Month: February 2014

Stress Linked to Headache Frequency

German researchers have confirmed what headache sufferers have long suspected: The more stressed out you are, the more frequent your headaches.

For being so common, the exact mechanisms behind headaches can be somewhat mysterious. While the new data can only suggest an association with stress, “I would think that stress ‘triggers’ headache,” one of the researchers, Dr. Zaza Katsarava of University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, told.

The study used data from the German Headache Consortium Study of 5,159 people age 21-71. These people answered questionnaires every three months from 2010 to 2012 about headache type and frequency and used a visual 100-point scale to state how much stress they experienced.

After adjusting for age, sex, drinking habits, smoking and so on, the data was clear. For those who reported “tension” headaches, each 10 point increase in stress was associated with a 6.3 percent increase in the number of days each month they suffered through a headache.

Migraine and mixed tension-migraine sufferers also showed increases with stress, 4.3 and 4 percent respectively, though Katsarava cautioned that because headache type was self-reported, some people who said they had migraines might have had tension headaches.

Those results jibe with other studies, like one from Ohio’s Xavier University released last spring in which researchers from the business school found that headache-related hospital admission increased significantly during the 2008-2009 recession.

Alleviating stress can be especially important for people who experience headaches, Katsarava said, because stress can create a vicious cycle. “Stress triggers headache, headache triggers stress. Because people are disabled, they can not manage their life and their duties.”

Headache treatment, she argued, should be include medical, psychological and behavioral approaches.

Source: nbc news

Healthy recipes: sweet potato brownies

Sweet potatoes are an unusual but tasty key ingredient in these gluten-free brownies

Brownies are the sweetest, softest, most moist, chocolatey brownies ever. And they have only six ingredients, all totally natural and unrefined. The mixture is so heavenly that you will want to eat the whole thing with a spoon. Don’t forget that raw cacao is also a superfood as it is such a rich source of antioxidants, as well as being packed with a number of other beneficial nutrients: manganese, which helps oxygenate the blood; magnesium, which helps maintain healthy nerves, muscles and bones; and sulphur, which builds strong nails and hair, and promotes beautiful skin.

Ingredients:

2 medium to large sweet potatoes

14 Medjool dates

2/3 cup ground almonds

1/2 cup buckwheat flour (brown rice flour will also work)

4 tbsp raw cacao

3 tbsp pure maple syrup

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4, then peel the sweet potatoes. Cut them into chunks and place in a steamer for about 20 minutes, until they become really soft. Once they are beginning to fall apart, remove them and put them in the food processor with the pitted dates and blend. Put the remaining ingredients in a bowl before mixing in the sweet-potato and date combination. Stir well.

Spoon the mixture into a lined baking dish 10x20cm and cook for about 20 minutes, or until you can pierce the brownie cake with a fork and bring it out dry. Remove the tray from the oven and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes

Source: telegraph

7 Natural Remedies for Fresh Breath

Fresh herbs
It’s widely known that mint can freshen breath, but chewing on fresh parsley can too. Parsley contains chlorophyll, which has anti-bacterial properties and a strong scent, which can freshen your breath in minutes. Other scented sprigs include coriander, tarragon, eucalyptus, cardamom, and rosemary.

Citrus snack

You may want to consider a clementine for an afternoon snack. Citrus fruits such as lemons, oranges, and grapefruits are packed with vitamin C, which helps prevent gum disease and gingivitis – major bad breath triggers

Homemade cinnamon mouthwash
Try making your own tasty mouthwash using common household ingredients. Just mix 1 ½ tsp of honey, ½ Tbsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp baking soda, one cup hot water, and juice from two lemons. Swish about two Tbsp of this mouthwash for about a minute. The honey, baking soda, and cinnamon combat odor-causing bacteria, while the lemon provides a fresh scent. And there’s a bonus: baking soda whitens teeth.

Live active cultures
The live active cultures in yogurt and cheese have been shown to reduce odor-causing sulfites in the mouth, as well as unhealthy bacteria. Look for low-fat products without added sugars that contain Vitamin D, which helps create a most hostile environment for bacterial growth.

Black tea
Black tea contains polyphenols, antioxidants that prevent plaque from sticking to your teeth, and also inhibit the growth of odor-causing bacteria in the mouth. That’s why black tea can be so helpful in the battle against halitosis. Some popular types of black tea include Earl Grey, Ceylon, and Darjeeling.

