How your boss can influence your health!

 

Now, a new study finds that manager leadership may be the key to employee health programs and goals, suggesting that they be provided with incentives to focus on creating a healthier work environment.

"Instead of focusing on individual wellness outcomes, we propose that it would be more effective if managers were incentivised to create healthier overall work environments with simple, easy to implement actions such as installing a water cooler, providing healthy snacks at meetings, and encouraging work/life balance," said lead author Rebecca Robbins from Cornell University in New York, US.

The initiative requires tapping into the manager`s ability to lead his or her team to wellness and can, as a result, have a big payoff in terms of creating a culture of health at the workplace, and could tip the scales toward healthier employees.

The study surveyed 270 adults with manager roles and found that 68 percent supported the idea of being evaluated by their employee wellness actions.

The study, published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, finds that increase in employee wellness and motivation can be achieved by tying just 10 percent of managerial salary increases to health initiatives.

Pancreatic cancer: Know the warning signs!

Usually, pancreatic cancer doesn't give rise to any signs and symptoms until it's advanced. When the cancer grows, symptoms may include:

• Abdominal pain
• Jaundice (yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss and weakness
• Indigestion
• Heartburn
• Back pain
• Diabetes
• Depression
• You must see a doctor if you experience unexplained weight loss or other symptoms that you think are abnormal.
  With no effective treatments currently available and the cancers growing quickly, there's an urgent need to develop new drugs to treat the deadly disease.
  In a latest, a team of researchers, including Indian-origin scientists suggests that nimbolide, a natural extract from the leaves of the neem tree, could potentially be used to treat the highly lethal pancreatic cancer.

Recipe: How to make delicious 'Tiny Treats' at home—Watch here!

Whether it is Birthday party or simple house party- children always feel left out when it comes to food, as most of the food items are dedicated to adults.

With these simple steps you could learn how to make delicious, mouth-smacking cupcakes!

Watch Video

60% rise in cosmetic surgeries ahead of Valentine's Day

They said the surge is mostly due to the youth's propensity for easy ways out to look better and also the availability of cosmetic surgeries at a reasonable price.

"The sudden increase of cosmetic surgeries by the youth especially during the Valentine Day's month is a surprise .Women in their early twenties are looking for breast implants (with permission from their parents).

"Having a good cleavage is the most common aesthetic end point today for the young women," said Mohan Thomas, senior cosmetic surgeon at Cosmetic Surgery Institute and Breach Candy Hospital.

According to the doctors, the need for cosmetic results have arisen because of the fast results sought by the young, who otherwise are reluctant to adopt health lifestyle that can fulfil their wish naturally.

"There are requests for breast augmentation, liposuction and sometimes both. We need to cater to these requests. The trend currently is photo rejuvenation, where in just one sitting of 15-20 minutes you can find yourself glowing like never before," said Vinod Vij, cosmetic surgeon at Clinique Asthetica and Fortis hospital.

Currently, the cosmetic surgeries relating to skin and several other minor procedures cost around Rs.8,000-9,000 only.

" The demand for cosmetic surgeries increases around the Valentine's Day, especially due to discounts of up to 15-20 percent on offer. The trend is seen not just in women, but men too are equally feeling the need to look better," said Aamod Rao, another cosmetic surgeon.

According to Rao, six-pack abs among men and Botox injections among women are commonly requested procedures.

"Women go for injectable treatments because of lack of time. Injectables like Botox and Juvederm have become popular among women. These fillers are just injected into the area that needs uplift or treat wrinkles, which show better and fast results," said Rao, who is working with Get Enhanced Clinic.

Facebook network and stress levels may be tied together

A small study suggests that for adolescents, their number of Facebook friends may be related to their stress levels, with more than 300 friends associated with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

The study only included 88 participants at one point in time, so it can’t indicate whether changes in Facebook metrics cause an increase in stress, or vice versa. Other important external factors are also responsible for cortisol levels, but Facebook involvement may have its own effect, senior author Sonia Lupien of Montreal Mental Health University Institute said in a statement.

"We were able to show that beyond 300 Facebook friends, adolescents showed higher cortisol levels; we can therefore imagine that those who have 1,000 or 2,000 friends on Facebook may be subjected to even greater stress,” she said. The 88 teens in the study, age 12 to 17, answered questions about their Facebook use frequency, number of friends, self-promoting behavior and supporting behavior of friends. The researchers measured the teens’ cortisol levels four times a day for three days.

