The Asian Independent 16 - 30 Nov. 2019

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14 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 HEALTH www.theasianindependent.co.uk 'Only child' 7 times more likely to be obese New York : Parents with only child are more likely to tackle an obese kid as children without siblings may be at a higher risk of gaining weight than those who have brothers and sisters, say researchers. This is because families with multiple children tend to make more healthy eating decisions than families with a single child, the study added. The study, published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, found that this kind of obesity could be seven times more common among youngsters. "Healthier eating behaviours and patterns may result from household-level changes rather than peer exposure, as peer exposure is also present in away-from-home care," said study lead author Chelsea L. Kracht from the University of Oklahoma in the US. According to the researchers, data was self-reported in daily food logs kept by mothers over the course of three days -- two weekdays and one weekend day. Teachers kept logs by proxy for any food children ate while at school. Mothers also completed the Family Nutrition and Physical Activity questionnaire to evaluate typical family eating behaviour like food and beverage choice. Researchers have found that only-children, who researchers refer to as 'singletons,' had less healthy family eating practices, beverage choices, and total Healthy Eating Index 2010 score, coming in lower on three out of the 12 areas measured. They also had significantly lower total scores across weekdays, weekends, and on average, indicating there are both individual and collective differences in eating patterns between the groups. Researchers found mothers of singleton children were more likely to be obese themselves. Moreover, maternal BMI had a much stronger connection to child BMI percentile and waist circumference percentile than singleton status. Maternal BMI did not significantly contribute to overall eating patterns but did contribute to empty calories. The research also found that time spent in awayfrom-home care like school and daycare was not connected to children's eating patterns. "Nutrition professionals must consider the influence of family and siblings to provide appropriate and tailored nutrition education for families of young children," said Kracht. "Efforts to help all children and families establish healthy eating habits and practices must be encouraged," Kracht added. New HIV strain discovered after nearly 2 DECADES New York : A team of scientists at pharmaceutical major Abbott has identified a new subtype of the H u m a n Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), called HIV-1 Group M, subtype L. The discovery marks the first time a new subtype of HIV-1 has been identified since 2000. The findings, published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS), show the role next-generation genome sequencing is playing in helping researchers stay one step ahead of mutating viruses and avoiding new pandemics. Since the beginning of the global AIDS pandemic, 75 million people have been infected with HIV and 37.9 million people day are living with the virus. "In an increasingly connected world, we can no longer think of viruses being contained to one location," said Carole McArthur, Pofessor at University of Missouri, Kansas City, and one of the study authors. Group M viruses are responsible for the global pandemic, which can be traced back to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Sub-Saharan Africa. To determine whether an unusual virus is in fact a new HIV subtype, three cases must be discovered independently. The first two samples of this subtype were discovered in the DRC in the 1980s and the 1990s. The third, collected in 2001, was difficult to be sequenced at that time because of the amount of virus in the sample and the existing technology. Today, next-generation sequencing technology allows researchers to build an entire genome at higher speeds and lower costs. In order to utilise this technology, Abbott scientists had to develop and apply new techniques to help narrow in on the virus portion of the sample to fully sequence and complete the genome. "Identifying new viruses such as this one is like searching for a needle in a haystack," said Mary Rodgers, a principal scientist and head of the Global Viral Surveillance Program, Diagnostics, Abbott, and one of the study authors. "By advancing our techniques and using next generation sequencing technology, we are pulling the needle out with a magnet. This scientific discovery can help us ensure that we are stopping new pandemics in their tracks." Air pollution affects children's brain development: Unicef United Nations : Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore has warned that air pollution toxicity can affect children's brain development and called for urgent action to deal with the crisis gripping India and South Asia. "I saw first-hand how children continue to suffer from the dire consequences of air pollution," Fore, who recently visited India, said. "The air quality was at a crisis level. You could smell the toxic fog even from behind an air filtration mask," she added. Air pollution affects children most severely and its effects continue all their lives because they have smaller lungs, breathe twice as fast as adults and lack immunities, Fore said. She added that it "damages brain tissue and undermines cognitive development in babies and young children, leading to lifelong consequences that can affect their learning outcomes and future potential. There is evidence to suggest that adolescents exposed to higher levels of air