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Re: کھجور کے فوائد
If you eat the Dates in moderation, 1 or 2 just to satisfy the urge for eating something sweet.
It will not effect your sugar level that much.
@Raaz
If you eat the Dates in moderation, 1 or 2 just to satisfy the urge for eating something sweet.
It will not effect your sugar level that much.
IhsanIlahi
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: کھجور کے فوائد
Thanks for sharing this useful information.... jazakAllah
Thanks for sharing this useful information.... jazakAllah
10 Things Everybody Should Know About Migraines
Headache, but the condition is also more than just the attacks. Consequently, migraine therapy must be more than just drugs for attack symptoms and living in fear of triggers. Id like to encourage migraineurs to abandon their designated role as victims of a growing industry. Topple the terrible tyrant and terminate the terror! Join the Migraine Revolution!
For those who arent familiar with migraines and the devastating effects they can have on a sufferers life, below are the 10 most important facts to know about this debilitating condition.
1. Two out of five women and one out of five men will experience migraine in their lifetime. Between 18 and 44 years of age, a quarter of all women are affected by migraine. Chronic migraine with at least 15 headache days per month is currently ruining the lives of more than 3 million Americans.
2. Migraine is a developmental brain disorder leading to recurring episodes of instability (attacks). During attacks, migraineurs can have a puzzling collection of neurological symptoms including partial paralysis or blindness. Here are a selection of symptoms during migraine attacks:
3. Between attacks, migraine symptoms can be absent or mild or pronounced enough to lead to an additional diagnostic label. A selection of problems frequently encountered in migraineurs include:
4. Migraine patients are commonly instructed to identify and to avoid their so-called trigger factors. (14)(15) This advice is not supported by any evidence whatsoever. Some experts advise against avoidance behaviors, since they tend to make things worse rather than better. Avoidance attitudes are associated with pain chronification.
5. Also, scientific evidence suggests that episodic migraine attacks are not usually triggered. Instead, they were found to mainly occur at a certain rate as the result of a gradual buildup. Changes in electrical brain activity can be detected several days in advance.
6. In 8% of cases, the episodic migraine transforms into chronic migraine, with headaches on more days than not. In chronic migraine, the brain tends to over-interpret normal stimuli as aversive and hurtful and to respond with the generation of headaches. The main risk factor for the progression to chronic migraine is the frequent use of migraine medication. Patients with limited mental flexibility and poor comprehension are at a particularly high risk.
7. Despite frequent repetition, Migraine is not a genetically predetermined condition. Although migraine tends to run in families, the genetic heritability of migraine is actually much lower than that of obesity. While roughly half the population have inherited the genetic talent for migraine, the majority of them do not ever develop migraine in their lives.
8. The abundant media coverage of Botox for migraines distorts the scientific evidence for its low efficacy. For episodic migraine, Botox was found to be so ineffective that it isnt even registered. After a series of failed attempts, a custom-designed drug trial finally managed to present Botox as marginally better than salt water for chronic migraine. That and a $600 million payment by the manufacturer sparked an approval by the FDA. A later review confirmed only small to modest benefits for chronic migraineurs.
9. Many patients are unaware of the influence that the pharmaceutical industry has on medical education, research, organizations, treatment guidelines and doctors, as well as on public and social media. Drug companies invest many billions of dollars on overt and covert sales-promotional activities. Their obligation is to look after the interests of their shareholders by increasing drug sales, and theyre known to use every trick in the book. By 2014, the global market for pharmaceuticals is expected to reach $1.1 trillion. Patients with migraine episodes who dont watch out for themselves can easily end up paying a very high price: a life ruined by chronic migraine.
10. Patients with episodic migraine are advised to look after themselves and not to rely on drugs only. A healthy lifestyle with regular aerobic workouts, relaxation exercises, breathing-retraining and individualized herbs and nutraceuticals can go a long way.
http://www.alrasub.com/10-migraines/
Headache, but the condition is also more than just the attacks. Consequently, migraine therapy must be more than just drugs for attack symptoms and living in fear of triggers. Id like to encourage migraineurs to abandon their designated role as victims of a growing industry. Topple the terrible tyrant and terminate the terror! Join the Migraine Revolution!
For those who arent familiar with migraines and the devastating effects they can have on a sufferers life, below are the 10 most important facts to know about this debilitating condition.
1. Two out of five women and one out of five men will experience migraine in their lifetime. Between 18 and 44 years of age, a quarter of all women are affected by migraine. Chronic migraine with at least 15 headache days per month is currently ruining the lives of more than 3 million Americans.
2. Migraine is a developmental brain disorder leading to recurring episodes of instability (attacks). During attacks, migraineurs can have a puzzling collection of neurological symptoms including partial paralysis or blindness. Here are a selection of symptoms during migraine attacks:
- mild to very severe head pain
- dizziness, vertigo
- mental confusion, impaired speech
- neck and back pain
- nausea, vomiting
- emotional turmoil, feeling very ill
- heightened pain sensitivity
- digestive problems, peeing a lot
- poor motor coordination
3. Between attacks, migraine symptoms can be absent or mild or pronounced enough to lead to an additional diagnostic label. A selection of problems frequently encountered in migraineurs include:
- Depression
- Chronic Back Pain
- Cognitive impairments
- Anxiety
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Hostility
- Bipolar Disorder
- Stroke
- Suicide
4. Migraine patients are commonly instructed to identify and to avoid their so-called trigger factors. (14)(15) This advice is not supported by any evidence whatsoever. Some experts advise against avoidance behaviors, since they tend to make things worse rather than better. Avoidance attitudes are associated with pain chronification.
5. Also, scientific evidence suggests that episodic migraine attacks are not usually triggered. Instead, they were found to mainly occur at a certain rate as the result of a gradual buildup. Changes in electrical brain activity can be detected several days in advance.
6. In 8% of cases, the episodic migraine transforms into chronic migraine, with headaches on more days than not. In chronic migraine, the brain tends to over-interpret normal stimuli as aversive and hurtful and to respond with the generation of headaches. The main risk factor for the progression to chronic migraine is the frequent use of migraine medication. Patients with limited mental flexibility and poor comprehension are at a particularly high risk.
7. Despite frequent repetition, Migraine is not a genetically predetermined condition. Although migraine tends to run in families, the genetic heritability of migraine is actually much lower than that of obesity. While roughly half the population have inherited the genetic talent for migraine, the majority of them do not ever develop migraine in their lives.
8. The abundant media coverage of Botox for migraines distorts the scientific evidence for its low efficacy. For episodic migraine, Botox was found to be so ineffective that it isnt even registered. After a series of failed attempts, a custom-designed drug trial finally managed to present Botox as marginally better than salt water for chronic migraine. That and a $600 million payment by the manufacturer sparked an approval by the FDA. A later review confirmed only small to modest benefits for chronic migraineurs.
9. Many patients are unaware of the influence that the pharmaceutical industry has on medical education, research, organizations, treatment guidelines and doctors, as well as on public and social media. Drug companies invest many billions of dollars on overt and covert sales-promotional activities. Their obligation is to look after the interests of their shareholders by increasing drug sales, and theyre known to use every trick in the book. By 2014, the global market for pharmaceuticals is expected to reach $1.1 trillion. Patients with migraine episodes who dont watch out for themselves can easily end up paying a very high price: a life ruined by chronic migraine.
