Regular exercise can cut down your stroke risk- especially in men

 

A new research says Regular exercise lowers the risk of having a stroke. A stroke is that a blood vessel in the brain gets blocked. So the brain cells won’t get enough oxygen and other nutrients and  as a result it dies

There may be some reasons for having stroke been identified, including smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes and being inactive.

Michelle N. McDonnell, Ph.D., from the University of South Australia, Adelaide and her colleagues obtained data from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.

REGARDS is a large, long-term study funded by the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to look at the reasons of stroke mortality among African-Americans and other residents living in the Southeastern United States.

The researchers also gathered health measures such as body mass index and blood pressure.
At the beginning of the study, the researchers asked participants how many times per week they exercised vigorously enough to work up a sweat.

The researchers contacted participants every six months to see if they had experienced a stroke or a mini-stroke known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA). To confirm their responses, the researchers reviewed participants` medical records.

The researchers reported data for over 27,000 participants who were stroke-free at the start of the study and followed for an average of 5.7 years. One-third of participants reported exercising less than once a week.

Study subjects who were inactive were 20 percent more likely to experience a stroke or TIA than participants who exercised four or more times a week.

The findings revealed that regular, moderately vigorous exercise, enough to break a sweat, was linked to reduced risk of stroke. Part of the protective effect was due to lower rates of known stroke risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity and smoking.

Chinese bird flu could spark global outbreak – US news

The deadly H7N9 bird flu virus will be easily transmitted from human to human, a new study says.

Chinese scientists have found that the virus is highly transmissible between ferret, a mammal often used to study possible virus transmission between humans. This discovery could portend a time where the virus might become pandemic, the researchers added.

So far, more than more 130 people in China have been infected with the H7N9 flu, and at least 37 have died, the researchers noted.

However, one U.S. expert stressed that it isn’t known whether large-scale spread among humans will actually occur.

“We already know H7N9 can spread human-to-human,” said Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. ” The new study shows that the H7N9 virus does not sicken poultry, Chen said. This can make the virus hard to track as it infects people, since they can be around infected birds without being aware of it.

“Our results suggest that the H7N9 virus is likely to transmit among humans, and immediate action is needed to prevent an influenza pandemic caused by this virus,” Chen said.

The new report was published July 18 in the online edition of the journal Science.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is keeping a close eye on the H7N9 virus.

“Anytime a new flu virus emerges, especially one that can cause severe disease in humans, it’s a virus we get very interested in,” said Dr. Joseph Bresee, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch in the CDC’s Influenza Division.

Bresee noted that, so far, the H7N9 virus does not spread easily from human to human, but it is still concerning. “It can cause severe disease and deaths in humans. The one thing that gives us comfort so far is that it doesn’t seem to be able to spread efficiently between humans and that’s what allows a flu virus to develop into a pandemic virus,” he said.

Not only is the CDC watching this virus, Bresee said: “The whole world is watching.”

The agency is studying the virus, watching for mutations and trying to understand what medicines work against it. Moreover, the CDC is developing a vaccine against the H7N9 flu, he said.

“When the virus was first discovered and we got our samples here at CDC, we started vaccine development right away,” Bresee said. “The U.S. government is developing and testing vaccines just in case we need to use them at some point.”

The Chinese researchers investigated the virus from a variety of sources.

Chen’s team identified dozens of H7N9 strains from more than 10,000 samples taken from poultry markets, poultry farms, wild bird habitats and slaughterhouses across China.

The researchers looked at the genetic makeup of these strains, comparing them with the genetic makeup of five of the strains found in people.

All strains of the virus could go to airway receptors in humans, and some could be transmitted to birds as well.

All of the H7N9 strains from birds easily went to chickens, ducks and mice without causing any disease. The human strains, however, caused mice to lose up to 30 percent of their body weight, the researchers said.

In addition, one of the human strains easily went from ferret to ferret.

Whether the virus will mutate, making it easier to transmit from human to human, is not assured, Siegel said.

