk of headache flare-ups in as little as 10 days, say Stanford University researchers. Credit mullein’s rich supply of natural anti-inflammatories. Look for mullein leaf tea in whole-food stores and well-stocked department stores like Walgreens. It can taste a bit bitter, so sweeten to taste with sugar or honey.

Level out your estrogen
Almost 60 percent of women struggle with their worst headaches right before their periods hit. Called menstrual migraines, these headaches are set off by sudden estrogen dips. A quick fix: If you take birth control pills, Yale University researchers suggest asking your doctor about skipping the placebos so your estrogen levels can stay steady all month long. Not on the pill? Consider using an estrogen patch during your premenstrual week, so those pain-triggering hormone plunges don’t occur.

Get up with your alarm
Get your sleep, but don’t linger in bed. According to University of Texas researchers, 79 percent of headache sufferers are prone to pain if they lounge in bed too long — even if they’re getting roughly the same amount of sleep each night. “Changing your wake-up time has a huge impact on brain function, lowering your pain threshold and making your brain blood vessels a lot more likely to spasm,” explains Michael Smolensky, Ph.D., author of The Body Clock Guide to Better Health.

Tip: Set your alarm so you get up at roughly the time every day, even on weekends.

Treat your snoring
Almost 30 million Americans struggle with sleep apnea — short breathing pauses during sleep – which triggers loud snoring, daytime fatigue, and nasty morning headaches. Those lapses in breathing allow carbon dioxide to build up in the bloodstream, which is a powerful headache trigger, explain researchers at Columbia-Presbyterian Eastside. If you’ve been told you snore loudly or stop breathing during sleep, report it to your doctor. Columbia studies show treating sleep apnea can make morning headaches vanish in as little as two days.

Take melatonin
Even if you don’t have sleep apnea, it may be wise to take a natural sleep aid . In a surprising Brazilian study, when migraine-prone patients took 3 milligrams of melatonin 30 minutes before bedtime, their headache frequency (and the level of pain) was cut in half. For one in four subjects, this simple treatment erased their migraines within three months! Turns out this sleep-inducing hormone helps prevent one of the most common migraine triggers — the amount or quality of sleep people get each night.

Soothe stress with a little “me” time
Carve out 30 minutes each day to relax and unwind, and your headache attacks could be cut in half within two weeks, say researchers at Utah State University. “Making time to nurture yourself drastically cuts your production of pain-triggering stress hormones,” explains Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., author of Real Cause, Real Cure. Try leisurely baths, deep breathing, yoga, napping or any other calming activity that fits easily into your schedule.

Tame rebound pain
If you’re getting at least three headaches every week, chances are good you’re struggling with rebound headaches (pain that flares every time painkillers wear off). To fix the problem fast, try switching to plain aspirin or acetaminophen. “Although most over-the-counter painkillers cause rebound headaches, those two are completely innocent,” says David Buchholz, M.D., author of Heal Your Headache. Make the switch, and your headache flare-ups could be cut in half within one week, he says.

When it’s time to see a doctor
If none of these solutions work, you probably have migraines and should see a doctor to get them under control.

According to Cleveland Clinic researchers, women with migraines often need preventive meds to really get their pain under control. Yet fewer than half of all migraine sufferers have been accurately diagnosed. If you have even one of these migraine symptoms, and at-home remedies haven’t made a dent in your misery, talk to your doctor about it:

Your headaches last 4 to 72 hours
You’d describe the pain as throbbing
Your headaches worsen if you make abrupt movements (like bending down to pick something off the floor)

You’re sensitive to light or sound, or feel nauseous, during headache attacks

Source: stumble upon

Nasal spray nanovaccine promises no pain, more gain

Vaccines save lives, but sometimes they fail to reach the people who need them most, in parts of the developing world. A research team from Iowa State University is currently developing a new generation of vaccines that uses nanotechnology, and is delivered in spray form. One of the advantages of this new type of vaccine is that is can increase access to people living in remote areas because it requires no refrigeration and is simpler to administer.

Current vaccines typically work by introducing part of a virus or bacteria into the body, to trigger what is known as humoral response – the immune system’s ability to produce antibodies that prevent future infections. But more recently, science has started to focus on the use of T cells (white blood cells that monitor abnormalities and infections) to fight viral and bacterial infections, a possibility that these new spray vaccines also explore.