10. Patients with episodic migraine are advised to look after themselves and not to rely on drugs only. A healthy lifestyle with regular aerobic workouts, relaxation exercises, breathing-retraining and individualized herbs and nutraceuticals can go a long way.
http://www.alrasub.com/10-migraines/
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Healthy heart ensures healthy kidney
(IANS) / 26 May 2013
Scientists have shown that a lifestyle that encourages a healthy heart could also shield patients with chronic kidney diseases from kidney failure and premature death, says a study.The findings, appearing in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), suggest that patients with kidney diseases should be encouraged to improve their heart’s health, reports Science Daily.
Poor kidney health puts people at risk of developing heart problems. But it’s unclear whether the opposite is true. Does heart health also affect kidney health?
To investigate this, Paul Muntner, a researcher from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used the American Heart Association’s recently published tool (Life’s Simple 7) that helps individuals assess their heart health.
Life’s Simple 7 lists seven domains including not smoking, being physically active, following a heart healthy diet, having a normal weight, and maintaining low blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
‘Scores on the Life’s Simple 7 tool have been associated with risk for having a heart attack but it was unclear whether a worse profile would be associated with an increased risk for developing kidney failure,’ said Muntner.
(IANS) / 26 May 2013
Scientists have shown that a lifestyle that encourages a healthy heart could also shield patients with chronic kidney diseases from kidney failure and premature death, says a study.The findings, appearing in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), suggest that patients with kidney diseases should be encouraged to improve their heart’s health, reports Science Daily.
Poor kidney health puts people at risk of developing heart problems. But it’s unclear whether the opposite is true. Does heart health also affect kidney health?
To investigate this, Paul Muntner, a researcher from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used the American Heart Association’s recently published tool (Life’s Simple 7) that helps individuals assess their heart health.
Life’s Simple 7 lists seven domains including not smoking, being physically active, following a heart healthy diet, having a normal weight, and maintaining low blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
‘Scores on the Life’s Simple 7 tool have been associated with risk for having a heart attack but it was unclear whether a worse profile would be associated with an increased risk for developing kidney failure,’ said Muntner.
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Re: کھجور کے فوائد
Soak up sunlight to stay healthy
Staff Reporter / 25 May 2013
Vitamin D is a steroid vitamin that encourages absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorus.
People who are exposed to normal quantities of sunlight do not need vitamin D supplements because sunlight provides sufficient vitamin D synthesis in the skin, explains Dr Hamdy Selim, Specialist Internal Medicine, Zulekha Hospital, Sharjah.
Five forms of vitamin D have been discovered — vitamin D1, D2, D3, D4, D5 but the most important ones are vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Vitamin D is produced by the body in response to sunlight and it also occurs naturally in a few forms including some fish, fish liver oils and egg yolk and also in fortified dairy and grain products.
Vitamin D is essential for strong bones because it helps the body to use calcium from the diet. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with rickets, a disease in which the bone tissue does not properly mineralise leading to soft bones and skeletal deformity.
Vitamin D deficiency can occur for a number of reasons:
If you did not spend much time in the sun or always covering your skin (sunscreens inhibit vitamin D production), you should talk to your doctor about taking supplements.
Be careful as excess vitamin D can also cause health problems due to increased calcium level in the blood as:
Soak up sunlight to stay healthy
Staff Reporter / 25 May 2013
Vitamin D is a steroid vitamin that encourages absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorus.
Five forms of vitamin D have been discovered — vitamin D1, D2, D3, D4, D5 but the most important ones are vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Vitamin D is produced by the body in response to sunlight and it also occurs naturally in a few forms including some fish, fish liver oils and egg yolk and also in fortified dairy and grain products.
Vitamin D is essential for strong bones because it helps the body to use calcium from the diet. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with rickets, a disease in which the bone tissue does not properly mineralise leading to soft bones and skeletal deformity.
Vitamin D deficiency can occur for a number of reasons:
- If you did not consume the recommended level over time this is likely if you follow a strict vegetarian diet.
- Exposure to sunlight is limited because the body makes vitamin D when your skin is exposed to sunlight.
- If you have dark skin as the pigment melanin reduces the skin ability to make vitamin D in response to sun exposure.
- If your kidney cannot convert vitamin D to its active form due to renal disease
- If your digestive tract cannot adequately absorb vitamin D due to certain diseases like Crohns disease or celiac disease.
- People with body mass index of 30 or more after have a lower blood level of vitamin D.
- Bone pain and muscle weakness
- Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease
- Cognitive impairment in older adults
- Severe asthma in children
- Cancer
- Type 1 and type 2 Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Multiple sclerosis
- Depression
- Rickets in children and Osteomalacia in adults
If you did not spend much time in the sun or always covering your skin (sunscreens inhibit vitamin D production), you should talk to your doctor about taking supplements.
Be careful as excess vitamin D can also cause health problems due to increased calcium level in the blood as:
- Calcium deposits in soft tissues such as heart, lung.
- Confusion and disorientation
- Renal stones
- Nausea, vomiting, constipation, poor appetite, weakness and weight loss
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Re: 10 Things Everybody Should Know About Migraines
Migraine Relief: 15 Natural Ways To Ease The Pain
The Huffington Post | By Sarah Klein Posted: 07/12/2012 7:28 am EDT | Updated: 07/13/2012 2:57 am EDT
If you've ever had a migraine, you know that when the first symptoms strike, it's time to find relief -- and fast. And when you find something that works, you stick with it.
For many, migraine relief comes in the form of an over-the-counter or prescription medication. But the relief routine was upended in January, when medication manufacturer Novartis voluntarily recalled certain bottles of Excedrin, due to stray and chipped pills.
Today, many in chronic pain are still without their Excedrin -- the popular migraine pill has not yet made its way back on to store shelves -- and looking for other options.
While there are a host of other drugs that treat and prevent migraines, there are also a number of natural options to ease the pain. In fact, a recent reiteration of the guidelines for treating migraines, developed by the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society, highlighted some of the drug-free ways to reduce and prevent the pain, HuffPost's Catherine Pearson reported in April.
So what really works? Click through the slideshow below to see some of the expert-approved ways to ease migraines. Then tell us in the comments what works for you.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/natural-migraine-relief_n_1666726.html
Migraine Relief: 15 Natural Ways To Ease The Pain
The Huffington Post | By Sarah Klein Posted: 07/12/2012 7:28 am EDT | Updated: 07/13/2012 2:57 am EDT
If you've ever had a migraine, you know that when the first symptoms strike, it's time to find relief -- and fast. And when you find something that works, you stick with it.
For many, migraine relief comes in the form of an over-the-counter or prescription medication. But the relief routine was upended in January, when medication manufacturer Novartis voluntarily recalled certain bottles of Excedrin, due to stray and chipped pills.
Today, many in chronic pain are still without their Excedrin -- the popular migraine pill has not yet made its way back on to store shelves -- and looking for other options.
While there are a host of other drugs that treat and prevent migraines, there are also a number of natural options to ease the pain. In fact, a recent reiteration of the guidelines for treating migraines, developed by the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society, highlighted some of the drug-free ways to reduce and prevent the pain, HuffPost's Catherine Pearson reported in April.
So what really works? Click through the slideshow below to see some of the expert-approved ways to ease migraines. Then tell us in the comments what works for you.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/natural-migraine-relief_n_1666726.html
Last edited:
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
[h=1]Natural remedies for migraine headaches[/h] By Chris Kilham
Published July 17, 2012
How awful are migraine headaches? If you’ve ever had one, you know that answer to that question.
