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of Delhi has a similar problem. For the past six years, she has maintained a strict diet regime. One hour of yoga or aerobics and evening walks are part of her daily routine. A part-time fashion designer and mother of two, she does most of the housework. Still her weight |
does not dip below 72 kg. For her height of 165 centimetres, Vashista should not weigh more than 63 kg. Both Vashista and Rao share the fate of many people who even after hours of slogging on the treadmill and giving a miss to their favourite foods are unable to |
shed those extra pounds. The World Health Statistics released in May by the World Health Organization (WHO) also points to the growing trouble. It shows obesity has doubled across the world between 1980 and 2008. Health experts say overeating and junk food are the biggest reasons behind the rise in |
obesity world over, but they cannot explain why some people are unable to lose weight when they control these habits. Moreover, food could hardly be blamed for the increase in weight of babies below six months. Data from a research by Harvard Medical School shows the percentage of overweight infants |
has nearly doubled from 3.4 to 5.9 between 1980 and 2001 in the US. Baffled researchers who set out to find the reasons say the toxins in the environment, microbes and rise in temperature also play a role in making people fat. Specifically, exposure to certain toxins, such as pesticides, |
emissions from vehicles and the material that the plastic bottle is made of, can lead to weight gain. Epidemiological studies suggest everyone, including those not yet born, are at risk. Most such studies have been done in the US. For instance, a study in the US on pregnant women in |
New York City showed that women exposed to higher concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, from vehicular and industrial exhaust and smoke from cigarettes, were more than twice as likely to have children who were obese by the age of seven. The study was conducted by researchers from Mailman |
School of Public Health at Columbia University. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the US show similar results. When children between six and 19 years of age were tested for the presence of pesticide 2,5-dichlorophenol—commonly used in moth balls, and room and toilet deodorisers, and previously used as |
an insecticidal fumigant—it was found that obesity was directly proportional to the levels of the chemical in the blood. The study was published in Reviews on Environmental Health in 2011. Adults with higher levels of Bisphenol A (BPA)—commonly used in plastic bottles—were also found to be more prone to general |
and abdominal obesity by researchers of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Till date, about 20 chemicals have been nailed for inducing weight gaining tendencies and many more may soon make it to the list. Based on their effect, the chemicals have been christened obesogens (see ‘History of |
obesogens’). This does not mean diet regimes and treadmill are redundant. Whether obesogen exposure causes permanent changes in the body leading to obesity is currently under study in laboratories across the world, developmental biologist Bruce Blumberg says. Epidemiological studies give only indications. Direct studies are available only on animals. In |
his lab in the University of California, Irvine, US, Blumberg is analysing the obesogenic impact of a chemical, tributyltin (TBT), on mice. TBT is a biocide that is used in paints in ships to prevent the growth of algae on the hulls. It has now been banned because it leaches |
into the sea and affects marine life. Blumberg says, “Prenatal exposure to TBT produces irreversible effects in mice.” They get fatter despite a normal diet because TBT alters their metabolism. “So if you were exposed at a sensitive time during your life such that you have more, larger fat cells |
and stem cells that are predisposed to become fat cells, you will have to fight a lifelong battle against weight gain.” Obesogens in action Exposure to obesogens at any age can lead to obesity, but foetuses and young children have been found to be the most vulnerable. The chemicals enter |
the developing foetus through the mother’s blood and cause modifications in the expression of genes. These are called epigenetic changes and lead to “foetal programming”. For example, under the influence of the toxins the stem cells may be programmed to make fat cells instead of bone cells, predisposing the unborn |
child to be plump. A study published in the May issue of PNAS found that epigenetic changes caused by a fungicide, vinclozolin, can be passed on to as many as three generations. In children and adults, however, the obesogenic effect of chemicals manifests as changes in metabolism through regulation of |
hormones. For instance, the chemicals affect the functioning of the thyroid gland, which controls metabolism. This lowers the metabolic rate and the body burns fewer calories. Other hormones affected by obesogens are leptin that regulates the feeling of satiety and resistin that reduces insulin sensitivity and leads to type 2 |
diabetes. These hormones are produced by the adipose tissue which till recently was believed to be just a storage space for fat. Studies have found that this tissue too has become a target of obesogens such as the fungicide, tolylfluanid. It increases the formation of fat cells and reduces leptin |
