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| HEALTH TRIBUNE | Wednesday, August 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India |
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How rain
brings pain for the asthmatic Ayurveda & you Obesity
takes emotional toll on teens Onion,
tomato and pomegranate together keep the doctor away Recognising
stroke symptoms greatly enhances survival rates Therapy to
predict and cure auto-immune diseases Girls
follow mothers' diets Anaemia
doubles rate of physical decline in later life GRAPHIC: TB: THE LARGEST KILLER IN INDIA |
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How rain brings pain for the asthmatic Asthma affects about 30 per cent of our children. The health cost is enormous in terms of absence from school, the time of the parents spent on consultations, the time of working mothers for the care of the child besides the cost of suffering, medicines and mostly unnecessary use of antibiotics. In spite of all these, there is mortality. With current knowledge it has been possible to control the disease effectively to offer a good quality of life to the patients if they are ready to comply with the treatment. It is important to understand that exposure to trigger factors can cause an acute exacerbation of asthma. The trigger factors are exposure to environmental allergens like pollens, moulds, air pollution and drugs. Infection, especially by respiratory viruses, is a major cause for wheezing in infants and asthma in children. Knowledge of the immunopathogenetic mechanisms of viral infections in asthma cases will lead to new treatment for virus-induced asthma, but it certainly does not require antibiotic abuse the way it is prevalent today. The prevalence of asthma varies from country to country. It is most common in industrialised nations. Possible factors include ethnic origin, childhood respiratory diseases, allergen exposure, dietary problems and socio-economic differences. Hopkins has shown that treatment with oral antibiotics before the age of two years is associated with subsequent atopic diseases like asthma, allergic rhinitis and skin allergy. Almost 70% of wheezing episodes in infancy are associated with viral respiratory infections and they do not need antibiotics. Respiratory syncytial viruses have most often been associated with subsequent asthma. Whether respiratory viruses actually cause subsequent asthma is unclear. Infants and young children who wheeze with acute respiratory infections appear to be at a greater risk of developing wheeze later in childhood. The role of viruses had been underestimated in early epidemiological studies, but with improved methods of testing, viruses have been identified in 10 to 85% of asthma exacerbations in children. The current therapy for virus-induced exacerbation of asthma relies on improving the treatment of a pre-existing disease. The key points:
The writer, a paediatrician and allergy specialist, was earlier associated with the PGI, Chandigarh.
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Ayurveda & you Dr R. Vatsyayan ANCIENT
ayurvedic texts while dealing with right and ideal lifestyle called “sadvritta” have discussed three pillars of life. They are ahara (diet), nidra (sleep) and brahmacharya (observance of sexual discipline). Out of these three, the concept of proper sleep finds mention in the work of every author. According to Acharya Sushruta, a good sleep enjoyed at proper time and for proper period, tends to improve the growth, strength, vigour and complexion of the body. It increases the sense of well-being by freshening the body and mind and also restores the natural equilibrium among different body tissues. So much so that the scope and importance of good sleep has been equated with the soundness of health enjoyed by a person. There is no physiological system in the body which doesn’t get the salutary effect of sound and soothing sleep. The time spent on sleep is likely to vary according to the age and other situations. On an average, it is believed that a man passes one-third of his life asleep. An infant sleeps 20 hours daily, whereas, on an average, adults require seven or nine hours and an old person five or seven hours of sleep in 24 hours. The requirement for sleep also varies individually. There are persons who are “short-sleepers” but do not show any sign of illness attributed to less sleep. Generally, ayurveda prohibits day-time sleep except a brief nap during the summer season. But exception has been made for people who are exhausted, suffer from any acute or chronic ailment, are too weak or emaciated, mentally disturbed or have a different sleep pattern due to awakening in the night. A large number of patients who visit doctors relate lack of sleep as a major complaint. This sleeplessness, medically known as insomnia, includes symptoms varying from restless or disturbed sleep and difficulty in falling asleep to a reduction in the usual time spent sleeping. Ayurveda believes that usually it is the vitiated “vata” which disturbs the natural body physiology and results in various types of sleep disturbances. Adverse physical situations like painful conditions, cramps, a restless legs syndrome and an urge to urinate frequently can interfere with sound sleep. Social situations like an irregular routine, noise, excessive use of caffeine and alcohol and eating a very heavy meal close to bedtime may also ruffle the sleep pattern. In most cases, however, the core problem is emotional which includes anxiety, stress and