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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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Swimming ideal
exercise in summer Breastfeeding
babies improves their chance of climbing social ladder Urticaria: A
common skin problem
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Swimming ideal exercise in summer Entering a swimming pool leads to quick recovery from fatigue. This is due to the impact and pressure of cold water, which enhances blood circulation in our muscle. Unlike other aerobic activities like running, cycling and jogging, swimming does not put excessive load on the joints and muscles. As one enters the swimming pool, there is significant reduction of body weight due to the buoyancy of water. Swimming has definite advantages over other aerobic activities in the following manner: (1) Swimming entails low risk of injury. (2) Water provides natural resistance, thereby strengthening the body muscles. (3) Swimming affects all parts of the body wherein muscle ligaments and joints of the body work together. Water increases joint mobility and flexibility. (4) The pressure of the water improves circulation and reduces swelling of the injured area. (5) Due to water pressure heart muscles work more thereby enhancing cardiac conditioning. (6) Due to cool water workout is less tiring and one feels refreshed. (7) Pregnant ladies and old people who cannot undertake other aerobic activities can exercise in water. Floating is facilitated by the ratio of an individual's weight to the weight of equal volume of water. The specific gravity of water is one. If a person's specific gravity is greater than one, he is liable to drown, and if it is less than one he can float. Specific gravity of an individual depends on the specific gravity of fat, bone and muscles. Since specific gravity of fat is less than bones and muscles, women and obese float better than a lean muscular person. Swimming is an ideal exercise when performed with a correct and good technique. Arms stroke should be rhythmical and strong. The arms should enter into the water in a slightly bent position with fingers close together. After the arms enter the water pull through the body's midline in order to propel the body forward. In free style, if the thumb of a hand enters the water first and crosses the body's midline it is likely to cause shoulder injury. In order to prevent shoulder injury, the free style arm strokes should be akin to climbing a ladder with fingers entering first into the water. These should also be accompanied by equal body rotation to avoid injury. Your body must rotate at least 40-50 degree equally in both directions. Swimming can be undertaken using a wide range of strokes — front, back, crawl, breast-stroke and butterfly. Untrained swimmers, especially in villages, use the doggy pattern which mimics the strokes of four-legged animals such as dogs in water. The other most significant factor is the breathing technique while swimming. The ideal way is to turn the head to one side by bringing the ear close to the shoulder while inhaling. Exhalation should be done under water in the middle to the end phase of the stroke. Generally an attempt is made to breathe in and out while the head is kept outside water. This leads to less intake of air resulting in early fatigue. Once breathing is mastered, swimming becomes easy and enjoyable. Performing exercises in water not only improves cardiovascular fitness but also plays a major role in rehabilitation after sports injuries as the heart rate during deep water exercises is approximately 15-17 beats per minute which is lower than when one is exercising on land. The swimming equipment required are a swimming suit, goggles to protect eyes and flotation cuffs for the beginners. People suffering from skin infections, fever, throat, ear infections, etc, should refrain from swimming. Exercises: Swimming is a sport that requires both muscular strength and endurance. People who are not strong can have shoulder and lower limb injuries. It is, therefore, advisable to undertake strengthening exercises like bicep curls, triceps dips, shoulder press and calf raises so as to avoid injuries. It should be mandatory for all schools and colleges to have swimming pools so as to improve physical fitness. The writer is a former dotor/physiotherapist, Indian cricket team. E-mail: chadhar587@gmail.com |
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Breastfeeding babies improves their chance of climbing social ladder London: Breastfeeding improves a child’s chance of climbing the social ladder and becoming a successful adult, according to a long-term study. The analysis of more than 34,000 people born in the 1950s and 1970s found that those who had been breastfed as a baby were 24 per cent more likely to be upwardly mobile — and 20 per cent less likely to drop down the social ladder. The health benefits of breastfeeding are well known, but the study is among the first to identify tangible benefits later
in life. Two groups of people — born in 1958 and in 1970 — were categorised by the job their father did when they were 10 or 11, and the job they themselves had when they were 33 or 34. Social class was divided into four categories based on job type — from unskilled and semi-skilled manual work to professional or managerial work. The authors of the study, published in the medical journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, said that it provided evidence of long-term health, developmental and behavioural advantages to children, which crucially persist into adulthood. Breastfeeding enhances brain development, which boosts intellect, which in turn increases upward social mobility, they argued. “There are few studies that look at the long-term outcomes of breastfeeding, but this study shows its long-lasting positive effect,” said Professor Amanda Sacker, one of the report’s authors and the director of the International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health at University College London. The NHS recommends breastfeeding to new mothers for the first six months of a baby’s life. Breast milk protects children from infections, and breastfed babies are also less likely to become obese or develop eczema. The report’s authors said that breastfeeding also helped to generate a strong emotional bond between mother and baby. “Perhaps the combination of physical contact and the most appropriate nutrients required for growth and brain development is implicated in the better neurocognitive and adult outcomes of breastfed infants,” they said. Professor Sacker said that mothers who could not breastfeed could still aid their baby’s emotional and cognitive development with cuddling and close skin-to-skin contact with their baby while feeding. The study comes in the wake of figures that revealed the number of women breastfeeding their babies in England has dropped for the first time in a decade. Numbers have been increasing in recent years, following a long-term decline associated with more women working and the increasing use of
