Health Adda

I confess that I was never a great fan of the iconic 2-minute instant Maggi noodle but found it strange that this darling of mothers, school-goers, hostel students, travellers and bachelors of several decades should be catapulted so suddenly to a “Gee…it is poison…I wouldn’t give it to even my dog” status and burnt in street corners like effigies of Ravana. What I gather from the press is that a food tester from Uttar Pradesh detected higher levels of lead than the permissible 2.5 parts per million, in the tastemaker concentrate that comes with the noodle pack, raising alarm over possible chronic lead poisoning. Excess lead entering the body can cause harm. Once upon a time when water pipes were made of lead, chronic lead poisoning was not uncommon producing abdominal cramps, anaemia, nerve toxicity (foot drop was a common feature in which the foot could not be lifted off the ground and had to be dragged) and aggressive behaviour. It was also sometimes seen in children who chewed o

No Tobacco Day,  here are some interesting tobacco facts that you should know. 1. Two men who appeared in the wildly popular Marlboro Man advertisements died of lung cancer, earning Marlboro cigarettes the nickname “Cowboy Killer.” 2. Tobacco smoking, particularly cigarette smoking, is the single-most preventable cause of the death in many parts of the world. 3. Every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average, which is roughly the time it takes to smoke one cigarette. 4. Of the thousands of chemical agents in tobacco smoke, more than 50 have been proven to cause cancer.a 5. Within 20 minutes of quitting smoking, a person’s blood pressure returns to normal. Within one year, the chance of suffering a heart attack decreases by half 6. Tobacco consumption is associated with not just lung cancer, but cancer of the mouth, food pipe, pancreas and urinary bladder and cervix. 7. Smokers have a much higher risk of heart disease and chronic bronchitis. 8. Smoking causes

Inflammatory Bowel Disease The smart young 35 year old career-oriented Divya’s (name changed) problems started two years ago with what appeared as an usual  intestinal infection: cramping abdominal pain, loose stools and feverishness. She took her regular antibiotics, and although the symptoms improved slightly, they lingered and persisted. Over the next 6 months, she had four major bouts, lost 6 kilograms of weight, became anaemic and weak, and passed blood in her stools a few times. She finally consulted a gastroenterologist who performed a colonoscopy, a test in which one passes a periscopic tube into the large intestine, and diagnosed her to be suffering from Crohn’s disease. Like most of her age, she had never heard of Crohn’s disease. It is an autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune cells normally primed to target and kill invading germs, get misdirected and start attacking intestinal cells of its own body. Her husband, a TV channel manager, was shocked too. The quest

Summer Fruits to stay Cool Some believe that when nature comes down harshly at a place and people, say the parching summer prevailing in northern India at prese nt, it also provides antidotes for surviving it. Seasonal fruits and vegetables constitute the survival kit, and one has to understand how and why they work. You might have noticed that most fruits that flood the market this time are rich in fluids and minerals. The best re-hydrator is the familiar water-melon. As the name implies, it is abundant in water. Several helpings throughout the day help prevent dehydration and maintain skin turgor. The musk or honey melon also acts in a similar manner, drawing water and minerals from sandy riverbeds and bringing it to you with added flavors. They contain a lot of polyphenols; minerals and vitamins that help the body cope with summer heat. Cucumber and “kakri” are water laden as well. When had with salt, they help correct water and sodium deficiencies that hot winds and sweat