Observer & Busness 3 Mar 2012 - Oman Daily Observer

PEOPLE’S
PLATFORM
WITH yet another edition
of Muscat Festival now
coming to an end, many
families — Omani and expatriate
alike — will now have to look for
other ways to entertain and amuse
themselves especially on weekends.
The festival afforded a splendid
opportunity for thousands of
people to spend their evenings and
weekends amid carnival-like settings
that offered visitors of all ages
the chance to relax and enjoy themselves.
What will be sorely missed
is the kaleidoscopic nature of such
festivals — the mix of amusement,
entertainment, music, dance, good
food, shopping, discovery, learning,
and so on. Clearly, the general
public would welcome more such
events spread through the year to
encourage people to step out of
their homes and thereby wean them
away from the TV screens.
— Brenda Lobo
Editor: Thankfully, the closing
of the Muscat Festival coincides
with the start of the Muscat International
Book Fair, which provides
another great opportunity for
people to enrich themselves, albeit
literally.
Entry ticket disparity
MUSCAT Festival visitors
entering the Qurum Natural
Park through Marah Amusement
Land had to cough up 300 baisas
as the entry free (as opposed to the
festival entry charge of 200 baisas
for an adult). This seemed unfair
because those entering the festival
venue via the main or rear gates
could still access Marah Land’s
amusement facilities by gaining
access through a back gate without
having to pay any additional entry
charge. When I showed my festival
entry ticket at the Marah Land
entrance, I was turned away by
the staff and asked to buy another
ticket for 300 baisas. Consequently,
I ended up paying 500 baisas to
gain entry into the festival venue,
while thousands of others simply
had to pay 200 baisas (per adult)
for access not only to the Qurum
Park but also Marah Land. Clearly,
this duplicity leaves a bad taste in
the mouth.
— Antonia Ferreira
Editor: Muscat Municipality
should look into this apparent disparity.
Eschew recklessness when
celebrating sporting victories
WHILE Oman’s sensational
win over Thailand in the
World Cup qualifiers last week
did merit the unbridled jubilation
that it inevitably provoked, what
it did not warrant was the public
exhibition of this joy in often
reckless ways. For example, it was
not uncommon to see ecstatic fans
perched perilously on flag-draped
cars that sped crazily through the
streets. Worse, children as young
27
LETTERS/HEALTH SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012
All good things must come to an end
LET’S TALK
HEALTH
Maryam Khalfan
healthtalk2012@gmail.com
Preventing common
cold or flu
WHENEVER a change in weather is experienced,
a lot of people tend to develop some kind of
sniffling and sneezing due to a common cold
or flu. But, considering the fact that viruses responsible
for causing cold and flu infections are contagious, it is
significantly important to be acquainted with the basic
knowledge of how, to a certain degree, the flu related illnesses
can be controlled.
For instance, if we are to learn from the experience
of the UK’s 2009 Public health campaign that came up
with a catchy phrase to caution people about the spread of
swine flu with a simple slogan like: Catch it, Bin it, Kill
it. I am certain that some contagious infections like the
seasonal flu can, to some extent, be controlled.
I do not mean to say that we should imitate the same
slogan. But we may probably adopt the idea by coming
up with a catchy phrase that suits our society. For example,
an incident that happened to an eight-year-old girl
who was travelling with a team of visiting relatives from
the UK can be cited.
The girl sneezed and coughed on and she had
no tissue or handkerchief at the moment. So she
coughed onto her shoulder as had been nurtured by her
parents. Unfortunately, two other people were sitting by
her side.
Since the other UK kids were familiar with the concept
through regular practice, they at once advised her
to: Catch it, Bin it, Kill it in a repeated rhythm. In fact,
it was at that juncture that the little girl and her family
were inspired by the motive to learn and adopt the concept
to ‘Catch the virus with tissue whenever they either
coughed or sneezed, Throw the tissue in a Bin and Kill it
by washing hands’.
However, since the cold and flu viruses cannot be
completely avoided; especially if a person has not been
immunised against the seasonal flu viruses, adopting the
concept of practicing good hygiene can help control the
disease.
