good and bad cholestrol

 

1. The cholesterol numbers shown above are established by the American Heart Association. 2. The scales are linear. 3. The vertical alignment of the scales is arbitrary, and was done to align the white borderline areas, in order to facilitate comparisons. 4. The LDL levels shown with an asterisk are recommended for certain high-risk subjects. 5. As you can see, my cholesterol levels remained fairly stable over a 4-year period. Do you need to lower your high cholesterol numbers? You may need to take statin drugs.

BLOOD PRESSURE CHART

No child’s play

Children forced into the rat race at an early age by parents are prone to a range of health problems

Class VII student Barnali Majumder dreams of "escaping the clutches of studies" whenever her mother pressurises her to work harder. 

    Barnali, however, does not consider playing with friends as a way of relaxation. "I prefer cycling and swimming. I don't have time to go out and play with my friends," she says. 
    Her mother, Jharna, a primary school teacher, says, "Gone are the days of games and sports, children don't have any time, so exercise is the best way to stay healthy." 
    Jharna is of the opinion that exercise solves most ailments and is worried that a lack of exercise may be responsible for Barnali's eyesight problems. 
    It is a situation that Dr Supriyo Chatterjee, a senior consultant in general and paediatric optometry, is familiar with. "Two common causes of myopia include lack of outdoor activities resulting in increased television watching or playing computer games and parental pressure which results in long study hours without any breaks," he says. 
    Parents with no time to look after their children further deteriorate the situation. "Many mothers often switch on the TV to keep their kids busy. Such a practice often leads children to become TV addicts and the eyes suffer fromcontinued viewing," says the doctor. 
    Parents, however, blame the intense competition in schools. "Our children have no time to play. My son studies in Class V and is so busy with school, tuition and creative writing classes that he has no time to play. We can't do much nowadays because the curriculum is so competitive," says Mandira, a housewife. 
    Her son blames peer pressure for his schedule. "My classmates and I always talk about getting good marks in exams. I want to do better than them when I sit for an exam and feel the need to keep on studying. I am too tired to exercise as all my energy is spent rushing from one tuition to another." 
    Experts believe that the way parents treat children plays a major role in this issue. "Children nowadays are mini adults, they aren't kids anymore. When would they have the time to play around as they are thrown into the rat race so early in life? Parents nowadays do not have adequate time to invest in their kids and hence want the kids to behave like miniature adults. They do not want the kids to play around as that would require more supervision," says clinical and rehabilitation psychologist Paromita Mitra Bhaumik. 
    Another culprit leading to poor health in kids is fast food. Here, parents don't have the time to make a wholesome meal and kids gorge on unhealthy food. "However unlike the US and the UK, where kids feasting on fast food have numerous parks to play around, kids here do not have that option. The numbers of playgrounds is decreasing with each passing day. All these combined together leads to deteriorating physical health among children," she adds. 
    (Inputs by Tania Ghosh)

Work it out

 More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of keeping fit in order to keep diseases at bay. Busy lifestyles however mean that urban lifestyle diseases are on a rise. 