depression. There are a number of ways which can help a person to fall asleep more easily. The most important of these is to establish a bed time “ritual” composed of a daily timetable and proper sleeping environment. Short-term sleep disturbances can be overcome by adopting simple measures like cutting back on coffee and tea, especially in the late evening hours, and avoiding alcohol, which may help sleep onset but causes early morning wakefulness. Taking a light and timely dinner, avoiding late night TV programmes and following an exercise schedule reduce stress and help bring sound sleep. Ayurveda offers many herbs and other classic medicines for good sleep and most of these are safe and devoid of any hangover. For mild-to-moderate cases of insomnia, taking twice a day two gm powder of ashwagandha, amla, brahmi and shankhpushpi (all crushed in equal parts) is quite helpful. Aswagandharishta, Sarsvatarishta, and Brahmi Vati are good classic medicines. Another herb called sarpgandha is famous for its somnolent effect, but should be used only under expert supervision. Except for the cases of senile insomnia and sleeplessness associated with other chronic ailments, long-term use of sleep-inducing medicines should always be avoided. The writer is a senior ayurvedic consultant based at Ludhiana. |
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Obesity
takes emotional toll on teens Chicago: Overweight teen-agers may have fewer friends than their normal-weight peers and suffer higher rates of depression and suicide if teased about being fat, a pair of studies have said. The prevalence of obesity among children has reached epidemic proportions in many developed nations, with an estimated 15 per cent of US adolescents considered obese. Diets containing too many fatty snack foods and a lack of exercise are usually blamed by researchers, though genetic factors can play a role. A University of Minnesota study published in a theme issue on obesity in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found a strong association between the teasing endured by overweight teen-agers and rates of depression, low body satisfaction, low self-esteem and eating disorders. “Of particular concern are the alarming rates of suicidal deaths”, study author Marla Eisenberg wrote. The recent study of nearly 5,000 teen-agers in the Minneapolis area found 26 per cent of teens who were teased at school and at home reported that they had been considering suicide and 9 per cent had attempted to kill themselves. Thirty-six per cent of the teased girls reported being depressed. Eisenberg said that toning down teasing would require educating peers and family members about the impact of their derogatory comments on sensitive adolescents, while trying to help overweight children learn to better deal with it. Another problem for overweight teen-agers is that they have fewer friends than their normal-weight peers, though they may not realise their lack of popularity, a second study in the journal said.
— Reuters |
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Onion, tomato and pomegranate together keep the doctor away Houston: An apple a day keeps the
doctor away. Most of us grew up with this old adage. But, according to
a new research, the key to good health is to combine certain fruits
and vegetables in the diet to ward off modern-day diseases. It has
been established that there are synergistic anti-oxidant benefits when
certain vegetables, herbs and fruits are eaten together. It thus
observes that "an onion, a tomato and a pomegranate a day keep
the doctor away". Prof Michael Aviram, head of the Lipid
Research Laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel
Institute of Technology, provides backing to the age-old belief that
one should eat all vegetables to stay healthy. Researchers at this
institute have discovered that anti-oxidants in supplement form don't
measure up to the benefits that come from eating the whole vegetables
or fruits from which they are derived. In addition, they found that
eating combinations of these foods — rather than just one —
increase their benefits and preventive properties against
cardiovascular diseases because each contains a variety of different
anti-oxidants that work together synergistically. Dietary
anti-oxidants are natural compounds that slow the chemical process
called oxidation, which causes cholesterol deposition and narrowing of
the arteries, the researchers say. According to Professor Aviram,
“whole fruits and vegetables contain a wide range of natural
anti-oxidants. In supplement form, however, anti-oxidants provide only
limited benefits since they usually contain a specific, isolated
anti-oxidant.” Professor Aviram has been studying the effects of
various foods on cholesterol oxidation and cardiovascular diseases for
many years. He suggests that vegetables like onions and tomatoes;
herbs like garlic, licorice and rosemary; and fruits like grapes (and
red wine) and pomegranates are good sources of natural
anti-oxidants. The Technion researchers also found that ingesting
combinations of certain anti-oxidants yields better results than these
anti-oxidants ingested separately. — PTI
