Gender Disparity and Women Empowerment

Dogra S, Kalhan M

Throughout history and in many societies including India, gender inequality was part and parcel of an accepted male-dominated culture. Atrocities and discrimination are the two major problems, which the Indian women face in the present day society. The traditional mentalities of India assume that the place of women is mainly concentrated to the household activities like kitchen work and upbringing of the children and are considered inferior to the men in different spheres of knowledge. The 'Sati Pratha', Pardah System', 'Child Marriage', 'Dowry System', etc. have been some form of atrocities and discriminatory attitudes against the women..
The Government of India had ushered in the new millennium by declaring the year 2001 as Women's Empowerment Year, to focus on "Our vision in the new century of a nation where women are equal partners with men". Women's Empowerment Year was announced with much fanfare. But where are the results? Except for organising seminars and making speeches, what has the government done?
Pre-natal sex determination tests were prohibited by a law passed in 1994. What kind of empowerment do women enjoy, if modern technology merely provides more alternatives for 'doing away with the female', before or after conception?
If development progress is best measured by how well the freedoms of people have been enhanced, then gender disaggregated statistics show how very far we have to go.
· Of the world’s one billion poorest people, three-fifths are women and girls.
· Of the 960 million adults in the world who cannot read, two-thirds are women.
· Seventy percent of the 130 million children who are out of school are girls.
· With notable exceptions, such as Rwanda and the Nordic countries, women are conspicuously absent from parliaments, making up, on average, only 16 percent of parliamentarians worldwide.
· Women everywhere typically earn less than men, both because they are concentrated in low-paying jobs and because they earn less for the same work.
· Although women spend about 70 percent of their unpaid time caring for family members, that contribution to the global economy remains invisible.
· Up to half of all adult women have experienced violence at the hands of their intimate partners.
· Systematic sexual violence against women has characterized almost all recent armed conflicts and is used as a tool of terror and ‘ethnic cleansing’.
· In sub-Saharan Africa, 57 percent of those living with HIV are women, and young women aged 15-24 are at least three times more likely to be infected than men of the same age.
· Each year, half a million women die and 18 million more suffer chronic disability from preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

Women have long been under-represented at all levels of governance – as voters, candidates, party leaders, and elected officials. Campaigns and party platforms that fail to address women’s concerns often fail to motivate women as voters, and illiteracy, twice as common among women than men, has impeded
women’s participation in the political process. Cultural norms and strictures can also make it difficult to register women to vote. Women still hold only 16 per cent of parliamentary seats worldwide. Gains in the number of women in office have rarely been achieved without pressure and support from women’s organizations, advocacy, lobbying, training of women candidates, alliance-building, external financial assistance and, increasingly, the use of quotas.
Evolution has been a slow and steady process. So is the case with the emancipation of women. Changes do not take place overnight and there has been a sea change from the days of our grannies to the present and the empowerment of financial independence has definitely given her the option to lead a respectful life.
So, in the present times only the priorities have changed. Emotional and a social security, which was given utmost importance, has been taken over by economic security. Economic independence by itself is not the solution and emotional security alone means mortgaging ones independence and succumbing to the breadwinner's whims. Emotional security precedes financial security and as long as their importance is judiciously placed, life can be bed of roses. After all who would not like to have a home where there is mutual respect and love.
It is clear that the world has a long way to go to achieve equality and that this work will require concentrated efforts on many fronts. The work of the United Nations and many other agencies in advancing gender equality has converged in three closely interconnected areas: strengthening women’s economic capacity, with a focus on new technologies and the new trade agenda; promoting women’s leadership and political participation: eliminating violence against women and supporting the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The emancipation of women is not a simple matter. It requires the attitudinal change of the husband, other family members and society as a whole to the women. The community consciousness and bureaucratic efforts are integral parts of the implementation of the programmes. The first and foremost priority should be given to education of women, which is the grass-root problem. The struggle of gender justice will be slow, strenuous and protracted, as the change cannot be bought about easily. It has to be fought at emotional, cognitive and action levels. The struggle has to be carried on within the class, race, religion, everywhere in which man-woman relationships figure and matter.

DISCLAIMER: This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Health Mirror, the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

In case of any queries please feel free to contact Dr Shailender Dogra and Dr Meenakshi Kalhan

Positron emission tomography (PET)

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body. The system detects pairs of gamma rays emitted indirectly by a positron-emitting radioisotope, which is introduced into the body on a metabolically active molecule. Images of metabolic activity in space are then reconstructed by computer analysis, often in modern scanners aided by results from a CT X-ray scan performed on the patient at the same time, in the same machine.

Description
Schematic view of a detector block and ring of a PET scanner (here: Siemens ECAT Exact HR+)
Operation
To conduct the scan, a short-lived radioactive tracer isotope, which decays by emitting a positron, which also has been chemically incorporated into a metabolically active molecule, is injected into the living subject (usually into blood circulation). There is a waiting period while the metabolically active molecule becomes concentrated in tissues of interest; then the research subject or patient is placed in the imaging scanner. The molecule most commonly used for this purpose is fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a sugar, for which the waiting period is typically an hour.

