Issue: 60
KVR's Column
Breathing Exercise
Kiddush Prevents Cancer
Mammograms Detect Heart
Disease
Mountain-Biking and Men
Potbelly Kills You
A Regular Phenomenon,
Not Alarming
The Three-Continental-Link
A Regular Routine Keeps
You Healthy
Average Age of American
Mother
Morning After Pill
Reduced Abortion
Hypertension
Stanford Motorcycles
with Laptops in India
Physical Fitness and Education
Reddy beats Pfizer
This month’s study (see below) shows beneficial effects of respiratory muscle training for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. This is very interesting in the sense that age old pranayama breathing techniques are designed to balance and control the physiology of the body. The training of respiratory muscles in general helps the ventilatory capacity and overall stamina of the patient. This in turn helps to improve oxygenation and general health, just like any muscular exercise.
However, pranayama breathing yoga techniques are subtler and complex and claim to have multiple physiological effects. For example, surya anuloma viloma (breathing exclusively through right nostril) has been shown to activate sympathetic nervous system along with increased metabolic rate. Pranayama also has been shown to increase muscle strength.
It is important to validate ancient knowledge by modern research. I am glad that there is an increased interest in scientific community to explore these ancient techniques and validate them.
Further reading:
1.Beckon, J Changes in blood glucose levels induced by different forced
uni-nostril breathing, a technique which affects both brain hemispericity
and autoomic activity, Medical Science Research, 16:1197-99 1988
2. Physiological effects of Yoga Breathing Raghuraj, Shirley Telles, Vivekananda
Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore India, Selected papers of 5th International
conference on ‘Frontiers in Yoga Research & Applications 16-19 Dec 1999.
3. http://www.yogasite.com/pranayama.htm
4.
http://sivasakti.com/articles/tantra/pranayama-art55.html
Breathing Exercise
In the first controlled study of its type, researchers have discovered
that respiratory muscle training in patients with severe chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) can produce functional improvement through structural
adaptation within the respiratory muscles. Spanish investigators studied
14 male patients with COPD in a randomized, placebo-control trial of an inspiratory
muscle training protocol. Half of the patients, who were about age 66,
received sham treatment. The other seven participants underwent supervised
breathing using a threshold inspiratory device for 30 minutes per day, five
times a week, for five consecutive weeks. The researchers found that
respiratory muscle strength as well as respiratory endurance were significantly
increased after inspiratory muscle training. However, the investigators
were unable to detect any changes in either walking distance or maximal
oxygen uptake. The study appears in the first issue for December 2002 of
the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and
Critical Care Medicine.
Kiddush Prevents Cancer
Concord grape juice widely used by American Jews for making Kiddush on
Shabbat has been found by researchers in Texas to be a powerful, heart-protective
and anti-cancer antioxidant that compares favorably to synthetic supplements.
Ishwarlal Jialal and others at the Southwest Medical Center in Houston
published their research in November issue of the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition. Flavonoids that are found in
fruit, vegetables, chocolate, tea, wine, and grape juice reduce cellular
oxidative stress and are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease
and cancer. In their article, the researchers compared the effects
of Concord grape juice and antioxidant supplements in a group of healthy
subjects, and found that it is a potent, long-lasting antioxidant that compares
favorably to supplements in its action and perhaps has unique properties
that supplements do not.
Mammograms Detect Heart Disease
More than 350,000 U.S. women die of heart disease each year, compared
with about 40,000 who die from breast cancer. Yet many women believe breast
cancer is a greater risk and may not know they have heart disease.
Mammograms, designed to detect breast cancer, may also reveal signs of an
even greater threat to women: heart disease. Mammogram images can detect
calcifications in breast arteries that may indicate an increased chance
of developing heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic study
of 1,803 women. Women with breast-artery calcifications were 20 percent
more likely to have heart disease than those without calcifications.