secretion and results in higher food intake. Another chemical, tributyltin chloride affects production of fat cells by controlling a receptor protein on the nucleus of the stem cells called peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG). It stimulates the receptor and predisposes stem cells to become fat cells. The WHO’s health statistics |
reveal that women are more likely to be obese than men. This was established by a study published in the May issue of Environmental Health Perspectives where the researchers studied 665 Danish women who reported pregnancy in the late 1980s. The levels of perfluorooctanoate (PFOA)—a chemical used to make non-stick |
cookware—were measured in their blood. The researchers analysed Body Mass Index (BMI), an indicator of body fat, of their offspring 20 years later in 2009. They found daughters of women, who had about 6 nanogram/millilitre (ng/ml) of PFOA in their serum, had on average 1.6 kg/m2 higher BMI compared to |
daughters of women who had about 2 ng/ml of the chemical in their blood. They did not find the BMI difference in male offspring. Researchers say the reason behind women being more susceptible could be that they have more fat deposits in the body. This makes them more vulnerable to |
the fat-soluble environmental toxins. Women have 25-31% body fat, while men have 18-25%, according to American Council on Exercise. What is more worrisome is the fact that the obesogenic effect of the chemicals is evident even at very low doses. The same chemical at high doses becomes toxic and leads |
to weight loss. The obesogens do not follow the long held principle of toxicology which suggests that chemicals follow a linear curve—the larger the amount of the chemical, the more the effect on people. In case of obesogens lower doses can have more effect. This means regulators are unlikely to |
set appropriate safe limits for chemicals since they test them taking into consideration their linear pathway. Frederick S vom Saal, professor at the University of Missouri in the US, who has done pioneering work on BPA, including analysing its association with obesity, says that most of the studies show that |
the human body carries between 0.5 and 4 ng/ml (parts per billion) of BPA in the serum. This range can be harmful, he says. The chemical can mimic estradiol and cause breast cancer even at amounts below one part per trillion, 1,000 times lower than found in the human body, |
he explains. Research on obesogens is still in its infancy. Scientists are looking at all kinds of chemicals with suspicion. A decade of research has identified about 20 chemicals present in the environment as obesogens. History Of Obesogens Paula Baillie-Hamilton, a doctor in the UK, was having a hard time |
losing weight after pregnancy. Looking for ways to lose fat, she chanced upon an article on how pesticides were playing havoc with animals by inducing hormonal changes in them. It was a eureka moment. She wondered whether hormonal changes due to chemicals in the environment could be playing a role |
in her inability to shed pounds. A three-year-long research unearthed enough evidence. There were studies as far back as in the 1970s to show that low-dose chemical exposures were associated with weight gain in animals. She published the results in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2002. The |
paper was noticed by many researchers who had observed similar phenomenon in their lab animals. They initiated studies to observe the effect of the toxins on the body’s metabolism. Retha Newbold of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in the US tested Diethylstilbestrol (DES), used in drugs, on |
mice. They were treated with 0.001 mg/kg of DES and their weight was measured after four months. While the treated mice had average weight of 40.3 grams, those not exposed weighed 30.7 grams. By 2007, the evidence was so clear that a University of California scientist, Bruce Blumberg, gave these |
Skip to content Skip to navigation menu 21 August 2010 How do you know where your keys are? Why do we develop habits and what influences our judgement? Throughout the University, psychologists, behavioural geneticists and neurologists are working together to understand the fundamental mechanisms of learning and memory. Their work has implications for understanding brain function and changes as well as giving vital insight |
into neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. One of those at the forefront of this research is Professor John Pearce FRS of the School of Psychology. Internationally recognised for his contribution to the study of associative learning and conditioning in animals, Professor Pearce is currently using a novel new technique to explore where animals will direct their attention when they are learning |
about changes in their environment. Much of his current research is focused on homing pigeons, whose remarkable vision makes them ideal for studying changes in attention during complex learning tasks. "The term 'bird brained' is a bit of a misnomer. At least in some respect, pigeons display considerable intelligence," says Professor Pearce. "For example, they are capable of remembering hundreds of different photographs, and |
