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Friday, 1 April 2016

Getting Over a Cold? Try This Light and Energizing 15-Minute Workout




Whenever the weather changes, without fail, it seems a new round of bugs comes to town. Feeling draggy is never fun. But when it comes to your get-fit goals, there’s nothing more frustrating than finally getting into the swing of a great routine and then bam: you’re suddenly too pooped to hit the gym.

With a mild case of the sniffles, however, some gentle exercise could provide just the energy boost you need. Here’s a quick and light workout you can try at home. Perform 10-15 reps of each exercise, then repeat the series until about 15 minutes are up. Your focus should be on activating and stretching your muscles. So take care not to push your body too hard.  This circuit is designed to keep you moving without wrecking your recovery.

Sun salutations

Start by standing with your arms by your sides, chest out, and shoulders back. From here, raise your arms up and over your head, reaching as high up as you can. Hold for a few seconds.

Lateral band walk

Place a light resistance band around your legs, just below your knees. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, so the tension in the band stays tight. While maintaining this tension, squat down and take 5 steps to the left. Stay in your squat position and take 5 steps to the right. Repeat until you have completed 15 steps in each direction.

Static lunge with floor touch

Get into a lunge position with your left leg behind you and right leg in front. Make sure your right leg is creating a 90-degree angle and that your knee is not going past your toes. From here, take your right hand and reach down to touch the outside of your right foot. Repeat this for 10 reps before switching sides.

Standing hip abduction

Place a light resistance band around your shins. Stand with your feet wide enough to create tension. Shift your weight into your right leg and lift your left leg off the ground. From here, extend your left leg out to the side as far as you can before bringing it back in. When you do this, be sure to keep your feet far enough apart to maintain constant tension in the band. Perform 10 reps before switching to your other leg.

Sumo squat to side reach

ake a wide stance with your toes slightly flared out. From here, squat down and place your hands behind your head. While maintaining your squat, tilt your torso to the right and tap your elbow to your leg. Come back to center and repeat on the left side. Continue alternating until you’ve completed 10 reps on each side.

www. yahoo .com

Cancer killers send signal of success




New cancer-fighting nanoparticles deliver results — and status reports.  

Tiny biochemical bundles carry chemotherapy drugs into tumors and light up when surrounding cancer cells start dying. Future iterations of these lab-made particles could allow doctors to monitor the effects of cancer treatment in real time, researchers report the week of March 28 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This is the first system that allows you to read out whether your drug is working or not,” says study coauthor Shiladitya Sengupta, a bioengineer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Each roughly 100-nanometer-wide particle consists of a drug and a fluorescent dye linked to a coiled molecular chain. Before the particles enter cells, the dye is tethered to a “quencher” molecule that prevents it from lighting up. When injected into the bloodstream of a mouse with cancer, the nanoparticles accumulate in tumor cells and release the drug, which activates a protein that tears a cancer cell apart. This cell-splitting protein not only kills the tumor cell, but also severs the link between the dye and the quencher, allowing the nanoparticles to glow under infrared light.


Previous techniques could track drugs entering tumors, but that “doesn’t necessarily tell you whether the drug is working or not,” says study coauthor Ashish Kulkarni, a bioengineer at Brigham and Women’s and at Harvard Medical School.

The team tested the nanoparticles in mice that each had two types of tumor: one resistant to the drug in the particles and one responsive to the drug. Drug-sensitive tumors glowed around five times as intensely as the resistant tumors. Results were swift, with tumors lighting up in eight to 12 hours.

Replacing the particles’ cancer drug with antibodies that summoned the body’s tumor-fighting defenses allowed the team to test the nanoparticles as immunotherapy agents. In this case, tumors lit up after five days, reflecting an initial lag time of immunotherapy compared with chemotherapy.

These nanoparticles are a proof of concept, Sengupta says. Next steps include redesigning the nanoparticles using clinically approved materials and dyes that would be easier to track in the human body with the use of an MRI machine. But such imaging chemicals can be toxic, which could pose a problem for the nanoparticle design, says cancer nanotechnologist Mansoor Amiji of Northeastern University in Boston. Dyes should be cleared from the body as quickly as possible, while the drug they’re paired with might take weeks to work. But the study’s focus on detecting drug performance in real time is very important, and demands further study, Amiji says. “There’s tremendous need, especially as we think about personalizing cancer therapies.”

www. sciencenews .org

MuscleWiki Helps You Discover New Exercises for Specific Muscle Groups




If you’ve ever wanted to learn a variety of new exercises for specific muscle groups, check out MuscleWiki. It’s free, easy to use, and even calculates your macronutrients and calories.