Mountain-Biking and Men
According to a small Austrian study that adds fodder to a debate over
cycling and male sexual function presented at an annual meeting of
the Radiological Society of North America, frequent mountain-biking
may reduce fertility in men. The research suggests frequent jolts
and vibration caused by biking over rough terrain may cause abnormalities,
including small scars within the scrotum and impaired sperm production. The
abnormalities were found in professional mountain bikers and other "extreme"
bikers who logged at least 3,000 miles yearly - or an average of more than
two hours a day, six days a week. The study found nearly 90 percent
of 55 bikers studied had low sperm counts and scrotal abnormalities. Only
26 percent of the 35 non-bikers studied had similar damage.
Potbelly Kills You
It's long been known that having a potbelly and high blood pressure increases
your risk of heart attack or stroke, but a medical study released on December
4th in Journal of the American Medical Association has
estimated that people with those risks and others are two to three times
more likely to die prematurely. Experts say about one-third of middle-aged
men and women in the USA have the same cluster of risk factors, called metabolic
syndrome. People with this syndrome have at least three of the following
risk factors: high blood sugar; a waist circumference of greater than 40 inches
for men or 35 inches for women (Asians and Indians have a lower threshold);
lower-than-average HDL cholesterol; high triglycerides; and high blood pressure.
Men who had the syndrome at the study's start had a two to three times greater
chance of dying of a heart attack or a stroke during the study than men who
did not have this collection of risk factors. In addition, men who had the
syndrome also had a greater risk of dying for any reason, although most of
the extra risk of death was because of the higher chance of suffering a
heart attack. Regular exercise and a healthful diet can trim a waistline,
lower blood sugar and reduce the risk associated with this syndrome.
Among all women, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death.
Heart disease kills more than five times as many women as breast cancer.
Moreover, cardiovascular disease kills more women than men. A landmark
heart study of more than 5,000 Chicago area women has shown how being physically
fit reduces a woman's risk of dying. During the seven years the women's
cases were followed, those who were out of shape were 1.7 times more likely
to die from all causes than women fit enough to run 5 mph. Women who had
a metabolic score of less than 5 were 1.7 times as likely to die during
the seven-year study as women who scored higher than 8, the average score.
Here are metabolic scores of sample activities: 1.0-Watching TV; 1.5-Vigorous
sex; 2.5-Slow walk (2 mph); 4.0-Leisure bicycling (slower than 10 mph);
5.0-Walking up stairs, carrying up to 15 lbs; 8.0-Singles tennis or running
a 12-minute mile (5 mph); 10.0-Swimming laps freestyle, vigorously; 12.0-Rope-jumping,
fast; 15.0-Competitive speed skating. The findings were presentedat
the recent meeting in Chicago of the American Heart Association
.
A Regular Phenomenon, Not Alarming?
"It's a regular phenomenon. Each year, after the rainy season and before
winter sets in, many, many children die in Uttar Pradesh. This is nothing
alarming," said Navtej Singh, the administrator. Poverty, illiteracy and
a lack of hygiene lead to the death of hundreds of children each year from
diseases spread by mosquitoes and flies in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest
state in size and population. Health experts have begun investigating
a mysterious virus that has killed nearly 100 children and sickened hundreds
of others over the last two months in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The children, mostly below 12 years in age, have died in hospitals in small
towns following what doctors and district officials said was high fever brought
on by mosquito bites: Japanese encephalitis is spread from pigs to humans
through mosquito bites. It attacks the central nervous system, causing flu-like
symptoms, vomiting, paralysis and even death. The disease had not
been widely reported by the news media as such deaths were common.
Media has more imortant things to report than this regular phenomenon and
there is nothing to be alarmed because death is natural!?
The Three-Continental-Link: The link between Africa and Asia lives in India
Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a group of more than 300 islands in the
Bay of Bengal and are part of the Indian Union. Geologically the islands
are part of the land mass comprising north-east part of the Indian Union,
Burma, Thailand, Mlayaisa and Indonesia. About 265 of these islands
are not inhabited. The islands are surrounded by coral reefs, sandy beaches
and clear water. The climate in the Andaman and Nicobar islands is
tropical. The islands were used by the British in the 19th century,
mainly for imprisoning Indian freedom fighters in the 'cellular jail'.
