Allergic to good life! At whose cost?
J.D. Wig
THE medical community has been in the forefront of many of the activities in education and health promotion. Years of research have produced several specific recommendations to reduce the risk of several diseases. But many people still fail to take steps to prevent such ailments or catch them early.

Take to sun for a cure
Trilochan Singh Trewn
FOR human beings air, soil, water and sunlight are essential for their survival. Sunshine is the only essential factor which remains unpolluted today. Our lifestyle is vastly different from that of our ancestors. They lived and worked under the sun. Thus, they could build up greater resistance as compared to us.

Mad Cow again
PRAGUE: In the wake of the British scare of diseased meat, Central and east European agriculture ministers agreed at a meeting last week to harmonise efforts to keep their countries free of mad cow disease.

Q&A
A child's teeth

HEALTH BULLETIN
Hair dyes and bladder cancer risk
Women who regularly use permanent hair dye may be putting themselves at increased risk of bladder cancer, new research findings suggest. “Our novel observations are provocative and carry enormous public health implications,” Dr Manuela Gago-Dominguez told Reuters Health.

• ... And mothball ingredient

Allergic to good life! At whose cost?
J.D. Wig

THE medical community has been in the forefront of many of the activities in education and health promotion. Years of research have produced several specific recommendations to reduce the risk of several diseases. But many people still fail to take steps to prevent such ailments or catch them early. Why people do not pay attention to the warnings given by medical science is difficult to understand.

Some of the most prevalent barriers are poverty and lack of education about prevention. Many persons are embarrassed about taking preventive steps. Is it a failure on the part of health providers to advise us on preventive health behaviours or is it a failure of the health education programmes? Many do not appreciate the risk factors. Community-based components like the mass media and school-based components are worth considering.

Smoking: The prevalence of this scourge, especially among adolescents, has been rising and has become alarming because health risks from the early onset of smoking are particularly severe. Most people, who start smoking as adolescents continue to do so as adults. Reducing adolescent smoking is a critical public health goal. School-based preventing programmes have been thought to be important for achieving this goal. There is paucity of knowledge about why adolescents smoke? Till the reversal of these smoking trends, millions of people will die prematurely of smoking-related illnesses. The link between tobacco exposure and cancer of the aerodigestive tract the lung, the food pipe, the stomach, the mouth, the pharynx, the voice box) is indisputable.

Smokers underestimate the risk of cancer and other respiratory diseases. They often say:"I do not smoke too much, I do not inhale as much; the rest of my life-style is healthy".

The passive exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is an established risk factor for lung cancer, acute respiratory disorders particularly in children, reduced lung function, the increased risk of pneumonia and bronchitis and possibly, heart disease. There is a great need for promoting tobacco-free social norms.

Pictures of diseased lungs and rotten teeth appearing on cigarette packages sold in the country may remind the smokers of the effects of their habit. This will be a much greater deterrent to smoking than the deliberately minutely written message. Photo-based warnings are more effective.

Enjoy your fruits and vegetables: A number of good studies have shown the protective effect of fruits and vegetables. New research has indicated that people who eat five servings or more of fruits and vegetables have a much lower risk of getting many serious health problems than those who eat two servings a day. The cancer of the lung, the stomach, the pancreas and the colon are reduced by a diet high in fruits and vegetables. The risk of lung cancer is very high among smokers.

Many of the classic nutrient-deficiency diseases that remain important causes of premature death and disability can be prevented by supplementing the diet with a variety of vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables.

The consumption of fruits and vegetables confer protection through anticarcinogenic components such as antioxidants, folic acid and protease inhibitors that might influence DNA damage and thus reduce mutations.

Fruits and vegetables are rich natural sources of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and phytochemicals. Phytochemicals seem to act in many different ways to help keep tissues healthy, rid the body of wastes and promote natural immunity.

