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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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Run to look younger
EYESIGHT
New HIV drug can tackle
treatment-resistant strains
Health Notes
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Run to look younger
“Me and Run! Are you crazy?” That’s what my colleague told me when, a year ago, I asked her if she would sign up for a 7-km run. I now find her hyper charged, after running a half marathon of 21.1km!! Her motivation — she saw some quick stamina gains – being able to run from 6 minutes, to over 30 minutes at a stretch, a month later.
I have lost 9 kg in two months, reduced two inches off my waist to fit back into my jeans, and reduced my cholesterol from 260 to a level of 180, primarily through running. My motivation – doctor’s orders, my favourite jeans, and quick results. The health benefits of running are mostly known to be related to weight loss but let me give you a longer, yet still partial list which goes further, and you’ll be amazed at what running can do for you. Improvement of the cardiac muscles, making the arteries a bit more flexible, reducing LDL (bad cholesterol) levels while increasing the HDL (good cholesterol) levels. Strengthening the skeletal system by enhancing bone strength, promoting bone development via the high impact nature of running on the joints, reducing the chances of osteoarthritis, and reducing the incidence of osteoporosis. Blood sugar management, helping those with type 2 diabetes, and also keeping those on the verge of diabetes, to manage their risks better. Reducing the incidence of sinusitis – I had acute sinusitis when I was based in Singapore, started running, and found that with a 20-25 minute run, my sinus cavities would get drained and I would be absolutely fine. Keeping the common cold and mild fever at bay – I used to always have a lump in my throat followed by a couple of days of fever and a cold, twice a year with a change of season. But that’s unfortunately a thing of the past, thanks to my running regimen. Unfortunately, because I lost one excuse to take a day off during my corporate career. Running is a great way to de-stress, and even perhaps plan what you need to do during the day. It’s one of those rare “me” times during the day. Even Anil Ambani, who started running only a few years ago, finds this a great way to spend time with himself on what he needs to. A study among 2400 twins in the UK found that regular vigorous exercise of three-four hours a week, was found to make you younger by nine years. Now who can argue with that? Who doesn’t want to feel and look younger? Another study done in the UK suggests that people need to run, not walk, for enhanced health benefits. They have even cited the impact of running as a means to lower the risk of breast cancer. Very often – the lethargics among us would say – “but walking is the best for our health – this is what we have been doing for centuries in India”. While walking is good exercise, it is not great in isolation, especially for those of us with otherwise sedentary lifestyles. If that was the case, India would not be the global capital of cardiac and diabetic ailments!! So, let’s accept that a simple thing of putting one foot in front of the other, quickening the pace, and doing it for 30-45 minutes a day, four-five days a week, is good for us. And the good news is that all of us have run at some point in our lives, and we can again. Fauja Singh ran his first marathon in the UK at the tender age of 89, and continued to do so post-94. I could barely run a km without getting out of breath and now, at 47, am readying myself for my 23rd full marathon. I know if I, as a non-athlete, could start so late in life, anyone can start running. So, go ahead and start. But try not to get addicted!
And while others may think you’re crazy, you’ll know that you’re not.
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EYESIGHT
HIV infection begins with the injection of the virus directly into the blood stream by the exposure of broken skin or mucous membrane to HIV-contaminated fluids, or by perinatal transmission from an infected mother to an infant.
The first thing that starts developing is a flu-like illness with swollen glands in the neck and armpits. The average period from infection with HIV to the development of AIDS is estimated to be more than eight years.
HIV disease progresses from a variable symptom-free period to the AIDS symptoms stage when the immune system starts to break down and the patient is unable to fight infections and presents with glands in the armpit and neck which remain swollen for more than three months, a simple boil or warts which may spread all over the body, patient may feel tired all the time, have high temperatures, drenching night sweats, lose more than 10 per cent of their body weight and have diarrhoea lasting more than a month.
Infection of a special type of white blood cells in the blood called CD4 lymphocytes and macrophages leads to failing resistance and susceptibility to infections and malignancies characteristic of AIDS. In addition, direct effects of HIV, particularly on the CNS, can cause encephalitis, HIV encephalopathy and AIDS dementia complex. Eye disorders are common in HIV and occur in approximately 75 per cent of HIV patients during the course of this disease. They include various opportunistic infections (of the retina, cornea and ocular adnexa) and tumours (including the eyelids, conjunctiva and orbital
structures). The most common eye problem of HIV-infected patients is, in fact, visual field defects (can see only half the page), floaters or flashing lights due to abnormalities of the small vessels of the retina called HIV retinopathy which does not progress. In HIV-infected adults there is dry eye problem which can cause intermittent eye pain, blurred vision that clears with blinking and worsens with extended reading and computer use. In a child infected with HIV often the only symptom is that he or she cries without tears. This condition, called keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is due to the damage to lacrimal gland and is treated with artificial tears. The HIV-infected patient may complain of eye pain, decreased vision, irritation and difficulty to open eyes in bright light when they have corneal infections due to virus (most commonly herpes), bacteria and fungus (most frequently by candida) which have to be treated with medical therapy. When a HIV-infected patient complains of diminished vision with the loss of peripheral vision (“looks like I am in a tunnel”) he/she may have retinitis due to Toxoplasma (in patients with CD4 counts of <100cells/microlitre) to be treated with antibiotics or Cytomegalovirus (in patients with CD4 counts of <50cells/microlitre) to be treated with ganciclovir or herpes virus which can rapidly progress from central vision loss (“black holes”) to blindness if not treated with antiviral drugs immediately. The HIV-infected patient may develop deep purple-red nodules on the eyelid skin or a bright red lesion in the conjunctiva like a subconjunctival haemorrhage, both being a common presentation of Kaposi’s sarcoma. The lesion has to be treated with excision, radiation or medical therapy. The HIV-infected patient may develop viral warts to nerve palsies of the eye, but most HIV-infected persons can expect to be asymptomatic for three to five years after infection. When T4 cell counts fall below 200 cells/mm3 prophylaxis is advised. Combination pharmacotherapy — highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV-infected individuals — has resulted in a dramatic improvement in function by reducing the rate of newly diagnosed (from 6.1 per cent to1.2 per cent) and relapses (from 36 per cent to 17 per cent) of CMV retinitis and has reduced the rate of progression to AIDS or death by 86 per cent. All HIV-infected patients should have regular ophthalmic care because many illnesses may first manifest in the eye and in some cases the ophthalmologist may be the first to suspect HIV infection or to diagnose AIDS. The writer is Chairman and Medical Director, Centre for Sight, New Delhi. Email:
msachdev@bol.net.in |
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New HIV drug can tackle
treatment-resistant strains
A new drug for HIV
sufferers was launched in the UK recently. Studies show that 75 per
cent of patients receiving the drug raltegravir have a reduction in
HIV viral load in their blood, compared with 40 per cent taking a
dummy drug.