Schema of a PET acquisition process

As the radioisotope undergoes positron emission decay (also known as positive beta decay), it emits a positron, the antimatter counterpart of an electron. After travelling up to a few millimeters the positron encounters and annihilates with an electron, producing a pair of annihilation (gamma) photons moving in opposite directions. These are detected when they reach a scintillator material in the scanning device, creating a burst of light which is detected by photomultiplier tubes or silicon avalanche photodiodes (Si APD). The technique depends on simultaneous or coincident detection of the pair of photons; photons which do not arrive in pairs (i.e., within a few nanoseconds) are ignored.
The most significant fraction of electron-positron decays result in two 511 keV gamma photons being emitted at almost 180 degrees to each other; hence it is possible to localize their source along a straight line of coincidence (also called formally the "line of response" or LOR). In practice the LOR has a finite width as the emitted photons are not exactly 180 degrees apart. If the recovery time of detectors is in the picosecond range rather than the 10's of nanosecond range, it is possible to calculate the single point on the LOR at which an annihilation event originated, by measuring the "time of flight" of the two photons. This technology is not yet common, but it is available on some new systems. More commonly, a technique much like the reconstruction of computed tomography (CT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) data is used, although the data set collected in PET is much poorer than CT, so reconstruction techniques are more difficult (see section below on image reconstruction of PET). Using statistics collected from tens-of-thousands of coincidence events, a set of simultaneous equations for the total activity of each parcel of tissue along many LORs can be solved by a number of techniques, and thus a map of radioactivities as a function of location for parcels or bits of tissue ("voxels"), may be constructed and plotted. The resulting map shows the tissues in which the molecular probe has become concentrated, and can be interpreted by a nuclear medicine physician or radiologist in the context of the patient's diagnosis and treatment plan.
PET scans are increasingly read alongside CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, the combination ("co-registration") giving both anatomic and metabolic information (i.e., what the structure is, and what it is doing biochemically). Because PET imaging is most useful in combination with anatomical imaging, such as CT, modern PET scanners are now available with integrated high-end multi-detector-row CT scanners. Because the two scans can be performed in immediate sequence during the same session, with the patient not changing position between the two types of scans, the two sets of images are more-precisely registered, so that areas of abnormality on the PET imaging can be more perfectly correlated with anatomy on the CT images. This is very useful in showing detailed views of moving organs or structures with higher amounts of anatomical variation, such as are more likely to occur outside the brain.
Radioisotopes
Radionuclides used in PET scanning are typically isotopes with short half lives such as carbon-11 (~20 min), nitrogen-13 (~10 min), oxygen-15 (~2 min), and Fluorine-18 (~110 min). Due to their short half lives, the radionuclides must be produced in a cyclotron which is not too far away in delivery-time to the PET scanner. These radionuclides are incorporated into compounds normally used by the body such as glucose, water or ammonia and then injected into the body to trace where they become distributed. Such labelled compounds are known as radiotracers.
Limitations
PET as a technique for scientific investigation in humans is limited by the need for clearance by ethics committees to inject radioactive material into participants. The minimization of radiation dose to the subject is an attractive feature of the use of short-lived radionuclides. Besides its established role as a diagnostic technique, PET has an expanding role as a method to assess the response to therapy, in particular, cancer therapy (e.g. Young et al. 1999), where the risk to the patient from lack of knowledge about disease progress is much greater than the risk from the test radiation.
Limitations to the widespread use of PET arise from the high costs of cyclotrons needed to produce the short-lived radionuclides for PET scanning and the need for specially adapted on-site chemical synthesis apparatus to produce the radiopharmaceuticals. Few hospitals and universities are capable of maintaining such systems, and most clinical PET is supported by third-party suppliers of radiotracers which can supply many sites simultaneously. This limitation restricts clinical PET primarily to the use of tracers labelled with F-18, which has a half life of 110 minutes and can be transported a reasonable distance before use, or to rubidium-82, which can be created in a portable generator and is used for myocardial perfusion studies. Nevertheless, in recent years a few on-site cyclotrons with integrated shielding and hot labs have begun to accompany PET units to remote hospitals. The presence of the small on-site cyclotron promises to expand in the future as the cyclotrons shrink in response to the high cost of isotope transportation to remote PET machines. Because the half-life of F-18 is about two hours, the prepared dose of a radiopharmaceutical bearing this radionuclide will undergo multiple half-lives of decay during the working day. This necessitates frequent recalibration of the remaining dose (determination of activity per unit volume) and careful planning with respect to patient scheduling.
Image reconstruction
The raw data collected by a PET scanner are a list of 'coincidence events' representing near-simultaneous detection of annihilation photons by a pair of detectors. Each coincidence event represents a line in space connecting the two detectors along which the positron emission occurred.
Coincidence events can be grouped into projections images, called sinograms. The sinograms are sorted by the angle of each view and tilt, the latter in 3D case images. The sinogram images are analogous to the projections captured by computed tomography (CT) scanners, and can be reconstructed in a similar way. However, the statistics of the data is much worse than those obtained through transmission tomography. A normal PET data set has millions of counts for the whole acquisition, while the CT can reach a few billion counts. As such, PET data suffer from scatter and random events much more dramatically than CT data does.
In practice, considerable pre-processing of the data is required - correction for random coincidences, estimation and subtraction of scattered photons, detector dead-time correction (after the detection of a photon, the detector must "cool down" again) and detector-sensitivity correction (for both inherent detector sensitivity and changes in sensitivity due to angle of incidence).
Filtered back projection (FBP) has been frequently used to reconstruct images from the projections. This algorithm has the advantage of being simple while having a low requirement for computing resources. However, shot noise in the raw data is prominent in the reconstructed images and areas of high tracer uptake tend to form streaks across the image.
Iterative expectation-maximization algorithms are now the preferred method of reconstruction. The advantage is a better noise profile and resistance to the streak artifacts common with FBP, but the disadvantage is higher computer resource requirements.
Attenuation correction: As different LORs must traverse different thicknesses of tissue, the photons are attenuated differentially. The result is that structures deep in the body are reconstructed as having falsely low tracer uptake. Contemporary scanners can estimate attenuation using integrated x-ray CT equipment, however earlier equipment offered a crude form of CT using a gamma ray (positron emitting) source and the PET detectors.
While attenuation corrected images are generally more faithful representations, the correction process is itself susceptible to significant artifacts. As a result, both corrected and uncorrected images are always reconstructed and read together.
2D/3D reconstruction: Early PET scanners had only a single ring of detectors, hence the acquisition of data and subsequent reconstruction was restricted to a single transverse plane. More modern scanners now include multiple rings, essentially forming a cylinder of detectors.
There are two approaches to reconstructing data from such a scanner: 1) treat each ring as a separate entity, so that only coincidences within a ring are detected, the image from each ring can then be reconstructed individually (2D reconstruction), or 2) allow coincidences to be detected between rings as well as within rings, then reconstruct the entire volume together (3D).
3D techniques have better sensitivity (because more coincidences are detected and used) and therefore less noise, but are more sensitive to the effects of scatter and random coincidences, as well as requiring correspondingly greater computer resources.
History

