Can’t breathe after Chinese food? It might be the MSG

Can’t breathe after Chinese food? It mightbe the MSG A very satisfying feast of kung pao chicken, sweet-sour pork or just about any Chinese dish could, at times, be accompanied with a bout of headache, giddiness or rashes. It’s aptly called the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, but a doctor from Mahad, a four-hour drive from Mumbai, recently found out that the presence of ajinomoto salt -better known as mono sodium glutamate or MSG -in Chinese food could even lead to life-threatening swelling of tissues. A 23-year-old who had eaten triple fried…

Excessive Marathon Practice Can Adversely Affect Heart

As Mumbai full marathon approaches, doctors have urged participants not to practice excessively as it may have adverse affects on the heart, especially for the adults and senior citizens, said doctors. “People doing regular exercise have a healthy life, but as overdosing of medicines is always toxic, similarly excessive endurance exercise like marathon running, has shown to have paradoxical, adverse effects on the heart,” said Ajay Pandey, Cardiologist at SRV Hospital. Pandey said heavy chronic exercising imposes certain adaptations on the heart due to excessive prolonged workload on the heart,…

Building immunity

In this holiday season, as your schedule starts becoming more packed, nutrition takes a back seat. Even as you successfully manage your crazy life, you don’t feel fine. Could it be because you’re overstressed and undernourished? Let’s chat about building immunity in the context of the season at present. The wedding and festive season can take a toll on your body without you realising it. To achieve your goals this season, you need to arm yourself with the following food fighters: Protein Protein builds your internal soldiers, fights diseases and…

Witnessing fear in loved ones can cause PTSD

A study reveals that if a person hears about a serious incident — such as a gunfire exchange – from his/her loved ones or even strangers, it may change how information flows in the brain and can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. Scientists in the study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, observed that fear in others may change how information flows in the brain. Post-traumatic stress disorder, also called PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop in some people after they experience a shocking, scary, or dangerous event, according to the…

‘10% higher level of burnout among docs since 2012 survey’

Your seemingly disinterested doctor may be a part of a larger problem stalking the medical system: burnout among doctors. While medicine is seen as a coveted profession in India, a new study from a city medical college indicates that our doctors, like their western counterparts, suffer from burnout-associated symptoms such as emotional exhaustion, lack of feeling or dissatisfaction. Around 500 doctors responded to a 25-point questionnaire and came up with answers that spoke of lack of development (“My work doesn’t offer me opportunities to develop my abilities”), overload (“I overlook…

GM vaccine for malaria without side effects soon

A potent malaria vaccine with virtually no side-effects has cleared clinical trials. The new “highly protective” malaria vaccine was successful in humans and can pave the way for treatment of other parasitic diseases. Scientists from the US genetically engineered the plasmodium parasite that causes the disease, after being passed on from mosquitos, to remove three genes that lead to infection. Although they can’t multiply , they live in the liver and stimulate the body’s defences to repel a real infection. Plasmodium parasites first infect the liver and then blood, leading…