The formula of the vaccine includes protein sampled from the target virus or bacteria, covered in biodegradable polymers. Once sprayed or shot into the body, it will activate the immune system and trigger either the T cells or the humoral response to create specific immunological defenses, depending on the chemical composition of the vaccine.

Research so far has shown that the nanovaccine is effective to produce immunity with T cells on rodents. The next phase of the research will assess how it works with larger mammals.

The new type of vaccine offers practical advantages as it can be safely stored at room temperature for up to 10 months without compromising its efficacy. Additionally, the nasal spray format makes application, as well as follow-up shots, easier, even paving the way for self-administration. With no needles involved, it should be easier for parents to take their children through a pain-free procedure, an idea that has been explored by MIT researchers as well.

The findings of the research were recently presented at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), which was held at the Dallas Convention Center in the US.

Source: gizmag

Simple Beauty tips that work

beauty-tips

Use toothpaste on yellow nails.
This usually happens when you let nail polish stay on your nails for very long and when you’ve used cheap nail polish. Whiten them all up by rubbing toothpaste to remove the stains. You can also add a few drops of lemon for extra whitening, it’s a natural bleaching agent.

Use suntan oil to treat damaged hair.
Here’s another use for that coconut suntan oil you love so much. If your tresses have been damaged from over styling or coloring, you can use this oil to treat it. Rinse your hair with warm water and then with a dollop of suntan oil, rub this on your hair. Wrap it in plastic cling wrap and secure with a towel. Sleep with this on overnight. The next day, wash your hair with baby shampoo (or anything moisturizing) to get the greasiness out.

Protect skin from the pool and the beach.
Don’t you hate the chlorine smell after swimming in the pool and the sticky feel of sea salt on your hair and skin after a dip in the beach? You can help minimize these effects by showering first with non-chlorinated water, which fills your pores and hair follicles. By doing this your hair won’t soak up much more water and then the residues will be easy to shower off.

Treat burns with milk.
If you’re burnt badly, first aid treatment could be standing under the shower and pouring canned milk over the burns. It will help pull the heat from the burn until you can get medical treatment.

Hydrate before travelling.
Since when you’re in a plane, you’re much closer to the sun, the proximity lets you be exposed more to the solar rays. Avoid drinking alcohol and salty foods because they are dehydrating. Drink lots of water instead, this will help your skin a lot.

Powder Your Roots
If by any chance you have no chance to jump into the shower and you need to look your best. Say for example you’ve spend the whole night preparing for an important presentation. Get a fluffy makeup brush and dab it onto loose powder and then brush it on the roots of your hair. Shake off the excess. The powder will soak off the grease in your locks.

Cure Calluses with Vaseline or petroleum jelly
It’s very unsightly to see hard calluses on your feet especially when you’ve been wearing closed shoes for a long time. I’ve seen a friend do this. To soften these tough calluses, she puts on petroleum jelly on them and puts on socks before going to bed.

Spot-Treat Smudges
I find cotton tips very usual for this. You can use it on your eyelids if you’ve made a mistake with your eyeliner and for your nails to correct a stray nail polish line.

Soften Your Body with an Avocado
Since avocadoes are natural moisturizers. Mash one up and slather this on your body just before taking a shower. The body mask will do wonders for your skin.

uper-Glue a Nail
Yikes! Accidents sometimes happen and when one of your nails break, you can choose to Super Glue it for the meantime. Add an opaque nail polish to cover the crack. Then when you get the chance to, better to cut it off.

Use Makeup Remover on Stubborn Lipstick
Instead of rubbing vigorously on your lips to remove red or dark lipstick, just dab on a cotton ball with makeup remover instead. This will help your lips from getting chapped and bruised.

Tame Brows with Eye Cream
Don’t you just hate it when there appears unsightly white specks on your brows that look like dandruff? This means they’re a bit dry, keep them hydrated with rich eye cream.

Use brown sugar to treat dandruff
If you’ve tried all the dandruff shampoos that you can buy and still your dandruff persists, try out this homemade treatment instead. Mix two parts of brown sugar with one part conditioner and then use this on your scalp. Leave on for about 3 minutes and then rinse it off.

Buff with Baking Soda
I’ve laughed at that episode in Friends when Ross went to a self-tanning sauna and got disastrous results. If you find yourself streaking (not glowing) after applying self-tanner (not all of us become experts at the first try), scrub away the unsightly spots with a loofah doused with baking soda.

