Contents Of Human Life: Health

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Circumcision's Benefits Outweigh Risks

The recommendations, released today (Aug. 27) by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), say the procedure's benefits include reducing the risks of HIV infection, urinary tract infection and penile cancer.

But the AAP also says the benefits of circumcision are not weighty enough to broadly recommend circumcision for all male infants.

Instead, "parents ultimately should decide whether circumcision is in the best interests of their male child," the AAP says. "They will need to weigh medical information in the context of their own religious, ethical, and cultural beliefs and practices."

The new advice is a shift from the Academy's previous policy on circumcision, released in 1999. Those recommendations acknowledged the potential health benefits of circumcision, but did not did make clear whether the benefits outweighed the risks, and made no mention of insurance.

The previous policy may have influenced the percentage of infants circumcised in the United States — in recent years, it has declined — as well as insurance reimbursement for the procedure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although nearly 80 percent of U.S. boys born in the 1970s and 1980s were circumcised, that number decreased to 62.5 percent in 1999, and 54.7 percent in 2010, according to a recent study. And in recent years, Medicaid policies in 18 states have stopped covering routine infant circumcision.

The new statement "demonstrates a consensus that there are clear medical benefits to circumcision," said Dr. Marty Ellington, Jr., chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, who was not involved in writing the policy.

"Hopefully the trend towards state Medicaid programs not covering circumcision will be reversed," Ellington said.

Health benefits

For the new policy statement, the AAP reviewed studies on circumcision conducted between 1995 and 2010.

Studies from Africa showed that circumcision reduces the risk of acquiring HIV by 40 to 60 percent in men, the AAP says. There is also good evidence to suggest circumcision lowers the risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and infection with some strains of genital herpes.

Circumcision may prevent transmission of some sexually transmitted diseases because the region beneath the foreskin is "thought to 'trap' pathogens and bodily secretions, and favor their survival," the AAP says. In addition, the foreskin itself contains a higher proportion of a type of skin cell that is thought to ease the entry of HIV into the body.

Circumcision has also been linked with a threefold to 10-fold reduction in the risk of urinary tract infection in boys age 2 or younger. However, the risk of urinary tract infection in young boys is less than 1 percent; studies show about 100 boys would need to be circumcised to prevent one case of urinary tract infection.

Considerations

Acute complications of circumcision, including infection and bleeding, are rare, and occur in about 1 in every 500 circumcisions, the AAP says.

Circumcision does not appear to affect male sexual function or sexual sensitivity, the AAP says.

"It is important that clinicians routinely inform parents of the health benefits and risks of male newborn circumcision in an unbiased and accurate manner," the policy statement says.

Circumcision should only be performed on healthy infants by trained practitioners, and using effective pain management, the AAP says.

A study published earlier this week suggested a significant decline in male circumcision rates could lead to millions of extra dollars yearly in health care costs, mainly due to increased infections.

Pass it on: The benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks, but are not great enough to recommend the procedure for all infants, doctors say. ( MyHealthNewsDaily )

Circumcision's Benefits Outweigh Risks

Circumcision's Benefits Outweigh Risks, Doctors Say - The health benefits of circumcision outweigh the procedure's risks, and the operation should be covered by insurance, according to new recommendations from an influential group of doctors.

The recommendations, released today (Aug. 27) by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), say the procedure's benefits include reducing the risks of HIV infection, urinary tract infection and penile cancer.

But the AAP also says the benefits of circumcision are not weighty enough to broadly recommend circumcision for all male infants.

Instead, "parents ultimately should decide whether circumcision is in the best interests of their male child," the AAP says. "They will need to weigh medical information in the context of their own religious, ethical, and cultural beliefs and practices."

The new advice is a shift from the Academy's previous policy on circumcision, released in 1999. Those recommendations acknowledged the potential health benefits of circumcision, but did not did make clear whether the benefits outweighed the risks, and made no mention of insurance.

The previous policy may have influenced the percentage of infants circumcised in the United States — in recent years, it has declined — as well as insurance reimbursement for the procedure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although nearly 80 percent of U.S. boys born in the 1970s and 1980s were circumcised, that number decreased to 62.5 percent in 1999, and 54.7 percent in 2010, according to a recent study. And in recent years, Medicaid policies in 18 states have stopped covering routine infant circumcision.

The new statement "demonstrates a consensus that there are clear medical benefits to circumcision," said Dr. Marty Ellington, Jr., chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, who was not involved in writing the policy.

"Hopefully the trend towards state Medicaid programs not covering circumcision will be reversed," Ellington said.

Health benefits

For the new policy statement, the AAP reviewed studies on circumcision conducted between 1995 and 2010.

Studies from Africa showed that circumcision reduces the risk of acquiring HIV by 40 to 60 percent in men, the AAP says. There is also good evidence to suggest circumcision lowers the risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and infection with some strains of genital herpes.

Circumcision may prevent transmission of some sexually transmitted diseases because the region beneath the foreskin is "thought to 'trap' pathogens and bodily secretions, and favor their survival," the AAP says. In addition, the foreskin itself contains a higher proportion of a type of skin cell that is thought to ease the entry of HIV into the body.

Circumcision has also been linked with a threefold to 10-fold reduction in the risk of urinary tract infection in boys age 2 or younger. However, the risk of urinary tract infection in young boys is less than 1 percent; studies show about 100 boys would need to be circumcised to prevent one case of urinary tract infection.

Considerations

Acute complications of circumcision, including infection and bleeding, are rare, and occur in about 1 in every 500 circumcisions, the AAP says.

Circumcision does not appear to affect male sexual function or sexual sensitivity, the AAP says.

