The two-year-old Australian shepherd dog is among four sniffer dogs in Germany trained to detect lung cancer in breath samples of patients, their predictions of the disease matching standard medical diagnosis seven out of 10 times.

A team of doctors and dog trainers has trained sniffer dogs to distinguish between breath samples of healthy persons and lung cancer patients. Their experiments are described in today’s issue of the European Respiratory Journal.

The doctors are not proposing the use of dogs for clinical diagnosis but believe that their experiments could lead to new strategies for the early diagnosis of this common cancer. The tests with the sniffer dogs confirm the presence of a detectable marker — a volatile organic compound — in the breath of patients that is strongly associated with lung cancer and that could be an early signature of the illness.

“Breath analysis may be used in future as a screening test in high-risk people,” said Enole Boedeker, a research team member at the Schillerhoehe Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany. “A screening method for lung cancer does not exist yet,” Boedeker told The Telegraph.

Since the early 1970s, scientists have identified about 3,480 different volatile organic compounds in human breath. Some research groups have tried to analyse breath samples using chemical or electronic devices or sniffer dogs in search for compounds associated with lung cancer or tumours. But these efforts have yielded varying results — and no reliable diagnostic technique has emerged yet.

Boedeker and her colleagues worked with two German shepherd dogs, Bonnie and Kessie, Hector, a Labrador, and Benny, the two-year-old Australian shepherd dog, trained by Uwe Friedrich at a dog training centre.

Their study is the first to test if sniffer dogs can reliably distinguish between the breath samples of patients with lung cancer and those of healthy volunteers and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The researchers took breath samples from 220 volunteers who included patients with lung cancer, COPD, and healthy volunteers.

They found that if someone had lung cancer, the dogs correctly predicted it in 72 per cent. If someone did not have lung cancer, the dogs did not predict it in 90 per cent. “So the false negative outcome is 28 per cent, and a false positive outcome is 10 per cent,” Boedeker said.

“Dogs may help us find a volatile organic compound linked to lung cancer,” she said. The researchers said future studies should aim at identifying the compounds that the dogs are able to smell out in the exhaled breath of patients.

The German researchers said they were inspired by a 22-year-old research paper in a medical journal that recounted a tale of a woman who approached doctors to get a lesion on her skin examined after her dog began to pay special interest to the lesion. By G.S. Mudur, The Telegraph India

A study has shown that compounds found in the fruit protect cells from the ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun – the  leading environmental cause of skin cancer.

UV rays increase the levels of reactive oxygen species – harmful molecules which damage the cells – in the skin.

Scientists from the University of Barcelona and the Spanish National Research Council have shown that substances called flavonoids extracted from grapes can prevent these from forming in cells exposed to UV rays.

Marta Cascante, a biochemist at the University of Barcelona and director of the research project, said: ‘These encouraging results should be taken into consideration… to develop new photo- protection skin products.’

Cosmetics and drugs containing grape compounds are already available, but the way they act on cells has not been well understood until now.

Dr Cascante, whose report was published in the Journal of  Agricultural and Food Chemistry, added: ‘This study supports the idea of using these products to protect the skin from cell  damage and death caused by solar radiation.’ By Sophie Borland, The Daily Mail

The best diet for a healthy heart is a diet low in fatty and sugary foods and rich in fruits and vegetables which are quick foods that require little or no preparation time. They are loaded with important nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber and disease fighting antioxidants.

Unsaturated oils (refined oils) help maintain blood cholesterol levels if consumed in recommended quantities. Thus it is advisable to use only 4-5 teaspoons of cooking oil per day and a variety of refined oils should be taken. Select one from each group for your daily cooking purpose. Ratio of both oils should be 1:1. It is advised to use oil from Group A for 15 days and oil from Group B for 15 days or lunch with oil from Group A and dinner with oil from Group B.

Group A: Sunflower / safflower/ corn / soybean

Group B: Mustard / groundnut / olive/ rice bran

High fiber food items like whole cereals [whole wheat flour ( atta ), wheat bran, whole wheat bread, bajra , jowar , oats], whole pulses ( dals with skin, rajmah , chola, kala chana, chowli etc.), leafy vegetables, salad vegetables and whole fruits are recommended.