Brush on Hair Spray
What I hate about hair sprays is that your hair becomes so stiff and the overall look doesn’t look natural anymore. For a neat hair trick, spray the hair spray on your hair brush after blow drying it. This way, you’ll still get the effects of the hair spray without making your hair look very stiff.

Boost Body Lotion with Baby Oil
For that shiny leg effect but don’t have any bronzing lotion with you, mix in a little baby oil into your everyday lotion to get the same effect.

Dab Body Oil on a Hangnail
Put on apricot oil, the kind found in health-food stores, to protect cuticles from turning rough and raggedy.

For younger hands, rub lemon and salt
Remove dead skin cells by rubbing lemon juice and sea salt on your hands with the aid of a toothbrush.

Freeze Your Eyeliner
I love eyeliners because they perk your eyes right back up. However sometimes they get too soft to be applied. A quick remedy for this will be to stick this into a freezer for 15 minutes.

Use Toothpaste on a Zit
Use just a pea-size amount. Let sit for 15 minutes to absorb the oil so the pimple won’t get more clogged, then wash off. Additional tip from Heyhaie: Don’t use any toothpaste that whitens, the bleach will cause the zit to redden.

Heat Up Your Curler
If you have stick-straight lashes, try blasting your metal eyelash curler with a hair dryer for a couple seconds to heat it up so your lashes bend more easily. And use a waterproof mascara. The formula dries faster than other mascaras, so it sets the curl more effectively.

Use Soap Without Water
You know those fancy bars that are actually too pretty to use? Toss them in your underwear or tee-shirt drawers to make your skin smell delicious. You may also use fabric softener in packets.

Lubricate Your Lashes
An easy way to draw attention to your eyes without putting on a pile of makeup is to comb petroleum jelly lightly through the tips of eyelashes to get a sexy, subtle sparkle. It might feel icky if you put on a lot, so watch how much you’ll rub in.

Steamroll Flyaways
Spray on hair spray, then roll the can over your strands. The round bottle fits the curved shape of your head, locks in the spray, and flattens out frizz. You can also use a bit of lotion to further tame the flyaway.

Air-Dry Your Curls
Let your hair dry indoors before going out in the cold. Sometimes my curls look best when dried naturally instead of using a blow drier. It’s friendlier to your tresses too.

Press a Tea Bag on Splotches
If your skin is sensitive or just looking irritated and puffy for some reason, steep a bag of green tea for a minute or two, let it cool down, and dab it over your face. The antioxidants in the tea take down inflammation.

Shave with Conditioner
If you’ve ran out of shaving cream, you can use conditioner instead. Yep don’t use that body wash, the moisturizer in the conditioner will help prevent razor burns and will keep your skin smooth.

Amp Shine with Vinegar
Mix one part vinegar with four parts carbonated water, and soak dry hair. Leave on for 15 minutes before you shampoo to lock in shine and combat dullness.

Exfoliate Your Pits
If your underarms start to look dry and flaky, an easy trick is to exfoliate them with a gentle face scrub to keep that skin pretty when going sleeveless.

Customize Your Body Lotion
Instead of shelling out for an expensive perfumed body product, you can make your own by pouring a few drops of fragrance into any scent-free lotion. Rub it on-the scent will last for hours.

“Brush” with Mouthwash
If you’re too wiped out after a late night of partying to clean your teeth, rinse with water and mouthwash, then use a dry toothbrush on the area where your teeth hit your gums.

Use egg-whites for eyebags
The egg whites will tighten the skin right up. Let the egg whites dry before putting on make-up.

Make an Egg-White Mask
To revive tired, dull skin without hitting the spa table, try this: Crack open an egg in a bowl, separate the yolk, and use the egg whites to make a face mask. The proteins help to heal and restore skin’s moisture. Leave it on for five minutes, and rinse off. A note though, since egg whites tighten the skin and egg yolks moisturize, best not to use the egg white mask on a dry skin.

Source: Cher Cabula’s Mindbox

Ayurvedic Remedies for Hair Loss

There are certain problems that pester you so much that you finally tend to give up on them. Many skin and hair problems are such. For example, excessive hair fall is one issue that many have given up thinking about. This is basically because no chemicals or combinations of modern treatments have shown to actually work!