"It is important that clinicians routinely inform parents of the health benefits and risks of male newborn circumcision in an unbiased and accurate manner," the policy statement says.

Circumcision should only be performed on healthy infants by trained practitioners, and using effective pain management, the AAP says.

A study published earlier this week suggested a significant decline in male circumcision rates could lead to millions of extra dollars yearly in health care costs, mainly due to increased infections.

Pass it on: The benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks, but are not great enough to recommend the procedure for all infants, doctors say. ( myhealthnewsdaily.com )

Can Hormone Therapy Stave Off Alzheimer's?

The study, by researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities, may be a "critical link in our understanding of the role that APOE-e4 plays in the development of the disease," said Elizabeth Edgerly, chief program officer for the Northern California and Northern Nevada Chapter of The Alzheimer's Association. Edgerly was not involved in the study.

About 25 to 30 percent of the population carries at least one copy of APOE-e4 (each person inherits two copies, one from each parent). Forty percent of people with Alzheimer's disease are carriers.

Over the course of two years, researchers studied 63 post-menopausal women — their average age was 58 — who had been voluntarily taking hormone replacement therapy, either estrogen alone or estrogen plus progesterone, for at least one year. All the women were deemed at risk for Alzheimer's disease due to a family history of the condition. However, only 24 of the women were APOE-e4 carriers. All but one study participant was white.

At the study's start, baseline length measurements of each woman's telomeres were taken. A telomere is a "cap" on the end of each chromosome that protects the genes on the chromosome from deterioration. Every time a cell replicates, its telomeres shorten a little bit. That shortening has been associated with a number of aging-related diseases, including Alzheimer's.

Half of the women were then randomly assigned to stop taking hormone therapy while half stayed on it. After two years, the researchers measured the length of each woman's telomeres again.

The researchers found that women who were APOE-e4 carriers were six times more likely than non-carriers to exhibit obvious telomere shortening once they stopped taking hormones. In fact, APOE-e4 carriers experienced more rapid telomere shortening than non-carriers, suggesting that their cells had aged the equivalent of seven to 14 years over the course of the two-year study. But APOE-e4 carriers who remained on hormone replacement therapy showed no evidence of telomere shortening during that time.

"Our results suggest that for women with this genetic variant, hormone replacement therapy may reduce the risk for cellular aging, which may also reduce their risk of dementia," said Heather Kenna, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Stanford University and one of the study authors. "However, we cannot make recommendations on hormone therapy from this one study alone or suggest that it will decrease risk of dementia."

It's unclear whether the protective effect the researchers saw was due to hormone replacement therapy or some other factor. For instance, there may be something different about women who chose to initiate hormone replacement therapy: they may live a healthier lifestyle or have a higher socioeconomic status, among other factors. Thus, they may not be representative of all women, Edgerly said.

"This is a promising first step, but future studies should focus on tracking larger numbers of women over a longer period of time," she said.

The current study was not designed to examine the differences between the two hormone therapy options — estrogen or estrogen plus progesterone, according to the study authors. The Women's Health Initiative, which started in 1991 and ended in 2010, found that estrogen plus progestin therapy offered no protection against mild cognitive impairment in women over age 65. In fact, women who took the hormones had an increased risk of dementia. Results from a study examining the effects of estrogen-only therapy on cognition are not yet available. The WHI involved more than 160,000 generally healthy postmenopausal women.

While genetic testing for the APOE-e4 gene type is commercially available, neither Kenna nor Edgerly recommend it for most people. Individuals with or without a family history of Alzheimer's who want to be tested for the gene must first undergo counseling so they are informed about the risks and benefits of finding out if they carry the gene.

"Knowing you have the e4 gene is a powerful piece of information — one that may have repercussions for employment and long-term-care insurance, not to mention the psychological burden of knowing you are at a much higher risk for a disease with no known cure," Edgerly said.

Pass it on: Hormones may keep cells from aging quickly, lowering Alzheimer's risk. ( LiveScience.com )

Blog : Contents Of Human Life | Can Hormone Therapy Stave Off Alzheimer's?

Why Insomnia Increases Suicide Risk

The findings reaffirm earlier research linking sleep problems to an increased risk of suicide, and suggest which symptoms doctors might want to target with treatment to reduce that risk, the researchers said.

Unhealthy beliefs about sleep can take several forms: for example, the thought that a poor night's sleep will disturb sleep for the whole week, or that sleep loss will have dire and irreversible consequences. Such ideas carry an atmosphere of hopelessness, an emotion researchers know is connected to suicide risk.

"Insomnia can lead to a very specific type of hopelessness, and hopelessness by itself is a powerful predictor of suicide," said study researcher Dr. W. Vaughn McCall, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta.

While the factors that contribute to suicide risk are not the same for everyone, "For some patients, I think sleep problems are part of the [symptom] profile," McCall said.

During the study, McCall and colleagues surveyed 50 depressed people ages 20 to 84, some of whom were in the hospital. Nearly every patient was taking some type of psychiatric medication, and 56 percent had attempted suicide at least once.

The study participants were surveyed to assess their degree of insomnia and suicidal thinking, as well as whether they experienced nightmares or unhealthy beliefs about sleep.

The study found a link between insomnia and suicidal thinking: The more severe a person's insomnia was, the more likely he or she was to express suicidal thoughts and desires. However, when the researches took into account whether or not individuals experienced frequent nightmares or unhealthy beliefs about sleep, the link disappeared. This indicates the two factors —nightmares and unhealthy beliefs about sleep —play a role in the link.

Earlier studies have found that people with insomnia are up to twice as likely to commit suicide as people who don't have such difficulties sleeping. A 2011 study in teens found that those who had sleep problems at ages 12 to 14 were 2.5 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts in their late teen years.

