Health Related articles updated on daily Basis.

[Night_Hawk]

Mediterranean diet
boosts heart health

(AP) / 2 March 2013

A Pour on the olive oil, preferably over fish and vegetables: One of the longest and most scientific tests of a Mediterranean diet suggests this style of eating can cut the chance of suffering heart-related problems, especially strokes, in older people at high risk of them.The study lasted five years and involved about 7,500 people in Spain. Those who ate Mediterranean-style with lots of olive oil or nuts had a 30 percent lower risk of major cardiovascular problems compared to those who were told to follow a low-fat diet but who in reality, didn’t cut fat very much. Mediterranean meant lots of fruit, fish, chicken, beans, tomato sauce, salads, and wine and little baked goods and pastries.

Mediterranean diets have long been touted as heart-healthy, but that’s based on observational studies that can’t prove the point. The new research is much stronger because people were assigned diets to follow for a long time and carefully monitored. Doctors even did lab tests to verify that the Mediterranean diet subjects were consuming more olive oil or nuts as recommended.
Most of these people were taking medicines for high cholesterol and blood pressure, and researchers did not alter those proven treatments, said one study leader, Dr. Ramon Estruch of Hospital Clinic in Barcelona.
But as a first step to prevent heart problems, “we think diet is better than a drug” because it has few if any side effects, Estruch said. “Diet works.”
Results were published by the New England Journal of Medicine and were discussed at a nutrition conference in Loma Linda, California. People in the study were not given rigid menus or calorie goals because weight loss was not the aim. That could be why they found the “diets” easy to stick with — only about 7 per cent dropped out within two years. There were twice as many dropouts in the low-fat group than among those eating Mediterranean-style.
Researchers also provided the nuts and olive oil, so it didn’t cost participants anything to use these relatively pricey ingredients. The type of oil may have mattered — they used extra-virgin olive oil, which is minimally processed and richer than regular or light olive oil in the chemicals and nutrients that earlier studies have suggested are beneficial.
The study involved people ages 55 to 80, just over half of them women. All were free of heart disease at the start but were at high risk for it because of health problems — half had diabetes and most were overweight and had high cholesterol and blood pressure.
They were assigned to one of three groups: Two followed a Mediterranean diet supplemented with either extra-virgin olive oil (4 tablespoons a day) or with walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds (a fistful a day). The third group was urged to eat a low-fat diet heavy on bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, fruits, vegetables and fish and light on baked goods, nuts, oils and red meat.
Independent monitors stopped the study after nearly five years when they saw fewer problems in the two groups on Mediterranean diets.
Doctors tracked a composite of heart attacks, strokes or heart-related deaths. There were 96 of these in the Mediterranean-olive oil group, 83 in the Mediterranean-nut group and 109 in the low-fat group.
Looked at individually, stroke was the only problem where type of diet made a big difference. Diet had no effect on death rates overall.
The Mediterranean diet proved better even though its followers ate about 200 calories more per day than the low-fat group did. The study leaders now are analysing how each of the diets affected weight gain or loss and body mass index.
The Spanish government’s health research agency initiated and paid for the study, and foods were supplied by olive oil and nut producers in Spain and the California Walnut Commission. Many of the authors have extensive financial ties to food, wine and other industry groups but said the sponsors had no role in designing the study or analyzing and reporting its results.
Rachel Johnson, a University of Vermont professor who heads the American Heart Association’s nutrition committee, said the study is very strong because of the lab tests to verify oil and nut consumption and because researchers tracked actual heart attacks, strokes and deaths — not just changes in risk factors such as high cholesterol.
“At the end of the day, what we care about is whether or not disease develops,” she said. “It’s an important study.”
Rena Wing, a weight-loss expert at Brown University, noted that researchers provided the oil and nuts, and said “it’s not clear if people could get the same results from self-designed Mediterranean diets” — or if Americans would stick to them more than Europeans who are used to such foods.

 

[Night_Hawk]

No clear benefits for kids’ blood pressure checks

(Reuters) / 3 March 2013

There’s no evidence that checking kids’ and teens’ blood pressure - and treating them if it’s high - can reduce their heart risks in adulthood, according to a new analysis.What’s more, researchers found blood pressure tests may not always be accurate among young people, or consistent from one reading to the next.

