Health A-Z

Spring Cleaning: 6 Ways To Detox Your Mind And Body

While it might not feel like spring as yet in some parts of the country, the season of warmer weather and chirping birds is finally here. So what can you do to prepare for the impending months of warm weather? Well, besides spring cleaning, doing a mind and body detox is always helpful, especially at the start of a new season.

It’s especially important to clear your mind if you’re a person who is constantly on the go. “Outside a good night’s sleep, we don’t get many breaks from this mind chatter,” Dr. Robert Puff, a licensed clinical psychologist. “Even if we’re not thinking, we’re surrounded by external stimuli such as television, music, and conversations around us.” This prevents us from relaxing, and most of the time we end up feeling stressed and overworked. Here are a few helpful tips to get your body and mind detox started:

Mind:
1. Emphasize Positive Emotions: By emphasizing thing such as love, trust, compassion, forgiveness, and joy, you’re essentially increasing the importance of these emotions in your life. By doing so, you are affirming the good things in your life and focusing on the positive. This leaves little to no room for negative thoughts. However, there is no clear-cut scientific answer as to happy thoughts equaling a cure for any type of disease or ailment. But there’s evidence that mood can predict whether someone who has had one heart attack will have another

2. Morning Meditation: Taking 20 minutes in the morning to just focus on yourself is a good way to calm your mind and collect your thoughts before you start your sometimes hectic day. “Mind strength is one of the most empowering tools we can employ to impact and improve all aspects of life,” according to psychotherapist Dr. Ron Alexander.

3. Start Working On Your Goals: By taking control and getting hard at work on your goals, you’ll begin to feel more accomplished. Even small tasks can have great rewards because they eliminate overthinking.

Body:
1. Eliminate Alcohol: By eliminating alcohol, you’re essentially ridding your body of one form of toxin. And a 2013 study also noted that those who didn’t drink alcohol lived longer.

2. Eat Plenty of Fiber: Eating fiber is a key component in mainlining healthy bowels and ridding the body of physical toxins.

3. Dry Brushing: This entails using a bristle brush in a circular motion all over your body. This helps to eliminate the dead skin cells, decrease the look of cellulite due to an increased blood flow, and improve skin tone.

Source: medical daily

7 healthy reasons to eat raisins!

Raisins are also considered to be nature’s healthy alternative to candies as they are extremely sweet and convenient to eat. In terms of cost too, they are cheaper as compared to other dry fruits like pistachios and cashew nuts.

1. Keeps you energetic

If you are feeling fatigued and low on energy, try eating raisins. They contain sugars like fructose and glucose and promote the efficient absorption of nutrients in your body.

2. Good for your oral health

Unlike candies which are notorious for causing cavities, raisins contain oleanolic acid which prevents the growth of harmful bacteria in your mouth. This in turn helps in keeping oral health problems like tooth decay and cavities at bay.

3. Strengthens your bones

Calcium, a nutrient present in raisins helps strengthen your bones and keeps debilitating diseases like arthritis and osteoporosis at bay. Additionally, they have a micronutrient called boron which aids in the absorption of calcium.

4. Acts as an aphrodisiac

Eating raisins is a great way to rev up your love life as it contains an amino acid called arginine that raises your libido. Along with raisins, you could also eat foods like walnuts and pomegranate to boost your sex life.

5. Treats infections

Raisins can be an effective home remedy to treat infections as they have polyphenols with anti bacterial and anti inflammatory properties.

6. Keeps cancer at bay

Raisins are rich in antioxidants which prevent your cells from suffering from free radical damage which helps in preventing cancer. In particular, a polyphenolic antioxidant called catechin present in raisins has been found to protect against cancer.

7. Helps cure constipation

Constipation can be an extremely unpleasant condition to have. Raisins are rich in fibre which helps clear the food stuck in your bowel. You could also try eating papaya and guavas to help relieve the symptoms.

All of these properties ensure that you stock up on raisins the next time you go to the supermarket.

Source: The health

Too much computer time hits bone health in adolescents

Researchers have found that in boys, higher screen time was adversely associated to bone mineral density (BMD) at all sites even when adjusted for specific lifestyle factors.

Results of a study showed that the skeleton grows continually from birth to the end of the teenage years, reaching peak bone mass – maximum strength and size- in early adulthood. Along with nutritional factors, physical activity can also greatly impact on this process.

The Norwegian study explored the hypothesis that greater computer use at weekends is associated with lower BMD. The data was obtained from 463 girls and 484 boys aged 15-18 years in the Tromso region of Norway. The students participated in the Fit Futures study from 2010-2011 which assessed more than 90 per cent of all first year high school students in the region.