of forming something akin to concepts. The experiments in our test chambers are revealing, not surprisingly, that pigeons attend to stimuli that signal the delivery of important events such as food or water, but they also pay attention when they can't work out what a stimulus is signalling." The main purpose of Professor Pearce's research is to identify a general set of principles specifying |
where an animal will direct its attention. Once these principles are clear he intends to identify the neural mechanisms responsible for changes in attention. In a separate study, Cardiff academics are investigating how people remember information. What if, whenever you tried to remember where you had left your keys, every place you had ever left your keys came to mind? In order to remember |
something, people need to recall the relevant information, but it is just as important to avoid recalling irrelevant information. Using a combination of brain imaging techniques to track changes in neural activity in real time, Dr Ed Wilding, School of Psychology, has explored how successful remembering involves recalling some kinds of information whilst inhibiting others. "We have shown that people automatically inhibit irrelevant information |
when trying to remember, and how well you can inhibit irrelevant information predicts how good your memory is," says Wilding. "We now have a clearer idea of the roles that inhibition plays in memory retrieval. This is important for understanding why memory abilities can decline with increasing age, because our capacity for inhibition also declines as we get older." This is an extract from |
In circuit A below, the input voltage source is x(t) = 12u(-t) where u(t) is the unit step function of time. Also Z1= 1 Ohm and Z2= 1 Henry. 1.1 |
Write a first order differential equation for theoutput y(t). 1.2 Derive y(t) for t < 0. 1.3 Derive y(t) for t > 0. 1.4 Write an expression for y(t) for |
Allergies (hives!) and processed corn products Why would someone break out in hives off an on for months or years? How could it be that no cause is found? What happens when the hives keep getting worse? In the last five years I have seen more and more people with |
the diagnosis of “chronic hives.” The hives had gotten worse for most people, beginning to take over skin area like an invading army. And in addition, it seemed that the hives had started to take over their lives–waking them up at night, causing them to wear long sleeves in the |
heat to cover the spots, and sometimes developing into life-threatening, throat-closing reactions. My patients said that all too quickly the doctors had stopped looking for causes and started focusing on different combinations of drugs to suppress the reactions. They got tired from Benadryl, were up at night, gaining weight, and |
feeling “crazy” from oral Prednisone. Most of them felt that after a very short time topical steroid creams were not effective. With a very careful, detailed medical history, and comprehensive testing for allergies, we began to look for the causes of the hives. One was blue clothing dye, another was |
nickel, but most were foods or food additives. Among the many allergenic foods, the most common, and the “sneakiest” cause of hives was processed corn products. These are especially hard to find because very often people who do not react when they eat plain, unprocessed corn, do react when they |
eat products that contain corn starch, corn syrup, or corn sugars–dextrose, maltodextrin, sorbitol (there is sorbitol in most toothpastes–see below!) and erythritol–there are too many to name here. I believe there are two reasons for that: - First, more and more processed corn products have been injected into the marketplace. |
For any of you who saw the documentary King Corn, there is a scene where the filmmakers show a supermarket aisle. They have examined all of the products on both sides of the long aisle, and there is not one that does not contain corn. - Second, the processed corn |
contains traces of all the chemical extractives that were used to process it. These chemicals function as haptens, or adjuvants which in immunologic terms means substances that increase the allergenic properties of another substance. So corn, which is already a common allergen, is made even more allergenic by processing. It |
turns out that the patient with the increasingly severe reactions in her mouth was allergic to processed corn, and was reacting to the corn sugar sorbitol, in her toothpaste. Everyone else was also allergic to corn, and some were allergic to dairy or eggs or gluten as well. Some of |
them had been scratch tested for food allergies as well, and came up negative–I believe that this was because the processed form of the corn products was not tested. The most severe allergic reaction to processed corn we have encountered was to the corn sugar in the IV solution known |
as D5W–which contains 5 grams of dextrose (corn sugar) for each 100 ml of water. This man was dying in the intensive care unit, had been given D5W despite being told that he was allergic to corn, and recovered very quickly when his IV was changed to plain saline (salt |
water.) The other source of corn products in addition to foods is body products. It is amazing how many of them now contain corn starch, syrup or sugars. Although not everyone is equally vulnerable to reactions from processed corn, it is in so many forms, in so many products that |
it is all too easy to get an overdose of it, day after day, and to be sensitized to it as an allergen. Bottom line: eat as many whole foods as possible, and avoid processed foods that contain corn starch, corn sugars and corn syrup, and that have labels a |