Depending on the person, insomnia could be a cause or an effect of depression, McCall said. Insomnia may exacerbate depression because people feel they cannot find relief or escape from their condition, even at night, he said.

"People become pretty discouraged and demoralized living with insomnia night and after night," McCall said.

The new study, along with previous work, suggests that people with insomnia should be evaluated for mental illness, including depression and suicide risk, McCall said.

Treating nightmares or unhealthy beliefs about sleep with psychotherapy or, perhaps, medication may reduce the risk of suicide, but future studies will be needed to investigate this. McCall plans to conduct more research to see if treating insomnia with sleep medication can reduce the risk of suicide.

Pass it on: Insomnia may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts. ( LiveScience.com )

Blog : Contents Of Human Life | Why Insomnia Increases Suicide Risk

Here's Her Secret to Longevity ( World's Oldest Woman is 114 )

Misao Okawa with her granddaughter and her three-month-old great-grandson. (Photo: Guinness Book of World Records )

With 50,000 living centenarians in Japan, there's evidence that the country's residents hold the secret to longevity: a healthy diet.  Japanese women have one of the longest life spans of any country, only second to those in Hong Kong. The oldest living man (also the oldest living person) is also Japanese. Jiroemon Kimura is 115 years old.

“The Japanese diet is the iPod of food," Naomi Moriyama, co-author of Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen told Web MD. "It concentrates the magnificent energy of food into a compact and pleasurable size."

The typical Japanese person consumes about 25 percent less calories per day than the average American. The base of their diet is vegetables and fish, a great source of omega-3 fats, which are excellent for heart health. Because their meals are largely vegetarian, they eat very little red meat, which can lead to health problems if eaten regularly.

The results of a 25-year study of the longest living group of Japanese people, the Okinawans, revealed that their traditional diet of rice, soy, and vegetables could be the reason that, on average, Okinawan women live to be 86 years old.

Misao Okawa at her nursing home. (Photo: Guinnes Book of World Records)

Japanese women also go through natural menopause and don’t use hormone therapy, which can lead to health complications. Researchers believe they struggle less with the changes of menopause because their diet is high in soy. But American women hoping to take soy supplements will be disappointed: in order to receive the benefits, phytoestrogens must be ingested naturally, through foods rich in soy.

With all dietary suggestions aside, there is of course a genetic component to aging, meaning Japanese people are less genetically predisposed to certain diseases. A positive and low-stress lifestyle has also shown to lengthen life. The Okinawans don’t have rush hour or alarm clocks, and many meditate daily.

Okawa was born in Osaka 1898, the year that the boroughs of New York were annexed, the Spanish American War began, and radium was invented. In 1919, she married and had three children with her husband. After his death, she moved back to Osaka. She has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Speaking to a group at her nursing home on making the Guinness Book of World Records, she said, “given everything, it’s pretty good.” ( shine.yahoo.com )

Blog : Contents Of Human Life | World's Oldest Woman is 114: Here's Her Secret to Longevity

Five distinct psychiatric disorders

Five distinct psychiatric disorders—autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia — may share some genetic risk factors, a new study finds.

During the study, researchers found four genetic markers that may play a role in all five diseases. These markers were more common in people with the one of the psychiatric disorders compared to healthy people.

Two of these markers are found in genes thought to be involved in balancing the level of calcium in brain cells, the researchers said. (Calcium plays a role in many different cell functions, including communication between cells.) Of these two markers, one has been previously linked to bipolar disorder and depression, and the other to schizophrenia.

Although these five psychiatric disorders are thought of as separate conditions, they share some symptoms. For instance, mood and thinking problems can occur with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. And children with ADHD often have symptoms of other developmental disorders, such as autism. In fact, a 2011 study detected genetic changes that were common to both ADHD and autism.

Because these psychiatric disorders share symptoms, researchers have not always agreed on how to classify them. The new findings might one day help researchers reclassify psychiatric conditions in a way that incorporates genetics, the researchers said.

The new study will be published online Feb. 28 in the journal The Lancet.

To find the shared genetic markers, Dr. Jordan Smoller from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and colleagues analyzed information from 33,332 people who each had one of the psychiatric disorders and 27,888 people who did not.

Because the study involved only people of European ancestry, it's not clear whether the results apply to other populations as well. In addition, the study only found an association between the four genetic markers and these conditions, but cannot prove that the markers play a role in causing the disorders. (That is, just because a person has one of these markers, does not mean that he or she will develop a psychiatric disorder.)

The findings confirm what many researchers already thought — that genetic risk factors aren't necessarily specific to one disease, said Dr. Joachim Hallmayer, an associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University who was not involved with the study.

Some psychiatric disorders already share some treatments, such as medications aimed at easing symptoms. But genetic studies like these may reveal new targets for drugs "that go more to the root of the condition and prevent the condition," Hallmayer said.

However, more research is needed to determine how these genetic markers cause problems that might lead to disease, Hallmayer said. Future studies might investigate whether environmental factors could interact with these genetic markers to trigger disease, he said.

Ellen Quillen, a geneticist at Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio, said genetic studies that analyze several disorders at the same time are important to identify the genetic risk factors these various disorders share. Previously, evidence has shown that multiple disorders run in the same family.

"I hope these results will encourage more researchers to look for shared variants underlying clinically distinct disorders, as well as focusing on particular shared symptoms," Quillen said.

Pass it on: Autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia may share genetic risk factors. ( LiveScience.com )

Blog : Contents Of Human Life | Depression, Autism & ADHD May Share Genes

Four signs of aging may be linked with heart disease risk

Danish researchers found that people were 39 percent more likely to have heart disease, and 57 percent more likely to have a heart attack, if they had at least three of these four signs: baldness on top of the head, receded hairline, a crease in the earlobe, and fatty deposits on the eyelids known as xanthelasmata.

