Health Jockey

Do you frequently get a cold that doesn’t seem to go away, even after popping pills? May be you need to check on your hygiene, you heard it right. Natural measures like washing your hands provide much better protection than popping pills in keeping cold at bay, suggests a new study by researchers at German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG).

The researchers also add that those who think that taking Vitamin C pills help in fighting colds need to reconfirm their facts. Vitamin C is actually quite harmful for humans when consumed in large quantities.

Professor Peter Sawicki, the Institute’s Director, commented, “Not only is there no proof that some antioxidants prolong life, but there is some evidence that certain products may even lead to earlier death.”

He further added, “It can be very difficult to accept that these beliefs are myths, but they are not true if further research does not confirm Read the rest of this story >>

You may have heard the idiom ‘As sweet as sugar’. There could just be some truth to this as an intriguing study by researchers at the Amsterdam University and Florida State University reveals an interesting link between glucose levels and the expression of prejudice and the use of stereotypes.

According to the study, when we consume sweet drinks we apparently get a sugar rush that nourishes the brain with feed that is necessary to choke off outspoken opinions. That’s right! Levels of glucose in the body control the way we express our opinions.

“Ensuring people have sufficient energy for self-control may help to improve their ability to control both prejudice and use of stereotypes in their day-to-day life. People with lower glucose levels are more likely to use stereotypes when describing others and, if they are high in prejudice, are more likely to make derogatory statements,” the researchers remarked.

They further added, “When people Read the rest of this story >>

Liver transplant is a common surgery for treatment of patients with serious liver conditions including hepatitis, liver cancer, fulminant (acute) liver failure, cirrhosis and end stage liver disease. However a recent study puts to question this treatment particularly for children as it brings with it an increased risk of cancer.

Led by Helena Isoniemi of Finland, a team of researchers indicate that the chances of developing cancer are upped by three times for people who undergo a liver transplant.

The authors mentioned, “Based on our data, one out of six liver transplant patients is estimated to develop some form of cancer by 20 years after transplantation. This study points out the importance of cancer surveillance after liver transplantation. The most common cancer types in our cohort were lymphoma and skin cancer. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which included four cases of post-transplant lymphoproliverative disorder, occurred more frequently in males, in Read the rest of this story >>

Being a mother may just be a blessing in disguise. Take this word-for-word as a novel research now proves that motherhood acts as a boon to female brain power protecting them against a range of degenerative diseases.

A popular belief is that many would be mothers face fatigue and struggle to carry on even simple daily tasks due to a supposed decline in mental powers during pregnancy. However after giving birth to a baby scientists claim the brain is supercharged and hence prepares women for rearing a child. Conducted by researchers at the University Of Richmond, Virginia, the study involved various studies on rats and primates.

Professor Craig Kinsley, lead author of the research and professor of neuroscience mentioned, “Pregnant women do undergo a phase of so-called baby brain, when they experience an apparent loss of function. However, this is because their brains are being remodelled for motherhood to cope with the many new demands Read the rest of this story >>

If you love your morning toast all dripping with jam and jelly, carry on. You may just be unknowingly protecting yourself from cancer. That’s right! A recent laboratory study by the Institute of Food Research in Norwich claims that your regular jar of jam and jellies could help tackle cancer.

An ideal snack to replace lost energy after a work-out, nutritionist already claim that jam is a great option to help to get glycogen back into muscles quickly and efficiently due to its quick ability to release sugars .The substance in jam and jelly that may protect you against the disease is pectin. Though present in these processed foods in a more altered form, pectin is a natural fibre found in fruits and vegetables and having a wide use in processed foods.

Lead researcher, Professor Vic Morris, reveals, “The treatments used by the food industry to modify pectin would emphasize the release of the fragment we’ve identified. Read the rest of this story >>

Previous studies have highlighted the health benefits of red wine that include benefit to the heart and also improvement in circulation. A research now finds that in moderate quantities the French drink may also protect you against lung cancer.

Conducted by US researchers, the study suggests that an antioxidant component in red wine has the potential to decrease the risk of lung cancer in men, especially among people at high-risk like smokers. Alcohol is normally associated with addiction; however many studies have shown that moderate quantities of alcohol may actually do more good than cause you harm.

Lead researcher Dr. Chun Chao of Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena, comments, “An antioxidant component in red wine may be protective of lung cancer, particularly among smokers. Red wine is known to contain high levels of antioxidants. There is a compound called Resveratrol that is very rich in red wine because it is Read the rest of this story >>

The nomenclature and classification of diseases has kept on changing as per our understanding and diseases evolution. The word cancer has been introduced in modern science only a decade ago. Naturally one can not expect to find the exact synonym of word cancer in ayurvedic texts, but a very near word called ‘ARBUDA’, meaning tumor appears in the vedic literature.

There is one more word called ‘SUDHTA VARNA’ meaning malignant ulcer is also described in the vedic scripture. In addition, special names are given to various cancers, depending on the site of origin e.g., valaya, balasa, shataghni and mansatana are the names of some cancers of throat. Yonikanda is the name of vaginal or cervical tumor or cancer. Sannipatika pandu includes leukemia.

The word ARBUDA literally means mountain, which is a tumor like elevation on the surface of earth. It is divided into:

1: vataja arbuda
2: Read the rest of this story >>

“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease”- goes a famous Buddhist quote. In case you have trouble self authorizing your health, we are here to do it for you. So if you happened to have missed out something important on the health front in this past week, fret not. Starting today, we promise to bring you top five health news of the week in the coming days that should keep you updated and alert regarding your health.

A weekly dose of good health with that dash of extra care will certainly keep away your worries. So get ready for a ride down memory lane for some significant happenings we witnessed this week.

The week started off in a high note with the revelation of a single jab to cure testicular cancer. Experts at the Southampton University suggest that the optimum method to fight one of the deadliest Read the rest of this story >>

Don’t we feel the summer getting hotter each year and the winter getting colder? Certainly moving towards rapidly changing climatic conditions, these changes among other hazards are also causing some harm to our health. They apparently bring with them a range of deadly diseases.

A new report released this week by health experts from the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reveals that higher temperatures and rainfall due to global warming may cause the spread of 12 deadly diseases into new regions around the world, raising the danger to humans and animals.

Making it clear, WCS President and CEO Dr Steven E Sanderson remarked, “The health of wild animals is tightly linked to the ecosystems in which they live and influenced by the environment surrounding them, and even minor disturbances can have far-reaching consequences on what diseases they might encounter and transmit as climate changes. Monitoring wildlife Read the rest of this story >>

If you have already suffered from a miscarriage and cant wait to get pregnant again-Beware! An alarming study conducted by researchers at the University of Aberdeen suggests that women on the rack of miscarriage have increased chances of dangerous complications in future pregnancies.

“This is the first study of its kind to assess the impact of an initial miscarriage on the next ongoing pregnancy. Previous work has focused on the consequences of three or more miscarriages, although for most women, a single miscarriage is far more likely. While for most women these risks are small, increased obstetric surveillance should not be restricted only to women with multiple miscarriages,” mentioned Dr Sohinee Bhattacharya, lead researcher from the Dugald Baird Centre for Research on Women’s Health at the University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.

The new study involving nearly 32,000 expectant mothers reveals that a single miscarriage Read the rest of this story >>