“At this point, the jury is out. We just don’t know if this is worth doing or not,” said Dr. Matthew Thompson, who led the new research at Oxford University in the UK.
“We desperately need research on how to diagnose kids with high blood pressure, which kids should be treated and what are the most effective treatments.”
Thompson said although most U.S. children have their blood pressure measured at routine checkups, those readings are never taken on healthy kids in the UK.
His team reviewed the latest evidence on childhood blood pressure tests for the government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Thompson and his colleagues analyzed 34 studies covering diagnosis, treatment and long-term effects of high blood pressure in kids and teens. None of those answered the researchers’ central question - whether screening can help prevent or delay cardiovascular disease in adults.
Accuracy of blood pressure readings from one measurement to the next was “modest at best,” according to Thompson.
“The false positive rate… means that most children who screen positive won’t actually have high blood pressure,” he told Reuters Health.
Among studies that tracked children and teens over time, researchers found anywhere from 19 to 65 percent of youth with high blood pressure also had hypertension as adults.
Seven studies tested seven different drugs for kids with hypertension and found they typically weren’t any better at lowering blood pressure than a drug-free placebo pill. But those studies lasted only a few weeks - and children with hypertension would likely take the drugs for years.
“That’s really not good enough evidence to know if they’re effective and safe for decades,” Thompson said.
Programs aiming to change young people’s lifestyle, such as by encouraging them to be more active or eat less salt, also didn’t have a clear effect, the researchers wrote this week in Pediatrics.
‘Part of standard care’
Based on the findings, the Task Force concluded in a draft recommendation that there isn’t enough evidence to balance the benefits and harms of screening young people to prevent future disease.
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends all children routinely get their blood pressure measured. But another recent review also concluded there isn’t enough evidence to support blood pressure checks for kids, further stoking controversy on the issue.
Dr. Bonita Falkner, a pediatrician at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia who has studied hypertension, said she doesn’t think the findings should change practice.
“It remains unknown how much hypertension in childhood contributes to (adult high blood pressure), but there is evidence it begins in childhood,” Falkner, who wasn’t involved in the review, told Reuters Health.
The researchers agreed there’s a need for more studies to address the information gaps related to childhood blood pressure checks.
“It’s been recommended for some time now that pediatricians measure blood pressure in children, starting at age three, as part of routine health assessments,” she said. “It’s pretty much become part of standard care.”
Thompson said until more research is done, it’s unclear what the right answer is on blood pressure checks for youth.
“To me, the evidence shows that it’s not clear that screening or not screening is good or bad,” he said.

 

[chandsandhu]

متعدد بیماریوں کا علاج ادرک کے ذریعے

 

[nuzhatghazali]

 

[Night_Hawk]

Bitter gourd juice destroys pancreatic cancer cells: Researchers

(IANS) / 13 March 2013

In a finding that could provide a new tool in cancer therapy, researchers have shown that the juice of bitter gourd (karela) effectively kills pancreatic cancer cells.A University of Colorado cancer study published this week in the journal Carcinogenesis shows that bitter gourd juice restricts the ability of pancreatic cancer cells to metabolise glucose, thus cutting the cells' energy source and eventually killing them.

"Three years ago, researchers showed the effect of bitter gourd extract on breast cancer cells only in a petri dish. This study goes much, much farther. We used the juice -- people especially in Asian countries are already consuming it in quantity. We show that it affects the glucose metabolism pathway to restrict energy and kill pancreatic cancer cells," says Rajesh Agarwal, PhD, co-programme leader of Cancer Prevention and Control at the CU Cancer Center and professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Diabetes tends to presage pancreatic cancer and bitter gourd has been shown to control type-II diabetes, and has been used for centuries against diabetes in the folk medicines of China and India.

Following this line of thinking, Agarwal and colleagues wondered what would happen if they closed out the middle man of diabetes and directly explored the link between bitter gourd and pancreatic cancer, reports Science Daily.

The result, Agarwal says, is, "alteration in metabolic events in pancreatic cancer cells and an activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase, an enzyme that indicates low energy levels in the cells".

Perhaps not coincidentally, bitter gourd also regulates insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells. After studies in cell cultures, the group showed that mouse models of pancreatic cancer that were fed bitter melon juice were 60 percent less likely to develop the disease than controls.

"It's a very exciting finding," Agarwal says. "Many researchers are engineering new drugs to target cancer cells' ability to supply themselves with energy, and here we have a naturally-occurring compound that may do just that."

 

[Night_Hawk]

Sip green tea, coffee to protect your heart

(IANS) / 17 March 2013

Scientists say green tea and coffee, if made a regular part of the diet, could benefit the heart, according to research conducted in Japan and published in the US.Green tea and coffee may help lower your risk of having a stroke, especially when both are a regular part of your diet, according to research published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

”This is the first large-scale study to examine the combined effects of both green tea and coffee on stroke risks,” said Yoshihiro Kokubo, lead author of the study at Japan’s National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Centre.

