Radisson Hotel of Dhaka  wins two International awards

Radisson Water Garden Hotel Dhaka has received two international awards, says in a press release.

The accolades, Presidents Award and Aspire Awards,- were presented at the Carlson's Global Business Summit and 70th Anniversary Celebration held in at Las Vegas, USA.

The President's Award is an annual award that recognizes the hotel's exceptional commitment to guest service and high product quality.

The winners of the President's Award were chosen based on their alignment and contribution toward the brand's guest-focused mission.

The Aspire Award is based on the biggest improvement in revenue generated per available room (RevPAR), guest service and quality assurance scores. In the 2008 Carlson Global Summit, only 7 hotels won the Aspire Award in Asia Pacific region.

GB/March 25, 2008

Private banks expanding to  rural areas

Bangladesh and Indian authorities on March 23 reaffirmed that the much-awaited Dhaka-Kolkata passenger train service will be launched on Pahela Baishakh (April 14).

The date will be announced officially after an agreement between the railway officials of the two countries. It is expected to be signed during a three-day bilateral talk in Dhaka beginning on April 1, said communications ministry officials.

Infrastructural works that are yet to be completed would be finished within a short time and  fences near no man's land would not create any problem in launching the rail service. Bangladesh has set up the immigration centre in Darsana, Chuadanga for the time being, and The Railway is preparing the budget for setting up the centre near the international border as sources said.  

Bangladesh would also construct fences near zero line of the border and construction work will start after the budget for it is approved,  as the communications secretary said.
The two-way passenger train would run once a week.

GB/ March 24, 2008
Status: Living

The world's richest man

Whom do you think the word’s richest man in the world? Bill Gates! Recently, US financier Warren Buffett has overtaken Bill Gates as the world's richest man, according to Forbes annual billionaire's list.

Buffett, the 77-year-old chief of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company, saw his wealth jump from 52 billion dollars last year to 62 billion, pushing Microsoft co-founder Gates into third position after 13 years at the top.

Mexico's telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu grabbed second place with a tidy nest egg of 60 billion dollars, up from 49 billion last year.

Buffett, who announced in 2006 he was giving the majority of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, saw his wealth spike mostly due to the rising value of his Berkshire Hathaway stock.

"The amazing thing about Buffett going to the top of the list is that he did it at a time when he was giving away his money," said Steve Forbes, the magazine's editor in chief.

In total, this year's list sees 1,125 people around the world making the billionaire's list, up from 946 last year. Their total net worth stands at 4.4 trillion dollars, up from 3.5 trillion dollars in 2007.

"This past year was an amazing one around the world in terms of the global economy and it's reflected on this list," said Forbes, adding that the number of billionaires had almost doubled in the past four years.

"The reason for this explosion in wealth is that we're in the midst of a phenomenal global gloom," he added.

By nationality, the United States still easily led the rankings with 469 billionaires up from 415 last year, but Russia replaced Germany as the second placed country with 87 billionaires.

Third-placed India saw the number of its super-rich jump to 53 entries on the list -- four of them in the top 10 - although China and Hong Kong if taken together would overtake it, with 42 and 26 billionaires respectively.

Japan, although still the second largest economy in the world, saw its number of billionaires trailing at 24 - overtaken by Turkey, which this year saw its number of tycoons on the list jump from 22 in 2007 to 35.

Surprisingly, Buffett and Gates were the only Americans in the top 10, alongside one Mexican (second-placed Slim) four Indians (placed fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth), a Sweden (seventh), a Russian (ninth) and a German (10th.)

The richest woman in the world was France's Liliane Bettencourt, of cosmetics company L'Oreal with a personal fortune of 22.9 billion dollars, partly helped by the weak US dollar, which has fallen notably against the euro.

GB/March 7,2008

Yogurt may take the bite out of gum disease

Regularly eating yogurt(curd) and other foods with lactic acid may be good for your mouth, Japanese researchers report.

Dr Yoshihiro Shimazaki and colleagues found that consuming yogurt and lactic acid drinks was significantly associated with better periodontal health. "But, milk and cheese were not," Shimazaki said.

Periodontal disease is a chronic bacterial condition associated with receding gums and tooth loss in adults. Outside of regular brushing and flossing, effective measures to allay this disease are limited, Shimazaki, of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, and colleagues note in the Journal of Periodontology.

Previous research identified a lower occurrence of periodontal disease among people who eat high amounts of dairy products, but did not identify which dairy products were most beneficial, the researchers report.

Shimazaki's team assessed the severity of periodontal disease in 942 men and women, aged 40 to 79 years, and their intake of milk, cheese, and lactic acid foods.

They found that people with generalized (more advanced) periodontal disease had a lower intake of lactic acid foods than people with localized (less advanced) periodontal disease.

Compared with individuals reporting no lactic acid food intake, those eating 55 grams or more of yogurt or lactic acid drinks a day had significantly fewer markers of severe periodontal disease, the investigators note, once they made allowances for factors such as age, gender, smoking, alcohol intake, frequency of tooth brushing, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

"The beneficial effect on periodontal disease might be based on the probiotic effect of lactobacilli found in lactic acid foods," Shimazaki told. Probiotics are living microorganisms, such as the Lactobacillus bacteria in yogurt that are beneficial to one's health.

The investigators suggest follow up studies that further analyze the probiotic effect of lactic acid foods by assessing the distribution of lactic acid bacteria in subjects' mouths based on the lactic acid foods they eat. Future research should also examine whether continuing intake of lactic acid foods alters the progression of periodontal disease.

GB/March 1,2008

Japanese Technology: Robot buddies in the Cell phone

For those who feel a bit lonely just talking on the phone, a Japanese company is offering mobile phones that turn into a robot buddy ready to chat.

Softbank Mobile Corp.'s new mobile line looks like a small humanoid with attachable arms and legs, with the screen showing various faces.

The PhoneBraver will be released in April after a character in an upcoming television drama series entitled "Cellphone Investigator 7."

The telephone comes with enough artificial intelligence to learn the user's habits.

If the user calls a particular person many times, a text phrase such as "You're calling her often these days, aren't you?" might appear coming out of the face's mouth, according to Softbank Mobile spokesman Katsuhide Furuya.

The user could carry on conversations with the phone by responding "yes" or "no" or with other simple replies.

"We haven't decided on specifics yet on the communication between the user and mobile, but your mobile would grow into a buddy different from others that is unique in the world," he said.

