16-29 February 2020 The Asian Independent

14 16-02-2020 to 29-02-2020 HEALTH
www.theasianindependent.co.uk
New York : Contrary to the common
belief that walking 10,000 steps
a day prevents weight gain, the
researchers have found that it doesn't
actually prevents weight gain rather
it may decrease your sedentary time.
For the findings, published in the
Journal of Obesity, the research team
studied 120 freshmen in the US over
their first six months of college as
they participated in a step-counting
experiment.
"Exercise alone is not always the
most effective way to lose weight, if
you track steps, it might have a benefit
in increasing physical activity,
but our study showed it won't translate
into maintaining weight or preventing
weight gain," said study lead
author Bruce Bailey from Brigham
Young University in the US.
Participants walked either 10,000,
Shingles vaccine may
also avert stroke risk
New York : Shingles, a viral infection caused by the chickenpox virus,
is linked to an increased risk of stroke, but researchers have recently found
that Zoster Vaccine Live, one type of shingles vaccination, may prevent
some older adults from having a stroke.
Shingles is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus and typically occurs
after age 50. The risk of developing
shingles, a painful condition that
causes skin blisters and can have
serious complications, increases
with age and other health conditions.
"One in three people who
have had chickenpox develop shingles
in their lifetime.
The Zoster Vaccine Live helps
to prevent shingles and reduces the
risk for shingles by about 51 per
cent," said study lead author
Quanhe Yang from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) in the US. To help determine if the shingles vaccine reduces the risk
of stroke, the researchers reviewed the Medicare health records of more than
one million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries age 66 or older who had
no history of stroke and who were administered the Zoster Vaccine Live
between 2008 and 2014. They followed them for an average of almost four
years. That group was matched with the same number of Medicare fee-forservice
beneficiaries who did not receive the shingles vaccine with the same
four-year follow-up. To examine the effect of the vaccine on risk of stroke,
researchers controlled for age, gender, race, medications and co-existing
health conditions. Researchers found the receiving the shingles vaccine lowered
the risk of stroke by about 16 per cent, lowered the risk of ischemic
(clot-caused) stroke by about 18 per cent and lowered the risk of hemorrhagic
(bleeding) stroke by about 12 per cent. The vaccine's protection was
strongest among people ages 66 to 79 years; and among those under the age
of 80 years, the shingles vaccine reduced the risk of stroke by nearly 20 per
cent and in those older than 80, reduced the risk by about 10 per cent.
"The reason for increased risk of stroke after a shingles infection may be
due to inflammation caused by the virus," Yang said. The study is scheduled
to be presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke
Conference slated from February 19 to 21 in the US.
10K steps a day may not
PREVENT weight gain
12,500 or 15,000 steps a day, six
days a week for 24 weeks, while
researchers tracked their caloric
intake and weight.
The goal of the study was to evaluate
if progressively exceeding the
recommended step count of 10,000
steps per day would minimize
weight and fat gain in college freshmen
students.
In the end, it didn't matter if the
students walked more than even
15,000 steps; they still gained
weight. Students in the study gained
on average about 1.5 kg (roughly 3.5
lbs.) over the study period; a one to
four kg average weight gain is commonly
observed during the first academic
year of college, according to
previous studies. Although weight
was not affected by the increased
steps, there was a positive impact on
physical activity patterns, which
"may have other emotional and
health benefits," the researchers
said. One positive outcome of the
study was that sedentary time was
drastically reduced in both the
12,500- and 15,000-step groups.
According to the researchers, in
the 15,000-step group, sedentary
time decreased by as much as 77
minutes a day.
"The biggest benefit of step recommendations
is getting people out
of a sedentary lifestyle. Even though
it won't prevent weight gain on its
own, more steps is always better for
you," Bailey added.
Chronic kidney disease killing over 1mn people worldwide
New York : Researchers have revealed
that chronic kidney disease caused 1.23
million deaths worldwide in 2017 and
the rates of people needing dialysis have
increased more than 40 per cent since
1990.
According to the findings, published
in the journal The Lancet, there were
697.5 million cases of chronic kidney
disease in 2017 and nearly one-third of
those patients lived in two countries -
China, with about 132 million cases, and
India, with about 115 million.
