Impulsive people more likely to binge eat, study finds

Impulsive behaviour, which is linked to alcohol and drug addiction, could also lead to food addiction, psychologists say

Impulsive people are more likely to be binge eaters, warns a new study.
Researchers have found the same kinds of impulsive behaviour that lead some people to abuse alcohol and other drugs may also be an important contributor to an unhealthy relationship with food.

They discovered that people with impulsive personalities were more likely to report higher levels of food addiction – a compulsive pattern of eating that is similar to drug addiction – and this in turn was associated with obesity.

Principla investigator Doctor James MacKillop, associate professor of psychology at the University of Georgia in the US, said: “The notion of food addiction is a very new one, and one that has generated a lot of interest.

“My lab generally studies alcohol, nicotine and other forms of drug addiction, but we think it’s possible to think about impulsivity, food addiction and obesity using some of the same techniques.”

Dr MacKillop and his colleagues hope that their research will ultimately help physicians and other experts plan treatments and interventions for obese people who have developed an addiction to food, paving the way for a healthier lifestyle.

The study, published in the journal Appetite, used two different scales, the Yale Food Addiction Scale and the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, to determine levels of food addiction and impulsivity among the 233 participants. Researchers then compared these results with each participant’s body mass index, which is used to determine obesity.

Dr MacKillop said: “Our study shows that impulsive behaviour was not necessarily associated with obesity, but impulsive behaviours can lead to food addiction.”

However, he said just because someone exhibits impulsive behaviour does not mean they will become obese, but an increase in certain impulsive behaviours is linked to food addiction, which appeared to be the driving force behind higher body mass index (BMI).

The results are among the first forays into the study of addictive eating habits and how they contribute to obesity.

Dr MacKillop’s team now plans to expand their research by analysing the brain activity of people as they make decisions about food.

He said the food industry has created a wide array of eating options, and foods that are high in fat, sodium, sugar and other additives and appear to produce cravings much like illicit drugs. Now his team will work to see how those intense cravings might play a role in the development of obesity.

He added: “Modern neuroscience has helped us understand how substances like drugs and alcohol co-opt areas of the brain that evolved to release dopamine and create a sense of happiness or satisfaction.

“And now we realize that certain types of food also hijack these brain circuits and lay the foundation for compulsive eating habits that are similar to drug addiction.”

Source: telegraph

Olive oil may help prevent breast cancer

A new study led by an Indian origin researcher has found that a major component of olive oil, hydroxytyrosol, may help prevent breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

“We know there is a correlation between breast density and breast cancer,” Tejal Patel, M.D., breast medical oncologist with Houston Methodist Cancer Center said. “A decrease in density of one percent can potentially translate into a nearly two percent reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

Previous research has shown that olive oil provides many health benefits including lowering the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and possibly stroke.

Houston Methodist will enroll 100 patients — 50 premenopausal and 50 postmenopausal women. Each patient will take one 25 mg hydroxytyrosol capsule for 12 months and undergo checkups every three months. There is no placebo control.

In addition to looking at whether hydroxytyrosol has an impact on breast density, researchers will also note possible side effects of the chemical.

Source: DNA India

Childhood amnesia occurs at the age of seven

Psychologists have suggested that age seven is when these earliest memories tend to fade into oblivion, a phenomenon known as “childhood amnesia.”

The research involved interviewing children about past events in their lives, starting at age three. Different subsets of the group of children were then tested for recall of these events at ages five, six, seven, eight and nine.

Emory psychologist Patricia Bauer, who led the study, said that their study is the first empirical demonstration of the onset of childhood amnesia.

She said that they actually recorded the memories of children, and then they followed them into the future to track when they forgot these memories.

The experiment began by recording 83 children at the age of three, while their mothers or fathers asked them about six events that the children had experienced in recent months, such as a trip to the zoo or a birthday party.

After recording these base memories, the researchers followed up with the children years later, asking them to recall the events that they recounted at age three. The study subjects were divided into five different groups, and each group of children returned only once to participate in the experiment, from the ages of five to nine.

While the children between the ages of five and seven could recall 63 to 72 percent of the events, the children who were eight and nine years old remembered only about 35 percent of the events.

The study has been published in the journal Memory.

Source: ANI news

Almost 200 years later, are we living in the final days of the stethoscope?

stethescope2

An editorial in Global Heart, journal of the World Heart Federation, suggests the world of medicine could be experiencing its final days of the stethoscope, due to the rapid advent of point-of-care ultrasound devices that are becoming increasingly accurate, smaller to the point of being hand-held and less expensive as the years roll by.

