Smoking and COVID19 : Worst Combination

If you are a smoker then you might not like reading this article. It is not meant to make your fearful, but to make you quit smoking to save your life. Lets begin with some common data that we are listening in news. All News channels are saying that old age and lifestyle disease like diabetes and hypertension are the major reason behind death by COVID19. So we tried to collect the data about these diseases and compared it with those countries where death toll due to COVID19 is above 500. As of 24th Apr, we found 25 such countries. Here is the data that we collected along with the diseases data.

Country	COVID19 Mortality	Obesity Rate	Average BMI
Belgium	15.16	22.1	25.5
France	13.83	21.6	25.3
United Kingdom	13.49	27.8	27.3
Italy	13.45	19.9	26
Sweden	12.06	20.6	25.8
Netherlands	11.67	20.4	25.4
Spain	10.4	23.8	26.7
Mexico	9.19	28.9	28.1
Indonesia	8.32	25	22.9
Brazil	6.66	22.1	25.9
Iran	6.3	25.8	26.2
US	5.75	36.2	28.8
China	5.53	5.5	23.9
Switzerland	5.44	14.9	25.3
Romania	5.4	22.5	25.3
Canada	5.18	29.4	27.2
Ecuador	5.01	19.9	27
Ireland	4.51	25.3	27.5
Portugal	3.67	20.8	26.2
Germany	3.64	22.3	26.3
Austria	3.48	20.1	25.4
India	3.12	5	21.9
Peru	2.74	58.2	26.3
Turkey	2.45	32.1	27.8
Russia	0.88	23.1	26.5

The above table lists the countries according to mortality rate (high to low), along with Obesity and Average BMI of those countries. If you look at the data, you can't find a direct relationship between COVID19 Mortality and Obesity/BMI of those countries. In the above data Obesity ranges from 5 to 58.2. In this data you can't say that Obesity is higher in countries with highest COVID19 Mortality. Same applies on Average BMI as well, which is ranging from 21.9 to 28.8.

Now the next table compare the COVID19 Mortality with Diabetes and Asthma.

Country	COVID19 Mortality	Diabetes	Asthma
Belgium	15.16	4.6	4.66
France	13.83	4.8	6.55
United Kingdom	13.49	3.9	9.11
Italy	13.45	5	3.67
Sweden	12.06	4.8	8.57
Netherlands	11.67	5.4	7.24
Spain	10.4	6.9	5.24
Mexico	9.19	13.5	3.58
Indonesia	8.32	6.3	5.26
Brazil	6.66	10.4	4.88
Iran	6.3	9.6	4.41
US	5.75	10.8	5.45
China	5.53	9.2	7.92
Switzerland	5.44	5.7	6.18
Romania	5.4	6.9	2.69
Canada	5.18	7.6	4.45
Ecuador	5.01	5.5	5.77
Ireland	4.51	3.2	8.71
Portugal	3.67	9.8	4.66
Germany	3.64	10.4	5.33
Austria	3.48	6.6	2.48
India	3.12	10.4	5.21
Peru	2.74	6.6	4.99
Turkey	2.45	11.1	5.19
Russia	0.88	6.1	2.98

If we look at the above data, then Diabetes don't seem to have an effect COVID19 Mortality. In the above table diabetes prevalence among these countries ranges from 3.2 to 13.5.  You can't say that diabetes is real culprit here. But if you take a look at Asthma prevalence, then is a bit suspicious. In the above list Asthma is most prevalent in United Kingdom, which has got the third highest COVID19 mortality.
The next table compares COVID19 mortality with smoking.

Country	COVID19 Mortality	Smoking
Belgium	15.16	2440.9
France	13.83	1089.9
United Kingdom	13.49	827.7
Italy	13.45	1493.3
Sweden	12.06	716.2
Netherlands	11.67	1459.9
Spain	10.4	1499
Mexico	9.19	327.1
Indonesia	8.32	1675.5
Brazil	6.66	333.5
Iran	6.3	936.5
US	5.75	1016.6
China	5.53	976.5
Switzerland	5.44	1489.8
Romania	5.4	2043
Canada	5.18	1204.3
Ecuador	5.01	1021.3
Ireland	4.51	1133.4
Portugal	3.67	1599.5
Germany	3.64	1927
Austria	3.48	89.3
India	3.12	97.7
Peru	2.74	93.5
Turkey	2.45	1770.7
Russia	0.88	2295

The above list contain the number of cigarettes per year per person. This table clearly shows that COVID19 Mortality is highest in Belgium, which has also got highest smoking rate. Its reverse is also true. Austria, India and Peru, where COVID19 Mortality is on the lowest side have got the least smoking rate.

