Health & Wellness
 

February is Heart Month Every year, tens of thousands of people across Canada put their hearts into making a difference to the lives of others by participating in the Heart and Stroke Foundation's largest grassroots fundraising initiative - Heart Month. Some demonstrate their generosity of spirit by donating to our worthy cause. Some experience the great satisfaction that comes with raising funds using our easy online fundraising tool. And others enjoy volunteering their time to meet with friends and neighbours as they rally support for our cause through door-to-door fundraising. Whether it's time or money you're able to contribute to Heart Month 2008, we invite you to experience the joy of giving by helping us raise funds for vital life-saving research. Great things happen when you put your heart into it. Make a difference, volunteer today! http://putyourheartintoit.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=74599

New York Chain Eateries Must Post Calorie Counts Tue Jan 22, 2008  By Edith Honan Excerpts: NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York again sought to force fast food chains to display calorie counts on their menu boards on Tuesday after a federal judge quashed a similar proposal last year. The rule affects restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide such as fast-food chains Burger King, McDonald's and Wendy's but also casual dining chains such as Ruby Tuesday and IHOP Corp's Applebee's. The city believes the new rule will be allowed because it subjects all restaurants with more than 15 locations to the same requirement while its previous rule only affected restaurants that were following voluntary federal nutritional labeling guidelines. The Board of Health adopted the regulation in an attempt to combat obesity. The same board banned artery-clogging trans-fats from New York City restaurants in 2006 and smoking in bars and restaurants in 2003. "Obesity is the only major health problem in the country and in New York City that is getting worse rapidly," New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said. The fast food industry opposes the measure, which is due to take effect on March 31, on the grounds it would overly complicate menus and provide little benefit to consumers. "We support the concept of providing nutritional information for all the products we serve, and we already do that (on posters in restaurants and on the company Web site)," said Denny Lynch a spokesman Wendy's International, the No. 3 U.S. hamburger chain. Burger King, the second largest U.S. hamburger chain, already puts the information on posters in each restaurant. McDonald's Corp., the largest hamburger chain in the world, puts nutritional information such as calories on some packaging and posts the information online.

US Doctors In India To Promote Vegetarianism .... Thu Jan 24 21:10:55 Sent by Dr. Kevin Saldanha to www.goanet.org Studies are now finding that serious cardiac disease is reversible on a vegan diet http://www.gentleworld.org/health/cholesterol.htm  A research conducted by the Doctors from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), USA, proved the efficacy of low-fat vegetarian diet in reversing blood sugar levels of people with type II diabetes. "The westernization of the diet has played a major role inthe diabetes epidemic. America should Easternize its own diet. If Americans learn to eat dal, rice, and palak, they would be slimmer and healthier," said Dr Neal Barnard president of CRM. A controlled study of 99 diabetic patients by PCRM —funded by the government of USA — proved that eating vegetarian food, excluding milk products, cooked in less oil can show reverse trends by bringing down blood sugar level, cholesterol, blood pressure and weight in people and especially in patients suffering with diabetes type II. As against the current approach where doctors advice diabetic patients to cut down on carbohydrates, calories and fat, Dr Barnard suggests people with type II diabetes to shift to vegan diet. According to him,the results would be visible as early as in the first week. "The results of switching over to vegan diet would be visible in the very first week. The person will experience weight loss followed by drop in the blood sugar level. The blood pressure will also get normal within six weeks," said Dr Barnard. According him, combination of organic food and medication works the best for the patients. "It is very difficult to switch over to vegetarian diet all of a sudden. But, doctors should encourage patients to try out new vegetarian recipes and help them to develop a taste of it," said Dr Barnard.

Canadian Doctors Feel Overworked: Survey From: hrreporter.com January 22, 2008 35 per cent of physicians plan to cut back on their practice. Canadian doctors are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by their inability to properly serve their patients' health needs, according to a recent survey. The survey of more than 20,000 doctors and doctors-in-training across the country found 75 per cent of respondents felt inadequate funding of the health-care system, paperwork, bureaucracy and an undersupply of doctors and other health professionals are curtailing the amount and level of care they are able to provide patients. About one-half of the country's 60,000 doctors are family practitioners, but about four million to five million Canadians don't have a family doctor. Physician groups blame the understaffed health-care system for this shortage. Unfortunately, the shortage is likely to worsen. The survey, conducted by the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Canadian Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, found about 4,000 doctors plan to retire in the next two years and 35 per cent of physicians plan to cut back on their practice. New medical school graduates will barely cover the loss of doctors to retirement, according to the survey.

Mobile Phone Radiation Disrupts Sleep, Causes Headaches http://www.andhranews.net/Health/2008/January/21-Mobile-phone-radiation-30413.asp Researchers from the US and Sweden have found in a study, funded by some of the worlds biggest phone makers, that radiations emitting from mobile phones cause headaches and interrupt vital sleep patterns. The researchers - from Wayne State University in the US and Swedens Karolinska Institute - say that participants who were exposed to mobile radiation during the study were found to experience headaches, change of moods, confusion, and trouble in sleeping. Sydney, January 21 : Researchers from the US and Sweden have found in a study, funded by some of the world's biggest phone makers, that radiations emitting from mobile phones cause headaches and interrupt vital sleep patterns. The researchers - from Wayne State University in the US and Sweden's Karolinska Institute - say that participants who were exposed to mobile radiation during the study were found to experience headaches, change of moods, confusion, and trouble in sleeping. Reporting their findings in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), they said that the symptoms of mobile phone radiation were observed in 38 of the 71 study participants. "The study indicates that during laboratory exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals, components of sleep, believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear, are adversely affected," news.com.au quoted them as saying in the article. "Moreover, participants that otherwise have no self-reported symptoms related to mobile phone use appear to have more headaches during the actual radiofrequency exposure as compared to sham exposure," they added. The researchers said that mobile phone radiation extended the period of time it took for participants to fall asleep. "Under the (radiofrequency) exposure condition, participants exhibited a longer latency to deep sleep," they said. The study had been funded by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF), which is made up of industry giants like Nokia and Motorola. A spokesperson for the forum told British newspaper The Independent that the "results were inconclusive", and that "the researchers did not claim that exposure caused sleep disturbance". On the other hand, lead researcher Bengt Arnetz said that mobile phone radiation decreased participants' ability to wind down and fall asleep. "We did find an effect from mobile phones from exposure scenarios that were realistic," Professor Arnetz was quoted as telling the newspaper.