”You may make a small but positive lifestyle change to help lower the risk of stroke by adding daily green tea to your diet.”

They found that the more green tea or coffee people drink, the lower their stroke risks, reports Science Daily.

”The regular action of drinking tea and coffee, largely benefits cardiovascular health because it partly keeps blood clots from forming,” Kokubo said.

Tea and coffee are the most popular drinks in the world after water, suggesting that these results may apply in other countries too.

It’s unclear how green tea affects stroke risks. A compound group known as catechins may provide some protection. Catechins have an antioxidant anti-inflammatory effect, increasing plasma antioxidant capacity and anti-thrombogenic (anti-clotting) effects.

Some chemicals in coffee include chlorogenic acid, thus cutting stroke risks by lowering the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

Further research could clarify how the interaction between coffee and green tea might help further lower stroke risks, Kokubo said.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Distracted eaters tend to take in more calories

(Reuters) / 18 March 2013

If you’re watching TV, stay away from the pretzels or chips, alluring as the temptation may be.People who eat meals or snacks while watching TV, playing games or reading tend to consume more calories in a sitting, and especially later in the day, according to a UK review of two dozen past studies.
‘Some studies have individually shown this before, but the evidence has never been put together,’ said lead author Eric Robinson from the University of Liverpool, who said the amount consumed could rise by up to 50 percent with distracted eating.
But while distracted eating can really up the calorie count, summoning up memories of what was eaten in a previous meal decreased the amount of food eaten later.
Researchers, whose findings appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, broadly categorized eating patterns as ‘attentive,’ such as sitting quietly and recording what was eaten during a meal, or the exact opposite - ‘distracted.’ Distracted eaters do not pay close attention to food and are not as aware of how much they have eaten.
‘Even though we make decisions about what and when to eat with apparent ease all the time, these decisions are actually very complex and can be easily disrupted,’ said Suzanne Higgs, a study co-author and psychologist at the University of Birmingham in the UK.
Robinson and his colleagues searched the scientific literature and found 24 studies conducted between 1997 and 2011 that met their main criterion of involving an experimenter who actively manipulated participants’ attention, memory and awareness of eating food.
All of the studies were tightly controlled and monitored, but each had different methods of manipulating participants’ attention and awareness.
For example, in one study adult men and women watched television while eating. In another, participants snacked on pistachio nuts and experimenters immediately removed the nut shells from view.
The experiments ranges in size from 14 participants to 122, and 18 of the 24 studies were done with university students as subjects. Nearly all of the men and women in the experiments were normal weight, rather than overweight or obese.
The analysis suggests statistically significant differences between participants who ate attentively and those who ate while distracted, Higgs said.
On average, eating while distracted increased the amount eaten by about 10 percent. But it also increased the amount a person ate at a later meal by more than 25 percent.
In contrast, enhancing memories of food consumed at an earlier meal reduced the amount consumed at a subsequent meal by about 10 percent. Enhancing awareness of the food being consumed at the current meal did not, however, change how people ate at that meal.
Still, in light of the overall results, the authors think that attentive eating techniques could be incorporated into weight loss regimens as an alternative to intense calorie counting, such as developing a mobile phone app that prompts people to eat with more attention and awareness.
But practices similar to attentive eating have been part of weight loss programs for decades, said Michael Lower of Drexel University, who was not involved in the study.
‘The learned habits tend to dissipate after the program ends and most individuals regain the weight they lost,’ he said. SOURCE: http://bit.lyYfR5Gd

 

[Night_Hawk]

Always hungry? Study says olive oil helps make you feel full

(IANS) / 17 March 2013

Olive oil leads to satiety, shows a study that points out the mechanism behind it.Reduced-fat food products are gaining popularity. More and more people are choosing “light” products in an attempt to lose weight, or at least in the hope that they would not gain pounds.
But whether these products are effective or not is a matter of dispute: while it is true that they contain fewer calories, people tend to overcompensate by eating more if they do not feel full.

