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The Journal of Oct-Dec 2011
HEALTH &
HAPPINESS How kids eat more fruits in school Should the UK have Fat Tax Add 3 more years to your life How to fight flu
Farah's struggle
to quit smoking Yoga reduces fear of falling
Family dinners save teens from
drugs, drinks and smoking
Atul Kochhar's Health & Happiness recipe
With this issue we celebrate the first
anniversary of the publication of
The Journal of Health & Happiness.
It has been a challenging and yet a
highly satisfying journey. We have
been getting immensely positive
feedback from our readers. "I
haven't seen anything like this, an
inspirational health magazine free
for everyone," said one of our readers.
Atul Kochhar's Health & Happiness recipe is proving really
popular. Just the other day the Michelin star chef was stopped by a
group of yoga enthusiasts who wanted to know more about his lean
and reduced-fat recipes.
We also organised a 'Heartstart' class in Hounslow with the help
of the British Heart Foundation. We are grateful to Karen Walling,
the Community Resuscitation Training Officer from London
Ambulance Service who taught fifteen members of our group,
Ajivan: The Society for Health & Happiness, what to do in a life
threatening emergency.
There has been a lot of demand for this magazine from areas
where we cannot afford to distribute it free. We find postal
distribution quite expensive. Therefore, we have decided to set a
small annual subscription of £10 and we hope our distant readers
will still support us with undiminished enthusiasm.
We always welcome your ideas and feedback to improve this
publication.
Vijay Rana
Editor, The Journal of Health & Happiness
C O N T E N T S October - December 2011
Issue 4
04 HELP DIABEATSE Campaign
05 Exercise 15 minutes a day, add three
more years to your life
06 What family dinners do for teenagers
08 SAD: Seasonal Affective Disorder
10 Fighting cold and flu
11 Should the UK have 'Fat Tax'
12 Fruits and vegetables could modify
faulty heart genes
12 Hatha Yoga reduces fear of falling
13 How materialism could kill a marriage
15 Heartstart : How to do CPR
16 Farah's struggle to quit smoking
17 Ayurveda: Food as medicine
18 Atul Kochhar's Health & Happiness
recipe
The Journal of Health & Happiness is a publication of Ajivan: The Society for Health & Happiness Website: www.ajivan.com Email: [email protected] Tel: 07850 374 595
Disclaimer: The information available in this magazine is for general awareness only. It is NOT a substitute for the knowledge and judgment of qualified medical experts. We make no warranty as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of this information. Should you have any health or medical condition, you are strongly advised to consult a qualified physician or other health care professional. Views expressed by our contributors are their own and we take no responsibility for their views.
Want this magazine delivered to your home Many readers have asked us to post this magazine to
their home address. To meet the postage costs we have
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A groundbreaking campaign to beat the disease that costs the NHS £1 million an hour, £173 million a week and takes up about 10% of the total NHS budget.
A national campaign was launched
in September to help people with
diabetes to take part in the very
latest clinical research aimed at
finding a cure for the disease.
HELP DIABEATES is a new
campaign from the Diabetes
Research Network that
is asking people with diabetes to
participate in clinical research
studies.
The scheme would work like a
"dating agency" matching needy
patients with relevant diabetes
research experts. Experts say
diabetes research is suffering
because less than 1% patients take
part in research trials, whereas in
cancer trials patient participation is
about 30%. According to Diabetes
UK about 2.8 million people in the
UK are known to have diabetes and
there are another 800,000 people
who might not know that they
already have the disease.
Professor David Matthews, Co-
Director of the Diabetes Research
Network and Professor of Diabetes
Medicine at The Oxford Centre for
Diabetes said: ―This is a refreshing
approach to recruit patients to a
"consent for approach" database. It
means that diabetes patients are
agreeing to be contacted in the
future if a study becomes available
which might suit them. It also
means that clinical trials can be set
up much faster which is ideal for
diabetes research.‖
The campaign is taking place in
three areas of England: the North
West, the South West, and the
North East area of London.
This campaign is expected to
last 18 months and recruit up to
25,000 diabetes patients.
How to take part in HELP DIABEATES
People can express their interest in
diabetes research by texting
"research" and their name to
81400 or through:
www.researchforthefutur
e.nihr.ac.uk. People will then
be contacted by a dedicated NHS
team to discuss how they might be
able to help with diabetes in the
future. At this point people can
decide if they want to be included
in "consent for approach" database.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How much salt should we eat? Just 6g Eating too much salt might result in increased blood
pressure. This can then increase the risk of
cardiovascular disease such as stroke, coronary artery
disease and heart failure.
