TEL-AVIV –  A study conducted by Israeli researchers suggests that exposure to light, and possibly photosynthesis, may help disease-causing bacteria to invade fresh produce, making them impervious to washing.

According to background information in a report published in journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, past studies have already shown that salmonella enterica attaches to the surface of fresh produce, and finds its way below the surface of the skin through pores called stomata, where it can hide from and resist washing and food sanitizers.

In the new study, researchers from the Agricultural Research Organization at the Volcani Center in Israel and Tel-Aviv University examined the role that light and photosynthesis might play on the ability of salmonella bacteria to infiltrate lettuce leaves via stomata.

They exposed sterile iceberg lettuce leaves to bacteria either in the light, in the dark, or in the dark after 30 minutes of exposure to light.

Incubation in the light or pre-exposure to light resulted in aggregation of bacteria around open stomata and invasion into the inner leaf tissue.

Incubation in the dark, on the other hand, resulted in a scattered attachment pattern and very little internalization.

According to the researchers, the increased propensity for internalization in the light may be due to several factors.

First, they say, in the absence of light plants enter a period of dormancy, where stomata are closed and no photosynthesis takes place. In the light, the stomata are open.

Additional findings also suggest that the bacteria are attracted to the open stomata by the nutrients produced during photosynthesis, which are not present in the dark.

“The elucidation of the mechanism by which Salmonella invades intact leaves has important implications for both pre- and postharvest handling of lettuce and probably other leafy vegetables. The capacity to inhibit internalization should limit bacterial colonization to the phylloplane and consequently might enhance the effectiveness of surface sanitizers,” say the researchers.

LONDON – Some social networking sites, like Facebook, could help improve a person’s working memory, according to an expert.

Dr. Tracy Alloway, a psychologist at Stirling University, says that working memory – the ability to recall things over a short period of time – could be the key to success.

She believes that it may be possible to train the brain’s working memory just like an athlete trains muscles, reports the Independent.

Alloway said that some technological inventions, such as Facebook, might actually improve working memory because they require people to hold a lot of information in their heads.

However, other such websites, like spell-checks and Twitter, which requires only small bite-sized phrases, may work against improving working memory.

Instead, these websites could be contributing to some people’s lack of success, she suggested.

Alloway said that she had devised an on-line game that can improve working memory, which may help the young develop working memory skills as well helping to combat memory loss in the elderly.

SYDNEY – A new study has determined animals that process information using a preferred hemisphere of the brain fare better those who use both sides of their brain simultaneously.

According to a report by ABC News, the study suggests the brain operates like a dual processor in a computer, with each of the brain’s two sides kicking into action depending on the content or context of the information.

Dr Culum Brown of the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney, and colleague Maria Magat, focused their research on several different types of Australian birds, such as gang-gangs, sulfur-crested cockatoos and Australian king parrots.

All of the birds participated in two tests designed to test their cerebral lateralisation, meaning how strongly each bird preferentially processes information using either hemisphere of the brain.

The first task was a simple pebble-seed discrimination test, where the birds had to pick seeds out of a background of similar sized pebbles.

The second task was more demanding.

The researchers attached food to the end of a suspended string that the birds had to manipulate with their beaks and feet in order to get the tasty reward.

Birds with a preference for using either of their eyes or either of their legs did better than birds that used both eyes and both legs equally.

This means that the most successful birds have a very strong cerebral lateralisation, which “is influenced by both genes and experience,” according to Brown.

He and Magat found that the pattern of lateralisation, left or right bias, did not predict success as much as the strength of the particular bias did.

Carrying the findings over to humans, this suggests, in part, that a right-handed person isn’t more successful than a left-handed one, and vice-versa.

But people who always favour a certain hand, foot or eye for certain tasks will likely perform better than those who don’t exhibit obvious preferences.

Brown said that there are several reasons why such specialized division of the brain confers benefits to the individual.

“Firstly, it means that a given hemisphere can become increasingly specialized at processing certain types of information,” he said.

According to Brown, assigning particular tasks to each side of the brain avoids conflict between the two hemispheres, and allows “multiple sources of information to be processed simultaneously, that is to say, animals can multitask like a dual processor in a computer.”

NEW YORK – New evidence suggests that daily nasal irrigation may increase the risk of sinus infections.

Nasal irrigation with warm saline has been promoted as way to cleanse the sinuses and help prevent infections. However, using this therapy too often may not be beneficial.

