6,000 steps a day keeps knee problems at bay Walking 6,000 or more steps per day may protect people with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA) from developing mobility issues such as difficulty in getting up from a chair and climbing stairs, a study shows. “Walking reduces risk of functional limitation associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA),” said Daniel White from Sargent College at Boston University in Massachusetts, US. For the study, researchers measured daily steps taken by 1,788 people with or at risk for knee OA”We tried to find out how much daily walking is needed to minimize risk of developing problems with mobility in people with knee OA,” White added. For the study, researchers measured daily steps taken by 1,788 people with or at risk for knee OA.Walking was measured with a monitor over seven days and functional limitation evaluated two years later. Knee pain can be caused by a sudden injury, an overuse injury, or by an underlying condition, such as arthritisWalking an additional 1,000 steps each was associated with between a 16 percent to 18 percent reduction in incident functional limitation two years later. Walking less than 6,000 steps daily was the best threshold for identifying those who developed functional limitation. “We encourage those with or at risk of knee OA to walk at least 3,000 or more steps each day, and ultimately progress to 6,000 steps daily to minimize the risk of developing difficulty with mobility,” White suggested. The study was published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.
(Source:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/knee-problems-walking-6000-steps-knee-osteoarthritis/1/366659.html)
Walking 6,000 or more steps per day may protect people with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA) from developing mobility issues such as difficulty in getting up from a chair and climbing stairs, a study shows.
Read More..Why quitting smoking is harder for some Washington: For some smokers, strategies to aid quitting work well, but for others no trick seems to work. Researchers have now identified an aspect of brain activity that helps to predict the effectiveness of a reward-based strategy as motivation to quit smoking. The researchers observed the brains of nicotine-deprived smokers with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and found that those who exhibited the weakest response to rewards were also the least willing to refrain from smoking, even when offered money to do so. “We believe that our findings may help to explain why some smokers find it so difficult to quit smoking,” Stephen J. Wilson, assistant professor of psychology, Penn State said. “Namely, potential sources of reinforcement for giving up smoking — for example, the prospect of saving money or improving health — may hold less value for some individuals and, accordingly, have less impact on their behavior,” he said. The researchers recruited 44 smokers to examine striatal response to monetary reward in those expecting to smoke and in those who were not, and the subsequent willingness of the smokers to forego a cigarette in an effort to earn more money. “The striatum is part of the so-called reward system in the brain,” Wilson said. “It is the area of the brain that is important for motivation and goal-directed behavior — functions highly relevant to addiction,” he said. Wilson and his colleagues reported that they found that smokers who could not resist the temptation to smoke also showed weaker responses in the ventral striatum when offered monetary rewards while in the fMRI. The study is published in the journal Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience.
Washington: For some smokers, strategies to aid quitting work well, but for others no trick seems to work.Researchers have now identified an aspect of brain activity that helps to predict the effectiveness of a reward-based strategy as motivation to quit smoking.
Read More..Female hormones blamed for obesity in western men Washington: Obesity among Western men could be linked with exposure to substances containing the female sex hormone estrogen according to new research from the University of Adelaide. Medical student James Grantham, who conducted the research compared the obesity rates among men and women from around the world with measures such as Gross Domestic Product to determine the impact of affluence on obesity. Grantham said that in the Western world, such as in the United States, Europe and Australia, the rates of obesity between men and women were much closer and in some Western nations, male obesity was greater than female obesity. Professor Henneberg said that exposure to estrogen was known to cause weight gain, primarily through thyroid inhibition and modulation of the hypothalamus and soy products contained xenoestrogens, and they were concerned that in societies with a high dietary saturation of soy, such as the United States, this could be working to ‘feminize’ the males. The study is published in the online journal PLOS ONE.
