Most of the Indians have the habit of Betel leaves

 

Most of the Indians have the habit of eating paan. Paan is an Indian mouth sweetener which is prepared with betel leaves. The betel leaves are used since the ancient times tracing back to 2000 years ago.

 It has been mentioned in the most ancient historic book of Sri Lanka, the Mahavasma. In India, betel leaves as well as nuts are offered to guests as courtesy. You might be surprised to know that the heart-shaped, smooth, shining and long-stalked betel leaves have numerous health benefits.

 Since ancient times, betel leaves has been used as an aromatic stimulant and anti-flatulent. Apart from being served as a mouth freshener, betel leaf is also used as an aphrodisiac. There are many health benefits of betel leaves which also makes it good for pregnant women. If lactating mothers apply betel leaves, it increases the production of milk in breastfeeding mothers.

Betel leaves are also good for oral health. It reduces mouth odour, whitens teeth and reduces bleeding. Here are few amazing health benefits of betel leaves that are worth knowing. Next time when you plan to freshen up your mouth, have betel leaves. Just make sure you eat it in a healthy way. Do not mix it with flavorings and nuts.
Read more at: http://www.boldsky.com/health/wellness/2013/health-benefits-betel-leaves-035550.html

 

Aloe Vera – the Most Happening Health Drink

Aloe vera juice is now on top of the charts for its immense health benefits and may have beaten many of its ilks in the race for the most happening health drink. 

Experts have extolled its virtues, and one that stands out is its cholesterol lowering property

According to the claims of its manufacturers, Aloe Vera juice seems to help with weight loss, digestion and immune function. It is also thought to relieve discomfort of any kind. 

They say Aloe vera contains a mix of some of the best vitamins- including A, C, E, folic acid, B1, B2, B3, and B6. It is also one of the few plants that actually contain Vitamin B12, which helps with brain and nervous system function.

Aloe vera juice is also rich in minerals and contains zinc, magnesium, calcium, selenium, iron, sodium, and potassium. This juice is also packed with amino and fatty acids – all helpful in beating indigestion. It boosts the body’s immunity and has the ability to throw out toxins from the body.

‘Aloe vera is amazing if you have any suggestive discomfort. It is very soothing for the internals and helps beat the bloat. Drinking Aloe vera replenishes your body naturally with a huge range of nutrients. It contains approximately 200 active components including – vitamins A, B1,B2,B6, B12, C, E, folic acid and Niacin,’ a leading nutritionist said.
Read more: http://www.medindia.net

 

Now, plant pill that can reduce wrinkles

Ladies, your dream of popping a pill that can make you look younger may finally come true!

In a first, scientists claim to have developed a new pill that is clinically proven to combat ageing by reducing wrinkles, providing an easier alternative to more invasive measures such as Botox.

The oral supplement, containing plant compounds and vitamins, could reduce the depth of crow’s-feet wrinkles on faces by 10 percent, tests at an independent clinic in Germany have shown.

The study also showed the supplement stimulated the production of collagen, which can prevent wrinkles from forming, ‘The Sunday Times’ reported.

The cocktail of ingredients could offer an alternative to more invasive measures such as Botox or the plethora of face creams on which hundreds of millions are spent by people seeking youthful looks.

The ingredients taken by the women in the study were soy isoflavones, which are plant compounds; lycopene, an antioxidant; vitamin C; vitamin E; and omega-3 fatty acids.

Silicone moulds were made of crow’s feet around the eyes and made again after 14 weeks of taking the supplement. The skin was smoother with less marked wrinkles.

There was a “significant reduction in average wrinkle depth” on a test group of 53 women who took the supplement compared with the control group of 55 women who got a placebo, he report said.

“On average, there was a 10 per cent reduction in wrinkle depth in the test group when compared with placebo,” the report said.

An analysis of the skin found increased levels of collagen and a “reduced severity” of skin roughness.

