HEALTH
10 Easy steps for a longer life
Many of us strive for great health improvements such as joining the gym and giving up alcohol. But some of the most dramatic changes we can make are incredibly simple. Dailymail, UK, suggests ten easy steps that really will make a difference to your life:
1. Floss at least twice daily to prevent tooth decay, and to reduce the risk of life-threatening diseases such as mouth cancer and heart disease. Choose proper dental floss; never use objects like pin, scissors and earrings to remove food from between your teeth.
2. Get your eyes tested thoroughly at least every two years. It can detect underlying conditions that leave you predisposed to sight loss.
3. Eat ‘good’ bacteria or probiotics: They are essential for our digestive health and help the immune system to work. One of the best sources of probiotics is natural yoghurt.
4. Take a cholesterol test: Everyone over 40 should know his cholesterol level and then aim to reduce it. Ask your GP for a simple blood test.
5. Maintain a good posture: Don’t droop. It’s the most effective weapon against chronic back problems. Simply stopping your slouch habit at your desk and not carrying around heavy objects can make a huge difference. You may also take up Pilates – a system of pushing and stretching exercise – if you are prone to the problem.
6. Switch to low – salt foods: Remove salt from your dining table or just switch to unsalted butter; it could make a difference in long term. The recommended amount of salt per day is 6g. Check food labels. Choose those with low salt or sodium content – 0.25g of salt per 100g of food, or 0.1 sodium per 100g.
7. Eat fish every week: Omega – 3 fatty acids in oily fish (small fishes such as sardines, tuna and herring) play an important part in the development of the central nervous system, and in countering a range of conditions, including heart disease and Alzheimer’s. According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), UK, we should try to eat two portions of fish a week, one of them oily.
8. Reduce your waistline: The waistline is a better indication of health than your Body Mass Index. Women should have a waistline of less than 31.5inches and men 37 inches. The simplest way is to lose weight overall.
9. Do regular pelvic floor exercise: They improve bladder control. Squeeze your pelvic floor muscles as if you were trying to hold back urine. Then tighten these muscles and hold for a few seconds. Repeat this ten times, and do the whole exercise at least four times a day.
10. Stop making plans: Live in the moment, if you have too many regrets or set yourself unachievable goals, you’ll end up disappointed, says a psychotherapist. An increase in ‘mindfulness’ reduces stress and boosts the immune system, suggest a review by the U.S. National Academy of Science.
Brain surgery cures nurse of depression
London: A nurse engaged in a long battle with depression has become the world’s first person to benefit from neurosurgery.
Sheila Cook, 62, suffered for more than a decade with debilitating depression which left her suicidal and often unable to feed or clothe herself. She was forced to retire from her job and her husband, a physics researcher, also had to give up his work to take care of her full time.
But now, Cook, a grandmother, is beginning to enjoy life again after pioneering treatment was offered to her in Bristol. The treatment accurately targets brain networks involved in depression, the Telegraph reports. Cook, who wasn’t responding to anti-depressants, was offered deep brain stimulation (DBS), in the world’s first trial of the treatment. DBS consists of inserting thin wires in the brain that are connected to a matchbox sized “pacemaker” instead under the skin that provides constant electric stimulation.
The effects are to inhibit and stimulate brain circuits that are either too active or under–active. These brain circuits are known to be involved with the regulation and control of emotion.
Although DBS eased her condition, she relapsed and went on to be the first to have further advanced neurosurgery – “anterior cingulotomy” – in early 2010.
Since having the treatment, Cook says her life has changed and she feels happy for the first time in 10 years.
“The effects were remarkable. Within a few weeks my life changed. I read books, did the housework, went for walks and perhaps most importantly, got to know my family again,” Cook said. Andrea Malizia, at Bristol University, led the study along with Nikhunj Patel, neurosurgeon at North Bristol National Health Service Trust.
Many of us strive for great health improvements such as joining the gym and giving up alcohol. But some of the most dramatic changes we can make are incredibly simple. Dailymail, UK, suggests ten easy steps that really will make a difference to your life:
1. Floss at least twice daily to prevent tooth decay, and to reduce the risk of life-threatening diseases such as mouth cancer and heart disease. Choose proper dental floss; never use objects like pin, scissors and earrings to remove food from between your teeth.
2. Get your eyes tested thoroughly at least every two years. It can detect underlying conditions that leave you predisposed to sight loss.
3. Eat ‘good’ bacteria or probiotics: They are essential for our digestive health and help the immune system to work. One of the best sources of probiotics is natural yoghurt.
4. Take a cholesterol test: Everyone over 40 should know his cholesterol level and then aim to reduce it. Ask your GP for a simple blood test.
5. Maintain a good posture: Don’t droop. It’s the most effective weapon against chronic back problems. Simply stopping your slouch habit at your desk and not carrying around heavy objects can make a huge difference. You may also take up Pilates – a system of pushing and stretching exercise – if you are prone to the problem.
6. Switch to low – salt foods: Remove salt from your dining table or just switch to unsalted butter; it could make a difference in long term. The recommended amount of salt per day is 6g. Check food labels. Choose those with low salt or sodium content – 0.25g of salt per 100g of food, or 0.1 sodium per 100g.
7. Eat fish every week: Omega – 3 fatty acids in oily fish (small fishes such as sardines, tuna and herring) play an important part in the development of the central nervous system, and in countering a range of conditions, including heart disease and Alzheimer’s. According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), UK, we should try to eat two portions of fish a week, one of them oily.
8. Reduce your waistline: The waistline is a better indication of health than your Body Mass Index. Women should have a waistline of less than 31.5inches and men 37 inches. The simplest way is to lose weight overall.
9. Do regular pelvic floor exercise: They improve bladder control. Squeeze your pelvic floor muscles as if you were trying to hold back urine. Then tighten these muscles and hold for a few seconds. Repeat this ten times, and do the whole exercise at least four times a day.
10. Stop making plans: Live in the moment, if you have too many regrets or set yourself unachievable goals, you’ll end up disappointed, says a psychotherapist. An increase in ‘mindfulness’ reduces stress and boosts the immune system, suggest a review by the U.S. National Academy of Science.
Brain surgery cures nurse of depression
London: A nurse engaged in a long battle with depression has become the world’s first person to benefit from neurosurgery.
Sheila Cook, 62, suffered for more than a decade with debilitating depression which left her suicidal and often unable to feed or clothe herself. She was forced to retire from her job and her husband, a physics researcher, also had to give up his work to take care of her full time.
But now, Cook, a grandmother, is beginning to enjoy life again after pioneering treatment was offered to her in Bristol. The treatment accurately targets brain networks involved in depression, the Telegraph reports. Cook, who wasn’t responding to anti-depressants, was offered deep brain stimulation (DBS), in the world’s first trial of the treatment. DBS consists of inserting thin wires in the brain that are connected to a matchbox sized “pacemaker” instead under the skin that provides constant electric stimulation.
The effects are to inhibit and stimulate brain circuits that are either too active or under–active. These brain circuits are known to be involved with the regulation and control of emotion.
Although DBS eased her condition, she relapsed and went on to be the first to have further advanced neurosurgery – “anterior cingulotomy” – in early 2010.
Since having the treatment, Cook says her life has changed and she feels happy for the first time in 10 years.
“The effects were remarkable. Within a few weeks my life changed. I read books, did the housework, went for walks and perhaps most importantly, got to know my family again,” Cook said. Andrea Malizia, at Bristol University, led the study along with Nikhunj Patel, neurosurgeon at North Bristol National Health Service Trust.
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