Some argue that giving children too much salt is
likely to make them continue to eat a high salt and
unhealthy diet as they grow, making them more likely
to become obese and develop higher blood pressure in
adulthood. Also, the kidneys of babies and younger
children are actually unable to filter salt as well as those
of adults. This increases their risk of water retention
and kidney problems.
The UK Food Standards Agency has set the
maximum recommended daily salt intake for adults at 6
grams per day. The recommended maximums for
children are generally lower:
● less than 1g per day for babies under 6 months
● 1g per day for those aged 7-12 months
● 2g per day for 1-3 year olds
● 3g per day for 4-6 year olds
● 5g per day for 7-10 year olds
● 6g per day for children aged 11 or above
4 THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
Exercise 15 minutes a day,
add three years to your life Though the UK government
guidelines recommend at least 30
minutes of exercise five days a
week, a new study suggests that
even half that amount can provide
significant health benefits. The
study showed that a small amount
of leisure-time physical activity,
just 15-minutes of moderate
exercise a day, reduces mortality
from cardiovascular disease and
cancer.
And there is further good news,
just 15 minutes of moderate
exercise a day (or 92 minutes per
week) could increase your life
expectancy by three-years. It might
also result in a 14% reduction in
risk of death by any cause,
compared with a sedentary
lifestyle.
Each additional 15 minutes of
daily exercise (up to 100 minutes a
day) reduced the risk of death by an
additional 4%, the study found, and
people who got 30 minutes of
activity a day added about four
extra years to their life expectancy,
compared to those who live a
sedentary life.
The observational study,
published in The Lancet, involved
more than 400,000 people in
Taiwan, who were followed for an
average of about eight years.
Researchers gave participants a
questionnaire asking about their
medical history and lifestyle habits,
including how much leisure-time
physical activity they do. Based on
the answers, researchers divided
them into activity intensity groups:
light (walking), moderate (brisk
walking), vigorous (jogging) and
very vigorous (running).
"The 30-minute-a-day for five or
more days a week has been the
golden rule for the last 15 years, but
now we found even half that
amount could be very beneficial,"
said Dr. Chi-Pang Wen, the leader
of the study.
"The knowledge that as little as
15 minutes per day of exercise on
most days of the week can
substantially reduce an individual's
risk of dying could encourage many
more individuals to incorporate a
small amount of physical activity
into their busy lives," wrote co-
author Dr. Anil Nigam of the
Montreal Heart Institute.
The authors also warn this study
shouldn't be an excuse to scale back
if you're already working out for at
least 30 minutes a day.
When it comes to exercise, more is better.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Want to live longer, turn off your TV
Sitting in front of the television may be a relaxing way
to pass an evening, but spending too much time in front
of the television may take years off your life. The
findings suggest that watching too much TV is as
detrimental to longevity as smoking and lack of
exercise.
Australian researchers from the University of
Queensland, analysing the TV-viewing data from more
than 11,000 participants older than 25 years, showed
that Australian adults watched an estimated 9.8 billion
hours of television in 2008. People who watched an
average six hours of TV a day lived an average 4.8 years
fewer than those who didn't watch any television. It's not
surprising at all. We all know the more TV we watch,
the less physically active we become. And the less
exercise we get, the more likely we are to develop
diseases such as diabetes or heart problems. 5 THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
Teens who have dinner with families are
less likely to smoke, drink or use drugs Teenagers having dinner with their
families may not be common these
days but those who do have clear
health benefits. A recent report by
the Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia
University (CASA Columbia)
concludes that teenagers who
regularly have dinner with their
families are less likely than others to
use tobacco, drugs or alcohol.
The report, 'The Importance of
Family Dinners VII', also shows that
a child who gets to the age 21
without smoking, using illegal drugs
or abusing alcohol is virtually certain
never to do so.
Compared to those teenagers who
have frequent family dinners (five to
seven per week) and those who have
infrequent family dinners (fewer than
three per week) the latter are almost
four times more likely to use
tobacco; twice more likely to use
alcohol; two-and-a-half times more
likely to use marijuana; and almost
four times more likely to say they
may try drugs in the future.
There is also a correlation between
the frequency of family dinners and
teenager's access to drugs. Those
teenagers who have infrequent
family dinners are more likely to be
able to get alcohol, prescription
drugs or marijuana in an hour or less.
The leader of the study and the
chairman of CASA, Joseph A.
Califano, said: "The study
demonstrated that the magic that
happens at family dinners isn’t the
food on the table, but the
conversations and family
engagement around the table. When
asked about the best part of family
dinners, the most frequent answer
from teens was the sharing, talking
and interacting with family
members; the second most frequent
answer was sitting down or being
together."
The survey, which has been
conducted annually for 17 years,
questioned 1,037 teenagers and 528
of their parents over the Internet and
1,006 teens by telephone from all
over the Unites States.
