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More exercise leads to less obesity – often, but not always

May 21, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 21 (ANI): Contrary to the popular belief that more exercise is more beneficial for being fit, an Indiana University study has found that this conventional wisdom applies primarily to white women.

The study not only highlights factors like racial, ethnic and gender differences regarding exercise but also to the role work can play.

Obesity expert Dong-Chul Seo conducted a study amongst more than 12,000 people and found that obesity rates in general declined as the amount of weekly leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) increased.

“For the majority of health professionals, even health researchers, they say the more leisure-time physical activity you engage in, the less likely you”ll get obese,” said Seo, associate professor in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation”s Department of Applied Health Science. “This is true, but it”s probably only applicable to white women and some of the white men.”

To solve the mystery, Seo conducted another analysis and found that men and Hispanic women are more likely to have manually demanding jobs than white women, which could affect the amount of LTPA they accumulate. For Hispanic women, their obesity rates dropped as their amount of occupational physical activity (OPA) increased. However, a different pattern was seen for men.

“This illustrates to me the importance of physical activity in the workplace,” Seo said. “Workplace wellness programs should really be emphasized, especially for people who do sedentary work. To enhance their health, maybe employers could offer workout spaces and incentives to do physical activity during the work hours or right after. They can make it easier.”

The study sample of 12,227 people was drawn from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2006. The participants are physically measured for height and weight rather than relying on self-reports.

According to Seo, the biggest decline is seen amongst women who met the guidelines, and those who took part in LTPA but fell short of guidelines.

The study is published in the May issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Applied Health Science, Chul, Conventional Wisdom, Demanding Jobs, Gender Differences, health and nutrition, Health Physical Education, Health Professionals, health researchers, Height And Weight, hispanic women, indiana university study, National Health, nutrition examination survey, obesity rates, popular belief, Sedentary Work, self reports, White women, Workplace Wellness

Green tea can make your teeth stronger

April 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 20 (ANI): A cup of green tea a day may keep the dentist away.

That”s the conclusion of a new study published in Preventive Medicine, reports Discovery News.

Green tea contains antimicrobial molecules called catechins that may promote dental health, researchers claim.

“Green tea may have bacteriocidal effects, which would affect teeth, but only if you drink it without sugar,” said Alfredo Morabia, of Columbia University in New York and editor of Preventive Medicine, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new research.

“They also reported that drinking sweet coffee was actually deleterious,” he added. “Coffee alone had no problem, but sweet coffee would actually make you lose your teeth.”

To reach the conclusion, Yasushi Koyama of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and colleagues looked at more than 25,000 Japanese men and women between age 40 and 64.

They found that men who drank at least one cup of tea a day were 19 percent less likely to have fewer than 20 teeth (a full set including wisdom teeth is 32) than those who did not drink green tea. Tea-drinking women had 13 percent lower odds. (ANI)

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Green tea may help improve bone health

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 17 (ANI): Green tea may help improve bone health, researchers in Hong Kong have reported.

The boffins found that the tea contains a group of chemicals that can stimulate bone formation and help slow its breakdown.

The study has been published in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.

In the study, Ping Chung Leung and colleagues noted that many scientific studies have linked tea to beneficial effects in preventing cancer, heart disease, and other conditions.

To reach the conclusion, scientists exposed a group of cultured bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) to three major green tea components – epigallocatechin (EGC), gallocatechin (GC), and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) – for several days. They found that one in particular, EGC, boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. EGC also significantly boosted levels of bone mineralization in the cells, which strengthens bones.

The scientists also showed that high concentrations of ECG blocked the activity of a type of cell (osteoclast) that breaks down or weakens bones. The green tea components did not cause any toxic effects to the bone cells, they noted. (ANI)

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Our skin hosts much more diverse set of bacteria than previously believed

May 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 29 (ANI): Human skin is home to a much wider array of bacteria than previously thought, a new study by National Institutes of Health researchers has shown.

The study has also shown that at least among healthy people, the greatest influence on bacterial diversity appears to be body location. For example, the bacteria under one person’s arms could be more similar to those under another person’s arm than they are to the bacteria that live on your forearm.

These variations in bacterial habitats may explain why some skin complaints tend to affect certain areas of the body.

“Our work has laid an essential foundation for researchers who are working to develop new and better strategies for treating and preventing skin diseases,” said Julia A. Segre, Ph.D., of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), who was the study’s senior author.

“The data generated by our study are freely available to scientists around the world. We hope this will speed efforts to understand the complex genetic and environmental factors involved in eczema, psoriasis, acne, antibiotic-resistant infections and many other disorders affecting the skin,” Segre added.

Drawing on the power of modern DNA sequencing technology and computational analysis, the research team from NHGRI, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the NIH Clinical Center uncovered a far more diverse collection of microbes on human skin than had been detected by traditional methods that involved growing microbial samples in the laboratory.

The study involved taking skin samples from 20 sites on the bodies of 10 healthy volunteers.

Study co-author Maria L. Turner, M.D., senior clinician in NCI’s Dermatology Branch, said: “We selected skin sites predisposed to certain dermatological disorders in which microbes have long been thought to play a role in disease activity.”