Named after the Greek hemicrania, a migraine is a moderate to severe throbbing headache on one side of the head that is usually accompanied by acute nausea and greatly increased sensitivity to light.
Curiously, migraines are often preceded by an aura, in which people see flashing lights, blind spots or irregular lines, numbness or tingling in the face and hands, distorted sense of smell or taste and mental fogginess. About one in every five migraine sufferers experience auras.
A wise physician once said: “Patients with migraines know precisely when, how often and how long their headaches strike. They often come in with long lists. When you have a patient with lists, you have a patient with migraine.”
There is evidence that eliminating foods that contain the natural compound tyramine can reduce occurrence and severity of migraines. Aged, cured and smoked cheeses and meats contain tyramine. Chocolate, alcoholic beverages, and most soy foods, including soy sauce, contain tyramine. This compound increases production of the adrenal hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, and the neurotransmitter dopamine – activity that significantly affects the brain and can trigger migraines.
Conventional drug treatment of migraines includes a predictable array of pain relievers, including ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin, naproxen and more. Sometimes these work; sometimes they don’t.
Migraine suffers can receive injections or nasal sprays of dihydroergotamine, an exotic drug made from the same toxic fungus ergot as the famous mind-bending psychedelic LSD.
Yet other remedies enjoy success with many cases of migraines, and deserve to be better known. Traditional medicine yields knowledge that has been blended with science to produce effective, natural relief. Things like feverfew, butterbur, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and acupuncture all demonstrate real benefits.
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)
Derived from the leaves of the plant, feverfew is used primarily to treat migraine headaches. Feverfew extracts possess antiprotozoal properties. Although much of its activity is attributed to a compound parthenolide, a parthenolide-free extract of feverfew demonstrated free radical-scavenging properties, affording protection against UV-induced sun damage.
In clinical trials, a feverfew extract reduced the frequency of migraine attacks and a feverfew/ginger formulation prevented mild headache before the onset of moderate to severe headache in patients with migraine. Migrafew is a feverfew product that is backed by good science.
Butterbur (Petasites hybridus)
Butterbur is a shrub that grows in Europe and parts of Asia and North America -- typically in wet, marshy ground. The name, butterbur, is attributed to the traditional use of its large leaves to wrap butter in warm weather. Butterbur has historically been used for a variety of health issues such as pain, headache, anxiety, cough, fever, and for gastrointestinal and urinary tract conditions. It has also been used topically to improve wound healing. Today, traditional or folk uses include nasal allergies, allergic skin reactions, asthma, and migraine headache.
Butterbur is actually surprisingly effective in preventing migraine headaches as well. Using an extract from butterbur root over 16 weeks can reduce the number and severity of migraine headaches by almost half. Doses of at least 75 mg twice daily seem to be necessary for best results.
Petadolex, a brand of butterbur, has demonstrated effectiveness in relieving migraines.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized room. This results in increased stem cell production, which effects healing throughout the entire body.
Three studies reported the number of patients who had significant relief from their migraines within 40 to 45 minutes of hyperbaric therapy. Although the studies did not specify each patients' response to treatment, they reported a significant increase in the proportion of patients who had relief with hyperbaric oxygen compared to a placebo.
Acupuncture
In a study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers randomly divided 401 adults aged 18-65 years old with chronic headache (at least two headaches a month) – into two treatment groups. Participants had a history of having mostly migraine headaches.
One group received up to 12 acupuncture sessions during a three-month period in addition to standard medical care, and the other group received standard care alone.
A year later, researchers found that those who received acupuncture:
Acupuncture is commonly used to treat other types of chronic pain, but researchers noted this is the first large-scale study to examine the effectiveness of acupuncture under real-life conditions. They said the results indicate that health insurance coverage of acupuncture services should be expanded to include the treatment of chronic headaches and migraine.
If you are a migraine sufferer, trying one or more of the therapies listed above may significantly reduce the occurrence and severity of your migraines, and improve your quality of life. But it's important to talk with your doctor because he or she can help you decide what’s best for you based on your medical history.
Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com.
Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at MedicineHunter.com
.
Published July 17, 2012
How awful are migraine headaches? If you’ve ever had one, you know that answer to that question.
Named after the Greek hemicrania, a migraine is a moderate to severe throbbing headache on one side of the head that is usually accompanied by acute nausea and greatly increased sensitivity to light.
Curiously, migraines are often preceded by an aura, in which people see flashing lights, blind spots or irregular lines, numbness or tingling in the face and hands, distorted sense of smell or taste and mental fogginess. About one in every five migraine sufferers experience auras.
A wise physician once said: “Patients with migraines know precisely when, how often and how long their headaches strike. They often come in with long lists. When you have a patient with lists, you have a patient with migraine.”
There is evidence that eliminating foods that contain the natural compound tyramine can reduce occurrence and severity of migraines. Aged, cured and smoked cheeses and meats contain tyramine. Chocolate, alcoholic beverages, and most soy foods, including soy sauce, contain tyramine. This compound increases production of the adrenal hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, and the neurotransmitter dopamine – activity that significantly affects the brain and can trigger migraines.
Conventional drug treatment of migraines includes a predictable array of pain relievers, including ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin, naproxen and more. Sometimes these work; sometimes they don’t.
Migraine suffers can receive injections or nasal sprays of dihydroergotamine, an exotic drug made from the same toxic fungus ergot as the famous mind-bending psychedelic LSD.
Yet other remedies enjoy success with many cases of migraines, and deserve to be better known. Traditional medicine yields knowledge that has been blended with science to produce effective, natural relief. Things like feverfew, butterbur, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and acupuncture all demonstrate real benefits.
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)
Derived from the leaves of the plant, feverfew is used primarily to treat migraine headaches. Feverfew extracts possess antiprotozoal properties. Although much of its activity is attributed to a compound parthenolide, a parthenolide-free extract of feverfew demonstrated free radical-scavenging properties, affording protection against UV-induced sun damage.
In clinical trials, a feverfew extract reduced the frequency of migraine attacks and a feverfew/ginger formulation prevented mild headache before the onset of moderate to severe headache in patients with migraine. Migrafew is a feverfew product that is backed by good science.
Butterbur (Petasites hybridus)
Butterbur is a shrub that grows in Europe and parts of Asia and North America -- typically in wet, marshy ground. The name, butterbur, is attributed to the traditional use of its large leaves to wrap butter in warm weather. Butterbur has historically been used for a variety of health issues such as pain, headache, anxiety, cough, fever, and for gastrointestinal and urinary tract conditions. It has also been used topically to improve wound healing. Today, traditional or folk uses include nasal allergies, allergic skin reactions, asthma, and migraine headache.
Butterbur is actually surprisingly effective in preventing migraine headaches as well. Using an extract from butterbur root over 16 weeks can reduce the number and severity of migraine headaches by almost half. Doses of at least 75 mg twice daily seem to be necessary for best results.
Petadolex, a brand of butterbur, has demonstrated effectiveness in relieving migraines.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized room. This results in increased stem cell production, which effects healing throughout the entire body.
Three studies reported the number of patients who had significant relief from their migraines within 40 to 45 minutes of hyperbaric therapy. Although the studies did not specify each patients' response to treatment, they reported a significant increase in the proportion of patients who had relief with hyperbaric oxygen compared to a placebo.
Acupuncture
In a study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers randomly divided 401 adults aged 18-65 years old with chronic headache (at least two headaches a month) – into two treatment groups. Participants had a history of having mostly migraine headaches.