The editorial is by Jagat Narula, editor-in-chief of Global Heart (Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York) and Bret Nelson, also of Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

In the editorial, a brief history of both the stethoscope (invented in 1816) and the ultrasound (invented in the 1950s) is given, with the authors suggesting that the stethoscope could soon be exiled to the archives of medical history.

They say: “At the time of this writing several manufacturers offer hand-held ultrasound machines slightly larger than a deck of cards, with technology and screens modelled after modern smartphones.”

Compared with expensive, bulky, ultrasound machines of the past, the authors say, “Hand-held ultrasound devices introduced an alternative concept of relatively inexpensive, easy-to-use machines which could generate images interpretable by a wider spectrum of clinicians at the point of care. Soon concerns about smaller machines having inferior image quality compared to devices many times larger and more expensive were outweighed by evidence that rapid diagnostic decisions could be made with portable machines.”

The editorial highlights that nowadays, more than 20 medical specialties include use of point-of-care ultrasound as a core skill, and that mounting evidence suggests that compared with the stethoscope ultrasound technology can reduce complications, assist in emergency procedures and improve diagnostic accuracy.

The authors say: “Thus, many experts have argued that ultrasound has become the stethoscope of the 21st century. While few studies have pitted ultrasound head-to-head against the stethoscope, there is evidence that ultrasound is more accurate even than chest x-ray in the detection of pneumothorax, pleural effusion, and perhaps even pneumonia. Ultrasound allows visualisation of cardiac valve function, contractility, and pericardial effusions with greater accuracy than listening with the stethoscope. And beyond the heart and lungs lie dozens of other organs and structures — well-described in the literature of point of care ultrasound — which are opaque to the abilities of the stethoscope.”

Asking why the stethoscope has not yet made way for its more technically advanced counterpart, ultrasound, the authors say that while the cheapest available stethoscopes are literally disposable (though many can cost hundreds of dollars), the cost of the cheapest ultrasound devices is still several thousand dollars, making roll-out, especially in developing nations, much more difficult.

There may also be resistance from the older generation of healthcare workers who were not originally trained with this technology. Yet all the evidence shows that ultrasound can diagnose heart, lung, and other problems with much more accuracy than the 200-year-old stethoscope.

The authors conclude: “Certainly the stage is set for disruption; as LPs were replaced by cassettes, then CDs and .mp3s, so too might the stethoscope yield to ultrasound. Medical students will train with portable devices during their preclinical years, and witness living anatomy and physiology previously only available through simulation. Their mentors will increasingly use point-of-care ultrasound in clinical environments to diagnose illness and guide procedures. They will see more efficient use of comprehensive, consultative ultrasound as well — guided by focused sonography and not limited by physical examination alone. And as they take on leadership roles themselves they may realise an even broader potential of a technology we are only beginning to fully utilize. At that point will the “modern” stethoscope earn a careful cleaning, tagging, and white-glove placement in the vault next to the artefacts of Laennec, Golding Bird, George Cammann, and David Littmann? Or, as some audiophiles still maintain the phonograph provides the truest sound, will some clinicians yet cling to the analogue acoustics of the stethoscope?”

Source: India Medical Times

 

10 Simple Ways To Soothe A Sore Throat

If swallowing is making you cringe in pain, chances are you have a sore throat. That scratchy, burning sensation may be part of a bigger problem, such as an infection, cold or the flu, or it could just come from dryness in your throat. Whatever the cause, a sore throat is painful and very irritating. It can turn the simplest things, like eating and talking, into a chore. But the good news is that a sore throat is easily treatable. Below are 10 ways to soothe your sore throat, some common, and some unique.

1. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS

The key to soothing a sore throat is to constantly keep it moisturized, and the best way to do so is to drink plenty of fluids. This not only soothes the throat, but also washes away any bacteria that may be lingering in that area. Drinking hot fluids, such as tea or coffee, can help with inflammation and just flat-out feels good on a sore throat. Citrus drinks, such as lemonade, orange juice and lemon or lime juice with honey, are also good sore throat soothers.

Other drinks, like milk, sports drinks and water, are also good fluids for a sore throat. However, if your sore throat is cause by a cold or the flu, avoid drinks with caffeine since it is a diuretic and can dehydrate you.

2. SUCK ON A LOZENGE OR HARD CANDY

Another good way to keep the throat moist is to suck on throat lozenges, or even cough drops. Many throat lozenges are made with pectin, zinc and vitamin C, which will help boost the immune system if you’re feeling under the weather.