The researchers extracted DNA from each sample and sequenced the 16S ribosomal RNA genes, which are a type of gene that is specific to bacteria.

The researchers identified more than 112,000 bacterial gene sequences, which they then classified and compared. The analysis detected bacteria belonging to 19 different phyla and 205 different genera, with diversity at the species level being much greater than expected.

To gauge how much the skin microbiome differs among healthy people, the researchers studied many different parameters.

They found considerable variation in the number of bacteria species at different sites, with the most diversity being seen on the forearm (44 species on average) and the least diversity behind the ear (19 species on average).

The study was published today in the journal Science. (ANI)

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Fighting parents make kids more prone to mental health problems in later life

May 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 28 (ANI): People with parents who fight are more likely to have mental health problems in later life, a new study has found.
n the study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, researchers looked at what impact interparental violence had on people as children by observing their mental health outcomes in adulthood.

A child being exposed to interparental violence is a form of maltreatment with consequences for a child’s development, but in some countries it is only seen as a risk factor for later problems with no specific outcomes.

The authors studied 3,023 adults in the Paris metropolitan area in 2005 by carrying out at-home face to face interviews.

People who agreed to take part were found from a population based cohort study in Paris held by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research.

The researchers measured current depression and lifetime suicide attempts, intimate partner violence, violence against children and alcohol dependence.

They also asked people about childhood adversities such as parental separation, divorce, parental death or imprisonment, alcoholism and physical and/or sexual abuse, as well as asking about social level stressors including poor parental health, housing problems, prolonged parental unemployment, and financial troubles.

Among the group of people interviewed, 16percent said they had witnessed interparental violence before the age of 18 and this was far more common in certain situations.

Other factors were also relevant and witnessing violence was more common in families with financial problems, serious parental diseases, housing problems or unemployment.

After adjusting for family and social level stressors, the researchers found that people who were exposed to interparental violence had a 1.4 times higher risk of having depression, were more than three times more likely to be involved in conjugal violence, were almost five times more likely to mistreat their own child and 1.75 times more likely to have a dependence on alcohol.

The authors concluded: “Intensification of prevention of and screening for domestic violence including interparental violence is a public health issue for the well-being of future generations.” (ANI)

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Climate change is the biggest global health threat of 21st century: Report

May 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 14 (ANI): While a heat wave in India has led to an increase in hospital deaths in recent weeks, scientists have claimed that climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.

In a report launched in London, doctors and climatologists have said that in the coming century, climate change will worsen virtually every known health problem, from heart disease and heatstroke to salmonella and insect-borne infectious diseases.

“The health sector has in the past not only underestimated but completely neglected and ignored the issues. This has not been an issue on the agenda of any professional body in health over the last 10 years in any significant way,” New Scientist magazine quoted Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, as saying.

However, the doctors have said that they thought that the tide was turning.

“It is true that the health sector is beginning to wake up to this,” said Hugh Montgomery, director of University College London’s Institute for Human Health and Performance.

Anthony Costello, director of UCL’s Institute for Global Health, has said that helping write the report had been a personal wake-up call.

“I hadn’t fully understood how a change of 2 degree Celsius – which seems like a pleasant summer afternoon – has such implications for ecosystems, for water, for storm damage,” he said/

He also said that the report alerted him up to the fact that the world is facing a global crisis.

The researchers said that every society has a range of temperatures within which it can cope and outside that range, infrastructures become overloaded.

In their opinion, the most pressing health threats posed by climate change include shortages of water and food, along with war and ecological collapse.

Already, climate and health researchers have pointed out the health effects of climate change, claiming that infectious diseases like malaria and dengue are expected to spread, and kidney stones could become more frequent.

In the US and Australia, drought has already contributed to a spread of water-borne illnesses by forcing people to collect and store water in tanks for longer than they otherwise would.

In India, hospital deaths have increased in recent weeks as the nation battles a heatwave.

“This report says the medical profession has to wake up. Pulling our hair out, saying we’re all going to die horribly does not save lives,” said Maslin.

The report has been published in The Lancet. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: Climatologists, Coming Century, degree celsius, ecological collapse, effects of climate change, global crisis, global health, health effects, health researchers, health sector, Health Threat, health threats, heatstroke, Hospital Deaths, kidney stones, london doctors, New Scientist magazine, richard horton, scientists have claimed that climate change, storm damage, university college london

Ugg-style boots could cripple women

April 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Apr 12 (ANI): Chic Ugg-style boots increase the risk of ankle sprains and bad posture, experts have warned.

The soft structure and heel-less sole create a breeding ground for fungi that cause foot infections, according to health researchers.

The boots are often spotted on the sexy legs of Katie Price and Coleen Rooney who like their soft sheepskin interior.

And the cherry on the icing is that, their woollen or sheepskin exteriors go with anything from skinny jeans to dresses, reports The Sun.

However, podiatrist Linda Hawkins, of Lee, South London, said: “Sheepskin boots, like other footwear without heel and sole support, are only suitable for short-term wear.

“Use all day leads to the boot structure breaking down, increasing the risk of a twisted ankle.”