One group received up to 12 acupuncture sessions during a three-month period in addition to standard medical care, and the other group received standard care alone.
A year later, researchers found that those who received acupuncture:
- Experienced 22 fewer days with headaches;
- Used 15 percent less medication;
- Made 25 percent fewer visits to their doctor;
- And took 15 percent fewer days off sick from work than the control group.
Acupuncture is commonly used to treat other types of chronic pain, but researchers noted this is the first large-scale study to examine the effectiveness of acupuncture under real-life conditions. They said the results indicate that health insurance coverage of acupuncture services should be expanded to include the treatment of chronic headaches and migraine.
If you are a migraine sufferer, trying one or more of the therapies listed above may significantly reduce the occurrence and severity of your migraines, and improve your quality of life. But it's important to talk with your doctor because he or she can help you decide what’s best for you based on your medical history.
Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at www.MedicineHunter.com.
Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter who researches natural remedies all over the world, from the Amazon to Siberia. He teaches ethnobotany at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is Explorer In Residence. Chris advises herbal, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies and is a regular guest on radio and TV programs worldwide. His field research is largely sponsored by Naturex of Avignon, France. Read more at MedicineHunter.com
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Now talcum powder linked to ovarian cancer!
(IANS) / 19 June 2013
A new research has suggested women regularly using talcum powder to keep fresh actually increase their risk of developing ovarian cancer by almost a quarter.Scientists have warned powder particles applied to the genital area can travel into a woman’s body and trigger inflammation, which allows cancer cells to flourish, Daily Mail reported.
In the past, several studies investigated the link between the powder and tumours. Some detected links with ovarian and womb cancer but others proved inconclusive. But the doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, US, pooled data from eight separate studies to try and come up with a definitive answer.
For the study, researchers analysed data from 8,525 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and compared talcum powder use with that of 9,800 women who remained cancer-free.
The results, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, showed regularly applying the powder particles after bathing or showering raised the risk of an ovarian tumour by 24 per cent.
Cancer of the ovaries is sometimes known as a “silent killer” as for many victims symptoms only appear when it has already fairly advanced.
(IANS) / 19 June 2013
A new research has suggested women regularly using talcum powder to keep fresh actually increase their risk of developing ovarian cancer by almost a quarter.Scientists have warned powder particles applied to the genital area can travel into a woman’s body and trigger inflammation, which allows cancer cells to flourish, Daily Mail reported.
In the past, several studies investigated the link between the powder and tumours. Some detected links with ovarian and womb cancer but others proved inconclusive. But the doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, US, pooled data from eight separate studies to try and come up with a definitive answer.
For the study, researchers analysed data from 8,525 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and compared talcum powder use with that of 9,800 women who remained cancer-free.
The results, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, showed regularly applying the powder particles after bathing or showering raised the risk of an ovarian tumour by 24 per cent.
Cancer of the ovaries is sometimes known as a “silent killer” as for many victims symptoms only appear when it has already fairly advanced.
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
| Plastic bottle drinks may raise cancer risk in womb (IANS) / 18 June 2013 A US study has suggested expectant women drinking from plastic bottles could be increasing their unborn child’s chances of developing cancer later in life.Researchers at the University of Illinois, who conducted their study on mice, showed how exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical commonly found in plastic water bottles and soup cans, in the womb could increase prostate cancer risk, Daily Express reported. 
According to lead researcher Gail Prins, this is the first direct evidence “that exposure to BPA during development, at levels we see in our day-to-day environment, increases the risk for prostate cancer in human prostate tissue”. ”Studies of expectant mothers in the US showed that more than 95 per cent of them had BPA in their urine, which means they recently ingested these compounds.” The animal study involved implanting human prostate stem cells into mice. For the study, doses of BPA at relative levels similar to those seen in pregnant women were fed to the mice for the first two weeks after the transplant. Next, the mice were exposed to raised oestrogen levels, mimicking the normal rise in oestrogen seen in ageing men. Signs of cancer developed in the prostate tissue implants in a third of the mice fed BPA, compared with just 12 per cent of mice not exposed to the chemical. But 45 per cent showed signs of cancer if the stem cells were exposed to BPA before implantation and again during development. The research was presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Francisco. |
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Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Doctors make progress toward ‘artificial pancreas’
(AP) / 23 June 2013
This image provided by Medtronic shows the MiniMed Integrated System device, which doctors are reporting as a major step toward an 'artificial pancreas.' The device that would constantly monitor blood sugar in people with diabetes and automatically supply insulin as needed. - AP
1/1 
Doctors are reporting a major step toward an “artificial pancreas,” a device that would constantly monitor blood sugar in people with diabetes and automatically supply insulin as needed.A key component of such a system — an insulin pump programmed to shut down if blood-sugar dips too low while people are sleeping — worked as intended in a three-month study of 247 patients.
This “smart pump,” made by Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc., is already sold in Europe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing it now. Whether it also can be programmed to mimic a real pancreas and constantly adjust insulin based on continuous readings from a blood-sugar monitor requires more testing, but doctors say the new study suggests that’s a realistic goal.
“This is the first step in the development of the artificial pancreas,” said Dr. Richard Bergenstal, diabetes chief at Park Nicollet, a large clinic in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. “Before we said it’s a dream. We have the first part of it now and I really think it will be developed.”
He led the company-sponsored study and gave results Saturday at an American Diabetes Association conference in Chicago. They also were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study involved people with Type 1 diabetes, the kind usually diagnosed during childhood. About 5 percent of the 26 million Americans with diabetes have this type. Their bodies don’t make insulin, a hormone needed to turn food into energy. That causes high blood-sugar levels and raises the risk for heart disease and many other health problems.
Some people with the more common Type 2 diabetes, the kind linked to obesity, also need insulin and might also benefit from a device like an artificial pancreas. For now, though, it’s aimed at people with Type 1 diabetes who must inject insulin several times a day or get it through a pump with a narrow tube that goes under the skin. The pump is about the size of a cellphone and can be worn on a belt or kept in a pocket.
The pumps give a steady amount of insulin, and patients must monitor their sugar levels and give themselves more insulin at meals or whenever needed to keep blood sugar from getting too high.
A big danger is having too much insulin in the body overnight, when blood-sugar levels naturally fall. People can go into comas, suffer seizures and even die. Parents of children with diabetes often worry so much about this that they sneak into their bedrooms at night to check their child’s blood-sugar monitor.
In the study, all patients had sensors that continuously monitored their blood sugar. Half of them had ordinary insulin pumps and the others had pumps programmed to stop supplying insulin for two hours when blood-sugar fell to a certain threshold.
Over three months, low-sugar episodes were reduced by about one-third in people using the pump with the shut-off feature. Importantly, these people had no cases of severely low blood sugar — the most dangerous kind that require medical aid or help from another person. There were four cases in the group using the standard pump.
“As a first step, I think we should all be very excited that it works,” an independent expert, Dr. Irl Hirsch of the University of Washington in Seattle, said of the programmable pump.
The next step is to test having it turn off sooner, before sugar falls so much, and to have it automatically supply insulin to prevent high blood sugar, too.
Dr. Anne Peters, a diabetes specialist at the University of Southern California, said the study “represents a major step forward” for an artificial pancreas.
One participant, Spears Mallis, 34, a manager for a cancer center in Gainesville, Georgia, wishes these devices were available now. He typically gets low-sugar about 8 to 10 times a week, at least once a week while he’s asleep.