The PhoneBraver does not move by itself but can strike a pose with movable joints. The price is not disclosed yet

GB/29th February, 2008

Depression and Older Adults: What It Is and How to Get Help

What is depression?
Sometimes when people feel sad, they say they are "depressed." But depression is more than just feeling sad. It's a medical illness. Someone who has "major" depression has most or all of the symptoms listed in the box below nearly every day, all day, for 2 weeks or longer. There is also a "minor" form of depression that causes less severe symptoms. Both have the same causes and treatment.

What causes depression?

Symptoms of depression
No interest or pleasure in things you used to enjoy, including sex
Feeling sad or numb
Crying easily or for no reason
Feeling slowed down or feeling restless and irritable
Feeling worthless or guilty
Change in appetite; unintended change in weight
Trouble recalling things, concentrating or making decisions
Headaches, backaches or digestive problems
Problems sleeping, or wanting to sleep all of the time
Feeling tired all of the time
Thoughts about death or suicide

Your body contains chemicals that help control your moods. When you don't have enough of these chemicals or when your brain doesn't respond to them properly, you may become depressed. Depression can be genetic (meaning it can run in families). Abusing drugs or alcohol can also lead to depression. Some medical problems and medications can lead to depression.

Depression is not a normal part of growing older, but it is common in adults age 65 and over. Retirement, health problems and the loss of loved ones are things that happen to older adults. Feeling sad at these times is normal. But if these feelings persist and keep you from your usual activities, you should talk to your doctor.

Why is depression in older adults hard to recognize?
It can be hard to tell the difference between depression and illnesses such as dementia. Also, older adults may not talk to their doctor about their sad or anxious feelings because they are embarrassed. But depression is nothing to be embarrassed about. It is not a personal weakness. It's a medical illness that can be treated.

How is depression diagnosed?
Sometimes depression is first recognized by friends or family members. If you're having symptoms of depression, be sure to tell your doctor. Don't assume he or she will be able to tell that you are depressed just by looking at you. Your doctor will ask you questions about your symptoms, your health and your family's history of health problems. He or she may also give you an exam and do some tests. It is also important to tell your doctor about any medicines that you are taking.

How is depression treated?
Depression can be treated with medicine or counseling, or with both. These treatments are very effective. Medicine may be particularly important for severe depression. Talk to your doctor about the right treatment for you.

What if my doctor prescribes medicine?
Medicines used to treat depression are called antidepressants. They correct the chemical imbalance in your brain that causes depression. These medicines usually work very well, but they may have some side effects. The side effects typically decrease with time. Antidepressants can start to work right away, but it may take 6 to 8 weeks before you see the full benefit. Don't stop taking the medicine without checking with your doctor first.

What about suicide?
Thinking about suicide can be part of depression. Anyone with depression, including older adults, may be at risk for suicide. If you have thoughts about hurting yourself, tell your doctor, friends or family right away. The thoughts of suicide will go away after the depression is treated.

GB/27th February, 2008

Advisers approved new proposal for the train services with India

The advisory council approved a new proposal on February 24 for launching direct passenger train services between Dhaka and Kolkata.

Bangladesh hopes the new proposal, which will be sent to India for approval, can resolve the previous disagreement over fencing along the borders of the two countries.

According to the new proposal, both Bangladesh and India "may construct box-type temporary fencing from the zero point along the rail tracks of their respective territories" to ensure security of passengers and the train services.

The design of the box-type fencing will be approved "on a mutually agreed drawing" by the both countries, according to the new proposal.

The new clause, however, guarantees that such fencing will not be used or quoted as reference for any other situation of similar matters or other purposes including strategic or defense.

"With the approval of the new clause (in the agreement), we hope that the disagreement over the fencing issue will be resolved and the train services can be launched soon," Syed Fahim Munaim, the chief adviser's press secretary, told reporters after a cabinet meeting at the Chief Adviser's Office, chaired by CA Fakhruddin Ahmed.

During bilateral talks in Dhaka on July 9in 2007, India proposed construction of the fencing along the borders to protect passengers and the train service from terrorist attacks.

India said the trains should pass through a box-type fence while crossing the border. But Bangladesh opposed the proposal saying it was against the border agreement between the two countries.

At a second bilateral meeting on July 30 in West Bengal (Kolkata), Bangladesh and India could not overcome the difference of opinion over the fencing issue.

If such a fencing was allowed, India would construct a fencing along its borders with Bangladesh flouting the agreement as said by The Bangladesh delegation.

GB/25th February, 2008

Memory Loss With Aging: What's Normal, What's Not

How does the brain store information?
Information is stored in different parts of your memory. Information stored in the short-term memory may include the name of a person you met moments ago. Information stored in the recent memory may include what you ate for breakfast. Information stored in the remote memory includes things that you stored in your memory years ago, such as memories of childhood.

How does aging change the brain?
When you're in your 20s, you begin to lose brain cells a few at a time. Your body also starts to make less of the chemicals your brain cells need to work. The older you are, the more these changes can affect your memory.

Aging may affect memory by changing the way the brain stores information and by making it harder to recall stored information.

Your short-term and remote memories aren't usually affected by aging. But your recent memory may be affected. For example, you may forget names of people you've met recently. These are normal changes.

Things to help you remember
Keep lists.
Follow a routine.
Make associations (connect things in your mind), such as using landmarks to help you find places.
Keep a detailed calendar.
Put important items, such as your keys, in the same place every time.
Repeat names when you meet new people.
Do things that keep your mind and body busy.
Run through the ABC's in your head to help you think of words you're having trouble remembering. "Hearing" the first letter of a word may jog your memory.

What about when I know a word but can't recall it?
This is usually just a glitch in your memory. You'll almost always remember the word with time. This may become more common as you age. It can be very frustrating, but it's not usually serious.

What are some other causes of memory problems?
Many things other than aging can cause memory problems. These include depression, dementia (severe problems with memory and thinking, such as Alzheimer's disease), side effects of drugs, strokes, head injury and alcoholism.

How does Alzheimer's disease change memory?
Alzheimer's disease starts by changing the recent memory. At first, a person with Alzheimer's disease will remember even small details of his or her distant past but not be able to remember recent events or conversations. Over time, the disease affects all parts of the memory.

How can I tell if my memory problems are serious?
A memory problem is serious when it affects your daily living. If you sometimes forget names, you're probably okay. But you may have a more serious problem if you have trouble remembering how to do things you've done many times before, getting to a place you've been to often, or doing things that use steps, like following a recipe.

Another difference between normal memory problems and dementia is that normal memory loss doesn't get much worse over time. Dementia gets much worse over several months to several years.