The latest study, presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology (ACAAI) annual meeting, included 68 adults who used nasal irrigation frequently for one year and then stopped therapy for one year. The patients were compared to 24 control patients who did not discontinue nasal irrigation.

The researchers found that number of sinus infections decreased by 62.5 percent after the participants stopped using nasal irrigation. Additionally, after stopping nasal irrigation, they were 50 percent less likely to develop sinus infections than those who continued with daily therapy.

Mucus in the nose contains important immune system molecules that help the body fight against infections. Because nasal irrigation eliminates this mucus, the authors suspect that it may lead to an increased risk of infection.

CAIRO – Rich Egyptians living 3,500 years ago may have been walking around with the same clogged arteries that modern Americans now battle, according to a presentation Monday at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting.

A group of scientists said that, on a whim, they performed a computerized tomography (CT) scan on a collection of 22 mummies housed at the Egyptian National Museum of Antiquities in Cairo to see if they too suffered from the plaque build-up in arteries that lead to coronary artery disease.

“We didn’t believe it was going to be so intense,” said Adel H. Allam, the lead author of a letter to the editor published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “We thought that we would find it, but maybe very rarely, and we thought that if we did find it, it wouldn’t be so severe.”

The plaque was, of course, long gone. The mummies lived between 1981 B.C. and 364 A.D., and only 16 of the mummies had heart tissue left. However, doctors could see evidence of advanced atherosclerosis (plaque build-up that causes hardening of the arteries) by looking for calcium deposits in a CT scan used to diagnose people today.

LONDON – Scientists in the University of Leicester’s Department of Genetics have for the first time revealed that the male and female do truly communicate -at least at the fundamental genetic level.

The research counters scientific theory that the X and Y chromosomes – that define the sexes – do not communicate at all.

In the study, Dr. Zoe Rosser and colleagues have shown that exchange of DNA does actually occur between the X and Y in the regions previously thought to be completely isolated.

“Recently it was shown that the Y chromosome can talk to itself – swapping bits of DNA from one region to another, and potentially giving it a way to fix mutations that might affect male fertility. In this new research we’ve now shown that it actually maintains a genetic conversation with the X chromosome, potentially giving it a way to fix other kinds of mutations, too. So, maybe it’s not quite the dysfunctional loner we have always imagined it to be,” said Professor Mark Jobling, who led the study.

It is the Y chromosome in men that determines maleness by triggering development of testes rather than ovaries in the early embryo.

“These days the X and Y are a very odd couple, but long ago, before mammals evolved, they were an ordinary pair of identical chromosomes, exchanging DNA in a companionable way through the process of genetic recombination. However, once the Y chromosome took on the job of determining maleness, they stopped talking to each other. The X remained much the same, but the Y set out on a path of degeneration that saw it lose many of its genes and shrink to about one third the size of the X. Some scientists have predicted that it will eventually vanish altogether,” said Jobling.

“These new findings from the Department of Genetics of the University of Leicester now challenge this interpretation of the Y chromosome’s fate,” he added.

The researchers discovered that the conversation between the X and Y chromosome goes both ways, and it is also clear that mutations arising on a decaying Y chromosome can perhaps be passed to the X – the Y chromosome’s revenge.

In future, the researchers will assess how widespread X-Y exchanges have been during evolution, and what the likely functional effects might be.

The study has been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

DENVER – Scientists from University of Colorado have revealed that inhaling measles vaccine can be more effective in combating the disease that causes 197,000 deaths each year globally.

While a liquid vaccine using a hypodermic needle is presently the only way to prevent the disease, they are often difficult to store, costly to transport and may be prone to contamination when shipped to developing countries.

The study led by Dr Robert Sievers shows promise for a new method that allows the patient to inhale a finely-powdered medicine.

In order to produce the inhalant, the weakened measles virus must be mixed with high-pressure carbon dioxide to produce microscopic bubbles and droplets, which are then gently dried to produce an inhalable powder.

The powder is then puffed into a small inhaler-like device and administered.

The aerosol vaccine was shown effective in test animals, and human trials are expected to begin next year in India, where more than half of the world’s measles cases occur.

Aridis Pharmaceuticals have been working to develop a room temperature stable measles formulation that can be easily inhaled using cost-effective dry-powder inhalers in collaboration with the non-profit foundation PATH.