This year, 58 percent of those
surveyed reported eating dinner with
their families five or more times per
week, a number that’s been
remarkably consistent over the past
decade. And 54 percent said that
their favourite thing about eating
with their families, other than the
food, was the opportunity to chat and
catch up with their folks.
Over the past 17 years, The
National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia
University (CASA Columbia) has
surveyed thousands of American
teenagers and their parents to
identify factors associated with an
increase or decrease in the likelihood
of teen substance use. They have
found that parents have the greatest
influence.
6 THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
Kids eat more fruits if displayed in colourful bowls Do you want children to eat more
fruits and double fruit sales in
schools? The trick is to display fruits
in the school lunchrooms in colourful
bowls and place it in a well-lit area.
Presenting a new study at the
American Dietetic Association
Conference in San Diego in
September 2011 Prof Brian Wansink
of Cornell University said, "Moving
the fruit increased sales by 104%."
Moving fruits to more visible front
shelves in the school canteen is only
one of the changes proposed through
the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement
of the Cornell Centre for Behavioural
Economics in Child Nutrition
Programs (BEN).
"The best solution is often the simplest one,"
Prof Wansink explained. "Rather than penalizing a
less healthy food choice, we just made the healthier
item much more likely to be noticed and chosen."
He suggested some other simple adjustments to the
school lunchroom layout, for example: suggesting
students to take a fruit will increase the number of
them eating it by as much as 70%; closing the lid on
an ice cream freezer can reduce the number of
people choosing ice cream from 30% to 14% and
introducing a salad bar increased school lunch
participation by 21% in a high school of 1,000
students.
The BEN centre has analyzed multiple school
lunchroom layouts and designs that hindered student's
selection of nutritious foods. The lunchrooms were
revamped with easy, low-cost/no-cost environmental
changes that resulted in an increase in healthy food
choices.
BEN has received the White House's support to help
fight childhood obesity. Sam Kass, the White House
chef, and Let's Move, Michelle Obama's initiative to
solve the childhood obesity epidemic, have recently
teamed up with BEN to progress toward this goal. This
partnership will provide wider access to BEN centre,
allowing more schools to use simple, cheap, and
effective ways to lead children to choose healthier food.
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SAD (Seasonal Affective
Disorder) or winter depression
affects an estimated 7% of us
When it is dark and gloomy, many people
feel more lethargic and less sociable.
The symptoms of SAD often start as the days begin to get
shorter in the autumn. They are worst during December,
January, and February. For most people with SAD, the
symptoms start to improve by spring time, then
disappear.
In the UK, it is thought that SAD affects around 7% of
people. It is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the
hypothalamus due to the shortening of daylight hours and
the lack of sunlight in winter. For many people SAD is a
seriously disabling illness, preventing them from
functioning normally without continuous medical
treatment.
For others, it is a mild but debilitating condition
causing discomfort but not severe suffering. We call this
subsyndromal SAD or 'winter blues.' It is estimated that a
further 17% of the UK population have a milder form of
this condition. Like any type of depression, SAD can be a
difficult condition to live with. Symptoms can make you
feel tired, stressed and unhappy.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)
advises that the treatment of SAD should be the same as
the treatment for other types of depression. Treatment for
depression usually includes psychosocial treatments,
and/or antidepressants. Light therapy is another form of
treatment that is sometimes used to treat SAD.
Depending on the nature and severity of your symptoms,
your GP can recommend the most suitable treatment for
you.
Psychosocial treatments Psychosocial treatments are those that have both
psychological aspects (looking at how your brain
functions) and social aspects (looking at how you interact
with other people). These treatments include:
Cognitive behavioural therapy: CBT is a
combination of therapies. It starts with the idea that your
problems are often created by you. It is not the situation
itself that is making you unhappy, but how you think
about it and how you react to it.
Group physical activity programme is known to be
beneficial for treating people with depression. You may
be offered up to three sessions of exercise a week, for
around three months.
Counselling or psychodynamic psychotherapy, is
where you talk to a trained counsellor about your
problems, and psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Antidepressants are often used to treat other forms of
depression, and in some cases they may also be used to
treat SAD if your symptoms are severe.
Light therapy is thought to work by simulating the
sunlight that is missing during the darker winter months.
The additional light encourages your brain to reduce the
production of melatonin (the hormone that makes you
sleepy), while increasing the production of serotonin (the
hormone that affects your mood).