Washington: Obesity among Western men could be linked with exposure to substances containing the female sex hormone estrogen according to new research from the University of Adelaide
Read More..Indian-origin scientist cracks protein code to control obesity London: Bharat Shimpukade, an Indian-origin scientist from University of Southern Denmark, along with his colleagues has come up with a smart tool that has brought the hunt for a pill against obesity one step closer. Their research is focused on a special protein that can stimulate different physiological activities such as the production of appetite controlling hormones and hormones that control the intestinal uptake of food. This protein, called FFA4, is found in the cell membranes in intestines, immune cells and in fat. It is activated by long-chain free fatty acids released from the food such as Omega-3 fatty acids. When this happens, it releases hormones that inhibit our appetite and increase sugar uptake from the blood. “In some people, this protein is not activated and they have a much higher risk of becoming obese,” Shimpukade noted. “We want to find a way to activate this protein because that may help us to develop a drug against obesity or diabetes,” said Shimpukade, a co-author on the paper along with scientists from University of Glasgow. Molecules can activate proteins so the job is “just” to find the right molecule. Researchers have developed a computer model of FFA4 that can help them select correct molecules for synthesis by first testing if they bind in the computer model. “This way we can test thousands of molecules in a very short time before going into the laboratory. This will speed up the process of finding the right compounds that can be developed to efficient drugs against obesity or diabetes”, Shimpukade concluded.
London: Bharat Shimpukade, an Indian-origin scientist from University of Southern Denmark, along with his colleagues has come up with a smart tool that has brought the hunt for a pill against obesity one step closer.
Read More..Brain activity may explain why some smokers find it hard to quit When it comes to quitting smoking, some people find it easier than others. Now, new research from Pennsylvania State University recently published in the journal Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience may explain why. The research team, including Stephen J. Wilson, assistant professor of psychology at Penn State, found that activity in the reward system of the brain – known as the striatum – could be a predictor of how likely a smoker is to quit the habit. As of 2012, approximately 18.1% of Americans aged 18 or over smoked cigarettes – a reduction from the 20.9% of American adults who smoked in 2005. Such a reduction has been partly attributed to smoking cessation aids, such as nicotine replacement therapy – the administration of nicotine to the body using means other than tobacco. This can include nicotine patches, gum, nasal spray and lozenges. However, it is easier for some people to quit smoking than others. A 2011 report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that of 52.4% adult smokers who said they attempted to quit in the past year, only 6.2% were successful. In an attempt to determine why some smokers find it so hard to quit, the researchers decided to conduct an experiment on 44 smokers. All participants were between the ages of 18 and 45 and reported smoking a minimum of 10 cigarettes a day for the past year. Subjects were asked to refrain from smoking and using any other nicotine-containing products 12 hours prior to the start of the experiment. For the test, the researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe activity in the striatum of the brain as participants played a card-guessing game that offered them the chance to win money. According to Wilson, the striatum is the “area of the brain that is important for motivation and goal-directed behavior – functions highly relevant to addiction.” All participants were told they would have to wait around 2 hours – until the experiment had finished – to have a cigarette. But during the experiment, half of the subjects were informed a mistake had been made and they could now have a cigarette during a 50-minute break that would take place in the next 16 minutes. When it was time for the cigarette break, these participants were then told that for every 5 minutes they refrained from smoking, they would receive $1. Overall, they had the potential to earn up to $10. The researchers report that smokers who were unable to refrain from smoking in response to monetary rewards during the break showed weaker activity in the striatum in response to monetary rewards during the card-guessing game. “We believe that our findings may help to explain why some smokers find it so difficult to quit smoking,” says Wilson. “Namely, potential sources of reinforcement for giving up smoking – for example, the prospect of saving money or improving health – may hold less value for some individuals and, accordingly, have less impact on their behavior.”FMRI imaging measured smokers’ response to monetary rewards
Weaker activity in striatum may explain smokers’ difficulty in quitting
The research team, including Stephen J. Wilson, assistant professor of psychology at Penn State, found that activity in the reward system of the brain – known as the striatum – could be a predictor of how likely a smoker is to quit the habit.