BMD at total hip, femoral neck and total body was measured by DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry). Lifestyle variables were collected by self-administered questionnaires and interviews, including questions on time per day during weekends spent in front of the television or computer, and time spent on leisure time physical activities. The associations between BMD and screen time were analyzed in a multiple regression model that included adjustment for age, sexual maturation, BMI, leisure time physical activity, smoking, alcohol, cod liver oil and carbonated drink consumption.

Source: Business standard

 

Jogging craze in middle age may hurt your ankles

Has ever-growing paunch and sedentary lifestyle led you to begin jogging as you approach 40? Read this as a research reveals that those who suddenly take up exercise in their middle years are at the risk of developing ankle arthritis.

The boom in middle-aged joggers, tennis players and footballers is likely to fuel demand for ankle replacements in later life, as exercise craze puts strain on our bodies, British surgeons have cautioned.

People should not fool themselves into thinking their bodies were as resilient as they once were, even if they are in good shape for their age.

As we grow older, our tissue tends not to heal so quickly. “The guy who is at highest risk is the one who has never played football as an adult and decides to take it up when he reaches 40,” orthopaedic surgeon and professor Tony Kochhar of London Bridge Hospital was quoted as saying in a Daily Mail report.

“Repeated activity can cause a lot of stretch of the ankle ligaments, so the stability of the ankle is reduced over time,” said Kochhar.

Ankle arthritis is a clinical condition, in which the joint that connects the foot to the leg known as ankle joint, has damaged or worn out cartilage. The result is pain, stiffness and misery.

The operation involves removing the worn-out ends of bones, replacing them with metal caps and inserting a sliding plastic disc in between to act as artificial cartilage.

Source: Khaleek Times

E-cigarettes next big smoking poison, warns study

The fast spreading e-cigarettes are undoing the anti-smoking efforts of the last three decades, health experts warn.

Also, the number of people being poisoned by e-cigarettes in the US has gone up manifold in the last few years, according to official reports.

The number of calls to poison centres in the US relating to e-cigarettes has risen from one per month in September 2010 to 215 per month in February 2014.

The figures, from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also show the number of calls per month relating to conventional cigarettes did not increase in the same way.

The CDC statistics show that more than half of the calls relate to children under the age of five.

Poisoning related to e-cigarettes involves the liquid containing nicotine used in the devices.

“This report raises another red flag about e-cigarettes — the liquid nicotine used in e-cigarettes can be hazardous,” CDC director Tom Frieden said in a statement.

E-cigarette liquids come in candy and fruit flavours that are appealing to children.

“The most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey showed e-cigarette use is growing fast, and now this report shows e-cigarette related poisonings are also increasing rapidly,” Tim McAfee, director of CDC’s office on smoking and health, was quoted as saying.

The study comes close on the heels of news that the Welsh government might include e-cigarettes under the smoking ban.

Source: daily news and analysis

Today Is World Health Day – Prevent Vector Borne Diseases

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Over 1 million people all around the world die due to vector borne diseases. Focusing mainly on the increasing threat of viral and parasitic infections caused by insects, this year’s World Health Day (April 7) highlights ‘Prevention of vector borne diseases.’

Vector borne diseases are diseases caused by pathogens that are transmitted to humans through insects and ticks carrying the pathogen. They are difficult to prevent because of several challenges facing the control of vectors and transmissibility of the pathogens. Here are top 10 vector borne diseases that contribute to increased morbidity and mortality:

1. Malaria: According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), malaria is the deadliest of all vector-borne diseases, which accounts for nearly 1.2 million deaths all over the world every year and is prevalent in about 100 countries. The disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium. The most common species of Plasmodium responsible for most malaria cases are Plasmodm flaciparum and Plasmodium vivax. The parasite is transmitted to humans via the vector female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bearing the protozoa transmits the disease to humans by biting at night. The parasite then attacks the red blood cells and reaches the liver causing symptoms like fever, chills and anemia.

2. Kala Azar: Leishmaniasis or Kala Azar ranks second (malaria being the first on the list) on the list of fatal diseases caused by parasites. It is mainly prevalent in India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Brazil and Sudan. It is caused by protozoan parasite of the genus Leishmania. In India, Leishmania donovani is the only parasite causing the disease. The parasite is transmitted to humans by female sand flies. Upon entry, the parasite attacks the immune system and causes ulcers or sores at the site of entry.

3. Dengue: Dengue is common in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. In the recent years, transmission of dengue has significantly increased in urban areas and has become a major public health concern. According to the current estimates of WHO, dengue infections have reached 50–100 million worldwide, annually. Dengue is caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans by the vector Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

4. Plague: Plague had an explosive epidemic and was a major health concern at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a deadly disease caused by the bacteria Yersina pestis. It is primarily transmitted by rodents. But it is also spread through insects that acquire the infection from rats harboring the bacteria. Common insect that acquires the bacteria from rodents is flea. The bacteria enter the blood stream after a flea bite and attack the cells of the immune system. They secrete toxins which causes clots and tissue death.

