Month: May 2014

7 herbal alternatives to cosmetics

natural-cosmetics

Lip gloss, body lotion, shampoo… the list goes on! Most women use various cosmetic products every day to prep their skin. But are these chemical laden tubes good for our skin and hair in the long run? Nature has provided several products that have the ability to improve the condition of our skin and hair in a totally safe manner, free of chemicals. Here are a few natural alternatives to everyday cosmetics which will help you make the switch.

Coconut oil – Body lotion and anti-dandruff agent

With its composition of medium chain fatty acids, coconut oil is extremely effective at keeping skin healthy and free from dryness and wrinkles. Use it alone or in combination with some other oil or herb, for your skin or also hair – coconut oil works equally well. Because of its ability to penetrate deep into the hair shaft and also the skin, this oil acts from deep within to ensure conditioning and moisturising effects that last for long. Coconut oil is also a source of antioxidants such as vitamin E and so, using it regularly can also help prevent those wrinkles that appear on the skin with ageing.

Henna – Hair dye

Hair dyes work their magic instantly and this is what makes it tempting to reach out for one when you need to hide your greys and look your best. But most synthetic hair dye products contain chemicals called secondary amines or tar derivatives that have been linked to cancer. Switch over to a natural hair dye used since times immemorial – henna. Combine with sesame oil and curry leaves, or mix with beetroot juice, or add into a mix of curd, lemon juice and tea – whatever the shade you desire, henna can help you get it and in the process, also keep your body cool.

Turmeric (haldi) and fruits – Rejuvenating face pack

If you don’t have the time or motivation to head to a beauty parlour, the easiest way to get glowing skin on-the-go is to use a face pack. However, a commercial face pack is quite likely to contain chemicals – preservatives at the very least – that may not be good for you in the long run. Instead, make use of simple ingredients in your kitchen to rejuvenate your skin and give it a soft glow. Mix in some turmeric powder with a little curd and apply on your face. Or, mash ripe papaya fruit into a rough pulp and apply – this will also help reduce the appearance of black spots on the skin.

Aloe vera – Dry skin moisturiser

Moisturising creams for dry skin generally contain ingredients such as petrolatum that tend to be contaminated with harmful chemicals. Instead of taking the risk of these being absorbed into the body through the skin, opt for one of nature’s best skin moisturisers and softeners – aloe vera. Simply make a cut on the fleshy leaves of aloe vera plant, collect the gel that oozes out and apply to your skin.

Garlic and sandalwood (chandan) – Anti-acne effects

A natural powerhouse of antioxidants, garlic helps purify blood and this gives the skin a distinct glow. However, it can also be used directly on the skin for instantaneous relief from pimples. Just peel out the outer covering over garlic clove and rub the clove over the area where the pimple has sprouted. An alternative way to use garlic is to grind a few cloves and make into a paste using some curd; this face pack is effective in reducing acne.

Sandalwood is another excellent alternative to anti-acne creams and also has a moisturising effect. Mix a few drops of sandalwood oil with almond oil and massage this into the skin. Or you can add a few drops of the oil into boiling water and inhale the steam.

Make a paste by using one cup of curd, half a teaspoon of turmeric, a pinch of sandalwood powder and one teaspoon of sugar. Massage the paste on your face with gentle circular movements, leave on for half a minute and then remove by rinsing the face with cool water and pat dry.

Soap nuts (reetha) and shikakai – Gentle cleansing shampoo

Shampoos available in the market make use of chemicals such as sodium lauryl sulfate to produce foam that can cleanse dirt and grease from hair. But along with this, they also remove all oil from the scalp that is so essential to nourish your hair. A natural alternative that avoids such damage is soapnut or reetha in combination with shikakai. Mix equal quantities of soap nut and shikakai powders and make into a paste with warm water; wash hair using this paste. If you find your hair feels a bit too dry with this 1:1 proportion, experiment with lesser quantity of soapnut powder.

Pomegranate seeds (anar ke dane) – Natural lip colour

Exposure to the sun, smoking, dehydration and too much caffeine can darken your lips. But dark lips may also be a result of using lipstick daily for a prolonged time. The chemicals in it can cause this and you’ll need more lipstick to hide the darkness… the cycle goes on! Break this cycle and get back the natural pink of your lips with a scrub made from pomegranate seeds. Crush pomegranate seeds and mix in some milk cream; apply to your lips every day and your lips will be naturally red and full. You can also combine crushed pomegranate seeds with sugar and olive oil and use this paste to gently scrub your lips.

Whether it is a skin lightening cream, a hair dye, moisturiser, body lotion or any other cosmetic you need, there is a natural alternative available that is free from harmful chemicals, make use of them.

