Beware of beauty clinics
Dr Gurinderjit Singh
Educated patients in India as well as abroad are easily lured by advertisements. It is very surprising to see that how intelligent people start believing in magic cures. At the time of crisis, most patients put the logic far behind, become gullible, and fall into the trap laid by unscrupulous elements.

Improving fitness: some interesting myths
Dr Ravinder Chadha
The fitness industry is a rapidly growing and economically progressive industry worldwide. The reason is that there is an increased awareness about fitness being an integral part of good health and looking good is an important aspect of life.

Food safety drive a must for better health
Dr Abhijit Ganguli
The term “food-borne disease”, in the stricter sense, encompasses a variety of clinical and etiological conditions. The gruesome implications of such diseases can be realised from the estimated 70 per cent of the roughly 1.5 billion annual episodes of diarrhoea and 3 million deaths.

Now, just jab your appetite away!
WASHINGTON: A team of researchers at the Imperial College of London has claimed to have identified a natural hormone, that may offer the obese a way of reducing their appetites.

Healthy weight is the key to children’s healthy heart
Washington: A new study conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Georgia suggests that maintaining a healthy weight in children may be one good way to keep a healthy blood lipid profile and a happy heart.

Beware of beauty clinics
Dr Gurinderjit Singh

Educated patients in India as well as abroad are easily lured by advertisements. It is very surprising to see that how intelligent people start believing in magic cures. At the time of crisis, most patients put the logic far behind, become gullible, and fall into the trap laid by unscrupulous elements.

The mushrooming of various beauty clinics, laser clinics, sex clinics and slimming centres has caused more health problems. The show is being run mostly by unqualified persons, who have the knack of alluring people with false promises.

Beauty clinics offer skin polishing and chemical peeling, both of which are specialised procedures. These need to be done only by dermatologists (skin specialists). Laser clinics mostly offer permanent or long-term hair removal, but the treatment can cause permanent marks on the face unless performed by a qualified doctor himself.

Sex clinics make tall claims but ultimately fail to remove even the misconceptions which have been ingrained in the male psyche for centuries. The weight reduction offered by slimming centres leads to various metabolic disturbances in the body. Always check the medical degrees of the person who claims to beautify your face, to remove your facial and body hair with laser, to solve your sex-related problem or to prescribe a slim solve your sex-related problem or to prescribe a slimming course.

The word Clinic cannot be used by any business centre unless it is run by a qualified doctor himself. The advertisements issued by such centres should be banned forthwith, as has been done in the case of allopathy. The so-called alternative medicine practitioners should stop making unauthentic propaganda. It is very painful to notice their false claims of completely curing all types of cancer, if not a dreaded disease like AIDS. It is their moral duty to follow a certain code of conduct.

The respective medical councils should come forward to check the tendency for cheap gimmicks, as has rightly been done by the Punjab Medical Council.

— The writer is Chief Dermatologist, Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Treatment & Research Foundation, Ludhiana.

Improving fitness: some interesting myths
Dr Ravinder Chadha

The fitness industry is a rapidly growing and economically progressive industry worldwide. The reason is that there is an increased awareness about fitness being an integral part of good health and looking good is an important aspect of life.

Initiating an exercise programme is the most difficult thing to do, as it requires a lot of determination, dedication and hard work. While choosing a gym, aggressive advertising gimmicks and false claims should be carefully scrutinised. Certain myths still prevail in society that should clearly be done away with:

Walking is better than running.

In fact, both are excellent forms of aerobic activities. Walking is advisable for individuals with joint problems, as it does not put undue load on the joints. To improve fitness one needs to exercise at moderate intensity like walking three-four miles an hour. 40-45 minutes’ walking is equal to jogging for about 20 minutes.

The advantage of running is that it burns the same amount of calories at higher intensity, thereby saving time. Running is an excellent aerobic activity, but being muscular and flexible are the pre-requisites. It is ideal to start walking initially and gradually increase it to jogging and running.