5. Filariasis: Lymphatic filariasis is commonly called elephantiasis. Although the disease is quite widespread, it is neglected diseases because it is more disfiguring and disabling than fatal. Currently, more than 120 million people are infected and nearly 40 million people suffer from the fully developed disease. Filariasis is caused by thread like filarial worms or nematodes. Wuchereria bancrofti is the most common filarial worm, causing the disease in 90 percent of the cases. The worm is carried by and transmitted to humans by mosquitoes –mainly Culex mosquito. The worm invades the lymphatic system causing profuse selling mainly in the legs.

6. Chickungunya: Chickungunya has been identified in 40 different countries including India. It is caused by a virus classified under the family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus. It is transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquito (mainly Aedes aegypti) in the daytime. Common symptoms of the disease are similar to dengue.

7. Lyme disease: Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. It is transmitted to humans by black-legged ticks that are infected with the bacteria. Upon entry, the bacterium attacks the central nervous system and causes neurological problems.

8. Yellow fever: Mainly found tropical South America and sub-Saharan Africa region, yellow fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease. The disease is caused by the yellow fever virus and spread by female mosquito of Aedes aegypti species. The virus affects the cells of the immune system and causes symptoms like fever, chills, nausea and muscle pain.

9. Chagas’ disease: Chagas’ Disease is widely found in communities of Latin America. It is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by a large insect called ‘kissing bug’ (Reduviidae Tratominae). The parasite damage several organs and mainly affects heart function.

10. Japanese encephalitis: It is a viral disease that is spread through infected Culex mosquito. The virus mainly affects the central nervous system and causes headache, fever, meningitis, coma, tremors, paralysis and loss of coordination. Several cases of the disease have been found in India. The most affected states include Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

Source: Naira land

Morning Light Could Be Key to Weight Loss

Getting a good dose of early morning light on a regular basis appears to be a simple but remarkably effective way of maintaining a healthy weight, according to a groundbreaking new study. Researchers found that regardless of caloric intake, people who had more early light exposure were the most likely to have a low body mass index. As the researchers explain in PlosOne, “having a majority of the average daily light exposure above 500 lux earlier in the day was associated with a lower BMI,” and every hour that exposure was delayed coincided with a 1.28 unit increase in BMI.

“Light is the most potent agent to synchronize your internal body clock that regulates circadian rhythms, which in turn also regulate energy balance,” says the lead researcher, who notes that many people fail to get enough natural light in the morning, the Telegraph reports. She says the finding suggests that workplaces and schools should have more windows, and employees and students should be encouraged to spend morning breaks outside: Bright daylight provides exposure of 10,000 lux, and even an overcast day sees light of 1,000 lux. “This is something we could institute early on in our schools to prevent obesity on a larger scale,” she says

Source: newser

Too much running could actually kill you sooner

Training to run a marathon has got to be one of the healthiest things you can do, right? Maybe not: A new study found that “moderate” runners lived longer than people who don’t exercise at all — and people who run lots of miles

The study involved 3,800 runners who supplied info on their heart risk factors and their use of NSAIDs like ibuprofen; almost 70% of the group clocked more than 20 miles a week. The findings were presented Sunday, but have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. According to the results, how much should you run? One cardiologist who reviewed the data suggests you no more than 2.5 hours per week, spread out between two or three sessions consisting of slow or moderately-paced running.

It’s not clear why too much running might be bad for longevity, but the study appears to rule out factors like prior cardiac risk (linked to things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, family history, and smoking) or excessive use of NSAIDs (which have been linked to heart problems).

One doctor who’s also a running coach tells NBC San Diego that extreme exercise can actually “cause some scarring of the heart.” And another recent study found that male marathon runners had more plaque in their coronary arteries—which can lead to a heart attack—than non-runners, Pioneer Press reports. Again, it’s not clear why, but one researcher notes, “It is plausible, not proof by any stretch, that metabolic changes when running could be moderately toxic to arteries.”

Source: KSDK

Diet supplement causes nearly 100 hepatitis cases

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A popular diet supplement has caused an outbreak of severe liver disease, sickening nearly 100 people in 16 states since it was first reported in Hawaii last year, according to a new paper. The publication calls for a better system to remove dangerous supplements from the market.

As of February, OxyElite Pro, a dietary supplement manufactured by USPLabs that claims to help people burn fat, has been linked to 97 cases of hepatitis, including 47 people who were hospitalized, three who needed liver transplantations and one person who died, according to the paper, which was authored by Dr. Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a general internist at Cambridge Health Alliance.