Good quality protein like egg white, soy, fish chicken and dairy protein (toned/ skimmed cow’s milk and milk products like curds and paneer prepared with cow’s toned milk) is recommended. Oily fish like ravas (salmon), herring, bangda (mackerel), tuna , tarli (oil sardine) and nuts like almonds and walnuts are rich in omega 3 fatty acids and found to be beneficial for heart. All these food items are advised in recommended quantities.

It is advised to avoid fatty meats like ham, bacon, yolk of egg, red meat, organ meat, shrimps, lobster, prawns, etc as well as alcohol, aerated drinks, squashes, fruit juices (lack fiber), canned, tinned, processed and preserved foods e.g. tinned fruits, sauces, processed cheese.

Diet for Hypertension

A vegetarian’s diet contains more potassium, complex carbohydrates, fiber, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C all of which may have a favourable influence on blood pressure. It can be a great benefit to start lowering your blood pressure naturally.

Calcium: Consume skim / toned milk and milk products (curds and paneer). This milk is low in fat, but very high in Vitamin D and calcium, both of which are known to combat high blood pressure. Calcium can also be found in fish (sardines, salmon, mackerel), nuts, sunflower seeds (unsalted) and green leafy vegetables (beetroot leaves, turnip greens, arbi leaves, chowlai , methi leaves, cauliflower greens, celery leaves, parsley, mint, curry leaves, drum stick leaves and radish leaves). Cereals like ragi (nachni) and whole pulses like kala chana and rajmah , soybean and tofu are also rich in calcium. Spices include hing , ajwain , khas khas , black pepper ( kali mirch ), cumin seeds ( zeera ), coriander ( dhania ), cloves ( laung ) and mustard seeds ( sarson ).

Magnesium: Magnesium rich foods such as pulses and legumes and dark green leafy vegetables are an excellent way to lower blood pressure. Other good sources of magnesium are almonds, walnuts, coriander seeds (dhania ), cumin seeds ( zeera ), ginger, turmeric, plums and mango figs, whole grains, soy products, broccoli, oysters and mackerel. Magnesium has the effect of relaxing the blood vessels which allows the blood to flow easier.

Potassium: Restricting sodium (salt) intake to lower blood pressure appears to work better if accompanied by increasing potassium. Pulses and legumes, soybeans and cereals like bajra , jowar , ragi (nachni), whole wheat flour ( atta ) are good sources of potassium. Spices rich in potassium include coriander seeds ( dhania ), cumin seeds ( zeera ) and methi seeds. Vegetables like potato, sweet potato, yam ( suran ), tomatoes, karela , brinjal, drumstick, green papaya and dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, sarson ka saag , chowlai and coriander leaves are high in potassium. Potassium rich fruits include sweet lime, apricots, amla, bael, cherries, lemon, mango, muskmelon, watermelon, peaches, plums and seetaphal. Coconut water and vegetable soups are also rich in potassium.

Vitamin C: It seems to expand blood vessels and constricted arteries, consequently helping to lower blood pressure. Vitamin C rich foods include strawberries, lime, sweet lime ( mausambi) , orange, guava ( peru ), amla, radish ( muli ) leaves, fenugreek leaves ( methi ), coriander ( dhania ), cabbage, capsicum, green chillies, cauliflower and bitter gourd ( karela ).

Research also shows that eating foods high in fiber, such as oat bran, fruits, and vegetables can significantly reduce high blood pressure, and even improve blood pressure in healthy individuals. Omega-3 fats, typically found in oily fish, garlic and flax seeds are known to have a lowering effect on blood pressure.

Avoid foods like pickles, papads and salted chutneys, biscuits and namkeens, all sauces and soy sauce, cheese, salted butter, margarine, mayonnaise, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ajinomoto, breads, cakes, pastries, cornflakes, salted chips, nuts, popcorns, bacon, ham, sausages, malted beverages, boost, bournvita, preserved foods and canned foods.

Diet in Renal Diseases

Renal diet plays a major role in restoring the kidneys to function normally after a kidney-related ailment. A special renal diet helps to control the buildup of toxic fluids in the blood and decreases the stress on the kidneys. A typical renal diet controls the intake of protein, potassium, phosphorus and sodium.

Nutrition for chronic kidney failure involves variable nutrient adjustment according to the individual needs of patients. It is required to provide just enough protein (50 per cent of high biological value) to maintain tissue integrity while avoiding a damaging excess. Carbohydrates and fats must supply sufficient calories to reduce the need for proteins. With non-dialyzed patients, fluid intake should be sufficient to maintain an adequate urine volume. Intake is usually balanced with the output. The need for sodium varies. If hypertension and edema are present, salt intake is usually recommended in very low amounts between 2-5 grams/day.

