Body of Wealth

Among the various things, kids hate perhaps the needles used to vaccinate them against flu top the list. However, parents are helpless just like the medical communities while administering the flu vaccine and pushing the sharp needles into their tender skin. Various methods had been tried to deliver the vaccine painlessly to the body that includes both oral administration of the vaccine and nasal sprays. Both these methods of vaccination though painless have certain side effects. While the oral doses lose their efficacy when subjected to the harsh digestive enzymes as they enter the stomach, the nasal sprays can adversely affect the body’s central nervous system.

Can you imagine a lunch with dishes none of which have traces of salt? Possibly you can’t. Salt is precisely one ingredient without which most of the food we eat seems very drab and tasteless. But some info that I’m just about to convey you is surely going to bring a curve on your forehead the next time you sit to eat or see your child chewing the crumbs. Recent researches have unleashed some very shocking news about the nourishing qualities of preserved and ready-made foods, vis-à-vis the amount of salt content. Common fast foods like baked beans, beefburgers; sausages, pizzas, pitta breads and even cereals, the most common items that we grab on every trip to the market have been tested.

These items are very popular among the erstwhile nagging kids, unfortunately, the salt level in all of these processed foods are negatively effective to the kids’ and our health. The fast foods popular with children are loaded with salt which works as a silent, insidious killer. Studies have revealed that young children consuming half a tin of baked beans along with two sausages would exceed the suggested salt intake for a whole day in just a single garb.Children eat two-thirds more than what they should. Each time they chew into a sandwich or a packet of waffer or even cheese , there is a good chance that the little ones are raising their blood pressure. And a high pressure since childhood increases the risk of a heart attack when adult.

If you want to look younger and reduce those wrinkles that appear with age, then perhaps a visit to the plastic surgeon or applying Botox is no more required. Simply visit the gym regularly and remain physically active. Researchers of King’s College London have found a link between physical activity and progression of aging.

In the study that had 2,401 white twins, the researchers found that the length of telomeres, a vital part of DNA shortened more quickly in inactive people. As telomeres shortened, the cells became more susceptible to disease and death. It has always been known that by remaining physically active one can reduce chances of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and even certain cancers. It now appears that the telomere in the DNA does the biological tricks.

An evolutionary change in field mice may revolutionize the treatment of human infertility, say scientists at the University of Liverpool. The group of scientists have found that field mice have evolved a unique way of sacrificing some of their immunity protection in favor of a more rapid fertilization process.

The mice that were researched traded the production of an immunologically important protein CD46 in favor of this faster fertilization process in order to compete with other mice more successfully, say the team. CD46 is present in both humans and animals. As such, this is a good news for those trying to overcome human infertility. CD46 is a protein that helps in the protection of a body’s cell from any attack by the immune system. It was noticed that over time, the mice lost that protein, causing the body to reach a state of instability. It is during this period of instability that fertilization takes place.

Tooth filling is harmful for the neurological health of your kid. If this is the thought you carry then simply forget it, as dental amalgam tooth fillings has nothing to do with your kid’s neurological heath. This became more evident after a team of experts, having members from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and the University of Washington, Seattle, went through an intensive long-study of seven years.

Finally I read about some positive outcome in the field of medical science. A team of British scientists recently made a revolutionary breakthrough, when they discovered certain chemicals that can help prevent spread of the deadly cancer in the human body. If further studies can be conducted, there is a high probability of generating drugs that will have the potential to stop almost 90 percent of cancers from spreading. Furthermore, these drugs will be most effective against the deadliest of 2 cancers which we are aware of till date: breast and lung cancer.
How the cancer spreads so rapidly inside the human body? The source of the disease is a tumor in the body. Sometimes, cancerous cells from that tumor can be easily distributed across the entire body by our bloodstream. What happens thereafter is, these cells again start reproducing and form tumors. This is how the cancerous disease spreads across the whole body and eventually leads to death. The researchers in the recently concluded study observed that a protein named E-cadherin is responsible for the cells to remain clustered together, thereby hindering them from breaking away and spreading throughout the body. Following this highly successful study, the scientists are now planning for further advancement in this field by creating new drugs that can restrict the process of the spread of cancer (called metastasis, in medical terminology) in the body.

Suffering from pneumonia? Get ready to lie on a hospital bed. Yes! This was the common remark a person, struggling with pneumonia, would normally get from doctors and others. However, the situation seems to be taking a new turn now, in fact, a significant one this time.

Such assumption caught spark after experts in Pakistan found that treating children with severe pneumonia at home is just as effective as treating them in hospitals. Before coming up with such assumption experts carried out a study, involving around 2,037 children with s severe pneumonia were randomly assigned to get either injectable antibiotics in a hospital or antibiotic pills at home. Finally, what experts found was that of the five children who died during the study, four were hospitalized. This somewhere shows treating pneumonia patient at home would provide similar benefits that one can have at the hospital.

Penicillin, the once wonder drug is fast losing its effectiveness with widespread undesirable prescription of the drugs by general physicians. As a result, there has been a rapid increase in the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are complicating diseases.

To prevent misuse of antibiotics, a campaign called ‘Clean, Safe Care’ has been launched in UK to educate health workers. ₤45 million will be spent by the UK National Health Service to cleanse hospitals of drug-resistant bugs. Despite of being viral infections, antibiotics are widely prescribed for common cold, cough and flu.

Be careful with your travel plans if you are pregnant, especially in the first trimester. If you are in a job that requires frequent traveling, see that you are not exposed to traffic fumes frequently as researchers have found that air pollution could stunt the growth of the babies in the womb. The most damaging pollutants are sulfur dioxide and particulate matter, which come directly out of the car exhaust.
When Brisbane researchers analyzed the ultrasound scans of over 15,000 women who lived within fourteen kilometers of the city center, they found that women who lived close to main roads carried smaller babies. The differences in the size of the fetuses were between one and two millimeters. It is a known fact that bigger babies grow into healthy adults.

Well, there have been studies showing that heavier babies have higher IQ (intelligence quotient) at age seven and then lower risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes later on in adult life, so, these are pretty serious, pretty big things.

Says Dr Adrian Barnett, a senior research fellow at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.

The studies however did not take into the account of lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking and diet of the study participants.

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Via:ABC

We had interesting viewpoints on Instablogs whether obesity was a media created hype or a genuine problem. There seems to be more to create another debate on whether the obsession with size-zero is a hype or a genuine problem.

The media is bombarded with skeleton exposing celebrities who look like they will be blown away with the first waft of wind, driving increasing number of women to anorexia. Hospitals are facing an overwhelming problem having to cope up with the increase in patients with eating disorders.

An alarming number of patients with eating disorders are checking in at the Britain hospitals. The situation has put the health authorities on high alert as these patients are occupying beds reserved for patients having genuine health concerns. Compare this; in 2002 the number of bed days taken up by patients with eating disorders was 51,878 and the numbers rose to 84,377 in 2007. These figures only indicate those of people seeking medical advice and the number of people suffering from anorexia and bulimia could be far higher.