The world now has a billion smokers

ADELAIDE, May 14: Almost five percent of the world's adult population (240 million people) have an alcohol use disorder and more than 20 percent (one billion people) smoke tobacco, new research on global addictive disorders has found.

The report estimates the number of people injecting drugs at around 15 million worldwide.

"Bringing all this data together has been very challenging but having this global snapshot in one accessible resource should prove invaluable for policymakers and researchers," said the report's lead author Linda Gowing, associate professor at University of Adelaide in South Australia.

The "Global Statistics on Addictive Behaviours: 2014 Status Report" shows that there are huge regional differences in use of addictive drugs.

The heaviest drinkers are in Eastern Europe where 13.6 litres of alcohol is consumed per head of population each year, followed by Northern Europe at 11.5 litres.

Central, Southern and Western Asia have the lowest consumption at 2.1 litres. Eastern Europe also has the most smokers at 30 percent of adults, closely followed by Oceania at 29.5 percent, Western Europe at 28.5 percent, and Africa at 14 percent.

North and Central America with the Caribbean have the highest rates of injecting drug use at 0.8 percent, which is more than twice the rate in Northern Europe at 0.3 percent.

The findings also showed that that the harm to society from legal drugs is many times the harm from illicit drugs.

For the study, online sources of global, regional and national information on prevalence and major harms relating to alcohol use, tobacco use, unsanctioned psychoactive drug use and gambling were identified through expert review and assessed.

The findings were detailed in the journal Addiction.

50 Speakers, 35 Exhibitors lined up for Mega Health & Wellness Expo in Burlington

By Deepak Arora

BURLINGTON, April 13: With approximately 50 speakers and more than 35 exhibitors, the day-long Mega Health & Wellness Expo is set for April 19 at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA. The Third Annual Expo, which is free for attendees, will focus on modern as well as alternative medicines and offer a number of interactive workshops on music and dance therapy and yoga and meditation, among others.

The Expo is organized by INE MultiMedia, Inc., a non-profit company devoted to promoting and supporting non-profit organizations focused on South Asian community, and is sponsored by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Lahey Health, Neem Medical Spa and India New England News.

"We are excited to bring the third mega free Health & Wellness Expo to our community," said Dr Manju Sheth, President of INE MultiMedia, and a board certified internist at Lahey Health. "Our goals are simple: education of the community regarding their physical and emotional health, overall wellness and fitness."

Dr. Sheth, who serves as the Chair of the Mega Health & Wellness Expo 2015 and is a former president of the Indian Medical Association of New England, said the Expo will will feature some of the most renowned health care providers of the area, including Dr Sanjiv Chopra, Dr Om Ganda, Dr Anju Nohria, Dr Dinesh Patel, Dr Sonal Pandya, Dr Jaipal Gandhi, Dr Jagruti Patel, Dr Naresh Mansharamani, Dr Meera Subramaniam, Dr Samir Malkani, Dr Paul Mathew, Dr Aneesh Singhal, Dr Hetal Verma, Dr Tara Singh, Dr Manasaa Patna and Dr Jagruti Patel.

The organizers of this year’s conference have added a new panel on Medical Entrepreneurship in Collaboration with TiE-Boston. This panel include Purnanand D. Sarma, President & CEO, Taris Biomedical; Veera Anantha, CEO, Constant Therapy Inc.; and Banu Prasad Dhanakoti, CEO, Fitrax.

"While traditional medicine remains the core program of the expo, by popular demand we have also added integrative medicine including a Holistic segment and a number of innovative health workshops," said Dr Sheth. "We also believe that looking good is as important as feeling well, and based on numerous requests we have also added a 'beauty segment' where our experts will talk about many topics including skin care and anti-aging. Our goal is to present all modalities related to health and wellness so people can learn and make educated decisions about their health."

Anu Chitrapu, a senior vice president and executive at Bank of America who holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and leads the workshops and at the Expo, said the annual Health Expo has become an event that the community looks forward to.

"This year the Expo is bigger and better than ever before. The lineup of speakers and the range of topics covered is phenomenal," said Chitrapu. “Just talking briefly to our workshop speakers has opened my mind to a whole new world. Come prepared to exercise, learn to cook healthy, watch Kathak yoga, hear some exotic music, learn about several alternate forms of medicine... in short, come prepared to be immersed in a day of health that will change your life!"

Upendra Mishra, publisher of India New England News and vice president of INE MultiMedia, said attendees will get a taste of various health-related topics, including mind and body medicine, fitness and beauty, dental hygiene and care, free health screenings, healthy food choices, yoga and meditation and health plans and health care networks.

"We would like to thank our community and all supporting organizations, sponsors and exhibitors who have supported this mega undertaking for the last three years," said Mishra. "Free registration for the Expo is still open. We encourage you to register early. We expect a huge turnout."

In addition to working with non-profit organizations and organizing health-related expos, INE MultiMedia promotes art, culture, education and empowerment through interviews, workshops, seminars and multimedia presentations and documentaries.

1.1 billion people at risk of hearing loss because of personal audio devices: WHO

GENEVA, March 1: Some 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe use of personal audio devices, including smartphones, and exposure to damaging levels of sound at nightclubs, bars and sporting events, the WHO has warned.

The World Health Organisation also recommends that people should use personal audio devices for no more than one hour a day.

Data from studies in middle- and high-income countries analysed by WHO indicate that among teenagers and young adults aged 12-35 years, nearly 50% are exposed to unsafe levels of sound from the use of personal audio devices and around 40% are exposed to potentially damaging levels of sound at entertainment venues.

Unsafe levels of sounds can be, for example, exposure to in excess of 85 decibles (dB) for eight hours or 100dB for 15 minutes.

"As they go about their daily lives doing what they enjoy, more and more young people are placing themselves at risk of hearing loss," said Dr Etienne Krug, WHO director for the department for management of non-communicable diseases, disability, violence and injury prevention.

"Taking simple preventive actions will allow people to continue to enjoy themselves without putting their hearing at risk," Krug said.

WHO recommends that the highest permissible level of noise exposure in the workplace is 85 dB up to a maximum of eight hours per day.

Many patrons of nightclubs, bars and sporting events are often exposed to even higher levels of sound, and should therefore considerably reduce the duration of exposure. For example, exposure to noise levels of 100 dB, which is typical in such venues, is safe for no more than 15 minutes.

Teenagers and young people can better protect their hearing by keeping the volume down on personal audio devices, wearing earplugs when visiting noisy venues, and using carefully fitted, and, if possible, noise-cancelling earphones/headphones.

They can also limit the time spent engaged in noisy activities by taking short listening breaks and restricting the daily use of personal audio devices to less than one hour.

With the help of smartphone apps, they can monitor safe listening levels. In addition they should heed the warning signs of hearing loss and get regular hearing check-ups.

To mark International Ear Care Day, celebrated each year on March 3, WHO is launching the 'Make Listening Safe' initiative to draw attention to the dangers of unsafe listening and promote safer practices.

In collaboration with partners worldwide, WHO will alert young people and their families about the risks of noise-induced hearing loss and advocate towards governments for greater attention to this issue as part of their broader efforts to prevent hearing loss generally.