Read More..20 dead, over 400 ill in Tripura malaria outbreak Agartala: At least 20 people have died and over 400 fallen ill due to the outbreak of malaria in northern Tripura, a minister said here Friday. “Twenty people died and more than 400 people have become ill in the past one week in Gandachera and Longtharai Valley sub-divisions (under Dhalai district). All the sick people have been admitted to government hospitals,” Tripura’s Health Minister Badal Choudhury told reporters. The unofficial figure of deaths due to malaria stands at more than 30 and of those taken ill at over 600. Majority of the affected include children and youth. Choudhury, who rushed to the malaria affected areas Friday along with the experts, said: “Four medical teams have been sent to the tribal dominated Gandachera and Longtharai Valley areas”. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar held a high-level meeting here Thursday and reviewed the situation. “To deal with the situation effectively, leaves of all doctors, nurses and health workers have been cancelled. Health officials are visiting remote villages and making arrangements to bring the malaria affected people to the government hospitals,” the minister said. “We are contemplating to take punitive actions against the health workers for negligence of their duties and outbreak of the disease in a short span,” he added. A helicopter was made ready to ferry the doctors, health staffs and patients in emergency. Five temporary medical camps are functioning in the affected areas to treat those down with malaria and take preventive measures. The government has been advised by the experts to use second-generation medicine instead of traditional medicines to prevent malaria deaths. The health department has already stocked sufficient medicines in each sub-division and health centre to ensure speedy and effective treatment. All eight northeastern states, besides West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka, are highly malaria prone, where several hundred people die every year.
Agartala: At least 20 people have died and over 400 fallen ill due to the outbreak of malaria in northern Tripura, a minister said here Friday.
Read More..These 4 Things Happen Right before a Heart Attack Despite what you may believe, heart attacks rarely happen “out of the blue.” In fact, your body may be trying to warn you of an impending heart attack for days, weeks, perhaps even a month or two before it occurs. Unfortunately, by the time you actually recognize you’re suffering a heart attack; it could be too late to prevent death or debilitating heart damage. So-called silent heart attacks, with signs and symptoms that are mild or seem unrelated to the heart, have long concerned cardiovascular expert Dr. Chauncey Crandall. So Dr. Crandall recently created a special free video presentation about the four most sinister warning signs to watch for. Statistics show a clear link between a delay in heart attack treatment and death or disability. That’s why it’s essential to know exactly what your heart is trying to tell you with warning signs like those discussed in Dr. Crandall’s video. Although developed as an educational tool, this video rapidly went viral, surpassing 5 million viewers in just a few months. News max Health Publisher Travis Davis attributes the viral sensation to the fact that the content hits close to home for many Americans, especially because heart disease is America’s #1 killer. In fact, in the U.S. alone, nearly 1 million people suffer their first heart attack each year. Dr. Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at the renowned Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach, Florida, practices on the front lines of interventional, vascular, and transplant cardiology. 4 Bodily Signs a Heart Attack is Near: A Special Video Report Decades of clinical experience have afforded him the chance to detect little-known warning signs and symptoms like the four he addresses in the video. Plus, in the video Dr. Crandall also tells the real-life story of one man who suffered a “widow-maker” heart attack after ignoring the warning signs — and almost paid the ultimate price. The story is scary but eye-opening, because Dr. Crandall outlines what could have been done to actually prevent this from progressing to the life-threatening stage. Dr. Crandall, medical editor of the News max publication Heart Health Report, has a positive message: you don’t have to be a sitting duck for a deadly heart attack. In fact, according to Dr. Crandall, heart disease can be prevented — and even reversed — with the right information and simple lifestyle adjustments. (Source: http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/MKTNewsIntl/heartattackfourthings/2013/08/06/id/518985#ixzz34bKbglZc)
Despite what you may believe, heart attacks rarely happen “out of the blue.” In fact, your body may be trying to warn you of an impending heart attack for days, weeks, perhaps even a month or two before it occurs. Unfortunately, by the time you actually recognize you’re suffering a heart attack; it could be […]
Read More..New Health Minister Vows to Eradicate Deadly Encephalitis By Dr.Enozia Vakil (Indian Health News) Extraordinary steps have been ordered by the new health minister of India to end the deadly disease encephalitis, after it claimed the lives of 44 children in the country in the past fortnight. Hundreds of people across India die each year from the virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes from pigs to humans, with malnourished children particularly vulnerable. “I am extremely distressed at the runaway conquest of encephalitis and it is high time extraordinary steps were taken to stymie it,” health minister Harsh Vardhan said in a statement. Vardhan added that he ordered his ministry to go on “overdrive … and have a total immunization campaign for encephalitis in the affected districts” over June 22-23. Harsh Vardhan, a doctor praised for his work on eradicating polio in India, was sworn in as health minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet last month after his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party won the clearest mandate for 30 years. Vardhan aims to make his encephalitis campaign as successful as his polio one, which led to India’s 1.2 billion population becoming a certified polio-free nation in March after health volunteers repeatedly vaccinated children countrywide. The ministry will aim to have dedicated beds for encephalitis patients in all hospitals in affected districts and has already provided 100 ventilator machines in the hardest-hit Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh state. While Japanese encephalitis is responsible for about 10 percent of deaths, the more fatal Acute Encephalitis Syndrome is harder to tackle as its causes remain mostly unknown, the statement said. Symptoms include headaches, seizures and fever and health experts say 70 million children nationwide are at risk. The virus is present in 19 Indian states, including the most populous ones of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
He said that the virus, which normally affects children aged below 15, killed 44 children in Bihar state in the past two weeks and claimed 500-600 people each year in Uttar Pradesh alone.