Source: the health site

Why you should stop using your phone in the bathroom

image

You should probably stop bringing your phone into the bathroom with you, because there’s more growing on it than you think.

Anne Bialachowski, manager of infection control at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, was testing smartphones and tablets at St. Joseph’s on Monday as part of World Hand Hygiene Day, and found that some devices were more than just grimy.

Using an ATP test, which measures organic material that gets left behind on surfaces, Bialachowski found some phones and tablets had scads of things living on them — that organic material could be anything from fecal matter and E. coli, to the virus that causes the flu.

“It’s pathogens — so things that we worry about daily,” Bialachowski told CBC Hamilton. “And no, it’s probably not a good idea to take your phone into the bathroom with you.”

A clean reading on the ATP test is a score of 30, but some of the devices swabbed at St. Joseph’s had readings of over 100 — one person’s cellphone even had a reading of 400.

It’s hard to say exactly what part the rise of hand-held devices has played in the spread of pathogens, as few studies have been conducted on the issue, Bialachowski says. But it has added a new level of concern at hospitals, she adds. “With every new example of technology, it adds a layer of intricacy to our work.”

According to a U.K.-wide study by scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine and Queen Mary University of London, one in six mobile phones in Britain was contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Fecal bacteria and viruses like the flu can survive on someone’s hands and on surfaces for hours at a pop, especially in warm temperatures away from sunlight.

Pathogens like C. difficile can even live on a device for days, Bialachowski says.

And if people really want to use their phone as a replacement for a magazine or bathroom reader, you should get into the habit of wiping it down with a cloth after washing your hands, she says. A test with a simple dry cloth also performed at the hospital removed most problem germs.

But stay away from chemicals and sprays — they’re generally harmful for electronics.

Source: CBC

WHO finds Indian cities have dirtiest air; Chinese data foggy

Vendors selling drinks stand beside vehicles near the India Gate war memorial on a smoggy day in New Delhi

An effort by the World Health Organization to measure pollution in cities around the world has found New Delhi admits to having the dirtiest air, while Beijing’s measurements, like its skies, are far from clear.

The study of 1,600 cities found air pollution had worsened since a smaller survey in 2011, especially in poorer countries, putting city-dwellers at higher risk of cancer, stroke and heart disease.

Air pollution killed about 7 million people in 2012, making it the worl ..

Thirteen of the dirtiest 20 cities were Indian, with New Delhi, Patna, Gwalior and Raipur in the top four spots. The Indian capital had an annual average of 153 micrograms of small particulates, known as PM2.5, per cubic metre.

Beijing, notorious for the smog that has prompted some Anglophone residents to dub it “Greyjing”, was in 77th place with a PM2.5 reading of 56, little over one-third of Delhi’s pollution level.

WHO experts said the Chinese data was from 2010, the most recent year made available to them by China. But Beijing’s city government began publishing hourly PM2.5 data in January 2012.

A year after it started publishing data, Beijing’s air quality hit the “worst on record” according to Greenpeace, with a PM2.5 reading as high as 900 on one occasion.

Beijing’s government said last month that PM2.5 concentrations stood at a daily average of 89.5 micrograms per cubic metre in 2013 ..

At the cleaner end of the table, 32 cities reported a PM2.5 reading of less than 5. Three-quarters of those were Canadian, including Vancouver, one was Hafnarfjordur in Iceland and the other seven were American.

WHO experts insisted the survey was not intended to name and shame the dirtiest cities, since the cities involved were volunteering the information to try to help themselves clean up.

Maria Neira, WHO Director for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, said the aim was to “challenge” cities and thought the survey would help them to become more open about their dirty air, which is often caused by burning coal, smokestack industries and heavy traffic.

She rejected any suggestion that China might be cheating and said it was becoming much more sophisticated about collecting air pollution data, with a new push to clean up the big cities.

“We are very much discussing with China putting on the table the issue of air pollution. Our director general (Margaret Chan) was recently there and she declared that China was one of the countries with major problems with air pollution. We will continue discussions on that to make sure that relevant measures are in place to reduce air pollution.”
Source: Economic times

Study finds 3.3% city children suffering from high blood pressure

CHILDREN

A multicentre, cross-sectional study which was conducted on 10,842 children in five cities — Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Raipur — has found that 3.3 per cent or 358 children were hypertensive.

Dr Archana Dayal Arya, paediatric endocrinologist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, and co-author of the study, said, “The prevalence of childhood obesity is rising in developing countries including India. Abdominal obesity is also on the rise and is associated with increased risk for metabolic syndrome (MS).”