“I would set an alarm in the middle of the night just to be sure I was OK. That will cause you to not get a good night of rest,” he said.
His “smart pump” stopped giving insulin several times during the study when his sugar fell low, and he wasn’t always aware of it. That’s a well-known problem for people with Type 1 diabetes — over time, “you become less and less sensitive to feeling the low blood sugars” and don’t recognize symptoms in time to drink juice or do something else to raise sugar a bit, he said.
Besides Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and several other research groups are working on artificial pancreas devices.
(AP) / 23 June 2013
1/1 This “smart pump,” made by Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc., is already sold in Europe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing it now. Whether it also can be programmed to mimic a real pancreas and constantly adjust insulin based on continuous readings from a blood-sugar monitor requires more testing, but doctors say the new study suggests that’s a realistic goal.
“This is the first step in the development of the artificial pancreas,” said Dr. Richard Bergenstal, diabetes chief at Park Nicollet, a large clinic in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. “Before we said it’s a dream. We have the first part of it now and I really think it will be developed.”
He led the company-sponsored study and gave results Saturday at an American Diabetes Association conference in Chicago. They also were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study involved people with Type 1 diabetes, the kind usually diagnosed during childhood. About 5 percent of the 26 million Americans with diabetes have this type. Their bodies don’t make insulin, a hormone needed to turn food into energy. That causes high blood-sugar levels and raises the risk for heart disease and many other health problems.
Some people with the more common Type 2 diabetes, the kind linked to obesity, also need insulin and might also benefit from a device like an artificial pancreas. For now, though, it’s aimed at people with Type 1 diabetes who must inject insulin several times a day or get it through a pump with a narrow tube that goes under the skin. The pump is about the size of a cellphone and can be worn on a belt or kept in a pocket.
The pumps give a steady amount of insulin, and patients must monitor their sugar levels and give themselves more insulin at meals or whenever needed to keep blood sugar from getting too high.
A big danger is having too much insulin in the body overnight, when blood-sugar levels naturally fall. People can go into comas, suffer seizures and even die. Parents of children with diabetes often worry so much about this that they sneak into their bedrooms at night to check their child’s blood-sugar monitor.
In the study, all patients had sensors that continuously monitored their blood sugar. Half of them had ordinary insulin pumps and the others had pumps programmed to stop supplying insulin for two hours when blood-sugar fell to a certain threshold.
Over three months, low-sugar episodes were reduced by about one-third in people using the pump with the shut-off feature. Importantly, these people had no cases of severely low blood sugar — the most dangerous kind that require medical aid or help from another person. There were four cases in the group using the standard pump.
“As a first step, I think we should all be very excited that it works,” an independent expert, Dr. Irl Hirsch of the University of Washington in Seattle, said of the programmable pump.
The next step is to test having it turn off sooner, before sugar falls so much, and to have it automatically supply insulin to prevent high blood sugar, too.
Dr. Anne Peters, a diabetes specialist at the University of Southern California, said the study “represents a major step forward” for an artificial pancreas.
One participant, Spears Mallis, 34, a manager for a cancer center in Gainesville, Georgia, wishes these devices were available now. He typically gets low-sugar about 8 to 10 times a week, at least once a week while he’s asleep.
“I would set an alarm in the middle of the night just to be sure I was OK. That will cause you to not get a good night of rest,” he said.
His “smart pump” stopped giving insulin several times during the study when his sugar fell low, and he wasn’t always aware of it. That’s a well-known problem for people with Type 1 diabetes — over time, “you become less and less sensitive to feeling the low blood sugars” and don’t recognize symptoms in time to drink juice or do something else to raise sugar a bit, he said.
Besides Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and several other research groups are working on artificial pancreas devices.
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Type 1 diabetes vaccine shows promise in early study
(Reuters) / 27 June 2013
An early stage study suggests an experimental vaccine may be able to tame bits of the immune system that go haywire in people with type 1 diabetes, offering hope for a new way to delay or prevent the autoimmune disease, researchers said on Wednesday.For more than four decades, scientists have tried different ways of manipulating the immune system to stop the destruction of insulin-producing cells that is responsible for type 1 diabetes. The disease affects as many as 3 million Americans.
Some prior attempts suppressed desirable parts of the immune system, leaving individuals vulnerable to infections and cancer. Several teams are now attempting more targeted approaches in an effort to delay or reverse type 1 diabetes.
Those with this form of diabetes currently must monitor their blood sugar and take insulin several times a day, but the treatment is risky - it can cause coma or death at any time and can lead to heart disease, nerve damage, blindness and kidney failure over time.
“What one really wants to do is tame or regulate the specific aspects of the immune system that have gone awry and leave the rest of the immune system intact,” said Dr. Richard Insel, chief scientific officer of JDRF, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
In the latest effort, published on Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, teams from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and Stanford University in California tested a vaccine genetically engineered to shut down only the immune system cells causing harm, while leaving the rest of the immune system intact.
“The idea here is to turn off just the rogue immune cells that are attacking the pancreas and killing the beta cells that secrete insulin,” said Stanford Professor Dr. Lawrence Steinman, one of the study’s senior authors and co-founder of a company called Tolerion recently formed to commercialize the vaccine.
The study, done in 80 people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes who were receiving insulin injections, was designed to test the safety of the vaccine known as TOL-3021. The so-called DNA vaccine is made up of a small round piece of DNA called a plasmid that is genetically engineered to tamp down the immune response to insulin and preserve insulin-producing beta cells.
The vaccine targets a precursor protein in the blood called proinsulin. “It’s a complicated series of snips and cuts in the DNA that take away the capability to stimulate the immune system,” Steinman said.
“This effectively triggers an off-switch,” he said.
After 12 weeks of shots given once a week, patients who got the vaccine showed signs that they helped preserve some of the remaining insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas without causing serious side effects.
The vaccine also reduced the number of killer immune cells known as T cells. And patients who got the active vaccine had higher levels of C-peptides - a remnant of insulin production in the blood that suggests the presence of more working beta cells.
Steinman admits the vaccine is far from commercial use, but the study is promising enough to do a bigger study.
“So far, it looks like it is doing what we want,” he said.
Insel said it was too early to say much about the vaccine’s promise. “It looks like it has some potential, but very small numbers,” he said.
“This was done initially as a safety and dose-finding study. They were surprised to get these kinds of results,” he said.
Stanford has licensed rights to the vaccine to California-based Tolerion, which is designing a longer study in as many as 200 patients to test whether the vaccine can slow or stop progression of the disease in younger patients, before too much damage has been done.
Insel said the work is one of several efforts aimed at developing a vaccine for type 1 diabetes. Such a vaccine could help people with active type 1 diabetes preserve residual beta cells, giving them better control of their disease and potentially getting them off insulin.
Ultimately, the hope is to develop an effective vaccine that could be given to individuals who are genetically predisposed to develop the condition, he said.
The World Health Organization estimates that about 10 percent of the 350 million people in the world with diabetes have the type 1 variety - most have type 2, which is associated with obesity and lack of exercise.
(Reuters) / 27 June 2013
An early stage study suggests an experimental vaccine may be able to tame bits of the immune system that go haywire in people with type 1 diabetes, offering hope for a new way to delay or prevent the autoimmune disease, researchers said on Wednesday.For more than four decades, scientists have tried different ways of manipulating the immune system to stop the destruction of insulin-producing cells that is responsible for type 1 diabetes. The disease affects as many as 3 million Americans.
