One-third of girls in the United States get pregnant before the age of 20.

According to teenpregnancy.org, there are 750,000 teen pregnancies each year! Eighty percent of these pregnancies are unintended and typically occur among unwed mothers. 
The problems don't end there either. Teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of high school, they score lower on math and reading, and they are more likely to be and remain single mothers. 
Remember to use contraception. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 25% of girls who have sex without contraception get pregnant within a month! More teen pregnancy info, including ways to get help, can be found here

First Ayurveda College in state of Pondicherry will be estabilished Shortly

Our correspondent:Pondicherry will gets its first Ayurveda College by AYUSH.This is the second Ayurveda medical college for BAMS, started by Union Health Ministry's Ayush department in the country, first being in Jaipur in Rajasthan. The third one will be started in New Delhi shortly.The College, which has been named after the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is run by the Pondicherry based Perunthalaivar Kamaraj Medical College Society (PKMCS) and is financed by the government of the Union Territory. This is the first Ayurveda Medical college in Pondicherry. The department of Ayush has given an amount of Rs.10 crore to start the Ayurveda College, said Dr B L Sankaran Nair, special officer of the college.
The first batch of the BAMS course comprises 50 students and the class was started on September 29. The duration of the course is 54 months. The college is affiliated to University of Pondicherry. A separate hospital with 100 beds was set up for the conduct of the course. The hospital has been started in the same pattern of the Jaipur medical college and both the colleges are following the same syllabus.
PKMCS has also started a medical college for MBBS course in Pondicherry in this month. It was inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) on October 9.
Dr N Balaji, director of ISM and Homoeopathy, government of Pondicherry said the department has sent proposals to the Ayush department and to the state government to start Diploma and Degree courses in Ayurvedic Pharmacy. Currently the department has 12 homoeopath dispensaries through which special treatment for mother and child care is being given. The department is occasionally conducting training programs for government as well as private homoeopath doctors, nurses and pharmacists, Balaji said

Yoga May Combat Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Yoga that includes gentle stretches and meditation may help alleviate the symptoms of fibromyalgia, a small study finds.Twenty-five women diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, were enrolled in a two-hour yoga class that met once a week for eight weeks. Another group of 28 women diagnosed with the condition were put on a waiting list and told to continue their normal routine for dealing with fibromyalgia.After eight weeks, the yoga group reported improvements in both physical and psychological aspects of fibromyalgia, including decreased pain, fatigue, tenderness, anxiety and better sleep and mood."The women were somewhat apprehensive when we started, but once they got into the rhythm of it they found it to be very helpful," said lead study author James Carson, a clinical psychologist and pain specialist at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. "They came back after the first week reporting less pain, better sleep and feeling encouraged for the first time in years. That type of change continued to build over the course of the program."At the end of the study, about 4.5 percent in the yoga group reported being "very much better," 9.1 percent said they were "much better," 77 percent were "a little better" while 4.5 percent reported no change. In comparison, no one in the the control group reported that they were "very much better" or "much better," 19.2 percent reported being "a little better," and 38.5 percent reported "no change."Average pain scores dropped from a 5 to a 4 on a 10-point scale, although there was no improvement in the overall "tender point" score.The study was limited by its small sample, absence of follow-up and over-reliance on self-reported data, the researchers noted.The study, published online Oct. 14, is in the November print issue of the journal Pain.No cure exists for fibromyalgia, which is characterized by multiple tender points, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and memory and concentration problems. Some 11 to 15 million Americans have the debilitating condition, about 80 to 90 percent of them women, according to background information in the article.Fibromyalgia can be very difficult to treat, with many patients reporting little relief from medications, said Dr. Bruce Solitar, a clinical associate professor of medicine in the division or rheumatology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.Yoga is probably worth trying, Solitar said. But he noted that patients in the study were in a yoga class specially tailored to their needs and said the class at a local yoga studio might be too intense.The yoga sessions evaluated in the study included 40 minutes of gentle stretching and poses, 25 minutes of meditation, 10 minutes of breathing techniques, a 20-minute lesson on applying yoga principals to daily life and coping with fibromyalgia and 25 minutes of group discussion. Participants were also encouraged to practice at home with a DVD on most days.Though it's unknown how much of the positive effect shown in the study is the "placebo" effect of doing something that feels empowering vs. something special about the yoga and meditation itself, that may be beside the point if people feel better, Solitar said."Many patients report that not much helps them, so anything that's positive is a very good thing," Solitar said.In the study, women practiced Yoga of Awareness, a type of yoga developed by Carson, a yoga and meditation instructor, and his wife, study co-author Kimberly Carson. Carson taught the class. (Carson reported no financial considerations that would cause a conflict of interest.)Yoga of Awareness draws from the Kripalu school of yoga, Carson said, which emphasizes the "inner dimensions" of yoga, such as accepting pain and being willing to learn from pain and stressful circumstances, being mentally "present in the moment" and learning to distinguish between actual events and the mind's tendency to "catastrophize" pain -- that is, thinking it's the worst pain ever when really it's manageable, he said.Previous research showed Yoga of Awareness improved pain, fatigue, sleep and mood in women with breast cancer, Carson said.It's unknown what aspects of Yoga of Awareness are the most beneficial, but Carson said he believes the exercise, meditation and the social aspects all contribute."It's the combination that has a synergistic effect," Carson said. "Our mind and body are very connected, but we are often not aware of that fact. Techniques like yoga really reinforce that connection and make us much more conscious of the fact that our thoughts and our feelings are affecting our body, and our body is affecting how we think and feel."If you have fibromyalgia and are looking for a yoga class, Carson recommended seeking out a class advertised as "gentle" and making sure the instructor knows you have physical challenges so that poses can be modified.Since many yoga classes don't incorporate much meditation, Carson also recommends seeking out a meditation class, which teaches breathing exercises to reduce stress and cope with pain.A study published in August in the New England Journal of Medicine found tai chi may also help give fibromyalgia sufferers some relief. Like yoga, tai chi is a mind-body exercise that emphasizes slow, gentle movements to build strength and flexibility, as well as deep breathing and relaxation, to move qi, or vital energy, throughout the body.