“That’s probably better left to science fiction, because mutations also occur that make something more benign,” he said.

Smart Surgery knife detects cancer instantly

Cancer Knife 1_AP_July 18 2013.jpgAn experimental surgical knife can help surgeons make sure they’ve removed all the cancerous tissue. Surgeons typically use knives that heat tissue as they cut, producing a sharp-smelling smoke. The new knife analyzes the smoke and can instantly signal whether the tissue is cancerous or healthy.Now surgeons have to send the tissue to a lab and wait for the results.

Dr. Zoltan Takats of Imperial College London suspected the smoke produced during cancer surgery might contain some important cancer clues. So he designed a “smart” knife hooked up to a refrigerator-sized mass spectrometry device on wheels that analyzes the smoke from cauterizing tissue.

The smoke picked up by the smart knife is compared to a library of smoke “signatures” from cancerous and non-cancerous tissues. green means the tissue is healthy; red means cancerous and yellow means unidentifiable.

To make sure they’ve removed the tumor, surgeons now send samples to a laboratory while the patient remains on the operating table. It can take about 30 minutes to get an answer in the best hospitals, but even then doctors cannot be entirely sure, so they often remove a bit more tissue than they think is strictly necessary.

If some cancerous cells remain, patients may need to have another surgery or undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

“(The new knife) looks fabulous,” said Dr. Emma King, a head and neck cancer surgeon at Cancer Research U.K., who was not connected to the project. The smoke contains broken-up bits of tumor tissue and “it makes sense to look at it more carefully,” she said.

The new knife and its accompanying machines were made for about $380,000 but scientists said the price tag would likely drop if the technology is commercialized.

That was then used to analyze tumors from 91 patients; the smart knife correctly spotted cancer in every case. The study was published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The research was paid for by groups including Imperial College London and the Hungarian government.

At a demonstration in London on Wednesday, doctors used the new knife – which resembles a fat white pen – to slice into slabs of pig’s liver. Within minutes, the room was filled with an acrid-smelling smoke comparable to the fumes that would be produced during surgery on a human patient. He added the knife could also be used for other things like identifying tissues with bad blood supply and identifying the types of bacteria present.

Some experts said the technology could help eliminate the guesswork for doctors operating on cancer patients. “Brain cancers are notorious for infiltrating into healthy brain tissue beyond what’s visible to the surgeon,” said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. “If this can definitively tell doctors whether they’ve removed all the cancerous tissue, it would be very valuable,” he said.

Lichtenfeld said it’s unclear whether more widespread use of the smart knife will actually help patients live longer and said studies should also look into whether the tool cuts down on patient’s surgery times, their blood loss and rate of wound infections.

“This is a fascinating science and we need to adopt any technology that works to save patients,” Lichtenfeld said. “But first we have to be sure that it works.”

 

 

Lack of sleep during pregnancy: lead to complications:

Scientists have proved that lack of sleep during pregnancy can lead to severe complications and hinder immune processes, says a study.

Scientists at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine conducted the research and the study was published in the journal “Psychosomatic Medicine”.

“Our results show the importance of identifying sleep problems in early pregnancy, especially in women experiencing depression,” said Michele Okun, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Pitt`s School of Medicine and lead author. “The earlier that sleep problems are identified, the sooner physicians can work with pregnant women to implement solutions.”

There is a dynamic relationship between sleep and immunity, and this study is the first to examine this relationship during pregnancy as opposed to postpartum,” added Dr. Okun.

 

Tips to get better sleep:

The following tips may help you to get sound sleep during pregnancy. However, if your sleep disturbances are severe, consult your doctor.