The more intense the workout the more fat one burns.

Fats are burnt in the presence of oxygen i.e. aerobic activity.

Exercising at the target heart rate is ideal for burning fat i.e. 60 per cent to 80 per cent of the maximum heart rate — 220 minus one’s age.

The paradox is that on undertaking intense exercise the oxygen intake decreases leading to a decrease in the burning of calories. If one cannot carry out conversation without stopping that means one is working too fast.

The ideal way to undertake aerobic activity is to workout non-stop for at least 12 minutes at a steady and comfortable pace.

The only way to burn off fat is to join a health club/gym.

The best exercise regimen is the one in which participation is consistent. It is easier to stick to a home-base a fitness programme if an individual has the grit and determination. Routine aerobic activities like walking, swimming and cycling for 30 minutes five times a week can help achieve the above mentioned goal. In order to burn more calories, the speed and timing should be increased. It is ideal to take in fewer calories than expending.

Proteins are required to increase energy level.

This is a myth widely prevalent and accepted as a fact. Proteins are only used for the maintenance of tissues and repair functions. Carbohydrates are the best source of energy followed by fats. Proteins should comprise only 10-15 per cent of the total intake of calories.

Strength training with weights makes women bulky.

The statement that females develop muscle mass/bulky muscles with strength training with weights has no truth whatsoever. Testosterone, a hormone that is imperative for muscle building, is lacking in women. Moreover, it takes years to build up muscle by lifting heavy weights even by body builders.

Morning is the best time for workout.

It is generally believed that the only time to workout is in the morning, which is not true. Due to the compulsions of work today it may be more convenient to exercise at any time of the day provided one has taken meals at least one hour prior to the start of an exercise.

Spot fat reduction is possible.

Fat is not utilised to provide energy in a localised manner. Therefore, by exercising a particular area of the body like doing sit-ups to reduce potbelly will not help lose body fat. If there is a fat layer covering the abdominal muscles the abdomen’s muscles can be strengthened by doing sit-ups but sadly, the layer of fat covering the muscles will still persist. Fat can only be utilised/reduced in a systematic way by increasing caloric expenditure through aerobic exercises.

It is dangerous to start exercise when one is old.

Most people in their fifties and sixties believe that they are too old to initiate an exercise programme. They think it would be unsafe due to their various problems like heart disease, diabetes and arthritis. Remember the dictum “It is never too late” to start an exercise regimen. Various studies have proved that exercises reduce pain and increase the range of motion in arthritic patients and the medicine dose is reduced in the patients suffering from heart disease, diabetes, etc.

Lifting weights will affect the growth of children.

The height of a child depends on various factors although genetic predisposition plays a crucial role. Resistance training in no way reduces the height of a child nor does it interfere with the normal bone growth. In fact, some studies prove that resistance training in youth increases the bone mass density and stimulates height increase.

Exercise is a life-long process and hence one should enjoy it. Ideally, one should choose an activity of one’s choice, perform it properly and consistently for 30-60 minutes, three to five days a week. If an individual still cannot manage to spare 45 minutes, one should be prepared to bear a huge expenditure on the treatment of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, etc, along with physical disability.

— The writer is a former, doctor/physiotherapist, Indian cricket team.

Food safety drive a must for better health
Dr Abhijit Ganguli

The term “food-borne disease”, in the stricter sense, encompasses a variety of clinical and etiological conditions. The gruesome implications of such diseases can be realised from the estimated 70 per cent of the roughly 1.5 billion annual episodes of diarrhoea and 3 million deaths.

In a food-borne disease, the food acts as a vehicle for the transmission of actively growing micro-organisms or products of metabolism (toxins), or it may have a passive role as a vehicle for the transmission of non-replicating bacteria, viruses or protozoa, or stable biological toxins.

In most cases, the clinical conditions usually associated with food-borne diseases are acute: diarrhoea, vomiting or other gastrlointestinal manifestations such as dysentery.