It may be hard to figure out on your own if you have a serious problem. Talk to your family doctor about any concerns you have. Your doctor may be able to help you if your memory problems are caused by a medicine you're taking or by depression.

Memory problems that aren't part of normal aging
Forgetting things much more often than you used to
Forgetting how to do things you've done many times before
Trouble learning new things
Repeating phrases or stories in the same conversation
Trouble making choices or handling money
Not being able to keep track of what happens each day

GB/21st February, 2008

Bird Flu hit more districts in Bangladesh

The avian influenza of bird flu is not a disease but fever of chicken or other birds. This virus can spread through water. People who are in touch with chicken, duck and pigeon and other birds might be affected as this virus can enter through nose at the time of breathing. It can spread through touching of egg also.

The avian influenza, which broke out in Bangladesh in 2007, has now reached epidemic proportions sweeping across the poultry industry that accounts for over 1.6 percent of GDP.

The country's poultry industry continues to be in grave peril with sales already halved due to panic among consumers in the wake of recent bird flu outbreaks, operators said.

Many restaurants have already taken chicken off their menus while home consumption too has slumped.

Shah Habibul Haque, director of Aftab Bahumukhi Farm Ltd, a leading poultry hatchery claims that they are selling chicks to poultry farmers at a token price to minimize our losses and their business has incurred on average a loss of Tk 2 crore every month since November 2007.

According to official data, the government has detected bird flu virus in 152 farms in 43 districts and culled 6.42 lakh fowls as of February 16. Operators report a loss of nearly Tk 5,000 crore because of plummeting sales coupled with a steady rise in the prices of poultry feeds.

Industry sources said thousands of farms have been forced to shut down in a year due to bird flu outbreaks and hike in prices of feed ingredients.

A retailer at Kaptan Bazar, said the sales at his shop have dropped 58 percent on point to point basis.

In retail outlets, chickens sell at Tk 65-70 a kg, whereas only a month ago they would cost Tk 80-85 a kg.

Restaurants and party centers are having their share of troubles with chicken consumption taking a nosedive.

The government said o February 11 that they have taken all out steps to check spread of the flu. Earlier, at a meeting the government’s special assistant Maniklal Samaddar of Live Stock Ministry  told the kitchen market association that so far 823 persons were tested in the country but no bird flue virus was detected among them. He said that mass awareness among people and proper waste management was the  must to bring the bird flu situation under control.

According to statistics until Feb 11, 5.6 lakh (5,60,000) poultry birds of 228 poultry farms in 40 districts have been culled across the country since the detection of bird flue in the country. One of the worst affected Dinajpur district, livestock department culled at  least 20,580 chickens, ducks and pigeons on Feb 7 within just one day period.  Dhaka and Chittagong city were identified as a bird flu affected as death crows found in these major two cities tested positive. 

The government is contemplating setting up 17 laboratories across the country including one in Chittagong with the financial assistance of American based organization USAID for screening bird flu properly.

Meanwhile, despite the worries over contagious virus, live poultry outlets at  the 404 kitchen markets in the capital are still being operated without following any hygiene standards. One expert said, the virus is so infectious that even crows having strong immune system are dying of the flu after eating dead fowls infected with the virus.
Recently(February 5), in a significant move to check the spread of bird flu, Dhaka City Corporation(DCC), imposed a ban on the sale of undressed poultry in the capital city. But Dhaka city Corporation(DCC) needs to be more cautious on spreading virus from live bird markets in the Dhaka city. 

Fish, meat prices soar in the city markets as chicken is off from the menu because of bird flu.

Fisheries and Livestock Ministry of Bangladesh Govt. has started an initiative named “Avian influenza Preparedness and Response Project” to aware the people. The project suggested, it is safe to eat cooked chicken and full boiled egg. They gave some extra guide lines for more safety as follows:

-Buy a healthy and sick free chicken.
-Before or after touching  the egg of  chicken-duck, wash your hands by soap, influenza virus is destroyed in the soap water.
-After buying the egg, wash it by soap water.
-when you take care chicken-duck, cover your face by mask or clothe(if mask unavailable).
- Don not  permit your children to catch or play with chicken, duck or other birds.
-If anybody suffer with fiver, sneezing, cough after catching the chicken-duck, consult with doctor.
-Burry the death bodies of Chicken-duck and bird underground.
-If Chicken-duck, crow or another bird die in unusual way, inform the nearly government office.
-After taking care, slaughtering or cutting the chicken-duck and other domestic animals, do not touch your eyes or face until you wash your hands with soap.
- Do not collect the chicken-duck, egg and other birds or animal’s food from the bird flu spreading areas.

-Don not use the affected area’s wasted part of chicken-duck or others birds for  the fish feed.
-Do not catch or sell the migrated bird.

After all, do not pay attention to rumors surrounding you, rather contact  with the local live stock  or government administrative offices if necessary.

GB/18th February

Gout Risk in Men, beware of Sugary Soft Drinks

Just 2 or more beverages a day increased chances by 85%, study finds

Consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fructose is strongly associated with increased risk of gout in men, a new study says.

Gout, caused by excess uric acid in the blood, is a joint disease that causes extreme pain and swelling. Cases of gout, which is most common in men, have doubled in the United States over the past few decades

Gout is a kind of arthritis caused by too much uric acid in the joints. Uric acid is a substance that forms when your body breaks down a substance called purines. This substance normally dissolves in your blood and passes through your kidneys into your urine. In people with gout, uric acid builds up and forms sharp crystals that can collect around the joints. This causes pain and swelling in the affected joints.

In the study, the researchers looked at more than 46,000 men, aged 40 and older, with no history of gout. Information on the men's food and beverage intake was collected at the start of the study, and details about their weight, medication use and medical conditions were recorded every two years during the 12-year study.

During that time, 755 of the men were diagnosed with gout. The risk was much higher in men who drank five to six servings of sugar-sweetened soft drinks per week and was 85 percent higher in those who drank two or more of the beverages a day, compared to those who had less than one serving per month.

The increased risk was independent of other gout risk factors such as body-mass index, age, diuretic use, high blood pressure, alcohol intake and dietary habits. Diet soft drinks did not increase gout risk.

The study also found that fruit juice and fructose-rich fruits such as apples and oranges were associated with increased gout risk. But the researchers said this higher risk of gout needs to be balanced against the many health benefits provided by fresh fruits and vegetables.