  1. Extra pillows: Pillows can be used to support both the tummy and back. A pillow between the legs can help support the lower back and make sleeping on your side easier. Some specific types of pillows include the wedge-shaped pillow and the full-length body pillow.
  2. Nutrition: Drinking a glass of warm milk may help bring on sleep. Foods high in carbohydrates, such as bread or cakes, can also promote sleep. In addition, a high protein snack can keep blood sugar levels up and could help prevent bad dreams, headaches, and hot flashes.
  3. Relaxation techniques: Relaxation can help calm your mind and muscles. These techniques include stretching, yoga, massage, and deep breathing.
  4. Exercise: Regular exercise during pregnancy promotes physical and mental health. Exercise also can help you sleep more deeply. However, vigorous exercise within four hours of bedtime should be avoided.
  5. Prescription and over-the-counter medications: Ideally, all medications should be avoided during pregnancy. Some drugs can hurt the developing baby. However, there are some medications that are considered safe to take during pregnancy and that might help you sleep better. Always talk to your doctor before taking any kinds of drugs. This includes over-the-counter drugs, herbs and dietary supplements.

Shortened lives where you live matters

A new study shows it makes a lot of difference in long and healthy living where Americans live.

For example peoples living in Hawaii are luckier because they have peaceful weather and gorgeous scenery. Here senior citizens can expect a little more than 16 years of healthy life after 65 and Women can expect more than 17 years.

On the other hand, Mississippi’s seniors have less than 11 years of healthy life. Older black Mississippians have only eight years, lower than anywhere, oddly, African-Americans in Iowa, with seven years.

The national average is 14 years. That is, the average 65-year-old American can expect good health until age 79 – a little more for women, a little less for men.

The new analysis, done by the National Center for Health Statistics, show Americans’ healthy life expectancy. But males in the Midwest, Texas and North Dakota don’t do so well either. The Northeast, Florida, Upper states and the West have more healthy seniors.At age 65, Americans can expect 14 more healthy years on average. But that varies a lot depending on where you live.

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The study’s authors say the life of people living in States vary so much even there is a good Environment. But doing healthy behaviors, such as exercise and avoid smoking; preventive care, such as vaccinations, cancer screening and blood pressure treatment; medical care when needed.

JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association published earlier this month and compared the United States with 34 other developed countries. Its part of an ambitious effort by a group called the U.S. Burden of Disease Collaborators.

The U.S. rank declined on every measure of longevity and good health between 1990 and 2010. On “healthy life expectancy,” the US went from 14th place to 26th– while it’s already disproportionately high health care spending spiraled ever higher.

“Despite a massive increase in health expenditures,” wrote Dr. , editor of that volume, “the nation’s health has improved less than was promised or expected. The benefits have not appeared to justify the costs.”

The U.S. health care dilemma, Fineberg wrote, “remains strikingly unaltered” nearly four decades later.

 

American Medical Association supports ban on marketing energy drinks to kids

The American Medical Association said it would support a ban on the marketing of energy drinks to children under 18, because the high-caffeine beverages could cause heart problems and other health issues.

This was adopted in a group’s annual meeting in Chicago. “Energy drinks contain excessive amounts of caffeine that may lead to health problems in young people, including heart problems, and banning companies from marketing these products to adolescents is a common action that we can take to protect the health of American kids,” Dr. Alexander Ding, an AMA board member, said in a statement.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October said it was investigating reports of five deaths that may be associated with top-selling energy drink.

The American Beverage Association said it was disappointed in the AMA resolution. It said most energy drinks contain about half the caffeine

“Leading energy drink companies also voluntarily display total caffeine amounts – from all sources – on their packages, as well as an advisory statement indicating that the product is not intended (or recommended) for children, pregnant or nursing women, or persons sensitive to caffeine, said in an emailed statement.

The drinks, with aggressive-sounding names like Monster, Red Bull, AMP and Full Throttle, are the fastest-growing type of soft drink in the United States, with sales up 17 percent last year to about $9 billion, according to Beverage Digest. They are often associated with extreme sports, which make them popular among young men.

 

US health becomes far worse than other countries

Compared to other major nations, the overall health outcomes of the United States have been found to be significantly lacking.

Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) found that every major cause of premature death – from heart disease to interpersonal violence, U.S. fares worse than its economic peers.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the report analyzed both in the United States and 34 countries– available for 291 diseases, and injuries that cause death and disability.

A team of global researchers highlighted the impact of premature deaths in children and young adults on each nation, as well as the overall effects of disabling conditions such as lower back pain and major depression.  The researchers also examined 67 known health risk factors associated with both fatal and non-fatal health disorders.

The study’s results were presented to government officials at a White House.” Dr. Christopher Murray, the IHME director and one of the lead authors on the study, told FoxNews.com. “(It’s also hard) understanding what the leading causes of ill health are and how do we stack up and who in the US is doing a good job.  Our goal is to provide that big picture view.”

While the United States has made many steps in major areas – such as preventing premature deaths from stroke and breast cancer – the country has fallen behind in health. Ischemic heart disease still remains the leading cause of premature death. It accounted for 15.9 percent of premature deaths in the U.S. in 2010, followed by lung cancer, which accounted for 6.6 percent of deaths.

Moreover, Alzheimer’s disease, liver cancer, Parkinson’s and kidney cancer were all found to be on the upswing, accounting for increase in premature deaths in the U.S.  Murray and his team were also surprised to find that deaths attributed to road traffic injuries, drug abuse and self-harm were more prevalent than previously thought.  Drug use disorders accounted for more years of life lost than both prostate cancer and brain cancer combined – up 448 percent since 1990.

Low back pain was found to be the leading cause of years lived with disability in the United States, followed by major depressive disorder and other musculoskeletal disorders.  Murray noted that while the United States has spent a great amount of money and effort to find cures for fatal conditions like cardiovascular disease and cancer, the same kind of attention hasn’t been given to the leading causes of disability.

“The number one risk factor is diet and that’s followed by tobacco and then obesity and then high blood pressure and physical inactivity,” Murray said. Out of its 34 economic peer countries in Europe, Asia and North America, the U.S. ranked 27th in disease burden brought on by dietary factors, 27th on high body mass index (BMI) and 29th in blood sugar levels.

Murray hopes that future researchers will study these regions to determine what government officials and the Americans can do to make improvements to the country’s overall health outcomes.

Seaweeds: add more nutrition to your diet:

 

More than years, Japanese, Chinese  and   Australians have enjoyed seaweed, better known by its dietary proponents. These plants are actually classified as algae.

 

In history, Native Americans and Scandinavians also incorporated sea vegetables into their diets. Today, sea vegetables are more popular in Japanese restaurants and available in Asian markets as part of a health-conscious diet.

Sea vegetables are the most nutritious foods. They contain large quantities of minerals including iron, calcium and iodine and vitamins like A, C, and many of the B complex vitamins. At the same time, they are low in calories. It is unlikely that anyone could gain weight by eating sea vegetables, and this makes them ideal for those who are trying to maintain a healthy weight or lose excess pounds.

Some sea vegetables, notably the brown ones, will protect our body from radiation, as it contains alginic acid. This polysaccharide, found in kombu, arame, hijiki and some other plant species, binds to radioactive strontium and eliminates it through the bowels. This does not mean that by eating sea vegetables you can endure dangerously high levels of radiation, but it does mean that if you have been exposed to radiation, some of it can be removed through the consumption of dietary sea vegetables.

Some sea vegetables help to lower cholesterol, due to the presence of beta-sitosterol, a plant sterol that binds to cholesterol and inhibits its absorption through the intestines. Analysis shows that cholesterol is excreted through feces, instead of contributing to blood levels. For those who wish to maintain or lower cholesterol, sea vegetables may be the best choice.

Another nutritional aspect is the content of thyroxin found in brown varieties. This iodine-containing hormone is also produced in the thyroid gland and functions both to regulate growth and to speed up metabolism. Daily addition of sea vegetables to your diet can help to boost metabolism, enhancing energy and improving weight control.

