The Telangana Science Journal

Issue: 54
5104 Kali Era, Chitrabhanu Year, Jyesta month
1924 Salivahana Era, Chitrabhanu Year, Jyesta month
 2002 AD, June
Chief Editor: Sreenivasarao Vepachedu, PhD, LLM
Contributing Editor: Venkateswara Rao Karuparthy, MD, DABPM


I am very pleased to introduce to you Dr. Venkateswarrao Karuparthy, Asst. Professor (Clinical) University of Iowa School of Medicine, who kindly volunteered to join the Telangana Science Journal. SV
 

CONTENTS

Ayurveda in Modern Medicine, by Dr. Venkateswarrao Karuparthi
Ancestral Stories Hidden in Our DNA
High Density Lipo (HDL) Proteins
Hunger Facts
Cholesterol Reducing Drugs and Women
Mother's oral health and children's risk
Supersize (meals-waistline-pharmaceutical-research) America
Second Hand Smoke
Soy Supplements
Fruits and Vegetables
Recipe: Apricot And Brown Rice Pilaf
A Natural Anti-depressant for Women
Cancer Causing Snacks
Insulin Without Injections
How are we related?
 




High Density Lipo (HDL) Proteins
Low blood levels of the "good" cholesterol, known as HDL cholesterol, increase the risk of dementia in the elderly, even if they show no signs of heart disease or stroke, researchers report in a new study, published in the June issue of the Annals of Neurology, 51:716-721 (2002). In the study of 561 85-year-old men and women, those with the lowest blood levels of HDL cholesterol were more than twice as likely to have dementia as those with the highest HDL levels. When the researchers excluded patients with documented heart disease or stroke, they found that those with the lowest HDL levels were nearly four times as likely to have dementia as those with the highest levels.  And neither of these findings was affected by a person's educational background or their blood levels of two types of harmful lipids: "bad" LDL cholesterol or triglycerides.  The researchers said it is possible that patients without documented cardiovascular disease may have had a stroke that went undetected, and that this contributed to their dementia. It is also possible that HDL helps slow mental decline by preventing the formation of plaques associated with dementia or by reducing inflammation in the brain, they suggest. In the average man, HDL cholesterol levels range from 40 to 50 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) of blood, according to the American Heart Association. In the average woman, they range from 50 to 60 mg/dL. An HDL level below 40 mg/dL is considered low. People can raise their HDL cholesterol by losing excess weight, exercising regularly and stopping smoking. Click here for more on Lipids.

Hunger Facts
Currently, there is an annual reduction of about 6 million in the number of hungry people in the world. That must increase to 22 million a year to meet the 1996 U.N. targetto reduce the number of the world's hungry people from about 800 million to 400 million by 2015.
-A $180 billion annual investment in agriculture, infrastructure and services in the developing world is needed to meet the target.
-About 12.8 million people in six southern African nations - Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique - are at risk of starvation because of drought, floods, depleted food stocks and economic instability.
-Of the 9.5 million undernourished people living in transition countries of Europe, nearly 60 percent live in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Moldova.
-UNAIDS estimates that more than half of the 28 million people living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are in rural areas, devastating thousands of farming communities and leaving families struggling to produce enough food to survive.
-About 54 million people suffer from chronic malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Sources: U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Program, UNAIDS.
 

Cholesterol Reducing Drugs and Women
Treatment with a cholesterol-lowering statin can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and possibly death in postmenopausal women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), investigators report in the rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.  This article focuses on women who have reached menopause.  Women taking statins had a 21 percent lower risk of heart attack and death related to heart disease and a 33 percent lower risk of dying from any cause during four years of treatment, compared to women who did not take statins. Statin therapy was also associated with a 55 percent lower risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE, blood clots in veins), a potentially life-threatening problem that can occur in women on HRT.  "Statin" is the popular name for the class of cholesterol reducing drugs including Mevacor, Zocor, Lipitor, Pravachol, and Lescol.  Statins help prevent heart attacks for women as much as they do for men.