Most grains, beans, vegetables and fruits contain fibre. It helps your digestive tract function better. There are two types of fibre: Soluble fibre: This is available in beans, strawberries and peas. It can reduce cholesterol which may help lower the risk of heart disease and helps control blood sugar levels. Insoluble fibre is found in whole grains, cereals, apple skin, corn and carrots. It may prevent constipation and reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. Foods high in fibre are healthy for you and these also taste good. Be sure to eat a variety of them. Eat less fat, especially foods high in saturated fats, such as fatty meats and fat in many processed and packaged foods.

Alcohol: All of us are acutely aware of the ravages that follow the abuse of alcohol in terms of accidents and injuries, spousal abuse, lawlessness and a variety of disease states. The combination of tobacco and alcohol extends the risks of the cancer of the mouth, the larynx and the food pipe. Both smoking and alcohol suppress resistance to infection. The use of alcohol can destroy liver cells. Cirrhosis results from damaged and scarred liver tissue. The liver does not function. Ultimately liver failure sets in and proves fatal.

There can be no "safe cigarette". As long as it is legal to manufacture and sell such tobacco products, many people will continue to smoke. Millions of smokers in our country deserve attention. The sooner people give up smoking, the greater the benefit in terms of reducing the risk of cancer. The importance of social support in the conduct of a person's life style cannot be overemphasised. Increased efforts are needed among groups for whom educational and social support are particularly lacking. We must focus our attention on the entire community as an important assistant in promoting health.

Our body is simply incapable of handling the impact of toxins and carcinogens inhaled with cigarette smoke, or the heavy intake of alcohol or energy excesses, particularly those stemming from fat. An excessive intake of dietary fat is causatively related to cancer, other systemic diseases and body-weight gain. It should be a priority in our educational system to deplore the abuse of alcohol.

Each person is responsible for his or her own body. Pay attention to the warnings of medical science. School-based programmes are primary vehicles for health education and there is an urgent need to promote them. Creative, engaging public education efforts can work. There is also a great deal of promise in creating public policies. We need to increase our efforts to reach the people living in remote and rural areas and give them the right kind of thorough information. We also need to focus on all risk-taking behaviors simultaneously — nutrition, smoking alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and physical activity.

The key to the long-term health behavior of a nation is to teach children healthful attitudes and behaviours early in life. Such teaching must be reinforced through broader efforts by the media. Product development, advertising and marketing strategies can be positive tools for health promotion. The collaboration of doctors, parents, teachers, industrial and political leaders and the media will hasten the dawn of the day when avoidable diseases will no longer plague our society. It takes continuous efforts and patience to build the momentum of a social movement. There must be no delay in taking social action against such known health hazards!

Dr Wig is a noted surgeon, writer and public educator in the field of disease prevention. He is based at the PGI.

Take to sun for a cure
Trilochan Singh Trewn

FOR human beings air, soil, water and sunlight are essential for their survival. Sunshine is the only essential factor which remains unpolluted today. Our lifestyle is vastly different from that of our ancestors. They lived and worked under the sun. Thus, they could build up greater resistance as compared to us. They used to drink water directly from rivers, lakes and wells. This cannot be done today. We have distanced ourselves from the boons of sunlight.

In some cases, in order to avoid the harmful effects of the rays of the sun, we stay indoors. To counter the pollution caused by chemicals, pesticides, chemical fertilisers and the daily waste, we have developed "safe food".

In lieu of natural water polluted by industrial waste and other pollutants we have purified, ionic, sterilised or distilled water. While we have some environmental factors, which pollute and harm our bodies (being beyond our control), there are other positive factors which can restore human health.

There is a massive source of power, which sustains human life. This, in biological terms, is known as "far infrared rays" which is a part of the spectrum of rays benefiting the human body. Ginseng, lingzh and royal jelly are natural bioproducts which have proved very effective in nature cure.

The far invisible electro-magnetic wave in the spectrum of sunlight was discovered by a German scientist, Sir William Herschel, in the year 1800, with the strong heat reaction of 0.75-1000 microns.