MS in children has been defined as the presence of > or =3 of the following criteria: high triglyceride levels in blood, low HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol), increased fasting blood glucose levels, high systolic blood pressure and waist circumference > 75th percentile.

According to Dr Arya, MS results in increased risk for hypertension, type-2 diabetes mellitus, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

“In my daily practice, I am seeing many children who are getting diseases which were earlier seen only in adults, primarily because of obesity. It is shocking to see children as young as 6 years old with diseases like hypertension, diabetes mellitus and abnormalities in the lipid profile. In this study we found 350 children suffering from hypertension,” said Dr Arya.

The study has suggested cut-off values of waist circumference for screening for metabolic syndrome in Indian children. It has also developed age and sex specific reference curves for waist circumference for Indian children.

The study, which appears in The Journal of Paediatrics, also found that risk factor for Indian children for developing MS was at 70th waist circumference percentile, which is significantly lower than international proposed WC cut-off of 90th percentile.

Dr Anuradha Khadilkar, consultant paediatrician, Jehangir Hospital, Pune and corresponding author of the study, said, “We found in the study that primary or essential hypertension, commonly seen in adults, is becoming common in children, who are obese or overweight. Therefore it is very essential for them to change their lifestyle and lose weight. They should be encouraged to participate in outdoor sports and other physical activities. They should cut down on the intake of high calorie foods with poor nutritional value (junk food) and a high fat diet.”

Source: India medical times

SRL Diagnostics introduces ST2 biomarker to predict heart failure

breakthrough-technique-to-predict-heart-failure

SRL Diagnostics on Monday announced the launch of new lab test ST2 to help predict risks of coronary heart disease by finding a specific biomarker in the bloodstream.

SRL claims to be the first diagnostic lab in India to have launched this key medical test, available across India at all Fortis Labs, SRL Diagnostics Labs and its collection centres.

Dr B R Das, president – research & innovation, SRL Diagnostics, said, “Unlike many other cardiac biomarkers, ST2 is faster thus helping physicians make informed decisions on an appropriate course of action to take and, if needed, to quickly adjust treatment. It can reduce 30-day rehospitalisation rates by 17.3 per cent and also reduce 30-day mortality rates by 17.6 per cent.”

Recent evidence has reported the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) to be 40 to 50 per cent higher in Asian Indians than individuals of other ethnic origins. In addition, some 30 to 40 per cent of cardiovascular deaths occur between 35 and 64 years of age. The prevalence of heart failure in India due to coronary heart disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes and rheumatic heart disease ranges from 1.3 million to 4.6 million, with an annual incidence of 4,91,600–1.8 million, according to a statement by SRL.

“ST2 is ELISA based test which is a US FDA approved technology and was included in 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines for The Management of Heart Failure. It has been extensively evaluated with more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and scientific posters studying more than 35,000 patients. So far, SRL Diagnostics has collected 100 samples for predicting the heart failure,” Dr Das added.

The American College of Cardiology Foundation / American Heart Association Task Force jointly released its expanded clinical practice guideline for the management of patients with heart failure and has identified ST2 “not only predictive of hospitalization and death in patients with HF [heart failure] but also additive to natriuretic peptide levels in its prognostic value.

Source: India medical Times

Protein could bring hope to brittle bone disease

osteoporotic_bone,_sem-spl

A discovery in mice could help to treat people with a form of brittle bone disease, scientists said.

In an American study, mice were bred with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and the activity of a protein which shapes and reshapes bones was monitored. Scientists said intense activity of the protein in the mice was linked to OI.

They said the finding could lead to a new target for treatment, but experts warn the study is in mice and might not apply to humans.

Human trials?
One in 15,000 people in the UK are estimated to have osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). It is an inherited condition, where abnormalities in the genes controlling collagen affect the bone’s strength.

In severe cases, people with OI can have between 200 and 300 fractures by the time they reach age 18, the Brittle Bone Society said. Current treatment is lacking.

Scientists at the Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas, looked at a protein in mice bred with the condition and compared them to “normal” mice.

They said the activity of transforming growth factor beta (TGF), which co-ordinates the shaping and reshaping of bone, was excessive in mice with OI.

When TGF was blocked with an antibody, the mice’s bones withstood “higher maximum load and ultimate strength” and showed “improved whole bone and tissue strength”, suggesting “resistance to fracture”, the study said.

Research was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Dr Brendan Lee, professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, said the study could “move quite quickly” into humans, and be at a clinical trial stage later this year, or early next year.

‘Open doors’
A pharmaceutical company in the US was looking at the pathway of TGF in other diseases, such as kidney disease, which could accelerate the trials, he said. One mechanism behind the findings could be that the disruption of TGF meant the bone was absorbed in the body more quickly than it was made.