    There are three types of problems seen increasingly in the urban populace: 1. People becoming increasingly overweight to the extent of being obese 2. High blood pressure that could be stress related or genetic and 3. Diseases affecting bone density including osteoporosis 
    Obesity and hypertension are common among both men and women, however I see about one out of three women suffering from osteoporosis. 
    The requisite exercise and diet depends on the condition the person is in. 
OBESITY 
    It is important that overweight people have some mental discipline when it comes to health. Overweight people are often pretty enthusiastic when they start with a weight loss schedule. What often happens is that they yo-yo between going to the gym, binging and going back to the sedentary lifestyle and hitting the gym again. 
    Some people, particularly youngsters, opt for drastic measures such as crash dieting and over-exercise. The key here is to go slow and steady. The body needs an hour of exercise at the most each day. Over-exercising takes place if the duration, intensity and frequency are overdone for the individual's fitness level. Overexercise could happen for something as simple as the incline on the treadmill being too steep. 
Recommended routine: Low impact cardiovascular exercises, aerobics, walking, cycling and swimming. Start with 30 minutes a day and gradually increase to 60 minutes. Diet: Low fat diet. Exercise alone will not help in losing weight. 
HYPERTENSION 
Those suffering from hypertension often have high blood pressure. It is important to keep the exercises to a lowimpact such as walking, swimming and using gym equipment as part of the exercise routine. Recommended routine: Light weight training Diet: Less salt, low fat diet. The food should be healthy. People suffering from hypertension can also be obese. 
OSTEOPOROSIS 
More women than men suffer from this condition. I have seen cases of osteoporosis as well as osteopenia and osteoarthritis. All these conditions involve bone density. It is important for those afflicted with these conditions to get involved in an exercise programme that will increase bone strength. Weight training is an excellent way to increase the bone strength as are some machines. Other than going to the gym, walking, taking the stairs and playing tennis are recommended. Swimming and cycling, however, do not help. 
    Recommended routine: Use dumbbells at the gym. Vitamin D, which is obtained through sunlight, is also important. 
    Diet: Increase the calcium intake for stronger bones. Food such as milk, yogurt, orange juice, sardines, egg yolk, tuna and green vegetables help in strengthening bones. 
TOO STRESSED TO EXERCISE? 
    Your body needs a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise each day. It is important to be relaxed. Being fit does not necessarily mean going to the gym and working out. Do what relaxes you. It could be taking a stroll in the park or deep breathing through pranayama. Go to the spa and get a massage. 
    Recommended routine: Every individual has their own connect be it music, breathing or yoga that act as a stress buster. 
    Diet: It is important to have a regular diet with six mini meals for constant release of energy. If one is very stressed out, then not having food will increase stress and make them irritable. Mini meals result in regular energy spurts. The diet should have proteins, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. A sandwich with paneer and vegetables is a good example. 
    (Jain is a clinical exercise specialist) 
    As told to Sudakshina Ghosh

City hearts beat to fat, sugar CHOLESTEROL

High Risk Of Cardiac Arrest, Finds Study

Mumbai: All is definitely not well with the heart of the city—both young and old. A study on Mumbaikars by P D Hinduja Hospital reveals some gloomy facts, highlighting the need for urgent steps to stem the impending cardiac epidemic. Metabolic factors that increase risk of heart disease by two-fold and diabetes by fivefold, was unbelievably high in the sample group. 

    The study conducted on 560 people (302 men, 246 women) aged 20-90 revealed 20% had more than three out of five metabolic factors like obesity, diabetes, high triglycerides (bad cholesterol), low HDL-C (good cholesterol) and elevated blood pressure. An equally worrying revelation was that 79.01% were overweight or obese. As many as 95% had at least one abnormal parameter. 
    The prevalence of metabolic factors was much higher in males at 25.16% as compared to females at 12.6%. But most importantly, the study revealedbeyond doubt that young hearts were particularly at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases as most of those who showed low levels of HDL-C or good cholesterol were in the age group of 20-40 years. "About 65% of those with less of good cholesterol were between 20-40 years," said Dr T F Ashavaid, head, department of Laboratory Medicine, PD Hinduja Hospital, who oversaw the project, adding obesity was one of the biggest concerns. 
    Lipoprotein A (LpA), believed to be responsible for heart attacks at a younger age, was found in elevated levels, and females particularly were high on this parameter. "The study showed about 26.37% of males and 33.73%females had elevated levels of LpA," said researcher Apurva Sawant. "Just about 5% of the sample size was free of factors adding to morbidity," said Sawant. 
    Similar was the case with triglycerides or bad cholesterol. About 40% had elevated fasting blood glucose levels and triglyceride. "Indians have a peculiar form of dyslipidemia where triglyceride is more and HDL is less, it makes them more prone to heart problems," said Dr Aashish Contractor, head of preventive cardiology and rehabilitation, Asian Heart Institute. But experts say it may not be enough to blame genes. "Genetics can be managed with a good lifestyle," said Contractor. "Less physical activity and more refined food is putting the population at a heightened risk." 
Young, Obese And In Clear Danger 
95% of the people had at least one abnormal parameter 20% of people were found to be suffering from metabolic syndrome About 79.01% were either overweight or obese 39.96% had high fasting blood glucose and triglycerides 
Low HDL-C (good cholesterol) in men aged 20-40 was 64.91% Lipoprotein A (LpA), believed to cause premature heart attacks, was high in 26.37% of males and 33.73% females 
Elevations of serum CRP carry predictive power for development of heart disease 
Around 10% had high levels of CRP, a cardiac marker 
Of those with elevated CRP, 86.95% were obese 
    *Study size: 560 people

