H1N1 and Common Cold Compared

In this flu season, apart from the regular cold, we have to deal with the deadly H1N1 (swine flu). Everybody is talking about the danger but how many of us can difference between a regular flu and H1N1?

Here is a simple comparison between the common cold and H1N1 Flu:

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40 years research – 9 Predictors of long life

Get degree, get married, get a grip, and eat healthy if you want to live longer.

The November issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association published the result of a research that started back in 1965. In the article nine factors were identified as good predictors of which 50-plus men would live healthily into their 80s and beyond. The research included nearly 6,000 Japanese-American men living in Hawaii.

Well, getting married and having a degrees might be a bit odd in the list but all other seven indicators are well predictable for living longer.

Men who meet the following criteria are more likely to live longer, according to the study:

- Are married
- Are not overweight
- Have low blood pressure
- Possess a strong grip (indicating overall strength and fitness)
- Have attained a high level of education
- Have low blood sugar
- Avoid heavy drinking
- Do not smoke
- Have a low level of bad cholesterol.

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Teen Survey: Unprotected sex too common

Shocking reality of unprotected sex among teens came out when the web site of The Tyra Banks Show, TyraShow.com, took an anonymous survey in which more than 10,000 young girls participated.

The survey showed that some girls (14%) are having sex at school. On average the girls loose virginity at 15. The survey also showed that 52 percent of the respondents don’t use protection during sex and one in three girls fear in having a sexually transmitted disease. Don’t know if it is lack of sex education or mere carelessness… 24 percent of those who already have STDs are still having unprotected sex. (more here)

Weight loss game

The alarming number of overweight folks are affixed either to their work, or TV, or computer with not much time for physical activities.

Canadian video game developer from Toronto has an idea to cash on these unhealthy habits of the video gamers. Well, it is a game for hand held device; but don’t expect to loose weight in the bus/train on your way to work even though the game is made for the Nintendo DS personal hand held gaming system. It is only a motivating device to make you eat healthy and be more active to loose weight.

It is told that “My Weight Loss Coach,” the new game, deals with healthy weight loss and provides users a way to track eating and exercise. It allows its users to design and chart a course toward healthier habits and eating lifestyles, including weight, age and objectives that are set up for people of their age and sex. The single user game allows the user to enter personal information and to design their own personal profile that will assist them in weight loss and healthy eating. (source)

World’s Fattest Countries

In a latest study, Nauru tops the list of countries with the greatest percentage of overweight people, with an alarming 94.5% of its adult population (ages 15+) classified as such, based on the most recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nepal ranked 189, 6th from the bottom, with 8.5% of the population overweight. US ranked 9th with 74.1% overweight population.

Want to check what your country ranks in the list? Here is the full list of 194 countries.

Cow urine anti-diabetic ?

Do you know Hindu people drink cow urine for therapeutic and religious purposes? Sounds awkward but it is true. Now, researchers are trying to prove it is not a mere myth.

But it is not to be forgotten that urine is a product excreted through kidneys and contains the waste metabolites. It can also contain the bacteria, bovine tuberculosis for example, and other harmful germs and metabolic products.

Researchers of pharmacology and toxicology department, Veterinary College, Hebbal, India are conducting a study on ‘pharmacological and therapeutic evaluation of cattle urine’. In the first year of study, cow urine, which has traditionally been used only in clinical applications, has shown anti-diabetic properties. (times of india)

In another news, Uttarakhand (Indian province) Government in Feb 2008 announced that it will procure cow’s urine, on the pattern similar to the procurement of milk by dairies, refine it and sell it to Ayurvedic pharmacies. (tmmkonline)

Apart from cow urnine there are some who claim magic healing powers of drinking one’s own urine, called Shivambhu. Some claim that it contains antibodies which act against the harmful diseases affecting our body, but analytically and biochemical it has not been proven so far.