Dr Lee added: “We now have a deeper understanding for how genetic mutations that affect collagen and collagen processing enzymes cause weak bones.”

He said the treatment appeared “even more effective” than other existing approaches.

Prof Nick Bishop, is professor at the University of Sheffield and chairman of the Brittle Bone Society’s medical advisory board. He said the study was a “paradigm shifter” as it exposed a possible new target for treatment.

But Prof Bishop said: “This is another mouse study with potential to transfer to humans, we hope, but remember mice are not human.”

He added: “Other treatments that have worked really well in mice with brittle bones, like bone marrow transplantation, haven’t worked as well in humans and are not standard practice as of now.”

Dr Claire Bowring, medical policy manager at the National Osteoporosis Society, said the study was “basic science” in mouse models to understand the “basics of bone biology”.

She said: “It could, in the future, help develop knowledge about bone conditions more fully. As we understand more about bone turnover and communication between bone cells, work could open doors for future research that could affect osteoporosis.”

Dr Bowring said it could take 10 to 15 years for such mouse studies to reach the stage of clinical trials in people.

Source: BBC

Processed cheese and colas kick-start production of harmful hormone

processed-cheese-slices

After sodium and fat content, a new study suggests adding phosphates to the list of unhealthy ingredients to look out for on nutritional labels, after making a connection between high blood pressure, heart disease and phosphate consumption.

Widely used as a food preservative and stabilizer, phosphates can be found in foods like processed cheeses, Parmesan, colas, baking powder and cured meats.

But after looking at the relationship between kidney disease, heart disease and high blood pressure, scientists in Vienna found that large amounts of phosphates can kick-start the production of a hormone called FGF23 in the bones, which puts strain on the heart and can lead to high blood pressure.

In their study, researchers found that mice with low levels of FGF23 excrete higher amounts of sodium in their urine, resulting in low blood pressure.

By contrast, animals with high levels of FGF23 were unable to excrete excess sodium, resulting in high blood pressure.

The problem is particularly worrisome for patients who suffer from kidney disease, as levels of phosphates and FGF23 are chronically high, putting them at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.
The latest findings, published in the May issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine, build on previous research carried out by the same group that found the same hormone also controls calcium levels. Excess levels of FGF23 were seen to lead to increased take-up of calcium by the kidneys, resulting in vascular calcification.

Foods high in inorganic phosphates that should be limited include processed meats like ham and sausages, canned fish, baked goods, cola and fellow sugary soft drinks.

Source: ctv news

New York City man becomes world’s oldest man at age 111

111 years

The year Alexander Imich was born, Theodore Roosevelt was president and the Wright brothers piloted their first powered airplane. Imich, born in 1903, is the oldest man alive, at age 111.

Imich took the title of oldest male supercentenarian — someone over 110 — when Arturo Licata of Italy died on April 24, just shy of his 112th birthday.

However, Imich is not the oldest person in the world. Sixty-six women are older than him, with the oldest being 116-year-old Misao Okawa of Japan, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

His secrets to longevity? Imich cites the fact that he and his wife never had children, reports The New York Times.

Imich also said he was always athletic and gave up smoking long ago, reports the Times.

Additionally, he doesn’t have a big appetite and eats “like a little bird,” one of Imich’s friends told WABC-TV in New York City.

Imich, a Polish immigrant who lives in New York City, is a scholar of the occult and published a book on paranormal activity at age 92, the Times reports.

Even at age 111, Imich doesn’t have all of life’s answers. He told WABC there’s one thing he’s still trying figure out: “I wanted to understand the universe and myself in it.”

Source: khou

New Tool to Measure the Speed of Aging: Your handshake

ageing

Strong handshake can say a lot about a person — it can indicate power, confidence, health or aggression. Now scientists at Stony Brook University and the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) say that the strength of a person’s grasp may also be one of the most useful ways to measure people’s true age.

In a new study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, IIASA researchers Warren Sanderson, Professor of Economics with joint appointment in History at Stony Brook and Serguei Scherbov show that hand grip corresponds to other markers of aging such as people’s future mortality, disability, cognitive decline and ability to recover from hospital stays.
For their new research, Sanderson and Scherbov reviewed findings from over 50 published studies that focus on people around the world and of all ages. Since the measure is already commonly used, data is readily available.

“Hand-grip strength is easily measured and data on hand-grip strength now can be found in many of the most important surveys on aging worldwide,” says Sanderson.

The study also demonstrates how such a test could be used as a measure for aging to compare different population groups. The study used data from one such survey, the United States Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), to show how this could be done.

