health tips

How lack of sleep can harm mental health?

Sleepless nights could lead to serious mental health problems like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, a new research has claimed.

The study, conducted by Oxford University, has found that circuits in the brain are shared by mechanisms that control sleep and mental health, and therefore if your sleep is disrupted, your mental health could be too, the Daily Express reported.

Professor Russell Foster told the publication that the appalling sleep-wake cycle in schizophrenia is independent of medication and social constraints and is something fundamentally wrong with the body clock of patients with the disease.

The research also identified a genetic mutation that triggers schizophrenia-like symptoms in mice, which also appears to disrupt their body clocks.

According to Foster, young people are at high risk of bipolar because of their abnormal sleep-wake pattern.

 

Heart Attack Risk may rise if you continuously skip break fast

Skipping breakfast may increase chances of a heart attack. A study of older men found who continuously skipped breakfast had a 27 percent higher risk of a heart attack than those who have a morning meal. There’s no reason why the results wouldn’t apply to other people, too, the Harvard researchers said.

Other studies suggested a link between breakfast and obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and other health problems seen as symptoms to heart problems.

Why would skipping breakfast be a heart attack risk?

People who don’t take breakfast are hungrier later in the day and eat larger meals in the afternoon. This means the body gets a larger amount of calories in a shorter amount of time. By eating so the sugar levels in the blood will increase and perhaps clogged arteries.

But eating syrupy pancakes, eggs and bacon really better than eating nothing? “We don’t know whether it’s the timing or content of breakfast that’s important. It’s probably both,” said Andrew Odegaard, a University of Minnesota researcher who has studied a link between skipping breakfast and health problems like obesity and high blood pressure.

The new research was released Monday by the journal Circulation. It was an observational study, so it’s not designed to prove a cause and effect. But when done well, such studies can reveal important health risks.

The researchers surveyed nearly 27,000 men about their eating habits in 1992. About 13 percent of them said they regularly skipped breakfast. They all were educated health professionals — like dentists and veterinarians — and were at least 45.

Over the next 16 years, 1,527 suffered fatal or non-fatal heart attacks, including 171 who had said they regularly skipped breakfast.

In other words, over 7 percent of the men who skipped breakfast had heart attacks, compared to nearly 6 percent of those who ate breakfast.

The researchers calculated the increased risk at 27 percent, taking into account other factors like smoking, drinking, diet and health problems like high blood pressure and obesity.

18 percent of U.S. adults regularly skip breakfast, according to federal estimates. So the study could be important news for many, Rimm said.

“It’s a really simple message,” he said. “Breakfast is an important meal.”

 

Alcohol deaths in young women on rise

Deaths in young women from alcohol-related disease are rising, a study says. Experts study about deaths in men and women of all ages in Glasgow, Liverpooland Manchester from 1980 to 2011.

They said the results for women born in the 1970s should be a “warning signal” about their drinking habits.

Almost 9,000 people die from conditions related to alcohol each year in the UK. This study, detailed in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, of alcohol-related mortality in the three cities, which all have similar patterns of deprivation, poor health and industrialization.

It compared alcohol-related deaths born between 1910 and 1979.

Men were much more likely to die from alcohol-related disease than women – and the age range most affected was people in their 40s and 50s.

But this rate even fallen for the youngest group of women – those born in the 1970s – this death rate increased in all three cities.

‘Cultural influences’

The team behind the report suggests that cheaper alcohol, and longer drinking hours will all have played their part in fuelling the problem.

Dr Shipton told the BBC it was “a shame” minimum pricing had been rejected in England and Wales. Lucy Rocca: “Heavy drinking was glamorized and became a habit”

She said it was one measure which would help tackle the problem, although it would not address the “deep-rooted cultural influences at play”.

He added: “We know that more action is needed to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol.

“That’s why we’re banning alcohol sales below the level of duty plus VAT to tackle the worst cases of cheap and harmful alcohol. “We’re also strengthening the ban on irresponsible promotions in pubs and clubs and challenging industry to increase its efforts through the responsibility deal.”

Lack of sleep during pregnancy: lead to complications:

Scientists have proved that lack of sleep during pregnancy can lead to severe complications and hinder immune processes, says a study.