The damaged kidney/ kidneys cannot clear potassium adequately and so the dietary intake is kept low or moderate. Therefore, it is important for patients to be aware of the potassium levels in various foods so that they consume cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables that have low to moderate potassium content.

Usually, nutrition therapy for dialysis patients is planned with more liberal nutrient allowances and the patient is encouraged to eat a variety of foods to help maintain normal body weight and nutritional status.

Diet for Cancer

It is very important to eat well during cancer treatment. One needs to have adequate calories and proteins which would help prevent weight loss, regain strength and rebuild normal tissues. If one is overweight, the Clinical Nutritionist can assist with weight loss after the treatment is over and one is fully recovered. If one is losing weight during the treatment, the clinical nutritionist can assess the calorie needs and create a meal plan to stabilize the weight.

Free radicals damage the DNA, rearranging the genes within the cells, which leads to the development of cancer. Antioxidants are free radical scavengers which can prevent less aggressive malignant cells to transform into more aggressive types which are more likely to grow and spread faster. These are found in variety of foods as listed below:

Phytochemicals:

Vegetables: cabbage, spinach, broccoli, onions, celery, citrus fruits (especially ripe): pomegranates, kiwis, plums, apples, lemons, apricots, plums, pears, oranges, strawberries, bananas, grapes.

Mushrooms: white

Dried fruits: raisin, prunes, apricots.

Pulses and legumes

Herbs ans spices: Garlic, parsley, mint, coriander, thyme, rosemary

Green tea

Carotenoids: beta-carotene (carrots, peaches, apricots, spinach)

Alpha-carotene: carrots and pumpkins

Cryptoxanthin: oranges, papaya, peaches

Lycopene : tomatoes, watermelon and pink grapefruit

Lutein and Zeaxanthin : spinach, red pepper, peas, broccoli, celery

The diet should consist of unsaturated oils and omega-3 fatty acids which can be of great benefit rather than saturated and trans-fats which are bad fats. A high fiber diet can prevent colon cancer. Fiber moves potential carcinogens through the intestines faster, decreasing the contact time between carcinogens and the intestinal wall. Small frequent meals are recommended.

Also in conditions with advanced cancer or those whose tumours or treatments have affected their ability to eat or digest food, such patients should seek advice from a clinical nutritionist attached to a hospital.

Diet in Diabetes

Management of diabetes requires self-discipline and self-control under the guidance of a doctor and a nutritionist. Effective diabetic management requires a healthy lifestyle which should include a balanced diet, regular exercise and sensible weight control.

Carbohydrate: The distribution of carbohydrate in various meals is determined by whether or not the patient is on insulin therapy. According to the type of insulin calories from carbohydrate need to be distributed. When not on insulin, the carbohydrate is divided equally between breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Spread the intake of carbohydrate foods throughout the day. Eating large amounts of carbohydrates at one time produces increased amounts of glucose and stimulates the release of increased amounts of insulin which can cause blood glucose levels to drop.

There should be steady release of glucose into the blood stream. Therefore in between snacks should be stressed to avoid hypoglycemia. Eat 5-6 small meals rather than 2-3 large meals.

High fiber foods as mentioned in diet for cardiac diseases are recommended.

Protein: Proteins are required in adequate quantity as proteins do not raise blood sugar levels during absorption like carbohydrates. In poorly regulated diabetes, large quantities are excreted through urine therefore the protein requirement is higher. Proteins promote satiety, provide essential amino acids for tissue repair to be restricted in case of early kidney disease.

Fats: Diabetics are prone to atherosclerosis. Therefore fat intake has to be restricted. Same guidelines as for diet in cardiac diseases have to be followed.

Vitamins and minerals: A diet rich in antioxidants like B carotene, Vitamin E and C should be emphasized.

Dietary sodium may have a role in the development of insulin resistance. Moderate sodium restriction is beneficial.

Meal combination is also an important factor in managing blood glucose levels. Combining protein, fat and carbohydrate at meals and snacks can lead to a better control of blood glucose levels and doing so, slows down insulin release than meals or snacks that consists mainly of carbohydrates. By Swati Bhushan, The Times of India

The study suggests rising levels of obesity in recent decades could be an important factor behind higher rates of prostate cancer, although the fact the population is aging is thought to be even more important.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina, made their conclusions after looking at 287 men whose diseased prostates had been removed, who had then seen cancer return.

