India urges international community to step up actions against HIV/AIDS

NEW YORK, June 8: India has urged the international community to vigorously scale up actions to provide resources in the global effort to combat HIV and AIDS.

Addressing a high level meeting of the UN General Assembly on HIV and AIDS in United Nations on Wednesday, India's Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad called for a proactive and collective action from the international community to dismantle trade and intellectual property right barriers and improve the availability of affordable and quality drugs for the needy and impoverished.

"Pharmaceutical companies in my country have been providing high quality and affordable drugs for use not only in India but also supplying to around 200 countries. I would also like to take this opportunity to make it abundantly clear that these generic drugs are not cheap in terms of quality," Azad said in his address to the General Assembly.

"It is important that considerations of commerce and profitability are not used to erect artificial barriers between life and death. I would also like to urge the international community to work together for removing barriers in the form of Intellectual Property Rights or other means," he said.

The international community, the minister said, must also ensure, that all flexibilities in TRIPS must be used for better availability of affordable medicines.

The Extent of Your Hunger is All in the Mind

LONDON, May 29: Researchers from Yale University suggest that the mindset place a very important role in how much food you eat at each meal and whether you are still hungry after eating.

According to the study, published in the online edition of the journal Health Psychology, the physical need to eat more food is directly related to whether you mentally believe that you need to eat more.

The researchers gave a 380 calorie milkshake to the participants of the study, saying that the milkshake was either a 620 calorie “indulgent” shake or a 140 calorie “sensible” shake. The researchers found that those who thought they were drinking the high calorie milkshake had low levels of ghrelin hormone which stimulates the hunger pangs compared to those who thought that they were drinking a 140 calorie milkshake.

“This study shows that mindset can affect feelings of physical satiety. The brain was tricked into either feeling full or feeling unsatisfied”, lead researcher Alia Crum said.

A ‘heart’y meal

NEW DELHI, April 4: Your lifestyle determines your heart's health. Here are some simple tips to help you keep your heart beating strongly.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that India is likely to emerge as the global capital of heart diseases by 2025. India needs to work overtime to combat this problem as by then we may not have sufficient hospitals, doctors or para-medical professionals to tackle the situation.

It is commonly believed that heart diseases are caused by wrong eating habits and sedentary lifestyles. This is partially true. However, heart diseases related to mechanical faults in the septum, or valve of the heart are NOT a consequence of the above. It is one's lifestyle that determines the health of the individual's heart.

Three aspects of one's behaviour and practices determine a healthy heart. One is physical activity. Everyone needs to do some sort of physical exercise for at least 150 minutes a week to maintain a healthy heart. Two is to avoid or minimise stress levels. Stress is a major killer and can be tackled by simple techniques as breathing, seeing nature, playing with kids, doing Sudoku or even listening to music. All one needs to do is devote only 10 to 15 minutes to any of the above diversionary activities. Three, is the food one eats.

It is often believed that a hearty meal is not always a healthy meal and a healthy meal is not always a tasty meal. A hearty meal does not mean only fried foods, hi-calorie sweets and desserts and, more specifically, fried root vegetables. A salad bowl can be made very tasty spiced with oregano, basil, lime, orange juice. A little olive oil or roasted almonds also can enhance the taste. Five servings of fruit or vegetables a day is the prescription for a healthy life and a healthy heart. Most of us do not even have one and a half servings in a day. India has a wide variety of vegetables and fruit, which can help create tasty dishes, with no or very little oil. Why don't we make use of it?

Non-vegetarian foods like fish and chicken should be in gravy form and can replace pulses or dhal in a vegetarian menu. Red meat must be restricted. Remember, non-vegetarian food can never replace vegetables. A tasty, balanced meal is the perfect way to a healthy heart.

Quick tips

Start your day with a fruit.

Have another fruit at breakfast.

At each meal have one cup of vegetable or more.

Snack on yet another fruit for the evening.

At dinner, add another cup of vegetable or fruit serving.

Use different kinds of vegetables, beans, green leafy vegetables, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, pumpkin, ash gourd, brinjal in your daily menu.