"Chronic kidney disease is a global
killer hidden in plain sight. The evidence
is clear: Many nations' health systems
cannot keep pace with the dialysis
demand. Cases far exceed and are well
beyond the ability of those systems to handle.
The consequences, literally, are deadly,"
said study researcher Theo Vos from
University of Washington in the US.
In addition to deaths resulting from
organ failure in chronic kidney disease,
impaired kidney function also puts individuals
at higher risk of developing cardiovascular
disease, the researchers said.
Globally, chronic kidney disease directly
resulted in an estimated 1.23 million
deaths in 2017, with an additional 1.36
million deaths attributable to cardiovascular
disease resulting from impaired kidney
function.
Chronic kidney disease was the 12th
leading cause of death globally in 2017,
up from 17th in 1990.
According to the study, 10 other
nations - the US, Indonesia, Russia, Japan,
Brazil, Pakistan, Mexico, Nigeria,
Bangladesh, and Vietnam - each had more
than 10 million cases in 2017. In total, 79
of the 195 countries included in the study
exceeded 1 million cases. Those cases and
deaths in 2017 led to an
estimated 7.3 million years lived with disability
and 28.5 million years of life lost,
the study said. There was a more than 15-
fold difference in the burden of chronic
kidney disease among countries:
American Samoa, El Salvador, Federated
States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands,
and Mauritius had the highest estimated
rates of years lost to ill health (disabilityadjusted
life years or DALYs) with more
than 1,500 per 100,000 population.
In contrast, Andorra, Finland, Iceland,
and Slovenia had the lowest burden with
fewer than 120 DALYs per 100,000 population.
The primary cause of chronic kidney
disease varies, with hypertension and diabetes
being the most common.
The link between kidney disease and
other major non-communicable diseases
highlights the importance of preventive
care and public health policy in limiting
the progression of chronic kidney disease.
HIV and exposure to toxins or heavy
metals play an additional role in developing
countries, while in some areas of the
world the cause remains unknown, the
researchers said.
Daily exposure to ozone pollution ups mortality risk
London : Researchers have found
that daily exposure to ground level
ozone in cities worldwide is associated
with an increased risk of death.
Ground level ozone is a highly reactive
gas commonly found in urban and
suburban environments, formed when
pollutants react in sunlight.
The findings, published in the journal
The BMJ, based on data from over
400 cities in 20 countries across the
world – show that more than 6,000
deaths each year would have been
avoided in the selected cities if countries
had implemented stricter air quality
standards. “These findings have
important implications for the design of
future public health actions; particularly,
for example, in relation to the implementation
of mitigation strategies to
reduce the impacts of climate change,”
said researchers from University of
Bern in Switzerland. Current air quality
thresholds (in micrograms per cubic
meter of ambient air) range from 100
µg/m3 (WHO), 120 µg/m3 (European
Union directive), 140 µg/m3 (US
National Ambient Air Quality
Standard), and 160 µg/m3 (Chinese
Ambient Air Quality Standard).
Recent reviews suggest that 80 per
cent of the world’s population in urban
areas are exposed to air pollution levels
above the WHO threshold.
Most previous studies have found
positive associations between ground
level ozone and mortality, but differences
in study design and quality make
it difficult to draw consistent conclusions
across different regions. To try
and address this, an international
research team has analysed deaths and
environmental measures (weather and
air pollutants) in 406 cities of 20 countries,
with overlapping periods between
1985 and 2015. Using data from the
Multi-City Multi-Country Collaborative
Research Network, they derived daily
average ozone levels (above a maximum
background level of 70 µg/m3),
particulate matter, temperature, and relative
humidity at each location to estimate
the daily number of extra deaths
attributable to ozone. A total of
45,165,171 deaths were analysed in the
406 cities. On average, a 10 µg/m3
increase in ozone during the current and
previous day was associated with a 0.18
per cent increased risk of death, suggesting
evidence of a potential direct
association. This equates to 6,262 extra
deaths each year (or 0.2 per cent of total
mortality) in the 406 cities that could
potentially have been avoided if countries
had implemented stricter air quality
standards in line with the WHO
guideline. What’s more, smaller but still
substantial mortality impacts were
found even for ozone concentrations
below WHO guideline levels, supporting
the WHO initiative of encouraging
countries to revisit the current air quality
guidelines and enforcing stronger
emission restrictions to meet these recommendations,
say the researchers.