Light therapy involves sitting in front of, or beneath, a
light box. Light boxes are special bright light lamps that
come in a variety of designs, including desk lamps and
wall-mounted fixtures. Speak to your GP and check the
manufacturer’s instructions before using a SAD light
device. Though evidence on the effectiveness of light
therapy is mixed. However, a number of studies have
concluded that light therapy is effective, particularly if
used first thing in the morning. Source:
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Seasonal-affective-disorder
UNDERSTANDING STROKES: The brain is made up of living cells that require a constant supply of
nutrient- and oxygen-rich blood. Most strokes are caused by blockage or rupture of the blood vessels. A stroke
occurs when brain tissue is deprived of blood and brain cells die from the lack of oxygen. Depending on which area
of the brain is affected, a stroke can cause vision problems, speech problems, disability, even death. Traditionally,
treatment for stroke-causing diseases involves blood-thinning drugs to prevent clots, but for patients with severe
blockage, this may not be sufficient. Some temporary blockages only last minutes or hours, leading to mini-strokes.
What's the difference between cold and flu?
Colds and flu affect 15 million people each year in the UK. Often people make unnecessary trips to their GP when they should be resting at home. However, flu can be a serious condition for some people, so it’s important to get advice if you have flu like symptoms. Before you call your GP, make sure you know the difference between a common cold and the flu virus.
Colds : Blocked or runny nose ● Sneezing ● Coughing ● Feeling generally a little unwell (sometimes with a cold you can get a fever, aches and pains and a headache but these are usually mild).
Flu: Fever (a temperature of 38°C/100.4°F or above) and chills ● A dry or sometimes a chesty cough ● Runny or blocked nose ● Sneezing ● Sore throat ● Headache ● Tiredness ● Aching muscles or joints ● Upset stomach or diarrhoea ● Loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping.
How to fight Flu You can never guarantee you’ll avoid flu, but these measures will help reduce the risk and help prevent it spreading:
Ask your doctor or practice nurses about the flu jab as early on in the flu season as possible. Avoid touching your nose and eyes after touching hand-contact surfaces in public places
such as handrails – it’s the second most common way of catching flu. The first way is by breathing in small droplets of saliva that are coughed or sneezed into the air by an infected person.
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, especially before handling food or eating. Use disposable tissues rather than handkerchiefs and wash your hands after blowing your
nose.
Cough or sneeze into a tissue or into the fold of your elbow.
Source: bhf.org.uk.Heartmatter
10 THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
"In the UK, the clock is ticking. Public health
experts fear that if we do not take steps to improve
our diet in the UK, by 2050 we could expect a 20%
rise in heart disease and a staggering 70% rise in
Type 2 diabetes."
BBC Panorama Programme
Should UK, the fattest nation in Europe, follow Denmark to impose a 'Fat Tax' Yes we are the fattest nation in Europe. One
third of our children and nearly two-thirds
of our adults are overweight or obese. If the
situation continues, by 2050 obesity will be
costing the state £32 billion a year. So we
have to look around how other countries are
addressing the problem of obesity.
A new controversial example is set by
Denmark, which became the first country in
the world to introduce a new "Fat Tax" on
food containing more than 2.3 percent
saturated fat. Denmark already had a ban on
trans-fats and a "sin" tax on sugary items
like soda and candy.
The new "Fat Tax" is a complex one, in
which rates will correspond with the
percentage of fat in a product. The value of
the tax is about $3.00 for every 2.2 pounds
of saturated fat.
The complex formula takes into account
the amount of fat used to produce a
particular food, not the amount that's in the
final product, according to Ole Linnet Juul,
food director at Denmark's Confederation
of Industries. He calculated that the tax adds 12 cents to
a bag of chips, 39 cents to a small package of butter and
40 cents to the price of a hamburger.
The tax was approved by large majority in a
parliament in March as a move to help increase the
average life expectancy of Danes - which has fallen
below the international average of 79 years.
Now other European governments are considering
following suit. Romania and Finland have been debating
a similar fat tax for months. And just a couple of days
after the Danish fat tax came into effect, British Prime
Minister David Cameron said he too was considering
similar legislation to tackle growing obesity levels in the
country. Cameron said drastic action was needed to
prevent health costs soaring and life expectancy falling.
"I think it is something that we should look at," he
told 5 News during the Tory conference in Manchester.
He added: "I am worried about the costs to the health
service, and the fact that some people are going to have
shorter lives than their parents." He warned that obesity
was on the verge of overtaking smoking and drinking as
the biggest health challenge facing Britain.
Want this magazine delivered to your home Many readers have asked us to post this magazine to
their home address. To meet the postage costs we
have decided to set a small annual subscription of £10.
Please send your subscription with your address to:
Subscriptions H&H, 1 Stucley Road, Hounslow, TW5 0TN
Please send a cheque payable to 'Ajivan Health'
Your Name: ..............................................................
Postal Address: .......................................................