Since the viruses responsible for causing flu and cold
are mainly transmitted by contact with either an infected
person or other objects, developing the habit of regular
hand wash is medically preached.
It is also strongly advisable to cover mouth and nose
with a tissue or a handkerchief while sneezing, coughing
in order to avoid further spread of the virus and to protect
those around you from getting infected.
It is equally important that used tissue papers should
be disposed of with care in the trash bin. For those who
prefer to use handkerchiefs, it is advisable to wash it in
hot water. Likewise, in case you sneeze or cough into the
hands, wash them immediately.
Also avoid touching face, mouth and nose especially
if someone within your proximity is infected or if you get
exposed to touching objects and other surfaces in public
places.
For hygienic measures, while travelling carry
some antiseptic wipes or a sanitiser gel. It is equally
wise to maintain a healthy and strong immunity against cold
and flu virus preferably by eating healthy foods and to have
a good night sleep of least seven to eight hours daily.
Also avoid touching face, mouth, eyes and nose to
prevent the possibility of contracting the illness from
other objects and surfaces. Regularly exercise in limitations
to enhance the body’s immune-system and try to
reduce the stress levels.
Equally important is the concept of maintaining a good
hydration level of the body by drinking a lot of lukewarm
or normal room temperature water.
According to medical experts, drinking a lot of water
helps to flush away the cold and flu viruses from the
throat to the stomach where such viruses cannot survive.
Also, considering the fact that the cold and flu viruses
are heat sensitive and they rapidly multiply in cool environment,
practicing an appropriate hygiene and avoiding
exposure to cold drinks and environment can help avoid
the infection.
as eight emerged from sunroofs
as their euphoric daddies honked
horns and generally whizzed
around in their vehicles. Such
displays of joy have been part
of our landscape for so many
decades, but given the horrific toll
that our roads reap in fatalities
and injuries, I think it’s important
for us to exercise more sense
on the roads when our national
teams score big in their respective
arenas.
— Hisham Ahmed
Editor: True, there are plentiful
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Memory training can overcome forgetfulness
IF you can’t recall where
you have placed your car
keys or reading glasses,
chances are that memory
training could help.
Memory training can even
re-engage the hippocampus,
part of the brain critical for
memory formation, according
to the findings by the
Emory University School of
Medicine, which is conducting
studies into mild cognitive
impairment (MCI).
MCI is meant to identify
those at increased risk
of Alzheimer’s disease. Such
people have difficulty forming
new memories but are still
able to handle daily tasks, because
of impaired function in
brain parts including the hippocampus,
the journal Hippocampus
reports.
Researchers at Emory and
Atlanta Veterans Medical
Centre have been investigating
memory-building strategies
for people with MCI.
The techniques used in the
study were known to be effective
for healthy people,
but it has been uncertain how
they could affect brain function
in people with MCI.
“Our results suggest that
these strategies can help
patients remember specific
information, such as
the locations of objects,”
says Benjamin Hampstead,
neuropsychologist and assistant
professor of rehabilitation
medicine at Emory,
according to an Emory statement.
“This is the first randomised
controlled trial to
show that these techniques
are not only effective in MCI
patients, but that they can also
re-engage the hippocampus,
which is a brain region that
is critical for forming new
memories,” said Hampstead.
Both brain halves vital:
Whenever we are engaged in
a task, one half of our brain
is more active than the other
— but some problems require
both halves to work together
to find a solution. Researchers
in Germany are investigating
how such specialisations and
co-operations arise.
Based on a pigeon-model,
Martina Manns and Juliane
Romling of the Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, in Germany,
are proving for the first time
experimentally that the ability
to combine complex impres-
sions from both halves depends
on environmental factors
in the embryonic stage,
the journal Nature Communications
reports.
Within the egg, bird embryos
always turn their head
in such a way that one eye is
turned close to the eggshell,
and the other one is covered
by the body. This causes an
asymmetrical light stimulation,
which influences developmental
processes in both
brain halves, according to a
statement of Ruhr-Universität
Bochum.
Manns uses this mechanism
for her experiment. One
group of embryos hatch in a
lighted incubator, another one
in complete darkness. The results
show that information
exchange is impaired without
light-stimulation.
