Encouraging Health

The bird flu virus H5N1 has mutated into a form that makes it more infectious to humans, increasing the risk of a human pandemic, researchers have found.

The changes, which only affect the virus circulating in Europe and Africa, are worrying although they have not yet transformed it into a pandemic strain, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who led the research, said.

The outbreak of avian influenza caused by the lethal virus H5N1 began in Asia in 2003 and spread around the world, leading to the slaughter of hundreds of millions of birds.

More than 30 countries have reported outbreaks in the last year, mostly in wild birds such as swans. The virus has infected 329 people since 2003, of whom 201 have died, according to the World Health Organisation.

Governments have responded to the threat by stockpiling millions of doses of the anti-flu drug, Tamiflu, and preparing emergency plans for dealing with a pandemic.

In the UK, the disease broke out on a Bernard Matthews turkey farm in Suffolk and more than 100,000 poultry were culled after the virus was apparently imported from Hungary. But there have been no human cases in the UK or Europe.

Writing in the Public Library of Science journal, PLoS Pathogens, Dr Kawaoka and colleagues say recent samples of virus taken from birds in Europe and Africa all carry the mutation, which makes the virus more likely to grow in the nose and throat of humans.

“I don’t like to scare the public, because they cannot do very much,” Dr Kawaoka tolds the Reuters news agency. “But at the same time it is important to the scientific community to understand what is happening.”

Humans have a lower body temperature than birds and the avian virus finds it difficult to grow in the cooler conditions of the human throat. The mutated virus is better adapted to these cooler conditions, making transmission more likely.

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bird flu

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http://www.encouraginghealth.com/bird-flu-may-hit-tourist-states/

bird flu

You struggle to drop those unwanted pounds, but the weight returns like a bad sitcom you thought had bitten the dust. Time to take a new approach to weight loss.

If you could figure out why the weight keeps coming back, maybe it would be gone for good. So take the “why” test. Here’s how.

“Why” Questions to Ask
To make sustainable changes and get off the weight on-again, off-again roller coaster, you need to know what’s prompting you to abuse your body and engage in unhealthy eating habits.

So start asking yourself “why” questions. Here’s an example of how this might play out:
• Why do I want to lose weight? Because I’d have more confidence.
• Why do I want more confidence? Because I’m hoping to start a new relationship.
• Why do I want to start a new relationship? Because I’m feeling lonely.

Ah-Ha Moment
The questions stop when you can link the first question to the last answer. In the example above, you want to lose weight because you’re lonely. And the likely cause of your weight gain is the very same thing.

To read more on your Mental Health, see the www.mental-emotionalhealth.com blog here at 451 Press.

diet, eating, mental and emotional health

diet, eating, mental and emotional health

It’s that time of year when not only leaves turn orange, but the offerings on your dinner plate do, too.

And that’s a good thing, because yellow-orange veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, and winter squash are chock-full of carotenoids. Why care about carotenoids? These good-for-you nutrients fight the DNA damage that can make your body old (or sick) before its time.

The Way of DNA
Over the course of your lifetime, your DNA accumulates damage every time it gets copied to create a new cell. It’s like when you make a copy of a copy of a copy on the Xerox machine. Little flaws and imperfections start to show up. Same thing can happen with your DNA. And that’s not such a great thing, because it can lead to that ultimate cell-replication error: cancer.

Cell-Protecting Carotenoids
Researchers suspect that carotenoids — those plant pigments that give carrots, pumpkins, and cantaloupes their rich orange hues — may help protect against the kind of DNA damage that happens with age, so you can go on making copies of your cells longer!

want to use your own home-grown herbs to create your over recipes? to over to www.earthlygarden.com to find out how.

corotenoids, yellow-orange vegetables, cancer

corotenoids, yellow-orange vegetables, cancer

From health.yahoo.com/breast-cancer-awareness-2007, a good guide for us all to follow!

What to Eat
Fish: Fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and herring are high in omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy fat that’s believed to have anticancer properties. Aim for two to three servings a week.

Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage are powerful cancer fighters and appear to contain chemicals that turn on your body’s natural detox enzymes. Eat them raw or slightly steamed (cooking breaks down the protective chemicals). Shoot for five servings a week.

