Health Related articles updated on daily Basis.

[Abdul Hakeem]

Why Newsweek Hails This
as the "Molecule of the Year"
... and Columbia University Calls This Natural
Potency Enhancer the "Magic Bullet" for Men

Did You Know...

... that a particular red hot pepper might actually be of greater value to your health as a staple in your medicine cabinet rather than in your spice rack?

The cayenne pepper, or Capiscum annum, derives its proper name from a Greek word meaning "to bite," a clear allusion to the pungent properties of the plant and its seeds. However, it's the many medicinal applications of the pepper that earned it the nickname "The King of Herbs."

Many people think of this spicy little beauty as just a delicious way to boost the flavor of their cooking, but this pepper is a valuable medical tool with a wide range of uses. According to a combination of herbal lore and medical research, capsicum may:​

Ease congestion Aid in weight reduction Prevent tooth decay Support digestion Heal ulcers Stop hemorrhaging Relieve infection Cure arthritis Numb pain Clean the blood Regulate blood pressure Lower cholesterol Nourish the heart​

Part of the logic behind the many herbal applications of capsicum is that it is a catalyst, and can be used to enhance the effects of other treatments. Little is known about the pharmacological activities of capsicum in humans, but it is abundantly clear that capsicum is a stimulant. In fact, it has been called "the purest and most certain stimulant in the herbal materia medica."

The Dispensatory of the United States of America, 23 ed., 1943, states that "Capsicum is a powerful local stimulant, producing, when swallowed, a sense of heat in the stomach, and a general glow over the body without narcotic effect."

Chili peppers have long reigned over the canon of folk medicine. Archeological remains show that capsicum was a dietary staple in Mexico 9,000 years ago. In Indonesia, capsicum is used as a traditional remedy for gonorrhea. In central Africa, it's used as a calming, stress-relieving tonic. In Hawaii, it's used for backaches, rheumatism, and swollen feet.

Some reports even suggest capsicum can prevent heart attacks. One study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 1979 found that capsicum contained the most natural vitamin E -- often used to treat heart conditions -- of all the edible plants analyzed by the research team.

In a fresh, ripe pepper, the researchers measured 3-10mg/.100gs, meaning capsicum can be considered a significant dietary source of vitamin E.

Additionally, the form of vitamin E found in capsicum is an especially stable one, which makes it particularly well-suited for medical applications.

Recently, capsicum research has been centered on the pepper's potential viability as a cancer treatment. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, capsaicin (the same component of the cayenne that makes the peppers so peppery) causes cancer cells to commit apoptosis. In plain language, that means that capsaicin causes cancer cells to kill themselves.

This claim comes from a study done by a team of researchers from the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, along with colleagues from UCLA. The researchers discovered that the capsaicin component of the cayenne pepper caused human prostate cells to undergo programmed cell death.

As exciting as these results are, the Association has been careful to emphasize that more studies need to be done before it's clear how capsaicin can be used in treating humans.

Another promising line of research is the use of capsicum as an important aid to weight reduction. Studies done over the last 30 years indicate that capsicum has enormous potential for promoting fat loss. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition stated that capsicum has been successfully used to increase the loss of abdominal fat for overweight or obese individuals.

Other studies indicate that capsicum can help those looking to shed pounds by:​

Normalizing insulin and glucose levels Boosting energy Increasing metabolic speed Suppressing hunger Promoting satiety (the feeling of fullness)​

Those last 2 items -- suppressing hunger and promoting satiety -- can be strengthened if you also consume green tea regularly as a part of your weight management strategy.

There are just as many good ways to work capsicum into your diet as there are good reasons. If you like spice, go for the peppers themselves -- the options for using peppers in cooking are endless! If your mouth can't take the heat, there are a number of good quality supplements available that won't leave your tongue tingling.
​

 

[Abdul Hakeem]

The Miracle of Magnesium
Posted By Dr. Mercola | August 07 2004 | 47,252 views

By Carolyn Dean, MD, ND
Magnesium deficiency triggers or causes the following 22 conditions; the introduction of magnesium, either by a high-magnesium diet, with green drinks, or magnesium supplements, can help alleviate these conditions:

1. Anxiety and panic attacks
2. Asthma
3. Blood clots
4. Bowel disease
5. Cystitis
6. Depression
7. Detoxification
8. Diabetes, Syndrome X,
and Metabolic Syndrome
9. Fatigue
10. Heart disease
11. Hypertension
12. Hypoglycemia
13. Insomnia
14. Kidney Disease
15. Liver Disease
16. Migraine
17. Musculoskeletal conditions
18. Nerve problems
19. Obstetrics and Gynecology--premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea (cramping pain during menses), infertility, premature contractions, preeclampsia, and eclampsia in pregnancy, lessens the risk of cerebral palsy and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
20. Osteoporosis
21. Raynaud's Syndrome
22. Tooth decay​