SOURCES: James Carson, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, assistant professor, department of anesthesiology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Or.; Bruce Solitar, M.D., clinical associate professor of medicine, division of rheumatology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, N.Y.; Pain, November 2010

TOP TEN MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT YOUR HEALTH

Have you heard the one about the fat-forming carbohydrate? Food & Nutrition is continually faced with the challenge of dispelling common myths about calories and weight management, ten such myths have been covered below: 
1.Myth : Eating most of your calories in the evening promotes weight gain.
Fact:   No matter when you eat them, you gain weight when you eat more calories than you burn off. However, mindless munching in front of the TV at night can push calorie intake over the top.
2.Myth: Fat free is calorie free. 
Fact: Some people indulge in extra-large servings of fat-free foods, such as cookies, cakes and crackers, without realizing that these foods may contain the same amount or even more calories than regular versions. Get the facts on fat-free foods by checking food labels for the serving size and number of calories per serving. Fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. However, other low fat or no fat foods may still contain a lot of calories. To make such foods taste better, extra sugar, flour, or starch thickeners are usually added. These ingredients are high in calories and may lead to weight gain. 
3.Myth:Carbohydrates (or sugars) cause weight gain. 
Fact:Carbohydrates do not cause weight gain unless they contribute to excess calorie intake. The same holds true for protein and fat. Findings from the National Weight Control Registry show that people who successfully maintain weight loss tend to eat diets that are higher in carbohydrates and lower in fat, in addition to watching their total calorie intake. However, some people who eat a diet that is extremely high in carbohydrates and low in protein and fat get hungry sooner, which may trigger overeating. 
4.Myth: High-protein diets cause ketosis, which reduces hunger. 
Fact:Ketosis occurs when fat is used as an energy source instead of carbohydrate during a high-protein diet. Ketone bodies are produced, which turn your breath a bad  “fruity” odor. Ketone bodies do not reduce appetite, however, eating sufficient protein for your body type can help reduce hunger and support weight loss.These diets may help you lose weight fast – but most of this weight that you lose would constitute water weight and lean muscle weight instead of fat. The best way to lose weight and keep it off without harming your body is by following a reduced-calorie diet that is well balanced between carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
5.Myth:Yoghurt is the perfect diet food. Many dieters swear by it, but some yoghurt can be as fattening as ice cream. Greek yoghurt has 10 pc fat.
Fact: Yoghurt is good for people of all ages. Yoghurt is also important for those wanting to lose weight. As a milk product, yoghurt is naturally rich in calcium.Research shows that calcium helps reduce weight gain. Even small changes in the calcium levels of fat cells can change signals within the cell that control the making and burning of fat. What needs to be remembered is no one food is going to prove magic, it is a combination of effective diet and exercise plan that will really work. Avoid yoghurt that contains added sugars or sweetened fruit, as these upset the delicate chemical balance that allow the cultures to thrive. Sugars also feed the growth on unwanted yeasts, so you’re better off without it! Fact:Myth: 6.Myth:Exercise makes you eat more. Often people shy away from doing exercise using this excuse. 
Fact: However, research has shown that after 20 minutes of exercise people ate no more than those who had done nothing. The only difference was that those who had exercised thought the food tasted better 
7.Myth:Extra protein makes you strong. 