The infrared rays have different wave-lengths and vary in contents and functions. These are categorised into three types (a) near (b) mid and (c) far.

The rays with the shortest wave-length are called near infrared rays which have extremely strong heat permeability and radiation. The near and mid infrared rays and normally not disturbed by electrical and light waves. However, the "far infrared rays" have a wavelength similar to that produced by the human body. So, these are easily absorbed into our bodies generating physiological and biological effects.

In general, infrared rays are used for several purposes like navigation, tracking communication, reconnaissance, storing raw materials, drying, food-processing, preservation, lumber drying, dehydration, activities in the chemicals industry, medical treatment, building construction and paper production. In agriculture infrared rays are required to warm, fertilise, increase growth and enhance production. But when applied to the human body, only the far infrared rays have biological beneficial effects.

To ensure that the benefits of this revolutionary research can easily reach a common man it has been possible to produce the "far infrared rays" in laboratories. A mixture capable of producing FIR takes shape after 26 ceramics and various other mineral oxide powders are mixed and heated to 1600 degrees. These are then shaped into bioceramic products to suit various requirements of a human being.

A human body has 70% of water. The disturbance or obstruction in the blood circulation or the problem of the micro-circulatory system is seen as the direct source of all kinds of ailments. Its contact with any FIR product activates water molecules, improves blood circulation, gets rid of the waste quickly and efficiently and increases the oxygen content of our blood. Lakhs of people have benefited after this scientific discovery.

Far infrared rays are also known as the "Light of Life". Some of the common diseases cured by FIR therapy are stress-induced chronic diarrhoea, numbness, shoulder pain, back and knee pain, rheumatism, heart disease, low blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, cancer, migraine and piles.

Among the various far infrared bioproducts Conybio (a Malaysia-based multinational company operating in nine countries including India) has introduced dozens of types of items, which relate to direct contact with the human body. These include sun beads, waist belts, bed sheets, ladies' briefs' men's briefs' T-shirts, pillow pads, knee braces, socks, eye-shades computer keyboard pads, elbow braces, soaps, bracelets, ankle braces, short pants, bed-sheets, slippers, water purifiers and wrist bands. Scanning machines and blood circulation detectors are available for the benefit of the users to actually see the beneficial effects of FIR-activated bioproducts used by them.

A number of minerals like sand and rock, when heated, produce far infrared rays at a certain level. Normal ceramic materials, when heated to a temperature level of 100 C produce strong far infrared rays. The "far infrared rays therapeutic equipment" produced for healthcare has to be supplied with the heating source before it can produce rays. However the bioceramic items being marketed today require only human body warmth between 36-37 degrees C to emit beneficial far infrared rays.

Once we understand the functions regarding the use of the far infrared rays and make use of FIR health products, most of us will gain a lot in terms of sound health. It is said that the biotechnological revolution, which will succeed the present IT revolution, will be much larger because it will touch not only our life-style but life itself. The biotech market in India alone by this year-end is likely to touch Rs 11,500-crore mark and the above introduction to a part of bio technology is only a prelude to many promising things to come.

All queries in respect of this article should be addressed to Commander Trilochan Singh Trewn, 1473, Sector 43-B, Chandigarh. He is a retired and senior Navy officer with global experience, engineering skill and a deep knowledge of health matters.

Mad Cow again

PRAGUE: In the wake of the British scare of diseased meat, Central and east European agriculture ministers agreed at a meeting last week to harmonise efforts to keep their countries free of mad cow disease.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has not been discovered in any state belonging to the Central European Free Trade Association (CEFTA), which includes Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. But CEFTA has agreed to step up testing of high-risk animals, aiming to restore consumer confidence in beef.

“I think it is important to jointly discuss ways of fighting the disease with my counterparts in CEFTA partner states”, Czech Agriculture Minister Jan Fencl told a news conference.