Scherbov says, “We found that based on this survey, a 65-year-old white women who had not completed secondary education has the same handgrip strength as a 69-year-old white women who had completed secondary education. This suggests that according to a handgrip strength characteristic their ages are equivalent and 65 year-old women ages 4 years faster due to lower education attainment.”

In a growing body of research funded in part by a new grant from the European Research Council (ERC), Sanderson and Scherbov have begun to define new measures of aging based on people’s characteristics, such as their longevity, health, disability status and other important demographic factors.

Previous research by Sanderson and Scherbov has shown that measuring age simply by the number of years people have lived does not measure variations in the aging process correctly. Using new characteristic-based approaches such as the one in this paper, the researchers can identify differences in the aging process between population groups that may not otherwise become apparent.

Scherbov says, “Our goal is to measure how fast different groups in a society age. If some group is getting older faster than another, we can ask why that might be and see whether there are any policies that could help the faster aging group.”

Source: Science daily

New studies offer evidence of the mind and body benefits of yoga

Cat-Cowpose

The idea that yoga is beneficial is not new. But new studies continue to advance our understanding of the health benefits attained through yoga practice. Three studies reported in the April 2014 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine show that yoga can improve balance and reduce fear of falling, helps to reduce and regulate blood pressure and can improve important aspects of cardiovascular health.

As we age, it is common to experience a loss of balance and an increased risk of injury due to falling. Yoga, with its great emphasis on enhancing overall balance, demonstrates the capacity to reduce age-related imbalance and the tendency for fall-related injuries. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University examined 152 studies on yoga, identifying 15 that assessed balance-related issues. Among these, 11 studies showed that yoga practice can enhance balance, reduce the incidence of balance-related falls and reduce fear of falling – a common issue among seniors.

The balance study was not based on one style of yoga or on one particular practice, but on several styles, and on a number of methods aimed at improving balance, especially one-legged standing poses.

Yoga is low impact and can be adapted to meet the abilities of most people. Yoga practice shows no negative interactions with medications and improves body awareness, a factor in loss of balance. The bottom line of this study was that yoga can improve balance and reduce falls that lead to injury. For seniors, this is a significant gain.

The second yoga study, conducted at the University of South Carolina College of Medicine, examined the effects of Hatha yoga on blood pressure among a group of young people. Hatha yoga is the most commonly practiced of yoga styles. The study involved a group of 28 seventh-graders. Half of the group participated in school-based yoga practice for three months, while the other half attended a music or art class. Among these students, some were pre-hypertensive, meaning they exhibited standard clinical signs of early-stage high blood pressure.

Overall, the students who practiced yoga had lower resting blood pressure and reduced a-amylase activity, a determining factor in high blood pressure, as determined by a variety of tests. Researchers concluded that Hatha yoga helps to decrease resting blood pressure and regulate important nerve and hormonal factors that can lead to blood pressure disorders. This finding is consistent with other assessments of blood pressure among those who practice yoga. Given that high blood pressure is a common problem that can lead to other health complications and increase mortality, this benefit is significant.

The third yoga study, conducted by researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School, examined a group of Tibetan yogis who engage in an extreme yoga practice known as Tumo, or Tum-Mo, at very high altitude in the freezing Himalayan cold. This technique seems to enable the yogis to maintain normal body temperatures at very cold temperatures, apparently without harm.

Dum-Mo has been studied and filmed by American cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson, who founded the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In Benson’s film, the yogis, clad only in loin cloths, sit on the freezing ground melting iced sheets wrapped around their bodies, while members of the film crew huddle in heavy down-filled mountaineering gear.

The Eastern Virginia Medical School study examined various cardiovascular factors of both non-yogis and yogis in sub-zero temperatures. As expected, the non-yogis were not capable of generating inner body heat, and had to be warmed to maintain a healthy body temperature. The Tum-Mo practitioners stayed warm without shivering. Analysis of heart rate, blood pressure and numerous other factors resulted in the conclusion that this mystifying practice somehow enables the Tum-Mo yogis to activate brown fat and generate heat, increasing overall blood flow greatly and decreasing peripheral vascular resistance.

The Tum-Mo study left many questions unanswered, but it showed yet again that yoga can exert profound changes in normal physiological activity – in this case, keeping Tum-Mo yogis warm at temperatures that would typically lead to death by hypothermia.

Deriving from India, China, Nepal and Southeast Asia, yoga practices of various types have gained popularity because they are adaptable to people of all ages and most levels of fitness, and impart significant benefits on both body and mind. These three recently reported studies support the salutary effects of yoga, and clearly show that practice can positively affect health in significant ways.

Source: fox news