Fact: The body has tremendous reserves and is very adaptive. The idea that you have to eat specified foods in specified amounts every day to maintain performance is unsound. You do not need to starve yourself to lose weight. When we are active, our body uses its own fat and carbohydrate for fuel. A diet that includes animal and vegetable protein supplies all the body needs to replenish its stores. There is no superdiet for super performance. Besides, high protein diet often lack key nutrients found in carbohydrate foods. You need every kind of food. Avoiding any kind of food is just as wrong as ingesting food supplements. 
8.Myth:Lettuce makes your figure slim.
Fact:The theory adopted behind this fact is that, you can eat a food with low energy density, such as  Lettuce, and consume a huge amount for few calories. This belief is true to some extent as lettuce leaves practically do not contain calories. A tablespoon of butter has the same number of calories as 10 cups of leaf lettuce. However, generally they are not eaten alone and most lettuce sauces are high in fat.  Research suggests that losing ½ to 2 pounds a week by making healthy food choices, eating moderate portions, and building physical activity into your daily life is the best way to lose weight and keep it off. By adopting healthy eating and physical activity habits, you may also lower your risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure
9.Myth: You can burn fat by eating certain foods, like grapefruit and cabbage soup.
Fact: The grapefruit diet require you to eat half a grapefruit before every meal to reap the benefits of the fruit's so-called fat-burning enzymes. Calories typically are limited to fewer than 800 a day, although some versions require that you eat until you are full. Grapefruit has no fat, is low in calories and sodium, and is packed with vitamin C. But the very low calories-and deficits in protein, fiber and several important vitamins and minerals --can make this diet dangerous. Similarly, the cabbage soup diet proponents report feeling lightheaded and weak because the diet is too low in protein, vitamins and complex carbohydrates. You may lose weight, but you'll probably be too queasy to enjoy it. Remember, no foods can burn fat. Caffeine-rich foods may speed up your metabolism rate for a short time. However, they do not cause any weight loss. The best way to lose weight is to reduce the number of calories you eat and increase your physical activities.
10.Myth: Processed foods are not as nutritious as fresh foods. 
Fact: Many processed foods are just as nutritious or in some cases even more nutritious than fresh foods depending on the manner in which they are processed. Frozen vegetables are usually processed within hours of harvest. There is little nutrient loss in the freezing process so frozen vegetables retain their high vitamin and mineralcontent. In contrast, fresh vegetables are picked and transported to market. It can take days or even weeks before they reach the dinner table and vitamins are gradually lost over time no matter how carefully the vegetables are transported and stored.
Some processed foods, such as breads and breakfast cereals, have vitamins and minerals added for extra nutrition. In fact, the growing interest in health and nutrition has spurred the production of a whole new range of foods with added health and nutritional benefits (called "functional foods") such as fat spreads with added fibre to lowercholesterol.Processing can also make some nutrients more available. For example, removing phytic acid from grain foods by removing the bran helps to improve the absorption of iron from a food. Processing tomatoes into a tomato paste or sauce increases the amount of lycopene (an antioxidant) that is available to the body.

Azad inaugurates yoga museum in the capital

In a bid to promote yoga and natural ways of healing, union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad inaugurated a state-of-the-art health museum for visitors here Tuesday.

Planet Health will exhibit facts and information on yoga and ayurveda through digital-interactive media.

'Yoga and ayurveda are wellness therapies that find their origins in ancient India. So this museum will act as a one-point source centre for those interested to know about the art of healing,' Azad told reporters at the inauguration.