Now a study has shown how “natural” oils and fats regulate the sensation of feeling full after eating, with olive oil leading the way.
So what makes this oil so effective?
Work groups at Germany’s Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) under professor Peter Schieberle and at the University of Vienna under professor Veronika Somoza studied four different edible fats and oils—lard, butterfat, rapeseed oil and olive oil.
Over a period of three months, the study participants ate 500 gm of low-fat yoghurt enriched with one of the four fats or oils every day—as a supplement to their normal diet, reports Science Daily.
“Olive oil had the biggest satiety effect,” said Schieberle.
“The olive oil group showed a higher concentration of the satiety hormone serotonin in their blood. Subjectively speaking, these participants also reported that they found the olive oil yoghurt very filling,” he added.
During the study period, no member of this group recorded an increase in their body fat percentage or their weight.
“Our findings show that aroma is capable of regulating satiety,” Schieberle said. “We hope that this work will pave the way for the development of more effective reduced-fat food products that are nonetheless satiating,” he said.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Stress can lead to Alzheimer's!

(IANS) / 19 March 2013

Sustained stress can cause Alzheimer's diseaese in advanced years.A research on mice has indicated there is an increased risk of dementia in case one remains constantly stressed. Sara Bengtsson, a PhD student from Umea University, in Sweden, tested her theory on mice and found that mice with higher levels of the hormone in their brains suffered impaired learning and memory, Daily Mail reported.

They also had increased brain levels of beta-amyloids -- the proteins that form plaque deposits in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers.

Alzheimer is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life.

The study has found that stress hormones, which are elevated in the brain when a person is harassed, inhibit brain activity. If the hormone levels are chronically elevated, this can lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Bengtsson believes that the effect of stress hormones on the brain could mean the difference between living independently and needing to be put into care.

However, Simon Ridley, head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "It's important to remember this research was not carried out in people.

Some research has already highlighted a possible link between chronic stress, cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer's, and further study in people is needed to fully investigate these links.

The latest research comes just after another study which suggested disrupted sleep could be one of the first signs of Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers at Washington University found sleep was disrupted in people who had early Alzheimer's disease but did not yet have the memory loss or other cognitive problems characteristic of the full-blown disease.

 

[Night_Hawk]

[h=1]Alzheimer's blood test could give early diagnosis[/h]

British researchers have developed a test to detect Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages.
It works by looking for a combination of "markers" in the blood which are different in healthy people and those with the disease.
Delegates at the Alzheimer's Research UK Conference heard that the University of Nottingham is now developing a quick and easy test to do in clinics.
It could mean much earlier diagnosis and better treatments, they said.
The test uses some proteins that have been strongly linked with Alzheimer's disease, such as amyloid and APOE.
But through careful analysis of blood from people with the disease, as well as those with early-stage memory problems, the researchers detected some other markers that were suggestive of the disease.

[h=2]“Start QuoteWhen used alongside other diagnostic techniques, a blood test like this could be a real help”[/h] Dr Eric Karran Alzheimer's Research UK

Most notably, some proteins related to inflammation seem to have been added to increase the power of the test.
Promising Prof Kevin Morgan from the University of Nottingham said they still had to validate the test and it could be a decade before it was used in patients.
But he added that the combination of markers they had found was looking very promising.
"Our findings are exciting because they show that it is technically possible to distinguish between healthy people and those with Alzheimer's using a blood test.
"As blood tests are a fast and easy way of aiding diagnosis, we are really encouraged by these findings and the potential they hold for the future."
He said there were several ways the test could benefit patients, including giving people a definitive diagnosis, which was not always possible at the moment.
It could also direct future therapies to make sure patients were getting the most appropriate treatment, he explained.
Screening Potentially, it could be a "cheap and easy pre-screen" test which enabled Alzheimer's to be picked up before symptoms appeared, he said.
"The way we see it working is you can test people and it will tell them if they have the all-clear, or if they are medium- or high-risk.
"If they are medium-risk, they can be monitored closely and high-risk patients can be referred to a specialist for more in-depth testing."
Dr Eric Karran, director of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "Giving people with dementia an accurate diagnosis is not always easy, and so building up our armoury of diagnostic techniques is vital.
"While there is still some way to go before a test like this could become available, the results are promising.
"When used alongside other diagnostic techniques, a blood test like this could be a real help."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21712349

 

[Night_Hawk]