Mother's oral health and children's risk
A study published in the June issue of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology by the researchers from the Montefiore Medical Center and the Montefiore Dental Center, Bronx, New York, and the New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York indicate that a mother's oral health and dietary habits may help to predict the risk of tooth decay in her young children. If mothers had high levels of mutans streptococci, bacteria known to contribute to dental decay in the mouth, their 3- to 5-year-old children had more than 11 times the risk of decay than children of mothers with low levels of these bacteria.  If mothers had treated tooth decay or consumed large amounts of sugar, their children had four times the risk of decay compared with children of mothers without decay or those with low sugar consumption.

Supersize (meals-waistline-pharmaceutical-research) America
Americans are being manipulated by the (food) industry into eating far more than they need, or even want to, said the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity.  Those supersize portions at fast-food outlets may look like bargains, but they cost Americans billions of dollars in obesity-related illnesses. But, don't worry, that money is well spent on research on obesity, heart diseases, diabetes and cancer related research. It is a nice food-auto-pharmaceutical-research-industry cycle that sustains the economy.  So, we should eat more and buy more cars, exercise equipment and pills, right? Wrong! The AICR, which advocates better diets to prevent cancer, teamed up with the Consumer Federation of America and the Center for Science in the Public Interest for the campaign, and wants Americans to rebel against supersized and value-sized food portions. More than 60 per cent of Americans are overweight and more than a quarter are obese, meaning they are 20 percent over ideal weight and face health problems. Overweight people have a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Generation X-Tra Large: A study, "The Natural History of the Development of Obesity in a Cohort of Young U.S. Adults Between 1981 and 1998," appears in the June 18, 2002, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.  The study found:  Twenty-six percent of men and 28 percent of women were obese by the time they were 35 to 37.  Young adults are becoming obese faster.  People born in 1964 became obese 26 percent to 28 percent faster than those born in 1957. Ethnic differences appeared in weight development. Black women and Hispanic men became obese most rapidly.  Overweight young adults, especially women, were at significant  risk of becoming obese by age 35 to 37. In women, mild overweight was linked with at least a 60 percent chance of obesity. Check your BMI at: http://www.doctorsforadults.com/dfa_obes.htm

Note from Whitehouse:  President Bush urged Americans on 20th to make themselves and their nation healthier through exercise, proper diet and regular checkups. "The evidence is clear: A healthier America is a stronger America," the president said while kicking off a four-day fitness campaign.  Already, a curious phenomenon has gripped the Bush White House. Inspired by their fitness-crazed president, these pasty-faced presidential aides are going to the White House gym daily to get buff pecs, ripped abs, tight buns and just overall huge. As President Bush sets out this week to highlight the need for Americans to exercise more --half are completely sedentary and 300,000 die annually of obesity-related disease -- his advisers truly have put their muscles where their mouths are.  Bush aides say they are cutting back on caffeine and alcohol in favor of soy milk and three liters of water a day. They are forming into groups called the ``Dixie Chicks'' and ``Girls With Gloves'' (weightlifting gloves, that is) to employ the services of personal trainers who advise them in everything from meal size to dental flossing. Last week, when the White House announced a three-mile run scheduled for Saturday with Bush at Fort McNair -- part of this week's physical fitness campaign -- 400 White House staffers signed up in the first hour.... Bearden, who declines to be interviewed, leads them in strength training, endurance and yoga. She has Matalin taking antioxidant vitamins and minerals, a soy drink called Silk, yogurt and colorful fruits and vegetables. The women do three sets each of chest presses, curls, squats, flies, pulldowns, lunges and, as Matalin calls it, ``glute something'' for the gluteus maximus. As Matalin sees it, the workout routine is good for both body and country. Washington Post.

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson released on 22nd a new report that underscores the importance of physical activity in preventing disease and outlines the physical and financial costs associated with a sedentary lifestyle, including a cost of  billion annually associated with overweight and obesity. HHS report says that frail health often associated with aging is in large part due to physical inactivity, but that it's never too late to benefit from becoming physically active.