GB/14th February, 2008

Mercedes Benz bus on highway

The luxurious German brand buses have already started running on Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar route. The demand for quality air-conditioned buses has been increasing for the last couple of years, according to transport experts. Two of the country's long distant bus companies, Saudia and S Alam, have joined together to bring 100 Mercedes' Benz coaches worth around Tk150 crore to Bangladesh as the battle for luxury class passengers on the country's main highways intensifies.

Ten of the 41-seater Mercedes Benz to be operated by Saudia and S Alam have already started running on the Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar route and further 90 vehicles are to be supplied during the next 12 months.

According to the companies, this is the first time Mercedes Benz coaches have been used on a large scale in Bangladesh.

Experts said entry of Mercedes Benz in bus service will increase competition in the luxury segment as two of the country's other coach service providers-Green Line, Shohagh Paribhan (Pvt.) Ltd are offering services with Scania and Volvo buses on different routes in Bangladesh.

GB/12th February, 2008

6 Surprising Ways to Look Younger

1)Put your blow-dryer on cold and make your lotions do more

Use your blow-dryer on a cold setting to dry your lotion and sunscreen, says dermatologist Fredric Brandt, MD, author of 10 Minutes/10 Years. Allowing skin care products to set makes your makeup go on more smoothly and last longer.

2)Apply mushrooms

The newest age erasers? Fungi-filled face products. "Antioxidant-rich mushrooms decrease inflammation that leads to wrinkling and a loss of firmness, and they don't cause irritation," says Marta Rendon, MD, of the University of Miami School of Medicine. Some 'shrooms also contain enzymes that speed cell turnover, slow collagen breakdown, and improve tone and texture

3) Use coffee bean berry extract

Dermatologists are rolling out the red carpet for CoffeeBerry, a new skin care star that promises a younger complexion. The extract, which comes from the berries that house coffee beans, packs polyphenols, antioxidants with the most free-radical fighters. "You're protecting against cellular damage, a main cause of aging," says David McDaniel, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

4)Get a moisturizer that multitasks

By the time you hit 40, you'd learned to juggle more than three things at once (um, try 30 things). Now some moisturizers are catching up to your speed. Besides containing a hint of self-tanner that allows skin to slowly darken, the newest daily glow lotions are packed with potent hydrators (like ginkgo biloba) and tightening ingredients (including caffeine and ginseng) that make jiggly skin look and feel firmer, reports Mary Lupo, MD, a Prevention advisor and a clinical professor of dermatology at Tulane University.

5)Use a sleep-time moisturizer

If the number of night creams coming onto the market is any indication, the right time to pamper your skin is when you hit the sack: Last year consumers spent about $56 million on nighttime moisturizers alone. Although no scientific studies have been published comparing nighttime with daytime products, there may be some advantages to treating your skin while you slumber. 
Cosmetic chemists know, for example, that many anti-aging ingredients stay active longer when they're not exposed to sunlight. Retinoids, which speed cell turnover, "can break down chemically with light exposure and become ineffective," says Julian Omidi, MD, a dermatologist in private practice in Los Angeles. Other "anti-agers"--such as topical vitamins, including C and E--don't hold up well in sunlight or air

.

6)Sleep flat on your back

Smashing your face into a pillow creates fold lines that eventually become permanent if they're repeated every night. Spending time on your back also helps counter the effects of gravity that accumulate during the day. In a recent study of 38 women and men, Japanese researchers found there was greater wrinkling in the afternoon than in the morning; they concluded that the face literally falls with gravity as the day progresses. At night, you get a chance to reverse that

GB/10th February, 2008

HALTING DEATH

WASHINGTON:  
The government abruptly halted aggressive treatment in a major study of diabetes and heart disease after a surprising number of deaths among patients whopushed their blood sugar to super-lows - findings that call into question a growingmovement in diabetes care.

Move on February 6 doesn't affect health guidelines for most Type 2 diabetics, but itraises concern about a particularly vulnerable group: Patients at especially high risk of heart attack or stroke.

The 10,000-patient study, dubbed ACCORD, was supposed to answer a big question: Could pushing blood sugar to near-normal levels, below today's recommended target, help protect these high-risk patients' hearts?

Instead, the National Institutes of Health took the rare step of halting part of thestudy 18 months early - citing 257 deaths among aggressively treated patients compared to 203 among diabetics given more standard care.

That translates into an extra three deaths for every 1,000 participants per year, and researchers were at a loss to explain why. Diabetics' blood sugar wasn't too low, a condition known as hypoglycemia. And a close look at the multiple medications patients used, including the drug Avandia that is suspected of being heart-risky, showed no sign that any were to blame.

Ironically, the study's death rate was well below what doctors usually see in Type 2 diabetics, probably due to the extra care and monitoring they received as part of the research.

Moreover, the aggressively treated patients suffered about 10 percent fewer heart attacks overall than their counterparts, said Dr. William Friedewald of Columbia University, who helped monitor the study.

"However, it appeared that if a heart attack did occur, it was more likely to be fatal" in that group, Friedewald said. "In addition, the intensive treatment group had more unexpected sudden deaths, even without a clear heart attack."

So for now, the NIH's message: Diabetics with heart disease shouldn't strive for near-normal glucose, but to a level long described as optimal for all diabetics - around 7 on a measurement scale known as the A1C.

"We obviously were surprised. We were hoping for a positive outcome, but the reason we do this research is we don't know that," said study researcher Dr. Hertzel Gerstein of Canada's McMaster University.

The findings contradict previous research suggesting that the lower diabetics can make their blood sugar, the better. That had specialists cautioning Wednesday that it's too soon to know if the finding among heart patients was a fluke, or a real sign of how exquisitely tailored to each patient's risk factors diabetes care must be.

"Everything else has suggested, for 50 years or more, that tight control was good," said Dr. James Dove, president of the American College of Cardiology. "We've got half a century of literature that is put on the back burner right now by one study.... It may not be the final decision."

Some 21 million Americans have diabetes, meaning their bodies can't properly regulate blood sugar, or glucose. Diabetics already are at increased risk of heart disease. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, is linked to obesity, which in turn harms the heart. Plus, high blood sugar over time damages blood vessels.

The A1C test tracks average glucose levels over two or three months. People without diabetes have A1C levels as low as 5.

The American Diabetes Association has long recommended that diabetics aim to get their A1C level below 7, far below the long-common 8 or 9. Every point-drop lowers the risk of serious complications, such as blindness or kidney failure, by 25 percent to 40 percent.

Recent research shows that about half of U.S. patients have succeeded, and that "this overall level of glucose control appears to be of great benefit rather than harm," the ADA said Wednesday.

