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Videogames May Help Aging Brains Multi-Task

March 24, 2009 By Arun Pal Singh Leave a Comment

Strategy-based videogames can enhance reasoning, memory and other cognitive abilities that often decline with age.

In a study of 40 adults in their 60s and 70s, researchers found that those who learned to play a strategy-heavy videogames improved their scores of tests of cognitive function. Men and women who trained in the game for about a month showed gains in tests of memory, reasoning and the ability to “multi-task”.

The findings suggest that videogames that keep players “on their toes” might help older adults keep their brains sharp, the researchers report in the journal Psychology and Aging. [Read more...]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: aging, brains multi task, gamming, toes, Videogames

Additives Processed Food May Lead To Lung Cancer

March 21, 2009 By Arun Pal Singh Leave a Comment

Research on mice has shown that common food additives known as phosphates may help lung cancer tumors grow faster, at least in mice. The research has been conducted in South Korea. Phosphates are additives-found in many soft drinks, baked goods, processed meats and cheese.

A diet that is high in phosphates  significantly increased the lung surface tumor lesions as well as the size.

The research suggests that cutting back on inorganic phosphates “may be critical for lung cancer treatment as well as prevention”.

Phosphates are critical to human nutrition and can be used in compounds that enrich calcium and iron content and prevent food from drying out. But Cho said it is possible that some people get too much. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: food additives, Foods, human diets, inorganic phosphates, lung cancer, meats and cheese, soft drinks

Tips For Improving Bad Posture

March 19, 2009 By Arun Pal Singh Leave a Comment

Bad posture can lead to multitude of problems, not only in the back but other regions of body also. If you have a habit of maintaining a bad posture, use following tips to improve your posture

  • Do not slouch. When sitting, avoid slumping or leaning forward.
  • Stretching exercises help to keep you flexible. Yoga helps to improve your flexibility and posture.
  • Sleep on a firm mattress that will support your spine while sleeping. Don’t stack to many pillow so that your neck is at an awkward angle. If you sleep on your side, placing a pillow between your knees helps to keeping the spine aligned.
  • Walk straight. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed on both feet and your chin is level with the ground. Arms should be relaxed at your sides with your shoulders back. Continue practicing until you’re able to walk with the book balanced on your head.
Filed Under: Health Tagged With: avoid slumping, bad posture, flexibility, pillow, shoulder, stretching excercises

Breakthrough In Brain Healing Mechanism – Brain Cells Heal Themselves In Experimental Studies

March 4, 2009 By Arun Pal Singh Leave a Comment

A breakthrough in brain and spinal cord repair is expected.  Damaged nerve cells in the brains of mice may be made to repair themselves by turning off proteins that keep nerve cells growth in check.

This is the first time it has been possible to see such significant regeneration by manipulating single molecules.

The research team focused on a gene network called the mTOR pathway, which is active when young nerve cells are first growing but becomes less so once they mature.

Nerve injury appears to shut down this network completely.

And two proteins PTEN and TSCI-appear to be responsible for silencing this pathway.

When these proteins are blocked, the cells show capability of repair.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Brain cells, brain growth, damage, nerve injury, nerve repair

Dieting Can Make You Vulnerable To Flu

March 3, 2009 By Arun Pal Singh Leave a Comment

Dieting during winters could impair the body’s immune system and make people more susceptible to the flu virus, experts have found.

Mice who were put on a calorie-controlled diet found it harder to tackle the infection than those on a normal diet, BBC News website reported on Friday.

The findings suggest that contrary to the old adage “starve a fever”, those with a temperature should eat well. Flue cases in England and Wales aer currently approaching a nine year high.

The team at Michigan State University found even though the mice on the lower calorie diet received adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals, their bodies were still not able to produce the amount of killer cells needed to fight an infection.

As well as being more likely to die from the virus, the mice-which were consuming around 40 percent of the calories given to their counterparts on a normal diet-took longer to recover, lost more weight and displayed other symptoms of poor health.

“Our research shows that having a body ready to fight a virus will lead to a faster recovery ad less severe effects than if it is calorically restricted,” said study lead author Elizabeth Gardner.

“IF the strain of flu a person is infected with is different from the strain included in the flu vaccination, then your body sees this as a primary infection and must produce the antibodies to fight it off,” Gardner said.

The study, the team added, should not be seen as a carte blanche to avoid dieting all year, but to reserve weight control to the eight months of the year when flu is not so virulent.

Source TOI

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Dieting, immune system, starve a fever, vulnerable to flu, winter

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