What your body mass index IS NOT TELLING YOU

Patients With 'Normal' BMI Battling Health Problems Associated With Obesity Mumbai: At 17 years, Rujuta Durake was overweight but not obese. Her Body Mass Index (BMI) was 26—a figure that does not warranty the need for metabolic surgery. But not only did Rujuta undergo a gastric bypass, doctors also diagnosed her with Type 2 diabetes, a disease usually associated with obesity. Her doctors found an unusually high percentage of fat deposits around the teenager's liver and intestine.      "Traditionally, a BMI of 30 and above is a sign of obesity. Though Rujuta's BMI was 26, her body fat percentage was 49%, much higher than the normal limit, which is 22% for women,'' said Dr Dr Shashank Shah, bariatric surgeon at L H Hiranandani Hospital. There are many people like Rujuta, who suffer from health problems associated with obesity even though their BMI does not indicate it. It's little wonder, then, that doctors are insisting that BMI can't be the only tool to measure obesity.      "While BMI is an accepted measurement of obesity, it doesn't measure adiposity—a status that incorporates physiological and anatomical parameters and provides a more complete measurement of a person's metabolism,'' said DrMuffazal Lakdawala, bariatric surgeon, Saifee Hospital.      Also, a patient's obesity level can vary depending on composition, gender, etc. "The BMI reading of a man and woman who each weigh 75 kg will throw up the same figure. It does not take into account that while the man will have a higher fat percentage in his upper abdomen area, the women is most likely to have fat deposits around the hips. Only the male patient is likely to have problems such as diabetes and high cholesterol,'' said Dr Shah, who advocates the need for a Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan to get an accurate measure of fat density.      Sanjay Hon, 48, was suffering from obesity-related medical problems including hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. This, despite the fact that his BMI was 28. His body fat, however, was a high 40%. "The doctors informed me that my abdomen had deposits of fat,'' said Sanjay, who had to undergo metabolic surgery. "I managed to shed 23 kg and my cholesterol levels are normal,'' he added.      But the BMI is an affordable indicator of the problem. "A DEXA scan cost up to Rs 1,500 per scan. The BMI is still a good marker to help a person understand where he or she stands. Further course of action can be taken from there,'' said Dr Ramen Goel, bariatric surgeon, Bombay Hospital. Measuring Obesity  What Is BMI  Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women. It is calculated as absolute weight (kg) divided by height (m sq).      According to the 1991 National Institute of Health consensus, the cut-off criteria for an obesity surgery is a BMI 40 or 35 with comorbidity (problems like diabetes, etc). The reason BMI is used for screening the health of a patient is due to the strong correlation between being overweight/ obese and having health problems  But What About Body Fat?  According to doctors, obesity calculation should now be carried out through skin-fold thickness measurement, body fat scan, dual energy X rays, CT scan and MRI . The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study showing that body-fat percentage may be a better measure of weight-related diseases than BMI. Doctors now believe that BMI limits be reduced, and other parameters like body fat percentage be considered for measuring obesity Some parameters suggested by the medical community  Metabolic surgery be considered as a treatment option for obesity in Asians above a BMI of 32 Asians whose BMI is 30 and waist circumference more than 80 cm in females and more than 90 cm in males, should be considered for obesity surgery  Key Numbers  Among Asians,  20-22%  body fat is normal for women  For men, the limit is 17%