That is chiefly the reason why more and more people around the world are now turning to the ancient Indian ayurveda for various health issues. Especially for nagging problems, where conventional medicine with its chemical formulations, often does not give a comprehensive cure, the much safer option of ayurveda is proving to be the ray of hope for many.

For those struggling with the frustrating problem of hair fall, ayurveda has a wholesome approach to the issue.

Undertanding the ayurvedic approach

Ayurveda believes that the bodily constitution of an individual and the genetic traits affect the quality of hair and initiation of hair loss. The most common causes of hair fall, found among women, are nutritional deficiencies and hormonal problems. Sometimes, hair loss can also occur due to a chronic illness or taking strong medications, like steroids.

Ayurveda seeks to cure hair loss in a more holistic manner. The therapy is based on addressing the causes behind hair loss directly. So, metabolic disturbances among various biochemicals, including hormones, which lead to hair loss, are corrected.

Pitta body type and its dietary soothers

According to ayurvedic texts, individuals with the Pitta body type often experience more hair fall. According to this science, these people are of moderate body size, short-tempered, irritable and aggressive. Pitta elements in the circulation are aggravated by wrong dietary and lifestyle choices. Therefore, excessive consumption of hot, sour, salty and spicy foods, along with excessive intake of beverages like tea and coffee, fuel the Pitta. This in turn contributes towards hair loss, according to the principles of ayurveda. A Pitta constitution means a robust digestive system, often leading to overating. This can lead to indigestion and acidity, generating a lot of bodily heat, which needs to be controlled.

Consuming meat and alcohol can also induce hair loss among some people. The intake of greasy, oily and fried foods that are heat-generating, acidic and tend to aggravate the Pitta, should be avoided. Thus, ayurveda healers recommend including cooling foods like asparagus, mint (pudina), coriander (dhaniya) leaves, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, bitter gourd (karela), green leafy vegetables, pineapple, cherries, yogurt and warm milk. Ice cold drinks should be avoided for healthier and better digestion.

Cleaning, massaging of the scalp

Hair should not be cleaned with chemical formulations like commercially available shampoos. Ayurveda recommends using natural cleansers like Indian gooseberry (amla) and shikakai for washing hair. This should be supported with regular massaging of the scalp with natural oils like coconut oil and amla oil.  Read Also: http://www.texilaconnect.com/health-benefits-of-natural-wonders-amla/

Sometimes, ayurveda health practioners even recommend medicated oils to be mixed with your regular coconut oil. This includes oils like kunthala and neelibhringadi oil. These oils help to strengthen the roots of the hair, preventing further hair loss. Massaging with warm ayurvedic oils helps to boost the blood circulation to the scalp, which stimulates hair growth in dormant hair follicles.

Cleansing the body from within

Ayurveda practioners recommend that bowel movement should be regular to ensure that toxins are not retained within the body. These toxins are responsible for aggravating hair loss. Thus, bowel cleansers are commonly recommended. Among these, triphala is the most recommended of all ayurvedic herbs. In case you suffer from chronic constipation, it should be discussed in detail with the health professional.

Some easy solutions

Apart from those that experts suggest, there are some more easy and safe solutions that ayurveda recommends for those suffering from hair fall:

  • Apply a paste of coriander leaves to alleviate itchiness and dryness of the scalp.
  • Use a paste of fenugreek (methi) seeds and cooked, green gram on the scalp two times a week.
  • Soak methi seeds in coconut oil, and keep in a glass container, in sunlight. Allow the concoction to gain potency over a period of five days. Then apply it directly to the scalp.
  • For stimulating hair growth, drink a combination of spinach, carrot and lettuce juice.
  • Exercise regularly for balancing the bodily constitution.

Source: yahoo life style

Harvard yoga scientists find proof of meditation benefit

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Scientists are getting close to proving that yoga and meditation can ward off stress and disease. Scientists are getting close to proving what yogis have held to be true for centuries—yoga and meditation can ward off stress and disease.

John Denninger, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, is leading a five-year study on how the ancient practices affect genes and brain activity in the chronically stressed. His latest work follows a study he and others published earlier this year showing how so-called mind-body techniques can switch on and off some genes linked to stress and immune function.