The researchers accounted for people's ages in their results.

Therefore, the study shows "looking old for your age, by [having] these aging signs, marks poor cardiovascular health," said study researcher Dr. Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen, a professor and chief physician in the department of clinical biochemistry at Copenhagen University Hospital.

While the exact reason for the links between these signs and heart disease risk remains unclear, the study "validates the common clinical practice that the clinician examines the patient, and often looks at whether a person looks older or younger for her age," Tybjaerg-Hansen said.

The researchers used data from the Copenhagen Heart Study, which included10,885 people who were over the age of 40. Over the 35-year study, 3,401 participants developed heart disease, and 1,708 had a heart attack. Researchers examined six physical features associated with aging, but found that two — gray hair and wrinkles — did not appear to be linked with increased risk of heart problems.

The study included 5,828 men and 5,057 women. When the researchers considered the genders separately, they found that hair loss in women was not linked with an increased risk of heart disease. However, among the 737 men who had a receding hairline, 82 suffered a heart attack, meaning there a 40 percent higher risk in men with hair loss than those without.

Previous research has looked at whether hair loss may be a warning sign of heart disease, but results have been conflicting. Some studies have linked the severity and type of baldness with the risks of heart disease or heart attacks to varying degrees, but others have found no connection. Because the risk of both heart disease and baldness rise with age, it can be difficult for researchers to separate the two in studies.

Tybjaerg-Hansen said the four signs identified in the new study should give clinicians greater incentive to treat patients who have them. "The suggestion is that lifestyle changes and lipid-lowering therapies should be intensified, because their risk is higher," she said.

However, the area needs more research, because "it would be nice to know why these [varying factors] would be associated with increased risk," she said.

Tybjaerg-Hansen said, for example, that hair loss is linked with levels of testosterone in the blood, so the new study suggests the hormone also plays a role in heart disease, but there's "no hard data there at all, [it's] only speculative."

She said the group for whom the new results would raise the greatest concern is men between ages 70 and 79. In this group, 45 percent of those with all four aging signs developed heart disease, versus 31 percent of those with none of the four.

"This study underscores the importance of doing a good physical exam, in addition to any testing we're going to do for risk for heart disease," said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, director of the NYU Center for Women's Health and American Heart Association spokesperson, in a statement in response to the study.

While the researchers adjusted their results to account for other risk factors for heart disease, Goldberg noted that, for example, xanthelasmata is a sign of high cholesterol levels, a traditional risk factor for heart disease.

Goldberg concluded that while the length of the study made the results compelling, doctors "need to continue to monitor our standard testing for heart disease risk, such as measuring cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose for diabetes."

The researchers are presenting their findings today (Nov. 6) at an American Heart Association research conference. The findings have not been published in a scientific journal. ( LiveScience.com )

Blog : Contents Of Human Life | 4 Aging Signs May Reveal Heart Disease Risk

Fertility Treatment Puts Women at Risk of Stress Disorder

Fertility Treatment Puts Women at Risk of Stress Disorder - Women who undergo fertility treatments may find the situation so distressing that they develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new study says.

In the study, close to 50 percent of participants met the official criteria for PTSD, meaning they could be diagnosed with the condition.

That's about six times higher than the percentage of people in the general population who suffer from PTSD (8 percent.)

The findings suggest the definition of PTSD may need to be changed so that its causes include potentially traumatic experiences such as infertility, said study researcher Allyson Bradow, director of psychological services at Home of the Innocents, a nonprofit organization that helps families in need in Louisville, Ky.

Currently, the definition of PTSD says people must have experienced or witnessed a life-threatening event, or event that could cause serious injury.

"The definition of trauma should be expanded to include expectations of life," said Bradow, who went through fertility treatments herself, and conducted the study as a doctoral student at Spalding University in Louisville. "Having children, expanding your family, carrying on your genetic code — that's an instinctual drive that we have as human beings. And when that is being threatened, it's not necessarily your life being threatened, but your expectation of what your life can be or should be like," she said.

The finding also shows that a greater effort should be made to counsel those who go through fertility treatments, to help them cope with the emotional and psychological effects of the experience, Bradow said.

Coping with infertility

Bradow had her first child without any trouble at age 26. But when she and her husband tried to conceive a second child several years later, they were not able to. The couple was diagnosed with secondary infertility, which refers to infertility experienced after a couple has a child.

"The general diagnosis of infertility, or not being able to have a baby, is kind of this giant earthquake that rocks your world. And then, there's all the aftershocks," of fertility testing and treatment, Bradow said.

Bradow said the symptoms she experienced during fertility treatment went beyond those of depression and grief, conditions previously linked to fertility treatment. Others she spoke with felt the same.

To find out how widespread these feelings were, Bradow and colleagues surveyed 142 people who had undergone fertility treatments, and who visited online support groups for infertility. Survey participants — 97 percent of whom were women — completed an online survey to assess their symptoms of PTSD. They were asked to consider their infertility diagnosis and fertility treatment as their traumatic event.

About a third of participants had been trying to conceive for one to two years, and about 60 percent had undergone fertility treatments for more than a year.

Overall, 46 percent met the criteria for PTSD. Among this group, 75 to 80 percent said they felt upset at reminders of their infertility, such as seeing commercials for baby diapers. Other common symptoms included feeling distant or cut off from people, or feeling irritable. Many also said they felt hopeless, and had changes in their personality.

Need for counseling

During her treatment, Bradow said no one mentioned anything about how it would affect her emotionally or psychologically.

