Health News of the Week: 29th June – 4th July 2009
Yet again we are back with the latest health updates of the past week for our readers. Following the norm of keeping you posted on the medical happenings, we have come armed with an array of health-related news which would definitely interest you. So without further delay let’s begin with our Top Five Health News of the Week.
The week was kick-started with a new study pointing out the benefits of peanuts in shielding one from cardiovascular-related issues. In fact the investigators from Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health in Boston say that Type 2 diabetes women having more nuts and peanut butter seemed to be in better health than their counterparts. Such women were believed to be leaner, physically more active and less susceptible to heart diseases. Well, since Type 2 diabetes is believed to increase one’s risk of heart-related diseases, popping a few nuts and peanut butter doesn’t sound that difficult. However this alone may not have the desired effect. This needs to be accompanied with a healthy and a balanced meal and adequate physical activity.
Already having illustrated the benefits of being physically active, our next news also revolves around a similar criterion. It seems that the elderly with greater physical activity may have an edge over their not-so-active counterparts. Apart from having better cerebral blood vessels, the former were also observed to have “younger” brains than the latter. This difference between both the groups of subjects was pointed out by Elizabeth Bullitt, MD, Van L. Weatherspoon Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. It was stated that with age the brain blood vessels in people may get thin and twisted. The experts found that the brain vessels of the physically active elderly seemed to be “younger” than the lesser active people. All we can say is that being physically active sure has its perks in every cycle of life!
Moving away from this study, we come to our next news of the week. This is surely a very intriguing study which was conducted by the investigators from the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, part of the University of Rochester Medical Center. These experts have said that the glass of orange juice that accompanies your morning breakfast may have an even worse effect on your teeth than whitening products! Alright to be fair, this is not precisely what was said. It was stated that the acidic content in fruit juices may incur more damage on the teeth than the amount of damage done by teeth whitening products. For this purpose the experts have even suggested a way of reducing this effect on the teeth. They have warned people to be wary of the acidic content of various beverages and have also stated that drinking such beverages slowly may have more negative effects on the teeth than drinking it rapidly.
What a person eats mainly determines the kind of a body that they have. The American Dietetic Association says that following a well balanced vegetarian diet may not only ensure a healthy being, but may also shield one from developing various chronic diseases. More so, such a diet is not restricted to a particular age-group; it could be followed by people during their different phases of life. Since vegetarian foodstuffs usually tend to have lower cholesterol and saturated fat, people following such diets may have lower risk of facing various diseases, including cancer. A healthy, balanced and a nutritious diet is very crucial for an individual’s over all well-being. For this purpose one should be very careful of the kind of foodstuffs that they have and also the amount consumed. Such a diet coupled with adequate physical activity, could prove to have more than physiological advantages.
Even though we have entered an age of technology, there are certain ancient techniques which are still unbeatable. One such ancient Indian technique would be the Ayurveda. This traditional way of using herbs is believed to not only be helpful in treating chronic diseases, but also in nullifying the adverse effects of chemotherapy. The scientists from CCRAS have allegedly developed new Ayurvedic treatments to improve the quality of life of cancer patients. Not only this, experts are also supposedly attempting to develop medications to treat people suffering from mental illnesses. Here, the proverb “Old is Gold,” sure holds true!
With the hope that these health related reports have benefited everyone, we would like to sign off until next week. Until then stay healthy, fit and happy!