While hundreds of studies have been conducted on the mental health benefits of yoga and meditation, they have tended to rely on blunt tools like participant questionnaires, as well as heart rate and blood pressure monitoring. Only recently have neuro-imaging and genomics technology used in Denninger’s latest studies allowed scientists to measure physiological changes in greater detail.
“There is a true biological effect,” said Denninger, director of research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of Harvard Medical School’s teaching hospitals. “The kinds of things that happen when you meditate do have effects throughout the body, not just in the brain.”

The government-funded study may persuade more doctors to try an alternative route for tackling the source of a myriad of modern ailments. Stress-induced conditions can include everything from hypertension and infertility to depression and even the aging process. They account for 60-90% of doctor’s visits in the US, according to the Benson-Henry Institute. The World Health
Organization estimates stress costs US companies at least $300 billion a year through absenteeism, turn-over and low productivity.

Seinfeld, Murdoch

The science is advancing alongside a budding mindfulness movement, which includes meditation devotees such as Bill George, board member of Goldman Sachs Group and Exxon Mobil Corp., and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. News Corp.  chairman Rupert Murdoch recently revealed on Twitter that he is giving meditation a try.

As a psychiatrist specializing in depression, Denninger said he was attracted to mind-body medicine, pioneered in the late 1960s by Harvard professor Herbert Benson, as a possible way to prevent the onset of depression through stress reduction. While treatment with pharmaceuticals is still essential, he sees yoga and meditation as useful additions to his medical arsenal.

Exchange programme

It’s an interest that dates back to an exchange programme he attended in China the summer before entering Harvard as an undergraduate student. At Hangzhou University, he trained with a tai chi master every morning for three weeks. “By the end of my time there, I had gotten through my thick teenage skull that there was something very important about the breath and about inhabiting the present moment, he said. I’ve carried that with me since then.” His current study, to conclude in 2015 with about $3.3 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, tracks 210 healthy subjects with high levels of reported chronic stress for six months. They are divided in three groups.

One group with 70 participants perform a form of yoga known as Kundalini, another 70 meditate and the rest listen to stress education audiobooks, all for 20 minutes a day at home. Kundalini is a form of yoga that incorporates meditation, breathing exercises and the singing of mantras in addition to postures. Denninger said it was chosen for the study because of its strong
meditation component.

Participants come into the lab for weekly instruction for two months, followed by three sessions where they answer questionnaires, give blood samples used for genomic analysis and undergo neuro-imaging tests.

‘Immortality enzyme’
Unlike earlier studies, this one is the first to focus on participants with high levels of stress. The study published in May in the medical journal PloS One showed that one session of relaxation-response practice was enough to enhance the expression of genes involved in energy metabolism and insulin secretion and reduce expression of genes linked to inflammatory response and
stress. There was an effect even among novices who had never practiced before. Harvard isn’t the only place where scientists have started examining the biology behind yoga.

In a study published last year, scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles and Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn found that 12 minutes of daily yoga meditation for eight weeks increased telomerase activity by 43%, suggesting an improvement in stress-induced aging. Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco, shared the Nobel medicine prize in 2009 with
Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for research on the telomerase immortality enzyme, which slows the cellular aging process.

Build resilience

Not all patients will be able to stick to a daily regimen of exercise and relaxation. Nor should they have to, according to Denninger and others. Simply knowing breath-management techniques and having a better understanding of stress can help build resilience.

“A certain amount of stress can be helpful,” said Sophia Dunn, a clinical psychotherapist who trained at King’s College London. “Yoga and meditation are tools for enabling us to swim in difficult waters.”

Source: Live Mint

Sick Again? Why Some Colds Won’t Go Away

About a month ago Sharon Gilbert was hit with a runny nose, sore throat and a cough. The whole snotty works.

A few weeks later she thought she had recovered. Then her husband Derek got sick, and bam. “Suddenly I started getting all the symptoms [again] and it was worse,” said Ms. Gilbert, a 61-year-old writer in Charleston, Ill.

In the winter that seems to have no end in many parts of the country, people like Ms. Gilbert have been plagued with the seemingly everlasting cold.

That’s partly because the common cold can last longer than many people think—up to two weeks for the principal symptoms and perhaps weeks more for a cough that lingers even after the virus has been cleared away. There’s also the possibility of secondary infections such as bacterial sinusitis.

And some patients might get back-to-back colds, doctors say. It isn’t likely people will be reinfected with the same virus because the body builds some immunity to it. But people can pick up another of the more than 200 known viruses that can cause the common cold, some of which are worse than others.

