New Delhi, Nov.10 (ANI): Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss will inaugurate the Fourth India Health Summit in the capital next week.

The summit will focus on the theme "Healthcare Engagement: Strategies and Partnerships", and is scheduled to be held on November 13 and 14 at the Hotel Hyatt Regency. Prior to the event, the Minister will host a dinner on November 12 at the Hotel Oberoi.

The Confederation of Indian Industry  along with the India Brand Equity Foundation will use the event to launch its 'Umbrella Brand' to promote Indian healthcare opportunity on the global map.

The objective is to project the evolution of healthcare industry in India and that it has emerged now as a global entity.

The 'Umbrella Brand' including the logo, corporate film and the website would be launched by Dr.Ramadoss and be be witnessed by CEOs' of hospitals across the country / MP's / State Ministers/ Senior Bureaucrats/ High Commissioners / Government officials.

A Special Panel Discussion: "Opening Doors-A conversation with India's Health Ministers" comprising of State Health Ministers and Industry Captains has also been arranged. This would be moderated by Ramadoss.

Ambika Soni, Minister of Tourism,  Dr. Naresh Trehan, President, Indian Healthcare Federation; Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, CII National Committee on Healthcare and Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group and Lt. Gen. S S Mehta, Director General, CII, will address the Inaugural session on  November 13. Dr. Ramadoss,  Suneeta Reddy, Conference Chairperson, Executive Director - Finance, Apollo Hospitals Group, will address the valedictory session on November 14.

Other speakers are: (Govt Panelist) Mangat Ram Sharma, Minister for Health and Medical Education, Labour and Employment and Ladakh Affairs, Govt. of J and K; Lakshmi Kanta Chawla, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Punjab; Dr(Mrs) Vimaltai Mundada, Minister for Public Health and Family Welfare, Maharashtra;  M R K Panneerselvam, Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Tamil Nadu; (Industry Panelist) Analjit Singh, Chairman, Max Healthcare; Shivinder Mohan Singh, CEO and MD, Fortis Healthcare and  Preetha Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals Group. (ANI)

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Labels: Health

MP: London, Oct 27 (ANI): Playing computer games may not always slacken kids' performance at school, for a new study has found that children who play computer games before going off to school get better grades than those who don't play such games.

In the study conducted at the St Columba's Primary in Dundee, a group of Primary 5 and 6 pupils played for 20 minutes on Nintendo's handheld DS console at the start of each day which showed 'dramatic' advancements in the classroom after gaming for 20 minutes before the lessons began.

The game, called 'More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima' features number challenges, reading tests, problem-solving exercises and memory puzzles.

The tasks are designed to 'exercise the brain' by increasing blood for to the pre-frontal cortex.

Ten weeks later the group was given a maths test with the results showing a ten per cent average increase compared to those taken before the experiment.

Additionally, the average time for completion of the test dropped from 17 minutes, 1 second to 13 minutes, 19 seconds.

Some of the children even halved the time it took them while maintaining or improving upon their score.

Another group was given the existing educational movement based programme, Brain Gym, during the same experimental period.

The analyses of this particular group found that these children also achieved better results but not to the extent of the Nintendo group.

Along with the children's test scores improving, notable progress was also made in their behaviour and concentration.

Derek Robertson, Learning and Teaching Scotland's development officer, has backed the role of computer games in improving kids' classroom performance.

"There was dramatic enhancement in their mental maths ability in such a short period of time. It also seemed to have a settling effect on the children," the Daily Mail quoted him, as saying. (ANI)

Labels: Health

MP: New Delhi, Oct 26 (ANI): Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss
will inaugurate 'AROGYA 2007', a comprehensive International Health
Fair on Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy,
here today.

The fair is being organized by the Department of AYUSH, aims at
projecting the capabilities and requirements of these systems in
modern day health care, current research trends and exhibiting work of
research institutions under this department.

The three-day fair is being organised by the department with the
collaboration of India Trade Promotion Organisation.

This year for the first time 32 international delegates from 16
countries will participate. These comprise of regulators,
distributors, consultants and academicians related with traditional
medicine (TM) and natural products.

An international meet of TM regulators and industry is being organised
by PHARMEXCIL and Ministry of Commerce.

The fair will showcase participation by drug manufacturing industry,
drug equipment manufacturing industry, publishers and booksellers of
AYUSH, manufacturers of natural foods, research institutes, state
directorates of ISM&H, practitioners of AYUSH systems, medicinal plant
nurseries and other stakeholders.

Some of the main highlights of the fair are International Meet of
Traditional Medicinal Regulators and Industry, first International
Buyer Seller Meet and Conference on Herbal and Medicinal Plants, live
yoga demonstration by experts with personal counselling for treatment
of various diseases through yoga and Naturopathy.