“There is a need for technologies that could stabilize the measles vaccine, as this would facilitate mass vaccination in developing world countries where transport, storage, administration costs and other complexities have limited vaccine coverage by 70 percent,” said Dr Satoshi Ohtake, from Aridis and the study’s principal investigator.

Ohtake’s study used a combination of mild spray drying process conditions and unique stabilizers to produce stable dry powders with excellent preservation of vaccine activity.

The potency of the dried vaccine was then tested while being stored at different Temperatures over several week-long periods.

The results found that the dry-powdered aerosol was stable for at least eight weeks at 37 degrees Celsius.

“This new method could potentially offer safer, more affordable and effective treatments to patients that need them the most,” Ohtake added.

ISTANBUL – The Turkish man crowned as the world’s tallest man suffers from a pituitary tumor which has resulted in his gigantic height.

Sultan Kosen stands eight-foot-one-inch tall and was unveiled as the tallest man in the world by the Guinness World Records. Kosen’s height is a result of a tumor in his pituitary gland, which has led to an over production of growth hormones, reports the National Geographic News.

The condition called pituitary gigantism has also led his feet to grow to almost 15 inches, while his hands are larger than 10 inches. It was only after the tumor was removed last year, that Kosen stopped growing.

The 27-year old is forced to use crutches as his height has weakened his knee joints.

The now-famous Kosen wants to travel around the world and meet a woman who would like to marry him.

LONDON – Memory and language tests can reliably reveal “hidden” early dementia, say UK experts.

Most dementias are missed for years as the symptoms can be elusive until considerable brain tissue is lost.

But doctors from Oxford found they were able to spot very early warning signs when they looked closely enough.

The findings in Neurology could help doctors diagnose dementia sooner, which is crucial since treatment is most effective when given early.

Over a span of 20 years, the researchers studied a group of 241 healthy elderly volunteers, giving them regular tests designed to measure their thinking or cognitive powers.

Being able to spot and measure the initial stages of dementia is a crucial challenge if we are to improve drug testing and lay the groundwork for prevention trials

When they scrutinized the test results, the doctors found subtle clues that, in retrospect, hinted at ensuing impairment.

Specifically, the patients who went on to develop mild cognitive impairment or pre-dementia stumbled on tasks involving language expression, learning and recall.

For example, they had greater difficulty remembering the name for common objects or animals and explaining the meaning of a given word.

And those who were older and who scored lower on the language or memory tests tended to deteriorate more quickly.

Professor David Smith and his team say their findings fit with what we already know about dementia.

Experts have noted that the early stages of dementia are associated with linguistic problems, such as word-finding difficulties.

Early literary works by authors who have later been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s show similar changes in language use – simpler narratives and a smaller vocabulary.

Rebecca Wood of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust said: “This significant long-term study shows how subtle, but measurable, problems with language or memory can predict when a healthy elderly person is likely to develop mild cognitive impairment, which frequently develops into dementia.

“Early intervention will be crucial for future dementia treatments. Being able to spot and measure the initial stages of dementia is a crucial challenge if we are to improve drug testing and lay the groundwork for prevention trials.”

Latest work in Archives of General Psychiatry adds weight to the evidence that Alzheimer’s dementia is at least partly inherited, and that being healthy in mid-life could help lower your risk of the disease.

Dutch researchers found that people with a parental history of Alzheimer’s had higher blood pressure and indicators of arterial disease as well as different amounts of inflammatory proteins in their blood compared with those without a parental history of Alzheimer’s.

LONDON – Scientists at the University College London have found that the hippocampus in the brain is responsible for our ability to organise the world into separate concepts.

Forming a concept involves selecting the important characteristics of our experiences and categorising them.

The degree to do this effectively is a defining characteristic of human intelligence.

However, not much is known about how conceptual knowledge is created and used in the brain.

Thus, to identify the brain regions responsible, Dharshan Kumaran and colleagues at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, showed 25 volunteers, pairs of fractal patterns that represented the night sky and asked them to forecast the weather – either rain or sun – based on the patterns.

Conceptual rules based on the positions and combinations of the patterns governed whether the resulting outcome would be rain or sun, but the volunteers were not told this.

Instead, they rewarded correct predictions with cash prizes, encouraging the volunteers to deduce these conceptual rules.

In an initial learning phase, the different possible combinations were repeatedly shown to the participants, so that they could make their predictions by simply memorising previous outcomes and could also begin to realise that rules based on the positions and combinations of the patterns governed whether the result would be rain or sun.