“When you hear people who have the cold that ‘won’t go away,’ those are typically back-to-back infections of which we see a lot of in the cold weather when people are cohorting together,” said Darilyn Moyer, a physician at Temple University Hospital and chairwoman-elect of the American College of Physicians Board of Governors.

Influenza may get all the attention, but the common cold is the leading cause of doctor visits, according to the National Institutes of Health. Each year, people in the U.S. get about one billion colds, and 22 million school days are lost to the stubborn viruses.

Experts say adults on average get two to five colds a year; school children can get as many as seven to 10. The elderly tend to get infected less because they’ve built up immunity to many viruses. And adults who live or work with young children come down with more colds.

Don’t I know it. For more than a month now my family seems to be playing a game of pass-the-nasty-cold. My husband had a cold and lingering cough for weeks, which we suspect he gave to our infant. Finally I succumbed.

We blamed the purveyor of all germs, our kindergartner. Just as we were all recovering, the infant started day care and brought home a virus and we’re all on round two of apparently a different cold.

Experts say it’s possible that the carrier of germs—in this case our kindergartner—can infect others without having symptoms himself.

“At any given moment if we were to swab you…we’d probably come up with five different rhinoviruses sitting in your nose but you’re not sick,” said Ann Palmenberg, a researcher at the Institute of Molecular Virology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Rhinovirus is the most common viral cause of the common cold, accounting for 30% to 50% of adult colds, and there are more than 150 strains of it.

To get infected, the so-called ICAM receptors, which the rhinovirus attaches to in order to enter the nasal cells, need to be open, Dr. Palmenberg said.

“Rhinos are out there all the time, it’s just a question of when you are susceptible,” she said. Factors such as stress, lack of sleep and people’s overall health can make them more likely to get infected. More than 150 strains or genotypes of the rhinovirus have been identified and researchers believe there are probably many more.

Rhinovirus replicates best in the relatively lower body temperatures of the upper respiratory area, such as the nasal passages, sinuses and throat.

Other viruses, such as the less-common adenovirus, can replicate and attach to receptors in the upper and lower respiratory tracts, causing a more serious illness.

Other viruses—including the coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus and enterovirus—have also been identified as causing cold symptoms. “The most confounding thing of all is that we still haven’t identified the cause of 20% to 30% of adult common colds,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Sometimes a cold that never seems to end could be a sign of something more serious. A cold may result in a sinus infection, bronchitis or pneumonia. And cold symptoms are at times confused with seasonal allergies.

A usually dry cough that lingers after a cold is typically due to bronchial hyperreactivity or tracheal inflammation, doctors say. “After you go through an infection in your respiratory system, you can almost have a transient form of asthma where your bronchial tubes are very highly reactive and very irritated and inflamed,” said Dr. Moyer, of Temple University Hospital.

A review of various studies, published last year in the journal Annals of Family Medicine, found that coughs on average last about 18 days. The report also said a survey of nearly 500 people found that most participants expected a cough should disappear in about a week and believed antibiotics from their doctor would help them. (A big no-no!)

Some experts believe having one cold virus and a weakened immune system could make catching another virus easier. Because the epithelial linings in the nose are weakened when you have a cold, the broken down mucus-membrane barrier may be more prone to picking up another virus.

But others suggest that proteins such as interferons, which are secreted during a cold to help fight the virus, may also boost resistance to getting infected by a second virus, according to Dr. Fauci, of the NIH.

What can a person do to prevent or shorten a cold? Nearly everyone knows someone who swears by taking echinacea or zinc or downing packs of vitamin C.

But doctors say the evidence isn’t conclusive that any of these remedies helps. Some research indicates that exercise and meditation could help prevent colds.

The good news is spring is here, at least officially, so the worst of the winter cold season should be over. Come summer, however, a new batch of viruses emerge and you might find yourself saying hello to the pesky summer cold.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Guinea Ebola outbreak: Bat-eating banned to curb virus

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Guinea has banned the sale and consumption of bats to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, its health minister has said.

Bats, a local delicacy, appeared to be the “main agents” for the Ebola outbreak in the south, Rene Lamah said. Sixty-two people have now been killed by the virus in Guinea, with suspected cases reported in neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Ebola is spread by close contact. There is no known cure or vaccine. It kills between 25% and 90% of victims, depending on the strain of the virus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Symptoms include internal and external bleeding, diarrhoea and vomiting.