Created by w0ts0n (notanotherlifter on Reddit), MuscleWiki is a slick, beginner-friendly fitness resource with a clean interface. I really dig the interactive map of the main muscle groups. When you click on, say, biceps, you are taken to a separate page with a list of the exercises that work that particular muscle (in this case, biceps)—complete with descriptions and GIFs. It’s not yet very detailed nor has an extensive library, but it offers a good starting point for newcomers.

You can also quickly calculate your calorie needs based on your fitness goal, the result of which you can then plug into the macronutrient calculator for a breakdown of your macronutrients (read this to learn the difference between counting calories and macronutrients). The other neat feature is the 1-rep calculator, which can estimate the maximum amount of weight you can safely lift for one rep without actually testing it yourself in the weight room (a risky maneuver).

Overall, MuscleWiki is still a work-in-progress. The creator told ProductHunt users that he is still working on expanding the exercise database with such additions as bodyweight exercises. It’s a spiffy start, and in time, could become a great resource. Meanwhile, ExRx.net is a highly detailed, albeit less modern-looking, website for fitness enthusiasts of all kinds to dive into as well.

vitals. lifehacker .com

Tips to Improve Gut Health, Lose Weight And Avoid IBS




We hear about the connection between gut health, how we lose weight and IBS on trending health shows, whisper about it discreetly with family members and close friends and ‒ sometimes ‒ even let it rule our lives. I’m talking about the dreaded irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Today, it’s one of the most common complaints at doctors’ offices.

And it’s no wonder! Those who struggle with IBS often suffer from disabling symptoms such as bloating, cramps, diarrhea, constipation and pain. (That’s why I used the word “dreaded” to describe it.)

What causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

Your gut lining is affected by many things, including stress, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs such as Tylenol and Advil, steroids, antacids, and the food we eat.

The standard North American diet contains little fibre or healthy fat and is high in sugar1, which wreaks havoc on the gut.

Our second brain

When it comes to behaviour, mood, and even cravings, the brain in your head isn’t the only thing doing the ‘thinking’.

Our gut, which is often referred to as our second brain, contributes to our state of mind in more ways than you think. Many of our emotions are influenced by the nerves in our gut. For example, have you ever felt those butterflies in your stomach before delivering a speech or conducting an interview?

Do you crave sugary treats or chocolate when you’re feeling stressed or sad?

Our stomach listens to our brain. In fact, in recent years, the link between the nervous system and the digestive system has been recognized. Many scientists now refer to this link as a single entity called the brain-gut axis. Therefore, whatever affects the stomach will directly affect the brain, and vice versa.

The second brain is what’s responsible for those cravings you get when you’re stressed, and can even affect your physical and mental health.


Nearly every chemical that controls the brain is also located in the stomach region. These include hormones and neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and norepinephrine.

Did you know that 90-95% of all serotonin in your body is found in your gut? Some medications, including antidepressants, increase serotonin levels and create chemical changes in the body, ultimately affecting your intestines and causing issues such as IBS.

The Gut And Good Bacteria

The body is actually composed of more bacteria than cells. These trillions of bacteria called the microbiome, play multiple roles in our health.

Our digestive tract should have 400 types of healthy bacteria. These reduce the growth of harmful bacteria and promote a healthy digestive system.

Stress, an unhealthy diet, antibiotics, other drugs, and even tap water can contribute to unhealthy bacteria in our digestive tract, which can lead to IBS, inflammation, allergies, diabetes, autoimmunity, depression, and weight gain.

But the good news is that there are some easy ways to bring your gut back to good health.