In a second phase, the volunteers were provided with less information to encourage them to apply the rules they had identified, which made the researchers to separate those volunteers who had formed the concept in the learning phase from those who hadn’t.

During both experiments fMRI scanning was used to identify areas of brain activity.

It was found that in the first phase, they could tell if a volunteer would go on to apply concepts in the second phase by the degree of activity in their hippocampus, which is known to be responsible for learning and memory.

In the second phase, activity centred on the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC), important in decision-making, was active.

The team concluded that the hippocampus creates and stores concepts, and passes this information onto the vMPFC where it is put to use during the making of decisions.

People with amnesia are also known to have problems forming concepts, so Kumaran is expecting his findings to lead to the development of improved teaching methods and other tools for the treatment of amnesiacs.

The study has been published in the journal Neuron.

KANSAS CITY – Having a pet in your life can help you stay hale and hearty, say researchers.

Owning a four-legged, furry pet would help lower blood pressure, encourage exercise and also improve psychological health.

“Pets are of great importance to people, especially during hard economic times,” said Rebecca Johnson, associate professor from University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI).

“Pets provide unconditional love and acceptance and may be part of answers to societal problems, such as inactivity and obesity,” she added.

In a study sponsored by ReCHAI, ‘Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound and Stay Fit for Seniors’, a group of older adults were matched with shelter dogs, while another group of older adults were partnered with a human walk buddy.

For 12 weeks, participants were encouraged to walk on an outdoor trail for one hour, five times a week.

“The older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28 percent,” said Johnson.

“They had more confidence walking on the trail, and they increased their speed.

“The older people who walked with humans only had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities.

“The human walking buddies tended to discourage each other and used excuses such as the weather being too hot,” she added.

The researchers will explore the many ways animals benefit people of all ages during the International Society for Anthrozoology and Human-Animal Interaction Conference in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 20-25.

“Research in this field is providing new evidence on the positive impact pets have in our lives,” said Johnson.

 “This conference will provide a unique opportunity to connect international experts working in human-animal interaction research with those already working in the health and veterinary medicine fields.

“A wonderful array of presentations will show how beneficial animals can be in the lives of children, families and older adults,” she added.

SYDNEY – If you are part of a social group, your are more likely to stay away from conditions like stroke, dementia and even the common cold.

Well, new research by researchers at the Universities of Exeter and Queensland, Australia, suggests that membership of social groups has a positive impact on health and well-being.

The researchers highlights the importance of belonging to a range of social groups, of hanging onto social groups, and of building new social groups in dealing with life changes such as having a stroke and being diagnosed with dementia.

The researchers reviewed a number of previous studies, which identified a link between group membership, and physical and mental health.

Commenting on the latest work, Professor Alex Haslam, of the University of Exeter, said: “We are social animals who live and have evolved to live in social groups. Membership of groups, from football teams to book clubs and voluntary societies, gives us a sense of social identity. This is an indispensable part of who we are and what we need to be in order to lead rich and fulfilling lives. For this reason groups are central to mental functioning, health and well-being.”

The researchers said that a 2008 study showed that being able to maintain valued group memberships played as important a role in positive recovery as an ability to overcome cognitive difficulties (e.g., problems with memory and language).

A 2009 study showed that those who participated as a group in decisions related to the decoration of communal areas used those areas 57 percent more over the next month and were far happier as a result.

Another 2009 study found that a strong sense of identity associated with perceived membership of social groups, was a much better predictor of residents’ well-being than their level of dementia.

The study has been published in Scientific American Mind, and the findings were presented at the British Science Festival.

LISBON –  - Researchers at the University of Leicester and Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal have found that vitamin C can help protect DNA damage of skin cells and lead to better skin regeneration.

Previous research has shown that DNA repair is upregulated in people consuming vitamin C supplements.

In the new study, the researchers have provided some mechanistic evidence.

The researchers used affymetrix microarray, for looking at gene expression, and the ‘Comet’ assay to study DNA damage

“The exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation increases in summer, often resulting in a higher incidence of skin lesions. Ultraviolet radiation is also a genotoxic agent responsible for skin cancer, through the formation of free radicals and DNA damage,” said lead researcher Tiago Duarte, formerly of the University of Leicester, and now at the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal.