This research sheds light
on the origin of communication
processes in the brain.
Developmental disorders like
ADHD or autism are characterised
by a deviating pattern
between the two brain
halves.
Therefore, there is a
possibility that the results
may help to understand those
disorders and open the way
for better therapeutic approaches.
— IANS
Long term diabetics exposed to triple stroke-risk
PEOPLE suffering from
diabetes for 10 years or
more face triple the risk of
stroke, compared to nondiabetics,
says a new study.
This is the first study to
examine whether the length
of time a man or woman has
type 2 diabetes impacts the risk
of ischemic stroke, which is
the commonest type of stroke
caused by blocked blood flow
to the brain. “The findings
emphasise the chronic nature
of diabetes and the fact that it
damages the blood vessels over
time,” said Mitchell SV Elkind,
senior study author from the
Columbia University Medical
Center, New York City, the
journal Stroke reported.
“Although stroke rates have
DEPRESSION which clouds the
prospects of millions of people
worldwide may actually be ‘hard-wired’
into our brains to combat disease, a study
reveals.
The radical new theory being proposed
by a pair of psychiatrists suggests
that genetic variations promoting depression
may be a by-product of our ancestors’
ability to fight infection.
“Most of the genetic variations that
have been linked to depression turn out
to affect the function of the immune system,”
said Andrew Miller, professor of
psychiatry and behavioural sciences at
Emory University.
“This led us to rethink why depression
seems to stay embedded in the genome,”
added Miller, the journal Molecular Psychiatry
reported.
“The basic idea is that depression
been declining overall, the increase
in diabetes incidence
over the same period may lead
to a higher overall stroke burden
in the future,” said Elkind,
also associate chairman of neu-
rology for clinical research and
training at Columbia.
As part of the Northern
Manhattan Study (NOMAS),
researchers followed 3,298
people (average age 69) who
and the genes that promote it were very
adaptive for helping people — especially
young children — not die of infection in
the ancestral environment, even if those
same behaviours are not helpful in our
relationships with other people,” said
had never had a stroke, according
to a university statement.
Nearly 22 per cent of participants
had type 2 diabetes at
the start of the study. After an
average nine years of followup,
an additional 10 per cent
developed diabetes.
After considering other factors
such as age, smoking history,
physical activity, history
of heart disease, blood pressure
and cholesterol, researchers
said that compared to people
without diabetes, the risk of
stroke increased 70 per cent in
people with diabetes for less
than five years; 80 per cent in
people with diabetes for five to
10 years; and three-fold in people
with diabetes for 10 years
or more.
Is depression byproduct of our ability to fight infection?
Miller’s colleague Charles Raison, from
the University of Arizona.
Infection was the major cause of death
in humans’ early history, so surviving infection
was a key determinant in whether
someone was able to pass on his or her
genes, said a university statement.
Evolution and genetics have bound
together depressive symptoms and bodily
responses that were selected on the basis
of reducing mortality from infection.
Fever, fatigue/inactivity, social avoidance
and anorexia can all be seen as adaptive
behaviours in light of the need to contain
infection, they study authors wrote.
Similarly, a disruption of sleep patterns
can be seen in both mood disorders
and when the immune system is activated.
This may come from our ancestors’ need
to stay on alert to fend off predators after
injury, Miller said.
ways to celebrate and demonstrate
our joy when our national teams
triumph. Celebrations should never
be an occasion for tragedy and
grief, which inevitably follow suit
when we go overboard.
Road projects must address
chokepoints
WHILE the authorities
announced with much
fanfare the opening of the
new intersection (in place of a
roundabout) just outside the new
Muscat Grand Mall in Bausher,
motorists found the announcement
premature. On the face of things,
the new intersection does suggest
a significant streamlining of
traffic flows, but unfinished road
work barely 20 yards away serves
to choke traffic leading to Bausher
roundabout.
In fact, four lanes of traffic
must squeeze into one-and-half
lanes at this chokepoint, resulting
in frustrating moments for motorists.