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Fruits and vegetables could modify faulty heart disease genes
Until now we believed that you
cannot change the genes you have
inherited from your parents. Now a
team of scientists from McMaster
and McGill Universities, Canada
have found that a faulty gene which
is the strongest marker of heart
disease could be modified if we eat
large quantities of raw vegetables,
fruits and berries.
The researchers gathered data
from over 27,000 people from
various ethnic ancestries, including
Arab, Latin American, Chinese,
South Asian and European. They
studied what effects diet might have
on the functioning and behavior of
this faulty 9p21 gene. The authors
say that theirs is one of the largest
gene-diet interaction studies ever
carried out on cardiovascular
disease.
The study published in the journal
PLoS Medicine found that people
with this high risk genetic variant
which considerably raises
heart disease risk, ended up having
the same risk of heart disease as
the rest of the population if they
followed a diet rich in raw
vegetables, fruit and berries.
Lead author, Dr. Ron Do, wrote,
"Our research suggests there may be
an important interplay between
genes and diet in cardiovascular
disease. Future research is necessary
to understand the mechanism of this
interaction."
Dr. Sonia Anand, professor of
medicine at epidemiology at
McMaster University and the joint
lead-author described the discovery
as "exciting" and said that "Our
results support the public health
recommendation to consume more
than five servings of fruits or
vegetables as a way to promote good
health."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hatha Yoga practice reduces fear of falling in older adults
Hatha Yoga is one of the most popular branches of yoga. This
5,000-year-old Indian practice is based on physical movements alone.
These are the standard stretches, or 'postures' that are done in order to
build strength, peace of mind, balance, and endurance. Hath Yoga is
considered the lowest form of yoga, but essential nonetheless. Raja
yoga is the highest form, which develops the mind and spirit.
In a 2009 study, US researchers from Indian University found that
after a 12-week class, participants reported a 6 percent reduction in
their fear of falling, a 34 percent increase in lower body flexibility,
and a significant reduction in leisure constraints.
The study leader Marieke Van Puymbroeck said participants
reported "tremendous benefits," with emerging themes that included
the ability to adopt right posture, increased range of motion, increased
flexibility and improved balance.
Photo by Vivian Orr, Toronto, Canada
How money and materialism could kill a marriageWe all know that
money can't buy
happiness but a
new study has
found that
relentlessly
chasing life's
luxuries, owning
things to impress
others, dying to
buy new gadgets
and expensive
clothes or
splashing money
on lots of
ostentatious
things could spell
disaster for a
marriage. The
simple message
is: materialism
kills marriages.
In a survey of
1,734 married US
couples, researchers from Brigham Young University
and William Paterson University found that couples in
which one or both partners placed a high priority on
getting or spending money were much less likely to
have satisfying and stable marriages.
For one out of every five couples in the study, both
partners admitted a strong love of money. These
couples were worse off in terms of marriage stability,
marriage satisfaction, communication skills and other
metrics of healthy matrimony that researchers studied.
The one out of seven couples that reported low-levels
of materialism in both partners scored 10 to 15 percent
higher in all metrics of marital quality and satisfaction.
Interestingly, the correlation between materialism and
marital difficulties remained stable regardless of the
actual wealth of the couple.
"Couples where both spouses are materialistic were
worse off on nearly every measure we looked at," said
Jason Carroll, a BYU professor of family life and lead
author of the study. "There is a pervasive pattern in the
data of eroding communication, poor conflict resolution
and low responsiveness to each other."
Couples filling out the questionnaires responded to
queries about their marital satisfaction, conflict
patterns, marital communication, marriage stability and
other factors. They also rated their agreement with the
phrase "Having money and lots of things has never been
important to me." People who agreed were categorized
as non-materialistic, while those who disagreed
qualified as materialistic.
The findings are published in the October issue of the
Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy.
Relationships usually fair better when partners share
priorities and values, but researchers found that the
opposite was true in this case. When only one partner
was materialistic and the other not, the non-materialistic
partners seemed to sustain the marriage, resulting in
higher levels of satisfaction, communication and
stability in marriages made of mismatched couples
when compared to dual-materialistic ones.
The study couldn't test how materialism erodes a
marriage, but Carroll and his colleagues have a couple
of theories. The first is that materialism causes spouses
to make bad financial decisions, spending beyond their
means, getting in debt and stressing each other out.
Another possibility, Carroll said, is that people who
are materialistic spend less time nurturing their
relationships with people in their haste to get things.
"They simply don't give relationships the same priority
and attention as non-materialistic spouses," Carroll said.