Berries: The more colorful, the better! These fruits are rich in antioxidants, which protect cells from damage, and strawberries and raspberries contain ellagaic acid, which has been shown to protect against breast cancer in lab studies. Sneak these in wherever you can…toss some in your smoothie or even have some with dessert.

Whole grains: Lowfat sources of fiber, such as quinoa, unbuttered popcorn and cereals like All-Bran and Fiber One, may regulate your levels of estrogen and insulin, two hormones that both have been linked to breast cancer. Aim for 25 grams per day.

What to Watch
Red meat: You don’t have to forgo the occasional burger (thank goodness!), but eating more than 1.5 servings of red meat per day can nearly double the chances of developing breast cancer. Limit your intake to three servings of lean cuts (such as filet mignon, flank steak or sirloin) a week or fewer.

Alcohol: As few as two drinks a day may increase breast cancer risk by 20 percent, possibly by raising estrogen levels. There’s nothing wrong with having some wine with dinner, but it’s safest to average no more than one drink a day.

Look around the 451 Press blogs to read more about Breast Cancer Awareness and how it’s being battled.

breast cancer, foods to fight breast cancer, 451 press

breast cancer, foods to fight breast cancer, 451 press

Two-thirds of those with virus have weight problems, study finds

Early in the AIDS epidemic, people infected with the virus often lost a dangerous amount of weight, at times looking gaunt and ghostly.

Today, they are facing the opposite problem. Many who have HIV, but not full-blown AIDS, are struggling with obesity, which has overtaken “wasting syndrome� as the top concern.

AIDS researchers and advocacy groups say the waistlines of HIV patients are growing right along with the girths of uninfected Americans as the disease shifts from a death sentence to a chronic condition.

Exact numbers are hard to pin down. But new research suggests that nearly two-thirds of the HIV population may be overweight or obese, mirroring the U.S. population.

Doctors say there’s a growing need to screen people with the AIDS virus for obesity, which raises the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol problems.

“We used to worry that they would lose weight and become wasted,� said Dr. Nancy Crum-Cianflone of TriService AIDS Clinical Consortium in San Diego. “Maybe we should redirect our concerns to making sure they are maintaining a healthy, normal weight.�

About a million people in the United States are living with HIV or AIDS, federal statistics show. At the height of the epidemic, many had wasting syndrome, the uncontrollable loss of 10 percent of body weight along with other symptoms like fever or diarrhea.

HIV has touched each cornerstone of our lives, whether or not we have it.

hiv, obesity

hiv, obesity

Twice as many Americans are obese than in Europe, study finds

Nearly twice as many U.S. adults are obese compared to European, a key factor leading Americans to suffer more often from cancer, diabetes and other chronic ailments, a study released on Tuesday found.

Treatment of these and other chronic diseases adds between $100 billion and $150 billion to the annual health care tab in the United States, according to the report comparing U.S. and European health published online in the journal Health Affairs.

The United States spends significantly more per capita than any European country on health care, about $2 trillion annually, or 16 percent of the gross domestic product. While the big discrepancy has been linked to higher U.S. prices for medical treatment, the report said a sicker population may also be a factor.

The blog, www.elementarychef.com, talks about one product that has been blamed for making Americans fat.

Back to the study, “We expected to see differences between disease prevalence in the United States and Europe, but the extent of the differences is surprising,” said Ken Thorpe, professor of public health at Emory University and a study co-author. “It is possible that we spend more on health care because we are, indeed, less healthy.”

A key factor in many chronic illnesses is obesity and smoking. About 33 percent of Americans are obese, compared with 17 percent in 10 European countries reviewed. More than half of Americans are former or current smokers, compared with about 43 percent in the European sample.

fat americans, skinny europeans

fat americans, skinny europeans

Postmenopausal women who’ve had at least one panic attack may be at greater risk for heart disease, stroke and even death, new research suggests.

The study found that older women with a history of panic attacks were four times more likely to have heart disease than women who hadn’t had a panic attack.