Kids who had more than 300 Facebook friends tended to have higher cortisol levels than those with fewer friends, the researchers reported in Psychoneuroendocrinology. With more peer interaction on Facebook, however, cortisol levels tended to be lower. Neither depression nor self-esteem were related to cortisol levels.

Cortisol levels in early adolescence may influence risk of depression years later, the authors wrote. Wenhong Chen of the department of Radio-TV-Film and the department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, who was not part of the new study, points out that the research is about Facebook, and so the findings can’t necessarily be generalized to other forms of social media use.

It may also not be generalizable to other age groups, Chen said. “The preliminary nature of our findings will require refined measurement of Facebook behaviors in relation to physiological functioning and we will need to undertake future studies to determine whether these effects exist in younger children and adults,” Lupien said. “Developmental analysis could also reveal whether virtual stress is indeed ‘getting over the screen and under the skin’ to modulate neurobiological processes related to adaptation.”

Offline friend network size was also related to cortisol levels. “It may not be about the number of friends either online or offline, it may be more about potential communication overload,” Chen told Reuters Health by email. Larger networks may mean more peers and more drama, she said.

Rather than using the overall number of friends online or offline it may be more revealing to examine network composition, strong ties and weak ties, as well as individuals’ position in their networks, she said.

Exercise as young adult related to heart health decades later

Young adults who exercise may have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and higher survival odds decades later than their peers who aren’t as active early in life, a U.S. study suggests. Fitness has long been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease in older adults. The new study, however, offers fresh evidence that workout routines started years before cardiovascular problems are generally encountered may help keep them from developing in the first place.

“Each additional minute a person could exercise on a treadmill in early adulthood was associated with substantially lower likelihood of risk of dying or developing cardiovascular diseases over 25 years later,” lead study author Dr. Ravi Shah of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston said by email.

The study included about 4,900 adults aged 18 to 30 who performed treadmill tests in 1985 and 1986, with roughly half of them repeating the exercise assessments again seven years later. The tests consisted of as many as nine two-minute stages of gradually increasing difficulty. Over the next several decades, the researchers monitored participants for obesity, hardening in the coronary arteries, heart muscle weakness, and incidents related to cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks or strokes. Half the subjects were followed for at least 27 years.

Overall, 273 people died, though just 73 of these fatalities were related to cardiovascular disease, the researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine. In addition, 193 people survived events such as heart attacks or strokes.

Each extra minute participants lasted during the treadmill test as young adults was linked to a 12 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and 15 percent lower odds of death by the end of the study period. Every one-minute increase in treadmill time was also linked to less strain on the heart muscle, but exercise test duration wasn’t tied to changes in hardening of the coronary arteries.

Among the subset of participants who did the second treadmill test seven years after the initial assessment, each one minute reduction in exercise tolerance was linked with a 20 percent increase in cardiovascular events and 21 percent greater odds of death. The increased risks persisted after the researchers accounted for individuals’ age, race, gender, obesity, and other cardiovascular disease risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The fact that even obesity didn’t change the outcome highlights the need to think about exercise as more than merely a tool for weight management, noted study co-author Dr. Venkatesh Murthy of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“Being fit and maintaining fitness over time are very important to your heart and overall health for everyone – especially starting in early adulthood – and not only for people who are trying to lose or to maintain weight,” Murthy said by email.

It’s possible that some of the association between fitness and heart health may be explained by improved diet, the authors concede. A different measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, known as a peak aerobic capacity test, might also get different results than the treadmill assessments.

Even so, the findings offer a substantive confirmation of the importance of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, Dr. David Chiriboga and Dr. Ira Ockene of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester wrote in an accompanying editorial. Beyond fitness and exercise, patients should also understand the importance of limiting sedentary time, Ockene said by email. Many daily habits that contribute to inactivity – whether it’s channel surfing, using drive-through windows at the bank or the fast food restaurant, or emailing co-workers instead of walking down the hall to talk – all contribute to decreased fitness and increased weight.

“I spend a lot of time talking to folks not just about literal exercise but also about the extraordinary value of day-to-day activity,” Ockene said.

Patients want test results through password-protected websites

Washington: Most patients prefer receiving the results of sensitive medical tests - such as genetic tests - through password-protected websites or portals rather than by email or letters, a new survey has found. The survey by Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) found that the largest portion of participants was comfortable receiving test results through password-protected websites or portals.