The concept of emission and transmission tomography was introduced by David Kuhl and Roy Edwards in the late 1950's. Their work later led to the design and construction of several tomographic instruments at the University of Pennsylvania. Tomographic imaging techniques were further developed by Michel (Michael) Ter-Pogossian, Michael E. Phelps and others at the Washington University School of Medicine.
In the 1970s, Tatsuo Ido at the Brookhaven National Laboratory was the first to describe the synthesis of 18F-FDG, the most commonly used PET scanning isotope carrier. The compound was first administered to two normal human volunteers by Abass Alavi in August 1976 at the University of Pennsylvania. Brain images obtained with an ordinary (non-PET) nuclear scanner demonstrated the concentration of FDG in that organ. Later, the substance was used in dedicated positron tomographic scanners, to yeild the modern procedure.

Applications
Maximum intensity projection (MIP) of a typical F-18 FDG wholebody PET acquisition
PET is both a medical and research tool. It is used heavily in clinical oncology (medical imaging of tumors and the search for metastases), and for clinical diagnosis of certain diffuse brain diseases such as those causing various types of dementias. PET is also an important research tool to map normal human brain and heart function.
PET is also used in pre-clinical studies using animals, where it allows repeated investigations into the same subjects. This is particularly valuable in cancer research, as it results in an increase in the statistical quality of the data (subjects can act as their own control) and substantially reduces the numbers of animals required for a given study.
Alternative methods of scanning include x-ray computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), ultrasound and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).
While some imaging scans such as CT and MRI isolate organic anatomic changes in the body, PET scanners, like SPECT are capable of detecting areas of molecular biology detail (even prior to anatomic change). The PET scanner does this via the use of radiolabelled molecular probes that have different rates of uptake, depending on the type and function of tissue involved. The changing of regional blood flow in various anatomic structures (as a measure of the injected positron emitter) can be visualized and relatively quantified with a PET scan.
PET imaging is best performed using a dedicated PET scanner. However, it is possible to acquire PET images using a conventional dual-head gamma camera fitted with a coincidence detector. The quality of gamma-camera PET is considerably lower, and acquisition is slower. However, for institutions with low demand for PET, this may allow on-site imaging, instead of referring patients to another center, or relying on a visit by a mobile scanner.
PET is a valuable technique for some diseases and disorders, because it is possible to target the radio-chemicals used for particular bodily functions.

Oncology

PET scanning with the tracer fluorine-18 (F-18) fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), called FDG-PET, is widely used in clinical oncology. This tracer is a glucose analog that is taken up by glucose-using cells and phosphorylated by hexokinase (whose mitochondrial form is greatly elevated in rapidly-growing malignant tumours). A typical dose of FDG used in an oncological scan is 200-400 MBq for an adult human. Because the oxygen atom which is replaced by F-18 to generate FDG is required for the next step in glucose metabolism in all cells, no further reactions occur in FDG. Furthermore, most tissues (with the notable exception of liver and kidneys) cannot remove the phosphate added by hexokinase. This means that FDG is trapped in any cell which takes it up, until it decays, since phosphorylated sugars, due to their ionic charge, cannot exit from the cell. This results in intense radiolabeling of tissues with high glucose uptake, such as the brain, the liver, and most cancers. As a result, FDG-PET can be used for diagnosis, staging, and monitoring treatment of cancers, particularly in Hodgkin's disease, non Hodgkin's lymphoma, and lung cancer. Many other types of solid tumors will be found to be very highly labeled on a case-by-case basis-- a fact which becomes especially useful in searching for tumor metastasis, or for recurrence after a known highly-active primary tumor is removed. Because individual PET scans are more expensive than "conventional" imaging with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), expansion of FDG-PET in cost-constrained health services will depend on proper health technology assessment; this problem is a difficult one because structural and functional imaging often cannot be directly compared, as they provide different information. Oncology scans using FDG make up over 90% of all PET scans in current practice.

PET scan of the human brain
Neurology: PET neuroimaging is based on an assumption that areas of high radioactivity are associated with brain activity. What is actually measured indirectly is the flow of blood to different parts of the brain, which is generally believed to be correlated, and has been measured using the tracer oxygen-15. However, because of its 2-minute half-life O-15 must be piped directly from a medical cyclotron for such uses, and this is difficult. In practice, since the brain is normally a rapid user of glucose, and since brain pathologies such as Alzheimer's disease greatly decrease brain metabolism of both glucose and oxygen in tandem, standard FDG-PET of the brain, which measures regional glucose use, may also be successfully used to differentiate Alzheimer's disease from other dementing processes, and also to make early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The advantage of FDG-PET for these uses is its much wider availability.
PET imaging with FDG can also be used for localization of seizure focus: A seizure focus will appear as hypometabolic during an interictal scan.
Several radiotracers (i.e. radioligands) have been developed for PET that are ligands for specific neuroreceptor subtypes (e.g. dopamine D2, serotonin 5-HT1A, etc.), transporters (such as [(11)C]McN5652, [(11)C]DASB or other novel tracer ligands for serotonin in this case), or enzyme substrates (e.g. 6-FDOPA for the AADC enzyme). These agents permit the visualization of neuroreceptor pools in the context of a plurality of neuropsychiatric and neurologic illnesses. A novel probe developed at the University of Pittsburgh termed PIB (Pittsburgh Compound-B) permits the visualization of amyloid plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. This technology could assist clinicians in making a positive clinical diagnosis of AD pre-mortem and aid in the development of novel anti-amyloid therapies.
Cardiology, atherosclerosis and vascular disease study: In clinical cardiology, FDG-PET can identify so-called "hibernating myocardium", but its cost-effectiveness in this role versus SPECT is unclear. Recently, a role has been suggested for FDG-PET imaging of atherosclerosis to detect patients at risk of stroke .
Neuropsychology / Cognitive neuroscience: To examine links between specific psychological processes or disorders and brain activity.
Psychiatry: Numerous compounds that bind selectively to neuroreceptors of interest in biological psychiatry have been radiolabeled with C-11 or F-18. Radioligands that bind to dopamine receptors (D1,D2, reuptake transporter), serotonin receptors (5HT1A, 5HT2A, reuptake transporter) opioid receptors (mu) and other sites have been used successfully in studies with human subjects. Studies have been performed examining the state of these receptors in patients compared to healthy controls in schizophrenia, substance abuse, mood disorders and other psychiatric conditions.
Pharmacology: In pre-clinical trials, it is possible to radiolabel a new drug and inject it into animals. The uptake of the drug, the tissues in which it concentrates, and its eventual elimination, can be monitored far more quickly and cost effectively than the older technique of killing and dissecting the animals to discover the same information. PET scanners for rats and apes are marketed for this purpose. The technique is still generally too expensive for the veterinary medicine market, however, so very few pet PET scans are done. Drug occupancy at the purported site of action can also be inferred indirectly by competition studies between unlabeled drug and radiolabeled compounds known apriori to bind with specificity to the site.
Safety
PET scanning is non-invasive, but it does involve exposure to ionizing radiation. The total dose of radiation is small, however, usually around 7 mSv. This can be compared to 2.2 mSv average annual background radiation in the UK, 0.02 mSv for a chest x-ray, up to 8 mSv for a CT scan of the chest, 2-6 mSv per annum for aircrew (data from UK National Radiological Protection Board).

