Chew gums and excel in maths

In a study likely to make school janitors cringe, US researchers said chewing gum may boost academic performance in teenagers.

Many American schools ban chewing gum because children often dispose of the sticky chaw under chairs or tables. But a team led by Craig Johnston at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston found that students who chewed gum during math class had higher scores on a standardized math test after 14 weeks and better grades at the end of the term than students in the class who did not chew gum. The study was funded by chewing gum maker Wrigley. “For the first time we’ve been able to show in a real-life kind of situation that students did perform better when they were allowed to chew,” said Gil Leveille, executive director of the Brigley Science Institute, a research arm of Brigley, which is now a part of Mars.

The researchers at Baylor studied four math classes or 108 students aged 13 to 16 years from a Houston, Texas, charter school that serves mostly low-income Hispanic students. About half got free gum to chew during class, homework and tests. They chewed at least one stick of gum 86% of the time they were in math class and 36% of the time they were doing homework. The other half went without.

After 14 weeks, the gum chewers had a 3% increase in their math scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills achievement test, a small but statistically significant change, according to Johnston and colleagues, who presented their findings at the American Society for Nutrition scientific meeting in New Orleans.

They found no difference in math scores between the two groups in another test called the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement. However, the gum-chewers did get better final grades in the class than their non-chewing peers.

A primer on asthmatic kids

The death from asthma of Raaju, a Class XII student of Modern School, has focused attention on an illness few understand. Asthma is a chronic disease like diabetes and hypertension but can be harmless if monitored and fatal if neglected. How is a parent to judge?

Dr Bikram Sarbhai, senior consultant, pulmonology at Escorts and Max Hospitals, says there is nothing like safe asthma and a wheeze is always bad, and never to be taken lightly. Dr J C Suri, head of Safdarjung Hospital’s department of pulmonology, says, “Schools should keep nebulisers, asthma drugs and oxygen handy at all times and also have a doctor.”

In India, 4% of the population is asthmatic, out of which 5-10% are children, says Suri. A primer for parents: Don’t let an asthmatic child go to school, his condition can deteriorate suddenly. If he has to go to school, make sure he carries the medication he needs, including inhalers. Make sure your child takes the doctor’s prescription to school in case the school/hospital needs it in an emergency. Talk to your child’s teacher, explain the problem and leave your contact numbers with her. If sport can’t be avoided, tell your child to take 2-3 puffs of his inhaler. Don’t stop medication if the child appears normal. Treatment includes low dose cortico-steroids and inhalers. Medicine is used to provide relief and/ or prevent asthma attacks.

Fretting over memory loss makes it worse

Think positive, especially if you want to retain a good memory as you age. That’s the advice of scientists at North Carolina State University who found that expecting to have a diminishing memory with age could be a selffulfilling prophecy.

In a study published in the journal Experimental Aging Research, they found that seniors who do not believe in the negative stereotype that memory loss is a natural occurrence in old age did better on tests than other elderly people. “Older people will perform more poorly on a memory test if they are told that older folks do poorly on that particular type of memory test,” Dr Tom Hess, who headed the study, said in a statement.

He and his team tested memory performance of adults 60 to 70 years old and others who were 71 to 82. In addition to doing more poorly in tests if they bought into the negative stereotype of ageing and memory, seniors also performed poorly if they thought they were stigmatised, or looked down on, because of their age. “Such situations may be part of older adults’ everyday experience, such as being concerned about what others think of them at work having a negative effect on their performance—and thus potentially reinforcing the negative stereotypes,” said Hess.

The negative effects were strongest in adults with the highest level of education, according to the researchers. But on the plus side, if seniors have a more positive view of ageing their memory performance scores are higher.

Nicotine takes the edge off rage

Smoking to relieve stress is nothing new, but now a brain imaging study shows just how nicotine can blunt our anger response. People who received half a nicotine patch dose proved less likely to rise to provocation, compared to when they took a placebo. This may support the idea that angry or stressed-out individuals can more easily become addicted to cigarettes, LiveScience reported.

“The findings suggest that people in anger provoking situations may be more susceptible to the effects of nicotine,” said Jean Gehricke, a psychiatry researcher at the University of California in Irvine.

The study pitted a group of nonsmokers against a nonexistent game opponent whose “behaviour” was designed to irritate and provoke. The simple computer game involved a race to see who could click a mouse button fastest in response to seeing a red square appear. The twist—players in the game could set punishments where the loser would have to hear a blast of white noise over headphones. Winners could set the intensity and duration of the annoying sound, but players could also see what the other person had set as a punishment level.

Researchers who controlled the fake opponent gradually raised the punishment level for the participants. That translated into an open invitation for people to retaliate by raising punishment levels, but people on the nicotine patch were less easily provoked and inflicted shorter punishment.

Turns out that the nicotine targets a system of the brain focused on regulating emotion, known as the limbic cortex, LiveScience said. PET scans showed increased brain activity in those brain regions for people on the patch. Such calming effects of nicotine may act as an anger management crutch for people who tend to be angrier.