Conclusion : According to this minor research it is clearly visible that smoking is a major culprit behind COVID19 mortality. Asthma can also be suggested as a risk factor. More research can be done on these findings to give a more precise result.

Note: You may not control Asthma, but you can quit smoking to keep yourself on safer side from COVID19. Some researchers believe that sooner or later this novel coronavirus will spread in whole humanity, so it is safer for all smokers to quit smoking as soon as possible, and recover your lungs to fight against this pandemic. 

Save Yourself, 

Save your Family, 

Save your Community, 

Save your Country. 

Read More

Does fast Songs make you drive faster ?

Some of you might have noticed that listening to fast / rock songs while driving a car makes you drive it fast. A number of music websites provide fast music tracks playlist to drive fast. It means that surely music has some impact on our brain and driving skills. But how does fast music make changes in your brain to make you drive faster than normal ? You will get an answer to this question further in this article. This article will inspire you to listen to slow music, so that you don't take risks on road.

Research on Music and Driving habits

A research test to know the impact of music was done at Ben-Gurion University, where 28 students (with average 7 years driving experience) were tested on a driving simulator. They were tested with different types of music with quiet high volume to increase the impact of music on their brain. The results concluded that as the tempo of music was increased from 40 bpm to 140 bpm the occurrence of  breaking the traffic rules and signals increased almost three times. Compared to that those who listened no music during driving had the least number of traffic rule breaking incidents.
The heart rate analysis in the same research found some other interesting facts. Those who don't listen to any music were found to have more fluctuations in heart rate during driving, while those who were listening to music had least fluctuations in their heart rate. It means that music distracts the drivers from outer environment, and the outer circumstances had least impact on their heart. Such distraction results in breaking the traffic signals and accidents.

It is better to choose slower pieces of music and keep the volume low while you are driving. It will make the driving better and it will not only save you but others as well. If you make it a habit for your daily life and also advise others to do so then we will have safer roads for the whole society.

Read More

Ibuprofen causing Infertility in Men !

Ibuprofen, which is an over-the-counter medicine and commonly used as pain killer around the globe, is recently described as male fertility killer. Decreasing fertility in humans is becoming a topic of concern for scientific community. The latest research was conducted in University of Copenhagen, which suggested that long term usage of Ibuprofen can result in decreased production of male hormone Testosterone. Ibuprofen can reversibly hinder the production of testosterone at both tissue and cellular levels by testicular cells.

An earlier research suggested that aspirin, acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol) and ibuprofen affects the testicles of male babies inside the mother's womb if she is taking them while pregnant. Ibuprofen has the strongest effect, out the above mentioned three medicines. This research inspired researchers in University of Copenhagen to target their research on effect of Ibuprofen on adults. Testicles are not only responsible for sperm production but also for testosterone hormone production. Testosterone is responsible for all manly things in man like muscles and fertility. Ibuprofen is not only used by common man. Athletes and sportsperson also use it as a pain killer, for whom testosterone means a lot.

Shall i totally stop taking Ibuprofen ?
No, the negative effect is only if you take it continuously for longer duration. So if you need to take it for more than three days then you must consult your doctor. A number of other researches will be conducted on the same topic to cross check the results. But still if you have any fear in using it then you may ask your doctor to prescribe some alternate pain killer.

The younger participants in the research who took Ibuprofen for a shorter period, the negative effect can be reversed. But those who are above 40 and taking Ibuprofen for a long time should worry.

Some facts to open your eyes about increasing infertility in human race.

• 15% of all couples around the globe in 2010 were infertile.
• Sperm counts of men in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand declined by 59% from 1971 to 2011.

Nobody know the exact cause of this increasing infertility. But there is something wrong either with what we eat or what we use to protect ourselves from some diseases. Drugs are often known for their side-effects, which is never mentioned when they are prescribed. Even the manufacturers of these drugs don't print anything about the side effects. Usually medicines are not tested for their effect on the reproductive system of humans. But now the time has come to make some changes. Increasing user awareness can make the difference.
The results of this research has opened the eyes of a number of people as Ibuprofen is the most widely used pain killer around the world.

Read More

Smartphone Blindness: Using Phone during night ?

If you are one of those who use their smartphone during night after turning off the lights, then here is something you must read. A new disease of modern world is discovered recently "Smartphone Blindness", where the patient uses smartphone during night after turning off the lights of the room and when he/she wakes up in the morning the eyesight was gone. However mostly it happened as a temporary problem, but nobody would like to experience it. Being blinded without a blindfold is something very scary. If you want to save yourself from this condition then you must read this article.