“Our study analysed the effect of sustained exposure to a vitamin C derivative, ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AA2P), in human dermal fibroblasts.

“We investigated which genes are activated by vitamin C in these cells, which are responsible for skin regeneration.

“The results demonstrated that vitamin C may improve wound healing by stimulating quiescent fibroblasts to divide and by promoting their migration into the wounded area. Vitamin C could also protect the skin by increasing the capacity of fibroblasts to repair potentially mutagenic DNA lesions,” Duarte added.

The researchers hope that the results will be of great relevance to the cosmetics industry.

“The study indicates a mechanism by which vitamin C could contribute to the maintenance of a healthy skin by promoting wound healing and by protecting cellular DNA against damage caused by oxidation,” said Dr Marcus S. Cooke from the Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and Department of Genetics, at the University of Leicester.

“These findings are particular importance to our photobiology interests, and we will certainly be looking into this further,” Cooke added.

The findings have been published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. (ANI)

Take this myth, for example: You should drink at least eight glasses of water per day.

Here they claim as “fact,”

“Over the years, “fluid” turned to water. But fruits and vegetables, plus coffee and other liquids count.”

Hold it right there. Coffee counts toward your daily fluid intake?

Every day you lose water from the body through urine and sweat, and this fluid needs to be replenished. Coffee is a natural diuretic, which – logically, I might add – depletes your body of fluids.

Your body is equipped with a mechanism that tells you when you need to replenish your fluid supply — it’s called thirst! So although I have stopped recommending drinking a specified amount of water per day, fulfilling your body’s request for fluids by drinking coffee is simply not going to do the job.

Without going into all the negative health ramifications that can be attributed to coffee (which I’ve reported in many previous articles, all of which you can find on my site), let it suffice to say that not only are they completely overlooking the fact that coffee simply cannot replace the biological benefits of plain water, they also fail to answer the question of: if not eight glasses of water, then how much water do you need?

Setting the Record Straight on the Water Myth

We know you can exist without food for months, but without water you can only survive for a few days. Your body is made up mostly of water, which:

• Is essential for digestion, nutrient absorption and elimination
• Aids circulation
• Helps control your body’s temperature
• Lubricates and cushions joints
• Keeps your skin healthy
• Helps remove toxins from your body

I have refined my recommendations to this: use the color of your urine as a guide to how much water you should be drinking.

As long as you are not taking riboflavin (vitamin B2), which fluoresces and turns your urine bright yellow (it is also in most multi-vitamins), then your urine should be a very light-colored yellow. If it is a deep yellow then you are likely not drinking enough water.

Of course, if it’s hot outside or you are engaged in exercise or other vigorous activity, you will require more water than normal so be sure to stay well hydrated in these cases. Additionally, as we grow older our thirst mechanism works less efficiently so older adults will want to be sure to drink water regularly, and again make sure their urine is a light, pale color.

More Myths Most Conventional Experts Fail to Inform You About

The myths studied and “clarified” through science in this article are not really a matter of life and death however. Fortunately, believing in them will not necessarily ruin your health in the long run.

But there are many other medical myths out there that are actually taking lives because even your doctors fail to realize they are perpetuating a myth and giving out misguided advice.

Here are a few more of my top medical myths that you REALLY need to know the real answers to:

Myth: Sun Exposure Causes Skin Cancer – This is perhaps the most pervasive and destructive myth in today’s society, reinforced by expensive media campaigns for sunscreen protection of all kinds. Unfortunately, that trend is contributing to one million unnecessary deaths each and every year, causing about 600,000 deaths from breast and colorectal cancer alone.

Can sun exposure cause skin cancer? Absolutely — if you burn. However, appropriate sunlight exposure actually prevents more than 16 types of cancer, and provides benefits such as promoting the formation of vitamin D, which many folks are very deficient in.

You also need to know that using sunscreen is NOT a good way to limit your sun exposure; in fact, sunscreen is one of the last things you want to put on your body, and sunblock does not stop skin cancer.

As natural health expert Krispin Sullivan explained during my interview with her last year, when you wear sunscreen you may not realize you’re creating sun damage because it prevents you from burning – but the damage is still being done on a cellular level — simply because now you’re staying out in the sun too long, thinking it’s okay since you’re covered in goop. Adding insult to injury, sunscreens contain many toxic chemicals that can cause additional problems in your system, and increase your risk of disease.