baby formula. The report’s authors found that while more than two-thirds of the 1958 children had been breastfed, that figure dropped to just one in three in 1970. Today, more than four out of five women start breastfeeding but less than half are still doing so at six weeks, according to Unicef UK. Professor Sacker said that in the current economic climate more women were going back to work sooner, and therefore choosing not to breastfeed. She said that employers should offer new mothers more support at work, such as crèches at the office, where babies could be breastfed. — The Independent |
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Urticaria: A common skin problem A common skin trouble that affects many people is the sudden appearance of red rashes on the skin, which may occur totally unannounced and take one by surprise. The moment one feels some itching, one is inclined to scratch the part and immediately after scratching the part, red rashes or wheals appear on the skin. These rashes or wheals may itch or burn and may stay for some time after which they settle down. In medical parlance, this condition is known as urticaria. Urticaria or “hives” as known in English is derived from a Latin word “urtica” which means nettles though urticaria has nothing to do with nettles except that it causes itching and stinging as caused by the weeds of the nettle family. Characterised by the development of red rashes that itch, burn and sting, urticaria can crop up on any area of the skin, including the face, arms, lips or eyes. The red wheals may be small in size and separated from each other by areas of normal skin or may coalesce together to form a single large area of eruption. Usually, allergies are the cause of this trouble though it is difficult to pinpoint the exaxt allergen. Most of the time the offending allergen is too inconspicuous to be detected accurately. This makes it difficult to avoid the recurrence of this trouble as one does not come to know the source of the trouble. Some people may be allergic to common articles of food as chocolates, nuts, wheat or milk. Other known causes of urticaria are exposure to cold, heat, sun, alcohol, drugs, exercise and emotional stress. The urticaria caused by minor pressure or scratching of the skin is known as dermographism. Some people get hives on going out in the sun known as solar urticaria. Exposure to cold can also cause urticaria in some patients. In extreme cases of allergy, wheezing respiration and unconsciousness may accompany the skin symptoms. Cholinergic urticaria is another form of urticaria which is triggered by exercise, heat or emotions. The swelling that is seen in the skin rashes is caused by the leakage of blood plasma out of the vessels into the extracellular space. This remains limited only to the superficial layer of the skin and is caused by histamine which is released from the mast cells. Besides allergic reactions certain chemicals in foods and drugs can also lead to the release of histamine. More often than not, the rashes and the wheals subside on their own after some time but are quite distressing for the time they last. They come suddenly, last for a while and fade away on their own. Intense itching prompts one to scratch and often there is bleeding from the areas as the skin is peeled off by scratching. In some cases, scratching does not relieve the itching and may even cause more itching and may spread to the adjacent areas. Applying coconut oil or Vaseline usually helps in relieving the itching and is the better course of action as compared to scratching with one’s nail which can expose the skin to further infection by bacteria and viruses. Role of homoeopathy: The commonly used homoeopathic medicines for the treatment of urticaria are Apis, Natrum Mur, Mezereum, Dulcamara and Calcarea Carb. It is very important that the right medicine should be selected after a thorough study of the symptoms. Constitutional treatment with the right medicine is able to cure this trouble completely. The writer is a Mohali-based homoeopathic practitioner. |
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Health Notes Washington: Addition of chicken in teenagers’ diet will help reduce their risk of developing colon cancer, a new study has suggested. The study of about 20,000 women found that those who consumed more chicken when they were in their teens had lower risks of suffering from colorectal adenomas — benign tumours — which may progress into colon cancer, Fox News reported. The researchers found that substituting one serving per day of red meat with a serving of chicken or fish could reduce rectal and advanced adenomas’ risk by about 40 per cent. Researchers wrote in their study that colorectal carcinogenesis is a long process which may take several decades, and the initial steps of carcinogenesis could occur at young ages. — ANI Anti-depressants could
double risk of babies being born with heart defects
London: Some popular anti-depressants in early pregnancy could double the risk of an unborn child developing a heart defect, an expert has warned. Professor Stephen Pilling of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said that evidence suggests that there is a risk associated with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), the BBC reported. He said that a lot of effort is put in to dissuade women from smoking or drinking alcohol during pregnancy. — ANI Weight loss ‘does not lower’ heart disease risk
Washington: People undergoing weight management and increased physical activity have no difference in heart attacks and strokes, a new study has suggested. The landmark study investigating the long-term effects of weight loss on the risks of cardiovascular disease among patients with Type 2 diabetes, which was conducted at the University of Pittsburgh and at clinical facilities throughout the United States, the multicenter clinical trial investigated the effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention programme, intended to achieve and maintain weight loss in overweight or obese people with Type 2 diabetes, on rates of cardiovascular disease. Begun in 2001, the trial enrolled more than 5,000 people at 16 clinical centers across the US. — ANI |
Swimming with exercises in the pool integrates all broad aspects of fitness, including speed, stamina, strength and flexibility. Mostly people undertake swimming as a recreational sport to relax. Individuals who are unable to undertake activities like running, cycling, etc, swimming is an ideal aerobic activity especially during summer. However, swimming pools, coaches and equipment are scarce. Even in Chandigarh there are only a few good swimming pools, which have proper upkeep and cleanliness. The existing pools are overcrowded leading to infection in ears, eyes and skin. Most countries give priority to this sport as it improves physical fitness, and for this reason all schools and colleges are provided with good swimming pools.