“We found that a significantly higher number of individuals consuming the test product showed increased levels of collagen after 14 weeks than those who consumed placebo products. To our knowledge, this is the first published report of increased collagen production in skin as a result of an oral intervention,” the report said.

The study was published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/now-plant-pill-that-can-reduce-wrinkles/1175962

India seeks to regulate its booming ‘rent-a-womb’ industry

Dressed in a green surgical gown and cap, British restaurateur Rekha Patel cradled her newborn daughter at the Akanksha clinic in northwestern India as her husband Daniel smiled warmly, peering in through a glass door.

“I can’t believe we have our own child at last,” said Patel, 42, gazing in wonderment at five-day-old Gabrielle.

“We are really grateful to our surrogate mother who managed to get pregnant and kept our little daughter healthy. She gave nine months of her life to give us a child.”

It is the perfect promotion for India’s booming surrogacy industry that sees thousands of infertile couples, many from overseas, hiring the wombs of local women to carry their embryos through to birth.

But a debate over whether the unregulated industry exploits poor women prompted authorities to draft a law that could make it tougher for foreigners seeking babies made in India.

“There is a need to regulate the sector,” said Dr. Sudhir Ajja of Surrogacy India, a Mumbai-based fertility bank that has produced 295 surrogate babies – 90 percent for overseas clients and 40 percent for same-sex couples – since it opened in 2007.

“But if the new law tightens rules as suggested by the ministry of home affairs, which disallows surrogacy for same-sex couples and single parents, then it will clearly impact the industry and put off clients coming from overseas.”

India opened up to commercial surrogacy in 2002. It is among just a handful of countries – including Georgia, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine – and a few U.S. states where women can be paid to carry another’s genetic child through a process of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer.

The low-cost technology, skilled doctors, scant bureaucracy and a plentiful supply of surrogates have made India a preferred destination for fertility tourism, attracting nationals from Britain, the United States, Australia and Japan, to name a few.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/

Roche immunotherapy drug may be ‘game changer’ in lung cancer

An experimental Roche drug that seems to work particularly well against lung cancer in smokers may be a “game changer” for these normally difficult-to-treat patients, researchers said on Sunday.

Presenting detailed data from an early-stage trial of the drug, called MPDL3280A, in patients with a form of the disease called non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), investigators said what they had found was “great news for lung cancer patients”.

Of 53 patients with NSCLC tumors treated with the drug, 23 percent saw their tumors shrink, according to results presented at the European Cancer Congress (ECC) in Amsterdam.

But the most encouraging numbers were among smokers, where the response rate was 26 percent compared with 10 percent of patients who had never smoked, said Professor Jean-Charles Soria of France’s Institute Gustave Roussy, who led the study.

Lung cancer, which is usually caused by smoking, is extremely difficult to treat successfully and once it has started to spread to other parts of the body, it is incurable.

Roche’s MPDL3280A is an engineered antibody that targets a protein called PD-L1 – a defense mechanism that tumors use to trick the immune system’s T-cells into being inactive.

By blocking PD-L1, the drug allows the T-cells to wake up and recognize the cancer, and then grow and multiply to attack it more efficiently.

Rival drug makers including Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb are developing immunotherapy drugs in a similar class of drugs known as PD-1 inhibitors, also designed to mobilize the body’s own immune system to fight cancer.

Soria’s team suspected that because lung tumors in smokers have a higher rate of genetic mutations than tumors of lung cancer patients who have never smoked, their immune systems may be more likely to respond vigorously when PD-L1 is blocked.

So they drilled down into the data more closely, separating out the 81 percent of the 53 patients who were smokers or former smokers, and the 19 percent of them who were not.

“And bingo, this is the first targeted agent (drug) that shows more activity in smokers than in non-smokers,” Soria told reporters in a briefing at the ECC.

Cora Sternberg, co-chair of the ECC’s scientific committee and an oncologist at the San Camillo and Forlanini hospitals in Rome who was not involved in the study, said that although the results were from very early-stage trials, they suggested the drug was “definitely a game changer” in lung cancer.