Some prior attempts suppressed desirable parts of the immune system, leaving individuals vulnerable to infections and cancer. Several teams are now attempting more targeted approaches in an effort to delay or reverse type 1 diabetes.
“What one really wants to do is tame or regulate the specific aspects of the immune system that have gone awry and leave the rest of the immune system intact,” said Dr. Richard Insel, chief scientific officer of JDRF, formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
In the latest effort, published on Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, teams from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and Stanford University in California tested a vaccine genetically engineered to shut down only the immune system cells causing harm, while leaving the rest of the immune system intact.
“The idea here is to turn off just the rogue immune cells that are attacking the pancreas and killing the beta cells that secrete insulin,” said Stanford Professor Dr. Lawrence Steinman, one of the study’s senior authors and co-founder of a company called Tolerion recently formed to commercialize the vaccine.
The study, done in 80 people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes who were receiving insulin injections, was designed to test the safety of the vaccine known as TOL-3021. The so-called DNA vaccine is made up of a small round piece of DNA called a plasmid that is genetically engineered to tamp down the immune response to insulin and preserve insulin-producing beta cells.
The vaccine targets a precursor protein in the blood called proinsulin. “It’s a complicated series of snips and cuts in the DNA that take away the capability to stimulate the immune system,” Steinman said.
“This effectively triggers an off-switch,” he said.
After 12 weeks of shots given once a week, patients who got the vaccine showed signs that they helped preserve some of the remaining insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas without causing serious side effects.
The vaccine also reduced the number of killer immune cells known as T cells. And patients who got the active vaccine had higher levels of C-peptides - a remnant of insulin production in the blood that suggests the presence of more working beta cells.
Steinman admits the vaccine is far from commercial use, but the study is promising enough to do a bigger study.
“So far, it looks like it is doing what we want,” he said.
Insel said it was too early to say much about the vaccine’s promise. “It looks like it has some potential, but very small numbers,” he said.
“This was done initially as a safety and dose-finding study. They were surprised to get these kinds of results,” he said.
Stanford has licensed rights to the vaccine to California-based Tolerion, which is designing a longer study in as many as 200 patients to test whether the vaccine can slow or stop progression of the disease in younger patients, before too much damage has been done.
Insel said the work is one of several efforts aimed at developing a vaccine for type 1 diabetes. Such a vaccine could help people with active type 1 diabetes preserve residual beta cells, giving them better control of their disease and potentially getting them off insulin.
Ultimately, the hope is to develop an effective vaccine that could be given to individuals who are genetically predisposed to develop the condition, he said.
The World Health Organization estimates that about 10 percent of the 350 million people in the world with diabetes have the type 1 variety - most have type 2, which is associated with obesity and lack of exercise.
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
| Walnuts boost blood vessel functioning (IANS) / 10 May 2013 Scientists now know the additional ways the components of walnuts and their extracts lower risks of heart diseases.Consumption of whole walnuts or their extracted oil can reduce cardiovascular risk through a mechanism other than simply lowering cholesterol, according to a team of Penn State, Tufts University and University of Pennsylvania researchers. 
“But, until now, we did not know what component of the walnut was providing this benefit. Now we understand additional ways in which whole walnuts and their oil components can improve heart health.” Results - which will appear in the June 1 issue of the Journal of Nutrition and are now online - showed that a one-time consumption of the oil component in walnuts favourably affected vascular health. In addition, consumption of whole walnuts helped HDL - good cholesterol - perform more effectively in transporting and removing excess cholesterol from the body, reports Science Daily. “Our study showed that the oil found in walnuts can maintain blood vessel function after a meal, which is very important given that blood vessel integrity is often compromised in individuals with cardiovascular disease,” said Claire Berryman, graduate student in nutritional sciences, Penn State. “The walnut oil was particularly good at preserving the function of endothelial cells, which play an important role in cardiovascular health,” said Berryman. |
| |
insaan
MPA (400+ posts)
Roll your mouse over any of the 24 vertebrae in the human spine!!!
Roll slowly, don’t want to miss any.
What a fascinating demo of how our spine affects our bodies.
Move your mouse over back bones and see the parts that are affected!
Roll slowly, don’t want to miss any.
What a fascinating demo of how our spine affects our bodies.
Move your mouse over back bones and see the parts that are affected!
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Phys Ed June 19, 2013, 12:01 am226 Comments
The 4-Minute Workout
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Mike Harrington/Getty Images
Phys Ed
Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.
Thanks to an ingratiating new study, we may finally be closer to answering that ever-popular question regarding our health and fitness: How little exercise can I get away with?
The answer, it seems, may be four minutes.
For the study, which was published last month in the journal PLoS One, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, and other institutions attempted to delineate the minimum amount of exercise required to develop appreciable endurance and health gains. They began by reconsidering their own past work, which had examined the effects of a relatively large dose of high-intensity intervals on various measures of health and fitness.
The ‘4-Minute Workout’ Playlist
The quick-witted Reduced Shakespeare Company highlights the athletic achievements in Shakespeare’s works.
Christopher McDougall reads from his book “Born to Run.”
For those unfamiliar with the term, high-intensity intervals are just that: bursts of strenuous exercise lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes, interspersed with periods of rest. In recent years, a wealth of studies have established that sessions of high-intensity exercises can be as potent, physiologically, as much longer bouts of sustained endurance exercise.
In a representative study from 2010, for instance, Canadian researchers showed that 10 one-minute intervals — essentially, 10 minutes of strenuous exercise braided with one-minute rest periods between — led to the same changes within muscle cells as about 90 minutes of moderate bike riding.
Similarly, the Norwegian scientists for some years have been studying the effects of intense intervals lasting for four minutes, performed at about 90 percent of each volunteer’s maximum heart rate and repeated four times, with a three-minute rest between each interval. The total meaningful exercise time in these sessions, then, is 16 minutes.
Which, the researchers thought, might just be too much.
“One of the main reasons people give” for not exercising is that they don’t have time, says Arnt Erik Tjonna, a postdoctoral fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, who led the study.
So he and his colleagues decided to slim down the regimen and determine whether a single, strenuous four-minute workout would effectively improve health and fitness.
To do so, they gathered 26 overweight and sedentary but otherwise healthy middle-aged men, determined their baseline endurance and cardiovascular and metabolic health, and randomly assigned them to one of two groups.
Half began a supervised exercise program that reiterated the Norwegian researchers’ former routine. After briefly warming up, these volunteers ran on a treadmill at 90 percent of their maximal heart rate — a tiring pace, says Dr. Tjonna, at which “you cannot talk in full sentences, but can use single words” — for four four-minute intervals, with three minutes of slow walking between, followed by a brief cool-down. The entire session was repeated three times a week for 10 weeks.
The second group, however, completed only one four-minute strenuous run. They, too, exercised three times a week for 10 weeks.
At the end of the program, the men had increased their maximal oxygen uptake, or endurance capacity, by an average of 10 percent or more, with no significant differences in the gains between the two groups.
Metabolic and cardiovascular health likewise had improved in both groups, with almost all of the men now displaying better blood sugar control and blood pressure profiles, whether they had exercised vigorously for 16 minutes per session, or four minutes per session, and despite the fact that few of the men had lost much body fat.
“This is not a weight-loss program,” Dr. Tjonna says. It is, instead, he says, “a suggestion for how people can make a kick-start for better fitness,” or maintain fitness already gained, when other obligations press on your time.