Myth: Milk Does Your Body Good – Another case where back-in-the-days before pasteurization, this was true. However, commercial pasteurized milk is not healthy for your body, and should be avoided if you want to be optimally healthy. For a great explanation on the differences between healthy raw milk versus pasteurized milk, don’t miss Mark McAfee’s excellent video on this subject.

And, of course there is the issue of the hormones, antibiotics and pesticides that are used in modern milk dairies, and the fact that nearly all commercial dairy cows are raised on grains, not grass, like they were designed to. This changes the composition of the fats in the milk they produce, especially the CLA content.

Myth: Whole Grains are Good for You –  Even though I do agree that whole grains are better for you than refined grains, whole grains are still not healthy for most people. Why? Because so many Americans are either:

• Overweight
• Have high blood pressure
• Have high cholesterol
• Diabetics

Nearly everyone with these issues has high insulin levels, and would therefore benefit greatly from avoiding all grains — even whole grains. Additionally, about one-third of people will need to avoid grains because they are protein types.

Myth: Fish is Good for You – Again, prior to the industrial pollution that has now devastated the waters world wide, this was true. But not anymore. Fish (and shellfish) easily accumulate very high levels of chemical residues from the water they live in. Residues in fish can be as much as 9 million times the amount found in the water!

Sadly, due to the release of 40 TONS, or 80,000 pounds, of mercury into the air and water each year, this once healthy food has now been rendered largely unfit for human consumption. Some of the contaminants now found in fish flesh include:

• Mercury
• PCBs
• Radioactive substances like strontium
• Toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium and arsenic

Fortunately, there are still some viable alternatives for obtaining the nutritious benefits of fish, such as regularly consuming high-quality purified krill oil or fish oil. Some wild Alaskan salmon are also still good, as well as very small fish like anchovies and sardines.

Myth: Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease – I recently published an article about this very topic. If you missed it, I’d recommend reading it in its entirety: The Truth About Saturated Fat. Saturated fats from sources like meat, dairy, some oils and tropical plants such as coconut actually provide a concentrated source of healthy energy in your diet. They also:

• Provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone like substances
• Slow down absorption so that you can go longer without feeling hungry
• Act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
• Are necessary for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a host of other biological processes

Part of the scientific confusion relates to the fact that your body is capable of synthesizing saturated fats that it needs from carbohydrates, and these saturated fats are principally the same ones present in dietary fats of animal origin. However, and this is the key, not all saturated fatty acids are the same. In fact, there are more than a dozen different saturated fats with subtle differences that have profound health implications, and if you avoid eating all saturated fats you will suffer serious health consequences.

There is still a link between fat and heart disease. But it’s most likely dangerous TRANS FAT, and not saturated fats that is the problem and the missing link between fat and heart disease.

NEW DELHI – Don’t reprimand your son for sobbing over a problem he is facing or tick him off for “behaving like a sissy”. It would only make him bottle up his emotions and lead to serious implications on his overall well being. Experts say men are more vulnerable to mental illness and depression than you would imagine.

Praveen Thapar, chairperson of the Sanjivni Centre for Mental Health, said while it’s true that women are more prone to depression, it’s equally true that women are better at sharing their emotions and problems than men – as a result most men keep their problems to themselves which has serious implications later.

In our society we co-relate the word man with power. From the time he is a child, a boy is told not to cry ‘like a sissy’ and be strong. Thus from an early stage he grows up with this learning that he should hide his emotions behind a serene face, Thapar told IANS ahead of World Mental Health Day Saturday.

This however can have serious implications later in life. This habit of bottling up one’s feelings and frustrations may lead to a breakdown later, she said.

Akhila Vasudev, a counselor, agreed.

“While women are more open about their problems and emotions, with men, even when they are with friends, the discussion rarely goes beyond the football match or finances. Often it’s because they have been molded that way.”

”A number of male patients that I have therefore admit that they feel much better after simply talking about their problems. It helps that I am a stranger, they say. Opening up in front of the family is harder,” said Vasudev.

Quoting an example, Thapar said at a post-retirement conference that she attended recently, all that was being discussed about was how to manage your finances.

Post-retirement phase is a different experiences altogether. You have more time on your hand, your expectations may increase, you may feel worthless and useless sitting around – but all that the men talked about was finances, she said.

According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), mental illness will be the biggest health risk in India by 2010.

The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) further says that while 20 million Indians suffer from major mental ailments, 50 million suffer from milder forms.