‘Quarantine sites’

It is the first time Ebola has struck Guinea, with recent outbreaks thousands of miles away, in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Lamah announced the ban on the sale and consumption of bats during a tour of Forest Region, the epicentre of the epidemic, reports the BBC’s Alhassan Sillah from the capital, Conakry.

People who eat the animals often boil them into a sort of spicy pepper soup, our correspondent says. The soup is sold in village stores where people gather to drink alcohol.

Other ways of preparing the bats to eat include drying them over a fire. Certain species of bat found in West and Central Africa are thought to be the natural reservoir of Ebola, although they do not show any symptoms.

Health officials reported one more death on Tuesday, bringing the number of people killed by Ebola to 62, our correspondent adds. The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres has set up two quarantine sites in southern Guinea to try to contain the outbreak

Health authorities are receiving help from the WHO while messages are being broadcast on national television to reassure people. Sierra Leone’s health ministry said it was investigating two suspected cases of Ebola.

“We still do not have any confirmed cases of Ebola in the country,” its chief medical officer Brima Kargbo told AFP. “What we do have are suspected cases, which our health teams are investigating and taking blood samples from people who had come in contact with those suspected to have the virus,” he added.

Mr Kargbo said one suspected case involved a 14-year-old boy buried in a Sierra Leonean village after he apparently died across the border in Guinea two weeks ago, AFP reports.

The other patient was still alive in the northern border district of Kambia, he added. Five people are reported to have died in Liberia after crossing from southern Guinea for treatment, Liberia’s Health Minister Walter Gwenigale told journalists on Monday.

However, it is not clear whether they had Ebola. Outbreaks of Ebola occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests, the World Health Organization says.

Source: BBC

Toddlers Who Sleep Less May Eat More

Toddlers who get too little sleep tend to eat more and are at increased risk for obesity, a new study indicates.

The study included children in over 1,300 British families who had their sleep measured when they were 16 months old and their diet checked when they were 21 months old.

Those who slept less than 10 hours a day consumed about 10 percent more calories than those who slept more than 13 hours, according to the study in the International Journal of Obesity.

This is the first study to link amount of sleep to calorie consumption in children younger than 3 years, the University College London (UCL) researchers said. They suggested that shorter sleep may disrupt the regulation of appetite hormones.

“We know that shorter sleep in early life increases the risk of obesity, so we wanted to understand whether shorter sleeping children consume more calories,” Dr. Abi Fisher, of the Health Behavior Research Centre at UCL, said in a university news release.

“Previous studies in adults and older children have shown that sleep loss causes people to eat more, but in early life parents make most of the decisions about when and how much their children eat, so young children cannot be assumed to show the same patterns,” she added.

Although the study found an association between toddler’s sleeping less and eating more, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

The main message from the study “is that shorter-sleeping children may [be] prone to consume too many calories. Although more research is needed to understand why this might be, it is something parents should be made aware of,” Fisher concluded.

Source: web MD

Newborn hearing screening ‘insufficient’ in most provinces

To reach their full potential, children deserve access to proper hearing screening and timely intervention

Too many Canadian babies aren’t being screened for hearing problems at birth, a failure that jeopardizes their future success, say doctors who graded provincial and territorial programs.

Tuesday’s report card from Speech-Language and Audiology Canada and the Canadian Academy of Audiologists finds “serious shortcomings” for newborn screening and comprehensive follow-up.

“The difference between early and late diagnosis of permanent hearing loss on a child’s life is monumental,” Dr. Hema Patel, a pediatrician at Montreal Children’s Hospital and a mother of a son with hearing loss, told a news conference on Parliament Hill.

“As a country, we are failing our children.”

To reach their full potential, all children deserve access to proper hearing screening and timely intervention, Patel said. The ability to communicate effectively with others is the foundation of a child’s social, emotional and educational development.

Extended periods of auditory deprivation can have significant impact on a child’s overall brain development, studies suggest.

Newborns are screened for hearing problems using quick and non-invasive tests that are done by a trained technician, ideally before the infant is discharged from the hospital.

The two hearing groups assigned a grade of “insufficient” to most provinces and territories that offer only localized programs or where the programs were considered to be substandard in quality.

