Interesting Reads -- Health

This post has links to interesting articles & posts related to health

Readers Digest -- HealthSmart Archive

https://www.rdasia.com/healthsmart/

36 ways to make managing stress much easier

Straight from medical professionals, these stress solutions can give you the relaxation you need to refocus.

https://www.readersdigest.com.au/healthsmart/conditions/mental-health/36-ways-to-make-managing-stress-much-easier

8 little body changes that could signal a bigger health problem

It's hard to keep track of every single change that happens to your body, but here are nine of the most important ones to pay attention to, because they could be saying a lot about your health.

https://www.rdasia.com/healthsmart/8-little-body-changes-that-could-signal-a-bigger-health-problem

These are 12 silent symptoms of a heart attack, according to cardiologists

Chest pain or pressure, cold sweat, extreme weakness – you know those heart attack signs. But there are more subtle symptoms that can be easy to miss.

https://www.rdasia.com/healthsmart/these-are-12-silent-symptoms-of-a-heart-attack-according-to-cardiologists

14 serious diseases that strike women more than men

If you're a woman, you should be aware of your increased risk of these conditions.

https://www.rdasia.com/uncategorized/14-serious-diseases-that-strike-women-more-than-men

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Interesting Reads And Information -- 201201

Health & Wellness

8 Ergonomic Stretches Programmers Should Do to Prevent Injuries

This post shares eight of the best stretches programmers—and computer users at large—can practice to reduce their chances of injuries and improve their productivity at the same time.

https://simpleprogrammer.com/ergonomic-stretches-for-programmers/

Recently self-employed? Six tips from experts on how to protect your wellbeing

What can those transitioning to self-employment do to protect their wellbeing? We’ve got six tips.

https://theconversation.com/recently-self-employed-six-tips-from-experts-on-how-to-protect-your-wellbeing-150307

Fundas

Why Flowcharts Should be a Developer’s Best Friend

This article takes a look at how fundamental flowcharts are in code development and will take you through the basics of how to get started implementing flowcharts into your development process.

https://simpleprogrammer.com/flowcharts-for-programmers/

Tips

13 Things You Should Give Up if You Want To Be a Successful Developer

The blog post author has collected 13 things, a novice programmer should avoid. With this guide, he wants to help all beginners focus on the important aspects of developing, thus having a promising start to a successful career.

https://simpleprogrammer.com/things-programmers-should-avoid/

Energy: Smart Grids

Tomorrow's Power Grid Will Be Autonomous

Autonomous energy grids use AI, renewable energy, and energy storage to optimize the grid

https://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/the-smarter-grid/tomorrows-power-grid-will-be-autonomous

Understanding

Twenty tips for interpreting scientific claims

This list will help non-scientists to interrogate advisers and to grasp the limitations of evidence

https://www.nature.com/news/policy-twenty-tips-for-interpreting-scientific-claims-1.14183

Innovations

21 Sustainability Innovations That Might Just Change the World

The world has to change if it's to survive: here are some of the most interesting sustainable innovations that could save the planet.

https://interestingengineering.com/21-sustainability-innovations-that-might-just-change-the-world

Books

The Top 10 Books of 2020 for Entrepreneurs

https://yourstory.com/2020/11/2020-books-entrepreneurs-startups

Entertainment

The Best Music of 2020 -- The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2020-in-review/the-best-music-of-2020

Self Development

35 Proven Strategies: How To Make Your Employees Happy And Productive

In order to maintain the prestige of the company, you can rethink how to approach the employees as a team. This article points out some crucial areas of concern regarding productivity in work.

https://ceoworld.biz/2020/11/25/35-proven-strategies-how-to-make-your-employees-happy-and-productive/

Events

CSI, ACM & IEEE Events in Dec 2020: https://bit.ly/336UWkO

All events in Dec 2020: https://lnkd.in/gQuYQsk

Archives 

Past posts of Intereresing Reads And Information

https://infoforuse.blogspot.com/2020/07/intereresing-reads-and-information.html

IRAI Quiz Archives at
https://infoforuse.blogspot.com/2020/08/archives-irai-quiz.html

IRAI Titbits Archives at
https://infoforuse.blogspot.com/2020/08/archives-irai-titbits.html

Pl. send your  feedback & other communications to hrmohan.ieee@gmail.com   

Five things that happen to your body in space

Tim Peake is the first official British astronaut to walk in space. The former Army Air Corps officer has spent a month in space, after blasting off on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station on December 15 last year, but the spacewalk will doubtless be his most gruelling test.