 

The survey of 409 participants did not include in-person communications, researchers said. The research found that while password-protected web portals are highly preferred, participants don't mind a variety of non in-person communication methods including email, texts or voicemail for receiving results of common tests such as blood cholesterol levels. However, that is not the case for two very sensitive tests - non-HIV sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and genetic test results.

 

In those cases, receiving the results via a password-protected patient portal/website was highly preferred. "Communication with patients may need to be on a case-by-case basis - every individual may have a personal preference, and there may be a way to indicate those preferences in the patient's record," said the study's lead researcher, Jeannine LaRocque, assistant professor of human science in the School of Nursing & Health Studies at GUMC. "The goal of this study was to try to better understand these preferences, so we can improve doctor-patient communication," said LaRocque.

 

The survey tested the desirability of seven different methods of non-in-person communication in receiving three different kinds of tests: common tests such as blood cholesterol and colonoscopy results; non-HIV STIs; and genetic testing (predisposition to a disorder, carrier of an inherited gene linked to a disease and a carrier of a genetic disorder). The seven methods of communications surveyed were a password-protected patient portal website, phone voicemail, personal email, letter, home voicemail, fax and mobile phone text.

 

Half or more preferred receiving cholesterol or colonoscopy results in four methods: password protected patient portal websites, personal voicemail, personal email or letter. The majority did not want to receive a home voicemail, mobile text message or a fax. For receiving results of STIs, only one method was preferred by the majority (51 per cent) of participants - password-protected websites. No single method was preferred for genetic test results; the closest, at 46 per cent, was also password-protected websites.

 

"With these highly sensitive medical results such as genetic test results, patients may not trust the privacy of methods such as personal voicemail or email, whereas password-protected websites provide an added level of security, which may be necessary as these tests become more prevalent in primary care practices," LaRocque said. The study was published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. 

Daily vitamin D pill may decrease heart disease risk

London: Gulping down vitamin D supplements can improve exercise performance and lower the risk of heart disease, scientists have found. Vitamin D, which is both a vitamin and a hormone, helps control levels of calcium and phosphate in the blood and is essential for the formation of bones and teeth.

Sources of Vitamin D include oily fish and eggs, but it can be difficult to get enough through diet alone. Most people generate vitamin D by exposing their skin to ultraviolet B rays in sunlight.

 

Previous studies suggest that vitamin D can block the action of enzyme 11-beta HSD1, which is needed to make the "stress hormone" cortisol. High levels of cortisol may raise blood pressure by restricting arteries, narrowing blood vessels and stimulating the kidneys to retain water. As Vitamin D may reduce circulating levels of cortisol, it could theoretically improve exercise performance and lower cardiovascular risk factors.

 

In the study, researchers from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh gave 13 healthy adults matched by age and weight 50 microgrammes of vitamin D per day or a placebo over a period of two weeks. Adults supplementing with vitamin D had lower blood pressure compared to those given a placebo, as well as having lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their urine. A fitness test found that the group taking vitamin D could cycle 6.5km in 20 minutes, compared to just 5km at the start of the experiment.

 

Despite cycling 30 per cent further in the same time, the group taking vitamin D supplements also showed lower signs of physical exertion. "Our pilot study suggests that taking vitamin D supplements can improve fitness levels and lower cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure," said Dr

Raquel Revuelta Iniesta, co-author of the study. "Our next step is to perform a larger clinical trial for a longer period of time in both healthy individuals and large groups of athletes such as cyclists or long-distance runners," Iniesta said.

Soon, battery-free pacemakers powered by heart

Washington: Scientists are developing next-generation battery-free implantable pacemakers that may be powered by an unlikely source - the heart itself. 

The advancement is based upon a piezoelectric system that converts vibrational energy - created inside the chest by each heartbeat - into electricity to power the pacemaker.

"Essentially, we're creating technology that will allow pacemakers to be powered by the very heart that they are regulating," said M Amin Karami, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who is leading the research.

The technology may eliminate the medical risks, costs and inconvenience of having a battery replacement every five to 12 years for millions of people worldwide, researchers said.

About the size of a pocket watch, pacemakers are implanted under the skin through an incision in the chest. Wires, also called leads, connect the device to the heart and deliver electrical signals that regulate the heart's activity. The new wireless option does not require leads because it rests inside the heart. This removes a potential point of failure, but the device still relies on a battery that must be replaced as often as the batteries that conventional pacemakers use.