“Women who reported at least one panic attack were at higher risk of having cardiovascular illness and death after an average of five years of follow-up. Even after controlling for other risk factors, a panic attack remained an independent risk factor on its own,” said study author Dr. Jordan Smoller, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Symptoms of a panic attack include a sudden feeling of fear, anxiety or extreme discomfort that’s out of proportion to your current situation. Panic attacks may also be accompanied by a rapid or irregular heartbeat, sweating, hot flashes, chills, chest pain, difficulty breathing, shaking, dizziness and a feeling that you might die. About one in 10 postmenopausal women has had at least one panic attack, according to the study.

The research, published in the October issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, included 3,369 postmenopausal women between the ages of 51 and 83. All of the women completed questionnaires about the occurrence of panic attacks in the previous six months. A full-blown panic attack was one in which sudden fear was accompanied by at least four other panic attack symptoms. A limited panic attack was one in which fear was accompanied by one to three additional symptoms.

Panic Attacks can strike anyone, at anytime.

After adjusting for all those factors, the researchers found that full-blown panic attacks were associated with a fourfold higher risk of heart disease, nearly twice the risk of stroke, and a 75 percent increase in risk of death from any cause, compared to women who’d experienced no panic attacks. Women who’d had limited panic attacks fared somewhat better. The adjusted risk of heart disease was 65 percent higher, stroke risk was more than doubled, and all-cause mortality was increased by 34 percent.

panic attack, women, heart disorder

panic attack, women, heart disorder

“Flexitarians” eat a mostly plant-based diet but sometimes add animal protein

If you want to know where American food traditions are headed, look back. Many of today’s most healthful eating trends bear a strong resemblance to yesterday’s: Nearby farms offering nutritious, peak-of-season produce; slow-cooked dinners that foster leisurely family meals; an emphasis on meatless dishes and minimally processed foods.

Flexitarianism

Like vegetarians, “flexitarians” eat a primarily plant-based diet composed of grains, vegetables, and fruits, but they occasionally obtain protein from lean meat, fish, poultry, or dairy. A quarter of Americans fit the description, consuming meatless meals at least four days a week, according to the American Dietetic Association.

Why it’s here to stay: Flexitarianism is exactly what dietitians, nutritional researchers, and public health advocates have been recommending for years. “It’s about eating a varied diet that’s low in saturated fat and high in fiber,” says Milton Stokes, M.P.H., R.D., chief dietitian at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City, and an ADA spokesperson. Because the emphasis is on produce rather than protein, flexitarians are more likely than most Americans to meet the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables and the vitamins and minerals they contain.

flexitarian

flexitarian

Purposeful personality may guard brain against decline, researcher says

A surprising study of elderly people suggests that those who see themselves as self-disciplined, organized achievers have a lower risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease than people who are less conscientious.

A purposeful personality may somehow protect the brain, perhaps by increasing neural connections that can act as a reserve against mental decline, said study co-author Robert Wilson of Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center.

Astoundingly, the brains of some of the dutiful people in the study were examined after their deaths and were found to have lesions that would meet accepted criteria for Alzheimer’s — even though these people had shown no signs of dementia.

In a previous post on a New Alzheimer Test shows there are new diagnoses and treatments being developed continually.

Previous studies have linked social connections and stimulating activities like working puzzles with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s. The same researchers reported previously that people who experience more distress and worry about their lives are at a higher risk.

The new findings, appearing in Monday’s Archives of General Psychiatry, come from an analysis of personality tests and medical exams of 997 older Catholic priests, nuns and brothers who participated in the Religious Orders Study.

alzheimers

alzheimers

Clearly, too many hours sitting at the computer can be a recipe for jiggly hips and thighs.

But here’s a computer pastime that fights desk-chair flab: interactive exercise programs. In a study, people who enrolled in a personalized Internet-based exercise program reported a significant bump in their activity levels at the end of a year.

Fitness at Your Fingertips
There are lots of free online options for exercise tracking, so get Googling! Here’s what you want in an online exercise program: educational and motivational materials (think fitness how-to’s and success stories), goal-setting options, a physical activity log where you can track your workouts, and an occasional e-mail that prompts you to use the program. People who joined an online group with these elements reported 90 minutes of physical activity per week at the 1-year mark.

Get Together
Need more motivation? Find a buddy on internet community boards. Reporting to your buddy every day on what exercises you tackled is a surprisingly motivational way to keep yourself focused on your goal.

Interested in walking? Check out Happy Feet, a great site for all info on walking.

computer, health

computer, health