Traffic pollution may cause 14% of childhood asthma

(AFP) / 22 March 2013

PARIS — As much as 14 percent of chronic childhood asthma may be caused by people living near busy roads and exposed to traffic pollution, a study in 10 European cities found Friday.The study, released by the European Respiratory Journal, matched local health data with exposure to traffic pollution in Barcelona, Bilbao, Brussels, Granada, Ljubljana, Rome, Seville, Stockholm, Valencia and Vienna.
They calculated proximity to busy roads, defined as carrying 10,000 vehicles per day.
“We estimated that an average of 33,200 asthma cases (14 percent of all asthmatic children) were attributable to near-road traffic-related pollutants,” the researchers wrote.
“In other words these cases would not have occurred if no one lived within the buffer zone or if those pollutants did not exist.”
The results were comparable, the authors said, to the burden associated with passive smoking — which the World Health Organisation blames for four to 18 percent of asthma cases in children.
Of the 10 cities studied, a third of the combined population was estimated to live within 75 metres of a busy road, and more than half within 150 metres.
The team also measured traffic pollution’s impact on coronary heart disease among older adults, and estimated that 28 percent of such cases may be attributable to near-road exposure.
“Despite uncertainty and limitations, our results indicate that near-road traffic related pollution may be responsible for a large but preventable burden of chronic diseases and related acute morbidities in urban areas,” said the study authors.

 

[Night_Hawk]

FDA approves new multiple sclerosis capsules

(AP) / 28 March 2013

The US Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it approved a new drug from Biogen Idec to control multiple sclerosis in adults with hard-to-treat forms of the disease.The twice-a-day capsules, called Tecfidera, offer a new option for multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease in which the body attacks its own nervous system. US -based Biogen Idec already sells two other drugs for the disease, but both require injections.
There is no cure for multiple sclerosis and most patients experience relapses of symptoms, including loss of balance, weakness in arms and legs, and blurred vision. Over time patients usually become weaker and less coordinated. More than 2 million people worldwide have the disease, with about 400,000 of them in the U.S., according to Biogen.
The FDA said it approved Tecfidera based on two studies showing patients taking the drug had fewer relapses than patients taking a dummy pill.
The approval gives Biogen a new product in an increasingly crowded field of multiple sclerosis drugs.
The biotech drugmaker already sells the once-a-week multiple sclerosis injection Avonex. It also markets the once-a-month injection Tysabri through a partnership with Elan Corp. PLC of Ireland. However, Tysabri’s severe side effects have curtailed its use.
Tecfidera is designed to be taken orally, which could make it a preferred option for patients and doctors.
A Biogen executive said Wednesday that its three drugs would be used to treat different groups of patients.
‘Multiple sclerosis is a reasonably complex disease and we think there are a lot of needs out there,’ said Tony Kingsely, a vice president at Biogen. ‘By having three drugs out there I think we can address a lot of those needs.’
Kinglsey said the company will announce the pricing of the drug when it begins shipping in the next week.
Novartis launched the first pill-based multiple sclerosis drug, Gilenya, in March 2011. Sanofi won FDA approval for a second pill, its drug Aubagio, last September.
The top-selling drug for the disease worldwide is Copaxone, which is made by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. That injection had sales of nearly $4 billion last year, according to Teva’s latest financial report.
Avonex and Tysabri had annual sales of $2.7 billion and $1.5 billion in 2011, the most recent year for which Biogen has reported annual sales.
Biogen Idec Inc. shares rose $5.59, or 3.2 percent, to close Wednesday at $182.68.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Itching is no joking matter

Staff Reporter / 23 March 2013

Itch, scientifically termed pruritus, is an unpleasant sensation that provokes a desire to scratch, explains Dr Aswathi Prasad, Dermatologist, Zulekha Hospital, Sharjah.Like pain it serves as a protective mechanism against external and internal agents. Pruritus can be a symptom of a skin disease or of an underlying systemic disease. More than 50 per cent of patients attending a skin clinic complain of itching and more than 15 per cent with generalised itching have an underlying internal cause.

Severe itching, though it is a butt of jokes, can be as disabling as intractable pain. Itching can be localised, generalised, paroxysmal or unremitting and can be qualified as tingling, burning or pricking.
Itch is mediated by a complex neurophysiological reaction under the control of distinct nerve path ways. Certain chemicals are also responsible like histamines and cytokines. When it itches you scratch, but there are hundreds of possible causes for the ordinary itch!!
Some of the common causes of itching
Dry skin

• Allergies to various factors in the environment including food and drugs
• Insect bites, skin Infestations and infections, fungal, bacterial, viral
• Specific skin diseases including some types of skin cancers
• Psychiatric disorders, drug addictions, anorexia nervosa
• Nerve disorders – multiple sclerosis, diabetes mellitus, shingles Internal diseases:
• Liver disease, kidney failure, iron deficiency anaemia, thyroid problems, cancers like lymphoma, leukaemia

Pregnancy
Complications of itching
Prolonged itching may lead to skin changes with thick dark leathery appearance. Sometimes raw areas with oozing can occur, even a secondary bacterial infection, permanent scars or change in skin colour.
When to see a specialist

• Itching lasting more than two weeks not improving with self-care measures
• Severe and uncomfortable itching disturbing sleep and other daily activities
• Cannot be explained or no visible skin problems
• Affects whole body
• Associated with other symptoms like fever, weight loss, change in bowel and bladder habits or skin redness.