The idea of heart-powered pacemakers came to Karami after doing PhD work on piezoelectric applications for unmanned aerial vehicles and bridges. He wanted to apply that knowledge to the human body. The heart was an obvious choice because of its relative strength and constant motion.

"To see the heart in motion - even an animation - is to be awestruck. It moves significantly. In turn, that movement creates energy that we're just now figuring out how to harvest," said Karami.

Karami initially designed a flat piezoelectric structure for a conventional pacemaker.

A prototype generated enough power to keep the pacemaker running at a range of 7 to 700 beats per minute. With the development of wireless pacemakers, however, he has revamped the design to accommodate the smaller, tube-shaped device.

Karami, who is already talking to device-makers, is building the new prototype and expects to have animal tests done within two years.  

Reason why a low-fat diet will not help you lose weight

Low-fat diets do not lead to greater weight loss in the long term compared to low-carbohydrate or Mediterranean diets of similar intensity, according to a major new study.

"There is no good evidence for recommending low-fat diets," said lead author Deirdre Tobias from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in US. 

Behind current dietary advice to cut out the fat, which contains more than twice the calories per gram of carbohydrates and protein, the thinking is that simply reducing fat intake will naturally lead to weight loss. But our robust evidence clearly suggests otherwise," said Tobias.

Researchers did a systematic review and meta-analysis of all randomised trials comparing the effectiveness of low-fat diets to other diets, including no diet, at improving long-term weight loss (at least 1 year) in non-pregnant adults up to the end of July 2014. They took into account the intensity of the diets which ranged from just pamphlets or instructions at the beginning of the programme to intensive multi-component programmes including counselling sessions, meetings with dieticians, food diaries, and cooking lessons.

Analysis of 53 studies involving 68,128 adults showed no difference in the average weight loss between reduced-fat diets and higher-fat diets. Indeed, reduced-fat diets only led to greater weight loss when compared with no diet at all, and resulted in less weight loss compared with low-carbohydrate interventions, although differences in weight change were small (weighted mean difference 1.15 kg). Similarly, when just considering trials without a weight loss goal (eg, those assessing lipids or cancer endpoints), participants following a reduced-fat diet lost similar amounts of weight on average compared to those on other diets. "The science does not support low-fat diets as the optimal long-term weight loss strategy," said Tobias. "To effectively address the obesity epidemic, we will need more research to identify better approaches for long-term weight loss and weight maintenance, including the need to look beyond differences in macronutrient composition - the proportion of calories that come from fat, carbohydrate, and protein," said Tobias.

"Long-term adherence is critical for the success of any dietary intervention, and one should also take into account other long-term health effects of their dietary choices," Tobias added.

The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal.

Now avoid a smoky Diwali

With every passing year, pollution levels post-Diwali go a notch higher, leading to increasing number of respiratory illnesses

Diwali is a trying time for people suffering from asthma and other respiratory diseases with the air quality deteriorating with each passing year. An analysis of levels of various pollutants on Diwali since 2010 reveals a disturbing trend wherein the level of pollutants, including sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide and levels of particulate matter, is one the rise. In the last few years, there has been a 40 per cent increase in cases of wheezing, respiratory illness, exacerbation of bronchial asthma and bronchitis in patients of all ages and genders. Smoke from the crackers is found to have harmful gases which linger in the air for weeks together leading to severe health issues.

Diwali and winter allow pollutants to remain in the air - Dr Ramana

The bursting of crackers releases harmful gases like carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, chromium, cadmium, mercury, lead, magnesium, zinc and copper in the air. These toxic fumes lead to severe chest diseases. The increasing levels of sulphur dioxide in the air irritates the respiratory tracts. Heavy metals like potassium chlorate, sulphur, arsenic sulphate, aluminum and copper are found abundantly in the air after Diwali. These emissions enter the blood stream through breathing and can lead to thrombosis.

Exposing fragile people like senior citizens, pregnant women and chronic patients to crackers exposes them to respiratory illness like bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis and COPD.
Dr Ramana Prasad V. Velamuru, consultant pulmonologist and respiratory intensivist and sleep specialist said, “Acute asthma attacks are largely seen in patients post Diwali. Diwali and onset of winter are at the same time in India. The harmful gases released due to fireworks gets mixed with the fog in the environment resulting in smog which is very harmful. Apart from this it is also found to cause other infections like conjunctivitis and interstitial lung disease. For this reason, it is important to not expose oneself for too long to bursting of firecrackers.”