But what exactly will he be going through, during his remarkable spell aboard the space station? Space travel leads to many changes in the human body, many of which have been investigated since Yuri Gargarin made the first manned spaceflight in 1961 – and an extensive team provides guidance and preparation for astronauts before, during and after any spaceflight. But if you’re planning an out-of-this-world trip, here are some of the things to expect.

1) You get weaker

2) So does your heart

3) Fitness suffers

4) You lose bone

5) Your immune system suffers

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In Search of Forty Winks -- Gizmos for a good night’s sleep.

It’s 2:49 A.M., more or less my bedtime, and I’m about to put on my Sleep Shepherd hat, a device designed to help the wearer go gentle into unconsciousness ($149.99). The hat is a stretchy black beanie, but where you might normally find a pompom there’s a plastic box the size of a Triscuit. If I were an alien, this would be the port through which I’d receive my instructions from the mother ship. The box has an on-off switch, and I’m going to turn it on so that the mechanism can commune with my head.

The hat measures activity in my cerebral cortex through three sensors sewn into the fabric—one covering each ear and a third handling the forehead. There are also built-in speakers that emit pulsing tones mimicking the frequencies of my brain waves. Gradually, the rhythm will slow down and, supposedly, so will my brain, entrained as if by a hypnotist. The noise sounds like the tone you’d expect to hear before a nuclear disaster. It’s supposed to be soothing, and, truth be told, I don’t mind it. The hat was invented by Michael Larson, a mechanical engineer at the University of Colorado. Larson told me, over the phone, that he came up with it to treat his daughter, who had an autoimmune disease that prevented her from getting enough deep sleep. The contraption apparently did the trick.

Read The NewYorker Article

Here are 7 health-related apps

There's more to losing weight than computing calories. These apps can help you reach that first level of success much faster than a notebook and calculator

Are you hoping to shed a few kgs in 2016 ? Unfortunately, apps alone won't help you lose weight, but if you have no time for a personal trainer or a fancy gym membership, apps can definitely help you stay on track. Here are seven fitness apps that can track your progress over weeks and months, giving you a better view of the big picture. Load one or more of these great apps onto your device today and stick with them to see those changes.

know them

Health Check: what happens to your body when you’re dehydrated?

Water is essential for human life. It accounts for for 50-70% of our body weight and is crucial for most bodily functions.

Any deficit in normal body water – through dehydration, sickness, exercise or heat stress – can make us feel rotten. First we feel thirsty and fatigued, and may develop a mild headache. This eventually gives way to grumpiness, and mental and physical decline.

We continually lose water via our breath, urine, faeces and skin. Most healthy people regulate their body’s water level remarkably well via eating and drinking, and are guided by appetite and thirst. But this is more difficult for infants, the sick, the elderly, athletes, and those with strenuous physical occupations, especially in the heat.

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Can noise pollution damage your health?

It’s almost impossible to find complete peace and quiet. Even if you live deep in the countryside away from aircraft routes, traffic and building work, your home is probably filled with the buzz of computers and other modern appliances. In some locations, there are even claims of mysterious low-pitched noises with no known origin. For example, residents of Bristol in the west of England recently complained of a “hum”, which followed reports of a similar sound in the city in the 1970s.

Such sounds aren’t just annoying. There is increasing evidence that long-term environmental noise above a certain level can have a negative influence on your health. These effects can be physical, mental and possibly even disrupt children’s learning.

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The secret to staying young? Scientists boost lifespan of mice by deleting defective cells

The ageing population is one of the greatest challenges facing society. More people are surviving to old age than ever before, but we currently lack the means to keep them healthy and independent. If a treatment existed to reduce sickness and death from ageing by 20% then between now and 2050, the US alone would save US$4 trillion on healthcare costs – enough money to give everyone on Earth clean drinking water for the next three decades.

However a landmark new study, published in Nature, raises hopes that such a treatment will be possible. The researchers managed to increase the lifespan of mice by an impressive 25% by deleting “senescent” cells, dysfunctional cells which build up as we age and cause damage to tissue. Crucially, the mice lived longer because they were healthier.