"They're focused on getting you pregnant…and that's their job," Bradow said. "But we also have to consider the psychological impact of what happens when you're getting medical interventions for this," Bradow said. She eventually became pregnant again, through artificial insemination, and had her second daughter at age 31.

Ideally, Bradow said, mental health counseling should be a required part of fertility treatment. However, this may be a long way off, partly because fertility treatment is not usually covered by health insurance, and doctors may be reluctant to give their clients an extra cost, Bradow said.

Bradow presented her findings last week at the American Psychological Association meeting in Orlando, Fla. ( LiveScience.com )

Blog : Contents Of Human Life | Fertility Treatment Puts Women at Risk of Stress Disorder

Pumping Iron to Prevent Dementia?

Pumping Iron to Prevent Dementia? - Resistance training could be an important part of reversing memory decline in elderly women with mild memory problems, according to a new study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada studied 86 women between the ages of 70 and 80 who had mild cognitive impairment, a condition where people have problems with memory or other brain functions that are noticeable but not severe enough to interfere with daily life. Predictably, this group of people is at increased risk of developing dementia. The women were divided into groups that underwent resistance training, aerobic exercise, or balance and tone training twice a week for six months.

http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/283681/530wm/M7200382-Physiotherapist_helping_elderly_man_with_exercises-SPL.jpg

The resistance training group had significant improvements in performance on a common test of executive brain functioning called the Stroop Test. They also had improvements in a separate test of associative memory, which refers to the ability of one thought or memory to trigger another. For example, to most humans, the color green means go. Impairment in associative memory is common in early Alzheimer’s dementia.

Using functional MRI studies among the groups, the researchers demonstrate increased blood flow to key areas of the brain that was associated with the improved performance on the cognitive tests. However, unlike in prior studies, there was no benefit of the aerobic training group on cognitive testing, though their cardiovascular performance was improved.

This is the first study that demonstrates the benefits of resistance exercises in those who already suffer from cognitive impairment. And while this is a small study that provides preliminary evidence of benefit, study author Teresa Liu-Ambrose says, “Exercise is attractive as a prevention strategy for dementia as it is universally accessible and cost-effective.”

Worldwide, one case of dementia is detected every seven seconds, and with the aging of baby boomers, those numbers are on the rise.

So is it time to start recommending strength training to the elderly, especially those with cognitive impairment to try and ward off dementia?

Zaven S. Khachaturian, president of the Campaign to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease by 2020, finds the research promising, but thinks not quite yet. He says more research is needed in larger studies to confirm these findings.

Dr. Richard Caselli, professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic, agrees.

“When advising patients, I do inform them that physical activity, exercise, and good fitness generally is healthful,” he says. “We have known that for years as regards to cardiovascular health, so even if we turn out to be wrong about possibly preventing or slowing dementia onset, it is still good medical advice.” ( abcnews.go.com )

Are insects the answer to global malnutrition?

Are insects the answer to global malnutrition? – Serge Verniau is a man with a mission: to persuade the world to swap the chicken wings and steaks on their plates for crickets, palm weevils and other insects rich in protein and vitamins.

Verniau, the Laos representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), is only half-joking when he says his dream is "to feed the big metropolises from Tokyo to Los Angeles, via Paris" with the small arthropods.

He plans to present the lessons drawn from a pilot project to the world at a conference on edible insects, probably in 2012.

"Most of the world's population will live in urban areas. Trying to feed the whole planet enough protein from cows won't work," Verniau told AFP.

It is not by chance that the dream was born in landlocked Laos, one of the world's poorest countries.

Almost one quarter of its population of six million people, and nearly 40 percent of children below the age of five years old, suffer from malnutrition, according to figures from the Laos government.

The typical rice-based diet provides insufficient nutrients for development -- a shortfall that could be filled by insects, highly rich in protein and vitamins.

http://www.dawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/insects-543.jpg

Plates of fried insects,, are seen - Plates of fried insects ready to eat, including crikets and grasshopers, are seen here at a local market in Vientiane. Raising crikets for foods is seen as a solution to the malnutrition in the poor landlock country where a great number of people, especially children, suffer from it.

Eaten as snacks, grilled or fried, they are already part of Laos cuisine, but most people do not know how to breed them, said Oudom Phonekhampheng, dean of the faculty of agriculture at the National University of Laos.

"They just take them in the wild and eat them, and then it is finished and destroyed. They have to think about the future," he said.

In a modest building in the suburbs of the capital, his department's laboratory collects scientific data on this new area of breeding.

Along with house crickets -- which are already widely farmed in neighbouring Thailand -- there are experiments in breeding mealworms, palm weevils and weaver ants, which are appreciated for their larvae.

The students are trying out different foods for the insects in an attempt to reduce costs while maintaining quality, explains Yupa Hanboonsong, a Thai entomologist supervising the project for the FAO.

Up to now, the roughly 20 cricket farms operating in Laos have used chicken feed, like thousands of Thai farms, but it is expensive and must be imported.

Vegetables or waste left over from the production of the national beer, BeerLao, could be one solution, said Yupa, who hopes to "train the whole country."

Beyond the fight against malnutrition, this new economic activity can also generate revenue for farmers, added Yupa.

Phouthone Sinthiphanya, 61, seized the opportunity in 2007 to supplement his meager pension after a career in the tobacco industry.

The 27 cylindrical concrete vats, about 50 centimetres (20 inches) tall, installed in the garden of his house in Vientiane produce 67 kilos (148 pounds) of crickets every two months, he explains.

One kilo of live insects fetches 60,000 kips (7.5 dollars). The same quantity crushed sells for 50,000 kips.

"I worked for a tobacco company and then retired. My pension was not enough so I started farming insects," he said.

