Risk factors for Non-Communicable Diseases
A large portion of the Nepali population has been shown to be affected by risk factors for NCDs, calling for preventive measures to be taken on the part of both health authorities and the publicCommunicable diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid, infective hepatitis, kala-azar, gastro-enteritis among others are still quite common in Nepal. Alongside these, a number of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are also on the rise in the country. In fact, 52% of deaths and 44% of burden of diseases in Nepal is due to NCDs. This is further heightened by the high illiteracy rate, poverty and ignorance on the one hand and unavailability, inaccessibility and non-affordability of health facilities on the other.People need to apply certain measures in their own lives too—avoid tobacco and alcohol use, maintain a routine of moderate or high level physical activity, eat a healthy, balanced diet as well as minimize stress in one’s day-to-day life...Tobacco Use: 53.5% of men and 19.2% of women were found consuming tobacco. Of the total respondents, 18% (31.2 of men and 4.6% of women) consumed smokeless tobacco..Alcohol Use: 39.3% of men and16.5% of women were found consuming alcoholic drinks. Physical Inactivity: The recommended level of physical activity for healthy living is 150 minutes of either moderate or high level physical activity spread over a week—at least 5 days a week. High Blood Pressure (Hypertension): 8.4% of men and 10.2 % of women were found to be hypertensive..Obesity: The survey revealed that the mean height of Nepalese men and women was 160.6 cm and 150.4 cm respectively whereas the mean body weight of men and women was 52.9 kg and 46.8 kg respectively.
Red meat boosts diabetes risk: US study
Two slices of bacon, a hot dog or a serving of deli meat daily has been found to significantly boost the risk of getting type 2 diabetes.The research by experts at the Harvard School of Public Health represents the largest study of its kind to date and appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.Eating 50 grams of processed red meat every day increased a person's diabetes risk by 51 percent, while eating 100 grams of unprocessed red meat each day, about the size of a deck of cards, boosted the risk by 19 percent.However, those risks went down if the red meat was substituted with nuts, white meat, low-fat dairy or whole grain proteins. Diabetes affects nearly 350 million adults worldwide, and more than 11 percent of adults over age 20 -- or 25.6 million people -- in the United States have the disease, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Type 2 diabetes, a chronic disease that involves high levels of blood sugar, is often caused by obesity, lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits.
source: US Study...
DNA blood tests can tell baby's sex at 7 weeks
Tests that measure DNA in a pregnant woman's blood work well for telling the sex of a baby after seven weeks' gestation without posing danger to the fetus...The meta-analysis of previous studies on the topic suggests that using cell-free fetal DNA from the mother's blood is more accurate than a urine test or sonogram and is safer than amniocentesis.It can also be done earlier than an ultrasound, which is usually accurate from 11 to 14 weeks, or amniocentesis, which samples fluid from the sac surrounding the fetus and carries a small risk of miscarriage.The availability of a reliable noninvasive alternative to determine fetal sex would reduce unintended fetal losses and would presumably be welcomed by pregnant women carrying fetuses at risk for disorders..The technology to detect cell-free circulating Y-chromosome DNA sequences in the plasma of pregnant women has been around since 1997.Many countries in Europe, including France, Spain, Britain and the Netherlands, routinely offer the test to pregnant women.
Ways to lose weight
- Cut down the total calories in you’re daily diet. Unless you reduce your calories, you can’t expect to come close to your desirable body weight.
- Start exercising. Exercise will help you burn your extra calories and fat that has already been stored in your body.
- While you are reducing your caloric intake, ensure that you do take foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals.
- Reduce the intake of fat and cholesterol as much as possible. Stay away from fried food.
- Most fat diets and diet pills do not work satisfactorily. Stay away from these gimmicks.
- Maintain a record of what you eat. If you failed to lose weight on last week’s menu, make other necessary changes. Record keeping will help you to monitor your progress.
- Stay away from snacks including chocolates and nuts.
- Spend less time in the kitchen. The more you stay, more you are likely to eat.
- Always go for smaller portion of food. Change your mental attitude toward food. Before you start eating, say to yourself, ‘I am going to have a small portion. Even if the food is tasty, I am determined not to overeat’.
- Develop the habit of drinking a glass of water before having your meals. The water will make you feel full in your stomach and therefore you are likely to eat less.
- Avoid being a big eater at parties. Let no one put pressure on you to overeat. Excessive persuasion to eat more is considered to be a sign of hospitality.
- Do not try to finish everything on your plate. The extra calories, once deposited into your body as fat, are not easy to get rid of.
- Avoid the food that contains too much sugar. One teaspoon of sugar contains 16 calories. Some people take 10-20 teaspoon of sugar in various drinks without realizing the excessive calories they are taking.
- Increase the amount of cereals, fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.
- Remind yourself that you have been thinner in the past. Put out some photograph of a thinner “you” and say to yourself,’ I have been like that, and I know that I can I can look like that again with some efforts’.
- Do not start believing the myth about being overweight. A common myth in India is that you put on weight once you are married.
- You do not accept being overweight with the increasing age. Most of the people put on extra weight in their middle-age just because they are not exercising enough.