Brachycephalic Negroids from Africa were the oldest people to have to come
to India. These people are now found in patches among the hill tribes
such as Irulas, Kodars, Paniyan, and Kurumbas of south India in the main land
and in Andaman islands where they have retained their language. The
main tribes are Onge,
Andamanese, Shompen, Nicobarese and Jarawa
. The number of tribals is fast dwindling. Anthropological Museum
built in 1975, small but informative museum, showcases the four alleged Negroid
tribes of the Andamans, viz, the Jarawas, the Sentinelese, the Andamanese
and the Onges, and two Mongoloid tribes of the Nicobars, viz, the Nicobarese
and the Shompens.
The link between Africa and Asia lives in the Indian Union in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, according to a study in the journal Current Biology . Genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA, a genetic element passed down only through women, shows that the Onge and Jarawa people belong to a lineage, known as M, that is common throughout Asia, the geneticists say. This establishes them as Asians, not Africans, among whom a different mitochondrial lineage, called L, is dominant. The geneticists then looked at the Y chromosome, which is passed down only through men and often gives a more detailed picture of genetic history than the mitochondrial DNA. The Onge and Jarawa men turned out to carry a special change or mutation in the DNA of their Y chromosome that is thought to be indicative of the Paleolithic population of Asia, the hunters and gatherers who preceded the first human settlements. The mutation, known as Marker 174, occurs among ethnic groups at the periphery of Asia who avoided being swamped by the populations that spread after the agricultural revolution that occurred about 8,000 years ago. It is found in many Japanese, in the Tibetans of the Himalayas and among isolated people of Southeast Asia, like the Hmong. The discovery of Marker 174 among the Andamanese suggests that they too are part of this relict Paleolithic population, descended from the first modern humans to leave Africa. Dr. Underhill, an expert on the genetic history of the Y chromosome, said the Paleolithic population of Asia might well have looked as African as the Onge and Jarawa do now, and that people with the appearance of present-day Asians might have emerged only later. It is also possible, he said, that their resemblance to African Pygmies is a human adaptation to living in forests that the two populations developed independently. NY .
A Regular Routine Keeps You Healthy
According to a study being published in The Journal of Family Psychology
concludes that family routines can be good for both physical and mental
well-being. The authors defined routines as settled patterns of activity
or communication and rituals as events or acts that evoked emotions or conferred
meaning. Routines appear to have benefits in terms of physical health
or well-being and in families with predictable routines, children had fewer
respiratory illnesses and better overall health, and they performed better
in elementary school. Adolescents in families with strong rituals reported
a stronger sense of self, couples reported happier marriages, and children
had greater interaction with their grandparents.
Average Age of American Mother
In 2000 the average American woman having her first baby was almost 25
years old. In 1970 the average age was 21.4 years for a first birth, according
to a
new report
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released
on December 11. The report also showed that the average (or mean) age of
mothers for all births rose from 24.6 years to 27.2 over the past three
decades. Comparing international patterns, the report points to an
increase in the average age at first birth in most of the developed countries;
averages in 2000 ranged from 24 in the Slovak Republic to 29 in Switzerland.
Several factors may account for this healthy delay in childbearing, most
importantly educational opportunities and career choices for women. From
1970 to 2000, the number of women completing college has nearly doubled and
the number in the labor force has gone up by almost 40 percent. Changes in
contraception use, economic cycles, social support and marriage patterns
should also be considered. Over one-half of all births still occur
to women in their twenties, but the average age in this group has shifted
steadily upward since 1970. The increase in the average age of women having
a baby also reflects the relatively recent downturn in the teen birth rate
and the rising birth rates for women in their thirties and forties.
Morning After Pill Reduced Abortion
"Morning-after pills" prevented as many as 51,000 pregnancies that would
have ended in abortion in the USA in 2000, a study reports in the current
issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Researchers
from the non-profit Alan Guttmacher Institute in New York and Washington,
D.C., conclude that emergency contraceptive pills may have accounted for
as much as 43% of the decline in abortions from 1994 to 2000. In 2000, 1.3
million abortions were performed, 110,000 fewer than in 1994. Morning-after
pills are basically high doses of oral contraceptives that prevent ovulation,
fertilization or implantation of a fertilized egg. There are two brands on
the U.S. market: Preven
and Plan B
. The study's authors surveyed a nationally representative sample
of 10,683 women who had had abortions in 2000-2001.