"Our customers are restaurants, villagers, markets," he said, adding that breeding the small creatures was "easy".

It requires little space or natural resources and only their singing might annoy the neighbours.

"Insect farming creates less damage to the environment. It is a green protein," said Yupa.

Proponents believe such nutritional and environmental advantages could be beneficial beyond Laos, particularly in other developing countries where people are used to eating cicadas and grasshoppers.

"You can make powder from crickets that is very rich in protein. It's low in fat and it can be added to biscuits in problem areas where food rations are distributed," said Verniau.

Nor has he given up hope of persuading sceptics in the West.

"When you look closely, a grey shrimp or a cricket, it has the same appeal," he joked. ( Agence France Presse )

Try These Healthy Anxiety Busters

Try These Healthy Anxiety Busters - How to Outsmart Stress Traps

Tempted to… Dig into a bag of chips?

Try this instead… Grab a handful of almonds.

The omega-3s in nuts may help keep stress hormones such as cortisol in check, says Bernadette Latson, R.D., a nutritionist in Dallas. Other key angst-nulling noshes: oatmeal (it boosts the calming brain chemical serotonin) and oranges (the vitamin C counters stress hormones).

Tempted to… Swig an energy drink?

Try this instead… Take a nap.

You can't beat stress without shut-eye. A 20-minute siesta is enough to trigger the hormones needed to balance excess cortisol.

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Tempted to… Bitch out a coworker?

Try this instead… Pop a multi.

That irritation and impatience may be the result of depleted stores of calcium, copper, and zinc that come with stress. Down a multivitamin to raise those levels and mellow out, says Pamela W. Smith, M.D.

Tempted to… Curl up on the sofa?

Try this instead… Go out with a friend.

A study in Behavioral Neuroscience found that simply being around other people may quash stress.

Tempted to… Reach for the remote?

Try this instead… Spend 15 minutes in silence.

This helps because "the brain doesn't have to filter out stressful sounds," says acupuncturist Kristen Burris. ( abcnews.go.com )

Mind-boggling discovery: Perfectly preserved brain of Iron Age man unearthed in York

Mind-boggling discovery: Perfectly preserved brain of Iron Age man unearthed in York - Archaeologists believe they have discovered one of the world's oldest brains that once belonged to a man in Iron Age Britain who was sacrificed in a ritual killing.

Scientists found the cranium in a muddy pit when they were excavating a site before a new campus was to be built at the University of York. When a researcher reached inside the skull, she was stunned to discover the soft tissue of the 2,500-year-old brain still preserved.

Fractures and marks on the bones suggest the man, who was aged between 26 and 45, died most probably from hanging, after which he was carefully decapitated and his head was then buried on its own.

Grey matter: The 2,500-year-old preserved brain has baffled scientists after it was found during an excavation at the University of York

Scientists have been baffled by how the brain tissue - which usually rots after a couple at years - managed to remain intact for so long.

'The survival of brain remains where no other soft tissues are preserved is extremely rare,' said Sonia O'Connor, research fellow in archaeological sciences at the University of Bradford.

'This brain is particularly exciting because it is very well preserved, even though it is the oldest recorded find of this type in the UK, and one of the earliest worldwide.'

Philip Duffey, a neurologist at York Hospital who scanned the skull, said: 'I'm amazed and excited that scanning has shown structures which appear to be unequivocally of brain origin.'

Baffled: Dr Sonia O Connor, from the University of Bradford, examines the remains of the brain

'I think that it will be very important to establish how these structures have survived, whether there are traces of biological material within them and, if not, what is their composition.'

Experts from York Archaeological Trust were commissioned by the university to carry out the exploratory dig last year before building work on the £750million campus expansion started.

They discovered the solitary skull face-down in the pit in dark brown organic rich, soft sandy clay.

The university put together a team of scientists, archaeologists, chemists, bio-archaeologists and neurologists, to establish how the man’s brain, could have survived when all the other soft tissue had decayed leaving only the bone.

Remains: Archaeologists sift through the muddy pit at the site near the University of York where the brain was found

The team is also investigating details of the man’s death and burial that may have contributed to the survival of what is normally highly vulnerable soft tissue.

The research, which was funded by the University of York and English Heritage, is published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Since the discovery, the brain and skull have been kept in strictly controlled conditions, but scientists have examined samples using a range of sophisticated equipment, including a CT scanner at York Hospital and mass spectrometers at the University of York.

Samples of brain material had a DNA sequence that matched sequences found only in a few individuals from Tuscany and the Near East. Carbon dating suggests the remains date from between 673-482BC.

Fractures on the second neck vertebrae point to some kind of trauma before the man died and and a cluster of about nine horizontal fine cut-marks made by a thin-bladed instrument, such as a knife, can be seen on the front of the brain.

Preserved: Brain material shows as dark folded matter at the top of the head in this computer-generated view into the skull

Preserved: Brain material shows as dark folded matter at the top of the head in this computer-generated view of the skull

Clean: Scientists said there was no trace on the brain of the usual preservation methods such as embalming smoking

Clean: Scientists said there was no trace on the brain of the usual preservation methods such as embalming or smoking

Scientists are now investigating how lipids and proteins found in the brain preserved the brain and what happened between the man dying and his burial.

Dr O’Connor said: 'It is rare to be able to suggest the cause of death for skeletonised human remains of archaeological origin. The preservation of the brain in otherwise skeletonised remains is even more astonishing but not unique.

'This is the most thorough investigation ever undertaken of a brain found in a buried skeleton and has allowed us to begin to really understand why a brain can survive thousands of years after all the other soft tissues have decayed.'

