Cut colds by 25% with Yoghurt...

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Cut Colds By 25% With Yoghurt



Want fewer sniffles? One of the answers to fighting the common cold may lie in yoghurt and its ability to produce antibodies, the "healthy bacteria" needed to boost our immune systems.

Each year, thousands of AUstralians catch colds and get the flu. Colds can occur year-round, but they occur mostly in the winter (even in areas with mild winters). The beneficial bacteria in active yoghurt cultures can help prevent colds (as well as tummy aches, diarrhea, food poisoning, food allergies, eczema, sinus infections, bronchitis, and pneumonia - among other things).

Physician and researcher, George Halpern, of the University of California, believes that it is best to start eating yoghurt at least 3 months ahead of cold season. His study of 68 participants found that eating 2 cups of yoghurt each day for four months boosted their immune systems and gamma interferon in their blood 5 times more than non-yoghurt eaters.

In a year long test, subjects who ate 3/4 cup of yoghurt daily had 25% fewer colds than non-yogurt eaters.

Simin Meydani, Ph.D. recently published his review of yoghurt-related research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which indicated that the health benefits of yoghurt stretch beyond protein and calcium. One of the suggestions was that yoghurt might help one's resistance to immune-related diseases in part due to the live and active cultures
found in yoghurt.

Other preventative measures you can take is to get your yearly flu vaccination and increase your consumption of ginger, garlic, shiitake mushrooms and vitamin C.

So increasing your yoghurt intake before the cold season is a preventative action you can take in fighting the common cold. Make sure label says "live and active cultures" indicative of the "healthy bacteria" that your body needs.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; National Yoghurt Association; USA Weekend

Yours To Good Health,

Chris Rogers for Quantum Health
http://www.quantumhealth.com/au/

http://huttriver.blog.co.uk

e


We want your feedback! Let us know your thoughts on today's issue. Email us at: reply@tqg.com.au

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Rheumatoid arthritis - the scourge of aging human beings...

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Rheumatoid arthritis - the scourge of aging human beings...


By Peter Petterson

First published at Qondio:

Just what is rheumatoid arthritis? It is a chronic, progressive and debilitating auto-immune disease. There are about 400,000 sufferers in the United Kingdom alone.
It is also a very painful condition, which can cause severe disability and inevitably affects sufferers from carrying out day to day tasks. It causes swelling and damages both cartilage and bones in and around joints.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms:

The most common arthritis symptoms are pains in one or more joints. Many people overlook these RA symptoms as just being part of overuse, but the enlightened ones take these symptoms seriously and get them confirmed by their doctors.

Classic symptoms and warning signs:

1/ Constant joint pain in several locations

2/ Swelling, stiffness and redness

3/ Specific pain in specific spot

4/ Decrease in the range of motion - flexibility

5/ Joints begin to deform

6/ You are always feeling weak, tired and extremely fatigued

Rheumatoid arthritis and your heart:

RA doubles heart attack odds.

People with RA typically face double the risk of a heart attack compared to the general population. A new ten-year European study found that women with RA under the age of 50 years are six more times more at risk of a heart attack, while for anybody else with RA the risk was comparable to those with diabetes.

"Cardiovascular risk management is urgently needed for RA patients," commented Dr Michael Nurmohammed of the VU University Medical Centre in the Netherlands.

"Treatment with statins or antihypertensives may be required." he added further.

Qondio

Kiwipete

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Sex and exercise can trigger heart attacks in older people who don't get much of either...

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Sex and exercise can trigger heart attacks in older people who don't get much of either..


SEX and exercise can trigger heart attacks in older people who don't get much of either, a new analysis finds.

The risk is low, but it's a good reminder that slackers should change their exercise habits gradually, especially in middle age.

People who exercise regularly have a much smaller risk of having a heart attack immediately after sexual or physical activity, said lead author Dr Issa Dahabreh of Tufts Medical Centre in Boston.

"It would be really bad if someone thought our paper means people should not exercise," Dr Dahabreh said. "If anything, it's the opposite."

The analysis, appearing in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, combined results from 14 studies involving more than 6000 patients.

The studies involved only people who'd had heart attacks or had died suddenly from a heart problem. The studies looked at what the people were doing during the hour or two before their heart attacks and compared that to the same people's activity on normal days with no major heart problems.

That study design is used to try to answer the question, "Why did the heart attack occur now?"

Physical activity and sex increased the risk of heart attack by a factor of about three, according to the analysis of the pooled results. Exercise increased the risk of sudden cardiac death by nearly five times. The researchers didn't find a triggering relationship between sex and sudden cardiac death, that is, a sudden death from a heart problem.

The risk for any one person is extremely low.