Science and medicine have both turned their backs on magnesium. Science opts out because the scientific methodology is defined by being able to test one thing at a time ending up with one result. Science finds magnesium too difficult to corral, partly because it is responsible for the correct metabolic function of over 350 enzymes in the body. The creation of ATP (adenosine triphospate) the energy molecules of the body, the action of the heart muscle, the proper formation of bones and teeth, relaxation of blood vessels, and the promotion of proper bowel function are all under the guidance of magnesium.
Why Don't We Hear More About Magnesium?
Medicine has turned its back on magnesium because most of the funding for medical research now comes from drug companies. Magnesium is not a patented drug and therefore will not be studied by drug companies, except to try to disprove its action.
While researching my book, "The Miracle of Magnesium," I found that doctors have been prescribing magnesium for heart disease since the 1930s. A review of seven major clinical studies showed that IV magnesium reduced the odds of death by more than half in patients suffering acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). One study, LIMIT-2, developed a protocol for giving magnesium as soon as possible after onset of the heart attack and before any other drugs. If those criteria were followed, heart muscle damage was greatly reduced, and neither hypertension nor arrhythmia developed.
Magnesium and the Heart
During and after a heart attack, people can suffer the following:
Extension of the area of heart damage as calcium floods into the muscle
Blood clotting, which blocks blood vessels in the heart muscle
Decreased blood flow as blood vessels go into spasm
Arrhythmia as the areas where muscle contraction in the heart originate are damaged
Magnesium is able to:
Dilate blood vessels
Prevent spasm in the heart muscle and blood vessel walls
Counteract the action of calcium, which increases spasm
Help dissolve blood clots
Dramatically lessen the site of injury and prevent arrhythmia
Act as an antioxidant against the free radicals forming at the site of injury 1-4
One of the main reasons that heart drug digoxin becomes toxic is because there is not enough magnesium in the body. 5
A drug trial called ISIS sought to disprove the effects of magnesium. In the ISIS trial the protocol was not followed in that magnesium was not the first drug given, and often it was not given for many hours or days after a heart attack was well established, causing widespread damage and blood clotting. Yet, drug reps can dutifully tell their doctor clients that ISIS proved that magnesium is worthless for heart disease! 6 Since the LIMIT-2 and ISIS trials, another smaller trial with only 200 people who were given IV magnesium at the onset of a heart attack, experienced a 74 percent lower death rate. 7
In spite of the fact that heart drugs, mainly diuretics, have the bad habit of depleting magnesium--along with potassium and even though magnesium is absolutely required for stabilizing heart muscle activity--magnesium is not utilized properly by conventional medicine.
Magnesium's Role in a Healthy Body
A small group of international magnesium researchers, however, have continued, against all odds, to prove the importance of magnesium not only as a nutrient for thousands of body processes but also as a medicine to treat magnesium-depleted health conditions. Drs. Bella and Burton Altura are two hard-working magnesium heroes! They have performed laboratory research and clinical research to the tune of about 1,000 studies over the past 40 years. The Alturas personally confirmed that the 22 magnesium-related conditions, listed at the beginning of this article, have a solid basis in science.
Dr. Burton Altura said that during his 40 years of research he was appalled at the lack of attention given to this life-saving nutrient. He has all but given up on conventional medicine recognizing the need for magnesium in its protocols for dozens of diseases and welcomed books such as mine to help spread the word. Without million-dollar marketing budgets that drug companies have for their latest drugs, nutrient research plods along--proving over and over again their worth but never being able to get that information out to the public.
Up to 80 Percent of Americans are Magnesium-Deficient
Another reason that Dr. Altura felt magnesium was not given its due is because there has been no lab test that will give an accurate reading of the magnesium status in the tissues. Only one percent of magnesium of the body is distributed in the blood, making a simple sample of magnesium in the blood highly inaccurate. That's why most doctors who rely on blood tests for magnesium and not magnesium deficiency signs and symptoms and realization that up to 80 percent of the population is deficient, will miss an important diagnosis.
There's even more to the actual way magnesium works. It exists in the body either as active magnesium ions or as inactive magnesium complexes bound to proteins or other substances. A magnesium ion is a group of atoms that is missing an electron, which makes it excitable as it searches to attach to something that will replace its missing electron.
Magnesium ions constitute the most physiologically active fraction of magnesium in the body; they are free to join in biochemical body processes and are not attached to other substances. 8 Most clinical laboratories only assess total "serum" magnesium, which mixes up both active and inactive types.
The Alturas took it upon themselves to develop and research a method that would test specifically for magnesium ions. It came about in 1987 and is called the Blood Ionized Magnesium Test. Its accuracy has been confirmed countless times with sensitive digital imaging microscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy and the magnesium fluorescent probe. With this test it is now possible to directly measure the levels of magnesium ions in whole blood, plasma and serum using ion-selective electrodes. 8 The Alturas have used the ionized magnesium test in hundreds of research trials on dozens of different conditions proving, for example, that the 22 conditions listed above are related to magnesium deficiency. 9-15
Unfortunately, I'm not able to tell you that the ionized magnesium test is readily available. The Alturas do ionized magnesium tests at their laboratory at SUNY in New York and the testing equipment is available through an outside manufacturer to interested labs. (I've included the Altura contact information, below.)
How to Get Enough Magnesium
How do I get enough magnesium is a question that I'm frequently asked. If there is enough magnesium in the soil where green leafy vegetables, nuts, and seeds are grown then we have a chance to obtain magnesium from our diet. Organic foods may have more magnesium, but only if farmers replenish their soil with magnesium-rich fertilizers. Most fertilizer used on factory farms relies heavily on nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium to make plants grow and appear healthy.
However, if magnesium and other minerals and micronutrients are not introduced the plants may look good but are not packed with the nutrition we need. Growers should be required to use top-quality fertilizers and should test their crops for the long list of nutrients we need to stay healthy.
In general, to get as much magnesium as possible in the diet, eat plenty of organic leafy green vegetables, nuts and seeds every day. Adding green drinks to your menu will help you achieve a higher magnesium status. However, if you are suffering from the following symptoms you may need supplemental magnesium:

muscle twitches, tics, or spasms
"Charlie horse" (the muscle spasm that occurs when you stretch your legs)
insomnia or restless sleep
stress
back pain
headaches, cluster headaches, migraines
stiff and aching muscles
bones and joints that need continued chiropractic treatment
weakness
hypoglycemia
diabetes
nervousness
hyperactivity
high blood pressure
osteoporosis
PMS
constipation
angina
kidney stones
aging
depression
heart attack
irregular heartbeat
attention deficit disorder
aggressive behavior
chronic fatigue syndrome
stroke
anxiety
confusion, muscle weakness
hiccups

high-strung
exhaustion from exercise
seizures
​

The Calcium-to-Magnesium Ratio
Supplementing with magnesium must also take into account the balance between calcium and magnesium. Finland, which, from 1973 to 1999 had the highest recorded incidence of heart attack in middle-aged men in the world, also has a high calcium-to-magnesium ratio in the diet at 4 parts calcium to 1 part magnesium. 16-17 Americans in general have a high calcium-to-magnesium ratio in their diet and consequently in their bodies; the U.S. ratio is 3.5-to-1. Our dietary emphasis on a high calcium intake without sufficient magnesium and because of the excessive emphasis on women taking high doses of calcium for osteoporosis, we are creating more imbalance between the two minerals.
Some researchers predict that the American ratio of calcium to magnesium is actually approaching 6-to-1, yet, the recommended dietary ratio of calcium to magnesium in the United States is 2-to-1. Current research on the paleolithic or caveman diet shows that the ratio of calcium to magnesium in the diet that our bodies evolved to eat is 1-to-1. 18 In order to offset the deficiency magnesium induced by excess calcium and to treat the above 22 conditions, people may find it necessary to ingest one part magnesium to one part calcium in supplement form for a period of months to a year. Stabilization on a healthy diet including green drinks may be possible after that time.
The most commons sources of magnesium are oxide, citrate, glycinate, and malate. People use oxide and citrate if they suffer from constipation to take advantage of magnesium's laxative effect. Glycinate seems to cause little diarrhea and is the best choice for people who already have loose stools. Magnesium malate has been promoted for people with fibromyalgia to help break up lactic acid that seems to be part of the fibromyalgia picture.
Dr. Carolyn Dean is a medical doctor and naturopathic doctor. She is a writer, researcher, and health advocate. She is the lead author on Death by Medicine and a health advisor to yeastconnection.com and curesnaturally.com. She has written several health books including "The Miracle of Magnesium". Her Web site is carolyndean.com. The Miracle of Magnesium is written for both the lay public and practitioners. It is packed with hundreds of journal references that will convince doctors of the importance of magnesium and its efficacy in dozens of conditions--before reaching for the prescription pad

 

[Abdul Hakeem]

Make a checklist, check whether this medicine is in your home or whether it has been recommended by your doctor... please DO NOT use it...

Please Read Very Carefully -
INFORM ALL YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY MEMBERS

Asia has become a dumping ground for banned drugs; also
the business for production of banned drugs is booming. Plz
make sure that u buy drugs ! only if prescribed by a
doctor(Also, ask which company manufactures it, this would
help to ensure that u get what is prescribed at the Drug
Store) and that also from a reputed drug store. Not many
people know about these banned drugs and consume them
causing a lot of damage to themselves. We forward Jokes and other junk all the time. This is far more important.


DANGEROUS DRUGS HAVE BEEN GLOBALLY DISCARDED BUT ARE AVAILABLE IN INDIA and can be exported / smuggled to Pakistan or to any other country .... The most common ones are action 500 & Nimulid!!!!!!

PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE :
cold and cough. Reason for ban : stroke.
Brand name : Vicks Action-500
ANALGIN: This is a pain-killer. Reason for ban:
Bone marrow depression.
Brand name: ! Novalgin CISAPRIDE: Acidity, constipation. Reason for ban : irregular heartbeat
Brand name : Ciza, Syspride
DROPERIDOL: Anti-depressant. Reason for ban : Irregular heartbeat..
Brand name : Droperol
FURAZOLIDONE: Antidiarrhoeal. Reason for ban : Cancer.
Brand name : Furoxone, Lomofen
NIMESULIDE: Painkiller, fever. Reason for ban : Liver failure..
Brand name : Nise, Nimulid
NITROFURAZONE: Antibacterial cream. Reason for ban : Cancer.
Brand name : Furacin
PHENOLPHTHALEIN: Laxative... Reason for ban : Cancer.
Brand name : Agarol
OXYPHENBUTAZONE:
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Reason for ban : Bone marrow depression.
Brand name : Sioril
PIPERAZI! NE: Anti-worms. Reason for ban : Nerve damage.
Brand name : Piperazine
QUINIODOCHLOR: Anti-diarrhoeal. Reason for ban : Damage to sight.
Brand name:Enteroquinol

 

[Night_Hawk]

Can the Internet help you lose weight?
(Reuters)

29 June 2011
NEW YORK - People tend to lose a little more weight with online help than with traditional weight loss programs, a Japanese study said — but combining the Internet with in-person contact appears to be the most effective in keeping extra kilograms at bay.
With obesity on the rise, there have been many attempts to take advantage of the Internet to help people lose weight, mainly because it’s thought to be easier and less expensive.
But while the study, which involved a review of 23 previous studies and was published in the International Journal of Obesity, did find a positive impact from online involvement, the overall effect was small.
‘Web-based treatment programs are attractive in primary care because of their ability to reach numerous individuals at low cost,’ wrote the researchers, headed by Hirohito Sone of the University of Tsukuba Institute of Clinical Medicine in Ibaraki, Japan.
Overall, patients involved in programs with a web component lost an average of 3.3 kg (1.5 lbs) more than participants in traditional weight-loss programs, the group found.
The Internet was used in a variety of ways in the weight control programs, including individualized instruction, communication with lifestyle instructors, counseling and keeping a record of food intake.
In addition, the programs varied in the how much the participants used the Internet.
But the researchers found that the most effective approaches were those that combined both Internet and more conventional in-person methods.
For instance, when the Internet replaced face-to-face counseling, people actually ended up gaining about 6.6 kg (3 lb) more, on average, than their peers who weren’t getting ‘help’ from the Internet.
However, when the programs combined the Internet and counseling, participants ended up about 4.4 kg (2 lb) lighter than people who did not use the Web.
‘An in-person contact approach is superior to a technology-based approach,’ the authors wrote.
‘An Internet program needs to include the component of a face-to-face program for participants to achieve weight loss.’
Internet-based programs were more effective when the goal was to lose weight in the first place, and less effective when the goal was weight-loss maintenance.
Weight-loss experts were divided, with some saying it was still far too early to make generalizations, citing widespread differences in the Internet programs used for weight loss.
But others said the results were promising for patients who have had little success with other programs.
Jean Harvey-Berino, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of Vermont in Burlington, said that face-to-face meetings are not always ‘better enough to warrant the extra cost and aggravation.’
A good Internet program enables participants to communicate in groups, monitor their eating and exercise habits, and get regular feedback from peers and supervisors, while focusing on behavior change, she added.
‘This is the next wave of public health intervention, and we can’t stop now,’ she said.
[FONT=&quot]SOURCE: http://bit.ly/jPsnZA [/FONT]

 

[Night_Hawk]

Strawberries can keep diseases at bay
(IANS)

30 June 2011, 1:34 PM
More than the apple, a strawberry a day could keep not just one doctor away, but an entire army of brain, hormone and cancer specialists.

Fisetin is a natural flavonoid found very abundantly in strawberries and to some extent in other fruits, vegetables, tea and red wine. It eases diabetes complications, Salk Institutes Cellular Neurobiology Lab (CFL) said.
Flavonoids are natural compounds having similar effects as antioxidants, which help protect and build up your immune system.
CFL conducted its investigations on mice.
Previously, the lab showed that fisetin promoted survival of cultured brain cells and enhanced memory in healthy mice, reports the journal Public Library of Science.
That fisetin can target multiple organs strongly suggests that a single drug could be used to mitigate numerous medical complications, according to a CFL statement.
Pam Maher, senior CFL scientist and study co-author, initially identified fisetin as a neuroprotective flavonoid 10 years ago.
In plants, flavonoids act as sunscreens and protect leaves and fruit from insects, she explains.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Display...xfile=data/health/2011/June/health_June74.xml

 

[Night_Hawk]

Text messages help smokers quit
(Reuters)

30 June 2011
LONDON - Smokers are twice as likely to quit when they get text messages urging them to stick to their goal of being smoke free compared with those who receive texts with no motivational messages, a British study has found.
Experts say the “txt2stop” trial, which is the first such study to verify quit rates using biochemical testing, may offer a cheap and easy way to improve levels of health by increasing the number of people who give up smoking.
With rates of smoking rising in many developing countries and tobacco predicted to kill 8 million people a year by 2030, the researchers said their findings could be translated into a potentially powerful public health measure.
“To scale up the txt2stop intervention for delivery at a national or international level would be technically easy,” said Caroline Free of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who led the study and published it in The Lancet journal.
She said the scheme may need some adaptation, translation into other languages, and local evaluation before it is used in other populations, but added that it is simple, cheap and “likely to be highly cost-effective”.
Tobacco kills up to half its users and is described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as “one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced”.
It causes lung cancer, which is often fatal, and other chronic respiratory diseases. It is also a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, the world’s number one killers.
The texting trial randomly allocated 5,800 smokers in Britain who wanted to quit to either the txt2stop programme or to a control group who got non-motivational texts.
The motivational texts included encouragement up to the actual quit day, advice on keeping weight off while quitting, and help dealing with cravings.
The craving text, for example, said: “Cravings last less than 5 minutes on average. To help distract yourself, try sipping a drink slowly until the craving is over.”
Non-motivational texts just thanked people for their participation, requested confirmation of contact details, or said a range of other things not connected to smoking.
The researchers used saliva tests to verify whether those who said they had stopped smoking had actually done so.
The results showed that those in the txt2stop group were more than twice as likely to report biochemically-verified quitting than those in the control group, with success rates of 10.7 percent and 4.9 percent respectively.
“Text messages are a very convenient way for smokers to receive support to quit,” Free said in a statement. “People described txt2stop as like having a ‘friend’ encouraging them or an ‘angel on their shoulder’. It helped people resist the temptation to smoke.”
In a commentary on the findings, Derrick Bennett and Jonathan Emberson from Britain’s Oxford University said that because of the rapid growth in both mobile phone use and smoking in some poor countries, the lessons learned from the txt2stop trial could provide a new approach to smoking cessation campaigns in both wealthy and low-income countries.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/display...11/June/health_June73.xml&section=health&col=

 

[Night_Hawk]

A fine line between sympathy & therapy
Samineh I. Shaheem

2 July 2011
Family is what we are born into; the group of people we inherit through destiny. Friends are people we choose and we all have a mental checklist of what we consider to be key characteristics of a good pal.
To some it may be a person who is unique, fun, spontaneous and exciting, others would bond with those more attainable, supportive, helpful and adaptable, while still there are those who define a good friendship through mutual trust and honesty.