Getting too far below an A1C of 7 is very difficult, and very few patients outside of research studies succeed. The NIH study aimed to have aggressively treated patients dip below a level of 6, into near-normal range. Only half got below 6.4, compared to an A1C of 7.5 among study volunteers getting standard treatment.

Wednesday's announcement does not change that guideline. Rather, the NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute added the nuance that diabetics with heart disease stop at a level of 7 rather than dip below, while researchers try to figure out what happened. They have switched all the study participants to standard therapy, and will track their health until June 2009.

GB/9th February, 2008

Tobacco could kill 1 billion by 2100

The World Health Organization warned in a new report on February 7  that the “tobacco epidemic" is growing and could claim 1 billion lives by the end of the century unless governments dramatically step up efforts to curb smoking.

In its first comprehensive report on tobacco use in 179 countries, the UN’s health agency said governments around the world collect more than $200 billion in tobacco taxes every year but spend less than one-fifth of 1 percent of that revenue on tobacco control, it said.

"We hold in our hands the solution to the global tobacco epidemic that threatens the lives of 1 billion men, women and children during this century," WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said in an introduction to the report.

The WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 calls on all countries to dramatically increase efforts to prevent young people from beginning to smoke, help smokers quit and protect nonsmokers from exposure to second hand smoke.

It urges governments to adopt six "tobacco control policies" — raise taxes and prices of tobacco; ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; protect people from second hand smoke; warn people about the dangers of tobacco; help those who want to quit smoking; and monitor tobacco use to understand and reverse the epidemic.

Chan announced the report Thursday at a news conference with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, helped fund it with a $2 million grant. The report examines the tobacco policies of 179 countries for the first time, Bloomberg said.

According to the report, nearly two-thirds of the world's smokers live in 10 countries: China, which accounts for nearly 30 percent, India with about 10 percent, Indonesia, Russia, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Germany and Turkey.

It forecast that more than 80 percent of tobacco-related deaths will be in low and middle income countries by 2030.

Dr. Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative, said WHO estimates 5.4 million smoking-related deaths a year, rising to more than 8 million a year by 2030 if nothing is done. That adds up to 175 million between 2005 and 2030. Beyond that, he said, deaths will continue to rise and statistical projections put the death toll at near 1 billion by the end of the century.

Tobacco use is growing fastest in low-income countries, the report said, "due to steady population growth coupled with tobacco industry targeting, ensuring that millions of people become fatally addicted each year."

It warned that "the shift of the tobacco epidemic to the developing world will lead to unprecedented levels of disease and early death in countries where population growth and the potential for increased tobacco use are highest and where health care services are least available."

According to the report, 74 countries still allow smoking in health care institutions and about the same number allow smoking in schools. More than half the countries, with two-thirds of the world's population, allow smoking in government offices and workplaces, and only 20 of 179 countries have complete bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

"The tobacco epidemic is growing — it is shifting toward developing countries, with tobacco use growing fastest in low-income countries," Chan said.

For the tobacco industry to survive, and keep existing customers hooked and attract new customers, "it spends tens of billions of dollars a year on advertising, promotion and sponsorship," WHO said.

Michael Pfeil, vice president for communications for Lausanne, Switzerland-based Philip Morris International, said the company advocates "for tough, fair, cohesive regulation of the industry" and believes many countries need to do more. The company has operations in 160 countries.

He said regulations Philip Morris supports mirror some core provisions of the U.N. anti-smoking treaty that came into force last year. These include mandatory health warnings, restrictions on advertising including bans in some media, and minimum age laws for smoking, he said.

"We're going to continue to spend money," Pfeil said in a telephone interview. "I think we have a duty as a commercial entity to continue to grow our business, but ... our interest is in marketing to adult smokers who are smoking competitive products."

David Howard, spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, the second-largest cigarette manufacturer in the U.S., said the company is responsible in its advertising and warns consumers of the risk of smoking.

"The best course of action for any tobacco consumer concerned about their health is to quit," he said.

GB/8th Feb, 2008

Influence of…Music?

Teenagers in USA listen to an average of nearly 2.5 hours of music per day. In our county a good number educated young generations of Dhaka city and other places are also habituated in music especially using their mobile phones.   Guess what they’re hearing about? In our country they listen mostly to Hindi and band songs. But what in USA!
One in three popular songs contains explicit references to drug or alcohol use, according to a new report in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. That means kids are receiving about 35 references to substance abuse for every hour of music they listen to, the authors determined.

While songs about drugs and excess are nothing new, the issue is getting more attention because so many children now have regular access to music out of the earshot of parents. Nearly 9 out of 10 adolescents and teens have an MP3 player or a compact disc player in their bedrooms.

Studies have long shown that media messages have a pronounced impact on childhood risk behaviors. Exposure to images of smoking in movies influences a child’s risk for picking up the habit. Alcohol use in movies and promotions is also linked to actual alcohol use.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine studied the 279 most popular songs from 2005, based on reports from Billboard magazine, which tracks popular music. Whether a song contained a reference to drugs or alcohol varied by genre. Only 9 percent of pop songs had lyrics relating to drugs or alcohol. The number jumped to 14 percent for rock songs, 20 percent for R&B and hip-hop songs, 36 percent for country songs and 77 percent for rap songs.

Notably, smoking references aren’t that common in music today, with only 3 percent of the songs portraying tobacco use. About 14 percent of songs spoke of marijuana use, 24 percent depicted alcohol use, and another 12 percent included reference to other substances. About 4 percent of the songs contained “anti” drug and alcohol messages.

GB/5th February, 2008

100 million could die, Any Medicine ?

Every year some 60 million people suffer from influenza in Bangladesh. It spreads so fast that no one ever become fully immune, and new vaccine has to be made each year.

Most of us think it's normal. People do not take Flu shots and seem not to care as it is daily business and when one feels cold and unusual people start to take paracetamol, Tylenol or Aspirin and many over the counter medicine.

But the flu virus takes its own course and body's immune system fights to get cured and some 250,000 die mostly elderly. And it is an ordinary flu. What happens if it is Bird Flu which doctors call 'Avian influenza'?

The next killer flu, the H5N1bird-flu virus is killing poultry and people in Asia and could cause the next global pandemic. It gains the momentum to spread from person to person. Estimated deaths ranging from 7 million to 100 million. Imagine, no doctor, no hospital and burial are nothing but a catastrophe to human race.