In one more news from Indian Express, Mumbai edition (published on the January 14, 2000 – clip attached), states that Gomutra (gomutram) or the Cow’s Urine highly beneficial in the treatment of Asthma, headache and tooth problems.

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Overweight air hostesses grounded in India

The Delhi High Court, India, recently upheld the policy of Indian Airlines to ground overweight air hostesses. A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri dismissed the petition filed by some Indian Airlines air hostesses, who were grounded due to putting on weight excessive to the limit fixed by the airlines.

The court had on May 5 reserved it’s judgment on a bunch of petitions of Indian Airlines’ air hostesses challenging their grounding for being overweight.

The petitioners had also challenged the Airlines’ circular of withdrawing permissible overweight limit of 3 kg over and above the upper limit as laid down for the cabin crew.

Challenging the grounding of air hostesses due to their weight, advocate Arvind Sharma appearing for the petitioners had contended that the action was arbitrary and illegal.

“There is no connection between weight and performance of duty when one is medically fit. Weight is not a criteria of fitness,” Sharma had contended.

The petitioners had challenged the judgment of single bench of the High Court which had upheld the Airlines’ policy of grounding overweight air hostesses. (HT)

It is told that their contract has a clause to terminate their job in case they put on weight above the permissible limit.

Grumpiness, gossiping, mini-skirts and rudeness banned in hospital

A ban on grumpiness, gossiping, mini-skirts and rudeness is what the doctor orders to improve patient care in Serbia’s hospitals, according to new rules issued by the country’s Health Ministry.

Also the staffs are not allowed to criticize their hospital or their superiors, and should not accept gifts for their services. (Reuters)

Nepal: world’s best child welfare story

Found this encouraging story: copied it from yahoo to paste here!

Despite a devastating 10-year civil war, Nepal has scripted the best child welfare story in the world, slashing child mortality by over 65 percent and magically improving child healthcare.

‘Nepal is one of the seven countries in the world that has been successful in cutting child mortality by two-thirds,’ said Gillian Mellsop, Unicef’s Nepal representative, releasing the report ‘State of the world’s children’ in Kathmandu Thursday.

‘What is commendable for Nepal is that we were able to make this progress despite the conflict the country has experienced in the last decade.’

In 2001 in Nepal – one of the world’s poorest countries where remote villages lack healthcare, safe drinking water, electricity and sanitation – 91 children under the age of five died in every 1,000 children, according to the health ministry.

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Coca cola, tangerine peel and cancer

There was a big debate on this Coca Cola pouch which said that Nepali people eat oranges without peeling them and eventually they had to apologize for it.

It is not the orange but tangerine that people eat without peeling. The peel is traditionally considered to have healing power for many diseases.

Now in a news released yesterday, it is told that human cancer cells, which contain an enzyme called P450 CYP1B1, was destroyed by a compound contained in tangerine peel.Last year, US department of agriculture and a Canadian pharmaceutical company confirmed that chewing tangerine peel will lower the LDL cholesterol as effectively as traditional drugs but without any side effects, similar to other plant pigments found in citrus fruits.

Although the researchers warned about the early stage of research to confirm the finding, I think there is no harm in eating what Nepali people have been doing for centuries to get healing effects without any side-effects.

Woman gives birth to grandsons

A 52-YEAR-OLD Greek mother has given birth to her two grandsons, after getting legal permission to be a surrogate mother for her daughter and son-in-law.

The woman, who was implanted with embryos from her daughter’s fertilised eggs by her son-in-law, gave birth to twin boys in good health and weighing 2.5 kilos, gynaecologist Dr Charalambos Batakis, told journalists.

In July last year a Greek court gave permission for the woman to carry out a surrogate birth because her daughter was unable to carry a pregnancy to term due to health problems.

Greek law allows for surrogate mothers as long as the parties concerned reach an agreement with no financial compensation.

In principle, the surrogate mother should not be more than 50 years old, but in this case, the court agreed to an exception.

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