All had been given chemicals called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to limit levels of natural testosterone, which is thought to trigger prostate cancer in some cases.

Those who were obese were three times more likely to have seen the returning cancer spread beyond the prostate after five years as those of a healthy weight, a process known as progression.

Dr Christopher Keto, lead author of the study, presented to the American Urological Association’s annual conference on Sunday, said: “Over the past decades, there has been increasing prevalence of obesity in the U.S. and Europe, and a high rate of prostate cancer that is the second-most lethal cancer for men.”

He said more studies were needed to determine why obese men were more likely to see their cancers advance than healthy-weight men, even when given similar treatment regimes.

He suggested: “We think perhaps obese men may require additional ADT. The dose is the same regardless of weight, while most drugs are dosed according to weight.”

Stephen Freedland, associate professor of urology at Duke Prostate Cancer Centre, said: “The study supports a growing body of literature showing that obese men with prostate cancer do worse. Our next step is to figure out why.”

Prostate cancer kills 10,000 men a year in Britain, second only to lung cancer. By Stephen Adams, The Daily Telegraph

One in four has been receiving the payouts for more than 10 years, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said.

It released the figures in an attempt to boost public support for its wide-ranging reforms to the welfare system.

All incapacity benefit (IB) claimants are currently being reassessed to see if they are fit to work, in what the Government has called the biggest back-to-work programme in recent history.

Initial pilots indicate 500,000 people are likely to be found fit to work of the two million who claim IB.

The Government’s figures show 81,760 people are dependent on payouts because they are obese (1,830) or suffering from drug (37,480) or alcohol problems (42,360).

Some 12,880 alcoholics and 9,200 drug addicts have been dependent on incapacity benefit for more than 10 years, along with 660 obese people.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: “It’s not fair on anyone for this situation to continue.

“Far from being the safety net it should be, the benefits system has trapped thousands of people in a cycle of addiction and welfare dependency with no prospect of getting back to work.

“We are putting an end to this, we won’t allow people to be left on benefits and forgotten about.

“That’s why we have already started reassessing everyone on incapacity benefit and will support people with addictions to help them back into work.”

The current 2.1 million people on incapacity benefit cost taxpayers £7bn a year.

The benefit is paid at three weekly rates: £68.95 for the first 28 weeks, £81.60 from weeks 29-52 and £91.40 from week 53.

However, charities have expressed fears that removin g benefits from vulnerable people could make their situation even worse.

Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: “We have serious doubts about whether the DWP is committed to investing in the infrastructure needed to support dependent drinkers back into work and if it actually just wants to cut the welfare benefits bill.”

He added: “Cutting benefits for problem drinkers is simply going to cost the state more in the long run as problem drinkers get more desperate, become homeless and beg for money.

“It would be better and cheaper to support them with benefits than to take this safety net away.”

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said the real problem stopping getting people back to work was a lack of jobs.

He said: “It was Labour that changed the law to start testing people on incapacity benefit to see who was fit for work.

“But the real problem now is the Tories’ decision to cut too far and too fast has meant that unemployment is set to increase every year – by up to 200,000 more people – helping push the benefits bill up by a massive £12bn or £500 for every household in Britain.

“With five people now chasing every job, what we need to get people off benefits and paying tax is more jobs.”

The DWP figuresare a snapshot of incapacity benefit claimants in August 2010. Since February 2010, no new claimants have been accepted. Orange News

The guidelines, to be issued Tuesday by the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association, divide the disease into three stages: a phase when dementia has developed, a middle phase in which mild problems emerge but daily functions can still be performed, and the most recently discovered phase, in which no symptoms are evident but changes are brewing in the brain.

“We’re redefining Alzheimer’s disease and looking at this in a different way than had ever been done,” said Creighton Phelps, director of the National Institute on Aging’s Alzheimer’s Disease Centers Program. “I think we’re going to start to identify it earlier and earlier.”

The drive to diagnose Alzheimer’s before it has progressed into profound dementia is also reflected in a bill introduced in Congress this month, which would create specific Medicare cost codes for Alzheimer’s diagnosis, including steps involving discussions between the patient’s doctor and caregivers, a recognition that keeping family members well-informed can result in better planning and care.