Symptoms
The reported symptoms of avian influenza in human have ranged from typical influenza-like symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches) to eye infections (conjunctivitis), pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, viral pneumonia and other severe and life-threatening complications. Although avian influenza viruses   usually does not infect humans,  more than 200 confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza viruses have been    reported since 1997. But the flu what started taking lives in South­east Asia lately is not an ordinary flu. Its primary victims have been chicken. More than 100 million chickens were already killed either by virus or in often quarantine control. Imagine what if that's the case in Human? Yes! We are on the brink of a dangerous outbreak. It can happen any day as Pandemic.
It is called H5N1, its not unusual for chickens to be infected by flu; in fact avian-flu viruses outnumbered human ones to gain overweight. But researchers and doctors around the world have studied flu viruses for over 40 years and has never seen anything like H5N1 that killed people in Vietnam.

This virus is the worst influenza virus in terms of being highly pathogenic. Researchers and Doctors say this virus is not only frightening lethal to chickens which die within hours, swollen and hemorrhaging, but also kills mammals, from lab mice to tigers with similar efficiency. Here and there people are catching from infected poultry like chickens that died in Vietnam in few days after falling ill. Half of the known cases have died.



Today world health experts hear the distant rumblings of a catastrophe. So this virus- classified as H5N1 for two proteins that its surface like spikes on a mice isn't good at passing from birds to people. It can make that first step across, but then it does not spread easily from Human to Human. Thanks so much to God or else by now; otherwise we'd be long gone.

Learn about sleep and overcome the sleep disorders

We're all grown-ups here—nightmares aren't a big problem anymore. We're calm, we're cool, we're mostly collected. until it comes to the C-word. For adults, cancer is the thing that goes bump in the night; that bump gets louder when family or friends are diagnosed. Whether your risk is monumental or blessedly average, we know you want to protect yourself. So we've combed through research, interrogated experts, and found cutting-edge strategies to help keep you safe.

Worship a wee bit of sun. People who get the most vitamin D, which lies dormant in skin until ultraviolet rays activate it, may protect themselves from a variety of cancers, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, breast, and colon. Ironically, it even improves survival rates of melanoma, the most serious skin cancer. But 10 to 15 minutes a few days a week is all it takes to benefit. (Or you could try a supplement—aim for 400 IU a day.) If you're out any longer than that, slather on the sunscreen.

Eat an orange every day. It just may zap a strain of the H. pylori bacteria that causes peptic ulcers and can lead to stomach cancer. Researchers in San Francisco found that infected people with high levels of vitamin C in their blood were less likely to test positive for the cancer-causing strain.

Careful on root canals. Though colonoscopies are about as popular as root canals, if you're 50 or older, get one. Colorectal cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Don't think you're off the hook because you got a digital fecal occult blood test at your last checkup: Research by the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study found that the test missed 95% of the cases.

Steam a little green. Piles of studies have shown that piles of broccoli help stave off ovarian, stomach, lung, bladder, and colorectal cancers. And steaming it for 3 to 4 minutes enhances the power of the cancer-fighting compound sulforaphane, which has been shown to halt the growth of breast cancer cells. (Sorry, microwaving doesn't do the trick; it strips out most antioxidants.) Get more protection by sprinkling a handful of selenium-rich sunflower seeds, nuts, or mushrooms on your greens. Researchers are discovering that sulforaphane is about 13 times more potent when combined with the mineral selenium.

Pick a doc with a past. Experience—lots of it—is critical when it comes to accurately reading mammograms. A study from the University of California, San Francisco, found that doctors with at least 25 years' experience were more accurate at interpreting images and less likely to give false positives. Ask about your radiologist's track record. If she is freshly minted or doesn't check a high volume of mammograms, get a second read from someone with more mileage.

Drink jolt-less java. Downing 2 or more cups of decaf a day may lower the incidence of rectal cancer by 52%, finds a study from two large and long-term research projects—the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study from Harvard University. One theory is that coffee increases bowel movements, which helps to reduce the risk. Why decaf reigns supreme, however, remains a mystery.

Drop 10 pounds. Being overweight or obese accounts for 20% of all cancer deaths among women and 14% among men, notes the American Cancer Society. (You're overweight if your body mass index is between 25 and 29.9; you're obese if it's 30 or more. (Gauge your BMI) Plus, losing excess pounds reduces the body's production of female hormones, which may protect against breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers. Even if you're not technically overweight, gaining just 10 pounds after the age of 30 increases your risk of developing breast, pancreatic, and cervical, among other cancers.

Make like a monkey. Or a bunny. Women who ate four to six antioxidant-laden bananas a week cut their risk of kidney cancer by 54%, compared with those who didn't eat them at all, found an analysis of 61,000 women at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Gnawing on root vegetables such as carrots did the same.

Get naked with a friend. You'll need help examining every inch of your body—including your back, scalp, and other hard-to-see places—for possible changes in the size or color of moles, blemishes, and freckles. These marks could spell skin cancer. Women, take special note of your legs: Melanoma mainly occurs there. For the guys, the trunk, head, and neck are the most diagnosed spots. While you're at it, check your fingernails and toenails, too. Gray-black discoloration or a distorted or elevated nail may indicate the disease. And whether you see changes or not, after age 40, everyone should see a dermatologist yearly.

See into the future. Go to Your Disease Risk to assess your chance of developing 12 types of cancer, including ovarian, breast, and colon. After the interactive tool estimates your risk, you'll get personalized tips for prevention.

Pay attention to pain. If you're experiencing a bloated belly, pelvic pain, and an urgent need to urinate, see your doc. These symptoms may signal ovarian cancer, particularly if they're severe and frequent. Women and physicians often ignore these symptoms, and that's the very reason that this disease can be deadly. When caught early, before cancer has spread outside the ovary, the relative 5-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is a jaw-dropping 90 to 95%.

Get calcium daily. Milk's main claim to fame may also help protect your colon. Those who took calcium faithfully for 4 years had a 36% reduction in the development of new pre-cancerous colon polyps 5 years after the study had ended, revealed Dartmouth Medical School researchers. (They tracked 822 people who took either 1,200 mg of calcium every day or a placebo.) Though the study was not on milk itself, you can get the same amount of calcium in three 8-ounce glasses of fat-free milk, along with an 8-ounce serving of yogurt or a 2- to 3-ounce serving of low-fat cheese daily.