Of course there are variations to this list, however a commonly acknowledged gift of a good friend, across time and culture, has been the ability to listen, try and make sense of life’s challenges and offer us advice.
These are people who stand by us through diets and delicious desserts! We can call them at 3am to talk about a bad day at work, an on-going conflict or obsess about a recent relationship ad nauseum and they listen painfully, not asking for anything in return.
But here is where the line of friendship and playing therapist gets blurred. We all need to feel needed and appreciated, however what happens to a friendship when one person is constantly supporting the other? There are times when a shrink’s help is required to guide us through some of life’s struggles, when that option isn’t readily available, should we also rely on our good friends to do the same?
There is a fine line between sympathy and therapy so some people may begin to take advantage of a good listener and more often than not, a friendly coffee meeting turns into a therapy session whereby, one friend speaks about their distress and the other listens and offers guidance. Plus, in today’s emotionally and psychologically literate culture, a cosy company might be a signal for our self-help-book-junkie-friend to start diving into a deeper psychological analysis, without the appropriate education or training.
That’s one of the main reasons we enlist the help of a therapist. Apart from their credentials and qualifications, a therapist has been trained to be neutral and non-judgemental who assists in guiding an individual through the emotional difficulties they may be experiencing. A therapist acts as a mirror to the client and reflects back how they see themselves or wish to be seen by others.
Whilst, a relationship with a friend is mutual in the sense that both parties speak not only about life’s difficulties but also share good times, a therapist is only there to listen to the client’s problems and does not reveal intimate details about their own personal life. In this way, a boundary is created; it is only about the client without any emotional reciprocation between the therapist and the person seeking support.
So here are some tips on how you can counsel without ruining the friendship:

• Don’t try and analyse the friend’s behaviour, understand it and share your own similar experiences so they don’t feel alone
• Set a time limit for such conversations
• Speak to your friend when it is convenient for you
• If you feel your friendship has turned into moaning sessions, try suggesting doing different activities
• The minute you feel taken advantage of, resentful or angry, you should recognise these red flags and make sure that over time you get back as much as you put in.

The good news is that sharing concerns, in both contexts has its rewards. Putting feelings into words has a therapeutic effect just as the saying goes, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved.’ This is also true for the listener; when you know your time and attention have helped a friend, it feels deeply heart-warming.
The physiological benefits of talking about our problems include:

• Reduction in stress
• Reduced blood pressure
• Improved mood and affect
• Improved working memory

The psychological benefits of talking to someone include:

• Sorting through feelings and putting things in perspective
• Clarity of thought
• Releasing tension
• Reduction in depressive symptoms

Finally, another point to be conscientious about is that if you happen to have a friend who is a psychologist, you shouldn’t use your social interaction time with them as pseudo therapy sessions nor should you justify your actions by saying, ‘oh well my psychologist friend told me to say/do that so I thought it was right.’ Psychologists and therapists tend to complain about this a lot by explaining that ‘it is frustrating to be expected to play the role of a shrink at coffee, dinners and social outings. Whenever anyone has an emotional problem, suddenly all eyes turn to me. Therapy is my profession and I really wish my friends would separate my professional from my personal domain.”
Moreover, the information exchanged at those coffee meetings in no way resemble what would occur in the context of a real therapy session so don’t abuse the nature of the friendship and worse yet, don’t confuse the two.
We operate an extremely fast paced and complex existence and it sometimes becomes difficult to even keep in touch with family & friends let alone have time to see a therapist. However if you have more serious symptoms or those nagging problems that won’t go away, you keep making the same mistakes by repeating past patterns causing you distress, you owe it to yourself (and to your poor friends), to seek professional, confidential, non judgmental and objective guidance in order to gain calm and clarity.
Samineh I Shaheem is an author, an assistant professor of psychology, currently lecturing in Dubai, as well as a cross-cultural consultant at HRI. She appears on numerous radio programs and conferences and has studied and worked in different parts of the world, including the USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, and the UAE. Please forward your thoughts to [email protected]

 

[Night_Hawk]

Women have different heart disease symptoms
(AP)

4 July 2011
WASHINGTON — Heart disease can sneak up on women in ways that standard cardiac tests can miss.
[FONT=&quot]It’s part of a puzzling gender gap: Women tend to have different heart attack symptoms than men. They’re more likely to die in the year after a first heart attack. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In fact, more than 40 percent of women still don’t realize that heart disease is the No. 1 female killer in the US One in 30 women’s deaths in 2007 was from breast cancer, compared to about 1 in 3 from cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A new report says there’s been too little progress in tackling the sex differences in heart disease. It outlines the top questions scientists must answer to find the best ways to treat women’s hearts — and protect them in the first place. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“A woman’s heart is her major health threat, and everyone who takes care of a woman has to realize that,” says Emory University cardiologist Dr. Nanette Wenger, who co-authored the report. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Make no mistake: Heart disease is the leading killer of men, too, in the United States. The illness is more prevalent in men, and tends to hit them about a decade earlier than is usual for women. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But while overall deaths have been dropping in recent years, that improvement has been slower for women who face some unique issues, says the report from the nonprofit Society for Women’s Health Research and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sure, being sedentary and eating a lot of junk food is bad for a woman’s heart just like a man’s. High cholesterol will clog arteries. High blood pressure can cause a stroke. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But here’s one problem: Even if a test of major heart arteries finds no blockages, at-risk women still can have a serious problem — something called coronary microvascular disease that’s less common in men. Small blood vessels that feed the heart become damaged so that they spasm or squeeze shut, Wenger explains. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Specialists who suspect microvascular disease prescribe medications designed to make blood vessels relax and blood flow a bit better, while also intensively treating the woman’s other cardiac risk factors. But Wenger says it’s not clear what the best treatments are. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The report says part of the lack of understanding about such gender issues is because heart-related studies still don’t focus enough on women, especially minority women. Only a third of cardiovascular treatment studies include information on how each gender responds even though federal policy says they should. The report urged direct comparisons of which treatments work best in women, and improved diagnostic tests. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Another issue: Even young women sometimes have a heart attack, and there are troubling hints that their risks are rising. There’s been a small uptick in deaths among women younger than 45. Plus, high blood pressure, diabetes or related complications during pregnancy — a growing worry as more women start their pregnancies already overweight — aren’t just a temporary problem but increase those mothers’ risk of heart disease once they reach middle age. The report says too few doctors are aware they should consider that. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Then there are the questions of how best to tell which women are at high risk. Nearly two-thirds of women who die suddenly of heart disease report no previous symptoms, for example, compared with half of men. As for heart attacks, chest pain is the most common symptom but women are more likely than men to experience other symptoms such as shortness of breath, nausea and pain in the back or jaw. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Legislation pending in Congress would require better study of gender differences, and would expand a government program that currently screens poor women in 20 states for high cholesterol and other heart risks, offering smoking cessation and nutrition education to help lower those risks. Wenger’s groups, which receive some funding from drug companies, and the heart association support the bill.
[/FONT]
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/display...11/July/health_July10.xml&section=health&col=

 

[Night_Hawk]

Salt intake not linked to heart disease
(IANS)

7 July 2011
There’s bad news for those who have cut back on salt due to health concerns. A study says eating less salt will not stave off heart attacks, strokes or early death.
[FONT=&quot]Research involving nearly 6,500 people concluded that there was “no strong evidence” that lowering levels of salt in the diet reduced the risk of heart disease or premature death.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]These findings contradict all official recommendations and medical profession urging the public to reduce the amount of salt they consume, reports the journal Cochrane Review.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In fact, it found that cutting back on salt actually raises the likelihood of death in some patients with heart problems, according to the Daily Mail.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Researchers from Exeter University say that the benefits of cutting back on salt may have been “overestimated”.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They looked at seven published studies involving 6,489 people. Some had high blood pressure, others had normal blood pressure and they had all been put on salt-reduction diets.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]But the authors found that there was no evidence that cutting down reduced deaths or heart disease in either group. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And they found that patients with heart failure who cut back on salt were actually at higher risk of death - possibly because the change in diet is such a shock to the body.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Lead researcher Rod Taylor, from Exeter, said: “Perhaps surprisingly, we didn’t find any statistically significant reduction in death or cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[Night_Hawk]