Scientists at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine conducted the research and the study was published in the journal “Psychosomatic Medicine”.

“Our results show the importance of identifying sleep problems in early pregnancy, especially in women experiencing depression,” said Michele Okun, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Pitt`s School of Medicine and lead author. “The earlier that sleep problems are identified, the sooner physicians can work with pregnant women to implement solutions.”

There is a dynamic relationship between sleep and immunity, and this study is the first to examine this relationship during pregnancy as opposed to postpartum,” added Dr. Okun.

 

Tips to get better sleep:

The following tips may help you to get sound sleep during pregnancy. However, if your sleep disturbances are severe, consult your doctor.

  1. Extra pillows: Pillows can be used to support both the tummy and back. A pillow between the legs can help support the lower back and make sleeping on your side easier. Some specific types of pillows include the wedge-shaped pillow and the full-length body pillow.
  2. Nutrition: Drinking a glass of warm milk may help bring on sleep. Foods high in carbohydrates, such as bread or cakes, can also promote sleep. In addition, a high protein snack can keep blood sugar levels up and could help prevent bad dreams, headaches, and hot flashes.
  3. Relaxation techniques: Relaxation can help calm your mind and muscles. These techniques include stretching, yoga, massage, and deep breathing.
  4. Exercise: Regular exercise during pregnancy promotes physical and mental health. Exercise also can help you sleep more deeply. However, vigorous exercise within four hours of bedtime should be avoided.
  5. Prescription and over-the-counter medications: Ideally, all medications should be avoided during pregnancy. Some drugs can hurt the developing baby. However, there are some medications that are considered safe to take during pregnancy and that might help you sleep better. Always talk to your doctor before taking any kinds of drugs. This includes over-the-counter drugs, herbs and dietary supplements.

Shortened lives where you live matters

A new study shows it makes a lot of difference in long and healthy living where Americans live.

For example peoples living in Hawaii are luckier because they have peaceful weather and gorgeous scenery. Here senior citizens can expect a little more than 16 years of healthy life after 65 and Women can expect more than 17 years.

On the other hand, Mississippi’s seniors have less than 11 years of healthy life. Older black Mississippians have only eight years, lower than anywhere, oddly, African-Americans in Iowa, with seven years.

The national average is 14 years. That is, the average 65-year-old American can expect good health until age 79 – a little more for women, a little less for men.

The new analysis, done by the National Center for Health Statistics, show Americans’ healthy life expectancy. But males in the Midwest, Texas and North Dakota don’t do so well either. The Northeast, Florida, Upper states and the West have more healthy seniors.At age 65, Americans can expect 14 more healthy years on average. But that varies a lot depending on where you live.

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The study’s authors say the life of people living in States vary so much even there is a good Environment. But doing healthy behaviors, such as exercise and avoid smoking; preventive care, such as vaccinations, cancer screening and blood pressure treatment; medical care when needed.

JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association published earlier this month and compared the United States with 34 other developed countries. Its part of an ambitious effort by a group called the U.S. Burden of Disease Collaborators.

The U.S. rank declined on every measure of longevity and good health between 1990 and 2010. On “healthy life expectancy,” the US went from 14th place to 26th– while it’s already disproportionately high health care spending spiraled ever higher.

“Despite a massive increase in health expenditures,” wrote Dr. , editor of that volume, “the nation’s health has improved less than was promised or expected. The benefits have not appeared to justify the costs.”

The U.S. health care dilemma, Fineberg wrote, “remains strikingly unaltered” nearly four decades later.

 

Need to refresh your mind? Drink Water

 

Drinking water may help you to boost your mental performance, a new study has claimed.

The study published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, stated that participants who drank about three cups of water (775 milliliters) performed better on a test compared with those who did not drink water.

This study was particular true for thirsty people. The researchers speculate that the sensation of thirst may take some attention away from the task at hand, and thus impair response time.

For the reaction test, 34 adult participants had to press a button as soon as they saw an object on a computer screen. Reaction times were 14 percent faster among the water group than the no water group.

