The Telangana Science Journal

Health and Nutrition

(An International Electronic Science Digest Published from the United States of America)
(Dedicated to one of the most backward regions in India, "Telangana," My Fatherland )

Chief Editor: Sreenivasarao Vepachedu, MS, JD, PhD, LLM
Associate Editor: Venkateswara Rao Karuparthy, MD



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Issue 149

5112 Kali Era , Vikruthi Year, Vaisakha month
2068 Vikramarka Era, Vikruthi Year, Vaisakha month
1932 Salivahana Era
Vikruthi Year, Vaisakha month
 2010 AD, May


Contents
Home

Management
AJIN

TSJ

MS

Vegetarian Links

Disclaimer

Soliciataion

Contact

VPC

More Links

Vedah

   
Diet and Exercise

Trans Fats
Alcohol




Miscellaneous

Brush Your Teeth Twice Daily
Gardening May Help Your Brain
Polio
Mother’s Day, the 50th Anniversary of the Pill


Recipes

Polenta







   
Diet and Exercise
Trans Fats
Cutting trans fats from processed and restaurant foods really did make them healthier, an advocacy group said.  The study focused on 83 foods that were altered since 2006,  the first year U.S. food labels were required to list trans fats. It's also when New York City launched its trans fat ban for restaurants. Researchers looked at labels, industry brochures and government nutrition data. They checked trans fat and saturated fat totals for the old and revamped products. Nearly all of the new versions had little or no trans fat. Some contained more saturated fat. But most did not. For about 65% of grocery products and 90% of restaurant foods, saturated fat levels were lower, the same or slightly higher than before. The research findings were reported in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.


Alcohol
Alcohol consumption in early pregnancy increases levels of a little-known lipid called ceramide, significantly increasing suicide among cells critical to skull and brain formation, according to a report in Cell Death and Disease.  Resulting neural crest damage includes the brain's "skin" – the multi-layered meninges that provides protection and nourishment – producing less TGF-β1, a growth factor critical for brain and bone development. That finding may help explain the cranial bone and cognitive defects that can result in fetal alcohol syndrome.



Miscellaneous

Brush Your Teeth Twice Daily
Good personal hygiene is a basic element of a healthy lifestyle. People who fail to brush their teeth twice a day are putting themselves at risk of heart disease, research suggests.  A Scottish study of more than 11,000 adults backs previous research linking gum disease with heart problems.  It is known that inflammation in the body, including in the mouth and gums, has an important role in the build up of clogged arteries, which can lead to a heart attack.  In addition to brushing your teeth twice daily, if you want to help your heart, you should eat a balanced diet, avoid smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages and do regular exercise.


Gardening May Help Your Brain
Mice given peanut butter laced with nanogram quantities of an antigen, extracted using special techniques from common, harmless soil bacterium, ran through mazes twice as fast and enjoyed doing so.  Peripheral immune activation can have profound physiological and behavioral effects including induction of fever and sickness behavior. One mechanism through which immune activation or immunomodulation may affect physiology and behavior is via actions on brainstem neuromodulatory systems, such as serotonergic systems. It was found that peripheral immune activation with antigens derived from the nonpathogenic, saprophytic bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, activated a specific subset of serotonergic neurons in the interfascicular part of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRI) of mice, as measured by quantification of c-Fos expression following intratracheal (12 h) or s.c. (6 h) administration of heat-killed, ultrasonically disrupted M. vaccae, or heat-killed, intact M. vaccae, respectively.

Polio
Polio has virtually disappeared from the West but is entrenched in the Indian continent (mostly in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan), and in Nigeria, where rumors about the vaccine's safety resulting in a year-long suspension of polio campaigns in 2003.  The disease mostly hits children under five and is spread via dirty water.  But recent surprises, like an outbreak in Tajikistan, which had been free of the disease for years, show how unpredictable the effort remains. WHO says it is still possible to get rid of polio and that to give up now would set loose a deadly virus.

Experts worry that as the effort enters its 22nd year, donors' patience and wallets are running thin. Sustaining the effort costs about $750 million every year. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of polio's top donors, could not say how long they plan to bankroll the effort, but said the next three years are "critically important." The foundation said their polio donations are reconsidered every year.