Chewy concoction
Many exotic spices have antiseptic and antibacterial properties, making them ideal for keeping the mouth fresh and clean. Try crunching on a blend of fennel, coriander, and whole cloves. It tastes like a delicious winter treat.

Magnolia bark extract
This natural ingredient often found in mints and toothpaste is comprised of magnolol and honokiol, which have potent antibacterial properties. The powerful extract can kill most bad-breath bacteria within 30 minutes.

Source: health central

HIV drug used to reverse effects of virus that causes cervical cancer

A commonly-used HIV drug has been shown to kill-off the human papilloma virus (HPV) that leads to cervical cancer in a clinical trial led by The University of Manchester with Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi.

Drs Ian and Lynne Hampson, from the University’s Institute of Cancer Sciences and Dr Innocent Orora Maranga, consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at KNH in Nairobi examined Kenyan women diagnosed with HPV positive early stage cervical cancer who were treated with the antiviral HIV drug lopinavir in Kenya.

The study looked at 40 women with both high and low-grade pre-cancerous disease of the cervix and the antiviral drug, normally used orally to treat HIV, was self-applied directly to the cervix as a pessary.

The results, due to be presented at two international scientific conferences later this month and next, showed a high proportion of women diagnosed with HPV positive high-grade disease returned to normal following a short course of the new treatment.

The findings build on previous peer-reviewed laboratory based research carried out by Drs Hampson and will be submitted to a journal soon. They have been described by an independent leading specialist in gynaecological cancer as very impressive.

The 40 women, who were all HPV positive with either high-grade, borderline or low-grade disease, were treated with one capsule of the antiviral drug twice a day for 2 weeks. Repeat cervical smears showed a marked improvement within one month of the treatment although after three months, there was a definite response. Out of 23 women initially diagnosed with high-grade disease, 19 (82.6%) had returned to normal and two now had low-grade disease giving an overall positive response in 91.2 per cent of those treated. Furthermore the 17 women initially diagnosed with borderline or low-grade disease also showed similar improvement.

Photographic images of the cervix before and after treatment showed clear regression of the cervical lesions and no adverse reactions were reported.

Dr Ian Hampson said: “For an early stage clinical trial the results have exceeded our expectations. We have seen women with high-grade disease revert to a normal healthy cervix within a comparatively short period of time.

“We are convinced that further optimisation of the dose and treatment period will improve the efficacy still further.

“It is our hope that this treatment has the potential to revolutionise the management of this disease most particularly in developing nations such as Kenya.”

Cervical cancer is caused by infection with human papilloma virus (HPV) and is more than five times more prevalent in East Africa than the UK. In many developing countries, HPV-related cervical cancer is still one of the most common women’s cancers accounting for approximately 290,000 deaths per year worldwide. The same virus also causes a significant proportion of cancers of the mouth and throat in both men and women and this disease is showing a large increase in developed countries, such as the UK, where it is now more than twice as common as cervical cancer.

Dr Lynne Hampson said: “Current HPV Vaccines are prophylactics aimed at preventing the disease rather than curing or treating symptoms. Other than surgery, as yet there is no effective treatment for either HPV infection or the pre-cancerous lesion it causes which is why these results are so exciting.

“Further work is needed but it looks as though this might be a potential treatment to stop early stage cervical cancer caused by HPV.”

On a global scale HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease. Although in the developed world vaccination programmes against HPV are well underway, these are not effective in women already infected with the virus. The current vaccines do not protect against all types of HPV and they are expensive, which can limit their use in countries with low resources.

The researchers believe their findings offer a potential cheap and preferably self-administered treatment that could eliminate early-stage HPV infections before these have developed into cancers would therefore have distinct health advantages. Approximately 300,000 women are dying from cervical cancer per annum which is equivalent to 800 per day, one every two minutes mostly in low resource settings.

The research has been backed by Lord Saatchi, whose wife novelist Josephine Hart died of ovarian cancer and has submitted a Private Member’s Medical Innovation Bill to Parliament which he argues would promote “responsible” innovation for medics to try new treatments without the fear of negligence claims. The bill comes amid claims there is currently an estimated average time lag of 17 years for a new treatment or research evidence to reach clinical practice in the UK.