Water consumption did not significantly affect performance on other tests of cognition, such as memory of words, researchers found.

The study results suggest that a “freeing up of attention resources” occurs when people quench their thirst, the researchers wrote.

However, water consumption may not always improve cognition. In another test of rule-learning, participants actually fared better if they did not drink water before the test.

Future research should try to explain why drinking water appears to have beneficial effects on some cases, but negative effects in others, the researchers said.

“It might be that physiological processes [of drinking or not drinking water] affect performance on different tasks in different ways,” said study researcher Caroline Edmonds, of the University Of East London School Of Psychology in England.

“Thirst might lead to better performance on some tasks, because the hormone vasopressin, which activates the thirst response, has also been linked to attention and arousal,” Edmonds 

Salty foods combined with BMI increases high BP in children

 

 

Salty meals, along with body mass indexes (BMIs)    and obesity, increases a scary side effect in young    children: high blood pressure.

 

The risk of high blood pressure among children and adolescents has increased 27 percent in the past 13 years, according to a new study in the American Heart Association’s journal

“It is a public health issue our children have higher blood pressures,” stated by Dr. Bonita Falkner, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “Though it may be only 4 to 5 mm Hg (increase), that extra pressure burden at a young age, is carried through

 

life, can become a large burden.”

Doctors have long known that factors like obesity, high BMI and excess belly fat can lead to an increased risk for high blood pressure among both adults and children.  Yet researchers have had difficulty pinpointing other factors contributing to high blood pressure – until now.

In this study, researchers were able to pinpoint for the first time another clear culprit contributing to high blood pressure levels: sodium intake.

Researchers examined the records of over 11,500 children between the ages of 8 and 17 participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They analyzed data from 1988 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2008.

More than 80 percent of children, from both time periods, had a daily sodium intake in excess of 2,300 milligrams. The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.

“The salt content of the food supply has increased markedly over the past few decades, and there’s been a progressive rise in the proportion of the average daily diet that is processed food,” Falkner said. “There’s probably much more salt exposure in children now.”

Developing high blood pressure at such a young age, there is some preliminary evidence that shows hypertension could cause damage to some of the body’s key organs.

“Children who already have confirmed hypertension, a good portion of them already have enlargement of the heart; they may have some albumin in the urine suggesting they have kidney strain; they are beginning to show they have thickening in carotid artery and a stiffening of aorta,” Falkner said. “The implication is that the blood pressure level is causing some stress or injury to the cardiovascular system.”

When a doctor discovers high blood pressure in a child, they first check for other health problems that could be exacerbating the blood pressure levels, like cardiovascular or kidney disease. If no underlying issues are identified, they will encourage parents and children to adopt lifestyle changes – such as eating fresh foods and exercising more.

“If it cannot be controlled by lifestyle changes, diet, physical activity and weight control, then we treat them with medication,” Falkner  said.

Overall, Falkner hopes people will take note of the role that sodium is playing in increased blood pressure levels. “It had been difficult to prove this, and now that we know it really is there, we have to pay attention to it,” Falkner said.

 

 

Eating cranberries will prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

It has believed that consuming cranberries and their products could prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) for over 100 years. In recent years, it has been suggested and proved that cranberries prevent UTIs by hindering bacteria from sticking to the walls of the urinary tract, thanks to phytochemicals known as proanthocyanidins (PACs).

But the mechanisms of cranberry materials and by which may alter bacterial behavior have not been fully understood. Now, researchers in McGill University’s Department of Chemical Engineering are trying on the biological mechanisms by which cranberries impart protective properties against urinary tract and other infections. Two new studies, by Prof. Nathalie Tufenkji, add to evidence of cranberries’ and their effects on UTI-causing bacteria. The findings also point to the potential for cranberry derivatives to be used to prevent bacterial colonization in medical devices such as catheters. In research results, Prof. Tufenkji and members of laboratory report that cranberry powder can inhibit the ability of Proteus mirabilis, a bacterium frequently implicated in complicated UTIs , to swarm on agar plates and swim within the agar. The experiments also show that increasing concentrations of cranberry powder reduce the bacteria’s production of urease, an enzyme that contributes to the virulence of infections.