Mother’s Day, the 50th Anniversary of the Pill
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Natazia (estradiol valerate and estradiol valerate/dienogest) tablets for the prevention of pregnancy. Natazia has not been evaluated in women with a BMI of greater than 30 kg/m(2). Natazia is the first and only oral contraceptive that contains an estrogen called estradiol valerate and a progestin called dienogest. Estradiol valerate is a synthetic estrogen that is converted to estradiol in a woman's body. Natazia is expected to be available in the summer.  Until today, all marketed combination oral contraceptives (COCs) contained ethinyl estradiol. With the FDA approval of Natazia, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals becomes the first company to launch estradiol valerate together with the progestin, dienogest.  Women using COCs, including Natazia, should be strongly advised not to smoke. Smoking increases the risk of serious cardiovascular side effects from COC use. The risk increases with age and the number of cigarettes, especially in women over 35 years old.  Natazia is taken once a day. The dosing regimen consists of pills with varying doses of estradiol valerate, and estradiol valerate in combination with dienogest, for specific days of the 28-day cycle.  A world without "the pill" is unimaginable to many young women who now use it to treat acne, skip periods, improve mood and, of course, prevent pregnancy. They might be surprised to learn that U.S. officials announcing approval of the world's first oral contraceptive were uncomfortable.  

May 9, Sunday, the Mother's Day, was the 50th anniversary of that provocative announcement that introduced to the world what is now widely acknowledged as one of the most important inventions of the last century.  The world has changed, but it's debatable what part the birth control pill played. Some experts think it gets too much credit or blame for the sexual revolution. After all, sex outside of marriage wasn't new in 1960 AD or in 3000 BC.  The pill definitely changed sex though, giving women more control over their fertility than they'd ever had before and permanently putting doctors - who previously didn't see contraceptives as part of their job - in the birth control picture.  But some things haven't changed. Now as then, a male birth control pill is still on the drawing board.

And it didn't eliminate all unwanted pregnancies either. Nearly half of all pregnancies to U.S. women are unintended and nearly half of those end in abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which has gathered data on abortions for years.  The pill is often associated with the women's movement of the 1970s. But the two feminists behind the pill, the ones who provided the intellectual spark and the financial backing, were born a century earlier, in the 1870s.

As suffragists worked for the vote, renowned birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger distributed pamphlets with contraceptive advice and dreamed of a magic pill to prevent pregnancy.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-sci-pill-20100504,0,5247187.story


 


   
Recipes

Polenta
Polenta is made most commonly with yellow cornmeal. You can also use white cornmeal, and some recipes call for buckwheat. The final texture of the polenta will depend on the grind of the meal, from fine to coarse.

1 Heat a pot of water to a boil. The rule of thumb is a 3-to-1 ratio by volume of water to polenta.

2 Add a teaspoon of salt to the boiling water.

3 Using regular, medium grind yellow cornmeal, slowly stir in the polenta with a whisk or wooden spoon.

4 Continue stirring with a wooden spoon, nearly constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent it from sticking and burning. The whole process takes about 45 to 60 minutes, and the polenta is done when it's thick and wavy and it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/ct-food-0526-prep-polenta-20100526,0,1229043.story






Notice: This material contains only general descriptions and is not a solicitation to sell any insurance product or security, nor is it intended as any financial, tax, medical or health care advice. For information about specific needs or situations, contact your financial, tax agent or physician.
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Source: The primary sources cited above,  New York Times (NYT), Washington Post (WP), Mercury News, Bayarea.com, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Intellihealthnews, Deccan Chronicle (DC), the Hindu, Hindustan Times, Times of India, AP, Reuters, AFP, womenfitness.net, about.com etc.




Copyright ©1998-2010
Vepachedu Educational Foundation, Inc
Copyright Vepachedu Educational Foundation Inc., 2010.  All rights reserved.  All information is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for special medical conditions or any specific health issues or starting a new fitness regimen. Please read disclaimer.





Om! Asatoma Sadgamaya, Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrityorma Amritamgamaya, Om Shantih, Shantih, Shantih!
(Om! Lead the world from wrong path to the right path, from ignorance to knowledge, from mortality to immortality and peace!)
One World One Family





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