an exam, all eye doctors check the physical condition and health of their patients’ eyes, as well as their refractive status—in other words, what lens prescription best corrects nearsightedness, farsightedness, |
or astigmatism for clear vision. Development optometrists do this as well. However, besides making sure their patients are healthy and see clearly, developmental optometrists are also concerned with how efficiently |
their patients’ vision allows them to function. In addition to providing a routine eye exam, developmental optometrists run additional tests to determine if their patients have developed the visual skills |
they need to adequately perform tasks required in their daily lives, especially at work or school. Developmental optometrists are also specialists in the field of lazy eyes and crossed or |
wandering eyes. optometrists must complete two to three years of post-graduate training after their optometric degree. They are also required to complete extensive clinicals and submit case studies before they |
can sit for their national boards. Once developmental optometrists finish their additional education and successfully pass both the written and oral examinations on their boards, they are credentialed as Fellows |
in the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, with the certification of F.C.O.V.D. added to their professional title. (Note: Sometimes developmental optometrists are called behavioral optometrists because of their role |
in evaluating how vision affects behavior and performance. They are also referred to as pediatric optometrists because of their frequent work with children.) role of the board-certified developmental optometrist is |
becoming increasingly important in today’s visually demanding world. Approximately 20% of the population has not developed adequate visual skills needed to function properly, especially when viewing small objects up close |
as required when reading print, one of the most demanding tasks placed on our visual systems. As specialists in visual function, a developmental optometrist will evaluate the following areas: Binocularity, |
or how the eyes interact with each other and how they transmit information to the brain. The doctor measure the eyes’ ability to aim together accurately in order to maintain |
single vision, and they check to make certain the eyes don’t slide out of alignment, such as with crossed or wandering eyes. Oculomotility, or tracking. Developmental optometrists will also check |
their patients’ ability to control where they aim their eyes, such as the skill required for reading so we don't lose our place. They also make sure patients can follow |
a moving target smoothly and are able to make accurate eye jumps from one point to another. Accommodation, or focusing. Developmental optometrists evaluate their patients’ ability to change their focus |
rapidly and smoothly when looking from distance to near and back again, such as from board to desk. In addition, developmental optometrists check to see if patients can maintain clear |
focus at near ranges for extended periods of time without blur or fatigue, such as required for reading small Vision Perception. Developmental optometrists also run tests to determine if patients |
have developed the perceptual skills they need to understand and analyze what they see, checking skills such as visual memory, visual discrimination, visual closure, and visual figure-ground. Visual Motor Integration, |
or eye-hand-body coordination. Finally, developmental optometrists run tests to see if patients’ visual systems are efficiently transmitting information to the body’s motor centers for good balance and coordination. This is |
especially important for young athletes. Please see the page on "Vision and Reading" for a more complete discussion of the above areas. can have healthy eyes and clear vision and |
still have problems in these other areas. However, because this is a specialized area of care, most eye doctors do not run the additional tests to identify problems. Therefore, many |
functional vision disorders are not identified during most standard eye exam. Patients often attribute their symptoms to other problems, such as learning disabilities or attention deficit disorders, when the real |
source of their functional decline is an undiagnosed vision problem. (Please see the symptoms checklist for common signs of “hidden” vision your child is struggling to visually process information, especially |
in reading, or has trouble paying attention with visually demanding work, you may want to consider asking your family eye doctor to refer you to a colleague who specializes in |
Do you experience stress? Do you know how stress affects your body? Do you know stress comes in multiple forms: physical or trauma, chemical and mental? Stress is listed by the American Medical Association as the leading basic cause of more than 60% of all illness and disease. It is known to be the cause of many illnesses and symptoms |
ranging from high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, anxiety, ADD or ADHD, digestive problems like Chron’s, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and acid reflux, immune deficiency, allergies, headaches, musculoskeletal disorders, fibromyalgia, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, insomnia, breathing problems and much more. Stress can also lead to many addictions like smoking and alcohol and even lead to suicide. Many people reach for different |