How eyes adapt between darkness and light

Before we tell you more about this recently discovered Smartphone Blindness, you must have some basic knowledge about how our eye helps us in watching things during day and night time. There are two types of cells in our eye. One is Rod Cells and second are Cone Cells. Cone Cells are responsible for viewing colors and bright things (thats day time vision), while Rod Cells can view better in dark (thats night time). If you are in a completely dark room from sometime and someone turns on the lights suddenly then it takes our eye 5 to 7 minutes to adjust to it, as cone cell in the eye activate themselves for it. But when the opposite thing happens and we go from a well illuminated room to a dark one then it takes 30 to 40 minutes for our eyes to completely adjust and activate Rod cells.

Smartphone Blindness

What we see is a joint output of our eyes and brain. Sometimes our brain works in a strange way, where the researches were not done yet. One such thing is Smartphone Blindness. Using your Smartphone in a dark room for longer duration is perfect condition for this medical condition to happen. Two such cases were reported in "New England Journal of Medicine". Two ladies of age 22 and 40 reported that they suffered from temporary blindness. Doctors tried to find the reason behind that. But to the surprise of doctors the reason was surprising. Both ladies used to work on their phone till late night after turning off the room lights and sometimes their one eye use to remain close due to pillow. Both of them used just one eye to operate their smartphone in a dark room. After finding these facts, scientists tried to find the reason.

The result they found is something new. When we use a smartphone with one eye closed (either by pillow or some other hindrance), then our one eye get adapted to brightness while the other adapt to darkness. Sometimes this thing can mess something in our brain and we can loose our sight for sometime either during night or for few minutes after waking up.

If you want to save yourself from this Smartphone Blindness, then never ever use your phone in a dark room with one eye. Using your phone till late night is itself something unhealthy. It not only disturbs your sleep but also disturbs your biological clock. Now a days mobile phone manufactures are increasing brightness of screens, so that you can use it during a sunny day, but its making extra stress on our eyes. Especially if you don't know how to set the brightness level to low, you are harming your eyes. Even some people who know about the brightness level, don't set it to low as they want to see everything crisp and clear. What such people don't know is that brightness can permanently damage their eyes.

Please use your smartphone with less brightness and use it less during night. Even if you have to use it during night, use both eyes to look at screen, not just one.

Read More

What is Stem Cell Banking (Future of Medical Science)

Recently I have seen a stem cell banking advertisement on TV and decided to find whats that as i have never seen an advertisement like that. As i researched about stem cell banking, it comes out as a story of a high-tech Hollywood movie where every thing is made possible by medical science. But overall its good to know that medical science has gone one step ahead.

What is Stem Cell ?

Stem cells are cells present in our body. But these cells have a special capability. They can divide themselves to make new stem cells and those cells can further multiply. They can take shape of any cell present in our body. Our body use these cells to heal itself. Muscles and neurons are also a type of cells and stem cells have the capability to transform themselves into any of these and many more types of cells. According to Wikipedia, "Because a person’s own (autologous) amniotic stem cells can be safely infused back into that individual without being rejected by the body’s immune system".
Important : When stem cells are injected into a certain area of our body then it starts to transform themselves into the cells in its neighborhood.

What is Stem Cell Banking ?

Every body have a different stem cell as every DNA is different. These stem cells are mainly present in the bone marrow. But its present in the maximum amount in the Umbilical cord that connects baby and the mother inside the womb. The cells can be collected from Umbilical cord at the time of child birth. Then these stem cells are preserved by the stem cell banking company for any future use by the child or first degree blood relative of the child.

Who has the ownership of those stem cells ?

As it can be understood from the above description that these stem cells belong to the new born baby but its ownership goes to mother and she is responsible to pay the cost of preservation to the bank. When the child
reaches the legal age, then ownership can be transferred to him / her.

How Stem Cells are collected from Umbilical Cord ?

Stem cells are collected from Umbilical cord at the child birth. After the Umbilical cord is cut from the baby, blood sample is taken from Umbilical cord as it rich in stem cells. In this process the mother don't need to bear any extra pain.

How Stem Cells can be used ?

• Stem Cells can be used to treat hematopoietic and genetic disorders.
• Stem Cells are used to treat leukemia and joint repairs.
• Stem cells have the ability to repair the liver.
• Stem Cells are a good resource for transplant therapies.

Future of medical Treatment by using Stem Cells

Various researches are going on to know more about stem cells and how they can be used to treat various diseases which don't have any permanent cure till now. So of these treatments are mentioned below.

• Diabetes: Stem Cell can be used to generate beta cells which produces insulin to reduce sugar in blood.
• Parkinson’s Disease: Stem Cells can be used to make dopamine releasing cells, which will cure Parkinson's Disease.
• Liver Damage: Stem cells can be used to generate lever cells to recover liver damage.