Depression, anxiety, panic attacks and hysteria are all mild forms of mental illnesses which people often ignore, experts say.

According to R.C. Jiloha, head of the department of psychiatry at the Maulana Azad Medical College, among the most common form of mental disorders that men suffer from are anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Because of an increasing awareness on the issue, I have a lot of men coming to me for counselling. But the best way to tackle this is for the corrective measures to begin in the families itself,” Thapar said.

“Parents should interact more with their children and encourage them to be themselves. They should not have a different attitude towards their sons and daughters, she advised.

SYDNEY – Sexually satisfied women scored higher on psychological well-being and the vitality index compared to their sexually dissatisfied counterparts, a new study has revealed.

The study was based on 295 women who were sexually active more than twice a month.

To assess whether sexual satisfaction and well-being were linked, the team from Monash University in Australia recruited women aged 20-65 who self-identified as being satisfied or dissatisfied with their sexual function.

“We wanted to explore the links between sexual satisfaction and well-being in women from the community and to see if there was any difference between pre-and postmenopausal women,” said Sonia Davison of the Women’s Health Programme at Monash University who led the study.

The most commonly reported sexual problems in women relate to sexual desire and interest, pleasure and satisfaction. For most women these are part of the overall sexual experience and are inextricably related.

Women were also found to be frequently sexually active despite a high level of sexual dissatisfaction.

“We found that women who were sexually dissatisfied had lower well-being and lower vitality. This finding highlights the importance of addressing these areas as an essential part of women’s health care because women may be uncomfortable discussing these issues with their doctor,” said Davison.

These findings were published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Good news for those who take vitamin supplements: people who take a multivitamin and vitamin E nearly every day for 10 years seem to have a slightly lower risk of death from heart disease, study findings hint.

Those who take vitamin E and C supplements may also have a lower risk of death overall in a five-year period, while those who take vitamin C may have a lower risk of death from cancer, note study authors Dr. Gaia Pocobelli, at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, Washington, and colleagues.

Vitamins E and C are antioxidants that are thought to protect against damage the body’s cells, but scientists have “no clear evidence” that their use staves off death.

While the findings of the current study back earlier studies, many of the decreased risks are small, and may have more to do with other healthy behaviours in which people who take vitamins are likely to take part, the authors are quick to add in their report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

How the study was done

The team surveyed 77 719 men and women in Washington State who were between 50 and 76 years old. Overall 67, 47, and 48% of the study group had ever used multivitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin E supplements, respectively.

Overall, there were 3 577 deaths in the group over five years. Among those who did not use vitamins, there were 350 deaths from heart disease, while there were 519 deaths among those who used vitamins between a few days and seven days per week.

After adjusting for gender and age, lifestyle, diet, and medical conditions, the researchers saw no differences between non-users and those who used multivitamins for zero to two days, three to five days, or six to seven days per week on average over 10 years.

By contrast, they saw slightly decreased risk for death from heart disease among those reporting the most frequent multivitamin use.

What the study revealed

When the researchers looked at vitamin C use, those who took more than 322 milligrams per day had a slightly decreased overall and cancer-related risk of death within five years, compared with non-users. Those with a history of heart disease who took this level of vitamin C had slightly decreased risk for death from heart disease.

Compared with non-users, men and women reporting more than 215 milligrams per day of vitamin E per day – roughly the amount found in a typical supplement — had slightly decreased total and heart disease-related risk of death. The investigators saw no association between cancer death risk and vitamin E intake.

Even though the study took lifestyle into account, the authors that many of the findings “should be interpreted cautiously because healthy behaviors” – some of which may not have been measured – “tend to be more common in supplement users than in nonusers.”

Green Tea May Help Improve Bone Health

HONG KONG – Green tea may help improve bone health, researchers in Hong Kong have reported.

The boffins found that the tea contains a group of chemicals that can stimulate bone formation and help slow its breakdown.

The study has been published in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.

In the study, Ping Chung Leung and colleagues noted that many scientific studies have linked tea to beneficial effects in preventing cancer, heart disease, and other conditions.

To reach the conclusion, scientists exposed a group of cultured bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) to three major green tea components – epigallocatechin (EGC), gallocatechin (GC), and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) – for several days. They found that one in particular, EGC, boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. EGC also significantly boosted levels of bone mineralization in the cells, which strengthens bones.