The Amazing Cucumber

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5,Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium,Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber.  Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower?  Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds?  Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long.  The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool?  Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite.  Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache?  Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explorers for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes?  Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge?  Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa?  Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown to reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finished a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints?  Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel?  Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake?  Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

GRAPES Prevent Heart Disease

Each tiny grape is packed with a mix of compounds that stop heart disease.  They prevent the build-up of "bad" cholesterol widen blood vessels so blood can easily pass through and reduce the risk of blood clots that can lead to a heart attack.  Just one cup of purple grapes or 8 oz of purple grape juice a day will get you the benefits.

 

Help Prevent Breast Cancer

 

A study shows one cup of purple grapes a day is enough to load your body with compounds that keep breast tissue free of too much estrogen, a key cause of breast tumors.

 

Whiten teeth!

 

Grapes contain malic acid, which clogs the pores in the surface of your teeth to prevent stains from embedding in you tooth while removing surface discoloration as you chew says Elisa Mello, DDS., assistant clinical professor at New York University

All You Need to Know about Olive Oil

Many people are not aware of the usage of olive oil for health and beauty. In fact, if it is traced one by one, we could be surprised by the usefulness of this vegetable oil.

As reported by Reuters, people who consume olive oil regularly can avoid the danger of cancer. This is proved by the research with 182 people as samples.

The results mentioned, olive oil can reduce levels of secondary metabolic results and it can be a factor on triggering the cancer cells. Therefore, the researchers recommend European to include olive oil as part of their diet.

Dr Henrik E Poulsen of Copenhagen University Hospital, Danish, strongly recommend to replace the animal fats contained in butter and meat with vegetable fats, particularly olive oil. "Olive oil contains phenols which are believed as cancer-preventing antioxidants," he explained.

In addition to the anticancer, olive oil also contains vitamin E which is very useful to maintain skin elasticity. By consuming olive oil, our skin will be tighter, smoother, and healthier. Of course it is supported also with the good care.

In addition, olive oil is also useful to moisten dry skin when it is used as a mask. Another benefit is that it can protect the skin from bad effects of the sun. It is said that the queen and princess in ancient Greece use olive oil for their beauty rituals.

Why does it so? Because this oil is proved efficaciously can make the skin looks smoother and younger. In fact, single-saturated oil content extremely useful in removing black stains on the skin.

Each olive fruit contains 80 % water, 15 % of oil, 1 % of protein, carbohydrate, and fiber. In addition, olive oil also contains omega-9 which is closely related to cholesterol. Omega 9 can suppress levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL), aka bad cholesterol and raise levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) or good cholesterol. Therefore, olive oil is also highly recommended in dietary cholesterol and heart patients.

What's wrong with eating too full?

Don't overeat and don't encourage your family members and friends to overeat - unless you wish to shorten their healthy living and perhaps die younger!

An interesting article about eating too full....
In Today's Dr Lee Newsletter Issue:
"What's wrong with eating too full?"

"The more you eat, the sooner you die. The lesser you eat, the longer you live." This is what Dr Lee always says in his health talk. He also mentions, "Eating too full causes all sort of health problems such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, etc."

Why eating too full is so harmful to your health? What can you do about it?

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Mice experiment
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To see how eating habit affects life span, a professor from University of Texas did an experiment on mice.

For the first group of 100 mice, he let them eat without any restriction, just like a buffet meal. The second group was fed only 60% full. And the third group was given food without restriction too. But this time, he reduced protein content to half. After 2.5 years, guess how many mice were still alive out of 100?

* First group (eat without restriction) - only 13 mice was alive. Opsss...
* Second group (eat 60% full) - 97 mice was still alive. Only 3 mice died.
* Third group (eat without restriction with protein cut half) - 50 mice still alive.

What can we learn from these results?

Firstly, eating too full is really harmful to your body. Secondly, eat 60% full if you want to live longer and healthier. Thirdly, taking too much protein is harmful to your body too. We don't need so much protein after all.