- Remember that a man is recognized by the company he keeps. Avoid the company of people whose only pleasure in life is to keep eating. Keep at least two or three good friends who shares your views against being overweight.
- Monitor your progress and reward yourself for your success in losing weight.
- When you do lose weight, change your clothes to smaller size. Do not keep two sets of clothes a chance to put on that extra weight!
HIGH BLOOD CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol is a waxy material that is found in many food items including milk, butter, cheese, egg, ghee, fish, beef, pork, chicken and goat meat. It is a naturally occurring, fat-like substance with a complex chemical formula, and is used to build cells and make hormones. Some amount of cholesterol is necessary for proper functioning of body cells. For example, the presence of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of sex hormones and vitamin D metabolism in the body. In young children, it is required for the development of brain cells. The membranes of many cells require a minimum quantity of cholesterol for healthy functioning.
Sources and metabolism of cholesterol
Cholesterol in the blood comes from two main sources:
The cholesterol ingested from outside, that is, taken in the daily diet. An average vegetarian consumes between 200-400 mg cholesterol daily, while a non-vegetarian consumes between 400-600 mg cholesterol daily.A large part of the cholesterol in the blood comes from the cholesterol production within the liver; it has been seen that if the oral intake of cholesterol through food is reduced, the liver tends to produce a little extra cholesterol, at least, during the initial few weeks.The mechanism of metabolism of cholesterol is rather complex and involves several complicated pathways, receptors (sites on the cells that receives a particular substances), and enzymes action.Cholesterol itself cannot dissolve in the blood or water. Like many other food particles, after absorption from the intestine, the dietary fat and cholesterol are transferred to the liver for further metabolic action. In the liver, cholesterol combines with water-soluble substances called apoliopoproteins and phospholipids to form chylomicrons. Chrylomicrons are a form of complex particles lipoproteins, that is, fats combined with proteins.
The cholesterol ingested from outside, that is, taken in the daily diet. An average vegetarian consumes between 200-400 mg cholesterol daily, while a non-vegetarian consumes between 400-600 mg cholesterol daily.A large part of the cholesterol in the blood comes from the cholesterol production within the liver; it has been seen that if the oral intake of cholesterol through food is reduced, the liver tends to produce a little extra cholesterol, at least, during the initial few weeks.The mechanism of metabolism of cholesterol is rather complex and involves several complicated pathways, receptors (sites on the cells that receives a particular substances), and enzymes action.Cholesterol itself cannot dissolve in the blood or water. Like many other food particles, after absorption from the intestine, the dietary fat and cholesterol are transferred to the liver for further metabolic action. In the liver, cholesterol combines with water-soluble substances called apoliopoproteins and phospholipids to form chylomicrons. Chrylomicrons are a form of complex particles lipoproteins, that is, fats combined with proteins.
Other use of Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
- Moisturize your lips and more. It can soothe lips; take off foundation, eye shadow, mascara and more. It will even act as a moisturizer on your face.
- Make emergency makeup. Add a bit of food coloring to petroleum jelly and apply as usual. This is a quick method to make stopgap blush, lipstick, or eye shadow.
- Lengthen the life of perfume. Dab a bit of petroleum jelly on your pulse points. Then spray on the perfume. Then spray on the perfume. Now you can dance the night away and not worry about your perfume turning in early.
- Remove a stuck ring. Apply some petroleum jelly on a stuck ring and it will glide right off.
- Soften chapped hands. Apply a liberal amount of petroleum jelly to your hands just before you go to bed. By the morning, they’ll be soft and smooth.
- No more messy manicures. Dab some along the base of your nails and the sides. If the polish seeps off the nail during manicure, all you do is wipe off the petroleum jelly and the sloppy nail polish is gone.
- Smooth wild eyebrows hair. If you have runaway eyebrows- the ones where the hair won’t lie flat but curls up instead, control the wildness with some petroleum jelly. Rub a dab into your brows. They will calm down and behave.
- Heal wind burned skin. Grab a jar of petroleum jelly and apply it liberally to your face or wherever you’ve chapped. The jelly helps relieve the pain.
- Help prevent diaper rash. Petroleum jelly sets up a protective coat on the skin so the rash can heal. No more pain.
- No more shampoo tears. Rub a fair amount of petroleum jelly into your baby’s eyebrows. It acts as a protective shield against shampoo running down into his/her eyes.
- Take out lipstick stains. Before you wash cloth napkins with stain of lipstick, blot petroleum into the stain.
- Eject wax from the candlesticks. Apply petroleum jelly to the inside of the holder before you put on the candles in. the wax will pop out for easy cleaning.
Understand anger
What is anger and why does it happen? It’s simple. Anger is a response to someone who does not do what you want them to do, or who does do what you do not want them to do. That ‘someone’ could be one individual or a group of individuals. It could also be ‘something’, where a certain situation has not happened the way you wanted, needed or expected it to. As we watch the world events we become angry at the actions of one nation towards another, one group towards another, a few towards many, and many towards one etc. This is because a) we are attached to the way things are b) we identify with the pain experienced by one side and feel that pain ourselves (in fact we create it in sympathy) and our response is to become upset. Anger is the emotion. What we do not see and realize is that we only hurt ourselves, and we cannot help others who are suffering from their own anger, when we ourselves create anger in response.