3. SUCK ON SOMETHING COLD

After drinking a hot drink, you may want to suck on an ice-cube or ice pops. It’s both soothing and refreshing. But if you find that sucking on anything cold is irritating your throat, simply bite off a small piece and let it melt in your mouth.

4. SUCK ON GARLIC

It may sound unappetizing, but sucking on garlic can stop your sore throat in its tracks. That’s because garlic contains a chemical called allicin, which kills bacteria, including the type that causes strep throat. Just take a fresh clove of garlic, cut it in half and put one piece in each side of your mouth. Don’t bite the garlic, but mash it with your teeth to release the allicin. This remedy is a good way to prevent sore throats as well.

5. MAKE A FUNKY DRINK

An old-fashioned remedy that has many variations is a drink of apple cider vinegar, honey and water. Just mix one tablespoon each of honey and vinegar with eight ounces of hot water and drink.

If you think you can stomach something a little stronger, try this Russian remedy: Mix one tablespoon each of horseradish, cloves and honey with eight ounces of hot water and enjoy.

6. GARGLE WITH SALT WATER

Gargling with salt water at least once an hour can help with inflammation and swelling, and can ease the discomfort of a sore throat. To make the perfect salt water mix, add one tablespoon of salt to one cup of warm water. Gargle with this mixture at least once an hour. If you have post nasal drip, you might want to gargle more often to soothe your throat.

If you want to add a little flavor to the solution, add one tablespoon of sage or a half-teaspoon of turmeric. Both can also help ease inflammation of the throat.

7. TRY THROAT SPRAY

A quick spray of Chloraseptic can numb the back of the throat – but only temporarily. Like gargling, it will have to be administered at least once every hour.

8. CLEAR YOUR NASAL PASSAGES

Postnasal drip tends to be a common cause of sore throats, so keeping your nasal passages clear is another way to prevent and ease a sore throat. You can use either a saline nasal spray or a salt water mix. Mix one tablespoon of water with one cup of warm water and put it in a Neti pot or a bulb syringe. Pour the mixture into the nose, one nostril at a time. Hold one finger over the opposite nostril while doing so. Let the excess water drain and then gently blow your nose. Repeat the process two or three times and then switch nostrils.

9. INHALE STEAM

If your sore throat was cause by a cold, or if you’re looking for another way to clear your nasal passages, try breathing in steam. Studies show that it is also effective in making a sore throat go away more quickly. An easy way to inhale steam is to take a hot shower, but you can also heat a pot of water and breathe in the steam from the pot. While leaning over the pot, place a towel over your head to tent the steam. For a more soothing steam, add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to the water.

10. TAKE MEDICINE

If all else fails, take some over-the-counter or prescribed medicine for relief. Also, be sure to seek medical attention for chronic sore throat or if the condition has become severe.

Source: symptom find

Yoga Poses for Beginners:

The Yoga Poses for Beginners library serves as a comprehensive intro guide to the most popular yoga poses and sequences.

Becoming familiar with and learning these poses should get you through a class in any of the types of yoga styles.

1. Seated Yoga Poses – Grounding and calming, these poses provide some of our deepest muscle opening and twisting.

2. Standing Yoga Poses – Good for strength, balance and focus. These energetic poses provide a straight line to shaping our best body.

3. Arm Balances – These yoga poses are good for strength, body awareness and focus, providing some fun challenges for every body.

4. Backbends – Opening up in the spine and chest feels great and strengthens our connection to intuition.

5. Inversions – Good for balance and concentration, as well as circulation.

6. Core Poses – These poses will strengthen your core and get your abs beach ready!

7. Yoga Poses for Weight Loss – These poses will help you shed unwanted pounds!

8. Restorative Poses – These yoga poses are great for winding down and connecting to our breath.

9. Yoga Poses for Back Pain – Whether the origins are some acute injury or long-term stress, there are a few simple poses that can help with back pain.

10. Yoga Sequences & Moving (Videos) – How we move and breathe is much more important than the exact shape of our poses, for clearing our bodies and minds and creating our own best health.

Source: mind body green

Milk Drinking Still a Mystery

The mutation for milk-drinking evolved independently in different parts of the world over the last 10,000 years as a result of strong natural selection, but why was it so advantageous?

Among the more momentous developments in human evolution was the ability to digest milk beyond early childhood.