pollution are more likely to experience mental health problems". "Unicef is calling for urgent action to address this air quality crisis," affecting 620 million children in South Asia. Schools were closed in Delhi till Tuesday because of the severe environmental situation caused by post-harvest burning of stubble in neighbouring states. The Air Quality Index (AQI) on Sunday touched 625, considered "severe plus" level. Heavy smoking can make you look older: Study London : Heavy tobacco smoking may give you a "Smoker's Face" -- a condition where people look older than they are, according to a study. Researchers from the University of Bristol in the UK noted that some people carry one or two copies of a genetic variant linked with heavier tobacco use. To identify the effects of heavy smoking, scientists can separate out the effects of the genetic variant through tobacco use from other possible effects associated with carrying that variant that are unrelated to tobacco use. To simultaneously identify these two types of effects the study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, used a novel combination of two data analysis approaches and applied them using data from people in the UK Biobank. The researchers separated people into two groups. The first contained people who had never smoked, and the second included current and former smokers. They reasoned that the smoking group would reveal the effects of tobacco exposure, while the never-smokers would show them any unrelated effects of the genetic variant. The analysis searched across 18,000 traits and apart from finding more rapid facial ageing, also identified several previously reported effects of smoking, confirming the method's effectiveness, the researchers said. The known effects of smoking that the analysis identified included worse lung function, and higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and skin cancer, they said. "We proposed a novel approach that can be used to search for causal effects of health exposures, and demonstrated this approach to search for the effects of smoking heaviness," study author Louise Millard said in a statement. "We searched across thousands of traits to identify those that may be affected by how heavily someone smokes," Millard said. As well as identifying several known adverse effects such as on lung health, the researchers also found an adverse effect of heavier smoking on facial ageing.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk India ranks at 140 out of 150 countries in the world on the happiness index, making it one of the unhappiest countries in the world. This permeates down to adolescents as well and could lead to unhappy choices of alcoholism and binge drinking to cope with the chaos. Dr. Paras, Founder, Matrrix, a life leadership coach and corporate training firm, believes that the solution for this ginormous issue lies in our minds. According to him, the mind is the greatest tool which affects all the facets of a human, be it his relationships, studies, career or self-esteem. Dr. Paras helps you understand the importance of focusing on the pragmatic and constructive elements of life. Quite often, the peer pressure drives youngsters to plunge themselves into an endeavour of perfection. However, no one is perfect and you have to help your young adult to see that. In order to address this question, he states: "Let us first tackle some of the most important questions." Q) What is it like being an adolescent? What does an adolescent want? How addictions are confused as mechanisms to escape routes? Being an adolescent is often the inception of what can be regarded as a recognition crisis. They are on the cusp of being adults and therefore, have an understanding of how to emulate an adult, but their mental development is still taking small steps from being that of a child to a grown person. Having said that it does not mean that teenagers are children who are not meant to be taken seriously. On the contrary, they are bright and agile minds who have the potential to bring in new thoughts. However, many adolescents are quashed under the sense of building an individuality way too fast that coaxes them towards alcoholism. Their need to prove themselves and a misguided sense of emulating what they think is right pushes them towards taking extreme steps. The Play of Strokes As per Dr. Eric Berne, founder of The Transactional Analysis Movement in Psychotherapy, every emotion, encouraging or defeating can be classified into a broad category of 'strokes'. Every human, and not just a HEALTH Does your adolescent drink more than you would APPROVE? teenager, craves for some sort of a stroke or a reaction to feel valued or show their presence. In the case of teenagers, they are in a psychological and emotional whirlwind in which they resort to activities that earn them attention and validation. These strokes can either be positive or negative, as long as they yield any sort of reaction. Teenagers require heavy attention and if not catered to, they can resort to a plethora of activities leading to addiction. These activities are divided into withdrawal, rituals, past times, activities, games, and intimacy. Withdrawal, as the name suggests, resonates with being in a cocoon or a shell that will shield them from the world and disengage them from feeling anything at all. The feeling of detachment with no one to turn to can lead a teenager into finding solace in the numbness of alcohol. Lack of intimacy or affection, especially from the parents can also account for the teenagers feeling left out or cast aside. Peer pressure or from someone within the family can 'inspire' them to take up alcohol as a coping mechanism. In fact, they do end up mimicking those around them who themselves choose