Despite the place that ‘trophy heads’ appear to have played in Iron Age societies and evidence for the preservation of human remains in the Bronze Age, the researchers say there is no evidence for that in this case. They found no marks indicating deliberate preservation by embalming or smoking.

Dr O’Connor added: 'The hydrated state of the brain and the lack of evidence for putrefaction suggests that burial, in the fine-grained, anoxic sediments of the pit, occurred very rapidly after death. This is a distinctive and unusual sequence of events, and could be taken as an explanation for the exceptional brain preservation.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

Healthy nutrition practices first line of defense against diseases

Healthy nutrition practices first line of defense against diseases - The importance of adopting healthy nutrition practices can be gauged from the fact that seminars and workshops were devoted to the subject by Jeddah’s King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center and the 1st GCC symposium on clinical nutrition held at Arrayan Hospital in Riyadh recently. Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, which organized the event in the capital, sought to promote nutrition as first line of defense against today’s diseases.

“Exercise, good nutrition and food safety practices are best for preventing diseases. In other words, remaining healthy includes a balanced diet, staying clean, getting plenty of exercise as well as keeping your heart healthy and free of medical treatment,” says Dr. Khaled A. Madani of University of Dammam’s King Fahd Hospital whose College of Medicine is organizing its third symposium on clinical nutrition update in the Eastern Province from Oct. 19-20.

All of these events involve clinical dietitians, health educators, pharmacists and nurses as delegates and participants. They maintain that the awareness of the subject just isn’t there.

“Given the pressures of day-to-day life and the fast pace of today’s working families, we simply don’t have the time to eat as well as we should. Taking that time, however, is imperative to give our children a good start in nutritional awareness and prevent the obesity, which is so rampant in our society today,” a nutritionist at New Jeddah Clinic Hospital says.

Eating for weight loss and weight control takes a bit more planning, and some research into the right foods to eat at the right times during the course of the day. Children should be taught as they grow about basic good eating habits in order to prevent the continuation of the obese parents obese children cycle, she adds.

Fast foods do have a place and can be used as they are necessary but that necessity should be once in a while, not every day. Taking the time to research which fast foods will be less fatty and more healthful is needed, since most places that offer fast foods now also offer low fat, lower calorie answers for the health conscious consumer, says a dietician who was a delegate at the GCC symposium in Riyadh.

“Taking into account the necessary foods to include in our diets to remain healthy and keep our weight within acceptable limits while planning meals is something that we all need to do, yet find difficult due to time constraints,” she says.

It is high time that it is analyzed which specific foods assure a healthy way of life. Certain aspects of foods such as antioxidants are known to help in the fight against cancer, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. Many of these such as heart disease are largely preventable given the right type of foods. “We can assess our risk for these health issues taking into account factors such as age, body type and heredity, and plan for their prevention using less fatty foods, leaner meats and more fiber and vegetables to prevent the development of such health issues as arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis,” Dr. Ahmed Bazubair, a physician-delegate at the Jeddah symposium says.

Maintaining a healthy weight isn’t enough since other factors enter into play along with that weight such as family history of heart related or diabetic illnesses. For the diabetic child, it is imperative to follow a careful regimen of diet and exercise to prevent the onset of diabetes related issues such as retinopathy.

Specific dietary needs will enter into play dependent upon factors such as age, health and nutritional status and special cases such as pregnancy or lactation. The diabetic will, of course, require some considerations in the diet due to the lack of insulin production in the body. Preparing foods for this type of disease process requires research and planning to keep fat intake as low as possible, while providing for the overall nutritional health, particularly in a diabetic child, a pediatrician at Bugshan Hospital says. The woman who is pregnant or lactating will require additional intake of proteins and iron as well as minerals to assure not only her own health but also of the child.

Providing for the safety of foods is more than just ensuring that things are properly stored and put away in a timely manner after meals, although those things too are important aspects of providing for the good nutrition of families. Today’s food safety means being aware of those things which have been recalled, or are considered unsafe to consume, using such means as the Internet, TV or specific websites which are geared toward disseminating information that the health conscious consumer will need.

According to Health Canada, seniors are more vulnerable to food-borne illness. “As we age, our immune system tends to deteriorate. The immune system is one of the most important mechanisms for fighting disease and preserving health, so a decrease in the level of disease-fighting cells is a significant factor in the number of infections that may occur. In addition, undergoing major surgery also affects the body’s ability to fight off infections.”

Malnutrition also makes one more susceptible to food-borne illness. It leads to increased incidence of infections including those that result from food-borne bacteria. There are many reasons why malnutrition occurs in old people. There may be a decrease in the pleasure of eating. Medication, digestive disorders, chronic illnesses, physical disabilities or depression may result in a loss of appetite. Good nutrition is therefore an important factor in maintaining a healthy immune system, says the medical fraternity.

Finally, the safe preparation, cooking and storage of food is very important due to greater risk of contracting food-borne diseases while aging. “For example, you can reduce the risk of bacterial illness by always washing your hands thoroughly before and after handling raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood; using separate cutting boards and utensils for raw and cooked products,; cooking ground beef to the appropriate temperature; avoid eating ground beef that is still pink inside if a thermometer is not available; using a clean utensil to move burgers to a clean plate when ready to serve and refrigerating foods promptly,” says a head nurse at Erfan and Bagedo Hospitals.

More than half of all child deaths are associated with malnutrition, which weakens the body’s resistance to illness. Poor diet, frequent illness and inadequate or inattentive care of young children can lead to malnutrition. After all, children have the right to a caring, protective environment and to nutritious food and basic health care for protecting them from illness and promoting growth and development.