When you decide to meet your doctor keep a detailed record of all the medications taken including over-the-counter drugs and home remedies, history of any changes in daily routine, food habits, any worsening factors, travel details and personal habits.
An examination of the skin as well as the entire body systems might be necessary to detect subtle evidence of certain skin diseases. It is the patient who presents with itching with no associated rash who can pose a particularly challenging therapeutic dilemma.
Treatment – Anti-histamines play the major role in relieving almost all itchy disorders. Topical smoothening agents and anti-pruritic medications are also prescribed for symptomatic relief. Long term relief is achieved only if the underlying cause is identified and treated.
[email protected]

 

[Night_Hawk]

US OKs first-of-a-kind diabetes drug

(AP) / 30 March 2013

The US Food and Drug Administration says it has approved a first-of-a-kind diabetes drug from Johnson & Johnson that uses a new method to lower blood sugar.

The agency cleared J&J’s Invokana tablets for adults with Type 2 diabetes.
The drug is a once-a-day medicine designed to lower blood sugar levels in patients by eliminating more sugar in their urine. The drug works by blocking the reabsorption of sugar by the kidneys, which occurs at higher levels in patients with diabetes.
J&J has touted the drug as the first in a new class of medications to help address the growing U.S. diabetes epidemic. The drug differs from older drugs that work by decreasing the amount of sugar absorbed from food and stored in the liver.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Hypertension is a silent killer

(Staff Reporter) / 30 March 2013

As our heart beats, it forces blood through our arteries. This force is called blood pressure. If the pressure is too high, it is called hypertension (HTN) or high blood pressure.High blood pressure may mean that your heart has to work harder to pump blood. Your arteries may be narrow or stiff. The extra work puts you at risk for heart disease, stroke, and other problems.
HTN is dangerous because it does not cause any symptoms in majority of patients; therefore, they remain unaware of it. That is why it is called a silent killer.

According to Dr. Rupesh Singh, Specialist Cardiologist, Zulekha Hospital, Sharjah, about 50 per cent of those suffering from blood pressure are not aware of it and 60 per cent of those who are aware of it are not adequately controlling it.
Blood pressure consists of two numbers, a higher number over a lower, 110/72, for example. It is stated as “110 over 72.” The ideal is below 120 for the top number (systolic) and under 80 for the bottom (diastolic).
Dr Singh suggests one should pay close attention to blood pressure if he or she has certain conditions such as:

• Heart failure.
• Prior heart attack.
• Diabetes
• Chronic kidney disease.
• Prior stroke.
• Multiple risk factors for heart disease.

Most people have essential hypertension which means that there is no a specific cause for high blood pressure. This group of patients needs anti-hypertensive medication for indefinite period. Their blood pressure can be controlled but cannot be cured. This type of high blood pressure may be lowered by changing lifestyle factors such as:

• Stress.
• Smoking.
• Lack of exercise.
• Excessive weight.
• Drug/tobacco/alcohol use.
• Use of salt.

About 10 per cent of hypertensive people have certain specific cause for high blood pressure such as kidney disease, endocrine problem etc. This type of hypertension is called secondary hypertension and in this group if cause is corrected, blood pressure is cured.
Sometimes high blood pressure complicates the pregnancy. It usually happens after 20 weeks of pregnancy and associated with leakage of protein in urine.
Therefore it is important for pregnant females to have regular checkups.
Most people do not have symptoms from high blood pressure until it has caused damage to the body.
Treatment
When a cause has been identified, treatment for high blood pressure is directed at the cause. It usually starts with life style modification in form of salt restricted diet, regular exercise and weight reduction. If these measures fail, medications are started. There are a large number of medications to treat HTN.
This fall into several categories and your caregiver will help you select the medicines that are best for you. Medications may have side effects but benefit of controlling blood pressure is much higher.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Cut salt intake, exercise to avoid high BP

(IANS) / 31 March 2013

Shruti Jain was a busy working mother juggling children, work and household chores with aplomb, until she suddenly collapsed in office one day. Diagnosed with a stroke, she had to undergo a six-month recuperation and paid a hefty fee at a private hospital.Little did the 35-year-old marketing executive know that she had been suffering from hypertension, which had gone undetected for a long time, ultimately leading to the stroke she suffered.
Going by the lifestyles most of us lead, doctors say hypertension or high blood pressure (BP) can affect any of us and should be taken seriously as it is a silent killer.

