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?
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