A Study Shows that Amateur Tattoos May Carry Hepatitis C Risk

If you're planning on getting a tattoo, make sure it's from a professional and not a friend because ink work by amateurs may carry a risk of Hepatitis C, according to a new report.

In an analysis of several dozen past studies, researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that tattoos from non-professionals appear to increase the risk of a possible blood-borne liver infection.

By contrast, there is no evidence that tattoos done by professionals carried such a risk.

Hepatitis C remains a major public health problem in the United States with between 75 and 85 percent of people infected with the disease developing chronic infection that can lead to serious diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The illness is passed to people through contact with infected blood.

In the United States, there are roughly 18,000 new Hepatitis C infections every year, mostly when people who inject drugs share tainted needles or syringes.

But there are other ways of contracting the disease.

"Tattoos and piercings can transmit hepatitis C and other infections if performed under non-sterile conditions," Rania Tohme, an epidemiologist at the CDC who led the study, told Reuters Health in an email.

"People should not have tattoos or piercings done by friends or by people who are not trained professionals."

The findings, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, are based on a collection of studies that have been made public since 1994.

In general, people who had tattoos by non-professionals faced a hepatitis C risk that was two to four times higher than average.

Prison tattoos are a particular problem, Tohme's team wrote, because tattooing is so common and inmates may have other risk factors for Hepatitis C.

"To this date, there has been no evidence that tattoos and piercings performed in professional parlors in the United States have been implicated in transmission of hepatitis C virus," Tohme said.

If going to a non-professional, though, there are some precautions that can be taken, Tohme said.

"Disposable piercing needles, tattoo needles and razors are used on one person and then thrown away. Reusing needles or razors is not safe," Tohme added. – Reuters

Thirteen tips for healthy life in 2013

Preachy healthy lifestyle advice often seems to take the joy out of living, but here are 13 simple steps that will help keep you on track without feeling guilty

Grill a rasher of back bacon, a tomato, some mushrooms and a slice of wholegrain toast; add an egg poached or scrambled in a little semi-skimmed milk and enjoy it all with an Americano or a cuppa. It’s a more nutritious, more filling option than fat and sugar-laden “Continental” pastries, juice and lattes.

Stop multitasking

Keep your anxiety levels down by stopping trying to do lots of things at once. It takes longer than completing them one at a time, brain researchers believe. Multitasking only works if you are very practised at both activities - like talking and walking.

Give up perfectionism

Perfectionists tend to be people pleasers, but often end up driving colleagues nuts because they take on too much and fail to deliver on time. Good enough is fine.

Make new connections

Bored by friends or colleagues? Don’t feel bad. The most creative executives, research has shown, have excellent “discovery skills” - they are always seeking out new connections and ideas.

Let your mind wander

Are you a bit of a daydreamer? Congratulations - trying to stay focussed all the time prevents different parts of your brain make creative, surprising connections, neuroscientists suggest. It’s why “Eureka” moments often occur when doing something unrelated to the task in hand.

Avoid meetings

Sometimes the whole day can be taken up my meetings, preventing you doing your own work. So keep them to a minimum, and rest assured that contrary to received wisdom, brainstorming produces fewer high quality ideas than working independently - probably because we can’t pass the buck.

Don’t put the kettle on

If you feel mean because you rarely do the office coffee run, don’t. Experiments have shown that the kindness of strangers is often more appreciated than that of close associates, who may just be trying to curry favour.

It’s a wrap

Swap your lunchtime baguette or sandwich for a wrap with lean meat or fish and lots of salad. Yes it looks bigger, but there’s a higher proportion of filling to bread, which is more nutritious and sustaining.

Pub lunch

Tuck into a couple of slices of chicken or lean roast beef, a colourful range of veg (to get the biggest variety of nutrients) and two small roasties. That is a better balance than a Ploughman’s with a hunk of cheese, butter, white bread and pickle.

Eat pasta

If you love Italian food, a small portion of pasta and lots of sauce full of veg and/or lean protein like Napolitana or Marinara is a healthier option than a pizza - which is mainly dough and cheese with only sprinkling of nutritious bits.

Frozen food

Frozen food like peas and fish often has fresher ingredients than chilled ready meals - which come with expensive packaging and more preservatives. Frozen may be cheaper, but it’s not always junk food.

Play a computer game

They can make hard things seems possible, encourage our active involvement and unite strangers or friends in a common cause. You can’t say that about a DVD of Downton Abbey.

Cry, baby

A 2012 study suggested that eight-month-old babies whose parents had used “controlled crying” techniques to get them off to sleep had come to no harm when followed up five years later - but the parents were in better shape than those who had left their babies to cry.

Let teenagers sleep

We all know about teenage hormones, but less understood is that they affect sleeping patterns. Teenagers whose sleep is disturbed have similar symptoms to jet lag, so don’t get wound-up by those weekend lie-ins.

Source: The Telegraph UK

Eating junk food linked to asthma and eczema in children

Eating junk food just three times a week may lead to asthma and eczema in children, scientists have found.

The high saturated fat levels in food such as burgers lower children's immune systems, it is believed.