Commonly eaten sea vegetables include agar, alaria, arame, dulse, hijiki, kelp, kombu, nori and wakame. You can find many of these in natural food stores.

seaweed [2]

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have investigated sea vegetables, a number of which appear to possess anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, and anticancer properties. Some of this activity is attributed to beta-glucans in these plants. This category of compounds is especially useful for improving immune function among those whose immune systems have been suppressed.

Nutritious, protective, remarkably low in calories and very good tasting, sea vegetables may just find their way into your kitchen and your diet.

Need to refresh your mind? Drink Water

 

Drinking water may help you to boost your mental performance, a new study has claimed.

The study published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, stated that participants who drank about three cups of water (775 milliliters) performed better on a test compared with those who did not drink water.

This study was particular true for thirsty people. The researchers speculate that the sensation of thirst may take some attention away from the task at hand, and thus impair response time.

For the reaction test, 34 adult participants had to press a button as soon as they saw an object on a computer screen. Reaction times were 14 percent faster among the water group than the no water group.

Water consumption did not significantly affect performance on other tests of cognition, such as memory of words, researchers found.

The study results suggest that a “freeing up of attention resources” occurs when people quench their thirst, the researchers wrote.

However, water consumption may not always improve cognition. In another test of rule-learning, participants actually fared better if they did not drink water before the test.

Future research should try to explain why drinking water appears to have beneficial effects on some cases, but negative effects in others, the researchers said.

“It might be that physiological processes [of drinking or not drinking water] affect performance on different tasks in different ways,” said study researcher Caroline Edmonds, of the University Of East London School Of Psychology in England.

“Thirst might lead to better performance on some tasks, because the hormone vasopressin, which activates the thirst response, has also been linked to attention and arousal,” Edmonds 

Salty foods combined with BMI increases high BP in children

 

 

Salty meals, along with body mass indexes (BMIs)    and obesity, increases a scary side effect in young    children: high blood pressure.

 

The risk of high blood pressure among children and adolescents has increased 27 percent in the past 13 years, according to a new study in the American Heart Association’s journal

“It is a public health issue our children have higher blood pressures,” stated by Dr. Bonita Falkner, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “Though it may be only 4 to 5 mm Hg (increase), that extra pressure burden at a young age, is carried through

 

life, can become a large burden.”

Doctors have long known that factors like obesity, high BMI and excess belly fat can lead to an increased risk for high blood pressure among both adults and children.  Yet researchers have had difficulty pinpointing other factors contributing to high blood pressure – until now.

In this study, researchers were able to pinpoint for the first time another clear culprit contributing to high blood pressure levels: sodium intake.

Researchers examined the records of over 11,500 children between the ages of 8 and 17 participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They analyzed data from 1988 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2008.

More than 80 percent of children, from both time periods, had a daily sodium intake in excess of 2,300 milligrams. The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.

“The salt content of the food supply has increased markedly over the past few decades, and there’s been a progressive rise in the proportion of the average daily diet that is processed food,” Falkner said. “There’s probably much more salt exposure in children now.”

Developing high blood pressure at such a young age, there is some preliminary evidence that shows hypertension could cause damage to some of the body’s key organs.

“Children who already have confirmed hypertension, a good portion of them already have enlargement of the heart; they may have some albumin in the urine suggesting they have kidney strain; they are beginning to show they have thickening in carotid artery and a stiffening of aorta,” Falkner said. “The implication is that the blood pressure level is causing some stress or injury to the cardiovascular system.”

When a doctor discovers high blood pressure in a child, they first check for other health problems that could be exacerbating the blood pressure levels, like cardiovascular or kidney disease. If no underlying issues are identified, they will encourage parents and children to adopt lifestyle changes – such as eating fresh foods and exercising more.

“If it cannot be controlled by lifestyle changes, diet, physical activity and weight control, then we treat them with medication,” Falkner  said.

Overall, Falkner hopes people will take note of the role that sodium is playing in increased blood pressure levels. “It had been difficult to prove this, and now that we know it really is there, we have to pay attention to it,” Falkner said.