The scientists also showed that high concentrations of ECG blocked the activity of a type of cell (osteoclast) that breaks down or weakens bones. The green tea components did not cause any toxic effects to the bone cells, they noted.

WHO head backs role of traditional medicine in primary health care – Two Years Ago – So what happened?

BEIJING, Nov. 7, 2007 (Xinhua) — The role of traditional medicine in primary health care should be highlighted, Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said hereon Friday.

    Thirty years ago, the WHO Alma-Ata Declaration recognized the role of traditional medicine practitioners within the primary health care system at the community level, Chan said at the opening ceremony of the WHO Congress on Traditional Medicine. “As a result, the significance and use of traditional medicine has increased in the past three decades.”

    For millions of people living in rural areas of developing countries, herbal medicines, traditional treatments and traditional practitioners were the main and sometimes the only source of health care, she said.

    ”This is care that is close to homes, accessible and affordable. In some systems of traditional medicine, such as traditional Chinese medicine, traditional practices are supported by wisdom and experience acquired over centuries,” she said.

    Traditional medicine has been proven as cheap, effective and acceptable in many developing countries’ primary health care systems, Chan said.

    She noted, however, that an undesirable trend had also occurred in affluent societies, in the popularity of treatments and remedies that complement orthodox medicine or sometimes serve as an alternative to conventional treatments.

    In North America and Europe, traditional medicine has become a multi-billion-dollar industry that was expected to continue growing rapidly, Chan said.

    ”This is not the poor man’s alternative to conventional care; this trend has some dangers.”

    Chan called for all WHO members to bring traditional and Western medicine together in highly effective ways in the primary health care system. She said the two systems need not clash.

    The three-day congress, hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Health and the State Administration of Traditional Medicine, has drawn more than 1,100 participants from 80 countries and regions.

    A legacy of the congress will be the “Beijing Declaration”, which is scheduled to be published on Nov. 8 after it is agreed on by participating WHO members

Why Frequent Blinking is Essential for Healthy Eyes and Optimal Vision

Are you interested in taking optimal care of your eyes and experiencing your best vision?  If so, we encourage you to get into a habit of blinking softly as often as possible.

Frequent and gentle blinking is essential to the health of your eyes and vision because it allows your eyelids to regularly coat your eyes with three beneficial layers of tears:

1. The first layer of tears lies right up against the whites of your eyes, and provides an even coat of protein-rich moisture for the second layer to adhere to.
2. The middle watery layer helps to wash away foreign debris. It also nourishes the cornea of your eyes with minerals, a variety of proteins, and moisture.
3. The third outer layer of tears is somewhat oily. It serves to prevent the middle watery layer from evaporating quickly, and provides needed lubrication between your eyes and your eyelids.

If your eyes are not regularly coated with the three layers of tears described above, they will be deprived of ongoing nourishment and cleansing, and they will be unnecessarily strained.

One of the reasons why many of us don’t blink as often as we should is that we don’t see frequent blinking in mainstream media. Actors and anchor-people are typically trained to blink as infrequently as possible, so when we take in mainstream media, our subconscious minds learn that it isn’t normal to blink frequently.

To optimally support your eyes and vision, it’s best to blink softly every two to four seconds, which translates to about fifteen to thirty blinks per minute. By consciously making an effort to softly blink at this rate, over time, your body will turn your conscious efforts into a subconscious habit.

Here are some notes on blinking to promote optimal eye health and vision:

• A soft and natural blink should occur like the light flap of the wings of a butterfly – this is a good image to visualize as you make an effort to blink softly every two to four seconds.
• You should blink regularly during all activities, including reading, working on the computer, and viewing a TV program or film.
• Contact lenses can discourage frequent blinking because the back surface of your eyelids is not designed to rub over an artificial surface. This is one of several good reasons why contact lenses should be avoided whenever possible.
• Some yoga and meditation instructors suggest doing exercises that involve fixating your vision on one object, such as the flame of a candle, and doing your best not to blink.  We encourage you to ignore the part about suppressing your instinct to blink. It’s quite possible to experience inner stillness and peace while blinking frequently.

Since the primary goal of blinking regularly is to keep your eyes well lubricated and nourished, another good tip for eye and vision care is to keep your eyes closed whenever you are thinking about something while you do not need your vision. For example, if you are stuck in the middle of composing an e-mail message, close your eyes while you think of your next sentence.