Here is a sample of children’s menu: Bread, cereal, rice, pasta, fruit, vegetables, milk, yogurt, cheese, meats and fish. The right amounts of servings of these in combination depend on age, sex, body size and activity level. Children should remain physically active every day, or most days, and make healthy food choices themselves.

Variety, balance and moderation are the three basic rules for a healthy diet. Variety means many different foods that should be included because no single food can supply all of the nutrients that the growing body needs on a daily basis. Balance means one must eat the right amounts of foods to get all the calories and nutrients one needs for proper growth and development. Moderation means one should not eat too much of any one type of food.

The medical fraternity recommends that people who practice good nutrition, hygiene and exercise patterns develop a lifetime of habits that will keep them healthy for many years, especially when they are older.

Says Monther bin Trad Al-Harthi, CEO, Al Rabie Saudi Foods, which sponsored the Riyadh event: “Proper nutrition is the first line of defense against common diseases and can also help people suffering from heart disease, kidney disorders and diabetes regain the strength their bodies need.” ( arabnews.com )

Keeping the heart soft with loving kindness

Keeping the heart soft with loving kindness - The one thing I’m most grateful for with my yoga practice is that it helps me navigate life’s fluctuating dynamics – its ups and downs – by softening my heart.

Yes, all those bending, twisting, balancing, lifting and inverting maneuvers do something to your muscles, joints, bones and organs, but it is the contemplative aspect of yoga that touches the deeper inner muscles of a person — those of tolerance, courage, love and compassion. I’m talking about meditation.

One of my meditation teachers called this spiritual journey a “revolution”, a journey toward our inner self, the part that is unchanged. It is not always easy, in fact it can be pretty arduous, painful and confusing at times. But in the end, any form of contemplative spiritual practice will awaken the gentle part of you that celebrates happiness in others, making equanimity a more accessible state of mind.

Feel the love: An employee of a private company meditates during a health and wellness program in his company’s meditation room. Research has found that loving-kindness meditation can help boost positive emotions and well-being in life.

When you have equanimity, even the most powerful anger does not seem to linger long. The Buddhists call this compassionate quality loving kindness.

This came to my attention as I watched and observed sad news of natural disasters that have been rocking the country over the past week.

As a journalist, I had been witness in the past to a host of both manmade and natural disasters, from the string of bombing attacks, the 2004 tsunami to air crashes.

Back then I kept myself detached, as I had to move around to do my job with relative ease.

But since leaving full-time journalism, it has become harder to sit through the news on disasters without being overwhelmed with sadness and the yearning to do something to help the victims.

Of course nothing is wrong with this. After all, our capacity to feel compassion for other beings may be the most redeeming quality about us, the one thing that may help the earth’s survival, just as its opposite has sped up the planet’s decline.

And so we do what we can to help ease the sufferings of others, by donating money, organizing aid, becoming a volunteer or drawing attention to the tragedies.

Being kind goes deeper than meets the eyes, however. It starts from within by regularly kindling the flame of loving kindness or metta in Pali and maitri in Sanskrit. Loving kindness is the quality of goodwill, sympathy and kindness to others. It is love without clinging.

The cultivation of loving kindness (metta bhavana) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism. But it has been practiced by many non-Buddhists and followers of other beliefs for ages, and its benefits
have been studied in the new field of study on contemplative practices.

A Standford University study suggests that a short 7-minute practice of loving-kindness meditation can increase social connectedness.

Clinical scientists from Duke University also found that loving-kindness meditation has been shown to reduce pain and anger in people with chronic lower back pain.

A researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that loving-kindness meditation could help boost positive emotions and well-being in life.

An EEG study also from Stanford University focused on people who do metta meditation with a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice, and showed that compassion meditation could lower the participants reaction to inflammation and distress, both of which are associated with “major depression, heart disease and diabetes”, in response to stressors.

So here I share a simple guide on loving-kindness meditation. It can be practiced before or toward the end of other meditation practice such as vipassana or mindful meditation, or as a standalone practice in itself.

In the beginning, keep it simple and consistent so it becomes easy and not too much effort, but try to keep it sincere and avoid it becoming artificial and mechanical.

Loving-kindness meditation

Start by finding a comfortable place to sit upright, either cross legged on a cushion or on a chair, and allow your body to hang loosely on your spine.

Close your eyes gently and allow your body and breath to soften. Then bring your attention to the area of the heart, see if you can feel your heart and breath together, as if you could breathe into and out of your heart. Feel your breath as if it comes in and out right there at your heart center.

Start by directing loving-kindness toward yourself, because it is hard to fully love others when there are things that you hate or cannot accept in yourself.

Begin to feel compassion for your struggles and sorrows. Try to embrace the sorrow with an open heart and with compassion and loving kindness.

You can start by saying: “May I be happy and may I be filled with loving kindness”.

Next, think of someone you love, someone for whom you naturally feel compassion, your spouse or partner, your kids or your parents. Try to feel their suffering and struggle and wish also for their happiness.

“May [this person] be happy, and may [they] be filled with loving kindness.”

Then open your heart a little wider to include other loved ones and wish for them the same way. Then open your heart even further to let in all of your friends and the people you love.

“May they all be happy and may they all be filled with loving kindness.

Then try to make your heart even larger, to include everyone you know, whether or not you have special relations with them; then to include someone you are not too crazy about, your enemy.

Gradually make your heart even larger, large enough to fill the entire house, the entire housing complex, the entire city, the entire country, even the entire planet. Take the whole earth in your heart, and wish all beings happiness and loving kindness.

“May all beings be happy and may they all be filled with loving-kindness.”

This practice is beautiful because it takes us beyond ourselves and it allows us to extend loving kindness to every sentient being.

Kindness starts from within. Now go out there and manifest this in your everyday actions. Namaste. ( thejakartapost.com )