Lord Saatchi said: “What Drs Lynne and Ian Hampson have done is amazing – a classic case of innovation. The fact that they needed to run their trial in Nairobi and that even now there is no guarantee the treatment will be available in the UK any time soon, is a source of immense frustration.”

Dr Ian Hampson added: “This is not something we could have done in the UK due to the associated costs and red tape. We have full ethical approval in Kenya and chose to conduct the trial there because of the extreme need for a self-applied treatment for early stage cervical cancer.

“During the trial we provided 820 women with free cervical smear testing in addition to a range of other free medical tests that are not routinely available in Kenya. This was essential in order to identify women with HPV related cervical disease so that we could treat them with lopinavir. It is very significant that during this process we also identified five women who already had invasive cervical cancer and these were immediately referred for surgery.”

Dr Pierre Martin-Hirsh, consultant in gynaecological and oncologist and associate editor in chief, the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecological, has described the research as very impressive.

Source: India Medical Times

 

Breast cancer fears and facts conflict over mammography

Women may perceive health threats such as breast cancer based on fear rather than facts, but their feelings can’t be left out of discussions with doctors, a U.S. cardiologist argues in a medical journal.

In Wednesday’s online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Lisa Rosenbaum of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center describes her frustration over trying to help women understand that heart disease is the top killer of women, not breast cancer.

Rosenbaum points to the controversy surrounding mammography screening. A 25-year Canadian study is the latest to suggest that annual screening mammograms for women in their 40s and 50s don’t save lives, but instead can cause over-diagnosis of cancers that won’t be fatal.

The value of diagnostic mammograms to help determine if a lump is in fact cancer isn’t in question, but the larger issue is about the overall benefits of screening.

Cancer agencies in British Columbia and Ontario said their breast cancer screening programs won’t be changed in response to the report.

“We feel our guidelines are progressive and have kept the evidence in mind,” said Dr. Christine Wilson, a radiologist and medical director of the screening mammography program at the BC Cancer Agency.

Coincidentally, when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended in 2009 that the frequency of mammograms should decrease for most American women younger than 50, Rosenbaum said the outrage in the U.S. was so intense that many physicians, political leaders and advocacy groups argued the data didn’t justify the change.

‘Doesn’t save lives’

“But data have shown for years that early mammography screening doesn’t save lives, just as data show that preventing heart disease, through certain lifestyle modifications and appropriate use of medications, does. So why do we resist these data?

“Have pink ribbons and Races for the Cure so permeated our culture that the resulting female solidarity lends mammography a sacred status?” Rosenbaum asks.

“Certainly, our understanding of one’s risk for any disease must be anchored in the facts. But if we want our facts to translate into better health, we may need to start talking more about our feelings.”

Neil Weinstein is professor emeritus at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he studies how people’s perception of risk influences their behaviour.

“I think it’s very understandable that people want to believe there are things they can do that will protect them from harm, and we tend naturally to overestimate the amount of benefit they give because it makes us feel less frightened,” Weinstein said.

Humans also tend to give more weight to compelling stories from survivors who say they’re alive because they had a mammogram than they do to any studies or statistics, he added.

A sense of belonging to a group is a powerful motivator, but a herd mentality also shapes the information we seek about our health and our willingness to accept it, Rosenbaum said.

Source: cbc news

Scientists query health risk of food package chemicals

Scientists say “far too little” is known about the health risks of chemicals used in food packaging, and some could cause cancer.

Research is needed to understand the effect on the human body and embryonic development of at least 4,000 chemicals used in packaging, they said.

Links between packaging and obesity, diabetes and neurological diseases need to be explored, scientists warned.

But critics have said that the call is alarmist.

Scientists Jane Muncke, John Peterson Myers, Martin Scheringer and Miquel Porta called for an investigation into the health risks of food packaging in a commentary piece published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

‘Lifelong exposure’
They noted that chemicals such as formaldehyde, which they said can cause cancer, were used in many materials, such as plastics used for fizzy-drink bottles and tableware.

Substances could leach into food, and they added that the risks of “lifelong exposure” to such chemicals were not documented, said the researchers.

“Whereas the science for some of these substances is being debated and policymakers struggle to satisfy the needs of stakeholders, consumers remain exposed to these chemicals daily, mostly unknowingly,” they said.