escapism as a solution for all their problems. They do not regard mental health as an important parameter for self-development which sends out a clear message to the teenager who himself/herself are battling their psychological upheaval. This is a clear cut case of a bad role model. Last but not the least, is the inner voice. The inner voice of a teenager, or even an adult for that matter plays a huge role in making a person or breaking him. In teenagers, the voice is often an echo of those around him/her. If nestled amidst a positive environment, the inner voice is encouraging. However, in contrasting situations, the inner voice is the one that brings the child down and as a result, he/she resorts to alcoholism to quieten down that voice. Q) How to Combat Emotionally Stimulated Alcoholism? The good news is that there are ways to turn the tables around on binge alcoholism and addiction in adolescents. It is all about building a better lifestyle and awareness with respect to mental health. Here are some of the ways which may help: 1) Open culture in schools, colleges, and family Communication is the key to all distress. An open and healthy interaction in places like home, school/college, and social circle can help a teenager normalise to the fact that it is okay to feel the mental pressure and emotionally distraught and that help is always available when they need it. Alcoholism is not the way to go. 16-11-2019 to 30-11-2019 15 2) Creating a culture that supports mental health. Charity begins at home and so does the acceptance of mental health. Parents, teachers, and other elders of a social group can create a safe space for teenagers to talk to heart's content and interact with them about anything that is bothering them. It is important that these adults are able to accept it without prejudices and judgments. 3) Parents to stop comparing children on their weaknesses. The culture of encouraging the present qualities must take over the detrimental practice of parents pointing out their children's weakness in the name of selfdevelopment. 4) Parents and teachers creating space for positive psychology. Since parents and teachers directly influence the mindset of the children, it is important for them to set a space that promotes positive psychology and mindfulness. 5) Exercise– Yoga, Meditation and Mindfulness techniques One can never discount the importance of recreational activities and exercise. It releases endorphins, also known as happy hormones, which prepare the body to take on physical stress, but also shapes the brain into taking any sort of mental pressures. Therefore, instead of going for that bottle, exercising can help boost greater mental health and keep addiction at bay. 6) Psycho-education textbook from class KG till post-graduation. While the Indian education system is exemplary when it comes to creating credible engineers, doctors, and lawyers, what it really needs is to create a student force which is happy and mentally strong. It is, therefore, important to include psycho-education as a subject right from KG to higher education. 7) Elders taking mental support, children can emulate As discussed, teenagers emulate what they see around them and if they witness an adult take mental health seriously, they too will take that path to self-care and emotional well-being. Addiction arises from unresolved issues and the unresolved issues emanate from the lack of communication. Integrating communication in daily lives can help keep mental and psychological issues at bay, which will in turn avert the pathway to any sort of addiction. Stress hormone controls your body clock 24/7 London : Stress hormone, and not neurons, manage the fixed circadian rhythm that controls everything from sleep needs to body temperature, the researchers have found. Our internal clock is controlled by some very distinct hereditary genes, known as clock genes. These genes are particularly active in the so-called suprachiasmatic nucleus area of the brain. However, these areas of the brain are not directly linked by neurons, and this made researchers at the University of Copenhagen curious. Using lab tests, the team demonstrated that the circadian rhythm is controlled by the stress hormone, corticosterone. "In humans, the hormone is known as cortisol, and although the sleep rhythm in rats is the opposite of ours, we basically have the same hormonal system," said Associate Professor Martin Fredensborg Rath from the Department of Neuroscience. In the study with the stress hormone corticosterone, the researchers removed the suprachiasmatic nucleus in a number of rats. As expected, this removed the circadian rhythm of the animals. However, the circadian rhythm of the cerebellum was restored when the rats were subsequently implanted with a special programmable micropump. In this case, however, the researchers used the pump to emit doses of corticosterone at different times of the day and night, similar to the animals' natural rhythm. "Nobody has used these pumps for anything like this before. So technically, we were onto something completely new," said Rath. With the artificial corticosterone supplement, researchers were again able to read a rhythmic activity of clock genes in the animals. "This is interesting from a scientific point of view, because it means that we have two systems - the nervous system and the hormonal system - that communicate perfectly and influence one another, all in the course of a reasonably tight 24-hour programme," Rath elaborated. The researchers now plans to study other rhythmic hormones in a similar manner, including hormones from the thyroid gland.
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The Asian Independent 16 - 30 Nov. 2019

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