Free health check up, lectures and counselling by specialists in
Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy, Siddha and Yoga and Naturopathy,
Prakriti Pariksha and Nadi Pariksha will also be conducted.

It also includes demonstration of home remedies for common ailments
sale of ISM&H drugs and natural foods and display and sale of
medicinal plants.

The fair till 2004 used to be organised annually only at Delhi.
However, on popular demand, since 2005 regional fairs have also been
organised at Chennai in January 2005 and February 2006 at Hyderabad in
November 2005 and at Dehradun in April 2007.

This year regional fairs are proposed to be organised at Indore from
14 to 17 December this year and at Amritsar from 7 to 10 February in
2008. (ANI)

Labels: Health

MP: New Delhi, Oct 25 (ANI): AROGYA, a comprehensive International
Health Fair on Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and
Homoeopathy will begin here tomorrow.

The fair is being organized by the Department of AYUSH, aims at
projecting the capabilities and requirements of these systems in
modern day health care, current research trends and exhibiting work of
Research Institutions under this Department.

The four-day fair is being organized by the Department with the
collaboration of India Trade Promotion Organisation.

This year for the first time 32 International delegates from 16
countries will participate. These comprise of regulators,
distributors, consultants and academicians related with traditional
medicine (TM) and natural products.

An International meet of TM regulators and industry is being organised
by PHARMEXCIL and Ministry of Commerce.

The fair showcases participation by drug manufacturing industry, drug
equipment manufacturing industry, publishers and booksellers of AYUSH,
manufacturers of natural foods, research institutes, state
directorates of ISM&H, practitioners of AYUSH systems, medicinal plant
nurseries and other stakeholders.

Some of the main highlights of the fair are International Meet of
Traditional Medicinal Regulators and Industry, first International
Buyer Seller Meet and Conference on Herbal and Medicinal Plants, live
yoga demonstration by experts with personal counselling for treatment
of various diseases through yoga and Naturopathy.

Free health check up, lectures and counselling by specialists in
Ayurveda, Unani and Homoeopathy, Siddha and Yoga and Naturopathy,
Prakriti Pariksha and Nadi Pariksha will also be conducted.

It also includes demonstration of home remedies for common ailments
sale of ISM&H drugs and natural foods and display and sale of
medicinal plants.

The fair till 2004 used to be organised annually only at Delhi.
However, on popular demand, since 2005 regional fairs have also been
organised at Chennai in January 2005 and February 2006 at Hyderabad in
November 2005 and at Dehradun in April 2007.

This year regional fairs are proposed to be organised at Indore from
14 to 17 December this year and at Amritsar from 7 to 10 February in
2008. (ANI)

Labels: Health

MP: Washington, Oct 25 (ANI): A research team at the Central Food
Technological Research Institute, in Mysore, India, has demonstrated
the effectiveness of a novel multi-step ulcer preventive activity.

The treatment uses a novel phenol-bound pectic polysaccharide from
Decalepis hamiltonii, plant species found in abundance in India, to
treat multiple complications encountered during ulcers.

The Indian team's remedy provides gastroprotection against swim /
alcohol stress induced ulcers in experimental animal models and
down-regulation of activated H+, K+-ATPase in the stomach tissue, that
leads to acidity.

The olysaccharide also normalises oxidative stress and oxidative
stress induced damage to the stomach tissue, and antioxidant enzymes
which necessitate the management of oxidative stress generated during
gastric ulceration, along with recovery of damaged mucosal epithelium,
which can safeguard the stomach tissue by preventing the entry of an
ulcerogenic, such as Helicobacter pylori.

The identified polysaccharide also exhibited potent antioxidant
activity, including free radical scavenging, DNA protection, and
inhibition of growth of Helicobacter pylori in vitro, confirming the
ability of the polysaccharide in inhibiting various steps of gastric
ulceration directly.

The researchers concluded that a bioactive polysaccharide from swallow
root, with defined sugar composition and phenolic antioxidant,
exhibited multi-potent free radical scavenging antioxidant, anti-H.
pylori, inhibition of H+, K+-ATPase and gastric mucosal protective
activities. Swallow root has been shown to be non-toxic, as opposed to
other known anti-ulcer drugs.

The report appears in the World Journal of Gastroenterology. (ANI)

Labels: Health

 

The ongoing study collaborated by researchers at universities from UK, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland has also shown the diverse ways in which the social context of everyday life has profound influences on sleep quality.

 

 In-depth interviews with women in Italy show how women's sleep is severely disrupted by care-giving roles, especially for frail elderly relatives. Analysis of large-scale surveys has found strong social inequalities in sleep problems with poorer sleep recorded for people living in more disadvantaged social circumstances, such as with low income and low educational attainment.

 

The Chronobiology Group at the University of Surrey has been investigating the effect of blue short wavelength light on circadian rhythms and sleep in the young and elderly. A reduced responsiveness to short wavelength light has been observed in older people and this may have implications for the design of lighting in elderly homes.

