Yoga may benefit people suffering from high blood pressure and sugar

Suffering from increased blood pressure and high blood sugar? One year of yoga training may help, a new study suggests. According to the researchers from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, one year of yoga training decreased pro-inflammatory adipokines – signalling proteins released by fat tissue – and increased an anti-inflammatory adipokine in adults with metabolic syndrome and high-normal blood pressure. The findings support the beneficial role of yoga in managing metabolic syndrome by favourably modulating adipokines, the researchers mentioned. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions – increased blood pressure,…

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Acne may put you at risk of major depression. Here’s what new research says

Acne is associated with increased risk of developing major depression in the first years after the condition appears, reveals a study. The analysis included data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) (1986-2012), a large primary care database in the United Kingdom. The investigators found that the risk for major depression was highest within one year of acne diagnosis – a 63% higher risk compared with individuals without acne – and decreased thereafter. The results indicate that it is critical that physicians monitor mood symptoms in patients with acne and initiate…

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Airborne: No need for coughing or sneezing, flu may spread just by breathing

We may pass the flu to others just by breathing, according to a study which contradicts the popular belief that people can catch the influenza virus by exposure to droplets from an infected person’s coughs or sneezes. The study provides new evidence for the potential importance of airborne transmission because of the large quantities of infectious virus researchers found in the exhaled breath from people suffering from flu. “We found that flu cases contaminated the air around them with infectious virus just by breathing, without coughing or sneezing,” said Donald…

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The secret to male birth control may lie in this poisonous herb extract

A plant extract, traditionally used by African warriors as a heart-stopping poison on their arrows, may be used to develop birth control pill for men, a study in mice suggests. Women have many options for oral contraceptives that are safe, effective and reversible, but despite decades of research, men have none. Two types of African plants make the poisonous compound called ouabain. Mammals also produce it in their bodies, though at lower levels that are thought to help control blood pressure; doctors sometimes prescribe small doses of the compound to…

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Love adding extra salt to your food? You may be putting yourself at risk of dementia

Love to eat crispy roasted nuts and potato wafers that are high in salt? Beware, besides harming your heart, it may also harm your brain and lead to dementia, researchers have warned. In mice, the high-salt diet reduced the resting cerebral blood flow by 28% in the cortex and 25% in the hippocampus – brain regions involved in learning and memory. This impairment in the blood flow to the brain was caused by a decrease in the production of nitric oxide – a gas generated by endothelial cells – the…

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Binge Watching TV May Reduce Your Sperm Count By 35 Percent: Dietary Tweaks To Manage Your Sperm Count

Dear men. Your habit of watching TV more than 5 hours a day could drastically bring down your sperm count by a whopping 35 percent according to a latest study. According to the study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.   The findings also revealed that Male TV addicts were found to have 38 percent lower sperm count than those who had a less sedentary lifestyle. TV addiction could be attributable to eating high-calorie junk food and laziness in their impact on the sperm count, said the researchers.  …

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