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What really happens to your body when you’re sleeping?

What really happens to your body when you’re sleeping?

Did you know that you spend 1/3rd of your life sleeping? Sleep allows your body to repair and detoxify itself after a hard day’s work. When you’re sleeping, a plethora of activities take place in your body, which are essential for your physical, emotional and mental well-being. Read on to find out what happens to your different body parts after you’ve drifted off…

Brain
Even though activity in the brain’s cortex (the outer part of the brain) falls by about 40% in the first few stages of sleep, your brain still continues to remain extremely active; especially in the final stage. During the REM phase your brain activity increases with your blood flow rising considerably in those areas of the brain that are responsible for processing emotional experiences and memories.

Eyes
Like the brain, even the eyes are active when you’re asleep and the movement of your eyes is indicative of the different stages of sleep. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep denotes deep sleep and occurs in the first 90 minutes of falling asleep (which is dreamless sleep). On the other hand, NREM sleep (non-rapid eye movement) is when you’re dreaming and your sleep quality is rather poor in comparison. This takes place during the later part of your sleep.

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Fitness Tracker Vulnerabilities and How to Deal with Them

If Fitbit Charge users were wearing their fitness trackers when they heard the news about Fitbit user accounts being hacked, they probably saw their heart rates increase. On January 6, 2016, BuzzFeed News broke the story on how cybercriminals hacked multiple Fitbit user accounts. They changed email addresses and usernames as well as tried to swindle Fitbit out of replacement items under warranty.

The cybercriminals also gained access to Fitbit users' data, according to BuzzFeed News. The data includes activity-related metrics, such as the number of steps taken and calories burned. It also includes where users are performing those activities and what time they usually go to sleep if their devices have Global Positioning System (GPS) and sleep-tracking functionality.

This cyberattack begs the question: What are the fitness trackers' vulnerabilities and how can you deal with them? To answer it, you first need to know how they work.

How Fitness Trackers Work

Fitness trackers use various sensors that continuously generate data about the wearer. Because the devices need to be small and lightweight, they do not store or process this data. Instead, they typically use short-range wireless transmissions to send the data to smartphones (or computers) for storage. Apps on these devices analyze the data and display the results. Oftentimes, these apps also send a copy of the data to cloud-based servers hosted by the fitness tracker vendors. Besides storing the data, the vendors sometimes offer additional services, such as more detailed analyses.

Because fitness trackers work this way, there are security vulnerabilities on several fronts:

When the data is sent to the smartphone
When the data is sent to the vendor's cloud servers
When the data is stored in the cloud

Read the full article

15 energy-boosting snacks for weary IT pros

1. Dark chocolate for a boost

Working in tech can be stressful and have serious health consequences. And let's face it: IT folks aren't known for having the best diets.

So. Are you feeling a little run down? Here are some snacks guaranteed to awaken and energize your overworked, inner code monkey.

You can have chocolate daily, but it had better be the type that actually improves your health. Filled with antioxidants, dark chocolate releases lots of feel-good endorphins, the same kind you get when you're falling in love -- which is very convenient when you're feeling frustrated with those adorable idealists over on the design team.

2. Walnuts to cut down on distracting cravings

Nuts in general are great snacks, but the walnut in particular is a great source for Omega-3 fatty acids.

According to scientists at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, eating 6 to 7 walnuts a day can help scavenge almost every disease-causing free radical from your body. You don't actuallylike taking sick days, do you?

3. Fried grasshoppers instead of potato chips

If you need to persuade your office manager to stock up on bugs, point out it's what people in at least 113 countries munch on. That includes China, which is where everybody who's anybody is sourcing their hardware these days.

Protein, which helps the brain develop and keeps it running, is something grasshoppers have lots of -- and these bugs also are lower in cholesterol than pork or beef. Just don't look 'em in the eye when you pop 'em in your mouth.

Know the rest of the 15

Blood Test May Predict If You Really Need Antibiotics

Antibiotics are often over-prescribed and misused, leading to a global threat of antibiotic resistance. But in a new study, researchers say they’re a step closer to developing a rapid blood test that distinguishes between viral and bacterial respiratory infections, which would mean more accurate antibiotic prescriptions.

Duke University researchers described in Science Translational Medicine a simple blood test that within an hour could alert a doctor whether antibiotics are truly necessary. The test, while still in the early development stages, measures an infected person’s genetic reaction to a microbe.