Lifestyle affects sudden cardiac death
(Reuters)

6 July 2011
NEW YORK - There’s yet another reason for women to stay fit, eat healthy, abstain from smoking and maintain their weight at a healthy level: those who do so may be less likely to die from sudden cardiac death, a US study said.
Each of the different factors — a Mediterranean-style diet, a healthy weight, not smoking and exercise — were linked to a smaller chance of sudden cardiac death, which is related to a malfunctioning of the electrical rhythm of the heart, the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association said.
Added together, the factors were tied to a 92 percent reduced risk.
‘The more you adhere to this healthy lifestyle, the better you are in terms of your risk of sudden cardiac death,’ said Stephanie Chiuve from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the lead author of the study.
Sudden cardiac death is responsible for half of all cardiac deaths, with about 250,000 to 310,000 cases occurring annually in the United States, the authors write.
Chiuve and her colleagues looked at results from the Nurses’ Health Study, in which more than 81,000 women periodically answered surveys about their health and lifestyle over 26 years.
During the span of the study, 321 women suffered sudden cardiac death at an average age of 72.
Women who ate a diet closest to the Mediterranean diet, which has a high proportion of vegetables, fruits, nuts, omega-3 fats, and fish, along with moderate amounts of alcohol and small amounts of red meat, had the lowest risk of sudden cardiac death — 40 percent less than those whose diets least resembled the Mediterranean diet.
Normal-weight women were 56 percent less likely to suffer sudden cardiac death compared to obese women, while at least 30 minutes a day of exercise reducing the risk by 28 percent.
Women who had never smoked were 75 percent less likely to suffer sudden cardiac death than women who smoked at least 25 cigarettes per day.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, did not look at how long women stuck to each of the healthier lifestyle factors, nor was it able to prove that healthy living is actually responsible for the drop in sudden cardiac death risk.
But the researchers did conclude that 81 percent of cases of sudden cardiac death were due to unhealthy lifestyles.
Chiuve said the results were important for understanding who is at risk from sudden cardiac death. Most people are flagged as being at high risk because of other health problems, such as a past heart attack.
‘But with sudden cardiac death, the majority (of cases) occur in the general population. Lifestyle is not something that’s generally focused on in sudden cardiac death research,’ she told Reuters Health.
And a side-benefit of lifestyle-based efforts to prevent sudden cardiac death, a rare condition, are the positive impact it can have on more common health problems, such as diabetes, stroke and coronary disease, she added.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/f2xHnI

 

[Night_Hawk]

Personality
of burnout
Samineh I. Shaheem

9 July 2011
I was the first one in and last one out but that was never acknowledged. My boss is one of the most difficult people I have ever come across; critical, demanding, rarely complimentary and mostly in a bad mood.
[FONT=&quot] I used to love my job but now I just feel like my role really isnt important, like as if anyone could fill it. I have to force myself to wake up in the morning and the drive to work feels like a daily punishment for a crime I didnt commit. Stacy - marketing executive, 37[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There are many people who can identify with what Stacy describes, perhaps too many. Research now suggests there is a correlation between certain personality types and style of stress management, such the infamous Type A personality profile who have a long association with what is commonly referred to as workplace burnout. The term was first coined in 1974 by H. Freudenberger who defines workplace burnout as the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where ones devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Type A personalities often exhibit the following behaviours:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]u[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Impatience and urgency regarding tim u Hostility or aggressiveness u Always in a hurry u Does not allow others to finish their sentences u Goal-based approach u Competitiveness u Critical u Holds feelings in u Reluctance to delegate[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In the quest for achievement and fulfilment of aspirations, Type As are usually workaholics whose desire for performance and results is not hampered by physical and psychological consequences. Nor do they ever fully feel satisfied with the work they complete which is a condition referred to as a neurotic perfectionism.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ive had a number of periods of burnout in my life, says Mike, 34, Type A and on medication since his 20s to control high blood pressure. The most recent was when I was working on a bid, we had a deadline and it got to 18- or 20- hour days in the end. By the time the bid was handed in, I was drained beyond words. We won, but it took me several months before I recovered and was able to concentrate on my more mundane day job again. On reflection it wasnt worth it, but I cant help but feel I was born to work that way![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mikes experience is not atypical. Workplace burnout is more common than one may think. It has multi-fold effects, impacting family life, relationships, productivity, and may increase absenteeism from the workplace. Often sufferers require an extended leave of absence in order to recover from the repercussions of this.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Symptoms of workplace burnout have both a physiological and psychological component and these may include:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]u[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Feeling mildly depressed and not enjoying work anymore u Irritability or impatience with colleagues u Lack of satisfaction from the job u Feelings of disillusionment u Cynicism u Irritability u Feeling out of control u Pessimism u High blood pressure or cholesterol u General sadness or anxiety u Headache, backache or other physical complaints u Changes in sleep and appetite[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sadly, in this day and age, it almost seems like it is a pre-requisite for most employers to hire Type A personalities due to the increasing demands, competition and job pressures. Arguably, one would have to be aggressive, competitive, goal-oriented and even ruthless when required, basically a Type A personality, in order to land a job or stay afloat in many professional domains.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As time passes, however, increasing job pressures start to take their toll, and even our Type As would, at some point in their careers, suffer from workplace burnout, creating a catch-22 situation. What drives them will eventually shut them down.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is vital that if youre sensing some symptoms of burnout you need to begin re-evaluating your daily routine and try and use some of the following strategies to find some relief:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]u[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Slow down u Get supportu Improve time management skills u Re-evaluate goals and priorities u Become more self-aware u Learn ways of balancing life and work u Learn how to better manage stress and anger[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It would be a good idea to take some time off work and seek professional help if afflicted by the more serious symptoms of job exhaustion since burnout can have long-term negative effects on ones well-being and future career opportunities.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There is no reason why you cant be highly motivated, driven and ambitious while also conscientious of your health and limitations. If necessary, there are treatment programmes for people suffering from burnout and these can help individuals put their lives into better perspective in order to give them the tools they need to live a healthier and more productive life.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Samineh I Shaheem is an author, an assistant professor of psychology, currently lecturing in Dubai, as well as a cross-cultural consultant at HRI. She appears on numerous radio programs and conferences and has studied and worked in different parts of the world, including the USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, and the UAE.Please forward your thoughts to [email protected][/FONT]

 

[Night_Hawk]

Study raises questions on benefits of cutting salt
Kate Kelland (Reuters)