Hypertension
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is the main factor underlying
heart failure and stroke, and can lead to heart attacks. High blood pressure
affects 50 million Americans, and 24 million of them spend $15.5 billion
a year for blood pressure lowering drugs. The remainder do not know they have
hypertension or do not take drugs for it. The prevalence of hypertension increases
with age; more than half of those over 60 have hypertension. Traditional
water pills, or diuretics, are superior to newer, more expensive drugs in
lowering high blood pressure and preventing its serious and often fatal complications,
according to a study reported in The Journal of the American Medical
Association. The new study found that a diuretic, chlorthalidone,
was more effective in preventing fatal and nonfatal heart attacks than were
three other classes of drugs: amlodipine (sold as Norvasc), a calcium channel
blocker; lisinopril (Zestril and Prinivil), an ACE inhibitor; and doxazonsin
(Cardura), an alpha-adrenergic blocker. The market for blood pressure
lowering drugs is huge.
Stanford Motorcycles with Laptops in India
In India, a driver of a custom-designed Honda off-road motorcycle carrying
a solar-powered laptop computer makes the rounds through remote countryside
as a result of Reuters Foundation's fledgling
Digital Vision Fellowship Program at Stanford University
. The projects are meant to be feasible, small-scale solutions
to one of the most daunting challenges confronting philanthropic-minded technologists:
making information technology accessible and relevant to those living in
remote regions of developing nations. The mission is to spread literacy and
bring basic information to villagers. The computer-carrying motorcycle
was developed by fellow Rajeswari Pingali and is on its way to rural India.
The ``mobile telecenter'' has support of two foundations and a state government
in India. Digital Vision began in October 2001 with five fellows, and has
expanded to 12 this year, with a commitment from the Reuters Foundation
for funding through at least next year. The fellows also bring funding through
their companies or non-profit organizations, such as Cisco Systems or the
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, or are in some cases self-funded. Projects
typically cost about $10,000.
Physical Fitness and Education
The California Department of Education examined the relationship between
the spring 2001 physical-fitness test and the Stanford Achievement Test
results of more than 1 million students in reading and mathematics, and
found a correlation between fitness and student achievement. In the
Santa Clarita Valley, where the students far surpassed the state averages
last year in both tests, school officials say they have always put an emphasis
on physical education because they believe it is an integral part of student
achievement. State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Delaine Eastin announced
that the
results of a recent study
conducted by the California Department of Education (CDE) show a
distinct relationship between academic achievement and the physical fitness
of California’s public school students.
Reddy beats Pfizer
The US District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed a lawsuit
by Pfizer, Inc., the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, which sought
a restriction on Dr Reddy’s Laboratories’ amlodipine maleate, on the grounds
that the patent-term extension does not cover Dr Reddy’s amlodipine maleate
product. Pfizer’s contention was that amlodipine maleate was a copy
of its own amlodipine besylate, the key ingredient of its $ 2 billion Norvasc
drug. Norvasc is indicated for the treatment of hypertension and angina.
It had total sales of $ three billion, including $ two billion in the US,
and the rest elsewhere. Dr Reddy’s stand was that as one salt in amlodipine
maleate was different from Pfizer’s product, the product itself was unique,
a “speciality product”. Pfizer filed a suit against Dr Reddy’s in June this
year on the two Orange Book patent- ‘909 patent. DC
Sweet Potato Salad Serves 8 Ingredients 2 cups cubed cooked sweet potatoes 1 apple, chopped 1 cup chopped celery 1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1 (8-opunce) can juice-pack pineapple tidbits, drained 1/4 cup nonfat sour cream 1/4 cup egg substitute 2 tablespoons milk 1/2 teaspoon salt Preparation Combine sweet potatoes, apple, celery, mandarin oranges, walnuts
and pineapple in bowl; mix well. Stir in mixture of sour cream, mayonnaise,
milk and salt. Chill, covered, until serving time. Spoon onto lettuce-lined
salad plates. |
Sweet Potato Latkes
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled Preparation
|
Healthy Pineapple Poppy-Seed Bread
Makes: One loaf womenfitness.com |
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"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls"
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Gitanjali, 1912.
Hosted by Dr. Ramesh
Cherivirala