Roche is also investigating MPDL3280A’s potential for treating a range of other cancers, including melanoma skin cancer and kidney cancer, where it has already shown some promise in early trials.

Cornelis van de Velde, an oncologist at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and president of the European Cancer Organization, said Soria’s was an extremely important study for NSCLC patients, who currently have very few treatment options that make much impact on their disease.

“Hundreds of millions of euros have been spent chasing the dream of immunotherapy for lung cancer patients, but with zero results.” he said. “These early findings..Suggest that it has the potential to open new therapeutic approaches.”

Source:

What happens to your body when you get jealous

We’re probably all hardwired for jealousy; even babies and dogs feel it. Not to be confused with envy, which is about coveting what someone else has (e.g., a fab house), jealousy is about protecting what’s yours—or what you think is yours. It frequently involves a me-you-her romantic triangle and often crops up at the start of a relationship.

The Mind Game
It might not be a “jealousy center,” but scientists suspect the brain’s left frontal cortex, which deals in emotions like shame, is involved.

Another key player is your noggin’s dopamine system; it regulates the chemical associated with happiness or reward.

Spurred by the above are the three types of jealousy:

Reactive jealousy happens after your mate has actually deceived you. You know he strayed and feel PO’ed, anxious, or sad. (Ditto if, for example, you caught your BFF out with a fun new friend.)

Suspicious jealousy rears its head when you see him flirting with someone else or if you start to doubt his commitment. Cue feelings of insecurity and distrust.

Delusional jealousy takes over when either of the above swell to the point of obsession, a la Fatal Attraction. You might act irrationally (freaking if he ogles an actress) or fanatically (creepily checking up on him).

The Body Blow
Once you’re green-eyed, you might have trouble seeing anything else—quite literally. A study found that women in the throes of jealousy had trouble spotting obvious objects. The greater their jealousy, the harder time they had. (Note to self: No driving while jealous!)

Jealousy might also kick-start the body’s stress response. Enter an overflow of stress hormones, spiked blood pressure, and an increased heart rate.

The End Results
Except for any delusion, these reactions could be. . .good for you. Researcher’s believe that jealousy evolved in humans to motivate people to protect the unions that would help them survive. (Hence, jealousy is often followed by aggression.)

In other words, jealousy is an innate part of life and no cause for embarrassment. Studies show that couples who get just a little green-eyed from time to time tend to have long, rich unions.

Source: http://healthyday4you.com/what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-get-jealous/

World not support growing elderly population – UN

A global study has found that the world is aging so fast, most countries are not prepared to support their swelling numbers of elderly people.

The study released Tuesday by the United Nations Population Fund and elder rights group HelpAge International ranks the social and economic well-being of elders in 91 countries. Sweden came out on top and Afghanistan was in last place.

The Global AgeWatch Index shows that nations are not working quickly enough to cope with a population greying faster than ever before. By the year 2050, seniors over the age of 60 will outnumber children under the age of 15 for the first time in history.

The study analyzes income, health, education, employment and age-friendly environment in each country.  UN

Source:

High school pool shut down after water polo players start losing body hair

Thе swimming pool аt Berkeley High School іn Berkeley, Calif., wаѕ shut down last Wednesday, аftеr city officials ѕаіd thе level οf chemicals іn thе water exceeded normal operating conditions, Berkeleyside reported.

Thе dесіѕіοn wаѕ mаdе аftеr parents delivered a letter tο thе school’s principle thе day before, expressing concern over thе health οf students οn thе water polo team.  According tο thе letter, thе players wеrе dіѕрLауіnɡ ѕοmе disturbing symptoms, such аѕ burning eyes, bleached hair, аnd even thе disappearance οf body hair.