“Early diagnosis is really the key to this,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts and a sponsor of the bill. “Oftentimes family members notice the symptoms in their loved ones, but it’s only years later that they get diagnosed or understand what resources are available.”

The most striking addition to the guidelines concerns methods that assess brain changes involved in Alzheimer’s, including brain scans and tests of cerebral spinal fluid. Such methods measure what are called biomarkers, physiological indicators that someone is likely to develop dementia eventually, just as cholesterol and blood pressure are biomarkers of impending heart disease.

For now, the guidelines specify that Alzheimer’s biomarkers — including abnormal levels of the proteins amyloid and tau, and shrinkage of certain brain areas — should not yet be put into widespread use, but used only with patients enrolled in clinical trials.

That is because scientists cannot yet standardize the results of the tests, or know “what measure is truly abnormal and what measure is not,” said Marilyn Albert, director of the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and a leader of one working group that developed the new guidelines.

As many as a third of people with amyloid plaques in their brains, for example, have not developed Alzheimer’s symptoms by the time they die. The guidelines also urge caution because there is currently no drug known to halt or significantly delay the onset of symptoms, so people told they are likely to get Alzheimer’s have no effective medication to take.

“We don’t have enough information about what to tell people,” said Dr. Steven DeKosky, dean of the University of Virginia medical school, who participated in one of the working groups. “Until you can tell a clinician, ‘If you do this test you have X amount of reliability and to do that will make a difference in the life of your patient’ — until then, it remains in the lab.”

But the guidelines reflect a sense in the medical community that the moment when science will have more specific knowledge about biomarkers is not that far off. They are intended to encourage more research so that drugs can be developed to attack early brain changes and to identify people who might benefit from such drugs when they become available.

The goal, said William Thies, chief medical and scientific officer for the Alzheimer’s Association, is “extending the range of our ability to investigate this disease and eventually find the treatment that is going to be so necessary to avoid the epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease that we see facing us over the next 40 years.”

In the short term, the biggest impact is likely to be seen with people who fall into the middle phase, those with mild cognitive impairment linked to Alzheimer’s. Experts say there are at least as many people experiencing this phase as the 5.4 million people estimated to have Alzheimer’s dementia. And they expect others to now ask their doctors if they are showing signs of mild impairment, which include experiencing some difficulty or inefficiency with memory, attention or other mental faculties, while still being able to function independently.

Dr. Albert said that if patients with symptoms of mild cognitive impairment wanted to “increase the certainty” of the diagnosis by getting a brain scan or spinal fluid test, they should obtain such tests in a research trial so they have a better chance of getting accurate results.

The guidelines also clarify diagnosis criteria for people with dementia symptoms, distinguishing Alzheimer’s from other dementias, including vascular, fronto-temporal and Lewy body. And they note that the earliest symptom of Alzheimer’s dementia is not always memory loss, but could be mood changes or problems with language, spatial perception or reasoning.

Dr. Pierre Tariot, director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix, who was not involved in drafting the guidelines, called them “a step in the right direction” that he hoped would not be “misconstrued” as a sign that biomarker tests are further along than they are. He added, “The notion that Alzheimer’s disease is a continuum that has an extensive pre-symptomatic phase is a very important message to get out.”

Dr. Phelps said it would hardly be the last word from the medical community on Alzheimer’s.

“We’re not drawing a line and saying this is it,” Dr. Phelps said. “What we’re saying is this is the best of our knowledge and we’re not going to wait 27 years to revisit these again.” By Pam Belluck, Herald Tribune

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicated that almost one in five children is obese. A study by Connecticut’s Department of Public Health found that over one-quarter of the state’s high school students are overweight or obese. And it isn’t that these children are oblivious to their plight; around a third of Connecticut’s high school students consider themselves to be overweight and nearly half expressed a desire to lose weight.

The consequences are troubling: the state health department says that 60 percent of overweight children have at least one risk factor for heart disease. Furthermore, Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers, the director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, expressed concern about the increasing prevalence of Type II diabetes in children that was “formerly considered a disease in adults.” Almost half of the newly diagnosed pediatric cases of diabetes are now Type II, a significant increase from 4 percent in 1997.