The museum displays various yoga mudras and forms of performing arts through digital media. It also houses a learning recourse centre that provides literature on Ayurveda and naturopathy.

'Learning information from manual text can be difficult for people. So we decided to provide it in a digital and interactive manner,' said S. Jalaja, secretary of department of Ayush.

The museum is the result of a collaboration between the department of Ayush under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and World Research Laboratory in the capital.

The exhibition will be open for visitors from 11 a.m. To 7 p.m. till October 31

US Patient First In The World To Get Stem Cell Therapy

US doctors have begun the first tests of human embryonic stem cells in patients, treating a man with spinal cord injuries in a landmark trial of the controversial process, the Geron Corporation said Monday.
The patient began the pioneering treatment Friday with Geron's GRNOPC1 human embryonic stem cells at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, a spokeswoman for the hospital told AFP.She declined, however, to give more details, citing patient privacy. 

Preclinical studies of GRNOPC1 found human embryonic stem cells significantly improved locomotor activity of animals with spinal cord injuries when injected seven days after the injury. 
Participants in the human trials must be newly injured and receive a one-time injection of about two million GRNOPC1 cells, seven to 14 days after sustaining their injury. 
David Apple, Shepherd Center's medical director, said the clinical trial, which seeks to establish whether GRNOPC1 is safe and tolerated in humans, was a key step forward in the search for a cure to paralysis after spinal cord injury. 
The Phase I trial -- expected to last two years and involve an estimated 10 patients -- comes just 11 years after Geron began working with human embryonic stem cells in 1999, when "many predicted that it would be a number of decades before a cell therapy would be approved for human clinical trials," Geron's president and chief executive Thomas Okarma said in a statement. 
"Initiating the GRNOPC1 clinical trial is a milestone for the field of human embryonic stem cell-based therapies," Okarma said

 

Global Warming Scare 'the Most Successful Pseudoscientific Fraud Ever': US Physicist

Alleging that global warming is a scam, an American professor has branded the money-spinner as "the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud" he has ever seen. 
Professor Harold Lewis claimed that man-made climate change has become a "scam" driven by "trillions of dollars" which has "corrupted" scientists.
Lewis made the remarks after formally resigning from the American Physical Society (APS).
He compared the APS now to the organization he joined 67 years ago which he said was "much smaller, much gentler, and as yet uncorrupted by the money flood".
"How different it is now. The giants no longer walk the earth and the money flood has become the raison d'etre of much physics research," the Daily Express quoted Lewis, as saying.
"It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist," he added.
APS President Professor Curt Callan however dismissed the allegations of "pseudoscience".
"The use of the word 'scam' is ridiculous. To dismiss the work of large numbers of honest, hard-working scientists as a scam is just silly," Callan said.
Source-ANI

 

CPR Alone Can Help Save Heart Attack Victims: Study

Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation done even by a passerby on someone who has had a heart attack outside a hospital setting seems to improve patient outcomes, new US research published Tuesday found.
Heart attacks in non-hospital settings -- whether at home or in a public place -- are a huge medical problem affecting about 300,000 people a year in the United States, the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) noted.The research compared outcomes in Arizona for out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for cardiac arrest performed by bystanders, not medical staff. 

Patients who were given compression-only CPR were found to be likelier to survive to hospital discharge than patients who had conventional CPR (with mouth-to-mouth) or no CPR, according to the study in JAMA's October 6 issue. 
The southwestern US state of Arizona in 2005 launched a program aimed at improving survival rates for heart attacks outside medically equipped settings. 
"These efforts included changes in the approach to the care provided by both bystanders and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and were based on the increasing evidence in favor of minimizing interruptions in chest compressions during CPR," wrote the authors, including Bentley Bobrow of the Arizona Department of Health Services. 
The study encompassed 4,415 patients over the age of 18 who had an out-of-hospital heart attacks in Arizona in the period from January 2005 to December 2009. 
That included 2,900 who received no bystander CPR, 666 who received conventional CPR (15.1 percent), and 849 who received COCPR (19.2 percent). 
Researchers found survival rates to hospital discharge were 5.2 percent for the no CPR group, 7.8 percent for conventional CPR, and 13.3 percent for COCPR.
Source-AFP