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Overworking body
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Imagine having a small family car. Instead of using it for short travel between home and office, you use it for long distance travel between different cities every day. Instead of using it 1 hour a day, you use it for 10 hours a day. Instead of driving at 70 km/h, you always speed up to 170 km/h, hitting engine's red line.

Can you estimate your car life span? Do you expect having various problems with your car after a short time?

Driving your car at high speed for a long time is like always eating too full. You force your body to always work at its red line.

Do you know digestion is the most demanding work for your body? Think about the organs involved such as your mouth, stomach, liver, pancreas, duodenum and intestine. Think about the length of digestive tract from your mouth to intestine.

Eating too full zaps up much of your body energy for digestion. Otherwise, this energy may be used for other purpose such as enhancing your immune system.

Do you realize you become very tired easily after a big meal?That is the sign of your body working hard to digest all the food you take in.

If you eat an extra bowl of noodle, your pancreas has to produce extra insulin hormone to process the extra carbohydrates you take.

Your liver, stomach and intestine also have to produce extra enzymes to digest and process specific nutrients from that bowl of noodle.

Therefore the more you eat, the harder your body has to work to process it. Of course, we must eat to survive. But we don't have to eat that much!

If you drive your car slowly and handle it gently, you can use it for a long time. But if you always floor the accelerator and drive like a rally driver, you know the consequence on your car life span.

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Side effect of eating
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Your car engine burns fuel to move your car and bring you to anywhere you like to go. As a result, the engine produces exhaust smoke which is toxic. It must be dispersed out from your car. Similarly, your body cell burns nutrient for energy to survive. In the process, it produces free radicals. Since free radical is toxic to your body, it has to be neutralized and expelled.

"Just metabolizing food especially fatty and carbohydrate- rich fare causes the body to produce free radicals, which attack cells and can promote the development of chronic conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer," says Ronald L. Prior, Ph.D.

Of course, your body can control free radicals in small quantity. But the more you eat, the more free radicals your body produces. Without adequate control, these free radicals easily attack your body cells and eventually cause all sort of diseases.

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Good eating habit
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After knowing the harmful effect of eating too full, what's your choice? Do you want to live longer, just like the second group mice in the experiment? Or do you want to risk ending your life earlier, just like the first group mice? If you wish to live longer, here are some tips you can follow:

1.. Always eat until 70% full. Do not exceed 80% full. You may want to stop eating when you feel slightly full.

2. Avoid having buffet style meal which makes it harder to control how much you eat. Instead, prepare the food you want to eat in a plate. After finishing it, don't add anymore food.

3. Leaving the dining table earlier may prevent you from picking some extra food to eat.

4. It is always a good idea to prepare lesser food in the first place. Some people are afraid of having not enough food for everyone. Actually, lesser food is beneficial for everyone..In a restaurant, order in small amount first. You can always add in some extra order if necessary. But if you can get by with the original smaller order, that's great.

Remember this: You have higher chance of overeating if you serve more food on the table. You have better chance of not overeating if you serve less food
5. Avoid stuffing your fridge with ice cream, chocolate or other dessert. You cannot eat what you do not have.

6. When someone prepares a big plate of food for you, look at it first. Ask yourself, "Do I want to stuff it all into my stomach?"

If your answer is no, just put aside some food to another empty plate first. After finishing your food, look back at the extra food on that new plate. Say to yourself, "Phew! Luckily I didn't stuff that portion into my stomach."

7. When you get too hungry before your meal time, just take some fruit instead of heavy meal. The tendency to overeat is very high for modern people. Do you know most monks only eat twice a day?

They wake up at 4am, meditate and say their prayer. Later they have their simple breakfast at 7am. Before 12pm, they have their lunch. That's all for them. They eat no more after that. No tea break. No dinner. No supper. They still look strong and energetic.

Of course, we don't have to eat like them. But it reminds us we can eat less and stay healthy. So remember to eat only 70% full if you want to stay healthy.