The unique mechanisms of survival exhibited by some of the pathogens are believed to be fundamentally important in their prevalence in food-borne outbreaks. Apart from the short-term clinical conditions, these pathogens have currently been implicated for other pathophysiological responses, which may occur independently or accompany acute-phase responses.

The long-term consequences of food-borne diseases (apart from the short-term illness) have caused greater concern in terms of human health across the globe. The developed countries that already have a sound food safety system are restrengthening those measures to tackle food-borne infections. In the developing countries like India, the danger of food contamination and food-related disease outbreaks are particularly acute because of the proximity in which animals and people live and the way in which food is produced and distributed.

In order to respond to the unacceptable burden of illnesses caused by the consumption of unsafe food, there is an urgent need to have a national food-borne disease surveillance programme. Also, a well-coordinated, multisectoral approach to food safety risk analysis including assessment, research, management and communication, must be adopted. Awareness of food safety risks and of the opportunities to prevent or to mitigate food safety hazards must be created at every level — from that of producers to consumers.

The government as well as the private sector should, therefore, engage in large-scale communication and education campaigns (imparting of food safety knowledge at the school level, etc). Additionally, government agencies should ensure that good practices that minimise the risk of contamination are applied by producers, processors and consumers alike.

The government should realise that ensuring safe and nutritious food is essential for improving human health (both of the rich and poor food equally) and that access to safe food is an element of food security. The latter may be possible if food safety is included as priority item in the national agenda.

— The writer is a lecturer and scientist engaged in food safety teaching and research at the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, Patiala.

Now, just jab your appetite away!

WASHINGTON: A team of researchers at the Imperial College of London has claimed to have identified a natural hormone, that may offer the obese a way of reducing their appetites.

The hormone called oxyntomodulin is produced by the small intestine after a meal.

In a trial, a group of 14 obese and overweight subjects self-administered doses of the hormone 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch and dinner, and after four weeks they had lost an average 2.3 kg of weight.

“By giving the overweight subject oxyntomodulin we are fooling the brain, in a very natural way, into thinking it has just eaten a meal and is no longer hungry,” the New Scientist quoted Steve Bloom, who led the trials, as saying.

The researchers found that the hormone reduces daily energy intake on an individual by an average of 170 kilo calories after the first injection, to 250 kcal per day at the end of four weeks.

It also reduced the levels of adipose hormones and leptin — a hormone responsible for regulating the body’s energy expenditure — of the participants.

The researchers also found a reduction in the levels of adipose hormones. Adipose hormones encourage the build up of adipose tissues where fat cells are stored.

The researchers said that there were no significant side-effects to the hormone injection during the trial and that patients did not develop tolerance to the effects of the hormone.

“The big thing is that you have had an oxyntomodulin administration from your own gut, switching off your hunger after a meal every day of life. This is the way you normally lose your appetite after a meal,” Bloom said. — ANI

Healthy weight is the key to children’s healthy heart

Washington: A new study conducted by researchers at the Medical College of Georgia suggests that maintaining a healthy weight in children may be one good way to keep a healthy blood lipid profile and a happy heart.

The team led by Dr Bernard Gutin studied 400 high school age children with a variety of fitness and fatness levels and found that fatter youths had unfavorable lipid profiles, including higher levels of triglycerides and higher ratios of total cholesterol to the protective HDL cholesterol or high density lipoprotein.

“This ratio tells about the balance of the ‘bad’ to the ‘good’ forms of lipoproteins; thus a high ratio indicates high risk for coronary artery disease later in life,” Gutin said.

The study included extensive measurement of fitness and fatness as well as fasting blood tests of lipid levels. The leanest teens, i.e. those with less than 25 per cent body fat, had the best lipid/lipoprotein profiles.

“The first issue is that fatness is important. Fitness is important too but when you put them together it looks like fatness is more important in teens. The second issue is that the impact of high levels of fatness on triglycerides and total cholesterol seems to be less strong for blacks than it is for whites,” Gutin added. — ANI