|
|
|
|
| HEALTH & FITNESS |
|
|
|
Why some people eat non-food items
Cranberry juice can prevent urinary tract infections
Health Notes
|
|
Why some people eat non-food items
Ayesha, aged two years, looked pale when she was brought to her doctor for common cold. A blood count showed the haemoglobin level at 5.0 gm/dl. She was a fussy eater. She had started eating soil when playing in the garden. Because of the inappropriately large volume of milk she was drinking, she was not sufficiently hungry to eat solid food. Replacing some of the milk with iron-rich food and treatment with iron produce a rise in the haemoglobin to 7.5 gm/dl within four weeks. Her pica (eating non-food materials) stopped.
Some children have pica, a term which describes the inappropriate eating of non-food materials. Pica is a Latin word for MAGPIE, a bird that is famous for eating anything and everything. Kids with pica, however, go beyond this innocent exploration of their surroundings. As many as 25 to 30 per cent kids have the eating disorder pica, which is characterised by persistent and compulsive cravings (lasting one month or longer) to eat non-food items. Pica is most common in people with developmental disabilities, including autism and mental retardation, and in children aged between 2 and 3. Although kids younger than 18 to 24 months can try to eat non-food items, it isn’t necessarily considered abnormal at that age. People with pica frequently crave and consume non-food items such as dirt, clay, lead pencil, chalk, eraser, paint chips, plaster, chalk, laundry starch, baking soda, glue, hair, paper, sand, toothpaste, soap, etc. Some children eat non-food items. Why? Certain conditions and situations can increase a person’s craving for pica are: Malnutrition, where children with pica most commonly eat soil or clay. Parental neglect, lack of supervision, or food deprivation — often seen in children living in poverty. Nutritional deficiencies, such as iron or zinc, that may trigger specific cravings (however, the non-food items craved usually don’t supply the minerals lacking in the person’s body) Mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia. Developmental problems such as mental retardation, autism, other developmental disabilities, or brain abnormalities. Cultural factors — in families, religions, or groups in which eating non-food substances is a learned practice. Dieting — People who diet may attempt to ease hunger by eating non-food substances to get a feeling of fullness. Pregnancy, but it has been suggested that pica during pregnancy occurs more frequently in those women who exhibited similar practices during their childhood or before pregnancy or who have a history of pica in their family. Warning signs of pica
Serious health consequences A child who continues to consume non-food items may be at risk for serious health problems. These include: Lead poisoning (from eating paint chips in older buildings with lead-based paint) Bowel problems (from consuming indigestible substances like hair, cloth, etc.) Intestinal obstruction or perforation (from eating objects that could get lodged in the intestines) Dental injury (from eating hard substances that could harm the teeth) Parasitic infections (from eating dirt ) Preventing pica There is no specific prevention:
Medical emergencies and death can occur if the craved substance is toxic or contaminated with lead or mercury, or if the item forms an indigestible mass blocking the intestines. The writer is a consultant paediatrician at Rungta Hospital, Jaipur. Email-
drvivek_sharma@rediffmail.com
|
|
Cranberry juice can prevent urinary tract infections
For generations, people have consumed cranberry juice, convinced of its power to ward off urinary tract infections, though the exact mechanism of its action has not been well understood. A new study by researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) reveals that the juice changes the thermodynamic properties of bacteria in the urinary tract, creating an energy barrier that prevents the microorganisms from getting close enough to latch on to cells and initiate an infection.
The study published in the journal Colloids and Surfaces: B was conducted by Terri Camesano, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the WPI. They exposed two varieties of E. coli bacteria, one with hair-like projections, known as fimbriae, and one without to different the concentrations of cranberry juice. Fimbriae are present on a number of virulent bacteria, including those that cause urinary-tract infections, and are believed to be used by bacteria to form strong bonds with cells. For the fimbriaed bacteria, they found that even at low concentrations, cranberry juice altered two properties that serve as indicators of the ability of the bacteria to attach to cells. The first factor is called Gibbs-free energy of attachment, which is a measure of the amount of energy that must be expended before a bacterium can attach to a cell. Without cranberry juice, this value was a negative number, indicating that energy would be released and attachment was highly likely. With cranberry juice, the number was positive and it grew steadily as the concentration of juice increased, making attachment to urinary tract cells increasingly unlikely. Surface-free energy also rose, suggesting that the presence of cranberry juice created an energy barrier that repels the bacteria. The researchers also placed the bacteria and urinary tract cells together in a solution. Without cranberry juice, the fimbriaed bacteria attached readily to the cells. As increasing concentrations of cranberry juice were added to the solution, fewer and fewer attachments were observed. The results showed that at least for urinary tract infections, cranberry juice targeted the right bacteria — those that caused disease — but had no effect on non-pathogenic organisms, suggesting that cranberry juice did not disrupt bacteria that these were part of the normal flora in the gut. They have also shown that this effect occurs at concentrations of cranberry juice that are comparable to the levels we would expect to find in the urinary tract. It has been shown that while cranberry juice had potent effects on disease-causing bacteria, those effects were transitory. When E. coli bacteria that have been treated with cranberry juice were taken and placed in normal growth media, they regained the ability to adhere to urinary tract cells. This suggests that to realise the anti-bacterial benefits of cranberry, one must consume cranberry juice regularly, perhaps daily. For those watching calories, it has been shown that the effects of regular cranberry juice cocktail and diet (sugar-free) cranberry juice are identical. That’s good news for people who do not like to consume a lot of sugary juice. The writer teaches chemistry at MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh.