10 Ways To Optimize Gut Health (And Shed Weight In The Process)

Eat whole unprocessed foods.
Ensure your plate contains 75% leafy greens and vegetables.
Eat healthy fats such as olive and coconut oil, and avocados, nuts and seeds.
Eat lots of fibre raw nuts, seeds and vegetables.
Add fermented foods to your diet (e.g. sauerkraut, kefir, kombucha2 and kimchi).
Drink filtered water.
Remove sugar from your diet.
Get moving – walk, swim, do yoga or pilates.
Get 8 to 10 hours of restorative sleep each night.
Stop eating at least 4 hours before bedtime.

www. curejoy .com

In a first, HIV-positive donor's kidney, liver given to HIV-positive patients




There is new hope for potential transplant recipients living with HIV. Doctors at Johns Hopkins announced Wednesday they successfully performed the first liver transplant from an HIV-positive donor and the first U.S. kidney transplant from the same donor. The surgeries happened a couple of weeks ago.

The recipients, whose names will remain anonymous, are also HIV-positive. The patient who received the donated kidney has been living with HIV for more than 30 years, suffers from hypertension and autoimmune problems, and had been on dialysis. That patient had been on the organ donation waiting list for years, doctors said.
The person who received the liver suffered from hepatitis C and has been living with HIV for more than 25 years. The hepatitis C did significant damage to the patient's liver, and that patient had also waited on the donation list for years.
Both patients are now doing well. The kidney recipient is home already, and doctors expect to discharge the person who received the liver transplant in a few days.
Until 2013, Americans with HIV were ineligible to donate a lifesaving organ. People with HIV did receive organs from patients who were not infected, but doctors were throwing away viable organs because they came from someone infected with HIV.
The HIV Organ Policy Equality Act, or HOPE Act, changed all that. Doctors at Johns Hopkins had worked with agencies to encourage Congress to change the existing law. Once the act passed, it allowed the agencies that oversee organ donations to change the national policy.
Studies of organ donations in South Africa showed that the transplant success rate between HIV-infected patients was nearly the same as the rate of success in people who were not infected with the virus. But a couple of studies that ran in The New England Journal of Medicine did show that when it came to kidney transplants, the organ rejection rate was three times as high between HIV-positive patients. While it is unclear exactly what caused the problem, that study still concluded that kidney transplantation between "carefully selected" HIV-infected patients was a viable option. It suggested there would be similar rates of success with HIV-positive patients as transplants in high-risk patients without infection.


With HIV patients in the donor pool, a 2011 study predicted there could be an additional 500 to 600 more potential organ donors a year in the system, giving patients about 1,000 additional organs. With more than 122,000 people on the waiting list for organs, some of whom have HIV, this means that people will have a much better chance of surviving their end-stage organ disease.
Currently, only one in four people get a donated organ. People with HIV infections who need transplants are particularly vulnerable, as "they die on the waiting list even faster than their HIV-negative counterparts," according to Dr. Dorry Segev, an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who worked on this case.
In the two years since the HOPE Act passed, the National Institutes of Health worked with experts to develop the criteria and safeguards doctors would need to decide how this procedure should work, since there is still limited scientific research.
"It's a privilege to be a part of this effort," said Dr. Christine Durand. The assistant professor of medicine, who helped work on this transplant, added that she was excited and looked forward to extending this option "to other HIV patients in need."
Segev said that Johns Hopkins will teach the protocols that it used with this successful procedure to other transplant centers across the country. The team is also researching options for live organ donations.
The donor in this case was deceased. While her family preferred that she, too, remain anonymous, Johns Hopkins read a letter from her family saying that she always fought for the underdog and would have been happy to live on in "the souls of so many" who were able to survive because of her donated organs. The organ donor was from Connecticut and the donation was facilitated by New England Organ Bank.
Currently 100,419 people are on the U.S. waiting list for a kidney and 14,753 people need a liver transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

This is not the first time that Johns Hopkins has made history. In 2003, the hospital's Comprehensive Transplant Center performed what's thought to be the world's first "domino" three-way kidney transplant. In such a procedure, a donor willing to give a kidney to anyone who needs it causes a domino effect that makes more transplants possible.
"In this case, an altruistic donor's gift allowed three transplants to take place where none would have been possible and all three recipients received the most compatible kidney from someone they had never met," said Dr. Robert A. Montgomery, lead surgeon in the 2003 case.

edition. cnn .com

Vaccines, breastfeeding tied to decline in ear infections




Breastfeeding and new vaccines are bringing down the risk of ear infections in infants, a U.S. study suggests.

About 46 percent of infants get at least one ear infection by their first birthday, and this remains the leading reason for infant sick visits and antibiotic prescriptions. But that’s down from at least 60 percent as recently as the 1990s, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

Babies in the study were much less likely to get ear infections if they were breastfed and if they received vaccines to protect against flu and against Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, which can cause infections of the ears, sinuses, lungs, and blood.