‘Brain music’ can help you beat the blues

Human brain naturally composes melodies, which researchers believe can rival Mozart and Chopin. That’s not all. The experts believe that a piano rendition of the brain’s sound track can help in dealing with insomnia and fatigue in the aftermath of a stressful experience.

The concept of “brain music” is to use the frequency, amplitude and duration of musical sounds to move the brain from an anxious state to a more relaxed one. Over the past decade, the influence of music on cognitive development, learning, and emotional well-being has emerged as a hot field of scientific study.

Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) has begun a study into a form of neuro-training called “brain music” that uses music created in advance from listeners’ own brain waves to help them deal with common ailments like insomnia, fatigue, and headaches stemming from stressful environments.

“Strain comes with an emergency response job, so we are interested in finding ways to help these workers remain at the top of their game when working and get quality rest when they go off a shift,” said S&T programme manager Robert Burns. “Our goal is to find new ways to help first responders perform at the highest level possible, without increasing tasks, training, or stress levels.”

If the brain “composes” the music, the first job of scientists is to take down the notes. Each recording is converted into two unique musical compositions designed to trigger the body’s natural responses.

The compositions are clinically shown to promote one of two mental states in each individual: relaxation — for reduced stress and improved sleep; and alertness — for improved concentration and decision-making. The relaxation track may sound like a “melodic, subdued Chopin sonata”, while the alertness track may have “more of a Mozart sound”, says Burns.

A rival for Viagra that can be rubbed into skin

New Anti-Impotency Drug Promises To Work Within 10 Mins And Claims to Have Fewer Side Effects.

In one of the first medical applications of nanotechnology — the science of tiny particles — scientists have developed a fast-acting treatment for impotence that could rival Viagra.

The drug’s minute particles can be absorbed directly through the skin, causing a sexual response within minutes.

The treatment has so far only been tested in animals but the researchers behind it say the same approach could also benefit humans. Viagra and other drugs have to be taken orally, meaning they take some time to be digested and then have effects throughout the body. Some users can suffer side-effects such as headaches, facial flushing and indigestion.

The nanoparticle approach, by contrast, worked in less than 10 minutes and its effects seem to be limited to the relevant parts of the body, according to the researchers. Kelvin Davies of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who oversaw the research, said the results showed the potential for “nanomedicines”.

He said the nanoparticles “can facilitate transport of erectogenic agents. It localises the therapeutic impact without the potential consequences due to systemic absorption”.

In the study, published on Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, Davies and his colleagues loaded the nanoparticles with nitric oxide, a chemical that occurs naturally in the body where it makes blood vessels expand and fill with blood.

They applied the particles to the skin of rats bred to suffer from impotence. They observed a

rapid and strong response.

The potential market for such drugs is extensive. Viagra has become one of the world’s most popular medicines with about 40 million pills prescribed in Britain alone since its launch in 1998. Many more have been obtained from online pharmacies. Some believe such treatments benefit relationships pointing to the fact that about a fifth of marital breakdowns are at least partly linked to men suffering erectile dysfunction.

Other evidence has, however, shown that such drugs give older men the confidence to start new relationships with younger women and quit the marital home. Viagra has been cited in many splits, including that of the comedian Vic Reeves and of Wendy and Johnny Kidd, parents of the models Jodie and Jemma.

Bangalore emerges as the best city for expats

Are you thinking which city in India is safe and provide quality living?? Here is the answer. Bangalore has emerged as the best Indian city among New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in terms of better quality of living for expatriates, according to a latest worldwide survey of cities by global HR consultancy Mercer.

According to Mercer survey, ‘2009 quality of living global city rankings’ for 215 cities, Bangalore has topped the list among Indian cities, while the country’s financial hub Mumbai has witnessed a drop in rankings this year mainly due to a decline in stability and security conditions.
Unfortunately, Indian cities do not fare well as compared to their global peers as the list is topped by Vienna in Austria followed by Switzerland’s Zurich (2nd), Geneva (3rd), Canadian city Vancouver and New Zealand’s Auckland have been ranked at the 4th place.

Among Indian cities, Bangalore has been ranked at the 142nd place this year, down two notches from last year, while Mumbai has been dropped to the 148th place from 142 position last year, the survey revealed.

However, New Delhi has managed to maintain the same rank this year at the 145th place in the global list, while Chennai has been ranked at the 152nd place, the survey revealed.

Mercer’s worldwide 215-city quality of living survey, is primarily conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments.

Meanwhile, Singapore has emerged as the best Asian city in terms of quality of living, ranked at 26th position in the global list followed by Tokyo at 35. Further, Baghdad is at the bottom of the rankings at the 215th place.

“When you relocate executives from one country to another you need clear and objective information establishing quality of living differences between cities. Some are perceived to be safer, while others provide entertainment activities or more comprehensive medical services,” Mercer’s information product solutions India business leader Gangapriya Chakraverti said.