The groups were taking raltegravir or the dummy pill in
combination with other therapies. Raltegravir is for patients who
have failed on other treatments and works by blocking an enzyme
essential for HIV to replicate itself. Its effectiveness is noted by
its ability to drive down levels of HIV genetic material (RNA) in the
blood. Raltegravir is the first in a new class of HIV treatments
called integrase inhibitors. Scientists hope this new family of
drugs will get round the problem of treatment-resistant HIV strains.
Dr Mark Nelson, director of HIV services at London's Chelsea and
Westminster Hospital, said it could provide a lifeline for patients
failing on existing treatments. "For these people, the
emergence of new classes of drugs such as integrase inhibitors will
offer new hope," he added. During the trials, patients were
taking raltegravir or the dummy drug plus Optimised Background Therapy
(OBT). OBT is a regime of antiretroviral drugs tailored to
individual patients. One study published in The Lancet medical
journal in April 2007 was based on 178 patients with advanced HIV.
They had been taking regular antiretroviral HIV drugs for about 10
years but were failing to respond to them. Researchers measured the
amount of viral load - or HIV RNA - in their blood after 24 weeks of
treatment with their usual HIV drugs plus either raltegravir or a
dummy drug. Patients taking raltegravir had an average of 98 per
cent drop in their HIV RNA count, compared with 45 per cent drop in
the dummy drug group. The number of CD4 cells, an indicator of the
immune response, was also boosted in patients taking raltegravir. A
recent report from the National Aids Trust showed that more than a
quarter of Britons did not know that HIV could be caught as a result
of unprotected sex between two men. In 2000, the figure was just 12
per cent. Over a fifth were also not aware that HIV could be spread
by sex between men and women, compared with 9 per cent in 2000. —
The Independent
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Health Notes
LONDON: Conventional wisdom that low-calorie artificial sweetener can prevent weight gain seems to have been scotched by a Purdue University study, in which rats fed on such sweeteners were still found to put on weight.
Writing about their findings in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, the researchers expressed their belief that a sweet taste followed by no calories might make the body long for extra food. During the study, the researchers gave different yoghurt to different groups of rats, some sweetened with sugar, and some with saccharin. The animals were later given a plentiful supply of food. It was observed that the saccharin-fed mice ate more calories, put on more fat, and gained more weight than their sugar-fed counterparts. Such animals did not make any attempt to cut back on their food later to regulate their weight, say the researchers.
— ANI
New cellular receptor for HIV identified
LONDON: Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), say that they have identified a new cellular receptor for HIV. When the virus begins its assault on the body’s immune system, say the researchers, it targets a cellular protein that helps guide immune cells to the gut. The cell adhesion molecule that the researchers have identified as another potentially important receptor for HIV is known as integrin alpha 4 beta 7. “The identification of this new receptor opens up new avenues of investigation that may help further elucidate the complex mechanisms of the pathogenesis of HIV infection,” Nature Immunology quoted NIAID Director Dr Anthony S. Fauci, chief of the institute’s Laboratory of Immunoregulation (LIR), as saying.
— ANI
Doctors getting Brits hooked to prescription drugs
LONDON: Doctors are unintentionally getting Britons hooked to prescription drugs, by giving patients dangerously high doses of medicines that can prove highly addictive, according to a parliamentary investigation in the country. GPs close their eyes to official advice that patients should not take powerful tranquillisers such as Valium for more than four weeks, says an all-party parliamentary group on drug misuse. The report will point the finger at some family doctors who hand out repeated prescriptions to people for painkillers, sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety pills without even seeing them. “Some GPs are addicting people by giving them repeat prescriptions without checking to see how long they’ve been on the drugs in the first place,” the Telegraph quoted Dr Brian Iddon, the Labour MP who chairs the group, as |
“Me and Run! Are you crazy?” That’s what my colleague told me when, a year ago,
I asked her if she would sign up for a 7-km run. I now find her hyper charged, after running a half marathon of 21.1km!! Her motivation — she saw some quick stamina gains – being able to run from 6 minutes, to over 30 minutes at a stretch, a month later.
HIV infection begins with the injection of the virus directly into the blood stream by the exposure of broken skin or mucous membrane to HIV-contaminated fluids, or by perinatal transmission from an infected mother to an infant.