With thanks from Wikipedia

DISCLAIMER: This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Health Mirror, the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.
In Case of any queries please feel free to contact the authors or write to Health Mirror

Dandruff and Prevention

Authors: Gupta S, Dhull AK

Don't toss out all those dark suits just yet. There's a better way to deal with dandruff. As a matter of fact, you may be able simply to wash it away.

You may not realize it, but you are constantly shedding dead skin cells from all over your body. It's the skin's natural way to rejuvenate itself. In fact, you get a whole new suit of skin about every 27 or 28 days. The old stuff just sort of flakes away. You just don't tend to notice the tiny skin cells dropping off your arms, your legs, and even your scalp.Dandruff results from the same shedding of skin cells. But if the shedding process is normal, what happens to make dandruff so embarrassingly noticeable?Scientists have discovered that dandruff occurs when a yeast-like fungus called malassezia goes wild on your scalp. The microscopic malassezia fungus, a normal inhabitant on a healthy human head, feeds on the fatty oils secreted by hair follicles in the scalp. But sometimes, for reasons that are as yet unclear, the fungus grows out of control, causing irritation that actually speeds up cell turnover on the scalp. As a result, the normal process of cell turnover, which usually takes a month, may take less than two weeks when out-of-control malassezia has irritated the scalp. So many dead cells are shed at the same time that, when they mix with the oil from the hair follicles, they tend to form greasy clumps big enough to be clearly visible to the naked eye. The oil also makes the clumps more likely to get stuck in your hair (and on your shoulders), rather than floating quickly away.

Scientists have discovered that dandruff occurs when a yeast-like fungus called malassezia multiplies on your scalp.

How to Get Rid of Dandruff
Even if your malassezia has multiplied like wildfire, you don't have to live with the resulting dandruff. Take the following steps to sweep those flakes away once and for all.

Shampoo each day to keep it away

What easier way to get rid of dandruff than to wash it down the drain? Getting rid of excess oils (which may contribute to the overgrowth of malassezia in the first place) and flakes through daily shampooing may be the easiest way to tame your mane.

Switch shampoos

If your regular shampoo isn't doing the trick, even with daily washing, it's time to switch to an antidandruff shampoo. Check the ingredients in over-the-counter dandruff shampoos, and look for one that contains zinc pyrithione, which can reduce the fungus; selenium sulfide, which can limit cell turnover and possibly even decrease the amount of fungus; salicylic acid, which works as a sort of scrub to slough off dead skin; or ketoconazole, which works against a broad array of fungi.

Go for three

Your favorite dandruff shampoo may stop working after a while, and those little flakes may return. Don't blame the shampoo. You simply may have built up a resistance to its active ingredient. To prevent this, try rotating three brands of dandruff shampoo (each with a different formulation), using each for a month. In other words, use one shampoo for a month, then switch to a second brand for a month, then to a third brand for a month, then back to the original shampoo for a month, and so on.

Lather twice

The first lathering and rinsing gets rid of the loose flakes and the oily buildup on your hair and scalp. It sort of clears the area so the second lathering can get to work. Leave the second lathering of shampoo on your hair at least five minutes before rinsing it off. That gives the shampoo a chance to penetrate the skin cells and do what it's supposed to do.

Try tar

If the antidandruff shampoos aren't working, it's time to bring out the big guns, namely the tar shampoos, which have been a proven remedy for more than 200 years. The tar decreases cell turnover quite effectively, though there are some drawbacks. Tar shampoos have a strong odor, may stain the shaft of lighter-colored hair (it can take weeks of using a milder shampoo to get rid of the discoloration), and may irritate the skin.

Use a rinse

If you decide to go with a tar shampoo, rinse your hair with lemon juice, a conditioner, or creme rinse to get rid of any lingering odor from the shampoo. Using a hair conditioner after washing with any antidandruff shampoo is a good idea anyway, because the medicated shampoos tend to stiffen hair and make it less manageable. Many of them also dry the scalp, which can add to flaking; a conditioner can help seal in nourishing moisture.

Be sensitive to your sensitivity

There are some people who just shouldn't use a tar shampoo. Why? Because they're so sensitive. Rather, their scalp is, and a tar shampoo can irritate and inflame their hair follicles, causing a condition called folliculitis. The cure? Switch to a milder shampoo.

Stop those itchy fingers

Try to resist the temptation to go after those itchy patches like a dog chasing fleas. You may end up with wounds to your scalp caused by your fingernails. If you break the skin on your scalp, discontinue use of medicated shampoo for a while. Switch to a mild shampoo, such as a baby shampoo, and use it daily until the scratches are healed.