13 THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
Lack of sleep costs Americans $63 billion a year Lack of sleep has been linked to health
problems like high blood pressure and
even early death, and now a new study,
published in the journal Sleep, claims
that insomnia costs the average
American worker 11.3 days, or $2,280
in lost productivity each year. That
adds up to $63.2 billion a year.
Data was collected on a sample of
7,428 full-time employed people, who
were participating in the longitudinal
American Insomnia Study. Researchers
asked survey questions specifically
dealing with sleep habits and work
performance, and found that
sleeplessness was a significant detractor
from productivity.
Nearly a quarter of the survey
respondents — 23% of employees —
were estimated to have insomnia, and
that figure was corroborated by sleep
medicine experts. Researchers also
found that workers over 65 were less
likely to have insomnia (14%) and that
men were less likely (20%) to have
trouble sleeping than women (27%).
New drug to cure all viral infections There are few drugs that could
effectively deal with clinical viruses
such as HIV or hepatitis, seasonal
viruses such as swine flu and highly
lethal viruses such as Ebola or
smallpox.
Now there is new hope as researchers
from MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the
US have developed a new broad-
spectrum approach called DARCO
(Double-stranded RNA Activated
Caspase Oligomerizer). The technique
induces cell suicide, rapidly killing
virus infected cells without harming
uninfected cells. Researchers believe
DRACO should be effective against
virtually all viruses while minimising
the impact of the patient.
The study was published in the July
issue of the journal PLoS One. DRACO
was found effective against all 15
viruses that the team has so far tested,
including cold viruses, H1N1 influenza
strains, adenoviruses, a stomach virus
(reovirus), a polio virus, dengue fever
virus, and several members of
hemorrhagic fever. DRACO was also
demonstrated to be nontoxic in 11
different cell types representing various
species (e.g., humans, monkeys, mice)
and organ types (e.g., heart, lung, liver,
kidney).
Study leader Dr. Todd Rider says
that although more extensive testing is
needed, "DRACO has the potential to
revolutionize the treatment and
prevention of virtually all viral
diseases, including everything from the
common cold to Ebola."
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Tel: +44 (0)20 3264 2130, Fax: +44 (0) 3264 2131, DX 119579 Southall 3
www.hslawsolicitors.com; Email: [email protected]
IMMIGRATION
● Personal Immigration
● Business Immigration
● Immigration Appeals
● Human Rights
● Nationality
● European Union
● Points-Based System
MATRIMONIAL/CHILDREN
● Divorce
● Finances
● Cohabitation/Separation
● Residence/Contact
● Removal of Children from UK
● Child Abduction
● Injunctions/Domestic Violence
NOTARIAL
● Power of Attorney for worldwide use ● Documents relating to property
● Affidavits and Sworn Statements ● Change of Name Deed
● Commercial Documents ● Statutory Declarations
Hari Singh
M.A. (Westminster), LL.M ( London)
HEARTSTART: Learning Emergency Life Support
Would you know what to do in a life-threatening
emergency? Learning Emergency Life Support (ELS)
skills can help you keep someone alive until
professional help arrives.
Ajivan: The Society for Health & Happiness
organised a Heartstart training session in the Heart of
Hounslow centre on 12 July. The two hour long
training course was attended by fifteen trainees. The
training was conducted by Karen Walling, the
Community Resuscitation Training Officer of London
Ambulance Service. "It was indeed very useful", said
Yash Batra, "It's a great feeling to think that in case of
emergency I can save someone's life. I think every
citizen in this country must have this training."
Heartstart is an initiative of the British Heart
Foundation in which more than 2.6 million people have
learned what to do in a life-threatening emergency –
simple skills that save lives.
Heartstart schemes provide free ELS training in
community groups and schools. They are aimed at the
public, and anyone from the age of ten upwards can
attend and learn the complete range of ELS skills.
The Heartstart programme includes skills such as:
assessing an unconscious patient, performing
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), dealing with
choking, serious bleeding, helping someone that may
be having a heart attack.
Knowing what to do when someone has a cardiac
arrest is important. If you can do CPR you can buy the
time needed for professional help to arrive and save the
life of your loved one. Being able to do CPR more than
doubles their chance of survival.
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Funeral expenses suggested for organ donors The Nuffield Council of
Bioethics, a leading ethics body, has
suggested that Patients who donate
their organs should have their
funeral expenses paid for by the
NHS. It has though ruled out directly
paying donors for their organs.
Prof Marilyn Strathern, who
chaired the inquiry said: "The
possibility of sparing relatives the financial burden of a
funeral might encourage more people to register as
donors."
Some experts have expressed concern that this
might be a slippery slope towards payment for organs.
And others have said that it might not
be a very effective move. The
government, meanwhile, has said it
will consider the recommendations
but it added that donating should be
"free from any financial
consideration".
