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Too Much Worse Than too Little?

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We live in a stressful world, with family, work, financial needs, health, pollution, lack of sleep, and the new urban life style taking their toll. Fighting stress has become a money spinner. Doctors advocate preventive methods like diet, exercise, yoga, meditation, holidays and hobbies. These remedial measures require time and effort, scarce commodities in the 21st century. Media publicity highlights the potential hazards of stress. This has resulted in health being slickly packaged as a profitable commodity. Nutritional supplements (consumed dissolved in milk or water) and vitamins, once used for the sick, bedridden or elderly are now considered essential “stress busters”.

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Pharmaceutical companies vie with one another with tall claims, marketing gimmicks and eye-catching advertisements for formulations and supplements. They emphasise rejuvenation, prevention of disease, and accelerated mental development. After all everyone wants their child to be a “topper” or the next Sachin Tendulkar.

Vitamin supplements can be purchased over the counter (OTC) or prescribed. It pays to be knowledgeable about what is actually required, especially if you consult more than one physician each of whom may add a supplement. Some “high potency” vitamin supplements provide one ingredient in high concentrations and the rest in sub optimal doses. If you are taking one or more tablets or capsules of B complex, a vitamin and mineral supplement, additional calcium and a fortified beverage, the total concentration of one or more ingredients may be more than you require.

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There may also be mutual antagonism among the ingredients, preventing absorption and utilisation. Also, if the instructions says “once a day,” don’t take it twice; you will be doing yourself more harm than good.

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The fat soluble vitamins A,D, K and E are stored in body fat and the liver. Stores of A and D can last as long as six months. They can accumulate to toxic levels if consistently consumed in excess. Vitamin A occurs naturally as carotenoids in yellow foods. Excessive consumption of carotenoids can cause a yellow discolouration of the skin. Unnecessary consumption of supplements can result in hypervitaminosis A. In children it causes symptoms similar to that of a brain tumour.

Retinoids, the precursor of vitamin A, are administered as a treatment for acne. In a pregnant woman this can cause severe congenital malformations.
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Vitamin D prevents rickets. Inadvertent administration of too much causes floppy muscles, irritability, vomiting, calcification in various body parts, aortic valve damage and clouding of the eyes.

Vitamin K is needed for clotting. Excessive administration of synthetic vitamin K can produce liver damage.

The B complex vitamins usually exhibit their deficiency as a group and produce fatigue, irritability, skin changes, anaemia, burning feet, fissures at the angles of the mouth and a smooth red tongue. Excess vitamins are usually harmlessly excreted in the urine. Pregnant women may be given high doses of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) to prevent vomiting. They can give birth to children with B6 dependency, and convulsions.

More than 65 mg a day of iron should not be taken. Excess iron gets deposited in organs like the liver, heart and thyroid, seriously damaging them.

More than 60 mg a day of zinc may be harmful. It can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, anaemia and nerve damage.

Amino acids are the basic building blocks of all protein. Protein deficiency owing to illness or malnutrition manifests itself with generalised swelling of the body and changes in the hair and nails. A few milligrams of amino acid in expensive capsules or a tonic will not help. A high protein diet needs to be eaten instead.

Iodine is provided in the “iodised salt” used for cooking. Supplements and tonics are sometimes fortified with additional iodine. This inadvertent intake can cause signs and symptoms of thyroid disease.

Pregnant women require folic acid supplements. Some expensive “women’s supplements” are marketed with additional vitamins, herbs and amino acids. This is not needed and may actually be dangerous.

Some special rejuvenating preparations for men contain sub optimal doses of herbs or precursors of androgenic steroids. The benefit is questionable.

Aware of this dangerous trend, government legislation has fixed the content of vitamin and mineral formulations. This has forced manufacturers to repackage vitamins as “dietary supplements” which are not under “price control” by adding trace elements, amino acids and minerals to the original formulation. The price is higher, but the proportions of the constituents are not scientific, nor are the advantages of the additives proved.

A sensible low fat diet supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables (despite pollution and the use of fertilisers) supplies all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals needed. Supplements are required if the diet becomes inadequate as a result of premature birth, ageing, pregnancy, disease or food faddism.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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How Much Chocolate Should You Eat?

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According to researchers, 6.7 grams of dark chocolate per day — a bit less than half a bar a week — represents the ideal amount for a protective effect against inflammation and cardiovascular disease.