BSE causes a fatal brain-wasting disorder in cattle. Reuters

HEALTH BULLETIN
Hair dyes and bladder cancer risk

The investigators found that women who used permanent hair dye at least once a month were twice as likely as women who did not use permanent hair dye to develop cancer. They took cigarette smoking — a known risk factor for bladder cancer — into consideration in their calculations. — C.E. Huggins

... And mothball ingredient

Naphthalene, which gives mothballs and public restroom deodorizers their distinctive aroma, causes cancer in rats, US Government researchers said two weeks ago. Rats who breathed naphthalene fumes developed cancer at a rate high enough to worry scientists at the National Toxicology Programme (NTP), who must now decide whether people have the same risk.

The rats especially developed rare cancers in the nose, the researchers found. “The rats in the study were exposed by inhalation, just as most people are, in doses comparable to some human consumer and workplace exposures,” the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which administers the NTP, said in a statement.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies suggested the tests after some German workers exposed to naphthalene developed cancers including larynx, gastric, nasal, and colon cancer.

The report was the 500th issued by the NTP using laboratory rats. “Since NTP was established in 1978, its reports have changed how substances are handled in occupational and home settings, and in the more general environment,” it said in a statement.

Some chemicals restricted because of its tests include tetrachloroethylene and carbon tetrachloride, once used in home cleaning fluids; mirex, which was restricted in its use as a pesticide and fire retardant; benzene, an ingredient in gasoline, and phenolphthalein, once an active ingredient in most over-the-counter laxatives. — Reuters

Q&A
A child's teeth
Dr Aarti Mishra answers readers' questions on dental health.

A Children's health, happiness, comfort and success depend on their dental health to a great extent. Good health, good teeth and good appearance go together.

A You can ensure a healthy smile for your children by following a few simple rules.

a) Encourage proper eating: A balanced diet consisting of fruit, vegetables, milk and milk products is important for healthy teeth and gums. Children especially need calcium, which helps them in building strong teeth. Some good sources are milk, cheese and curd.

b) Avoid giving them eatables like chocolates, sweets, candies, jellies and peppermint sweets. Discourage excessive amounts of the following items - biscuits, pastries, jams and puddings.

A Start dental visits early. Begin with preventing cavities.

The American Academy of Paediatric Dentistry recommends that your child should see a dentist by his or her first birthday.

It is good to take your child to a dentist before all his milk teeth have come in; this is approximately at three years of age.

A On the first visit, the dentist will check the child's teeth for decay, answer questions and explain how to care for the child's teeth.

The dentist will tell you that if your child participates in any of the following sports, a well made and properly fitted mouthguard is essential - bicycling, hockey, basket ball, football, boxing, gymnastics, skating, martial arts, squash and wrestling.

Each of these sports has the potential to seriously harm the head, face or mouth as a result of head to head contacts, hazardous falls, tooth - clenching or blows to the mouth. Mouthguards help to cushion blows that might otherwise cause broken teeth and injuries to the lips, tongue, face or jaws.

A Buy colourful and attractive toothbrushes for your children so that they enjoy brushing their teeth. Appeal to their sense of vanity. Tell them the benefits of brushing their teeth — fresh breath and shining, bright teeth!

A The dentist can protect your child's permanent molars (back teeth) with special materials called sealants. For over 20 years, the American Dental Association has evaluated sealants and reached the conclusion that sealants can offer major protection against cavities. These can be applied to the chewing surfaces of molars at the ages of six and twelve years — the usual eruption time for the first and second permanent molars respectively.

A Through regular dental check-ups, the dental surgeon can detect and fill cavities in children's teeth before they become deep and painful and infect the teeth.

Encourage a positive attitude towards dental visits by following these tips:

a) Take your children with you when you go in for a check-up so that they can get used to the environment and meet the staff.

b) Never use dental visits as threats for children.

c) Avoid using negative words like "shot" or "hurt".

d) Answer questions honestly but not too specifically. Dental professionals have special ways of explaining things to children.

Finally, you can ensure a healthy smile for your children only when you yourself are convinced of the benefits of good dental health!