“Parents should make sure their children receive bacterial and flu vaccines as recommended, breastfeed them as recommended, avoid cigarette smoke exposure and exposure to someone with common cold,” said lead study author Dr. Tasnee Chonmaitree of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

These measures will help lower the odds of ear infections, even if they can’t always be avoided as a complication of the common cold.

“The common cold often leads to bacterial and viral ear infections, therefore ear infections are still common, although the incidence is down,” Chonmaitree added by email.

Chonmaitree and colleagues followed 367 healthy babies during their first year of life, monitoring them for at least six months or until they developed an ear infection.

During the study period, 305 infants had respiratory infections that can lead to ear infections, and 180 ear infections were documented in a total of 143 babies.


Breastfeeding significantly reduced the risk of both upper respiratory infections and ear infections. Exclusive breastfeeding for at least three months, longer duration of breastfeeding, and delayed start of exclusive formula feeding were all associated with lower risk of ear infections.

Pediatricians recommend that mothers exclusively breastfeed infants until at least six months of age because it can reduce babies’ risk of ear and respiratory infections, sudden infant death syndrome, allergies, childhood obesity and diabetes.

Babies can receive the pneumococcal vaccine starting at two months of age. They need a series of booster shots to increase the effectiveness.

Children born after 2010 who received a newer version of the pneumococcal vaccine that protects against more strains appeared to have fewer ear infections, but the difference was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance. The study may not have included enough ear infections to prove the benefit of this vaccine, but it is likely to have influenced the decline ear infections, the authors conclude.

Less exposure to cigarette smoke was also associated with fewer ear infections, though these results too, weren’t statistically meaningful.

“Interventions that reduce the level of bad germs in a child’s nose and throat will help reduce ear infections,” said Dr. Richard Rosenfeld, chairman of ear, nose and throat medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York.

“Breastfeeding helps boost a child’s immune system by providing antibodies and immune globulins that fight germs,” Rosenfeld added by email. “Decreased smoke exposure reduces irritation of the mucus membrane lining of the nose and Eustachian tube, which makes it harder for germs to grow and reach the middle ear.”

“Last, new vaccines make children more resistant to the common bacteria and viruses that trigger ear infections.”

www. reuters .com

Eye care tips for windy spring days




For the past few months, most of the nation has donned hats, boots, scarves and gloves as they have faced brutally cold and icy conditions of winter.

As temperatures rise, making outdoor activities more enticing, Vanderbilt ophthalmologists suggest not to be in such a hurry to throw out the habit of protecting yourself from the elements.

Why?

March is known as the windiest month of the year.

Changes in our indoor and outdoor environments affect our eyes year round, said Nathan Podoll, M.D., assistant professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“A fan indoors or a blustery day outside causes our tears, which normally lubricate and protect the surface of the eye, to evaporate more quickly,” said Podoll. “Our cornea is a very sensitive part of our body, and when our tears evaporate more than usual, the exposed surface of the eye becomes dry.

“This results in a sensation of irritation and something touching the surface of the eye.”

Dry eyes often cause irritation, prompting the impulse to rub away the itchiness. Resist the reflex to rub, Podoll urged.

“Eye rubbing adds an additional insult to the surface of the eye and to the surrounding eyelids and facial skin,” he said. “Instead, use lubricating ophthalmic solutions known as artificial tears. These drops will add back the moisture lost to evaporation and are soothing to the ocular surface.”

Additional tips to keep in mind:

Blinking is the body’s way of re-establishing tears. It is a sign of dry eyes and the need for a lubricant.
A gel drop is another option if the liquid tears are not effective. The gel form stays on the surface of the eye longer.
Wear glasses to protect the eyes during windy conditions.
Sport a cap with a bill or a wide-brim hat to help shield the eyes.
While wearing sunglasses and hats can help prevent ocular irritation and dry eyes, it can also reduce exposure to UV light, which has its own negative effects on the eyes and skin.

“Spring is a troublesome season for those with seasonal allergies, which often causes eye itching and irritation, said Podoll. “Eye redness, pain or a change in vision are all concerning signs that should prompt a visit to an eye professional, he said.

www. mysouthernhealth .com
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