The results, Dr. Tjonna says, persuasively suggest that “getting in shape does not demand a big effort” in terms of time.
That finding, though, inevitably raises the question of whether the bar could drop even lower. Could, for instance, a mere two minutes of strenuous training effectively improve health and fitness?
Dr. Tjonna, the killjoy, doubts it. There are other groups of scientists looking at even shorter bouts of exercise, he says, “but it seems like they don’t get the same results regarding the maximal oxygen uptake” as the four-minute sessions used in his experiment. Since improved maximal oxygen uptake can reliably indicate better overall cardiovascular health, he suspects that “we need a certain length of the interval to trigger” such health and fitness benefits.
Thankfully, for those worried that a trip to the gym is an inefficient means of completing four minutes of exercise, the workout can effectively be practiced anywhere, Dr. Tjonna says. Sprint uphill for four minutes or race up multiple flights of steps. Bicycle, swim or even walk briskly, as long as you raise your heart rate sufficiently for four minutes. (Obviously, consult your doctor first if you haven’t been active in the past.)
“Everyone, we think,” Dr. Tjonna says, “has time for this kind of exercise three times a week.”
The 4-Minute Workout
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Mike Harrington/Getty Images
Phys Ed
Gretchen Reynolds on the science of fitness.
Thanks to an ingratiating new study, we may finally be closer to answering that ever-popular question regarding our health and fitness: How little exercise can I get away with?
The answer, it seems, may be four minutes.
For the study, which was published last month in the journal PLoS One, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, and other institutions attempted to delineate the minimum amount of exercise required to develop appreciable endurance and health gains. They began by reconsidering their own past work, which had examined the effects of a relatively large dose of high-intensity intervals on various measures of health and fitness.
The ‘4-Minute Workout’ Playlist
- play
- stop
- mute
- max volume
The quick-witted Reduced Shakespeare Company highlights the athletic achievements in Shakespeare’s works.
- play
- stop
- mute
- max volume
Christopher McDougall reads from his book “Born to Run.”
For those unfamiliar with the term, high-intensity intervals are just that: bursts of strenuous exercise lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes, interspersed with periods of rest. In recent years, a wealth of studies have established that sessions of high-intensity exercises can be as potent, physiologically, as much longer bouts of sustained endurance exercise.
In a representative study from 2010, for instance, Canadian researchers showed that 10 one-minute intervals — essentially, 10 minutes of strenuous exercise braided with one-minute rest periods between — led to the same changes within muscle cells as about 90 minutes of moderate bike riding.
Similarly, the Norwegian scientists for some years have been studying the effects of intense intervals lasting for four minutes, performed at about 90 percent of each volunteer’s maximum heart rate and repeated four times, with a three-minute rest between each interval. The total meaningful exercise time in these sessions, then, is 16 minutes.
Which, the researchers thought, might just be too much.
“One of the main reasons people give” for not exercising is that they don’t have time, says Arnt Erik Tjonna, a postdoctoral fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, who led the study.
So he and his colleagues decided to slim down the regimen and determine whether a single, strenuous four-minute workout would effectively improve health and fitness.
To do so, they gathered 26 overweight and sedentary but otherwise healthy middle-aged men, determined their baseline endurance and cardiovascular and metabolic health, and randomly assigned them to one of two groups.
Half began a supervised exercise program that reiterated the Norwegian researchers’ former routine. After briefly warming up, these volunteers ran on a treadmill at 90 percent of their maximal heart rate — a tiring pace, says Dr. Tjonna, at which “you cannot talk in full sentences, but can use single words” — for four four-minute intervals, with three minutes of slow walking between, followed by a brief cool-down. The entire session was repeated three times a week for 10 weeks.
The second group, however, completed only one four-minute strenuous run. They, too, exercised three times a week for 10 weeks.
At the end of the program, the men had increased their maximal oxygen uptake, or endurance capacity, by an average of 10 percent or more, with no significant differences in the gains between the two groups.
Metabolic and cardiovascular health likewise had improved in both groups, with almost all of the men now displaying better blood sugar control and blood pressure profiles, whether they had exercised vigorously for 16 minutes per session, or four minutes per session, and despite the fact that few of the men had lost much body fat.
“This is not a weight-loss program,” Dr. Tjonna says. It is, instead, he says, “a suggestion for how people can make a kick-start for better fitness,” or maintain fitness already gained, when other obligations press on your time.
The results, Dr. Tjonna says, persuasively suggest that “getting in shape does not demand a big effort” in terms of time.
That finding, though, inevitably raises the question of whether the bar could drop even lower. Could, for instance, a mere two minutes of strenuous training effectively improve health and fitness?
Dr. Tjonna, the killjoy, doubts it. There are other groups of scientists looking at even shorter bouts of exercise, he says, “but it seems like they don’t get the same results regarding the maximal oxygen uptake” as the four-minute sessions used in his experiment. Since improved maximal oxygen uptake can reliably indicate better overall cardiovascular health, he suspects that “we need a certain length of the interval to trigger” such health and fitness benefits.
Thankfully, for those worried that a trip to the gym is an inefficient means of completing four minutes of exercise, the workout can effectively be practiced anywhere, Dr. Tjonna says. Sprint uphill for four minutes or race up multiple flights of steps. Bicycle, swim or even walk briskly, as long as you raise your heart rate sufficiently for four minutes. (Obviously, consult your doctor first if you haven’t been active in the past.)
“Everyone, we think,” Dr. Tjonna says, “has time for this kind of exercise three times a week.”
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Painkiller overdose killing more women
(IANS) / 3 July 2013
Deaths due to overdose of prescription painkillers have risen sharply in recent years among women a medical report said.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that between 1999 and 2010, the death toll from painkiller overdose increased more than 400 percent among American women, compared to 265 percent in American men, Xinhua reported.
A total of 48,000 American women died due to painkiller overdose during the period, it said.
"Prescription painkiller deaths have skyrocketed in women," CDC director Tom Frieden said in a statement.
"Stopping this epidemic in women - and men - is everyone's business. Doctors need to be cautious about prescribing and patients about using these drugs."
The study included emergency department visits and deaths related to drug misuse or abuse and overdose, as well as analyses specific to prescription painkillers.
It found that more than 6,600 American women died from prescription painkillers in 2010, which is four times the number that died from cocaine and heroin combined.
The death rate was highest among women ages 45 to 54.
There were also more than 200,000 emergency department visits for opioid misuse or abuse among women during that year, the CDC said.
Research suggests that women are more likely to have chronic pain, be prescribed prescription painkillers, be given higher doses, and use them for longer time periods than men, the health agency said.
Women may also become dependent on prescription painkillers more quickly than men, it said.
"The prescription painkiller problem affects women in different ways than men and all health care providers treating women should be aware of this," said Linda Degutis, director of CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
"Health care providers can help improve the way painkillers are prescribed while making sure women have access to safe and effective pain treatment," Degutis said.
(IANS) / 3 July 2013
Deaths due to overdose of prescription painkillers have risen sharply in recent years among women a medical report said.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that between 1999 and 2010, the death toll from painkiller overdose increased more than 400 percent among American women, compared to 265 percent in American men, Xinhua reported.
A total of 48,000 American women died due to painkiller overdose during the period, it said.
"Prescription painkiller deaths have skyrocketed in women," CDC director Tom Frieden said in a statement.
"Stopping this epidemic in women - and men - is everyone's business. Doctors need to be cautious about prescribing and patients about using these drugs."