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Recognising stroke symptoms greatly enhances survival rates Washington: Researchers at the University of North Carolina have revealed that recognising the initial signs of a stroke can lead people to receive timely treatment and greatly reduce the risk of fatalities. According to a report in HealthScout, 100 people asked to follow the researchers instructions of recognising stroke symptoms were successful which proved that even a lay person could dramatically shorten the time taken to get the required care and treatment for the stroke. "Initial symptoms of stroke may be mild, leading the patient or those around him not to take the situation seriously enough. But if you can use lay people as the eyes and ears for possible strokes, you can get a person into the pipeline for treatment sooner," says Amy Hurwitz, first author of the study. In the study, the participants called up the emergency service workers of a simple examination called the "Cincinnati Pre-Hospital Stroke Scale" (CPSS), also used by health-care professionals. They helped identify the possible stroke victims through symptoms of arm weakness, slurred speech and facial weakness. Once the patients knew what to look for, almost 97 per cent of them were accurate in detecting arm weaknesses, 96 per cent accurate in catching speech deficits and 74 per cent accurate in finding facial weaknesses. Hurwitz says that the relatively low score on detecting facial weakness can be traced to the difficulty of assessing a stranger's smile. "If a relative or friend were doing the assessment, chances are that the person could detect a difference in facial expression," she says. |
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Therapy
to predict and cure auto-immune diseases
Washington: Researchers in the US have developed therapies tailored to combat auto-immune diseases in individual mice. Researchers feel their work may provide a way to reverse the course of such auto-immune diseases in humans as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and type-1 diabetes. Stanford University Medical Center researchers, who developed the new method known as the DNA vaccine, also have shown that their technique can provide information needed to predict a disease's progression. Researchers Bill Robinson, P. J. Utz and Lawrence Steinman published results last year showing how microarrays — glass slides spotted with minute amounts of the proteins against which the body may be reacting — can provide a profile of the antibodies' targets. Their current work, which appears in the September issue of Nature Biotechnology, takes the technology a step further and shows that the pattern of antibody activation can be used to predict and treat animals suffering from a disease resembling M.S. "Ultimately, we think the array can be used to guide patient-specific therapy," said Robinson, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Immunology and Rheumatology) and lead author of the study. For example, a blood sample from a patient thought to have M.S. could be profiled using the array to help identify whether the person is likely to progress to full-blown disease and whether the individual would benefit from therapy. The information obtained in the profile could then be used to personalise therapies. Using DNA vaccines to specifically turn off the immune system is a completely new way to immunise, said Steinman. "This is the opposite of what we try to do with traditional vaccines against bacteria and viruses, where we want to stimulate the immune system to attack the microbe," he added.
— ANI
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Girls follow mothers' diets Washington: A study in the August issue of American Journal of Health Behaviour has shown that a mother's eating patterns influence her daughter's diet. According to a report in WebMD, the study shows that there is a significant link between the amount of fat that mothers and their adolescent daughters eat. On the flip side, a mother's fiber intake had no influence on how much fiber her daughters ate. "Limiting consumption of high-fat snack foods and fast foods may be an important dietary behaviour that girls choose to emulate in their mothers in an attempt to diet and control their weight, whereas fiber consumption may not be an area women target when trying to lose weight," said Cassandra Stanton, Ph.D, of Brown University. In rural areas of New York and Virginia, during a two-year process, a pair of 400 mothers and daughters tracked their daily food intake in a diary. While calculating the number of grams of fat and fiber in each reported food they ate, researchers also took in demographics and home environment factors.
— ANI
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Anaemia
doubles rate of physical decline in later life Washington: A new study, the first of its kind, concludes that anemia doubles physical decline in older persons and that erodes their ability to live independently. “This study suggests that even mild anemia is a risk factor linked to reduced ability of older people to function at their fullest potential,” said Jack Guralnik, an NIA epidemiologist who co-authored the study. The new epidemiological study sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and other institutions also found that older people not having anemia yet but whose blood tests are just above the traditional cut off point for diagnosing the condition, are 1.5 times more likely to develop physical decline than those having normal haemoglobin levels. |
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VIRAL infections are common in the rainy season. Children invariably suffer from the upper respiratory tract infection. Even when the problem is over, the asthmatic continue to suffer for a long period because the virus has a tendency to aggravate the asthmatic condition. 