Milk: Does It Really Do A Body Good?
Add it to the list of things that are bad for you: milk!
Mutations that enabled lifelong milk drinking appeared independently in several parts of the world over the last 7,500 years, according to growing evidence. And those genes spread rapidly. Today, about a third of adults around the world can drink milk without stomach problems, a trait known as lactase persistence.

But why was milk drinking so advantageous to humankind?

A new study debunks one leading theory: that milk provided a valuable source of vitamin D, which would’ve helped people absorb its calcium.

Newly analyzed human skeletons from an ancient site in Spain show that the milk-drinking gene spread just as rapidly in that sun-drenched climate as it did in other places, suggesting that milk must have been beneficial there for some reason other than its vitamin D content.

“Throughout the years, I have heard so many evolutionary hypotheses about lactase persistence because they are so fun to coin,” said Oddný Sverrisdóttir, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. “For decades now, people have hypothesized that it was because of lack of sunlight in the north of Europe that people would have had to supplement the lack of calcium and vitamin D by drinking milk.”

“Now, looking at this picture from Spain,” she said, “the calcium-assimilation hypothesis either didn’t affect the evolution of lactase persistence at all, or other forces were there as well.”

Sverrisdóttir has long been interested in how and why Europe’s early farmers began drinking milk, so she was excited when she got her hands on well-preserved samples of skeletal remains from eight people who lived in northeastern Spain about 5,000 years ago. That was well after the milk-drinking mutation had appeared in northern Europe, and she was eager to find out if those ancient Spaniards were drinking milk, too. So the first thing she did was test their DNA for lactase persistence.

“I thought at least one would have the mutation,” since so many of today’s Spanish adults can drink milk without health consequences, Sverrisdóttir said. “None did.”

To figure out whether the recent and rapid spread of lactase persistence in Spain was a fluke or if natural selection was at play, Sverrisdóttir and colleagues compared the mitochondrial DNA of modern Spaniards with the ancient samples. Mitochondrial DNA changes very slowly, making it ideal for tracing family trees over time.

And, the researchers report today in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, analyses showed that the ancient cave dwellers were indeed ancestors of people who live and frequently drink milk in Spain today.

Source; discovery news

Your 4- step guide to Detoxification

Sleep — Probably the most important step in getting the clean–up campaign right. One thing which works like a dream is ‘restful sleep’. During sleep, our body works at detoxifying our system and sweeps it clean of all the damage done during the day. Most importantly, it works at restoring our hormonal balance and spikes up the immune system to cope with the next day’s work. Good sleep is linked to good appetite control which means it ensures that you don’t binge the next day and works backwards at reducing our guilt associated with binge eating.

Food — Eating every two hours is not half as difficult as it seems and works wonderfully at reducing our chances of overeating. Having fruits, nuts or wholesome homemade breakfast within 15 minutes of rising helps nourish the system and a well–nourished system is less likely to drown itself in tea,coffee or ‘social drinking’. It is also more likely to feel hungry often in the day.

Staying in touch with your body’s hunger signals and feeding it according to its needs is the crucial aspect of preventing the unhealthy ‘fasting and feasting’ eating pattern, now well established as the classic pattern of creeping obesity (10 kilos in five years syndrome).

Exercise — We owe our body some movement. It’s not designed for a sedentary lifestyle. Be it a Marc or a cycle, both ought to be used at their optimum working levels. Exercise improves blood and nutrient flow to the cells and removes (and recycles) toxins.

It’s an effective way of nourishing and cleaning our system. Hence, people who workout regularly have a clearer stomach, ruling out the panic mode which often compels people to opt for enemas. We must be able to naturally and efficiently let go off the waste products.

A forced expulsion via pills/ powders/ steam/ sauna may not only make us run to the loo multiple times a day but also wash off the important Vitamin B and intestinal flora and fauna. Lost flora and fauna leads to more toxicity because of impaired digestion – the exact opposite of what you expected.

A regular workout stimulates what is called the ‘larger than life kidney’ or the ‘third kidney’ of the body – the skin. The process of sweating as a result of exercise is the best detox for your body.

State of Mind -– An obsession with weight or trying to squeeze into a particular size of clothes speaks volumes of the mind’s imbalance. When the attitude is that of mindless compliance to a fitness or fashion trend, the damage is done even before you subject yourself to a fad diet.
Detoxification begins when the mind accepts the body exactly the way it is and nourishes it out of a sense of responsibility and joy instead of depriving it out a sense of shame and punishment.

Source: Daily Inspirations for Healthy Living

Turning off your smartphone at night can make you more productive at work

What does it mean for you?