9 July 2011
In an analysis that set off a fierce debate over the health effects of salt, researchers said they had found no evidence that small cuts to salt intake reduce the risk of developing heart disease or dying prematurely.
In a systematic review published by The Cochrane Library, British scientists found that while cutting salt consumption did appear to lead to slight reductions in blood pressure, that was not translated into lower death or heart disease risk.
The researchers said they suspected the trials conducted so far were not big enough to show any benefits to heart health, and called for large-scale studies to be carried out soon.
With governments setting ever lower targets for salt intake and food manufacturers working to remove it from their products, its really important that we do some large research trials to get a full understanding of the benefits and risks of reducing salt intake, said Rod Taylor of Exeter University, who led the review.
The Cochrane review attracted sharp criticism from nutrition experts. Francesco Cappuccio, head of the World Health Organisations collaborating centre for nutrition at Warwick University, said it was a surprisingly poor piece of work.
This study does not change the priorities outlined worldwide for a reduction in salt intake to prevent heart attacks and strokes, the greatest killers in the world, he said in an emailed comment.
Simon Capewell, a professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Liverpool University, said the review was disappointing and inconclusive and did not change public health consensus that dietary salt raises blood pressure.
Most experts are agreed that consuming too much salt is not good for you and that cutting salt intake can reduce hypertension in people with normal and high blood pressure.
Many developed nations have government-sanctioned guidelines calling on people to cut their salt or sodium intake for the sake of their longer-term health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) lists reducing salt intake among its top 10 best buys for reducing rates of chronic disease.
In Britain, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Guidance (NICE) has called for an acceleration of the reduction in salt in the general population from a maximum intake of 6 grams(g) a day for adults by 2015 to 3g by 2025.
US guidelines recommend Americans consume less than 2.3g of salt daily, or 1.5g for certain people who are more at risk for high blood pressure or heart disease.
While previous trials have found there is a blood pressure benefit from cutting salt, research has yet to show if that translates into better overall heart health in the wider population. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases the leading causes of death worldwide.
Taylor said he thought it did not find any evidence of big benefits because the numbers of people studied and the salt intake reductions were relatively small.
The people in the trials we analysed only reduced their salt intake by a moderate amount, so the effect on blood pressure and heart disease was not large, he said.
For this review, Taylors team found seven studies that together included 6,489 participants. This gave the researchers enough data to be able to start drawing conclusions, they said. But even so, the scientists think they would need to have data from at least 18,000 people before they could expect to identify any clear health benefits.
Elaine Rush, a professor of nutrition at Auckland University of Technology in Australia, said that putting a spotlight on single trials and generalising dietary advice for a single nutrient such as salt was not helpful.
What is helpful is for the food industry to reformulate products to reduce sodium and increase the nutrient quality of foods by using real ingredients, she said in an emailed comment.
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[Night_Hawk]

A glass of milk could contain painkillers
(IANS)

9 July 2011
Scientists have found that a glass of milk may contain up to 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones.
Through a highly sensitive test, scientists found a host of chemicals used to treat illnesses in animals and people in samples of cow, goat and human breast milk, Daily Mail reported.

Though the doses of drugs were far too little to create an effect on anyone drinking them, the results highlight how man-made chemicals were now found throughout the food chain.
The highest quantities of medicines were found in cows milk.
Researchers believe some of the drugs and growth promoters were given to the cattle, or got into milk through cattle feed or contamination on the farm.
A Spanish-Moroccan team analysed 20 samples of cows milk bought in Spain and Morocco, along with samples of goat and breast milk.
Their breakdown, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, revealed that cows milk contained traces of anti-inflammatory drugs niflumic acid, mefenamic acid and ketoprofen - commonly used as painkillers in animals and people.
It also contained the hormone 17-beta-estradiol, a form of the sex hormone oestrogen.
The researchers claim their new 30-minute test is the most sensitive of its kind. If the findings are true for Spanish and Moroccan milk, they could equally be true for milk produced in Britain and northern Europe.
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[Night_Hawk]

How to make that backache vanish
(IANS)

10 July 2011
A sedentary lifestyle, bad posture, stress and overdependence on technology could leave you with a constant backache. But experts say sometimes the problem can be easily sorted out with the right diagnosis and a little care.
Experts point out that the problem of lower back pain is fairly common. About 80 percent experience pain at some point in life.
The major culprits of back pain, especially in young adults, is stressful and long working hours stretching up to 12 hours and more, lack of proper physical activity, bad habits such as reading while lying down, slouching in front of the TV, etc, coupled with weight issues, B.K. Dhaon, head of the department of orthopaedics at Sharda Hospital, said.
What comes as a surprise is that fitness-conscious youngsters, who are regulars at gyms, also suffer from it. In such cases, bad sitting posture is often to be blamed, says Amit Kumar Mishra, an orthopaedic surgeon.
Abnormal sitting posture is the main culprit in youngsters who are otherwise fit and fine. These people have everything, including a healthy diet and nutrition, but the back is overstressed due to a non-compliant posture for long durations, he added.
Some example of bad posture are slouching or bending forward while working on the computer or reading in a lying position.
But there are some medical reasons too for constant backaches.
Acute back strain, sprain due to injury, lifting of heavy weights. In old age, osteoporosis and fracture due to lack of calcium in the body can also lead to backache, said Dhaon.
Back pain also occurs during and after pregnancy. This is because of two reasons: there is extra weight and hence extra pressure on the lower back and due to the hormonal changes during this time, the ligaments of the lower spine get relaxed and become more prone to pain, he added.
Under normal circumstances, Rajesh Verma, consultant orthopaedic at Artemis Health Institute, says one can keep the problem away by taking care of his or her sitting postures.
Sit with your back straight and your shoulders back. Your buttocks should touch the back of your chair. Bend your knees at a right angle. Do not sit with your knees crossed. Keep your knees even with or slightly higher than your hips, he said.
Keep your feet flat on the floor. Try to avoid sitting in the same position for more than 30 minutes. At work, adjust your chair height and work station so you can sit up close to your work. Rest your elbows and arms on your chair or desk, keeping your shoulders relaxed, he added.
A healthy diet and better lifestyle can help as well.
It is important to get up and become active if one has a sedentary lifestyle. Also, maintaining a healthy weight is required. Paying attention to how much calories you take and burn and making a habit of choosing healthier foods coupled with regular exercise help in maintaining a healthy back, said Dhaon.
Experts also suggest it is important not to ignore back pain and identify the exact reason behind it at the right time.
Back pain should not be taken lightly when the following red flag signs are present - night pain, radiating pain down to the legs, numbness, sensory deficit or weakness, said Mishra.
The problem of sciatica which is caused by the irritation of the sciatic nerve is very common and is often misdiagnosed. Hence getting to the root of your backache is a prerequisite for speedy recovery, he added.
Dhaon also suggests if the back pain persists for a week or more, it is time to consult a doctor who can help you in identifying whether your backache is due to an irritated nerve, muscle injury, a slip disc, some other underlying disease or bad posture.
Yoga and meditation on a daily basis also help to relieve the problem. Asanas like shawasana and naukaasana too can help, says Verma.
Reports suggest that psycho-social factors such as stress, anxiety, depression and mental stress also cause back pain.