“Considering the huge vacuum and the void in helping doctors make decisions about antibiotic use, just about any kind of test is an improvement over what’s currently available,” said Dr. Ephraim Tsalik, assistant professor of medicine at Duke University.

Currently, around 50 percent of antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory infections may be unnecessary, according to the American College of Physicians and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Sounding the Alarm on a Future Epidemic: Alzheimer's Disease

We’re living longer. The number of U.S. adults 65 and older — roughly 40 million as of the 2010 census — is expected to nearly double to 71 million by 2030 and to reach 98 million by 2060. In much of the rest of the world, the story is the same. But if the aging trend illustrates the success of public health strategies, it also raises the specter of a major public health crisis — a sharp rise in the number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ron Brookmeyer, a professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s Department of Biostatistics, has called attention to the looming Alzheimer’s epidemic through widely cited studies in which he has employed sophisticated computer models to project the number of cases, as well as the potential positive impact of future therapies and other strategies to prevent or delay the onset and progression of symptoms.

Brookmeyer’s work in this arena began nearly 20 years ago with a paper he wrote in the American Journal of Public Health projecting that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States would nearly quadruple by the middle of this century, by which time approximately 1 in 45 Americans will be afflicted. His 2007 study also projected that 1 in 85 persons worldwide will be living with the disease by 2050, with nearly half of them requiring a level of care equivalent to that of a nursing home.

Brookmeyer’s development of statistical models to make forecasts on epidemics began in the late 1980s with HIV/AIDS, but after becoming involved in a study on aging, he turned his attention to the threat posed by Alzheimer’s disease. “Obviously it’s not a transmissible epidemic like the ones I had been looking at, but with the aging of the population, it was clear that the numbers were going to explode,” he explains.

As part of his modeling, Brookmeyer and his colleagues consider both demographic trends and the severity of the progression of the disease. “This is a long illness,” he says. “Once you’re diagnosed, you might live with it for 10 or more years, and the intensity of the care required will vary during that time. From a public health point of view, it’s very important to look at where people will be in different stages of the disease and the needs we will be facing as a society.”

Read the full story

10 Awesome Health Benefits Of Ginger You Didn’t Know About!

Ginger is used for many purposes like cooking, as medicine, and for manufacturing purpose from centuries. It is used in various forms like powdered, fresh, dried, and as oil or juice. Ginger is a fantastic source of vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin C, potassium, phosphorus, silicon, iron, sodium, calcium, zinc, B-vitamins, magnesium, and beta-carotene. Ginger has many kinds of health benefits which one should be aware of!

Ayurveda provides to ginger the position of an essential medicine chest. That’s because this wonder flavour has time-tested, digestion-friendly properties, in accumulation to its numerous other health advantages. Ginger is the spice which is regularly used in India.

Here, we will discuss some of them which may be beneficial for you. It will cure your health problems naturally without any side effects. Just have a look at it and see which one is applicable to you!

10. Ginger Alleviates Gastrointestinal Disorders
9. Heals Sickness
8. Reduces Tenderness And Pain
7. Ginger Aids Preventing Cancer
6. Improves Resistant System
5. It Gives A Delicious Taste To Dishes
4. Great Medicine For Weight Loss
3. Ginger Is A Great Aphrodisiac
2. Ginger Aids Curing Asthma Problems
1. Get Rid Of Nose And Throat Congestion

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No Pill for this Ill

Does the medical profession really want society to be healthy?

 

Does this world, where business and money interests are supreme, want society to be healthy and tranquil? The answer is a big NO. No one wants to break her/his own rice bowl. The pharmaceutical industry, the most powerful lobby in the world today—thrice as big and powerful as the oil industry—will certainly not want people to be healthy. The medical profession is trying its best to make more and more people come into their net by ‘regular health check-ups’ of the healthy, run for the heart, run for cancer and so on; it is also doing its best to create iatrogenic illnesses. Hospitals, especially the corporate ones, seek more surgical post-operative complications, as the latter nets more money into their kitty than the original surgery itself.