One only dreads what traffic
problems are in store when Muscat
Grand Mall starts to pull in major
crowds when it is fully functional.
— Malik Hassan.
Editor: Perhaps, if we’re a little
patient and give the contractor
concerned time to finish his
work, we should then be able to
judge the overall efficacy of this
project.
HEALTHY
FOODS
By Mini Padikkal
We are what we eat
FOOD is what makes us what we are. It affects the shape of
our body and helps us to grow into adults. Unfortunately,
not all food is good for us. Some foods are of little nutritional
value and high in fat, sugar and calories. Such foods are
known as ‘junk foods’ or ‘fast foods’. These foods are cheap
and convenient but they contain harmful synthetic chemicals.
The unwise change in food habits of people are causing
major health problems in Oman. Traditional Omani diet is
healthy with more locally available fish, chicken, eggs, rice,
salad, fruits, vegetables, yoghurt and dates. But with the increasing
popularity of ‘fast food’ outlets in Oman, the eating
habits of Omani youth are also changing to a highly processed
diet which is high in sugar, fat and salt. Health officials have
expressed concern about the long term impact of ‘ junk’ food
consumption on public health in Oman. A look at the contents
in shopping baskets will surely show fake fruit drinks (mostly
refined sugar and citric acid and not much fruit) fizzy drinks
(1 cup of sugar in a can of coke) spongy cakes (refined flour,
sugar and fat), bags of potato chips (high amount of salt and
hydrogenated fats which is not at all good for health). These
kinds of food put people at a higher risk for Type 2 Diabetes,
high blood pressure and high cholesterol level in blood.
Harmful effects
‘Junk food’ has been identified as a major cause of heart
diseases including myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest and
atherosclerosis. This is because junk food contains excessive
amount of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and cholesterol
that get deposited on the inner linings of blood vessels.
This results in formation of plaques in the arteries and the
heart is then required to put an extra effort for pumping
blood through the arteries.
Most of the junk food is not in the natural state because of
the processing procedure. Junk foods such as candy, chips,
cakes, candy bar, chewing gum and ice cream are usually
added with chemical preservatives and synthetic vitamins.
The purpose of this is to prolong their shelf life and thus
help to reduce costs.
A negative effect of junk food on children is rapid weight
gain, often leading to excessive weight and sometimes obesity.
Children are getting addicted to these kinds of foods.
For example, candy, chips, soft drinks, french fries and
other fried foods, pizza, burgers, baked items, ice creams
etc, can provide hundreds of calories per day.
Most fast food restaurants use hydrogenated fats to deepfry
their foods because they have a long shelf life. The bad
thing about hydrogenated fat is that when heated to high
temperatures for a certain amount of time, it undergoes a
chemical transformation and becomes carcinogenic.
Amongst the dangerous ingredients found in junk foods
are genetically modified ingredients (GM ingredients).
Research indicates that genetically modified foods lead to
birth defects, organ failure, infertility and cancer.
Junk foods do not contain any nutrients that are beneficial
to the human body. The foods are filled with harmful carbohydrates,
fats and cholesterol that do not provide any useful
energy. As a result, consuming junk food reduces the level
of essential nutrients thereby causing weakness in the body.
Even liver gets damaged due to the presence of ingredients
such as fat, cholesterol and salt inside the junk foods.
Junk foods also cause damage to the pancreas resulting in
insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).
If we do not take care, we will see a difference to the health
of our children and grandchildren in the next 20 years caused
by poor diet choices now! The good news is that we can turn
back the clock and make a difference now to our health by
eating simple, healthy, homemade food and by taking time off
for exercise. There is a need to educate people to change over
to healthy foods because youth mostly rely on junk foods.
School canteens should not sell junk food but supply only balanced
food to students. We can call for a total ban of junk
foods at least in school canteens, to protect youngsters from
diabetes and other related problems in future.
The food industry has conditioned us to buy what they
want us to eat, but we have the power to change that. If we do
not buy salty snacks, sweets and highly packaged ready-made
food, the food industry will have to change and sell the simple,
healthy food that we want.
(Note: The writer is a dietician at
Atlas star Medical Centre, Al Khuwair, Muscat.)