By Dr.Enozia Vakil (Indian Health News) Extraordinary steps have been ordered by the new health minister of India to end the deadly disease encephalitis, after it claimed the lives of 44 children in the country in the past fortnight. Hundreds of people across India die each year from the virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes […]
Read More..7 Medical Tests Every Man Needs Admit it, guys: You don’t even like going to the doctor when there’s something wrong, let alone for preventative check-ups. But being proactive about your health—by getting recommended screenings for serious conditions and diseases—could mean you’ll spend less time at the doctor’s office down the road. Depending on age, family history, and lifestyle factors, people need different tests at different times in their lives. Here’s a good overview for all men to keep in mind. You may never need a screening for diabetes if you maintain a healthy weight and have no other risk factors for the disease (such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure). But for most men over 45—especially overweight men—a fasting plasma glucose test, or an A1C test, is a good idea, says Kevin Polsley, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine at Loyola University Health System in Chicago. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also recommends diabetes screenings for overweight adults younger than 45 who have a family history of the disease, or who are of African American, Asian American, Latino, Native American, or Pacific Islander descent. Fasting plasma glucose and A1C are both blood tests that should be done in your doctor’s office. The A1C test does not require fasting beforehand, but if your doctor wants to test you using fasting plasma glucose, you will be asked not to eat or drink anything but water for eight hours beforehand. Even if you’ve been in a monogamous relationship for years, it’s not a bad idea to get tested if you haven’t already done so. Many common sexually transmitted infections can go undiagnosed for years. For example, people can go as long as 10 years without showing symptoms of HIV. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that everyone ages 15 to 65 be screened for HIV at least once. This is especially important, Dr. Polsley says, if you have had unprotected sex, used injected drugs, or had a blood transfusion between 1978 and 1985. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a one-time hepatitis C screening for all adults born between 1945 and 1965, regardless of risk factors. “Believe it or not, there’s a lot of hepatitis C cases out there in which people either don’t have symptoms yet or don’t know what’s causing their symptoms,” says Dr. Polsley. “Screening for STIs is something I offer as routine at just about every physical, regardless of a patient’s age or health history.” You don’t need to make an appointment to figure out your body mass index, a measure of body fat based on your height and weight. Regardless of whether you calculate this stat yourself or your physician does the math for you, it’s important to be aware of this number, says Dr. Polsley. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal weight. Although this calculation isn’t perfect—and can sometimes label healthy people as overweight or vice versa—most doctors agree that it’s still an important component of assessing overall health. “It can be a very good opportunity to discuss diet and exercise, and to show our patients how important these things are,” Dr. Polsley says. The American Heart Association recommends men have their cholesterol levels tested every four to six years once they turn 20. “Men have an overall higher risk for cardiovascular disease than women, and high cholesterol is often a big part of that,” Dr. Polsley says. But your doctor may want to screen you earlier (and more often) if you have heart disease risk factors such as diabetes, tobacco use, or high blood pressure. Cholesterol is measured by a blood test, and your doctor may ask you not to eat for 9 to 12 hours beforehand. Generally, a cholesterol test will measure your levels of total cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, LDL (bad) cholesterol, and triglycerides. Depending on your results, your doctor may make dietary recommendations or prescribe a cholesterol-lowering medication like a statin. Like high cholesterol, high blood pressure is often a symptomless condition—but luckily, the test for hypertension is quick and painless, involving a rubber cuff that squeezes the arm and measures the flow of blood through a large artery in the bicep. “You should have your blood pressure checked pretty much every time you see your doctor,” says Dr. Polsley, starting at age 18. Don’t get to the doc often? Have it checked at least every two years, or yearly if your numbers were previously considered borderline (a top “systolic” number above 120 or bottom “diastolic” number higher than 80). You can check your blood pressure at health fairs, in