 

Last year’s budget to treat non-fatal adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in Europe alone was $80 billion! Please give me one good reason why anyone should want to treat simple acne with azithromycin; but that is exactly what is done and on a long-term basis. A recent issue of The Times of India, in a front page news report, mentioned a study done in one Delhi medical college hospital, which showed that all (did I say all?) germs in the acne now have become resistant to azithromycin, a high-end antibiotic reserved for respiratory infections like pneumonia! Antibiotics are the time bombs waiting to explode anytime now.

 

Read the full article 

7 Minute Fitness Workout For Those Who Do Not Have Time

This 7 minute workout that you can do anywhere for your health

Don't have time to exercise? Sadly, your answer will be ‘Yes’. You certainly can extract 7 minutes from your busy schedule. Do this set of exercises in the next 7 minutes and you will start seeing the benefits sooner than you imagine.

1. Jumping Jack: Stand upright with your hands on your side. Jump up bringing your hands on top of your head and your legs hip-width apart. Jump again to bring your legs and hands back to initial position. Repeat.

2. Wall Sticking: Stand with your back flat against a wall. Walk your feet to the front, about two feet and while doing so, slide your back down the wall until you are sitting on an invisible chair.

3. Push-Up: Lie face down on the floor and lift your body on your palm and toes of your feet. Bring your body near the ground and your back upwards, by only bending your elbows.

4. Abdominal Crunches: Do any variation of this by changing position of your legs. Lie on your back with your hands behind your head and lift your upper body to do crunches.

5. Step-On-Chair: Stand in front of a chair. Lift one leg and place on the chair; lift your body to stand up on the chair. Get back on the ground and repeat with the other leg.

6. Squatting: Stand with feet hip-width apart and hands in front, parallel to the ground. Without moving your upper body, squat down, bringing your butt closer to the ground. Stand up and repeat.

7. Tricep Dip On Chair: Stand in front of a chair, facing away from it. Lower your body, to place your hands on the chair behind you until your hips are adjacent to the seat of your chair. Lower your hips towards the ground as much as you back and bring it back to the level of the chair. Repeat.

8. Plank: Similar to push-ups, only in plank, you don't lower your body. You hold in a position. High knees running in place i.e. jogging in one place, with your knees touching your chest. And then try side plank i.e. doing the plank, but on your sides.

More and the pictures

100 Ways to Live 100 Years

The tips and suggestions given (under different headings) below are deep research and collection of author for the last 30 years in this field. They are most authentic and tested in most of the cases. The suggestions given here can be adopted in your life without any doubt as they don't have any side effect and based on the laws of nature.

Foods
Exercise & Yoga
Mind, Temperament and way of living
Miscellaneous

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100 Life Hacks from 100-year-olds

What's the secret to a long and healthy life? All centenarians have their own habits and morning routines they swear by. From whiskey shots to daily naps to ice cream, here's what some very old people credit for their lengthy lifespan.

In 2011, HUFFINGTON POST INTERVIEWED A CENTENARIAN NAMED RUTH. SINCE THE AGE OF 92, RUTH HAS COMMITTED TO WEEKLY PILATES CLASSES. SHE ALSO HAS A MEAN SENSE OF STYLE.

1. "Don't look at the calendar. Just keep celebrating every day."

2. "Invest in quality pieces, they never go out of style."

3. "I make myself go out every day, even if it's only to walk around the block. The key to staying young is to keep moving."

Read the other 97 life hacks

Do older people lose interest in sex? Ten myths of ageing – debunked

From older people getting into more car accidents to worries about falling, here are some of our favourite ageing myths busted.

1. Older people lose interest in sex

2. If older widows date, it’s to find a new husband

3. Older people are stingy

4. Older people are extra cautious when they have to make decisions

5. Older people get into more car accidents than younger people

6. Older people worry too much about falling

7. It is best to speak to an older person as you would to a small child

8. As people grow older, they get forgetful and it’s a sign of dementia

9. Growing old is depressing; older people are more depressed than younger people

10. Older people have the greatest fear of death of any age group

Full Post

What ails India inc’s executives?

Anecdotal evidence suggests, surveys confirm: the Indian corporate executive — putting in long hours and leading a sedentary life — is at acute medical risk.

Labonita Ghosh gives the lowdown on seven medical conditions (given below) that are afflicting increasing numbers in India Inc, who is typically under risk and what they can do to combat it

Orthopaedic Injuries
Heart Disease
Obesity
Insomnia
Diabetes
Hypertension
Depression

View the slide show