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[Night_Hawk]

Vegetarians get going
Deepa Narwani


11 July 2011
With many opting for healthy lifestyles, a support group offers loads of information, and a host of restaurants dish out a variety of green fare
Health-conscious vegetarian eating habits might sound boring and monotonous, but for those who have opted for only green on their plate, there are a variety of creative and delicious meals being offered now in some of the trendiest restaurants in town.
Vegetarianism is, after all, a choice of lifestyle, which is considerate of your own physical health as well as that of the planet. Its indeed a big step, but one in the right direction leading to good health and wellbeing. To stick to a vegetarian diet, one needs commitment and determination.
The Middle East Vegetarian Group (Meveg), a voluntary vegetarian not-for-profit focus body affiliated to the International Vegetarian Union (IVU), started as a concept in 2007 in Dubai. The word vegetarian comes from the Latin word vegetus, which means lively. So basically, anybody who is a vegetarian is supposed to be lively, said Sandhya Prakash, founder-director of Meveg.
Meveg is a volunteer group with a mission of providing a platform for veg information exchange, promoting increased consumption of plant-based and regional diets to reap health and eco benefits, highlighting the variety of tasty vegetarian foods and representing vegan and vegetarian needs to the food industry.
Sandhya said: We held the first vegetarian congress in Dubai last year. There are a lot of misconceptions and notions about who is a vegan who is a vegetarian, why should they change their diet, and whether they get nutrition. It is beneficial from the health and environment angle, so there is a lot of justification on both sides. And the congress dealt with all these issues. The congress had 16 local and international speakers. It included seminars, photo exhibitors and workshops, which were attended by around 400 students.
This year, the congress will be held on December 5 and 6.
This year, Meveg started a support circle where a panel of experts comprising nutritionists, doctors and people who know food. If people are curious and want to make a diet change, they can write on Facebook and Twitter pages of these experts and they will answer the queries without any cost.
We started off with five to six volunteers and today we have lost count, said Sandhya. We are like an umbrella concept. There are many different groups that have spawned such as Proud to be Vegetarian with 20,000 followers; Raw Vegan group has about 200, and Meveg itself has almost 3,000 people living in the UAE who help out.
Besides, the group has started Meveg OASES (open access sustainable evergreen Saturday). It is being held on every third Saturday of every month. The first session was held in April.
We take a small break in July and will come back in August when we plan to do a veggie Iftar party during Ramadan. It is always held at the Emirates Academy in Jumeirah. It is open and free for people to come; they only need to pre-register on our Facebook page. It is like a forum where there is an expert speak, food demonstration, Q&A sessions and then there is a session called one fine day where people come up and share their experience of how they turned veggie, vegan or organic, said Sandhya. This is an indicator of the huge shift in Dubai in terms of being vegetarian as today, people are looking for more options to be healthy, she added.
Nalini Nayak, a resident, said: Leafy vegetables are the way to go and I have been a vegetarian since birth. Also, there are so many options in terms of cuisine. Today, the majority of people are conscious about their diet and are increasingly looking at vegetarian foods.
Recently, Eddie Leong, Chef de Cuisine at the Shanghai Chinese restaurant in the Ibn Battuta Gate hotel, was awarded the gold medal for his contemporary interpretation of an all-vegetarian traditional Chinese menu. Leongs winning entry comprised a hot and cold combination entre, soup of marrows and mushroom, a main course of eggplant roll with baked capsicum, mushrooms and special spinach tofu. Around the world, healthy vegetarian dishes are a growing trend, as people become increasingly health conscious. In the UAE, vegetarian food is also becoming more popular, especially with Chinese, Europeans and, of course, Indians, he said.
I have been a vegetarian since childhood and have met people who have literally asked me what is the fun in eating grass, said Helly Shah, another resident.
But I think the number of healthy food varieties is all made from fresh veggies and I never felt the need to shift my diet from veg to a non-veg.
The main thing to remember with going veg is that you are trying to achieve a healthy balance in the way that your body responds to the food.
Therefore, try to get the best nutrition out of the ingredients that you use in your meal. Getting used to being a vegetarian can take a while, but variety in the menu can keep you going. Always remember, its mind over matter.
Way to go...

Meveg gives a few simple steps that help in making a vegetarian commitment
Understand your reasons

If you just want to become vegetarian for fun, you probably wont stick with it for long not because its hard, but because any lifestyle change or habit change requires a little bit of motivation. You need to first think about why you want to become vegetarian, and really believe in it
Stock up

Its a good idea to keep hoards of nutritious vegetarian food at hand to avoid giving in to a junk food binge. Variety is the key to making healthy choices
Indulge in veg cooking

You can get very creative with the abundance of vegetarian recipes that you will find online. It will also keep you interested in your new lifestyle
Substitute with faux meat

Take favourite recipes and try them without meat. For example, make fajitas using extra-firm tofu rather than chicken. You may be surprised to find that many dishes require only simple substitutions
Make a trip out of it

Search online, refer guides and seek out true vegetarian restaurants in your areas. Sampling the delicious veggie varieties of different cultures can be a culinary as well as cultural revelation in itself
[email protected]

 

[Night_Hawk]

Exercise must for even babies to fight obesity
(AP)

11 July 2011
LONDON — In a new campaign against obesity, the British government issued guidelines on Monday saying that children under the age of 5 — including those who can’t even walk yet — should exercise every day.
In its first such guidelines for children that young, the health department said kids under 5 who can walk should be physically active for at least three hours a day. Officials also said parents should reduce the amount of time such kids spend being sedentary while watching television or being strapped in a stroller.
The three hours of activity should be spread throughout the day. Officials said the children’s daily dose of exercise is likely to be met simply through playing but could also include activities such as walking to school.
For babies who can’t walk yet, the government said physical activity should be encouraged from birth, including infants playing on their stomachs or having swimming sessions with their parents. The government said children’s individual physical and mental abilities should be considered when interpreting the advice.
“It’s vital that parents introduce children to fun and physically active pastimes to help prevent them becoming obese children, who are likely to become obese adults at risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers,” Maura Gillespie, head of policy and advocacy at the British Heart Foundation, said in a statement.
Nearly a quarter of British adults are obese, and experts estimate that by 2050 about 90 percent of adults will be heavy.
According to a 2008 health survey that used devices to measure how much people actually exercised, officials found only about five percent of Britons meet the government’s minimum physical activity advice — about 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every week, including some every day.
For children aged 5 to 18, Britain recommends at least one hour of exercise, but that should include intensive activities to strengthen muscles and bones.
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises children and teenagers to get about one hour or more of physical activity every day.
According to the Institute of Medicine, an independent organization in Washington, D.C., toddlers should get at least 15 minutes of exercise for every hour they spend in child care.

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[Night_Hawk]

More groceries dont mean better health
(Reuters)

12 July 2011
NEW YORK - Living close to supermarkets and grocery stores did not mean that urban dwellers ate more fruits and vegetables, or had a healthier overall diet, according to a US study.
Having more fast-food restaurants nearby, though, did mean that low-income men ate at the chain restaurants more often, the study in Archives of Internal Medicine said.
Researchers and policymakers think food deserts poor neighborhoods with few or no healthy food options may be linked to the obesity epidemic. The problem hasnt been easy to solve, however, especially because supermarkets and health-food stores are reluctant to open branches in low-income areas.
But the link between food access and what people eat is complicated, said study author Penny Gordon-Larsen, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Its not simply enough to introduce a grocery store, she told Reuters Health.
Our findings provide some evidence for zoning restrictions on fast food restaurants within 3 km of low-income residents but suggest that increased access to food stores may require complementary or alternative strategies to promote dietary behavior change, she and her colleagues wrote.
The study tracked about 5,000 young adults living in four cities: Birmingham, Alabama, Chicago, Illinois, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Oakland, California.
Starting in 1985, researchers surveyed the participants every few years about their eating habits, including their intake of fruits and vegetables, and how often they visited fast-food restaurants.
At the same time, the researchers calculated how many fast-food chain restaurants, grocery stores, and supermarkets were within walking or short driving distance from each persons home.
For low-income men in the study, living close to lots of fast-food restaurants meant they ate at those restaurants more often but there was only a weak link for middle-income people, and no clear link for those with the highest incomes.
Though the study did not measure how many times people actually went to fast food restaurants, a past study from the same cities showed that on average, young adults visited fast food restaurants once or twice a week.
In general, having more supermarkets or grocery stores nearby did not influence how well residents followed guidelines on fruit and vegetable intake, nor how healthy their diets were overall.
It may be that theres a lot of variability in those grocery stores, including what fresh produce they sell and how expensive it is, the researchers wrote, meaning that more such stores might not have enough of an impact.
There are a lot of reasons that food access is an issue, but its still quite unclear as to what the actual effect (of bringing in new supermarkets) would be on peoples eating habits, said Daniel Block, who studies food access and behavior at Chicago State University and wasnt involved in the study.
He suggested thinking outside the supermarket box, suggesting community gardens as a non-traditional way of promoting healthy eating and bringing people together.
Gordon-Larsen said more research is needed to see how people make decisions about what to eat and where to buy it, but that broader efforts such as community education and getting stores to promote more healthy food options may be needed.
Were talking about a top-to-bottom approach that would be important, she added. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/rdF0U6