"If you were to follow 10,000 people for a year and if they all decided to increase their physical activity by an hour a week, you could expect to see two to three more heart attacks," Dr Dahabreh said.

That risk is offset for most people by the benefits of exercise. The more frequently people exercise, in general, the less risk they have of exercise or sex triggering a heart attack.

Most of the patients in the studies were in their late 50s and early 60s, but the findings are a cautionary tale for people in any age group who are slowing down.

Exercise might even be considered cross-training for sex, said Mercedes Carnethon, a heart disease researcher at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, who wasn't involved in the research.

"Engaging in regular physical activity is a requirement for maintaining a long, safe, healthy sex life," Dr Carnethon said.

"If this isn't more motivation for people to maintain some degree of physical activity, I'm not sure what is," Carnethon said. "Get out and walk. Do something.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/sex-a-heart-attack-risk-for-couch-potatoes/story-e6frfku0-1226026513156#ixzz1HHZIYM2D

http://anzacbloggersunite.blog.co.uk

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The eyes have it - corneal confocal microscope helps research into diabetes...

Image via WikipediaAn accidental discovery by an Australian eye expert may hold the key to better management of people with diabetes, a condition that affects 200,000 Kiwis out of a population of 4.3 million.

Nathan Efron, a professor at the Queensland Univeristy of Technology's School of Optometry, made the discovery after using a special microscope, called a corneal confocal microscope, which he thought would help in his research into how contact lenses affect the eye.

Instead, its extreme magnification allowed Effron to see fine nerves in the cornea that had never been seen before.

Effron,who has Type 2 diabetes, knew that one of the serious consequences of the disease is diabetic neuropathy - a condition that causes nerve damage and can result in ulcers and amputations. It affects half of diabetics in varying degrees.

A five year study is now under way to discover whether technology can be used to monitor nerve degeneration over time. This could lead to early testing for diabetic neuropathy that will motivate sufferers to better manage their disease.

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Psychotic energy drink warning...

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Psychotic energy drink warning;;;


Caffeinated energy drinks may trigger a psychotic episode in people with mental illness, a New Zealand expert has warned after documenting the case of a young man with schizophrenia.

The 27-year-old man had two separate psychotic events a week apart linked to his intake of the drink Demon Shot.

Auckland University Associate Professor Psychiatry Professor David Menkes said these events occurred at a time when the man, who was prone to persecutory thought and hallucinations, was otherwise responding well to anti-psychotic medication.

In the first instance, the man drank two 60ml bottles of Demon Shot and later reported experiencing recurrent thoughts, over several hours, of "people wanting to harm him".

"One week later, he drank three Demon Shots over 15 minutes," Prof Menkes said.

"He was observed to be emotionally labile (moving from one point to another) - initially laughing and talkative, later becoming restless, withdrawn and argumentative."

Other symptoms included a rapid pulse and insomnia, which took 24 hours to subside.

The man described again having had paranoid thoughts over several hours and an experience "consistent with a psychotic episode".

"The fact that our patient had the same reaction on two distinct occasions is important," Prof Menkes said.

There were known cases where a high intake of caffeine could exacerbate a psychotic condition, although this appeared to be the first linked to consuming energy drinks.

The man's case was "evidence that some patients with treated schizophrenia may be vulnerable to exacerbation of their illness by caffeine-containing energy drinks", he said.

Demon Shot drinks are widely available in Australia and New Zealand and they contain 200mg of caffeine plus taurine, B vitamins and guarana, which may have other stimulant properties.

According to its website, each Demon Shot provides a "massive energy hit that delivers up to six hours of concentrated mental and physical responsiveness".

The drinks also carry a warning which includes it should not be consumed by people sensitive to caffeine, and no more than two drinks a day.

The case is detailed in a letter published in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.

http://huttriver.blog.co.uk

Acknowledgements - NZPA

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Cannabis smoking brings on schizophrenia earlier than non-smokers

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Cannabis smoking brings on schizophrenia earlier than non-smokers...


As the smoke clears on the debated links between cannabis and schizophrenia, the latest research indicates that the drug can hasten the onset by several years.

The study, which included data from 20,000 patients with a psychotic illness, has found those who smoked cannabis were diagnosed almost three earlier than those who did not use the drug.

Matthew Lange, from the University of New South Wales School of Psychiatry and Prince of Wales hospital, said their study should settle the debate on whether cannabis could trigger earlier mental health problems.

What wasn't reported, however, was whether the age of smokers had some significance on the outcome.

It is a known fact that adolescents and even older teenagers are affected more by their cannabis smoking than adults. Human brains do not become fully mature until the early 20's - even 25 years of age in some cases.

Somebody who did not commence smoking until their mid twenties may not be affected to the same degree as adolecents.

http://communitybloggersevolve.blog.co.uk

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