In the UK there are approximately
8,000 people on the waiting list for a
transplant. On average three people die every day
waiting for an organ. Currently 18 million, or one in
three, people are on the Organ Donor Register, but the
NHS wants 25 million people to sign up by 2013.
15 THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
Stop Smoking, Start Living… The story of Farah one of the 2,000 people who quit smoking last year with the help of Hounslow Stop Smoking Service Every year approximately 1 million people in
the UK try to stop smoking and yet are
unable to stay stopped. It is the nicotine in
cigarettes that makes them so addictive. One
study showed that nicotine was more
addictive than heroin.
However, research has shown that the more
attempts you have made in the past, the more
likely you are to succeed in the future.
Even the most hardened smokers can quit
with the right approach says Farah, a lady of
Pakistani origin who had a 60 a day habit for
20 years. When asked how many times had
she tried to stop in the past, she said: ―So
many times that I have lost count! The
important thing though is that I never stopped
trying to give up and now I have! I told my
pharmacist when I saw her the other day that I
have quit for 3 months now and she was amazed.‖
So what was different this time? Farah said: ―Being
honest and sincere with myself. I was ashamed and
embarrassed that smoking had taken over my life. This
is a very important point – I had quit for short periods
before, but it was only when I was really honest with
myself that I was finally able to stop properly.‖
"I have been smoking for 20 years and I don’t have
words to say how pleased I am with the Hounslow Stop
Smoking Service, especially my advisor Lavina. She
was very patient with me even though I still smoked
sometimes in the beginning.‖
About the stop smoking medication Farah said, ―I
used the 25mg nicotine patch. Two things helped me to
finally quit. The first was the support of the service and
the second was the patch.‖
Farah has now told her friends and colleagues about
the stop smoking service. "I think it’s really important
that people decide to quit for themselves when they are
ready,‖ she said.
How has quitting changed her life? What message
would she have for others that want to quit? "Well, I’ve
saved money, saved time and I feel like chains have
been broken and I am now free! I would of course
advise others to stop, but you must be honest with
yourself or you won’t be successful.‖
Hounslow’s NHS Stop Smoking Service has drop in
clinics at seven different locations across the borough of
Hounslow. There are also stop smoking advisors trained
up in many local health centres and some local
pharmacies as well.
If you would like more information about support to
stop smoking then please call: 020 8630 3255 or e-mail:
[email protected] . To contact the
Ealing Stop Smoking Service please call 0800 876 6683
or e-mail: [email protected]
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16 THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
The Heart of Hounslow stop smoking drop in clinic
Ayurveda: Food as your medicine "When diet is wrong medicine is of no use, When diet is correct medicine is of no need."
Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of life, does not
differentiate between food and medicine. Foods are
nourishment as well as therapeutic, often playing the role of
medicines.
From the Ayurvedic point of view, it is not only the food
we eat but also the way it is eaten and cooked, presented and
even preserved, that makes it nourishing. So the general
guideline is that food should be hot (as in freshly cooked),
tasty and easy to digest, eaten in right quantities and
additional food must be taken only after the last meal has
been digested. The ritual of eating should be done in
pleasant surroundings, at one’s own pace, and the attention
of the eaters should be on the food, not wandering. The
single most interesting thing that Ayurveda proposes is that
each person should find out his or her temperament type and
eat food according to it, that which is suited to the person’s
physical and emotional makeup. While these are common
sense dictums, most of us can identify times when we have
not adhered to these. In Ayurveda, food is nourishment as
well as medicine, so one has to be careful about it.
One more important thing to know is that the term `hot
food’ in Ayurveda does not mean foods hot in temperature,
but foods hot in intrinsic nature. These are foods that
stimulate digestion and deter bacterial growth and other
microbes. Of course, cooking takes care of the bacterial load
in any food, but there are certain conditions for which the
Ayurvedic doctor can prescribe raw foods or juice diet.
Another important thing is the strotras or the channels,
within the body. These do not correspond to the veins or
arteries or even nerve channels; they are in fact, energy
channels. They are stronger than any energy carrying
channels and many diseases arise from blockage of these
strotras. A healthy diet is required to keep these seven body
elements in perfect balance.
Remember, Ayurveda considers body to be made of seven
basic dhatus (elements) These are: Rasa (plasma), rakta
(blood), mamsa (muscle), meda (fat), asthi (bone), majja
(marrow), shukra (reproductive strengths).
The third basic concept is that of ama (waste) in the body.
Accumulation of ama in the body, or its blockage can wreck
havoc in the human system. It does not include only
digestive waste but also the toxins that we absorb because of
wrong food and also from our environment. In today’s
terms, the chemicals and radiations that our body is
subjected to, can also be termed as ama.
