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September 30, 2009 issue
Health
Heart disease at 30? Blame it on lifestyle factors People are not unaware of the causes, they're just not proactive in making changes
New Delhi (IANS) — If you binge on junk food, smoke and don't exercise, you are at risk of developing heart diseases in your thirties. According to doctors, about 46.9 million Indians between 20 and 69 will suffer from heart diseases by 2010 and half of them will be youngsters. "We have completely westernised our lifestyle. Fast food has become the staple diet for majority of youngsters. They take soft drinks in place of water and spend hours sitting in front of computers. Our sedentary lifestyle has made us more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases," N.K. Pandey, cardiologist and chairman of Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, told IANS Saturday, the eve of World Heart Day. According to Pandey, when it comes to heart diseases, thirties is the new forties or fifties. "We live under so much of stress that we can get susceptible to heart diseases at a very young age. Most of the time people start smoking to beat the stress," said Pandey. According to a survey by the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, over 3.5 million Indians, 50 percent of them from productive age groups, will die of heart diseases by 2015. "Intake of food rich in fats and carbohydrates, smoking, stress and lack of exercise are some of the factors leading to cardiovascular diseases," said Anil Saxena, cardiologist with Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre here. The hospital receives heart patient as young as 25 to 30 though earlier cardiac diseases were seen in people above fifteen, says Saxena. Amar Singhal, head of cardiology at Sree Balaji Action Medical Institute, said: "It is not that people are unaware about causes of cardiovascular diseases but still they are not proactive in following a healthy lifestyle. It is high time we start taking care of ourselves." Explaining that some simple dietary and lifestyle changes could do wonders, Singhal said: "Make walking part of life. Not necessarily a morning walk but take a stroll every two hours in your office. "Follow a diet chart and most importantly stick to it. Fix a time for having meals and your diet should be assortment of all vitamins, proteins and necessary minerals," he said. T.S. Kler, executive director, Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, has a mantra for a healthy heart - pack lunch for office and don't eat outside; stroll after every meal; take the stairs, not the lift.
Viagra compounds found to shrink abnormally large hearts
Washington (IANS) — Compounds related to Viagra, already in clinical trials to prevent heart failure, may also counter the disease in a different way, says a new study. The results hold promise for the design of a new drug class and for its potential use in combination with Viagra or beta blockers. In heart failure, which affects about 5.7 million Americans, the heart gradually loses the ability to pump with enough force to supply the body with blood. One reason for lost pumping strength is the mass death of heart muscle cells seen in many heart attacks. Fewer remaining muscle cells must then push around the same amount of blood, and hard working muscles grow. Unlike the healthy bulging of an athlete's bicep, abnormal muscle growth (pathogenic hypertrophy) in diseased hearts thickens chamber walls, slows the heartbeat and causes potentially fatal arrhythmias (erratic beats) and heart failure as well. Recent efforts to reverse hypertrophy included a clinical trial, sponsored by Viagra manufacturer Pfizer, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), where they looked at whether Viagra (sildenafil) can treat moderate heart failure and reduce hypertrophy. Along with increasing blood flow in arteries, Viagra interferes with phosphodiesterases (PDEs), the enzymes that break down the messenger molecule called cyclic guanosine monophosphate (CGMP), which would otherwise restrain heart muscle cell growth. "Our results suggest that a PDE1a inhibitor alone can shut down abnormal cardiac growth, and when combined with Viagra or beta blockers, may do so in more than one way," said Chen Yan, associate professor of cardiology, University of Rochester Medical Centre (URMC) and study co-author, says a Rochester release. Yan's lab is focused on revealing the role of various PDE enzymes in atherosclerosis and hypertension as well as in heart failure.
Saudi Arabia urges pregnant women, old and ill to avoid Haj
Saudi Arabia Saturday recommended those at a high risk of catching swine flu, like children, pregnant women and people suffering from chronic ailments, to avoid Haj pilgrimage and help curb the spread of the pandemic. "Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, recommends that elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and children should postpone the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages this year for their own safety," the advisory from Saudi Arabia said. The country has written to several swine flu-affected countries, including India. "The Saudi government has advised that pilgrims planning to attend the Hajj must be vaccinated against seasonal flu at least two weeks before travelling to the holy places," the advisory said. "Passengers are currently screened on arrival at all ports of entry into Saudi Arabia. If a pilgrim is suspected to have influenza A H1N1, he/she will be temporarily quarantined. If (you) test positive, you will be admitted to hospital for isolation," the advisory added. According to India's health ministry, these pilgrims would be medically examined for the symptoms of influenza A (H1N1) at the point of embarkation, that is at the place where booking of pilgrims takes place in their respective states. "They will be issued an H1N1 symptom-free certificate in prescribed proforma. Pilgrims need to contact the local health authority or the State Haj Committee for further information," a ministry official said in New Delhi on Saturday. The official said a provision would be made by the state governments at their airports to issue such certificates to outgoing Haj pilgrims. The official also suggested pilgrims to consult the medical officer in the contingent. "If need be, seek immediate advice from the nearest Saudi medical facility. Anyone who contracts pandemic flu while in Saudi Arabia will be given access free of charge to medication and treatment," the official added.