A simple cough can also get worse - Dr Sai Praveen Haranath

Compared to adults, children have poor defences against particulate material and gaseous air pollutants. As children are physically more active and outdoors most of the time they tend to inhale more pollutants than adults. For those suffering from various respiratory diseases, even a simple cough can get worse. Dr Sai Praveen Haranath, senior consultant pulmonologist and critical care specialist at Apollo Hospitals said, “Due to several chemicals like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, toluene and perchlorate, the body suffers from simple coughs which later can escalate to wheezing and other possible conditions of asthma. “There are children who come to the hospital with severe bronchitis and lung infections. There is also an increase in phlegm in some cases which requires proper treatment.” There is data suggesting that exposure to fireworks can make asthma worse. The metal particles in smoke from fireworks pose a health risk to asthmatics. For this reason they are advised to avoid exposure to fireworks.

Look for safe means to celebrate - Dr K. Sailaja

The depletion of earth’s atmosphere has been recognised as a threat to human health as well as to the earth’s ecosystems. Air pollution is found to cause not only respiratory illness but is also one of the factors for cardiovascular diseases. Dr K. Sailaja, senior pulmonologist at Maxcure Hospitals said, “Since 2010, there have been records showing that urban cities have dangerously high levels of dust, fumes, smoke and other gases after Diwali. This increased level is mainly due to inflammable substances and artificial colours used for making the crackers. The permissible limit is 60 micro gram per cubic meter (MPCM) of suspended particulate matter but it is found that it goes three times more than the permissible limits. “There is a strong need to look for environmentally friendly methods to celebrate Diwali.”

W A T C H   O U T

• The pollutants released during the bursting of firecrackers last for not several hours but for several days in the air. Weather conditions like wind speed, humidity has an effect on its presence in the atmosphere.
• Small particulate matter are lighter and they stay in the air longer and travel farther. PM 10 (big) particles can stay in the air for hours while PM 2.5 can stay in the air for weeks.
• PM 10 can travel as little as hundred yards or as much as 48 km while PM 2.5 can go hundreds of km depending on the speed of the wind.
• Animals suffer the most, from both air and noise pollution.
• Other problems are hearing loss, increase in blood pressure and also sleep disturbances.

Tips to protect yourself from smoke:

• Install air filters at home to protect from smoke.
• While bursting crackers cover the nose with a thick cloth.
• Do not stand close to crackers as the smoke affects directly.
• Pollutants cause skin allergies, hence, opt for full clothing; also, cotton clothes are better.

Jet lag-like sleep disruptions spur Alzheimer's memory loss

Chemical changes in brain cells caused by disturbances in the body's day-night cycle may be a key underlying cause of the learning and memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study.

The research on mice, led by University of California, Irvine professor Gregory Brewer, provides the first evidence that circadian rhythm-altering sleep disruptions similar to jet lag promote memory problems and chemical alterations in the brain.

Clinical application of this finding may lead to more emphasis on managing the sleep habits of people at risk for Alzheimer's disease and those with mild cognitive impairment.

People with Alzheimer's often have problems with sleeping or may experience changes in their slumber schedule. Scientists do not completely understand why these disturbances occur.

"The issue is whether poor sleep accelerates the development of Alzheimer's disease or vice versa," said Mr Brewer.

"It's a chicken-or-egg dilemma, but our research points to disruption of sleep as the accelerator of memory loss," said Mr Brewer.

In order to examine the link between learning and memory and circadian disturbances, his team altered normal light-dark patterns with an eight-hour

shortening of the dark period every three days for young mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and normal mice.

The resulting jet lag greatly reduced activity in both sets of mice, and the researchers found that in water maze tests, the AD mouse models had significant learning impairments absent in the AD mouse models not exposed to light-dark variations and in normal mice with jet lag.

In follow-up tissue studies, they saw that jet lag caused a decrease in glutathione levels in the brain cells of all the mice. But these levels were much lower in the AD mouse models and corresponded to poor performance in the water maze tests.

Glutathione is a major antioxidant that helps prevent damage to essential cellular components.

Glutathione deficiencies produce redox changes in brain cells. Redox reactions involve the transfer of electrons, which leads to alterations in the oxidation state of atoms and may affect brain metabolism and inflammation.

Brewer pointed to the accelerated oxidative stress as a vital component in Alzheimer's-related learning and memory loss and noted that potential drug treatments could target these changes in redox reactions.

"This study suggests that clinicians and caregivers should add good sleep habits to regular exercise and a healthy diet to maximise good memory," he said.

The study appears in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.