By these principles, good health is maintained by a two-
pronged strategy:
1. Maintaining a proper and balanced diet to replenish and
maintain the elements.
2. Keeping the energy channels open for free flow of the life
giving force (tatva).
Dr Rohan Nagar, BAMS (Ayurveda)
We provide services in UK ( HOUNSLOW ), HOLLAND and BELGIUM. In INDIA. We have
residential AYURVEDIC treatment centre PDI: Situated on the holy Land of Vedas and Ganges
in between Devbhumi Haridwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand
AYURVEDA UK LTD
More than 30 years of experience in the UK & India
Ayurveda can help you in:
● Stress, Anxiety, Depression,
Tension and Psychological Problems
● Joint Pains/Arthritis, Backache,
Spondylitis & Rheumatic Problems
● Asthma, Allergy, Chronic Cough,
Sinusitis & Respiratory Problems
● Diabetes, Hypertension, Hypo or
Hyper Thyroid and Hormonal Problems
● Obesity & Metabolic Disorders
● Headache, Migraine, Acidity etc.
● Sleep Disorders
● Skin, Nail and Hair Problems
● Pediatric and Gynecological Problems
Under the supervision and guidelines of
Dr. Anil K Mehta G.A.M.S Director of European Institute for Scientific
Research on Ayurveda, Netherlands
Dr. V.N. Joshi
Chief Consultant
M.D. Ph. D. (Ayurveda)
Sr. Lecturer
Middlesex University
Dr. Rohan Nagar BAMS (Ayurveda)
Senior Ayurveda Consultant
Contact:
322-Great West Road
Hounslow, Midd,TW5 0BA
02085777436, 02085727394
07846095768, 07737308767
Email: [email protected]
Web:www.ayurvedauk.com
Atul Kochhar's Health & Happiness recipe
Bharwan Khumbi Field Mushrooms stuffed with Apple and leek masala with Kadhai Kale and Kholrabi Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients: - 8 large field mushrooms, stem removed
- 2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp fine chopped green chillies
Stuffing:
- 2 medium cox apples, peeled and chopped
- 1 large leek, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil or butter
- ¼ tsp cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp red chilli powder
- ¼ tsp coriander powder
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- Salt to taste
Kale:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- ¼ tsp crushed dried red chillies
- 150 gm tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- 1 tsp fine chopped ginger
- 400 gm Kale leaves, blanched
- Salt to taste
Kholrabi :
- 2 medium Kholrabi, thinly
sliced
- 1 red apples, thinly sliced
Dressing:
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
- ½ tsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed
- Sea salt
- Chilli flakes
- Olive oil
- Sesame oil
- Lime juice
Method:
Heat oil in pan, sauté cumin seeds and add leeks.
Cook at slow heat for 5 minutes until leek softens. Add
apples and spices and cook for further 5 minutes and
remove on a tray to cool the mixture.
Mix cheddar cheese and chopped chillies and fill the
mushrooms with this mixture and keep aside. For Kale,
heat oil in a separate pan, sauté garlic, coriander seeds
and chillies for minute and add chopped tomatoes.
Cook on medium heat for 7-10 minutes and then add
all the powdered spices and cook for further 5 minutes.
Add chopped coriander leaves and ginger followed by
blanched Kale. Cook for 2-3 minutes and hold warm
until required.
Place the mushrooms under the grill for 3-5 minutes
to gratinate. Whisk in all the ingredients of dressing.
Place the apple and kohlrabi slices alternately on a
plate and drizzle the dressing on top. Place the Kale on
the centre of the plate and then place mushrooms right
in the centre and serve warm.
18 THE JOURNAL OF HEALTH & HAPPINESS
Living in a Fast Food Carnival
Fast foods are "layered and loaded with fat, sugar
and salt, all of which ... prompt us to continue
eating. Such foods cause particular excitement in
areas of the brain associated with emotion and
reward - much like alcohol, sex and drugs. With
sugar, salt and fat on every street corner we are
living in a food carnival."
Dr David Kessler
Former FDA commissioner and author of 'The end of
Overeating'. Rodale Books, 2009
YOUR LOCAL LETTING AND SALES AGENTS Serving the community for more than 25 years
Lambourne's OP Sharma facilitated by DL Kalhan. Also sitting in the photo is India's Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai.
Supporting the Society for Health & Happiness PROPERTIES URGENTLY REQUIRED
8 Kingsley Road 262 Bath Road
Hounslow, TW3 1NP Hounslow, TW54 7DF
020 8569 5244 020 8570 3232 Find us on: www.propertyfinder.com www.globrix.com
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Images and Ideas for Non-violence
Order your copy now of this limited edition collector's book.
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used around the world to reject violence, to spread
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