Shower away sweat

After exercise or strenuous work that makes you perspire, shower and shampoo as soon as possible. Sweat irritates the scalp and speeds up the flaking of skin cells.

Go easy on the sticky stuff

Although you needn't give up the various mousses, sprays, and gels that hold your hairstyle in place, try to use them less often. These hair products can contribute to oily buildup.

Is It Dandruff?
You may have something that's like dandruff, but isn't dandruff. Flaking of the skin may also be caused by seborrheic dermatitis or psoriasis.

Seborrheic dermatitis is a chronic disorder characterized by inflammation of the skin, along with scaling. It may strike the eyebrow and hairline areas, the sides of the nose, the ears, and the central chest.

Psoriasis is characterized by red, scaly patches on the skin and is the result of unusually rapid turnover of cells. Prescription medications are available to control both conditions.So if you still have trouble with dandruff after attempting the home remedies discussed here, see your doctor.

Dandruff can be an embarrassing problem, but you can shake those pesky flakes for good by following a careful regimen.

DISCLAIMER: This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Health Mirror, the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

In Case of any queries please feel free to contact the authors or write to Health Mirror

Cataracts and Macular Degeneration

Authors: Sachdeva S, Dhull AK

Overview of Cataracts and Macular Degeneration
Cartoon characters see spots or stars before their eyes, and everyone laughs. But there's nothing funny about sight-robbing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Both of these eye diseases are hallmarks of aging, but that doesn't mean you must surrender your sight to them as you get on in years. Adding vision-valuable foods to your diet may help you protect your eyes from the damage that occurs over time.In this article we'll look at the causes of cataracts and AMD, as well as some alternative treatments -- in other words, ones that don't involve surgery -- for relief from this age-related problem.

Understanding Cataracts

The reality is sobering. If you live long enough, chances are you'll get cataracts. As the population ages, the numbers creep ever upward -- each year, more than a million people are diagnosed with cataracts severe enough to require surgery. Almost two-thirds of all 60-year-olds have them.A cataract starts off as a cloudy spot on the clear lens of your eye (which is located behind your colored iris), almost as if you smeared grease on it. Some cataracts develop so slowly, you aren't even aware of them.But often, the cataract gets worse, or you get more of them. You may begin to notice double or blurred vision, sensitivity to light (glare may be especially troublesome), and changes in color perception. The upshot will be progressively more-frequent changes in your eyeglass prescription, until the glasses no longer seem to help the problem. Your distance vision gradually decreases and near vision improves (also called second sight).Your eye doctor will probably detect your cataract and, if it gets severe enough, suggest the latest in eye surgery.Until the late 1970s, cataract surgery. was certainly no picnic. It never really restored normal vision, and you had to wear thick eyeglasses, declaring to the world your advancing age. Now, cataract surgery is a mere hour-long affair ( in fact the actual procedure taking only 10 to 15 minutes), usually performed on an out-patient basis and is totally suture less. The cloudy natural lens is removed and replaced with a plastic intraocular lens. In the vast majority of cases, the operation is extremely successful: The implanted lens restores sight lost to the clouded-over lens and corrects most of the need for eyeglasses after surgery. But wouldn't preventing cataracts in the first place be even better? Well, tell those eye surgeons to hold their scalpels and lasers, because cataracts may not be the inevitable consequence of aging we've come to expect.

Understanding Macular Degeneration

Cataracts may affect more people, but macular degeneration is the most common cause of age-related blindness. That's why researchers are furiously working to better understand how to prevent and treat this eye disease, as well.The macula is an area of the retina, which is in the back of your eye. The retina is like the screen onto which the lens focuses the light (and hence the images) that enters the eye. But only a small area of the retina, the macula, contains the specialized cells responsible for the sharp central vision that you need to read, drive, and perform many other daily activities requiring clear, crisp focus. As the macula degenerates, some of the messages from your eye to your brain that tell you what you're seeing can't be transmitted, and your vision slowly becomes blurred or distorted; you may see shapes, but not fine lines, and you may experience a blank spot in your central vision. Eventually, you lose your vision altogether. There is currently no effective treatment to restore vision once the macula begins to degenerate.

Researchers have discovered that the retina of the eye is constantly bathed in vitamin C, at levels much higher than those normally found in the blood. Some researchers speculate that the vitamin C is there for protection and that the amount may need bolstering as we age. Perhaps antioxidant nutrients, therefore, could help prevent this condition, too.

Fig: Amsler grid to detect ARMD

Treatment Options
Where there's exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light (such as from the sun), there's potential for cell damage. The eye is certainly no exception. In fact, the more UV exposure, the more cataracts -- up to three times the risk.
The eye is constantly exposed to light and air -- typically polluted air as well -- and that's just the recipe for oxidative damage. When cells are oxidized, they set off chain reactions that can destroy whatever is in their path -- including healthy cells in the lens or the macula of the eye.Suddenly, a dietary connection to eye disease no longer seems so farfetched. Research into the possible connections between nutrition and vision has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. It is now evident that antioxidants may work to slow the progression of cataracts and may even help prevent them. The antioxidant nutrients linked to decreased cataract incidence include beta-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin E.In one study, women who ate lots of fruits and vegetables had a whopping 39 percent lower risk of developing severe cataracts (the kind that require surgery) than those who didn't eat much produce. Among the strongest protectors were spinach, sweet potatoes, and winter squash, all high in beta-carotene. Another study found daily intake of 180 milligrams of vitamin C from foods (nearly three times the recommended daily amount) reduced the odds of developing cataracts by nearly 50 percent.With macular degeneration, National Eye Institute researchers were thrilled with the remarkable results from a six-year study. At least 25 percent of the people at risk for developing advanced macular degeneration experienced a protective effect from supplements containing vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and zinc. The nutrients certainly don't cure the disease, nor will they restore vision already lost. However, they may help to slow progression of macular degeneration, a wonderful prospect for people suffering from this vision-robbing disease.Another interesting finding from recent research is that people with higher macular concentrations of two beta-carotene cousins, called lutein and zeaxanthin, seem to experience greater protection from damage caused by sunlight and other environmental factors. Research shows that people eating a diet with the most lutein+zeaxanthin (as much as 5.8 milligrams (mg) per day) had a significantly lower risk for AMD than those whose diet contained the least amount (as low as 1.2 mg per day). Lutein and zeaxanthin are found in yellow-colored vegetables, spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, romaine lettuce, broccoli, zucchini, corn, garden peas and Brussels sprouts. Research also suggests higher intakes of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in higher-fat fish, soybeans, wheat germ, and canola oil, may help protect the eyes from AMD.Admittedly, we are still in the infancy of learning about the connection between nutrition and eye disease. And not all the results from the research have been promising. But the possibilities are indeed worth looking into.Taking precautions and augmenting them with foods and supplements can provide benefits to the eyes, if not an all-out cure.
A Feast for the Eyes
Vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene can protect your eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration. Below, we list some foods that provide these nutrients:

For vitamin C: Broccoli*, Brussels sprouts*, Cantaloupe, Cauliflower, Citrus fruits and juices, Papaya, Strawberries, Tomato juice.

For vitamin E: Almonds, Corn and safflower oils, Eggs, Peanuts, Sunflower seeds.

For beta-carotene: Apricots, Cantaloupe, Carrots*, Leafy, dark greens* (kale, spinach, turnip and collard greens), Mangoes, Peppers, red bell, Sweet Potatoes, Squash winter.

*These also supply lutein and zeaxanthin.
Tips for Saving Your Sight
There are plenty of simple steps you can take to ensure the health of your eyes, such as:
· Limit your sun exposure between the hours of 10 A.M. and 4 P.M., when sunlight is most intense.
· Wear a wide-brimmed hat when in the sun.
· Choose sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection (they are labeled voluntarily by the manufacturer), and wear them.
· Stop smoking. Smoking increases the amount of oxidative damage inflicted on your eyes.
· If you have diabetes, keep your blood glucose under control. High blood glucose levels can damage the lens of the eye.
· Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Aim for five to nine servings per day. Be sure to include those rich in vitamin C and beta-carotene.
· See an ophthalmologist regularly for early detection.

DISCLAIMER: This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Health Mirror, the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

In case of any queries please feel free to contact Dr Sumit Sachdeva or Dr Anil K Dhull

Cholesterol and Preventive Measures

What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like compound that belongs to a class of molecules called steroids. It's found in many foods, in your bloodstream and in all your body's cells. If you had a handful of cholesterol, it might feel like a soft, melted candle. Cholesterol is essential for:
· Formation and maintenance of cell membranes (helps the cell to resist changes in temperature and protects and insulates nerve fibers)
· Formation of sex hormones (progesterone, testosterone, estradiol, cortisol)
· Production of bile salts, which help to digest food
· Conversion into vitamin D in the skin when exposed to sunlight.

Most of the body's cholesterol is manufactured in the liver

The formation of cholesterol involves a series of complicated biochemical reactions that begin with the widespread 2-carbon molecule Acetyl CoA: Acetyl CoA (C2) --> mevalonate (C6) --> isopentenyl pyrophosphate (C5) --> squalene (C30) --> cholesterol (C27). Cholesterol is made primarily in your liver (about 1,000 milligrams a day), but it is also created by cells lining the small intestine and by individual cells in the body.

Functioning of Cholesterol
Have you ever been about to take a big bite of your triple chocolate fudge cake when someone leaned over and said "you better watch your cholesterol"? That's happening to all of us more frequently. According to The American Heart Association, high levels of cholesterol are a risk factor for coronary heart disease, the nation's number one killer. Over 100 million Americans have cholesterol levels that exceed the recommended total and 20 percent of Americans have levels that are considered high.

You can check nutrition labels, like this one from a can, for cholesterol information.

What we don't often hear is the important fact that some cholesterol is vital to human life. In this article, we will take a look at cholesterol, both why it is needed for normal human--and animal--functions and why at high levels and in many individuals, it can be deadly.
Blood Cholesterol vs. Dietary Cholesterol
It may surprise you to know that our bodies make all the cholesterol we need. When your doctor takes a blood test to measure your cholesterol level, the doctor is actually measuring the amount of circulating cholesterol in your blood, or your blood cholesterol level. About 85 percent of your blood cholesterol level is endogenous, which means it is produced by your body. The other 15 percent or so comes from an external source -- your diet. Your dietary cholesterol originates from meat, poultry, fish, seafood and dairy products. It's possible for some people to eat foods high in cholesterol and still have low blood cholesterol levels. Likewise, it's possible to eat foods low in cholesterol and have a high blood cholesterol level.
So, why is there so much talk about cholesterol in our diet? It's because the level of cholesterol already present in your blood can be increased by high consumption of cholesterol and saturated fat in your diet. This increase in dietary cholesterol has been associated with atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaques that can narrow or block blood vessels. If the coronary arteries of the heart become blocked, a heart attack can occur. The blocked artery can also develop rough edges. This can cause plaques to break off and travel, obstructing blood vessels elsewhere in the body. A blocked blood vessel in the brain can trigger a stroke.
The average American man eats about 360 milligrams of cholesterol a day; the average woman eats between 220 and 260 milligrams daily. So how are we doing? The American Heart Association recommends that we limit our average daily cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams. Obviously, people with high levels of cholesterol in the blood should take in even less.
Good vs Bad Cholesterol
Comments about "good" and "bad" cholesterol refer to the type of carrier molecule that transports the cholesterol. These carrier molecules are made of protein and are called apoproteins. They are necessary because cholesterol and other fats (lipids) can't dissolve in water, which also means they can't dissolve in blood. When these apoproteins are joined with cholesterol, they form a compound called lipoproteins. The density of these lipoproteins is determined by the amount of protein in the molecule. "Bad" cholesterol is the low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the major cholesterol carrier in the blood. High levels of these LDLs are associated with atherosclerosis. "Good" cholesterol is the high-density lipoprotein (HDL); a greater level of HDL--think of this as drain cleaner you pour in the sink--is thought to provide some protection against artery blockage.
A high level of LDL in the blood may mean that cell membranes in the liver have reduced the number of LDL receptors due to increased amounts of cholesterol inside the cell. After a cell has used the cholesterol for its chemical needs and doesn't need any more, it reduces its number of LDL receptors. This enables LDL levels to accumulate in the blood. When this happens, the LDLs begin to deposit cholesterol on artery walls, forming thick plaques. In contrast, the HDLs--the "good" guys--act to remove this excess cholesterol and transport it to the liver for disposal.
A third group of carrier molecules, the very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) are converted to LDL after delivering triglycerides to the muscles and adipose (fat) tissue.
The levels of HDL, LDL and total cholesterol are all indicators for atherosclerosis and heart attack risk. People who have a cholesterol level of 275 or greater (200 or less is desirable) are at significant risk for a heart attack, despite a favorable HDL level. In addition, people who have normal cholesterol levels but low HDL levels are also at increased risk for a heart attack.
Risk Factors
There are a number of factors that influence a person's cholesterol levels. They include diet, age, weight, gender, genetics, diseases and lifestyle.
Diet