“A lot of Indians fall into the pre-hypertension category where they think they are absolutely fine and don’t pay attention to their rising blood pressure,” Ravi Kasliwal, chairman of the division of clinical and prevention cardio diseases at Medanta - The Medicity Hospital in Gurgaon, adjoining Delhi, told IANS.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), high BP affects every third person above the age of 18 years.
Given the seriousness of the problem, WHO has selected hypertension as its theme for 2013, with special focus on it on World Health Day on April 7.
Blaming Indian food habits and a sedantary lifestyle, Kasliwal said: “Most of us grab snacks like namkeens and samosas when hungry between meals. Not only do these have a high salt content but they are also sources of trans-fats.”
Experts estimate that the number of patients in India with high BP is likely to rise from about 140 million in 2008 to nearly 215 million by 2030 along with an increase in the risk of complications such as heart attacks, strokes, kidney problems and other serious illnesses.
The problem is further compounded as high BP is a silent killer because it can remain undetected and manifest years later as a serious heart problem, say doctors.
In India, experts say a large number of people are in the pre-hypertension category - BP of 130/90 against the normal range of 120/90. People with BP of above 140/90 are considered to be in the hypertension category.
High BP, as of today, remains inadequately controlled in India as a large number of cases go undetected.
“The incidence of high blood pressure ranges from 20 to 39 percent in urban areas and 12 to 17 percent in rural areas,” says Sailesh Mohan, senior research scientist and associate professor in the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).
PHFI is a public-private initiative that works on promoting health issues.
High BP is, however, both preventable and treatable.
For many people, lifestyle changes such as cutting down on salt; eating a balanced diet; avoiding harmful use of alcohol; getting regular exercise; and avoiding tobacco use are sufficient to control blood pressure.
For others, medication is required, which is effective when taken as prescribed.
Rohit Sobti, a physician with regional medical services in the WHO, said it is easy to prevent the problem if people just control their diet and change their lifestyle.
“Merely controlling dietary and lifestyle regime can easily avert any complications arising out of high blood pressure. It is important to get BP checked on a regular basis and avoid self-medication,” Sobti told IANS.
Kasliwal said a simple measure like restricting the salt intake per person to less than five grams per day and half an hour of exercise can help control hypertension that is assuming epic proportions in the country.
He also said that coronary as well as cerebral strokes and also dementia in old age can be a direct result of high blood pressure.
One of the voluntary targets proposed by WHO and likely to be approved by the World Health Assembly in May this year is to achieve a 30 per cent reduction in average salt consumption by 2025 from the consumption level in the year 2010.
There were nine global targets, which may be adopted. These included reducing deaths due to hypertension by 25 percent by 2025, encouraging physical activity and avoiding tobacco, Sobti said.
“Unhealthy lifestyles are killing people,” said Renu Garg, regional advisor in non-communicable disease, WHO regional office for South-East Asia.
“Most of us lead a sedantary lifestyle, eat unhealthy food and don’t exercise. Indians urgently need to take measures like reducing salt intake, exercising and avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol,” Garg added.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Scientists developing blood-cleansing technology

(IANS) / 1 April 2013

US scientists are developing a blood-cleansing technology to treat life-threatening blood infections in critically-injured soldiers and patients.The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced Saturday that it has been awarded a $9.25-million contract to further advance the blood-cleansing technology developed with the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) support, reports Science Daily.

The DARPA has also asked the institute to help accelerate the technology’s translation to humans as a new type of sepsis therapy.

The device will be used to treat bloodstream infections that are the leading cause of death in critically-ill patients and soldiers injured in combat.

To rapidly cleanse the blood of pathogen, the patient’s blood is mixed with magnetic nano-beads coated with a genetically-engineered version of a human blood ‘opsonin’ protein that binds to a wide variety of bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, and toxins.

It is then flowed through micro-channels in the device where magnetic forces pull out the bead-bound pathogen without removing human blood cells, proteins, fluids, or electrolytes—much like a human spleen does. The cleansed blood then flows back to the patient.

‘In just a few years we have been able to develop a suite of new technologies, and to integrate them to create a powerful new device that could potentially transform the way we treat sepsis,’ said Wyss founding director and project leader Don Ingber.