Most shocking is the dire prognosis for overweight children: A study cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 80 percent of overweight children age 10 to 15 become obese as adults. Kelly D. Brownell, a leading expert on obesity and professor of psychology and public health at Yale University, expressed his concern that the current generation of children may be the first not to live as long as their parents due to the debilitating health consequences of obesity.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented dietary guidelines to improve school lunches — in particular, a reduction of fat content in meals — an important first step in battling the nation’s childhood obesity crisis. However, a 1990 School Nutrition Dietary Assessment found that only 1 percent of schools met the guidelines for school lunches. A second nationwide survey in 1999 showed promise of significant improvement in the healthfulness of school meals.

As a research assistant for the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, I observed several of these healthy initiatives in Connecticut public schools. For instance, many schools in New Haven and Bridgeport now feature a fresh salad bar. Despite these advances, I was surprised by the abundance of liquid calories and the absence of a healthy alternative — water. Children may choose fruit juices (usually grape, orange and apple), chocolate milk (no longer offered at some schools) or plain milk. Our research team observed that the favorites are juice and chocolate milk. Both of these contain lots of sugar and little nutritional value while contributing a fair number of calories.

Every child may take one carton each of milk and juice, allowing for a maximum of 8 fluid ounces of liquid. Not only does this amount seem far too little, but more important, there is no water available. So the only way for students to quench their thirst is to consume more calories through liquid, often with a lot of unnecessary sugar.

Providing water at lunches would be beneficial in several ways: Sufficient water intake is important to human health at all ages; if water is available, some children may drink less juice or chocolate milk, avoiding unnecessary calories and sugar; and finally, a study published in Pediatrics in 2009 confirmed that providing drinking water in schools is effective in heading off obesity.

If we want to reverse the obesity epidemic in children and future generations, we have to act now. Merely placing a water fountain in every school cafeteria could achieve what countless guidelines and regulations issued by the USDA have failed to accomplish. By Franziska Goer, The Hartford Courant

Shashank Joshi, president of the governing council of the All India Association of Advanced Research in Obesity (AIAARO), said obesity was not a new problem in India.

Speaking on Obesity in 2011, on the first day of the two-day national conference, the expert said that obesity was described in the ancient Indian texts such as the ‘Charak Samhita’. The health condition was emerging as a serious threat with 24 million people in India being obese.

”The Indian population is at a special risk because of the tendency to develop central obesity. The ‘thin fat Asian Indian phenotype’ is now well established,” said Joshi adding that Indians had a higher proportion of fat in their body composition and more so in the abdominal area.

”Obesity kills more people than AIDS and often underlines problems such as diabetes and heart diseases. It is also associated with accelerated ageing,” he added.

Listing sedentary lifestyle, watching of too much TV, use of internet and other gadgets of comfort as contributing factors in the rise of obesity among Indian children, Joshi underlined the need for taking proper nutrition, brisk walks, proper yogic practices and de-stressing as ways in managing obesity.

Focusing on obesity as “the emerging Indian epidemic”, the inaugural session was opened by Parimal Trivedi, Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University, and Mrunalini Devi Puar, of the Maharaja Sayajirao University.

Speaking on the occasion, Parimal Trivedi said that case studies in obesity needed to focus on age, food habits, lifestyle and human behaviour too. Mrunalini Puar emphasized on the need to interlink nutrition and obesity and said that nutrition along with yogic practices should be made the mainstay in controlling obesity. Khaleej Times

Winston Craig, professor of nutrition and wellness at Andrews University, and Reed Mangels, nutrition advisor at the Vegetarian Resource Group , Baltimore, conducted the study on behalf of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).

Vegetarian diets are often associated with health advantages, including lower blood cholesterol levels, lower risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure levels and lower risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes.

“Vegetarian diets tend to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and have higher levels of dietary fibre, magnesium and potassium, vitamins C and E, folate, carotenoids, flavonoids,” the study said.

These nutritional differences may explain some of the health advantages of those following a varied, balanced vegetarian diet, said an ADA release.

The study draws on results from ADA’s evidence analysis process to show vegetarian diets can be nutritionally adequate in pregnancy and result in positive maternal and infant health outcomes.

Besides, an evidence-based review showed a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease.

A section in ADA’s paper on vegetarian diets and cancer has been significantly expanded to provide details on cancer-protective factors in vegetarian diets.