Pharmacist Hasan Ukra, who works in the flagship Boots store in Londons Oxford Street, said: “Wearing these kind of boots could increase the risk of fungal infections due to the moist environment created.

“And I’ve seen a marked rise in ankle sprains due to the soft and comfortable nature of the boots.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: ankle sprains, bad posture, Boots Footwear, breeding ground, coleen rooney, foot infections, fungal infections, health researchers, katie price, linda hawkins, moist environment, oxford street, podiatrist, sexy legs, sheepskin boots, Sheepskin Footwear, skinny jeans, soft sheepskin, sole support, south london, ugg style boots, ukra

Keep your mouth clean to reduce risk of heart attack

April 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Recent study revealed an association in germs in mouths and increased risk of heart disease. This study gave the clear indication that oral hygiene has effect on cardio-vascular health.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo analyzed data collected from 386 men and women (35 to 69 years of age) who had suffered a heart attack and
840 people free of heart problem. Researchers compared samples of dental plaque collected from 12 sites in the gums from both the groups. Researchers tested presence of six common types of periodontal bacteria and the total number of bacteria in the samples.

Data analysis revealed that number of each type of bacteria in mouth was much higher in heart patients as compared to healthy volunteers. Researchers found link between two species of bacteria, Tannerella Forsynthesis and Preventella Intermedia and higher risk of heart attack.

Lead researcher, Oelisoa Andriankaja, the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine said: “The message here is that even though some specific periodontal pathogens (germs) have been found to be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, the total bacterial pathogenic burden is more important than the type of bacteria,” said study leader Oelisoa Andriankaja.

She added: “In other words, the total number of ‘bugs’ is more important than one single organism.”

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: Buffalo School, coronary heart disease, dental medicine, dental plaque, Germs, health researchers, heart attack, heart disease, heart patients, heart problem, oral hygiene, Periodontal Bacteria, periodontal pathogens, risk of heart attack, risk of heart disease, Species Of Bacteria, study leader, Type Of Bacteria, university at buffalo, Vascular Health

Ugg-style boots could cripple women

January 10, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

London, Jan 10 (ANI): Chic Ugg-style boots, which cost from 50 pounds to 100 pounds, increase the risk of ankle sprains and bad posture, experts have warned.

The soft structure and heel-less sole create a breeding ground for fungi that cause foot infections, according to health researchers.

The boots are often spotted on the sexy legs of Katie Price and Coleen Rooney who like their soft sheepskin interior.

And the cherry on the icing is that, their woollen or sheepskin exteriors go with anything from skinny jeans to dresses, reports The Sun.

However, podiatrist Linda Hawkins, of Lee, South London, said: “Sheepskin boots, like other footwear without heel and sole support, are only suitable for short-term wear.

“Use all day leads to the boot structure breaking down, increasing the risk of a twisted ankle.”

Pharmacist Hasan Ukra, who works in the flagship Boots store in London’s Oxford Street, said: “Wearing these kind of boots could increase the risk of fungal infections due to the moist environment created.

“And I’ve seen a marked rise in ankle sprains due to the soft and comfortable nature of the boots.”(ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ankle sprains, bad posture, coleen rooney, foot infections, fungal infections, health researchers, katie price, linda hawkins, london jan, moist environment, oxford street, podiatrist, sexy legs, sheepskin boots, skinny jeans, soft sheepskin, sole support, south london, ugg style boots, ukra

Stick-thin models actually send sales ‘plummeting’

November 19, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Nov 19: The golden rule of advertising – thin models lure more people towards the product – is actually a misconception, claims a new research.

The study revealed that skinny models are a ‘turn off’ to consumers in TV commercials and other advertising.

According to scientists, images of super-thin models carry no edge in encouraging young women to buy and for the majority of adult women ads showing skinny girls actually discouraged sales.

Whereas, plus size models, actually encouraged them to buy, the research found.

To reach the conclusion, the study psychologist Phillippa Diedrichs, of the University of Queensland, Australia, created a series of ads for underwear, shampoo and a party dress.

Each ad was made twice, once using a skinny size eight model and another featuring a size 12 woman. When the ads were shown to
400 young women, they produced no difference in the likelihood for them to buy.

However, when women aged between 18 and 25 saw the adverts they felt better – and more likely to buy – after viewing the images of the larger models.

“For anything to change, research has to be convincing, not just to government and health researchers, but also to people in advertising who actually make the decisions,” the Telegraph quoted Diedrichs, as saying.

“Often people make the argument that thinness sells, and that”s why they use slim models.

“But we can change the images we see and still sell products but also make people feel better about themselves,” the expert added.
(ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: 18 and 25, 400 young women, government and health, health researchers, London, London news, party dress, Phillippa Diedrichs, Psychologist, shampoo, thinness sells, UK news, underwear, women aged, women aged between 18 and 25

More exercise leads to less obesity – often, but not always

Green tea can make your teeth stronger

Our skin hosts much more diverse set of bacteria than previously believed

Climate change is the biggest global health threat of 21st century: Report

Ugg-style boots could cripple women

Keep your mouth clean to reduce risk of heart attack

Ugg-style boots could cripple women

Stick-thin models actually send sales ‘plummeting’

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