Second Hand Smoke
A comprehensive review of medical studies by researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) showed passive smoking causes cancer and that chemicals and gases in tobacco contribute to cancer of the stomach, liver, kidney, uterus, cervix and to myeloid leukemia.  IARC, based in Lyons, France, is an extension of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Its findings on smoking are based on an independent analysis of more than 50 medical studies by 29 experts from 12 countries.  An estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes or bidis—tobacco rolled in a leaf—and expose billions more non-smokers to the carcinogenic chemicals.  Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals in the form of particles and gases. Carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide are among the potentially toxic ones.  About one half of persistent smokers will be killed by a tobacco related disease and half of those deaths will occur in middle age.
Light Smokers: People who smoke just a few cigarettes a day may reasonably assume that they are in less danger than heavier smokers. But a new study offers evidence to the contrary when it comes to cardiovascular disease. Regardless of the amount of tobacco use, smokers exhibited the same changes in the blood vessel lining, surprised authors reported in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Soy Supplements
Soy supplements may be able to help diabetic women to control both their blood sugar and their cholesterol, researchers reported in a small study conducted in Hull and Yorkshire, England presented in San Francisco at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association. The women taking the soy supplement showed significantly better control over their blood sugar, according to several standard tests, and their levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein dropped.

Fruits and Vegetables
Bazzano et al., in a report  in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke in a large group of subjects over a period of roughly 2 decades. They found that stroke incidence and mortality, as well as mortality from ischemic heart disease and CVD, were all significantly reduced in those who consumed at least 3 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.  Those who had consumed at least 3 servings per day of fruits and vegetables had a 27% lower incidence of stroke and 42% lower stroke mortality rate among all subjects, and risk of death from ischemic heart disease and CVD was reduced by 24% and 27%, respectively. The research, part of the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I), involved prolonged follow-up of 9608 adults ages 25-74 who were randomly distributed by sex, race, and sociological group. All subjects were free of CVD at the study's  inception between 1971-1975, and follow-up data on dietary intake,  disease and mortality were collected in 1982-84, 1986, 1987, and 1992.

Apricot And Brown Rice Pilaf
Serves 4
Ingredients:1 cup shredded carrot, 1 tablespoon pine nuts, 1 tablespoon margarine, 3/4 cup quick-cooking brown rice, 1 cup apple juice, 3/4 cup water, 6 dried apricot-halves chopped, 2 tablespoons raisins.
Preparation: Combine carrot, pine nuts and margarine in 1-quart glass dish. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Add rice, apple juice and water; mix well. Microwave, loosely covered on high for 5 minutes, stirring once. Stir in apricots and raisins. Microwave, covered, on medium for 12 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is
 tender. Nutritional Analysis Per Serving: Calories, 234; Protein, 4 grams; Carbohydrates, 44 grams; Total Fat, 5 grams (19 percent of calories from fat); Cholesterol, 0 milligrams; Fiber, 3 grams; Sodium, 49 milligrams. Bread 1 1/2; Fruit 1; Vegetables 1/2. (Source: http://www.arthritis.org/)

A Natural Anti-depressant
A new study compared women whose partners wear condoms with those whose partners don't. It showed that the women who were directly exposed to semen were less depressed.  The team divided 293 female students into groups depending on how often their partners wore condoms, and assessed their happiness using the Beck Depression Inventory, a standard questionnaire for assessing mood. People who score over 17 are considered moderately depressed. The team found that women whose partners never used condoms scored 8 on average, those who sometimes used them scored 10.5, those who usually used them scored 15 and those who always used them scored 11.3. Women who weren't having sex at all scored 13.5. The longer the interval since they last had sex, the more depressed the women who never or sometimes used condoms got. But the time since the last sexual encounter made no difference to the mood of women who usually or always used condoms.  Semen contains several mood-altering hormones, including testosterone, oestrogen, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, prolactin and several different prostaglandins. Some of these have been detected in a women's blood within hours of exposure to semen. The results will appear in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. ANI

Cancer Causing Snacks
A study by Sweden's National Food Administration this year found high levels of acrylamide in french fries, some brands of potato chips, some types of breakfast cereal and crispbread and some types of bread fried or baked at high temperatures.  Boiled foods did not contain the substance. After the Swedish findings were announced,  studies in Norway, Britain, Switzerland, Germany and the United States made similar observations.  However, the experts did not issue guidelines warning consumers against eating  foods with the potentially cancer-causing substance, acrylamide.  Health experts were concerned enough to call a special 3-day meeting in Geneva, which grouped 23 scientists from universities and national food authorities, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization sponsored the conference.  They said further study is necessary to determine the extent of the risk - and how to reduce it, to the relief of the snack and fast-food industry. AP
 

How are we related?

Insulin Without Injections


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