An expanded section on osteoporosis includes roles of fruits, vegetables, soy products, protein, calcium, vitamins D and K and potassium in bone health. Zeenews

“Having a healthy well-balanced diet any time in your life is important for your health,” she said, “but a healthy well-balanced diet during pregnancy is particularly important because of the impact on the baby long-term and potentially even on the grandchildren as well.”

The warning comes after research found that rats that had poor nutrition during pregnancy gave birth to young with a high risk of type 2 diabetes, an illness that typically strikes in middle age.

As is it, diabetes in women, especially pregnant women, is already having far reaching health ramifications in India. According to Dr Anoop Misra, “Women should be more addressed not only for diabetes but also for heart disease and should be targeted in a special way for prevention programmes. They gain weight in each pregnancy. As their age increases, weight also increases and so do chances of high blood sugar. Events preceding blood sugar elevation are more prevalent in women than in men. So we foresee that in future diabetes will be more prevalent in women.”

“Hence it is very important for every woman to be screened for diabetes, which needs to be controlled on an emergency basis in case of pregnant women. If a woman living with diabetes becomes pregnant, her blood sugar needs to be controlled in a more effective manner, as even a slight increase in it will result in an ill effect on the foetus—increase in weight, abortion, malformation, etc. so very often it is advisable to start on insulin during pregnancy and switch over to oral agents later on. This warrants the need to integrate diabetes screening for women in the existing health systems, especially when a woman visits a health centre during pregnancy. Unfortunately, this is not happening at the moment” further adds Dr Anoop Misra.

Dr Anoop Misra is the recepient of Padma Shri – one of the highest national civilian awards in India, and also the prestigious Dr BC Roy Award – the highest award for medicine in India. He is the Director and Head, Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Fortis Hospitals, Delhi, and President of National Diabetes Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (N-DOC).

On one hand women are more prone to have diabetes, but on the other hand they can help more than men in controlling this epidemic. If a young woman, on the threshold of marriage, is made aware of and educated about diabetes, it will benefit a lot many people. If she becomes aware of the importance of proper nutrition and physical exercises, she would be well equipped to control, not only her own health, but of her entire family. She is then likely to take more care of herself during pregnancy, the benefits of which will pass on to the unborn child.

Unfortunately women are a neglected lot, especially in developing countries. They are taught from early childhood to care for others at the cost of their own health and well being. It is unlikely for a common Indian woman to go for mandatory health checkups, unless there are serious external symptoms of a disease. And then perhaps it becomes too late to take corrective action.

The tide of diabetes is rising in urban as well as rural India, with nearly 51million Indians currently suffering from the disease. This number is expected to increase by 150% during the next 15 years. Jason Gale talks of India’s diabetes paradox – “In a land where chronic hunger plagues a fifth of the population, a deadly scourge, most often linked to years of affluence, is striking millions as soon as they escape poverty. A perverse twist of science makes Indians susceptible to diabetes and complications such as heart disease and stroke as soon as their living conditions improve. As a decade of 7 percent average annual growth lifts 400 million people into the middle class, bodies primed over generations for poverty, malnutrition and manual labour are leaving Indians ill-prepared for calorie-loaded food—or the cars, TVs and computers that sap physical activity. Researchers are finding the pattern begins before birth: Underfed mothers produce small, undernourished babies with metabolisms equipped for deprivation and unable to cope with plenty.”

“If the world doesn’t wake up, this thing will knock down generations,” said David Barker, a British doctor whose research has helped explain the origins of so-called lifestyle ailments and why they’re exploding in India and China. His hypothesis shows that nutrition and growth before birth and during early childhood alter the development of the heart and that people who had low birth weight are at greater risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Maternal health now has a proven impact on future generations. Women who have a poor diet during pregnancy may have children who are more susceptible to age-related diseases than those who have a healthier diet. The issue of maternal nutrition should be taken seriously, as it could become a key diabetes and heart disease prevention strategy. With 55% of Indian women being anaemic and 48% of them being malnourished, Government efforts need to focus more on maternal and child health, and intervene at the maternal and foetal level. Whether the mother is excessively thin/malnourished or overweight—both conditions are fraught with danger for future generations. The diet which a mother eats has to be a balanced one. One must remember that a proper diet does not consist of expensive or fancy/exotic food items. It comprises locally grown/available vegetables, fruits, grains, lentils and dairy products.

So all ye women out there please eat well and live well – if not for your own sake, then for the sake of your children and grand children. Scoop