The study included emergency department visits and deaths related to drug misuse or abuse and overdose, as well as analyses specific to prescription painkillers.
It found that more than 6,600 American women died from prescription painkillers in 2010, which is four times the number that died from cocaine and heroin combined.
The death rate was highest among women ages 45 to 54.
There were also more than 200,000 emergency department visits for opioid misuse or abuse among women during that year, the CDC said.
Research suggests that women are more likely to have chronic pain, be prescribed prescription painkillers, be given higher doses, and use them for longer time periods than men, the health agency said.
Women may also become dependent on prescription painkillers more quickly than men, it said.
"The prescription painkiller problem affects women in different ways than men and all health care providers treating women should be aware of this," said Linda Degutis, director of CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
"Health care providers can help improve the way painkillers are prescribed while making sure women have access to safe and effective pain treatment," Degutis said.
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Have breakfast, reduce risk of heart attack
(IANS) / 24 July 2013
Skipping breakfast could make you vulnerable to greater risk of heart attack, US researchers have warned.Health experts have suggested that older men not bothering to eat after getting up are a quarter more likely to have a cardiac arrest or die from coronary disease than those who do, Daily Mail reported.
According to the researchers, missing a morning meal or eating very late at night may trigger changes in the body’s metabolism that leads to coronary heart disease.
It may also affect blood sugar and hormone levels that make heart disease more likely.
For their study spanning 16 years, the researchers tracked the health of 26,902 male health professionals aged 45-82 and asked them to complete a series of eating questionnaires.
Altogether 1,572 men had a first-time “cardiac event” during the period, said the study published in the medical journal Circulation.
Men who skipped breakfast were found to have a 27 percent higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease than breakfast eaters.
The men who did not eat breakfast were younger than those who did, and were more likely to be smokers, employed full-time, unmarried, less physically active and to drink more alcohol.
Men who ate after going to bed had a 55 percent higher coronary heart disease risk than those who did not, but it was a small minority of the total.
(IANS) / 24 July 2013
Skipping breakfast could make you vulnerable to greater risk of heart attack, US researchers have warned.Health experts have suggested that older men not bothering to eat after getting up are a quarter more likely to have a cardiac arrest or die from coronary disease than those who do, Daily Mail reported.
According to the researchers, missing a morning meal or eating very late at night may trigger changes in the body’s metabolism that leads to coronary heart disease.
It may also affect blood sugar and hormone levels that make heart disease more likely.
For their study spanning 16 years, the researchers tracked the health of 26,902 male health professionals aged 45-82 and asked them to complete a series of eating questionnaires.
Altogether 1,572 men had a first-time “cardiac event” during the period, said the study published in the medical journal Circulation.
Men who skipped breakfast were found to have a 27 percent higher risk of heart attack or death from coronary heart disease than breakfast eaters.
The men who did not eat breakfast were younger than those who did, and were more likely to be smokers, employed full-time, unmarried, less physically active and to drink more alcohol.
Men who ate after going to bed had a 55 percent higher coronary heart disease risk than those who did not, but it was a small minority of the total.
Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Drinking too much coffee? It may be risky
(IANS) / 17 August 2013
If you have been fond of taking coffee many times in a day, beware! For a new study has found a link between heavy coffee consumption and increased death risk for people aged below 55.The US study, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, found a statistically significant 21 percent increased mortality among those who drink more than 28 cups of coffee a week or four cups of coffee a day, Xinhua reported.
Based on age groups, the study found that the risk of death from all causes risen by more than 50 percent for men and women who were younger than 55. But no adverse effects were noticed in heavy coffee drinkers aged over 55.
In this study, researchers from the University of South Carolina, US examined the coffee consumption of more than 43,000 individuals aged between 20 and 87 years from 1971 to 2002. During the 17-year median follow-up period, more than 2,500 participants died.
It was found that younger men had a trend towards higher mortality despite lower consumption. But this became significant at about 28 cups per week where there was a 56 percent increase in mortality from all causes.
Younger women who consumed more than 28 cups of coffee per week had double the risk of dying from all causes than those who did not drink coffee, the study said.
“For those drinking high amounts, there should be some caution, as this dose was associated with at least a signal for increased total mortality in this large study, especially in those under 55 years of age,” Xuemei Sui, the study’s co-author from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
“My review is that it is safe to drink low doses (1 to 2 cups and probably 2 to 3 cups per day) of coffee, with even some potential benefits of the low dose,” Sui said but adding: “Moderation is the key. Avoid excess drinking coffee.”
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-arti...=/data/health/2013/August/health_August22.xml
(IANS) / 17 August 2013
If you have been fond of taking coffee many times in a day, beware! For a new study has found a link between heavy coffee consumption and increased death risk for people aged below 55.The US study, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, found a statistically significant 21 percent increased mortality among those who drink more than 28 cups of coffee a week or four cups of coffee a day, Xinhua reported.
Based on age groups, the study found that the risk of death from all causes risen by more than 50 percent for men and women who were younger than 55. But no adverse effects were noticed in heavy coffee drinkers aged over 55.
In this study, researchers from the University of South Carolina, US examined the coffee consumption of more than 43,000 individuals aged between 20 and 87 years from 1971 to 2002. During the 17-year median follow-up period, more than 2,500 participants died.
It was found that younger men had a trend towards higher mortality despite lower consumption. But this became significant at about 28 cups per week where there was a 56 percent increase in mortality from all causes.
Younger women who consumed more than 28 cups of coffee per week had double the risk of dying from all causes than those who did not drink coffee, the study said.
“For those drinking high amounts, there should be some caution, as this dose was associated with at least a signal for increased total mortality in this large study, especially in those under 55 years of age,” Xuemei Sui, the study’s co-author from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
“My review is that it is safe to drink low doses (1 to 2 cups and probably 2 to 3 cups per day) of coffee, with even some potential benefits of the low dose,” Sui said but adding: “Moderation is the key. Avoid excess drinking coffee.”
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Night_Hawk
Siasat.pk - Blogger
Incence sticks come with health risk: New study
(IANS) / 6 August 2013
Incense sticks could come with a health risk—new research has shown that burning these generate indoor air pollutants, which may lead to inflammation in human lung cells.A new study, carried out by researchers in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the US, says burning incense releases pollutants, including carbon monoxide.
The World Health Organisation estimates that more than one million people a year die from chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD), primarily a result of exposure to pollutants from stoves and open hearths.
Burning incense releases similar pollutants, including carbon monoxide, reports the study, in which the authors identified and measured the particles and gases emitted from two kinds of incenses.
The testing was done over three hours, the typical time-frame during which incense is burned, in a specially designed indoor environmental chamber with a concentration of smoke.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-arti...2013/August/health_August7.xml§ion=health
(IANS) / 6 August 2013
Incense sticks could come with a health risk—new research has shown that burning these generate indoor air pollutants, which may lead to inflammation in human lung cells.A new study, carried out by researchers in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the US, says burning incense releases pollutants, including carbon monoxide.
The World Health Organisation estimates that more than one million people a year die from chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD), primarily a result of exposure to pollutants from stoves and open hearths.
Burning incense releases similar pollutants, including carbon monoxide, reports the study, in which the authors identified and measured the particles and gases emitted from two kinds of incenses.
The testing was done over three hours, the typical time-frame during which incense is burned, in a specially designed indoor environmental chamber with a concentration of smoke.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-arti...2013/August/health_August7.xml§ion=health