A research project involving more than 50 countries found that teenagers who ate junk food three times a week or more were 39 per cent more likely to get severe asthma. Younger children were 27 per cent more at risk.

Both were also more prone to the eye condition rhinoconjunctivitis, according to The Sun newspaper

But just three weekly portions of fruit and vegetables could cut that risk by 14 per cent in the younger group and 11 per cent among the teens, it is believed.

Researchers from New Zealand's Auckland University looked at the diets of 181,000 youngsters aged six to seven and 319,000 aged 13-14.

The scientists then asked if the children had allergy symptoms.

They wrote in the journal Thorax, where the study is published: "Fast food may be contributing to increasing asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema.

"Regular consumption of fruit and vegetables is likely to protect against these diseases."

In the UK alone 1.1 million children already suffer with asthma and one in five get eczema.

The team of researchers warn that their results do not prove cause and effect.


Author: Hayley Dixon, The Telegraph UK

Hypertension Alert!

HERE are some grim news: many people who have hypertension do not even know that they have it.

According to Dr Azani Mohammed Daud , who is the president of the Malaysian Society of Hypertension, “for every person diagnosed with hypertension, there are six who are not”.

Speaking at the society’s ninth Annual Scientific Meeting recently, he said only 40% of Malaysians suffering from hypertension are properly diagnosed with the disease.

“Most patients with hypertension don’t know that they have it,” said Azani. “Hypertension is a risk factor for heart attacks and in Asians particularly, it’s a risk factor for strokes. In Malaysia, we see six new stroke patients a day.

“Over the long term, hypertension causes damage to the kidney. Malaysia has one of the highest rates of patients undergoing dialysis.”

Azani said most people are unaware that they have hypertension due to the absence of symptoms.

Some people, however, have persistent headaches and a check with their doctor usually reveals that they have high blood pressure readings.

“They are the lucky ones as they can get treatment immediately,” said Azani who suggested that people request for a blood pressure reading each time they visit their doctor, no matter what their ailment is.

He added that health authorities recommend that people over the age of 30 should have their blood pressure checked regularly. “You should get your blood pressure checked at least once a year.”

The director general of health, Datuk Seri Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman, said that according to a survey by the Ministry of Health, there are some 5.8 million people in Malaysia who have high blood pressure but only 2.2 million seek regular treatment.

He pointed out that the best way to control hypertension is through early detection.

He said people can even get their blood pressure read when they visit their sick family members or friends at hospitals.

“Just go to the counter and the nurses or hospital attendants will do it for you for free,” said Hasan

Top reaseons why diets fail--and how to succeed

Underestimating the number of calories consumed and not getting enough shut-eye are some of the reasons why dieters fail to win the battle of the bulge.

That's according to one medical expert who doled out some helpful advice this week, at a time when the weight loss industry churns at fever pitch, gyms the world over are filled to capacity and dieters take on a steely resolve to win the battle of the bulge.

But like every year, good intentions often fall by the wayside, dissolving at the sight of chocolate cake or morning traffic.

Conquering one of the most popular New Year's resolutions is also about identifying some of the top reasons why weight loss efforts fail, says Dr. Jessica Bartfield of the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery & Bariatric Care in Chicago, who points out that only 20 percent of people who vow to lose weight succeed.

"Dieting is a skill, much like riding a bicycle, and requires practice and good instruction," said Bartfield in a statement. "You're going to fall over and feel frustrated, but eventually you will succeed and it will get easier."

Here are Bartfield's top four reasons why diets fail -- and how to avoid them:

1. Underestimating the number of calories consumed

Most people sabotage their weight loss efforts by underestimating their daily caloric intake, says Bartfield, a theory that builds on a steady stream of research. A study out of Cornell University, for example, found that overweight people underestimate the number of calories consumed by as much as 40 percent.

Bartfield suggests writing down everything you eat in a day, including drinks, snacks and ‘bites' of food to increase self-awareness. She also advises looking up nutritional information of favorite take-out meals before going out to eat.

2. Overestimating activity and calories burned

Typically you need to cut 500 calories per day to lose one pound (0.5 kg) per week.

This is very difficult to achieve through exercise alone, and would require 60 minutes or more of vigorous activity every day. A more attainable goal would be to try to increase activity throughout the day and get a total of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise most days of the week.

Buy a pedometer and track your steps. Try to increase to a goal of 10,000 steps per day. But be careful -- exercise is not an excuse to eat more.

3. Poor timing of meals

When it comes to weight loss, timing is everything. Try not to go longer than five hours without eating a healthy snack, Bartfield advises.

Eat breakfast within one hour of waking up, and eat every three to four hours. That will keep the metabolism steady.

4. Inadequate sleep

People who get fewer than six hours of sleep have been shown to have higher levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates the appetite, particularly for high-carb, high-calorie foods, says Bartfield. Fatigue can also raise levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can lead to weight gain.