British Columbia was the only jurisdiction to earn a grade of “excellent,” for screening 97 per cent or more of babies across the province with a carefully designed program with clear standards, follow-up and tracking of births and outcomes.

Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick were considered “good.”

Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Northwest Territories were graded “insufficient.”

The report card is meant to encourage all provinces and territories and the federal government to strive for excellence in early hearing detection programs, Patel said.

Internationally, most universal newborn hearing screening programs recommend screening by one month of age, confirmation of the diagnosis by three months, and intervention by six months, according to the Canadian Paediatric Society’s 2011 position statement.

The report card was endorsed by the Canadian Paediatric Society, VOICE for Hearing Impaired Children and the Elks and Royal Purple of Canada.

Source: CBC

Tips for New Dads: 9 Healthy Habits to Teach Your Kids

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Watch Me, Dad!
Even if you just brought your bundle of joy home days ago, you’ll scarcely blink your eyes before your active preschooler crows at the playground: “Watch me, Dad!” But remember that your child watches you. Read on for tips on demonstrating a healthy, active life, so you’ll never need to tell your child, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Get Your 5-a-Day
You’ll have greater success introducing your child to colorful, crisp and crunchy fruits and vegetables if you regularly eat and enjoy them yourself. Research shows that eating five or more fruits and vegetables every day helps prevent heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and stroke (CDC, 2009).

Berries at breakfast, salad with lunch, and steamed veggies with dinner satisfy you, help keep you slim, and show your child how to eat for health.

Cook Up Fun
Engage your child in the kitchen and garden—even if you live in the city and your garden consists of pots of herbs in a sunny window. Kids love to stir and pour, and their sense of wonder will come alive as they watch tiny shoots emerge from the soil and transform into veggies, herbs, or fruit they enjoy.

Bag Lunch = Good Health and College Funds
Switch from getting your midday meal from the sandwich shop or fast-food joint to packing your own lunch. You’ll log plenty of practice in making healthy, tasty lunches by the time your child marches off to kindergarten. Eating a bagged lunch also will help manage your salt and fat intake and save you money—which you can funnel into a college fund.

Early Childhood Activity
Model an active life for your child from the get-go. Bundle the baby into a carrier and check TrailLink to find a beautiful place to walk in your area. Invest in a jogger that lets you run, walk, or skate while your child takes in the sensory stimulation the outdoors offers.

When your child is big enough to ride in a safe and comfortable bike carrier, cruise around to show them the sights and demonstrate that bicycling is fun.

Go Smoke-Free
Now is the time to let go of your tobacco habit. You’ll feel better, have more energy to play with your child, live longer and—most importantly—you won’t model unhealthy, high-risk behavior.

Get help quitting through smokefree.gov, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, or talk with your doctor about smoking cessation aids.

Be Friendly
Friends are good for your physical and mental health, according to an analysis of 148 studies published in PLOS Medicine that showed a link between relationships and lower mortality risk (Holt-Lunstad, et al., 2010). Women tend to reap this benefit more than men do, but you can counter that trend.

Join a social, athletic, community, or faith-based group where you can meet others, develop relationships, and show your child that friends are important throughout life.

Show Them How to Snooze
This may sound like illogical advice for a new dad who is up at night with a newborn. However, chronic sleep deprivation is linked to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, cancer and depression (NCBI, 2006).

As time passes and your child grows, show them the importance of regular sleep by going to bed and getting up at the same time each day—even on weekends. Aim for seven to eight hours a night

Raise Your Glass (of Water)
According to USDA dietary guidelines, moderate drinking consists of two drinks or less per day for men (USDA, 2010). If you tend to consume more than that—even occasionally—think about cutting back. You’ll lower your risk for liver disease, pancreatitis, some cancers, and high blood pressure, which are associated with overindulging in alcohol (CDC, 2012), and you’ll exhibit a responsible approach to drinking.

Hand Over Good Health
Hand washing is the best and easiest way to prevent the spread of colds and flu. As soon as your child is a toddler, teach them how to lather up and scrub thoroughly:

  • before preparing or eating snacks and meals
  • after using the bathroom
  • after sneezing or coughing into hands
  • after each diaper change
  • after handling trash or touching a pet
  • Wash for 20 seconds, about the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Your child will have fun while developing this healthy habit.

Source: health line