Switching off your smartphone at night means better productivity at work the next day.

‘Smartphones are almost perfectly designed to disrupt sleep,’ said Russell Johnson, assistant professor of management at Michigan State University in the US.

‘Because they keep us mentally engaged late into the evening, they make it hard to detach from work so we can relax and fall asleep,’ he warned.

How was the study conducted?

In a pair of studies surveying a broad spectrum of workers, his team found that people who monitored their smartphones for business purposes after 9 p.m. were more tired and were less engaged the following day on the job.

Many of us consider the devices to be among the most important tools ever invented when it comes to increasing productivity of knowledge-based work, said the research published in the journal Organisational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes.

For the first study, the researchers had 82 upper-level managers complete multiple surveys every day for two weeks.

The second study surveyed 161 employees daily in a variety of occupations – from nursing to manufacturing and from accounting to dentistry.

Across both studies, the surveys showed that night-time smartphone usage for business purposes cut into sleep and sapped workers’ energy the next day in the office. (Read: Lower brightness of smartphones to get better sleep)

Why are smartphones bad for sleep?

In addition to keeping people mentally engaged at night, smartphones emit ‘blue light’ that appears to be the most disruptive of all colours of light.

Blue light is known to hinder melatonin, a chemical in the body that promotes sleep, Johnson said.

‘The night-time use of smartphones appears to have both psychological and physiological effects on people’s ability to sleep and on sleep’s essential recovery functions,’ he added.

Source: newsr

Tips to CONTROL your DIABETES naturally

10 ways that will help you in taking care of your blood sugar levels in a natural way

1. Fibre rich natural foods

Diabetics should load up on fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains as they provide extraordinary support to your digestive system plus your liver. These foods add up the fibre content that helps in clearing toxins from your body as fibre binds to wastes and moves them out

2. Daily exercise

Exercise done daily helps stimulate your respiratory system that includes heart, lungs and breathing that are all natural detoxifiers. Even as you lose weight, you shed the fat that stores toxins.

3. Avoid fad diets

Any kind of diet, even a detox or a cleansing diet or any fasting, dramatically disturbs metabolism and may even do long-term damage especially for people with diabetes.

Diabetics need a steady source of nutrients to support blood sugar, not fasting that overstresses your body’s metabolism.

4. Grapefruit healthy for diabetics

Grapefruit is rich in Vitamin C and Lycopene, anti-oxidants that help protect against heart disease by lowering cholesterol and fighting free radicals.

Pectin in Grapefruit helps control blood sugar spikes.
4. Grapefruit healthy for diabetics

Grapefruit is rich in Vitamin C and Lycopene, anti-oxidants that help protect against heart disease by lowering cholesterol and fighting free radicals.

Pectin in Grapefruit helps control blood sugar spikes.

5. Nuts are healthy for diabetics

Nuts are rich in fibre and magnesium, both of which may help regulate your blood sugar; nuts are good food sources of vitamin E, an anti-oxidant that helps prevent nerve and eye damage.

Nuts go a long way in providing seniors with healthy monounsaturated fats that is good for the diabetic heart. Nuts are high in calories so a small handful each day is enough.

6. Spices healthy for diabetics

Polyphenols found in spices and herbs are powerful anti-oxidants and have an anti-inflammatory effect. Phytonutrients in Cinnamon help improve the ability to respond to insulin, thus helping normalising blood sugar levels.

Add cloves, cinnamon, oregano, marjoram, and sage to your meal.

7. Whole grains vital and healthy for diabetics

Whole grains are packed with anti-oxidants and soluble and insoluble fibre, helping reduce blood sugar spikes, overcome insulin resistance, metabolise fats and also keep the digestive track healthy.

People who eat whole grains regularly have lower blood cholesterol and the grain also keeps blood sugar levels stable.

8. Lean meat healthy for diabetics

Lean meats, fish, beans, soy products and low fat dairy products are great sources of protein.

Ensure that the protein food you choose is low in calories and saturated fat.

9. Protein choices for diabetics

The best choices of protein foods are lower in saturated fat and calories like dried beans, legumes, peas and lentils as they are packed with protein, fibre and complex carbs.

Fish and seafood like cod, halibut herring, salmon, trout, tuna, are excellent protein foods for diabetics; try poultry, without skin with lean cuts of chicken, and turkey.

10. Omega 3 rich foods for diabetics

Salmon or tuna is rich in protein and good fats that help stabilize blood sugar.

You may also include cod, halibut herring, trout, or tuna in your diabetic diet.

Source: rediff