The findings come from one of the largest epidemiological studies ever conducted in Europe. The study focused on the complex mechanism of inflammation. Chronic inflammation is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases ranging from myocardial infarction to stroke.

The study found that people having moderate amounts of dark chocolate regularly had significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein in their blood, which indicates that their inflammatory state was considerably reduced.

Those who ate dark chocolate regularly had a 17% average reduction in C-reactive protein — enough to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease by one-third in women and one-fourth in men.

The findings apply to dark chocolate only. Milk chocolate does not have the same effect, since milk interferes with the absorption of polyphenols.

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Friendly Bacteria Protect Against Type 1 Diabetes

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In a dramatic illustration of the potential for microbes to prevent disease, researchers have shown that mice exposed to common stomach bacteria are protected against the development of type 1 diabetes.

The findings support the “hygiene hypothesis” — the theory that a lack of exposure to parasites, bacteria and viruses in the developed world may lead to increased risk of diseases like allergies, asthma, and other disorders of the immune system.

The results also suggest that exposure to some forms of bacteria might actually help prevent onset of type 1 diabetes, which is an autoimmune disease. In Type I diabetes, the patient’s immune system launches an attack on cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

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How to Prevent Back Pain at Work

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Simple, basic movements at your desk can lead to major back problems—unless you change a few habits.

You bend over to grab a folder from your filing cabinet and you feel it—a sudden flash of fiery pain that shoots through your spine. But while that motion may have set off the painful sensation, bending down was probably just the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.

Day in and day out we treat our backs poorly, mostly with improper and repetitive movements. It only makes sense that a big part of the problem is how we move—and, more often, don’t move—at work, where most of us spend a major portion of our lives. Other factors play a role as well, such as the number and variety of manual tasks performed on the job, along with age, genetics, your schedule, desk setup and stress load. Experts say all these things combine to create unnecessary discomfort.

In Pictures: Preventing Back Pain at Work also Tips for Preventing Back Pain at Work:

“It’s important to know that aspects of the work environment can make things better or worse,” says Dr. Jeffrey Katz, associate professor of medicine and orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School, and author of the book Heal Your Aching Back.

A common problem

Back pain is a much more common problem than most people realize. Lower-back pain is cited as the number-two reason why Americans see their doctors, second only to colds and the flu. And patients suffering from backaches consume more than $90 billion annually in health care expenses, according to 2004 research from Duke University.

On the whole, up to 80 percent of people will deal with this health problem at some point in their life, Katz says. In an office setting of 100 people, he estimates that on a given day, 10 to 12 people probably have some kind of back pain.

Despite the prevalence of the problem, most people don’t put in the effort to examine and tweak their regular work habits to prevent it.

“People don’t take care of themselves until they’re in pain,” says Todd Langer, a Boulder, Colo.-based corrective exercise expert and creator of the P.A.S.T. Functional Fitness Method, which aims to relieve pain through unique balance-board-driven exercises.

Langer, who works with back pain sufferers at One Boulder Fitness Health Club, says the biggest mistake office workers make is continuing to sit in their desk chairs for hours on end. Sitting for sustained periods of time puts too much pressure on the discs and joints in your back.

To give your body a break, Langer suggests regularly moving your rear around in your chair and shifting your weight. If you spend a lot of time on the phone, stand up occasionally during conversations and try to take a short walk at least every half-hour, even if it’s just to the water cooler or printer. Use your e-mail to send yourself reminders until it becomes a habit.

It’s also a smart idea to examine your work station for potential causes of imbalances, says Stefan Aschan, owner and founder of Strength123, a provider of nutrition and fitness programs in New York City and online. Are the floors in your office uneven? Does your chair rest half on and half off a thick, plastic rug pad? Do you, as many men do, keep your wallet in your back pocket and sit on it all day long? Do you cradle the phone between your head and shoulder instead of wearing a headset?

If so, you may be changing the way your body weight is distributed on your discs, Aschan says. Over time, that pressure may cause a disc to bulge, which can be painful.

While you’re looking at your desk, check on the positioning of your chair, computer and phone. You may have heard this advice before, but following through is another story. Todd Sinett, owner of the New York-based Midtown Chiropractic Health and Wellness practice and author of The Truth About Back Pain, recommends asking your company for an adjustable chair that will help maintain the natural curves of your spine, supporting your lower back. (Placing a pillow behind you will also do the trick if your boss won’t spring for an ergonomic chair.)