 

The group in Munich and Ingolstadt has first evidence for an influence of a chronic sleep disorder going along with severe sleepiness (narcolepsy) on the processing of emotional stimuli in the brain, suggesting that disturbed sleep regulation profoundly interferes with our well being and the interaction with the environment.

 

Basic research in the human sleep research laboratory of the University of Zürich revealed clear age-related changes in the impairment of sustained vigilant attention after one night without sleep. This finding is consistent with epidemiological studies and has important implications for the prevention of accidents associated with the loss of sleep.

 

The group from the University of Zurich, dedicated to animal research, recorded sleep in different mouse models under normal conditions and under enhanced sleep pressure attained by sleep deprivation of a few hours. The effect of pharmacological stimulation of different types of GABAA receptors was investigated. This research aims at opening new avenues for the development of hypnotics. The hypnotic efficacy, when based on normal sleep physiology, should be optimized and lead to less adverse effects.

 

The mentors recognize the pressing need to bring the results of this research network available to all people. Training of the Fellows includes, in addition to the scientific training, also training in communication with the general public. The Fellows are encouraged to write articles and give general presentations – each of them has written a description of their work, which is available on the website ( www.sleep.fi) of the project. (ANI)

Labels: Health

 

In the Women's Health Study, researchers assessed a variety of risk factors and different levels of exercise in women who were followed for 11 years for new diagnosis of heart attack and stroke.

 

"Regular physical activity is enormously beneficial in preventing heart attack and stroke," said Samia Mora, M.D., lead author of the study and instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in the divisions of preventive and cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Mass.

 

 "We found that even modest changes in risk factors for heart disease and stroke, especially those related to inflammation/hemostasis and blood pressure, can have a profound impact on preventing clinical events. This study is the first to examine the importance of a variety of known risk factors in explaining how physical activity prevents heart disease and stroke," Dr Mora said.

 

The women ranged from 45 to 90 years old (average age 55) and were assessed for a full range of risk factors and different levels of exercise. There was a 40 percent reduction in heart attack and stroke between the highest and lowest exercise groups. The women self-reported physical activity, weight, height, hypertension and diabetes.

 

"The long-term benefits of exercise start at a relatively low level, 600 kilocalories per week, equivalent to about two hours of physical activity per week," Mora said.

 

The study measured levels of a variety of traditional and novel risk factors to help understand the mechanisms that reduce risk for heart attack and stroke. Novel risk factors are emerging clinical, biochemical, and genetic markers that researchers have studied in order to better understand the development of a disease, to improve disease risk prediction, and to identify new targets for treatment.

 

Inflammatory and hemostatic biomarkers -- fibrinogen, C-reactive protein and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 -- together made the largest contribution to lower risk, 33 percent.

 

Blood pressure was the next major contributor to lower risk, 27 percent, followed by lipids, body mass index, glucose abnormalities, with minimal contribution from measures of renal function or homocysteine.

 

Inflammatory and hemostatic biomarkers are novel risk factors that relate to blood vessel function and inflammation of the arteries.

 

"Inflammatory and hemostatic factors as a group have overlapping functions and roles and, in our study, had the biggest effect in mediating exercise-related cardioprotection, more so than blood pressure or body weight," Mora said.   (ANI)

Labels: Health

Washington, Oct 23 (ANI): An easy way to control those hunger pangs would be to pop a chewing gum into your mouth before an afternoon snack, say researchers. The researchers, led by Marion Hetherington, D.Phil., Professor of Biopsychology at Glasgow Caledonian University in Glasgow, found that chewing gum can help reduce cravings and control appetite. It also helps promote fullness among people who limit their overall calorie intake. What’s more, the boffins also found that chewing gum can reduce calorie intake from snacks by as much as 25 calories.

Nutritionists say that even small changes in calories can have an impact in the long term. As a part of the study on the effectiveness of gum, researchers asked 60 people between the ages of 18 to 54 to consume a sweet and salty afternoon snack after chewing a sweetened gum or not chewing gum. They then checked for hunger, appetite and cravings immediately after lunch, and then hourly. Apart from reducing caloric intake by 25 calories, the researchers also found that it specifically reduced sweet snack intake by 39 calories; and salty snacks by 11 calories.

Hunger and desire to eat were significantly suppressed by chewing gum at one, two and three hour intervals after lunch. Participants reported that chewing gum improved their mood by reducing anxiety and stress, and increasing contentment and relaxation. In a similar study among individuals not actively trying to manage their weight, chewing gum reduced snack intake by average of 36 calories. Data combined from both studies found that chewing gum reduced intake of the sweet snack in particular by an average of 47 calories. The research study is to be presented at the 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting of The Obesity Society. (ANI)

Labels: Health

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