pharmacies, or at home with a monitoring device. If your systolic pressure cracks 130 or your diastolic goes over 85, your doctor may recommend lifestyle modifications—like exercising more and eating less salt—or they might prescribe medication. Most men should be screened for colon cancer beginning at age 50, but those with a family history of the disease may benefit from earlier testing. Men and women alike tend to dread this test—in which a small camera is inserted into the anus and explores the large intestine for polyps or other signs of cancer—but Dr. Polsley says it’s not as bad as it sounds. “The preparation for the test is actually the worst part,” he says: You’ll need to empty your bowels completely before the exam, which may involve not eating solid foods for one to three days, drinking lots of clear liquids, or taking laxatives. “The actual colonoscopy shouldn’t be too uncomfortable, because you’re sedated through the whole thing.” But here’s the bright side: If your doctor doesn’t find anything suspicious, you won’t need another colonoscopy for up to 10 years. Screening for prostate cancer is more controversial than for other cancers, says Dr. Polsley, and some studies have shown that these tests can be expensive and unnecessary, and may do more harm than good. But he suggests that all men over 50 at least talk with their doctors about the pros and cons of these tests—usually either a digital rectal exam (in which the doctor inserts a gloved finger, or digit, into the rectum to feel for lumps and abnormalities) and a PSA test, which measures a protein called prostate-specific antigen in the blood. Prostate cancer screenings can and do save lives, but they may also result in false-positive or false-negative results. And because many cases of prostate cancer progress very slowly, some men (especially older men) don’t benefit from aggressive treatment. Whether you decide to get screened for prostate cancer should be a decision you make with your doctor, says Dr. Polsley. In the meantime, it’s important to know the symptoms of an enlarged prostate—like having to urinate frequently or having trouble urinating—which could also signal cancer.Diabetes
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Body Mass Index
Cholesterol
Blood pressure
Colonoscopy
Prostate exam
Admit it, guys: You don’t even like going to the doctor when there’s something wrong, let alone for preventative check-ups. But being proactive about your health—by getting recommended screenings for serious conditions and diseases—could mean you’ll spend less time at the doctor’s office down the road. Depending on age, family history, and lifestyle factors, people […]
Read More..Carrying Cell Phone in Pants Pocket May Harm Male Fertility Men who carry a cell phone in their pants pocket may harm their sperm and reduce their chances of having children, a new review warns. The research team analyzed the findings of 10 studies that examined how cell phone exposure may affect male fertility. Among men with no exposure to cell phones, 50 percent to 85 percent of their sperm had a normal ability to move towards an egg. That fell by an average of 8 percent among men exposed to cell phones. Similar effects were seen for sperm viability, which refers to the proportion of sperm that were alive, according to the study published June 9 in the journal Environment International. The effects of cellphone exposure on sperm concentration (the number of sperm per unit of semen) were unclear, the investigators noted. Most adults worldwide own mobile phones, and about 14 percent of couples in middle- and high-income nations have difficulty conceiving, the researchers said. They also noted that previous studies have suggested radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation emitted by cellphones can harm male fertility. “Given the enormous scale of mobile phone use around the world, the potential role of this environmental exposure needs to be clarified,” study leader Fiona Mathews, of the biosciences department at the University of Exeter in England, said in a university news release. “This study strongly suggests that being exposed to radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation from carrying mobiles in trouser pockets negatively affects sperm quality. This could be particularly important for men already on the borderline of infertility, and further research is required to determine the full clinical implications for the general population,” she said. While the study found an association between cellphone exposure and male infertility, the study was not designed to determine a cause-and-effect relationship.
Men who carry a cell phone in their pants pocket may harm their sperm and reduce their chances of having children, a new review warns. The research team analyzed the findings of 10 studies that examined how cell phone exposure may affect male fertility. Among men with no exposure to cell phones, 50 percent to […]
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