medications to fight many of these conditions and symptoms that result from stress. Unfortunately most don’t realize the drugs are just covering up the symptoms and resulting in other symptoms due to side effects. This is a vicious cycle currently used by most medical doctors in treating their patients. The nervous system coordinates all functions of the body and when |
under stress, the body has a difficult time regulating the organs, tissues and cells of the body. The best method of correcting the problem is addressing the nervous system to bring it back to balance. This is what chiropractic does for you! Chiropractors work with your nervous system because it is like a circuit breaker system through which the spinal |
cord and nerves send their messages. Messages from the brain go to all parts of your body via the spinal cord and at every level of your spine between the vertebra, nerves go to their destination either a muscle, organ or other tissue of the body. If the messages from the brain are uninterrupted, the body can handle stress more |
easily and function optimally to bring you natural health and wellness. But due to the different daily stresses we experience from birth til death, the spinal bones that protect the nervous system can move out of place therefore interfering with the nerve messages and causing dysfunction, disease and symptoms. Chiropractors detect and correct the misalignments (subluxations) of the spine by |
adjusting the vertebra to remove the nerve irritation which helps release muscular tension, increase circulation and improve function of the body. Everybody experiences stress! You have to learn to manage stress including exercise, proper nutrition, do activities you enjoy, meditate, get adequate sleep and most importantly get your spine checked and adjusted by a chiropractor. Don’t wait for symptoms like |
headaches, digestive problems, daily aches and pains, high blood pressure, weight gain or other issues to show up as the symptoms are the last sign to show up. Prevention and maintenance with chiropractic care helps keep stress at bay and your body functioning optimally to maintain your health and wellness so you can enjoy your family and normal daily activities. |
In our Freehold NJ office, Hometown Family Wellness Center, we take a multi-pronged natural approach to reducing your stress and improving your health naturally. With state of the art technology we will measure how your nervous system is functioning, what sensitivities you are experiencing due to stressors, and analyze how your adrenal glands are functioning. Your adrenal glads are also |
Although we believe it to be sound advice, the fact is for those whose flu-like symptoms have already relegated them to the bed or the living room couch, such warnings |
are now a moot point. But it’s not too late for others whose good fortune of good health has kept them on their feet, at work and at play. The |
fewer who receive flu shots, the more the dreaded winter bug will spread. Common signs of influenza are high fever, severe body aches, headache, extreme fatigue, sore throat, cough, runny |
or stuffy nose or both, and on occasion vomiting and/or diarrhea, the latter two symptoms of which are most common in children. And that brings us to today’s subject; that |
is, proper techniques for caring for a flu patient within the home. These tips are provided by the East Tennessee Region of the American Red Cross. Following these suggestions might |
aid in stemming the spread of the illness within a household and subsequently into the community. They include: - Designate one person in the household as the caregiver and have |
other family members avoid close contact with the patient. - Make sure the person stays at home and rests until 24 hours after the fever is gone. - Designate a |
sick room for the person if possible. If a household has more than one sick person, try to have them share one room and one bathroom, if doable. Each sick |
person should be given his own drinking glass, washcloth and towel. - Keep these items within easy reach in the sick room: Tissues, trash can lined with plastic trash bag, |
alcohol-based hand rub, cooler or pitcher with ice and drinks, thermometer and a cup with straw or squeeze bottle. A humidifier will help the person breathe better, especially at night, |
and the sick should wear a face mask, if available, if they leave the room. - Give patients plenty of liquids to prevent dehydration. - Treat fever and cough with |
medicines that can be purchased at the store. - If the person’s condition worsens, the person is pregnant or has a medical condition (like asthma), see a doctor for an |
examination and possibly antiviral medicine. - Avoid sharing pens, papers, clothes, towels, sheet, blankets, food or eating utensils unless properly cleaned between uses. - Disinfect doorknobs, switches, handles, computers, telephones, |
bedside tables, bathroom sinks, toilets, counters, toys and other common surfaces. - Dishes should be washed with extremely hot water and soap. - For washing clothes, also use very hot |
water and detergent. - Wear disposable gloves when in contact with or cleaning up body fluids. Granted, some of the above suggestions might sound a little over the top, but |
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