But carrying out analysis would not be easy, they said, as there are no unexposed populations for comparison.

The call for research has attracted criticism.

Dr Ian Musgrave, senior lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Adelaide, said it was “very hard to take seriously” the claims that formaldehyde in plastic bottles could cause cancer.

He said it was present in many foods naturally, and to consume as much formaldehyde as that in an apple someone would have to drink “at least” 20 litres of plastic-bottled water.

Dr Musgrave added: “Obviously the concern about formaldehyde from food packaging is significantly overrated, unless we are willing to place ‘potential cancer hazard’ stickers on fresh fruit and vegetables.”

‘High levels of fat’
Jon Ayres, Professor of Environmental and Respiratory Medicine at the University of Birmingham, said the scientists painted an “alarmist” picture.

He said there was “no denying” that ingesting lower doses of some substances could “in principle” be harmful, but the issue was how to recognise and quantify any effect.

Prof Ayres added: “But can these effects really be anything other than modest at worst when few have been recognised to date?”

He said that simply calling for a different approach to the chemicals “does not really help”.

Dr Oliver Jones, lecturer at the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, said: “More research is always welcome from a scientist’s point of view.

“But I would hazard a guess that the high levels of fat, sugar and salt in a lot of today’s processed food are more of a health concern than any migration of chemicals from the packaging.”

Source: BBC news

Admissions Open for Doctor of Medicine Program – Texila American University

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About Texila American University

Texila American University (TAU) one of the best Caribbean Medical school is located in Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America. TAU offers Health Science and Doctor of Medicine programs with a high level of professionalism, exactness and problem solving skills, upon which the foundations of specialist training and an independent medical practice can be built, which facilitates further education and development of their knowledge throughout their life.

Programs Offered:

  •  BS MD (5.5years )
  •  BS MD US Track (5.5years)
  •  Direct MD (4years )
  •  Direct MD US Track (4 years )

 5.5 Years Medicine Program:
Eligibility: High School or “A” Level

 4 Years direct MD program:
Eligibility: Diploma/Bachelor degree in Health Science

Advantages of the program

  •  The nature of the Premedical Foundation with TAU allows the students to obtain strong foundation in the natural sciences recommended by USA/UK medical universities
  •  Opportunity for USA Clinical Rotation and greater advantages in applying to U.S. residencies
  •  Learning new methods and techniques, and studying new theories through our continuous education platform
  •  Students are counseled throughout their undergraduate careers about opportunities available to them at every stage
  •  Skilled Faculty with a passion for teaching with personal attention

Apply Online 

Why You Should Eat With Your Hands?

1) It’s primal

Eating with your hands is common in many parts of the world.Utensils are a man-made invention that not all cultures warmed up to. We’ve learned so much from our ancestors and various hunter-gatherer tribes about health and nutrition – could they be onto something here, too?

2) Improved digestion

Feeling your food is a like a heads-up to your stomach, signaling “Incoming!” Your hands become an extension of the digestive system. Millions of nerve endings in your fingers relay the message that you’re about to eat, including the temperature of the food, level of spiciness, etc. to prep the stomach for digestion. Handling the food with your fingers releases digestive juices and enzymes.

3) Heightened awareness

Many experts have noted the importance of being relaxed and “present” at mealtime. A calm, aware state allows optimum digestion and helps with not overeating. Eating with a fork and knife can become mechanical, done absentmindedly while watching TV. You’ll inevitably feel more connected with your food when you eat with your hands.

4) Engages all senses

The smell of your cooking fills your home. The feast looks appetizing. You hear how crunchy it is as you take that first bite. And of course it tastes delicious. But as far as feeling it, you’re limited to the textures you experience in your mouth. Or are you? Eating with your hands adds a tactile dimension to your meal and engages all of your senses. Some people firmly believe that to completely enjoy your food, you simply must eat it with your fingers.

5) It’s fun

Don’t kids just look so happy and carefree, eating with their hands? Live a little, try something new, have some fun 🙂

Source: the primalist

Soon, ‘vision-restoring drug’ that will let blind eyes see light

Researchers have developed a compound that can be effectively used for treating patients suffering from degenerative retinal disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

The retina has three layers of nerve cells, but only the outer layer contains the rod and cone cells that respond to light, enabling us to see the world. When the rods and cones die during the course of degenerative blinding diseases, the rest of the retina remains intact but unable to respond to light.