The Mercer quality of living report aims to provide tangible values for such qualitative perceptions, in order to establish an effective and objective assessment of the quality of living throughout the world, Chakraverti added.

Interestingly, this year’s rankings also identify cities with best infrastructure based on electricity supply, water availability, telephone and mail services, traffic congestion and the range of international flights from local airports.

“As a result of current financial crisis, multinational companies are looking to review their international assignment policies with a view to cutting costs,” Mercer consulting India global mobility leader Rupam Mishra said.

Bad memory? Delete it with a single dose

‘Emotions In Specific Parts Of Brain Can Be Edited’

Suppose scientists could erase certain memories by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Could make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, even a bad habit.

Researchers in Brooklyn have recently accomplished comparable feats, with a single dose of an experimental drug delivered to areas of the brain critical for holding specific types of memory, like emotional associations, spatial knowledge or motor skills.

The drug blocks the activity of a substance that the brain apparently needs to retain much of its learned information. And if enhanced, the substance could help ward off dementias and other memory problems. So far, the research has been done only on animals. But scientists say this memory system is likely to work almost identically in people.

“If this molecule is as important as it appears to be, you can see the possible implications,” said Todd Sacktor, a 52-year-old neuroscientist who leads the team at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, in Brooklyn, which demonstrated its effect on memory.

Research suggests, brain cells activated by an experience keep one another on biological speed-dial, like a group of people joined in common witness of some striking event. Call on one and word quickly goes out to the larger network of cells, each apparently adding some detail, sight, sound, smell. The brain appears to retain a memory by growing thicker, or more efficient, communication lines between these cells. In a 1999 paper, researchers listed 117 molecules that were somehow involved when one cell creates a lasting speed-dial connection with a neighbor, a process known as “long-term potentiation”.

Sacktor eventually landed up with a substance called PKMzeta. In a series of studies, Sacktor’s lab found that this molecule was present and activated in cells precisely when they were put on speed-dial by a neighboring neuron. In fact, the PKMzeta molecules appeared to herd themselves, like troops occupying a small peninsula, into precisely the fingerlike connections among brain cells that were strengthened. And they stayed there, indefinitely, like biological sentries.

Sacktor then tried to find out what, if anything, PKMzeta meant for living, breathing animals. His colleague, Andre Fenton, also of SUNY Downstate, who studies spatial memory in mice and rats, had already devised a clever way to teach animals strong memories for where things are located by teaching them to move around a small chamber to avoid a mild electric shock to their feet. Once the animals learn, they do not forget. Placed back in the chamber a day later, even a month later, they quickly remember how to avoid the shock and do so.

But when injected — directly into their brain — with a drug called ZIP that interferes with PKMzeta, they are back to square one, almost immediately.

Researchers led by Yadin Dudai at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel found that one dose of ZIP even made rats forget a strong disgust they had developed for a taste that had made them sick — three months earlier.

MONITORING DIABETES

Regular monitoring is the key to keeping your diabetes in check and living a healthy life.

The secret in being a productive diabetic is to monitor blood sugars and use it as a base to make informed decisions regarding dietary and life style modifications.

Why is it important to monitor blood sugars?
Very often blood sugar monitoring is delayed, postponed or considered an extra effort, but what we do not realise is that uncontrolled, unchecked highs and lows in blood sugar can lead to a series of complications in both types of diabetics. This can cause complications on vital systems of the body, like the brain, kidneys, heart, or eyes.

So what is smart self blood sugar monitoring?
Help your diabetologist by taking a spread out of blood sugars – pre and post meal (two hours after the meal) on different days, coupled with one or two readings of 5:00 pm sugars, bedtime sugars and 3:00 am sugars.

Bedtime blood glucose level should be maintained between 100 and 140 mg/dl. If bed time glucose is less than 100 mg/dl consume a carbohydrate (CHO) snack before going to bed. If the 5:00 pm random blood sugar is less than 80 mg/dl, there is risk of going into hypoglycaemia at night.

If you are a physically active person, check your sugars pre-exercise. If it is less than 90 mg/dl, consume a carbohydrate snack and also check on your insulin dosage.

If the difference between pre and post meal sugars is less than 50 mg/dl, it indicates that the food choices are working well.

If blood sugars are more than 240 mg/dl, check back on food, medication and limit vigorous exercise.

Make notes on deviation in sugars with the changes in meal pattern or exercise schedule or eating out. Explore the options of monitoring devices available to achieve this.

What your self-monitoring device should have?
Pick a monitoring device that’s easy to use. You want to be able to monitor your glucose as easily as possible rather than it becoming another chore. Some of the latest devices have a variety of features, which include:

Auto-coding: The calibration code is embedded on each strip, thereby eliminating coding-related errors.
Results flagging: Some devices have the ability to separately store fasting and post meal readings, so you don’t have to maintain an additional log book to record results.
Small pricking devices: Another feature to look out for if you want to monitor your blood-glucose painlessly.
Temperature sensor: This sensor helps you get temperature-corrected results.