Sweat 30 minutes a day. One of the best anticancer potions is a half hour of motion at least 5 days a week. Any kind of physical activity modulates levels of androgens and estrogen, two things that can protect women against estrogen-driven cancers such as ovarian and endometrial, as well as some types of breast cancer. The latest proof comes by way of a Canadian study that found that women who get regular, moderate exercise may lower their risk of ovarian cancer by as much as 30%. Bonus: All that moving might speed everything through your colon, which may help stave off colon cancer.

Stamp out smoking—all around you. Lung cancer is well known as one of the main hazards of smoking. But everything the smoke passes on its way to the lungs can also turn cancerous: mouth, larynx, and esophagus. The fun doesn't stop there. Smokers are encouraging stomach, liver, prostate, colorectal, cervical, and breast cancers as well. The good news: If you give up the cigs today, within 15 years, your lung cancer risk will drop to almost pre-smoking lows. Share that news with the people who puff around you, because exposure to someone else's smoke can cause lung cancer, and it may boost your chances of cervical cancer by 40%.

Step away from the white bread. If you eat a lot of things with a high glycemic load—a measurement of how quickly food raises your blood sugar—you may run a higher risk of colorectal cancer than women who eat low-glycemic-load foods, finds a Harvard Medical School study involving 38,000 women. The problem eats are mostly white: white bread, pasta, potatoes, and sugary pastries. The low-glycemic-load stuff comes with fiber. To find out how your diet fares, go to "Your Guide to the Glycemic Index."

Have your genes screened. Do you have a strong family history of any kind of cancer or multiple cancers? Talk with your doctor about genetic counseling. For instance, nearly everyone born with familial adenomatous polyposis (the genetic predisposition to colon cancer) develops the disease by age 40 if preventive surgery isn't done. Knowing this early can aid in prevention and early detection.

Request a better breast scan. If you're at high risk of breast cancer—you have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic mutation, for example—ask your doctor to pair your routine mammogram with an MRI. One study found that together, the two picked up 94% of tumors; mammography alone detected just 40% and MRI, 77%.

Grill smarter. Cooking your food over an open flame is a great way to cut calories. Unfortunately, it can also raise your cancer risk: The grill's high temps can trigger substances in muscle proteins to form cancer-causing compounds called hetero-cyclic amines, or HCAs. But avoiding this potential hazard is easy; simply keep gas jets low or wait until the charcoal turns into glowing embers before you start cooking. Protect yourself even more by lacing your burgers with rosemary (and perhaps other antioxidant-rich herbs such as basil, oregano, or thyme). This helps reduce the amount of some HCAs in meat, a Kansas State University study found. Also helpful: Microwaving meat ahead of time helps disable HCA formation and cuts down on grilling time.

Keep your house clean. Yet another reason to love your Swiffer: Active postmenopausal women who got most of their exercise from housework cut their risk of breast cancer by 30%, Canadian researchers say.

Let garlic lie. Thanks to this bulbed wonder, you can ward off vampires and stave off cancer. To preserve the potential cancer-fighting power of garlic, chop it up and let it sit a bit. Research suggests that heating garlic can block 90% of the activity of alliinase, the enzyme that helps to form a cancer-fighting compound. Alliinase is activated when the cloves are crushed or cut, but if cut garlic cools its heels for 5 to 10 minutes before heating, enough compounds are formed to survive cooking.

Check for radon gas. Exposure to this odorless, radioactive gas that's produced by the natural decay of uranium is the leading cause of lung cancer.

Play hot tomato. Red fruits (watermelon, tomato, pink grapefruit) are loaded with lycopene, a substance that has been proven time and time again to be a potent cancer fighter. It seems that heating said fruits makes the lycopene easier for the body to use, which explains why men who eat a lot of ketchup, pizza (it's in the sauce), and spaghetti (ditto) are far less likely to get prostate cancer.

Ditch the wieners. You can smother 'em in all the ketchup you want, but you can't negate a hot dog's, well, negatives. One study of 190,545 people found that eating a wiener daily may boost your risk of pancreatic cancer, which is nearly always fatal, by 67%. Same goes for sausage and other processed

Start with leafy greens. They contain a hefty amount of the B vitamin folate, which has been shown to reduce one's chances of getting colorectal, ovarian, and breast cancers. In one study, researchers at Vanderbilt University found that women who ate the mostly dark greens were among the least likely to get breast cancer. Apparently, folate can halt changes in DNA that trigger runaway cell growth, the main characteristic of cancer.

Add shredded carrot. In a study from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, women who ate just five servings of four raw carrot sticks a week had a 54% decrease in their risk of getting ovarian cancer, compared with women who ate them less than once a month. Carrots may also reduce your risk of kidney cancer.

Serve yourself some tomatoes. If you don't feel like turning up the heat on your tomatoes, you can still get some of their cancer-shielding benefits. German research on 165 colonoscopy patients found that those who had the lowest blood level of lycopene, one of the chemicals that give tomatoes their color, had the highest rate of colorectal adenomas, a precursor to colorectal cancer. Toss a few into your guy's salad: They also reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Heap on beans. Women who ate beans at least twice a week were 24% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who ate them less often, report Harvard School of Public Health researchers, who analyzed data from 90,630 people. Legumes may lessen risk of breast cancer, thanks to their ability to suppress the production of enzymes that encourage tumor growth.

Add a little fish. Want to add something hardy to your lunchtime salad? Go wild with salmon. When B6-rich foods (like salmon) are eaten with folate-filled foods (dark leafy greens), they can help reduce the recurrence of colorectal adenomas, a precursor to colorectal cancer, by 39%, a University of Arizona study found. Salmon may also help shield regular eaters from skin cancer, British research found.

Splash on some vinaigrette. Mixing your favorite vinegar with olive oil can also help prevent breast cancer. Scientists from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine found that oleic acid in olive oil dramatically cuts the levels of the cancer gene Her-2/neu, associated with highly aggressive breast tumors with poor prognosis.

Garnish with citrus peel. They're like eating sunscreen—but they taste better. Limonene—a compound that gives oranges, lemons, and limes their scent—is linked to a 34% reduction in skin cancer, finds a University of Arizona study of 400 people.

GB/29January, 2008

Learn about sleep and overcome the sleep disorders

What is sleep?

You likely spend about one-third of your life in the state of unconsciousness known as sleep. But what exactly is going on while you're catching some ZZZs? Probably more than you'd expect.

While sleeping, you move through six phases:

Awake. It's normal to be awake for short periods during the night. Expect three to 10 brief arousals, though you probably won't remember each one. It's likely part of your body's defense mechanisms to keep you aware of what's going on around you.

Stage one. During stage one, you sleep lightly and drift in and out of sleep. During this stage you're easily wakened. Your muscles begin to slow down and your eyes move very slowly.