Although people who took the supplement started getting ill in May last year, the Food and Drug Administration did not learn of the cases until four months later, in September, when doctors reported a cluster of liver illnesses in Hawaii. USPLabs stopped selling the product in Octobe

Health officials suspect that a new ingredient called aegeline that was added to the supplement caused the illnesses, Cohen said. Because the FDA regulates supplements only after they come to market, companies are not required to prove that their products are safe and effective before marketing them.

“This really points to the fact that there’s no safety testing … before a new ingredient shows up in a supplement in the United States,” Cohen said. “Guess who’s the experimental animal — the consumer.”

Dangerous supplements are supposed to be identified and removed quickly, but this is often not the case, as demonstrated by the hepatitis outbreak, Cohen said. Doctors can report adverse events tied to dietary supplements through an online portal called MedWatch.

But in most cases, the FDA does not receive reports of the harmful effects of supplements, Cohen said. Those cases might be reported to a poison control center, which does not communicate with the FDA, or they might not get reported at all, he said.

“Dangerous supplements remain on store shelves for weeks, months or years” because the FDA has a fractured system for monitoring supplements, Cohen said.

He proposes that all dietary supplements should be registered, and information about the supplements and their ingredients should be incorporated into a database maintained by the FDA and poison centers.

Under this organization, if a person has an adverse reaction to a supplement, it would be reported to a response team made of up doctors, toxicologists, pharmacologists and chemists. The team would then investigate the case, report to the FDA and offer advice about treating the patient.

“In the situation where we know that some supplements out there may be dangerous, we’d better have a really good system” to detect them, Cohen said.

While improved monitoring of supplements is needed, it is not the ultimate solution, Cohen said. Congress should change the law regulating supplements to require that all supplement ingredients undergo safety testing before they come to market, he said.

“Until that happens, consumers and physicians cannot be assured that the pills, powders and potions labeled as dietary supplements are safe for human consumption,” Cohen wrote in the April 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Source: CBS news

Autism Awareness Day: Dearth of doctors to treat the disease

India faces a dearth of doctors and experts to treat autism, the incidence of which is slowly rising, with the illness being considered wrongly by many as mental retardation, experts said.

Moreover, awareness about the neuro-biological disorder is still very low despite the fact that there are more than four million people with autism in the country. Though, there is no official figure, experts said, the figure is growing.

And with just a few to treat this ailment, diagnosis often gets delayed, they added “It may not be wrong to say that there are only a handful of doctors in our country who can provide the right treatment for autism.

“Now with the cases of autism on the rise the need for experts is being acutely felt,” Arun Mukherjee, director of Udaan – a centre for the disabled, told IANS. He said though the situation is improving in metropolitan cities, the situation is still grim. “A lot needs to be done in smaller towns,” Mukherjee added.

Autism affects the functioning of the brain, making it difficult for people afflicted with the disorder to process the information received from various sensory organs. The Indian government only recognised the disorder in 2001.

Autistic individuals exhibit behaviours like spinning, flapping of hands, talking to themselves, constant jumping, attention deficit and hyperactivity. “There is lagging awareness about autism among Indians,” said Usha Verma, principal of Tamana Autism Centre and School of Hope.

“For most of them, it is still a mental illness and that perception has to change. Due to this lack of awareness, parents do not consider it to be important enough for diagnosis,” Verma informed.

Tamana is a special school established in 2003 that caters to autistic children. Samir Parikh, director, mental health and behavioural sciences at Fortis Hospital, said: “The treatment for autism is a multi-disciplinary approach. There is a wide spectrum and children fall in various ranges. So the treatment varies depending on the level of sickness.”

Being a disorder affecting the brain, autism severely affects speech, language, communication and social interaction. Hence there are two major therapies for autistic individuals — speech and occupational therapy.

“A person who has autism often has trouble communicating and interacting with other people; his or her interests, activities, and play skills may be limited. While occupational therapy helps develop these skills, speech therapy can help address a wide range of communication problems,” Parikh informed.

Though, there are treatments for the disorder, for Indian parents getting an accurate diagnosis also pose a hurdle.

Surabhi Verma, director, Sparsh for Children said: “It is only speech delay because of which parents visit paediatricians, where most of the time they assume that the kids are just slow.

“Diagnosing autism becomes a long drawn process and such delays tend to affect treatment process,” Verma infromed. Sparsh trains autistic children and even those with other disability to help them become part of mainstream schools. Experts said that if right therapy for autism is made available early, a child can develop skills better.

“A two-year old child will be able to learn faster. While after three years the learning process takes longer and extra attention as well,” said Verma.

Experts said that the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, does not include autism, but the government plans to cover the condition in the revised act, which has lapsed in parliament.

Autism is now covered under the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999.

“Just adding autism to the Disability Bill is not enough. Government needs to devise new curriculum and start specialisation courses so that the country gets more experts to treat autism,” added Mukherjee.

Source: Zee news