Read More

Ashwagandha – The Wonder Plant

Ashwagandha is a plant originating in India which has been widely used by Africans and Native Americans for treating a multitude of diseases. Ashwagandha and its secret benefits have been known for 5000 years in India and have been incorporated into an ancient system of medicine from India – Ayurveda – a holistic system of medicines which does not treat the symptoms (as most forms of medicine do) but, treats the underlying causes.
Ashwagandha is a short shrub growing 35 to 75 centimetres tall growing in and around the Indian subcontinent. It is also native to Northern Africa and the Middle East. As the growing benefits of the plant are becoming known, it is cultivated in temperate climates the world over including the United States of America. Although all parts of the plant are used for medicinal purposes, the roots and the stems are the main components of most medicines.

Why is it called Ashwagandha

The name Ashwagandha derives from Indian language of Sanskrit is a combination of two words, “Ashva”, meaning horse, and “gandha” meaning smell. The root, which is primarily used to prepare the medicine, has a smell akin to that of a “sweaty horse”. Ashwagandha is known to the scientific world by the name Withania somnifera. Commonly known as Indian Ginseng, Ashwagandha is a plant in the Solanaceae family ( a family which also includes the tomato)

Uses of Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is one of the most widely used herbs in Ayurveda and Unani medicines and is beneficial in a wide range of ailments. Ashwagandha is considered to be a Rasayana Drug – that which rejuvenates the body. Ashwagandha is also known for enhancing the, “Dhi, Dhriti and Smriti” – the cognitive functions. It is used for treating fertility problems in both males and females and also as a mild aphrodisiac. A preparation of Ashwagandha in honey, sugar and ghee is widely used in premature ejaculation, low libido and erectile dysfunction with good results being reported.

Properties of Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha has four main properties, growth promoter, adaptogenic, anti-stress and an immunostimulant. Ashwagandha when taken with milk increases the haemoglobin content and also increases the absorption of Copper, Zinc and Potassium. Ashwagandha also increases the body weight and energy especially in emaciated children

Recent clinical trials have shown that Ashwagandha prevents the degeneration of neurons and nerves and thus should be helpful in Parkinsonism and Alzheimer’s disease. Of even greater significance and interest are some other studies on experimental animals which have shown the potential of Ashwagandha to stop cancer cells in their tracks. It is being concluded on the basis of these studies that Ashwagandha is more effective than doxorubicin in inhibiting breast and colon cancer growth. Another exciting finding is the ability of Ashwagandha to enhance the survival rates and life span of cancer patients.

Ashwagandha is Anti Aging

Another aspect of Ashwagandha which deserves a special mention is its anti-aging property and its ability to fight cold and cough. Ashwagandha is used as a topical application in conditions like skin ulcers, carbuncles, tumours etc with good results.

Diseases cured by Ashwagandha

Studies are also underway to evaluate the performance of Ashwagandha in Diabetes, impotency, cancer, rheumatism and arthritis, loss of memory, neurological problems and in constipation among other diseases.

As modern lifestyle changes and dietary imbalances play havoc with both the mental and physical health of the suffering masses, Ashwagandha with its multi-faceted uses is the focus of a slew of research activities aimed at discovering the uses of this hitherto neglected plant in attaining “Ojus” – a subtle and refined level of the human body which is the end result of properly digested and assimilated healthy food which in turn is responsible for physical and mental strength, a lustrous complexion, a strong and vibrant immune system and what we all crave the most – a sense of well being.

Read More

Brain Health Research | Brain Image Processing | Brain Visual Memory

Brain is one of the most complex structures of our body and scientists are researching continuously to understand its structure and working pattern. Researchers at University of California, Berkeley (UCB) found some interesting facts about brain’s working on images.

Visual Memory covers a large part of brain. 20% of our brain contains images and it store images in a well mannered manner. These images are stored in an overlapping pattern, which help us in face recognition and other day-to-day work. Their research is about the storage pattern of these images and how we can extract that information. All this study might be useful in making fast image processors in future computers. Image processing is a very fast process of brain that no computer can match.

Our brain can store thousands of faces and their names and we rarely forget those faces. Sometimes it take time remember the name but it has 99% accuracy. And this is count of faces only. We also remember places, roads, objects and a lot more things. According to a research our brain can store more than 3 times of information stored in Britannica Encyclopaedia. It’s just an average; some people with higher IQ have much more capability.

A healthy body needs a healthy brain. And researches are going on around the globe to find an answer to complexity of brain and its functions. We should hope that these researches will lead to a more healthy life.

Read More