There are two dietary factors associated with increases in blood cholesterol levels:
Eating foods that are high in saturated fats, even if the fats themselves do not contain cholesterol. (These include foods containing high levels of hydrogenated vegetable oils, especially palm and coconut oils, avocados and other high-fat foods of vegetable origin).
Eating foods containing high levels of cholesterol. (This group includes eggs and red meat--the most maligned of the cholesterol culprits--as well as lard and shrimp. These foods can significantly raise blood cholesterol levels, especially when combined with foods that are high in saturated fat).
It's important to note that only foods of animal origin contain cholesterol. Lack of awareness of this fact has led to some confusing labels at the grocery store. For example, some items that are high in saturated fats from plant sources bear labels claiming that they are 100 percent cholesterol free. The statement may be true, but it's generally misleading because it implies that the product is definitely beneficial to your health.
Age

The blood levels of cholesterol tend to increase as we age--a factor doctors consider when deciding treatment options for patients with certain cholesterol levels.
Weight

People who are overweight are more likely to have high blood cholesterol levels. They also tend to have lower HDL levels. The location of the excess weight also seems to play a role in cholesterol levels. A greater risk of increased cholesterol levels occurs when that extra weight is centered in the abdominal region, as opposed to the legs or buttocks.
Gender

Men tend to have higher LDL levels and lower HDL levels than do women, especially before age 50. After age 50, when women are in their post-menopausal years, decreasing amounts of estrogen are thought to cause the LDL level to rise.
Genetics

Some people are genetically predisposed to having high levels of cholesterol. A variety of minor genetic defects can lead to excessive production of LDLs or a decreased capacity for their removal. This tendency towards high cholesterol levels is often passed on from parents to their children. If your parents have high cholesterol, you need to be tested to see if your cholesterol levels are also elevated.
Diseases

Diseases such as diabetes can lower HDL levels, increase triglycerides and accelerate the development of atherosclerosis. High blood pressure, or hypertension, can also hasten the development of atherosclerosis, and some medications used to treat it can increase LDL and triglycerides and decrease HDL levels.
Lifestyle
Factors that negatively affect cholesterol levels also include high levels of stress, which can raise total cholesterol levels, and cigarette smoking, which can lower a person's HDL level as much as 15 percent. On the other hand, strenuous exercise can increase HDL levels and decrease LDL levels. Exercise also can help reduce body weight, which, in turn, can help reduce cholesterol. Recent research has shown that moderate alcohol use (one drink per day for women, two drinks a day for men) can raise HDL cholesterol and therefore reduce the risk of heart attack. Despite such research, it is difficult to recommend the habitual use of alcohol, because there are also negative health consequences associated with alcohol use and a high potential for abuse.
Always remember that risk factors for high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease don't exist in a vacuum--they tend to amplify each other. Reducing the risk of a cardiovascular disease involves eliminating all of the risk factors that we can control and seeking medical advise for those we can't.
Testing and Prevention
You should get your cholesterol tested every three to five years, more often if you have high cholesterol levels. Please refer to the table below for guidelines for total cholesterol, LDL and HDL levels.

Blood Type Relationships

Type of Cholestrol & Desirable Values in IU

Total Cholesterol Below 200

HDL Cholesterol Above 45

LDL Cholestrol Below 130

LDL/HDL Ratio Below 3.0

What can I do to reduce my cholesterol?
There are several steps you can take to reduce your cholesterol levels. The first is to eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. That means keeping your total fat consumption--saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated--to fewer than 30 percent of your daily intake of calories. Remember to keep your cholesterol intake to fewer than 300 milligrams per day. Saturated fats contained in butter, whole milk, hydrogenated oils, chocolate shortening, etc. should comprise no more than one third of your total fat consumption. To reduce your total fat and cholesterol intake, limit your consumption of meats such as beef, pork, liver and tongue (always trim away excess fat). In addition, avoid cheese, fried foods, nuts and cream, and try to curb your intake of eggs to no more than four per week. Try to eat meatless meals several times a week, use skim milk and include fish in your diet. Eat a wide variety of vegetables, pasta, grains and fruit. Another good tip is to look at the package label of the foods you buy, and restrict your choices to foods containing 3 grams of fat or less per serving.
There is evidence that water-soluble fibers can aid in lowering cholesterol; these foods include the fiber in oat or corn bran, beans and legumes, pectin found in apples and other fruits, and guar that is used as a thickener. Although highly touted by the media and health food stores, the phospholipid Lecithin has not been confirmed as a reducer of blood cholesterol levels.
If you are overweight, trying to lose weight and including aerobic exercise in your routine can help raise those desirable HDL levels. Diet and exercise alone can decrease cholesterol levels by up to 15 percent.
It probably comes as no surprise to you that, if you smoke, you should quit to avoid a wide range of health problems, including lower HDL levels and increased risk of heart attack.

