Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

May 5, 2011

Remain happy forever!!! Gene for the Happiness have been identified


If you wants to remain happy forver in your life now it seems it is possible. According to the TG daily,Scientists have for the first time discovered a 'happiness gene', which works by regulating the transport of serotonin in the brain.

It forms the first direct link between a specific genetic condition and a person’s happiness, as measured by their satisfaction with life.
Behavioural economist Jan-Emmanuel De Neve of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) examined genetic data from more than 2,500 participants in the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, examining which functional variant of the 5-HTT gene they possessed.
This gene helps control serotonin transporters in neuron cell walls, and has a variation, or allele, which can be either long or short. The long version is more efficient, resulting in more serotonin transporters in the cell membrane.
The team asked subjects how satisfied they were with theirlife as a whole. There were five possible answers: very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied, very dissatisfied or none of the above.
The results showed that nearly 70 percent of those with the efficient (long-long) version of the gene were either very satisfied or satisfied with their life – compared to just 19 per cent for those with the less efficient short-short form.
Conversely, 26 per cent of those with the short-short allele were dissatisfied, compared with only 20 per cent of those with the long-long variant.
Even possessing one long allele increased the likelihood of being very satisfied with life by 8.5 per cent, the team found.
"It has long been suspected that this gene plays a role in mental health but this is the first study to show that it is instrumental in shaping our individual happiness levels," says De Neve.
“The results of our study suggest a strong link between happiness and this functional variation in the 5-HTT gene."

He points out that other genes - as well as one's life experiences - also influence a person's happiness levels. But, he says, "This finding helps to explain why we each have a unique baseline level of happiness and why some people tend to be naturally happier than others."
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May 2, 2011

China to create alternative to human breast milk

Beijing, April 15 China will soon create dairy products from milk produced by genetically modified cattle and containing most of the nutrients as in human breast milk.
The ministry of agriculture has given the go-ahead to test the "human-like" milk, which will be available in the Chinese market in two years, said Li Ning, a researcher at the State Key Laboratories for Agro-biotechnology at China Agricultural University.
The milk, which cows produced after researchers tweaked their genetic codes, is rich in lactalbumin, lactoferrin, and lysozume - proteins that are found in human breast milk, according to Xinhua.
"Such proteins can be easily absorbed by the human body and can boost the immune system, which is why breastfeeding is always better than using bovine milk and infant formula," said Li.
Though not yet a perfect substitute for breast milk, as it lacks some antibodies and a protein that helps boost babies' intelligence, the milk had a potential for great marketing.
"The milk pumped out by our cattle will be a cheap source for such rare proteins, which are precious components hailed by the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries," said Li.
Though genetic engineering has been a rising technology, studied by pharmaceutical and biological industries and widely used to mass-produce vaccines and drugs like insulin, food production is yet to gain international recognition.
Similar concerns are present in the Chinese market, as consumers complain about lack of available information about the potential hazards of such food.
"I think the scientists are doing a good thing (by developing genetically-modified milk) as it may help mothers who are unable to breast feed, but I, myself, won't drink such milk just because it contains more nutrients," said a consumer named Tan.
Li Ning said they have highlighted the safety issue in their work, and that no research has yet indicated that such food was detrimental to human health.
The modified milk has reportedly passed the safety test of the Chinese Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which said the milk "proved more healthy than the conventional one".
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Feb 20, 2011

Can your prenatal diet really help your baby's brain? Yes !! Read it!!!

Can your prenatal diet really help your baby's brain? More and more studies indicate YES! Research from the University of Connecticut (published in the June 2007 issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) reported that infants of women who consumed DHA (a specific type of omega-3 fatty acid) during pregnancy performed better on problem-solving tasks. 
Flower of canola 




In the study, 29 pregnant women were randomly place into two groups at gestation week 24. One group received cereal bars containing 300 milligrams of DHA each. The second group of women received cereal bars containing no DHA. All study participants ate, on average, five bars each week for the remainder of their pregnancies. When their infants were nine months old, they were tested using the Infant Planning Test and the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence. 
Lake trout




No significant differences in overall intelligence or memory recognition were noted between the two groups. However, the infants of the DHA-eating mothers performed significantly better in problem-solving.


According to these researchers, many pregnant women are not aware that consuming DHA is important during pregnancy and lactation. On top of that, women who are aware of their need for DHA are concerned with finding safe dietary sources of this omega-3 fatty acid. 
Canola seed







Fish and seafood, like salmon, lake trout, sardines, tuna, herring, oysters, shrimp and shellfish are major sources of DHA  for pregnant women .Nuts and seeds, such as walnuts, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil Canola and soybean oils are also useful food to obtain DHA
wall nut

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega-3 fatty acid (molecular formula C22H32O2). In chemical structure, DHA is a carboxylic acid with a 22-carbon chain and six cis double bonds; the first double bond is located at the third carbon from the omega end. Its trivial name is cervonic acid, its systematic name is all-cis-docosa-4,7,10,13,16,19-hexa-enoic acid, and its shorthand name is 22:6(n-3) in the nomenclature of fatty acids.
DHA IUPAC name (4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z,19Z)-docosa-4,7,10,13,16,19-hexaenoic acid; Doconexent



DHA was also found to inhibit growth of human colon carcinoma cells. DHA concentrations in breast milk range from 0.07% to greater than 1.0% of total fatty acids, with a mean of about 0.34%. DHA levels in breast milk are higher if a mother's diet is high in fish. 
DHA is actively promoted by manufacturers as a food additive. Until recently, sales other than to makers of infant formula have been minimal; however, in 2007, several DHASCO-fortified dairy items (milk, yogurt) began selling in grocery stores.
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Oct 1, 2010

Drink Green tea and live Cancer free Life!!!!!

Green tea is tea made solely with the leaves of Camellia sinensis that have undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originates from China and has become associated with many cultures in Asia from Japan and South Korea to the Middle East. Recently, it has become more widespread in the West, where black tea is traditionally consumed. Many varieties of green tea have been created in countries where it is grown. These varieties can differ substantially due to variable growing conditions, processing, and harvesting time.
Over the last few decades green tea has been subjected to many scientific and medical studies to determine the extent of its long-purported health benefits, with some evidence suggesting that regular green tea drinkers have lower chances of heart disease and developing certain types of cancer.

Green tea contains salubrious polyphenols, particularly catechins, the most abundant of which is epigallocatechin gallate. Green tea also contains carotenoids, tocopherols, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), minerals such as chromium, manganese, selenium or zinc, and certain phytochemical compounds

In other hand, Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers.The cancer cells may metastasize (spread) from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes. Prostate cancer may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, problems during sexual intercourse, or erectile dysfunction. Other symptoms can potentially develop during later stages of the disease.

 In Recent research, researchers have discovered that an active compound polyphenon  found in Green tea can slow the progression of prostate cancer. The study examined in 26 men between 41 to 72 years diagonised with prostate cancer were given capsule of  polyphenon E and the results suggested a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of prostate cancer progression.
Similarly, results of recent year long clinical trial conducted  Italy revealed that consumption of green tea polyphenols reduced the risk of developing prostate cancer in man. However the research are just beginning and lots of work remains to be done and I strongly feel that consumption of green tea should be encouraged and the chances of cancer cure should be explored.
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