 

[Night_Hawk]

Regular meals help keep hypoglycemia at bay
(Staff reporter)

9 July 2011
DUBAI - Hypoglycemia means low blood sugar or glucose and is commonly seen in diabetics on insulin or on certain oral hypoglycaemic drugs, according to Dr Leena Mahana Kapoor, Specialist Physician, Zulekha Hospital, Dubai.
In normal individuals when the blood glucose falls below 3.5mmols per litre, the bodys control systems detect it and switch off insulin production and raise hormones like glucagon, which elevate blood sugar levels by promoting feeding, she said.
However, in diabetics, on oral drugs/insulin, the above does not occur and so your blood glucose levels keep on falling, unless you intervene by eating or drinking glucose.
Nocturnal attacks occurring during sleep are even more dangerous and should be recognized and treated appropriately. These should be recognized immediately and corrective action taken in order to avoid short and long term consequences, she advised.
Hypos is caused when a person eats later than planned, undertakes vigorous exercise, drinks too much alcohol and even insulin treated diabetics are especially prone to hypos.
Hypos can be prevented by educating diabetics to watch out for symptoms, sticking to regular meal times and doing a blood sugar test if frequent hypos are suspected.
If exercise is undertaken by patients on insulin, balancing the blood glucose lowering effect of a half hour of exercise with 15-30 grams of carbohydrates must be undertaken, she said.
Mild reactions can be dealt with by drinking a glass of lemonade (avoid diet drinks as they have no sugar). Always carry some form of carbohydrate like biscuit or sweets with you, advised the doctor.
Severe hypos may lead to unconsciousness or fits. A sugary gel like hypo stop can be squirted into the mouth. A hormone called glucagon may be injected into the arm or buttocks.
Early medical advice should be sought to avoid long lasting consequences and prevent frequent recurrences. Treatment in hospital after admission with intravenous dextrose may also be required.
Always try to have regular meals and snacks and time your oral anti-diabetic drugs and insulin properly with meals in order to prevent occurrence of uncomfortable attacks of hypoglycemia, said Dr Leena.
As the blood sugar falls, warning symptoms develop as under.
Feeling sweaty/cold and clammy
Trembling and feeling weak
Tingling around your lips
Feeling hungry
Visual blurring
Feeling irritable/angry or upset
Looking pale
Unable to concentrate
Feeling drowsy (extreme cases-losing consciousness)
[FONT=&quot][email protected][/FONT]

 

[QaiserMirza]

The surprising benefits of lemon!
==============================

​

Lemon(Citrus) is a miraculous product to kill cancer cells. It is 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy.

Why do we not know about that? Because there are laboratories interested in making a synthetic version that will bring them huge profits. You can now help a friend in need by letting him/her know that lemon juice is beneficial in preventing the disease. Its taste is pleasant and it does not produce the horrific effects of chemotherapy. How many people will die while this closely guarded secret is kept, so as not to jeopardize the beneficial multimillionaires large corporations? As you know, the lemon tree is known for its varieties of lemons and limes. You can eat the fruit in different ways: you can eat the pulp, juice press, prepare drinks, sorbets, pastries, etc... It is credited with many virtues, but the most interesting is the effect it produces on cysts and tumors. This plant is a proven remedy against cancers of all types. Some say it is very useful in all variants of cancer. It is considered also as an anti microbial spectrum against bacterial infections and fungi, effective against internal parasites and worms, it regulates blood pressure which is too high and an antidepressant, combats stress and nervous disorders.

The source of this information is fascinating: it comes from one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world, says that after more than 20 laboratory tests since 1970, the extracts revealed that: It destroys the malignant cells in 12 cancers, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreas ... The compounds of this tree showed 10,000 times better than the product Adriamycin, a drug normally used chemotherapeutic in the world, slowing the growth of cancer cells. And what is even more astonishing: this type of therapy with lemon extract only destroys malignant cancer cells and it does not affect healthy cells.​

​

 

[Night_Hawk]

Nuts may aid better diabetes control
(Reuters)

13 July 2011, 6:55 AM
NEW YORK - Replacing that daily muffin with a handful or two of nuts may help people with diabetes better control their blood sugar and cholesterol levels, according to a study.
When people with type 2 diabetes replaced some of their usual carbohydrates with about a half-cup of mixed nuts each day, their blood sugar and bad cholesterol levels dipped slightly over three months, researchers wrote in the journal Diabetes Care.
By contrast, no such improvements were seen among people who swapped their normal carbs for a daily whole-wheat muffin.
While the findings dont mean that nuts are the key to diabetes control, they can be part of a healthy diet, said Cyril Kendall of the University of Toronto in Canada, one of the researchers involved.
We should be focusing on overall diet and lifestyle, Kendall told Reuters Health.
They (nuts) have a lot of fat, but we now realize that those fats are healthy ones, he said, referring to the unsaturated fats that have been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and other health benefits.
Still, nuts are high in calories, and people with diabetes should not simply add a handful to their usual diet but should use them in place of less healthy snacks, Kendall said.
For the study, 117 adults with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group was given unsalted mixed nuts and told to eat them instead of some of their usual carbs, a second group replaced their normal carbs with healthy whole-wheat muffins with no added sugar, and the third group went on a half-nut, half-muffin regimen.
The full-nut group ate, on average, about 2 ounces, or a half cup, of nuts per day, totaling roughly 475 calories.
After three months, the researchers found, the full-nut group showed a 0.2 percent dip in their average hemoglobin AIC level a measure of long-term blood sugar control.
The change was small and just shy, Kendall said, of what is considered a clinically significant improvement in blood sugar control. But the people in the study were already on diabetes medication and typically had good blood sugar control.
So were seeing a benefit over and above what they were achieving with medication, he added.
As for cholesterol, the nut groups average LDL cholesterol the bad kind declined from about 97 milligrams per deciliter to 89 mg/dL. An LDL count below 100 mg/dL is generally considered optimal.
No similar improvements were seen in the other two groups.
It wasnt clear why the full-nut group showed better blood sugar and cholesterol levels, but Kendall said he suspects it is largely because of the monounsaturated fats in nuts.
For people who arent crazy about nuts, there are other sources of monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil and avocados. While the study did not look at those foods, Kendall said it might be a wise move to replace some carbs with those fats.
The study was partially funded by the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation and the Peanut Institute, both industry groups.
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