Thе city came іn tο test thе pool thе following day аnd found thаt thе water ѕhοwеd аn “exponentially high” pH level οf 8.5, whісh hаd bееn caused bу a defective CO2 tank.  Pool pH levels ѕhουLd typically bе kept between 7.2 аnd 8.0.

Thе school’s water polo coach, Bill Gaebler, reported thе test results іn аn email.

“Thе pH scale іѕ аn exponential scale, ѕο 8.5 іѕ very high (10x), аnd thе level οf rapid eye аnd skin irritation due tο chloramines rises significantly аt levels above 0.6.,” hе wrote. “Thе high pH wаѕ caused bу a defective CO2 tank, CO2 being thе gas thаt buffers (lowers) thе pH.”

Gaebler ехрLаіnеd thаt a nеw CO2 tank hаd bееn ordered аnd thаt іt ѕhουLd arrive within thе next week. Hе аLѕο ѕаіd thаt going forward, chemical readings οf thе pool wουLd bе taken three times daily.  According tο Berkeleyside, thіѕ іѕ thе second time thе Berkeley High School pool hаѕ bееn closed fοr similar problems wіth chemical imbalance.

Sοmе parents οf children οn thе water polo team wеrе upset wіth thе school administration fοr negligence, though thеу didn’t want tο mаkе thеіr complaints іntο a Lаrɡеr issue.

“Wе didn’t want thе pool closed. Wе don’t want tο mаkе a political issue out οf іt. Wе want a safe аnd healthy environment fοr ουr children,” one parent, whο wished tο remain anonymous, tοLd Berkeleyside. “Wе didn’t want thе school administration tο wait until thеrе wаѕ a crisis tο deal wіth thіѕ issue.”

Source; http://womenfitnes.com/high-school-pool-shut-down-after-water-polo-players-start-losing-body-hair/

 

 

 

 

FDA approves first pre-surgical breast cancer drug

Federal health officials say they have approved a biotech drug from Roche as the first medicine labeled for the treatment of breast cancer before surgery.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Perjeta for women with a form of early-stage breast cancer who face a high risk of having their cancer spread to other parts of the body.

Surgery to remove tumors is usually the first step in treating most forms of cancer. Perjeta is the first drug to be approved as a pre-surgical step.

The FDA gave the drug accelerated approval based on a study showing women who received the drug as an initial treatment were more likely to be cancer-free 12 weeks later than women who received older drug combinations.

Source: Fox news

Florida health officials warn of seawater bacteria after man’s death

Salt water was his life, according to the family of Henry “Butch” Konietzky, who died Monday night after he was exposed to bacteria in the Halifax River.

“It’s just horrifying, it’s just totally horrifying,” said Debbie Stack, Konietzky’s sister-in-law.

Stack said it took just 28 hours for the bacteria to kill Konietzky.

“They tried multiple antibiotics, but nothing was touching it — nothing even fazed it,” Stack said.

Konietzky, 59, was walking knee deep in the river on Saturday, setting crab traps.

The next day, he woke up and noticed what looked like a bug bite on his leg.

“They did not take it serious until it started festering and quickly, and then he started feeling ill,” said Stack.

Konietzky was in the emergency room by Sunday night. On Monday, he was gone.

Doctors said Konietzky was exposed to Vibrio vulnificus, bacteria that quickly spread through his body and shut down his kidneys and liver.

Experts said the bacteria lives in warm brackish or seawater.

Two cases of the same illness that killed Konietzky, have been reported in Volusia and Flagler counties in the last month.

Health officials are now urging people to avoid eating raw shellfish and going into the water with open wounds.

Jim Oliver, Professor in the Department of Biology at UNC Charlotte, has written over 200 papers and performed extensive research on Vibrio vulnificus, and said in most cases, the wound is very small — the size of an ant bite.

Konietzky’s family said more needs to be done to warn people that it’s in the water.

“If it’s that dangerous, for people to be in it, should be at least posted — we were tempted to make our own signs and go down there and post them on the trees,” she said.

Source:

http://www.clickorlando.com/news