Source: Relaxnews

Fresh Lemon Grass Drink Causes Apoptosis to Cancer Cells

 

Israeli researchers find way to make cancer cells self-destruct   - Ben Gurion University

At first, Benny Zabidov, an Israeli agriculturalist who grows greenhouses full of lush spices on a pastoral farm in Kfar Yedidya in the Sharon region, couldn't understand why so many cancer patients from around the country were showing up on his doorstep asking for fresh lemon grass. It turned out that their doctors had sent them. 'They had been told to drink eight glasses of hot water with fresh lemon grass steeped in it on the days that they went for their radiation and chemotherapy treatments,' Zabidov told ISRAEL21c. 'And this is the place you go to in Israel for fresh lemon grass.'

It all began when researchers at Ben Gurion University of the Negev discovered last year that the lemon aroma in herbs like lemon grass kills cancer cells in vitro , while leaving healthy cells unharmed. The research team was led by Dr. Rivka Ofir and Prof. Yakov Weinstein, incumbent of the Albert Katz Chair in Cell-Differentiatio n and Malignant Diseases, from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at BGU.

Citral is the key component that gives the lemony aroma and taste in several herbal plants such as lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), melissa (Melissa officinalis) and verbena (Verbena officinalis. )

According to Ofir, the study found that citral causes cancer cells to 'commit suicide: using apoptosis, a mechanism called programmed cell death.' A drink with as little as one gram of lemon grass contains enough citral to prompt the cancer cells to commit suicide in the test tube.

The BGU inv estigators checked the influence of the citral on cancerous cells by adding them to both cancerous cells and normal cells that were grown in a petri dish. The quantity added in the concentrate was equivalent to the amount contained in a cup of regular tea using one gram of lemon herbs in hot water. While the citral killed the cancerous cells, the normal cells remained unharmed.

The findings were published in the scientific journal Planta Medica, which highlights research on alternative and herbal remedies. Shortly afterwards, the discovery was featured in the popular Israeli press.
Why does it work? Nobody knows for certain, but the BGU scientists have a theory. 'In each cell in our body, there is a genetic program which causes programmed cell death. When something goes wrong, the cells divide with no control and become cancer cells.. In normal cells, when the cell discovers that the control system is not operating correctly - for example, when it recognizes that a cell contains faulty genetic material following cell division - it triggers cell death,' explains Weinstein. 'This research may explain the medical benefit of these herbs.'
The success of their research led them to the conclusion that herbs containing citral may be consumed as a preventative measure against certain cancerous cells. As they learned of the BGU findings in the press, many physicians in Israel began to believe that while the research certainly needed to be explored further, in the = meantime it would be advisable for their patients, who were looking for any possible tool to fight their condition, to try to harness the cancer-destroying properties of citral.
That's why Zabidov's farm - the only major grower of fresh lemon grass in Israel - has become a pilgrimage destination for these patients. Luckily, they found themselves in sympathetic hands. Zabidov greets visitors with a large kettle of aromatic lemon grass tea, a plate of cookies, and a supportive attitude. 'My father died of cancer, and my wife's sister died young because of cancer,' said Zabidov.. 'So I understand what they are dealing with. And I may not know anything about medicine, but I'm a good listener. And so they tell me about their expensive painful treatments and what they've been through. I would never tell them to stop being treated, but it's great that they are exploring alternatives and drinking the lemon grass tea as well.'

Zabidov knew from a young age that agriculture was his calling. At age 14, he enrolled in the Kfar Hayarok Agricultural high school. After his army service, he joined an idealistic group which headed south, in th e Arava desert region, to found a new moshav (agricultural settlement) called Tsofar. 'We were very successful; we raised fruits and vegetables, and,' he notes with a smile, 'We raised some very nice children.'
On a trip to Europe in the mid-80s, he began to become interested in herbs. Israel , at the time, was nothing like the trend-conscious cuisine-oriented country it is today, and the only spices being grown commercially were basics like parsley, dill, and coriander. Wandering in the Paris market, looking at the variety of herbs and spices, Zabidov realized that there was a great export potential in this niche. He brought samples back home with him, 'which was technically illegal,' he says with a guilty smile, to see how they would grow in his desert greenhouses. Soon, he was growing basil, oregano, tarragon, chives, sage, marjoram and melissa, and mint just to n ame a few.

His business began to outgrow his desert facilities, and so he decided to move north, settling in the moshav of Kfar Yedidya, an hour and a half north of Tel Aviv. He is now selling 'several hundred kilos' of lemon grass per week, and has signed with a distributor to package and put it in health food stores. Zabidov has taken it upon himself to learn more about the properties of citral, and help his customers learn more, and has invited medical experts to his farm to give lectures about how the citral works and why.

He also felt a responsibility to know what to tell his customers about its use. 'When I realized what was happening, I picked up the phone and called Dr. Weinstein at Ben-Gurion University , because these people were asking me exactly the best way to consume the citral. He said to put the loose grass in hot water, and drink about eight glasses each day.'

Zabidov is pleased by the findings, not simply because it means business for his farm, but because it might influence his own health. Even before the news of its benefits were demonstrated, he and his family had been drinking lemon grass in hot water for years, 'just because it tastes good.'

Author: 

Allison Kaplan Sommer