Your feet should lightly rest on the floor or, if you’re short, on a footrest. You shouldn’t have to crane your neck forward, up or down to see your monitor, and you shouldn’t have to strain to reach your phone. The goal is to square yourself.

Emotional element:

Work-related stress can take its toll on your back too, Sinett says. While people manifest stress in different ways, it usually creates muscle tension. That constant contracting, over time, can cause muscle spasms and headaches—and possibly make you more vulnerable to injury.

If you’re too tired and stressed out after a long day of work to do anything but pass out on the couch, you could be compounding the problem, says Dr. Stephen Courtney, an orthopedic surgeon at Texas’ Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. Just as you should be stretching your muscles throughout the day, you should also be giving them a regular workout, either at the gym, on the court or in the yoga studio.

As with any change you make to your daily habits, there’s no guarantee an exercise regime will protect you from back problems. But it might decrease the frequency of recurrent episodes, according to Katz. For people in pain, it’s a move in the right direction.

Sources:msn health & fitness

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New Guidelines for Healthy Living

 

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Moderate exercise adds up for sluggish adults. Take a quick walk around the block or suit up for the neighborhood softball game. More fit adults could pack in their week’s requirement in 75 minutes with vigorous exercise, such as jogging, hiking uphill, a bike race or speedy laps in the pool.

Children and teens need more – brisk activities for at least an hour a day, the guidelines conclude.

Consider it the exercise version of the food pyramid. The guidelines, from the Health and Human Services Department, aim to end years of confusion about how much physical activity is enough, while making clear that there are lots of ways to achieve it.

“The easy message is get active, whatever your way is. Get active your way,” HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt said. It’s OK to start slowly.

“For a total couch potato who does zero, zip, nada, getting up and walking 10 minutes a day is a great start,” said Rear Adm. Penelope Royall, deputy assistant secretary for disease prevention.

But people need to work toward eventually hitting that weekly minimum, she added. “Some is better than nothing, and more is better.”

The guidelines come as scientists are trying to spread the word to a nation of couch potatoes that how active you are may be the most important indicator of good health. Yet a quarter of U.S. adults aren’t active at all in their leisure time, government research concludes. More than half don’t get enough of the kind of physical activity that actually helps health – walking fast enough to raise your heart rate, not just meandering, for instance. More than 60 million adults are obese.

Worse, the nation is raising a generation of children who may be less healthy than their parents. About a third are overweight and 16 percent are obese. And while young children are naturally active given the chance, schools are decreasing the amount of recess and gym time. By high school, a recent study found, fewer than a third of teens are getting an hour of activity a day.

To put science behind the how-much-is-enough debate, HHS gathered an expert panel to review all the data. The panel found that regular physical activity can cut the risk of heart attacks and stroke by at least 20 percent, reduce chances of early death, and help people avoid high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancer, fractures from age-weakening bones and depression.

The government used that scientific report to set the minimum activity levels.

“The evidence is clear,” Leavitt said on Tuesday in announcing the guidelines. “The more physically active you are, the more health benefits you gain.”

The kind of exercise matters a lot, said Dr. William Kraus, a Duke University cardiologist who co-authored the scientific report. Runners like Kraus can achieve the same health benefit in a fraction of the time of a walker.

“If you do it more intense, you can do less time,” explained Kraus, who praised the guidelines for offering that flexibility. “This brings it back down to earth for a lot of people.”

What’s the right kind of exercise? The guidelines advise:

* You don’t have get all the activity at once. A walk for an hour three days a week works as well as, say, a 30-minute exercise class on weekdays or saving most of the activity for a two-hour Saturday bike ride.

* For aerobic activities, go at least 10 minutes at a time to build heart rate enough to count.

* You should be able to talk while doing moderate activities but not catch enough breath to sing. With vigorous activities, you can say only a few words without stopping to catch a breath.

* Children’s daily hour should consist of mostly moderate or vigorous aerobic activity, such as skateboarding, bike riding, soccer, simple running.

* Three times a week, children and teens must include muscle-strengthening activities – sit-ups, tug-of-war – and bone-strengthening activities such as jumping rope or skipping.

* Adults should do muscle-strengthening activities – push-ups, weight training, carrying heavy loads or heavy gardening – at least two days a week.

* Older adults who are still physically able to follow the guidelines should do so, with an emphasis on activities that maintain or improve balance.

These are minimum goals, the guidelines note. People who do more will see greater benefits.

Sources: THe Times Of India

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