‘The continued support from DARPA enables us to advance our device manufacturing capabilities and to obtain validation in large animal models, which is precisely what is required to enable this technology to be moved towards testing in humans,’ Ingber added.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Eating fish linked to longer life

(AFP) / 2 April 2013

People age 65 and older who eat fish may live an average of two years longer than people who do not consume the omega-3 fatty acids found mainly in seafood, a US study suggested on Monday.People with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids also had an overall risk of dying that was 27 percent lower, and a risk of dying from heart disease that was 35 percent lower than counterparts who had lower blood levels, said the study.
The research was led by scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health and was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
While other studies have demonstrated a link between omega-3 fatty acids and lower risk of heart disease, this research examined records of older people to determine any link between fish-eating and death risk.
Researchers scanned 16 years of data on about 2,700 US adults aged 65 or older. Those considered for the study were not taking fish oil supplements, to eliminate any confusion over the use of supplements or dietary differences.
Those with the highest blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids found mainly in fish like salmon, tuna, halibut, sardines, herring and mackerel, had the lowest risk of dying from any cause, and lived an average of 2.2 years longer than those with low levels.
Researchers identified docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as most strongly related to lower risk of coronary heart disease death.
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was strongly linked to lower risk of nonfatal heart attack, and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) was most strongly associated with lower risk of dying from a stroke.
The findings persisted after researchers adjusted for demographic, lifestyle and diet factors.
‘Our findings support the importance of adequate blood omega-3 levels for cardiovascular health, and suggest that later in life these benefits could actually extend the years of remaining life,’ said lead author Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.
‘The biggest bang-for-your-buck is for going from no intake to modest intake, or about two servings of fatty fish per week,’ said Mozaffarian.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Detox diets are new trend, but need supervision

(IANS) / 8 April 2013

Detox diet plans are gradually becoming a trend among diet freaks and health conscious citizens, says an expert but cautions that such regimes should be undertaken only under the supervision of dieticians.Detox diet is basically an intake plan to cleanse the system by giving the stomach a break from excess which has accumulated and the toxins that are in the body.

‘Around 65-70 percent of my clients want to opt for a detox diet. But we talk to them to understand the requirement and recommend it if only it is required,’ says Namita Jain, a dietician and clinical wellness specialist associated with the Bombay Hospital in Mumbai.

‘But it has to be done under the supervision of a dietician and it has to be done in a scientific way. A lot of people do it on their own,’ Jain told.

‘They will starve one day and next day eat and binge, and that really takes a toll on their health,’ Jain said on the sidelines of the inauguration of the first Diet Mantra Clinic, a wellness clinic in Kolkata.

‘These are special diet plans to clean the system, when you have eaten too much... It is not at all recommended for children or youngsters and only if a dietician suggests one should start it,’ she said.

According to jain, there are one-three-five and seven days plans for detox diets.

‘It has become a recent trend in India but it existed since long all over the world. Spas the world over have had such diet plans to get rid of all the toxins in one’s body.’

Detox diets may involve consuming extremely limited quantity and type of foods like only water or juice, or eliminating certain foods like fats or processed foods from the diet, according to experts.

Jain said dieting and exercising together are the mantra for keeping one fit. ‘The trick to getting into shape is 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise. We also advocate walking and bringing in at least one hour of exercise daily to lose weight,’ Jain told.

 

[Night_Hawk]

Exercise can keep blood sugar problems at bay

(IANS) / 9 April 2013

Scientists of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan have shown that growth of white muscle due to exercise can help keep blood sugar level in check.Researchers have challenged a long-held belief that whitening of skeletal muscle in diabetes is harmful.

In fact, the white muscle that increases with resistance training, age and diabetes helps keep blood sugar in check.

”We wanted to figure out the relationship between muscle types and body metabolism, how the muscles were made, and also what kind of influence they have on diseases like Type 2 diabetes,” said Jiandie Lin, Life Sciences Institute faculty member and associate professor at the UM Medical School.

Lin’s findings were published online April 7 in Nature Medicine.

People with diabetes see whitening of muscles.

”For a long time, the red-to-white shift was thought to make muscle less responsive to insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar,” Lin said. “But this idea is far from proven. You lose red muscle when you age or develop diabetes, but is that really the culprit?” Lin said.

White muscle dominates in the bodies of weight-lifters and sprinters - people who require short, intense bursts of energy.

”Most people have a mix of red and white muscles,” Lin said.