Friday, March 12, 2010
Eyes are a very important part of one’s body and taking care of the eyes is equally important as taking care of one’s body. The eyes of human being are one of the beautiful gifts given by the god and which is very necessary element of our body parts. Eyes afford us view, lacking of which life would have lost lots of significance. Eyes are rapidly in contact with external environment because of which many eye problems can arise.
There are lots of eye problems that can occur and the problems list is eternal. But we can try to take certain enough steps to protect our eyes. Apart from consulting the doctor on a regular basis for routine checkup one should take care of the eyes himself. It may include washing of eyes on a regular basis and also wearing UV protected sun glasses while going out in the sun.
Eyes are the most vulnerable part for catching any kind of infection or disorder. Thus a regular checkup is actually fact very important. Any eye doctor may suggest a patient to go for definite special tests in order to check that are there any signs or indications of eye diseases &disorders. The diseases & disorders may comprise cataract or conjunctivitis, dryness in eyes or glaucoma, tumors of parts of eyes & even partial or complete blindness.
It is really essential for a person to have a healthy diet. This is so because the deficiency of vitamins and minerals can lead to different eye problems. The deficiency of vitamin A may lead anyone to night blindness. Actually, more than 90 % of people who suffer from night blindness may also suffer from other problems as well. Anyone may even become Diabetic as a later result of night blindness.
* Smoking may cause major harm to the eyes & it may even lead to complete blindness. Smoking may reason Macular degeneration that leads to the blind spot.
* A person may come across other problems which may occur to the eyes which may occur due to an accident.
Eating plenty of potassium-rich foods such as leafy greens, potatoes and bananas may reduce the risk of stroke and coronary artery disease, according to Italian researchers.
The new analysis was based on 10 studies published between 1966 and 2009 that included almost 280,000 adults. During follow-ups that ranged from five to 19 years, there were over 5,500 strokes and almost 3,100 coronary heart disease events, the investigators found.
Higher potassium intake was associated with a 19 percent lower risk of stroke and an 8 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease. The findings support global recommendations for people to increase their consumption of potassium-rich foods in order to prevent vascular disease, said Dr. Pasquale Strazzullo, of the University of Naples, and colleagues.
Other foods high in potassium include soybeans, apricots, avocados, plain non-fat yogurt, prune juice, and dried beans and peas.
The findings were presented Wednesday at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism conference in San Francisco.
Another study presented at the meeting found that a diet high in raw fruits and vegetables may help protect against stroke.
In that study, the researchers examined the incidence of stroke among more than 20,000 men and women, aged 20 to 65, who were free of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. During 10 years of follow-up, there were 233 strokes among the participants.
After they adjusted for a number of factors, the researchers found that people with a high intake (more than 262 grams per day) of raw fruits and vegetables were 36 percent less likely to suffer a stroke than those with a low intake (less than 92 grams per day) of raw fruits and vegetables.
However, there was no association between stroke risk and a high intake (more than 233 grams per day) or low intake (less than 113 grams per day) of processed fruits and vegetables, said Linda Oude Griep of Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
After 10 sessions, anxiety, depression and stress lessened, researchers say.
Psychotherapy helps cut the incidence of psychological woes in patients with lupus who contain high levels of daily stress, a new study finds.
The treatment also helps these patients improve and maintain their quality of life, according to a new Spanish study.
The research incorporated 45 patients randomly assigned to a control group or to a therapy group. Each acknowledged 10 weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
By the end of the study, the patients in the therapy group had significantly reduced levels of depression, anxiety and daily stress -- along with considerable improvement in quality of life -- compared to those in the control group.
However, the patients in the therapy group didn't show any significant reduction in lupus disease activity, said the Spanish researchers.
The study was led by N. Navarrete-Navarrete of the University Hospital Virgen de Las Nieves, and was recently published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