Foods That Lower Cholesterol Overview
A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is a great start toward lowering cholesterol.
The first line of defense against too much blood cholesterol is a diet that is rich in foods that lower cholesterol. A healthy diet should include plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fiber, and be low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. For the vast majority of Americans, eating healthy and losing excess weight are ideal ways to lower elevated cholesterol levels and keep those levels within a healthy range for life.
Even those foods or supplements that may have a beneficial effect on cholesterol need to be part of an overall heart-smart diet. Having oatmeal for breakfast and a glass of wine at dinner is fine, but if you add whole milk and butter to the oatmeal or have a Porterhouse steak with the wine, you're not doing your heart any favors.
So choose your foods wisely, and if a particular food or supplement appears to help, be sure to include it. But remember: Moderation is key. Don't overdo it with any supplement or food because, in some cases, that can cause just as many problems as high blood cholesterol.
Foods That Claim to Lower Cholesterol
Many foods and supplements claim to lower cholesterol. But do they really? Sometimes the answer is no, and sometimes the answer is that we don't know. In some instances, studies that support claims that a food lowers cholesterol are conducted by the very people who are selling the product, or the studies are poorly designed. In other instances, the studies conducted to test whether a food lowers cholesterol are just inconclusive.
The foods discussed on the following pages are ones that doctors don't recommend for a variety of reasons. If you are interested in taking a chance that these foods will work for you, talk with your doctor first. And keep a record every time you have your blood cholesterol tested to see if you experience any progress while taking these foods or supplements.
Flaxseed is a plant-based supplement that contains omega-3 fatty acids.

Foods That Claim to Lower Cholesterol
Flaxseed
Guggul
Lecithin
Policosanol
Red Yeast Rice Soy Garlic
Olive Oil
Fish oil
Plant Sterols
Whole grains
Dietary fibre
However studies are going on to rule out the authenticity of the claims for different food ingredients.

Medicating High Cholesterol
Sometimes positive changes in diet, lifestyle and exercise are not enough. In these cases, doctors may consider the use of medication that lowers cholesterol. The decision to have a patient begin medication is often based on high levels of LDL cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. For example, medication may be indicated if your LDL level is over 190 or is over 160 and you have several other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Drugs that reduce LDL blood levels can prevent or reduce the build-up of artery blocking plaques and can limit the possibility of the release of those plaques as dangerous blood clots. There are several types of drugs that can help reduce blood cholesterol levels. The most commonly prescribed are the statins, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, including:
· Lovastatin
· Simvastatin
· Atorvastatin, a new, highly potent drug

These drugs work within the liver to directly prevent the formation of cholesterol and can lower LDL cholesterol by as much as 40 percent. Research also shows that these drugs can reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Another major drug category is the resins, which bind bile acids, causing the liver to produce more of them and using up cholesterol in the process. By "tying" it up, these drugs make cholesterol less available in the blood. They include:
· Cholestyramine
· Colestipol
· The B vitamin Niacin, in high doses, can lower triglycerides and LDL levels and increase HDL levels. Niacin has been proven to reduce a person's risk of having a second heart attack.
Last are the drugs in the fibrates category, which lower triglycerides and can increase HDL levels. These include:
· Gemfibrozil
· Fenofibrate
The decision to take cholesterol- or lipid-lowering drugs is not taken lightly by your doctor. These drugs can be fairly expensive and are often required for many years or even the rest of your life. It is also important to note that some of these drugs can have dangerous side effects, such as damage to the liver.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle and visiting your doctor regularly can help curb your risks of problem cholesterol. Have your cholesterol levels checked by a physician, rather than risk incorrectly interpreting numbers in self test kits currently on the market. Remember, cholesterol is necessary for life but it can also be very harmful and requires monitoring. So, watch your cholesterol and keep in mind that, for every 1 percent drop in your cholesterol level, your risk of heart attack is lowered by 2 percent.

How Alcohol Lowers Cholesterol
For many people, a little alcohol, such as the ritual evening cocktail, is a sure cure for the day's troubles. These same individuals might not be surprised to learn that when consumed in moderation, alcohol may also offer some protection against heart disease. Research has shown that moderate consumption of alcohol can raise HDL cholesterol.
It may also decrease blood clotting and insulin resistance and is linked to lower levels of certain markers of inflammation, such as C-reactive protein, all of which may reduce the risk of heart disease. A modest alcohol intake may also reduce the risk of diabetes. This should be good news for those who imbibe in moderation -- that is, up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. (One drink consists of 1.5 ounces of hard liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer.)
In the early 1990s, epidemiologists -- experts who specialize in the study of large populations to determine how various diseases occur and spread and how they can be controlled -- looked at data from countries around the globe and noticed that the coronary death rate for people in France was considerably lower than for people in the United States, despite French people's well-known love of high-fat foods.
In fact, the phenomenon called the French Paradox relates to the fact that the French have fewer heart attacks than Americans. This is a situation that could not be explained simply by comparing cholesterol levels in the two countries. Experts felt that this difference was due primarily to the French diet, which contains more red wine, fruits, and vegetables. Although red wine contains antioxidants and other compounds that may help prevent blood clots or the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, it has not been shown that only red wine is protective. In fact, most studies have linked moderate consumption of alcohol in general -- including wine, beer, and hard liquor -- to a reduced risk of heart disease.
But experts raise a red flag at the idea of encouraging the consumption of alcohol in order to raise HDL cholesterol or lower coronary rates. Not only are there better ways to raise HDL cholesterol (for example, regular physical exercise), but also not everyone can handle alcohol well.
Many doctors are concerned about safe levels of alcohol consumption for patients. They point out that consumption of as few as three to five alcoholic drinks per day is associated with adverse health effects, and heavy alcohol consumption may raise blood pressure, increase blood triglycerides, damage the liver, cause birth defects (when alcohol is consumed during pregnancy), and increase the risk of developing certain forms of cancer. Also, the majority of those who develop drinking problems drink relatively small amounts.


DISCLAIMER: This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Health Mirror, the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

In case of any queries please feel free to contact Dr Anil K Dhull