|
|
The wonder pill that will keep you ‘young forever’
London: A leading scientist has announced that a ‘forever young’ drug that allows people to grow old gracefully could be available in just 10 years. Professor Linda Partridge, an expert in the genetics of ageing of University College London, said that science is moving so quickly that it will soon be possible to prevent many of the ills of old age, reports the Daily Mail. By taking a pill a day from middle-age, we will grow old free from illnesses of the body and mind such as Alzheimer’s and heart disease. Some research even suggests skin and hair will retain its youthful lustre. “I would be surprised if there weren’t things within 10 years. If told you could take a drug that has minimal side-effects and that’s going to keep you healthy for another five or ten years and then you’ll drop off your perch without disability, most people would want it,” Partridge told the Cheltenham Science Festival.
— ANI Washington: A new study has revealed that proactive telephone counselling helps smokers quit regardless of whether they were referred to the help line by a physician, direct mail or phone calls. The passive recruitment methods included posters or television advertisements. Researchers from the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia analysed 24 previous studies of proactive telephone counselling to find out whether the method of recruitment made a difference in quit rates or not. They discovered that proactive counselling helped smokers quit the habit in the long run, regardless of how the smokers were recruited. It was also found that the quitlines had a significantly positive effect on prolonged and continuous abstinence from smoking after 6-9 months and after 12-18 months. —
ANI Neuroscientist says bilingual kids have healthier brains London: A Canadian neuroscientist has said that people who speak two languages have much healthier brains. Ellen Bialystok, a distinguished research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, Canada, said speaking two or more languages on a regular basis from a young age could have a positive effect on the brain. And not only does it enhance cognitive abilities, being bilingual can also delay symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, she said. It turns out that something as ordinary as speaking a couple of languages reconfigure the brain network in a way that positively affects certain things that brains do, she said. Bialystok and her team conducted their study at the Baycrest geriatric centre in Toronto, where they identified 200 clear cases of Alzheimer’s disease and looked at the patients’ backgrounds to see if they were mono-lingual or bilingual.
— ANI Going to work when ill will only worsen condition in long run Melbourne: Experts have warned that going to work when one is not feeling well will only worsen the condition in the long run. New Zealand sociologist Professor Kevin Dew wrote an editorial in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal, based on his assessment of more than 40 papers about “presenteeism”. He defined presenteeism as: “People that are turning up at work when they feel that they should be at home sick.” Evidence suggests that people who go to work when they’re sick are more likely to suffer from fatigue, depression and serious heart problems. Dew, from Victoria University in Wellington, said the working environment played the biggest part on the prevalence of presenteeism. For instance, “caring professions” like nursing and teaching had high levels of presenteeism. — ANI Kids as young as six suffering strokes over junk food-fuelled obesity London: A new survey has revealed that children as young as six are suffering strokes due to obesity, as their parents often feed them pureed junk food. Doctors said that parents who wean their babies off milk while they are too young and also feed them inappropriate foods, even mashing up high-salt, high-fat takeaways such as burgers and chips as baby food, cause much of the problem. Families have been sent on courses to learn about healthy eating and receive advice on how to feed children, reports the Daily Mail. The survey, which covered less than half of Britain’s acute hospitals, has revealed that more than 5,500 children under 16 were treated for clinical obesity in the past five years, while one in three children was classified as clinically obese. Specialists said that even one-year-olds weigh as much as three stones, twice the normal weight at that age.
— ANI Fried fish and chips even once a week hike heart failure risk London: A new study has warned that consuming fried fish and chips even once a week increases the risk of heart failure, compared to baked or grilled fish which reduces the chances by 30 per cent. Researchers have claimed that frying fish not only nullifies the beneficial effects, but also reverses them and increases the risk of heart failure by almost 50 per cent. They analysed the eating habits of 84,493 women aged 50 to 79 over a period of eight years. The results showed that those who consumed five or more portions of baked or boiled fish in a week were found to reduce their heart attack risk by 30 per cent. On the other hand, those who ate even a single helping of fried fish increased their chances of heart failure by as much as 48 per cent. The women were also more likely to be overweight and to consume more calories. The researchers concluded that people who had baked or grilled fish regularly, were more active, fit and less likely to smoke. Additionally, their diets contained more fruit and vegetables.
— ANI |
Dr Shefali Dhiman