Dr. Richard Kramer of the University of California, Berkeley and his colleagues have invented “photoswitch” chemicals that confer light sensitivity on these normally light-insensitive ganglion cells, restoring light perception in blind mice.

An earlier photoswitch required very bright ultraviolet light, making it unsuitable for medical use. However, a new chemical, named DENAQ, responds to ordinary daylight. Just one injection of DENAQ into the eye confers light sensitivity for several days.

Experiments on mice with functional, nonfunctional, or degenerated rods and cones showed that DENAQ only impacts ganglion cells if the rods and cones have already died.

It appears that degeneration in the outer retina leads to changes in the electrophysiology in the inner retina that enables DENAQ photosensitization, while the presence of intact photoreceptors prevents DENAQ action.

The selective action of DENAQ on diseased tissue may reduce side effects on healthy retina, exactly what is desired from a vision-restoring drug.

The study was published in the Cell Press journal Neuron.

Source; Business standard

5 reasons why walking on grass is good for your health

There is a common belief that walking on grass in the morning and evening is a great for your health; especially for your eyes. Have you ever wondered why? Well, here are five reasons waking on grass can do a great deal of good for your mind and body.

Rejuvenates your senses and calms the mind: The entire environment in the morning – the fresh air, sunlight and peaceful atmosphere helps you in innumerable ways. Fresh oxygen helps your body work better, sunlight helps you keep warm, replenishes your vitamin D stores and the calm atmosphere helps relax your entire body and mind, allowing you to let go of all your stress. Apart from that the green colour of grass, helps stimulate your body to produce calming hormones that help you relax

Stimulates your entire body, including the eyes: Our feet are store houses of reflexology zones that correspond to various organs of our body. According to the principles of reflexology, stimulating these points can help relieve ailments of the particular organs and keep them in a general state of good health. The foot has points for the eyes, ears, lungs, nerves of the face, stomach, spleen, brain, kidneys and many more organs, so when we walk on grass, these areas are gently stimulated, helping your entire body stay healthy. Dr Anjali Sharma, senior consultant, Naturopathy, Sri Balaji action medical institute, Delhi says, ‘When we walk on grass we stimulate the nerve endings of the foot, where thousands of nerve endings converge. These nerve endings get gently yet directly stimulated by the grass, helping the body stay in a state of equilibrium.’

Another reason for this belief is that when we walk, we put maximum pressure on the first, second and third toe. The reflexology pressure points for the eyes are present on the second and third toes, which is why walking on grass has a large number of benefits for one’s eyes.

Connects you to the earth and neutralizes your electrical energies: Dr Anjali says, ‘In naturopathy we base our treatment on the five elements of nature, out of which one of the elements is earth. The earth contains magnetic fields and has a certain flow of energy. Therefore when we walk barefoot on grass, we directly get connected to the magnetic field of the earth, which affects the entire electrical and magnetic field of our body. This exchange of energies helps neutralize negative electrical impulses in our body which are known to cause certain ailments. Therefore, cleansing our bodies of negative electrical energies definitely has a positive effect on our overall health.’

Lets you soak in the sun: When we walk on grass early in the morning we give our bodies the precious gift of ‘sun energy’. Dr Anjali says that sun energy is a great source of healing energies and restorative powers. ‘Sun energy’ – as it is called in Naturopathy – is the source of life and energy. It helps disinfect the body, tones the muscles and nerves, supplies the entire body with energy and supplies the body with the all essential vitamin D.

Dr Anjali suggests that, ‘Walking in the sun is extremely important and beneficial and one gets the maximum benefit of the sun between 6:30 to 9 in the morning and between 4:30 or 5 to about 6:30 in the evening. That being said, one should be careful not to expose themselves to harsh sunlight that we commonly see in the afternoons, as this can be damaging to the body.’

Replenishes your vitamin D stores: In recent times, osteoarthritis and other bone related diseases have become common place. Doctors say that this is mainly due to the lack of exposure to the sun. Therefore when you walk in the open – early in the morning – the sun replenishes your vitamin D stores automatically, helping you keep bone and joint diseases at bay. If you are pregnant, this vitamin is all the more important for you

Source: the Health site