Insulin booster restores muscle growth in elderly
Washington (IANS) — People tend to link insulin with diabetes, but it has other lesser known uses too. A study has shown that loss of response to insulin plays a major role in decrease of physical strength that occurs as people grow older. Insulin is necessary for muscle growth, increasing blood flow through muscle tissue, encouraging nutrients to disperse from blood vessels and itself serving as a biochemical signal to boost muscle protein synthesis. University of Texas Medical Branch - Galveston (UTMB-G) researchers have shown that by increasing insulin levels above the normal range in elderly test subjects, they can restore the impaired muscle-building process responsible for age-related physical weakness. "Insulin is normally secreted during food intake," said Elena Volpi, senior study co-author. "When you give insulin intravenously and increase the blood insulin levels to the same amount produced after a meal, you see that in young people it stimulates protein synthesis and muscle growth, while in older people it really doesn't." "But when we gave seniors double the insulin they would normally produce after eating, their muscles were stimulated like those of young people," added Volpi, according to an UTMB-G release. Volpi and her co-authors - postdoctoral fellows Satoshi Fujita and Kyle Timmerman, graduate student Erin Glynn and professor Blake B. Rasmussen - worked with elderly volunteers to examine the response of thigh muscles to the two different blood insulin levels. All the data pointed in the same direction, showing that a blood insulin level double that produced by a typical meal seems to turn back the clock on elderly thigh muscle. These findings appeared in the Sept issue of Diabetologia.
AYURVEDA: India's Ancient Healing Approach
Thou, Agni, art the Protector of the body, protect my body. Thou, Agni, art the Bestower of long life, bestow on me long life. Thou, Agni, art the Bestower of intellectual brillance, bestow on me intellectual brillance. Whatever, Agni, is deficient in my body, make that complete for me. Yajurveda V 3.17Ayurveda is India’s traditional, natural system of medicine that has been practised for more than 5,000 years. Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that literally translated means "science of life" or "practices of longevity." Ayurveda was the system of health care conceived and developed by the seers (rishis) and natural scientists through centuries of observations, experiments, discussions, and meditations. For several thousand years their teachings were passed on orally from teacher to student; about the fifth to sixth century BC, elaborately detailed texts were written in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. For many years Ayurveda flourished and was used by rich and poor alike in India and Southeast Asia. "Ayurveda" is an Upaveda or annexure to the four main vedas (knowledge systems). The famous treaties of Ayurveda are Charaka Samhita by Sage Charaka, which details the prevention and treatment of disease, and Sushruta Samhita of Sage Sushruta, which deals with Ayurvedic surgical procedures. In the Ayurvedic system, the prevention of all types of disease has a prominent place in treatment, including restructuring a patient's lifestyle to align with the course of nature and the four seasons to guarantee complete wellness. Ayurvedic manuals give detailed descriptions of the various practices. Charaka listed 500 hundred remedies and Sushruta over 700 vegetable medicines. Ayurveda emphasizes prevention of disease, rejuvenation of our body systems, and extension of life span. The profound premise and promise of Ayurveda is that through certain practices, not only can we prevent heart disease and make our headaches go away, but we can also better understand ourselves and the world around us, live a long healthy life in balance and harmony, achieve our fullest potential, and express our true inner nature on a daily basis. Ayurveda provides an integrated approach to preventing and treating illness through lifestyle interventions and natural therapies. It is based on the view that the elements, forces, and principles that comprise all of nature - and that holds it together and make it function - are also seen in human beings. In Ayurveda, the mind (or consciousness) and the body (or physical mass) not only influence each other - they are each other. Together they form the mind-body. The universal consciousness is an intelligent, aware ocean of energy that gives rise to the physical world we perceive through our five senses. Ayurvedic philosophy and practices link us to every aspect of ourselves and remind us that we are in union with every aspect of nature, each other, and the entire universe. There can be no mental health without physical health, and vice versa. In Ayurveda, symptoms and diseases that could be categorized as mental thoughts or feelings are just as important as symptoms and diseases of the physical body. Both are due to imbalances within a person, and both are treated by restoring the natural balance mentally and physically. In Ayurveda your whole life and lifestyle must be in harmony before you can enjoy true well being. Lifestyle interventions are a major Ayurvedic preventive and therapeutic approach. In India, Ayurvedic practitioners receive state-recognized, institutionalized training in parallel to their physician counterparts. The research base is growing concerning the physiological effects of meditative techniques and yoga postures in Indian medical literature and Western psychological literature. Published studies have documented reductions in cardiovascular disease risk factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol, and reaction to stress, in individuals who practice Ayurvedic methods. Laboratory and clinical studies on Ayurvedic herbal preparations and other therapies have shown them to have a range of potentially beneficial effects for preventing and treating certain cancers, treating infectious disease, treating diabetes, promoting health, and treating aging. Mechanisms underlying these effects may include free-radical scavenging effects, immune system modulation, brain neurotransmitter modulation, and hormonal effects.
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