 Stage two. In stage two, your muscles relax. Your brain waves slow down, though occasionally you have bursts of brain activity. You spend about half of your sleep in this stage.
Stages three and four. Deep sleep sets in. Your brain waves become large and slow. Your breathing becomes rhythmic, and your muscles remain relaxed. At this point your body begins releasing reparative hormones. Stages one through four are referred to as non-rapid eye movement (NREM).

Rapid eye movement (REM). During REM sleep your muscles stop moving completely. Your breathing and heart rate become rapid and irregular, your blood pressure is more variable, and your eyes move rapidly in bursts of activity. Your brain waves show a pattern similar to wakefulness. Scientists believe this indicates that your brain is using this time to sort and organize your memories. Dreaming takes place during this stage. If you're awakened during REM sleep, you may recall vivid dreams.
Throughout the night, you continuously move from one stage or type of sleep to another in cycles that can last from 70 to 90 minutes each. Early REM periods are very short, however, usually 5 to 10 minutes long. You may experience several longer REM periods as the night progresses.

Sleep patterns
The natural pattern of waking and sleeping that occurs within a 24-hour day is part of your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is regulated by a biological clock in your brain that usually makes you sleepy at night and ready to wake up in the morning. Your surroundings, including your exposure to sunlight, help synchronize your biological clock. Your biological clock regulates your body temperature and many of your hormones.

Most people's clocks run on a cycle of about 24 hours, but individual clocks vary. When your natural circadian rhythm is upset — for example, by spending too long in bed, traveling across time zones or experiencing a few nights of insomnia — sleep can become difficult.

For most people a night or two of poor sleep, or even a night of no sleep, isn't that bad. As long as you get back to a normal sleep schedule within a few days, you'll experience no lasting consequences. One good night of sleep after a few poor ones usually is enough to catch up.

What are sleep disorders?
A sleep disorder is a medical disorder of sleep patterns. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning. Changes in lifestyle can contribute to sleep disorders. Other problems that can affect sleep are anxiety, back pain, chronic pain, environmental noise, incontinence and various drugs.

How do you  Sleep Better?
Many people in Bangladesh and all over the world suffer from sleep deprivation, regularly getting fewer hours of sleep than they need. It’s affecting their physical and mental health and possibly even shortening their lives.

Recent studies reveal that lack of Deep Sleep Raises Diabetes Risk. Failing to sleep deeply for just three nights running has the same negative effect on the body's ability to manage insulin as gaining 20 to 30 pounds, diabetes researchers report. young adults who do not get enough deep sleep may be increasing their risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a study published Dec. 31,2007 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Besides , lack of  sleep also  elevates stress hormones and impairs metabolism, which can lead to depression, obesity and life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, warns the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. A 2005 survey by the National Sleep Foundation found that a third of couples have problems in their relationships because of a partner’s abnormal sleep (usually snoring). Nearly a fourth say they flee to a different bed or room and that they are just too sleepy for sex.

Here are some tips to help you get the rest you really need.

Change Your Sleeping Habits

WHAT HELPS:
Make your bedroom sleep-friendly—cool, dark, quiet, uncluttered. Go there only for sleep and/or sex—no TV, no computer, no reading in bed.
Listen to calming music or a relaxation tape or CD before bed.
Indulge in caffeine only in the morning. It can stay in your system for as long as 20 hours.
Make sure your medications aren’t interfering with sleep. Some drugs prescribed for heart conditions, blood pressure, asthma and depression—as well as some over-the-counter remedies for coughs, colds or allergies—may interrupt your sleep. Ask your doctor about comparable substitutions for your medications.
Sleeping pills. Many people use prescription insomnia drugs to help them get a good night’s sleep. Your doctor can help you understand the benefits and risks of their use.

WHAT DOESN'T HELP:
Alcohol. A drink before bed initially may sedate you, but it can disrupt sleep later in the night.
Over-the-counter medications. While antihistamines might help you sleep, they can lead to daytime drowsiness and dry mouth.

Reset Your Body Clock

WHAT HELPS:
Light therapy is a promising treatment for correcting a mixed-up body clock. Studies show that even an hour’s exposure to bright light early in the day—from the sun or a 10,000-lux light box—may help bring on sleep earlier in the night. And bright light later in the day may defer sleepiness by helping to suppress the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone.

WHAT DOESN'T HELP:
Sleeping in late to compensate for missed sleep. In fact, oversleeping just throws your body’s natural rhythms further out of sync.

Fix Your Snoring
WHAT HELPS:
Losing 5 to 10 pounds can improve sleep-disordered breathing in most people.
Bedmates of snorers may find relief in a good pair of noise-blocking earplugs or a loud fan.

WHAT DOESN'T HELP:
Sleeping on your back. Your tongue can fall backward and partially block your throat, making a smaller passage for air.
Sleep medications and drowsiness-inducing antihistamines can aggravate snoring.

Get Daytime Energy

WHAT HELPS:
Taking a power nap. Research shows that a 10- to 30-minute nap (longer may make you drowsier) can recharge your batteries better than a shot of caffeine. A brisk walk in the sun also can help, reminding your body that it’s daytime and revving up your circulation.

WHAT DOESN'T HELP:
Toughing it out. “You can’t adapt to sleep deprivation without a mental or physical toll,” says Harvard sleep researcher Robert Stickgold. So get some rest.

Have a nice sleep!
GB/ January 27,2008

Obesity surgery seen as diabetes cure

A new study gives the strongest evidence yet that obesity surgery can cure diabetes. Patients who had surgery to reduce the size of their stomachs were five times more likely to see their diabetes disappear over the next two years than were patients who had standard diabetes care, according to Australian researchers.

Most of the surgery patients were able to stop taking diabetes drugs and achieve normal blood tests.

"It's the best therapy for diabetes that we have today, and it's very low risk," said the study's lead author, Dr. John Dixon of Monash University Medical School in Melbourne, Australia.

The patients had stomach band surgery, a procedure more common in Australia than in the United States, where gastric bypass surgery, or stomach stapling, predominates.

Gastric bypass is even more effective against diabetes, achieving remission in a matter of days or a month, said Dr. David Cummings, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal but was not involved in the study.

"We have traditionally considered diabetes to be a chronic, progressive disease," said Cummings of the University of Washington in Seattle. "But these operations really do represent a realistic hope for curing most patients."

Diabetes experts who read the study said surgery should be considered for some obese patients, but more research is needed to see how long results last and which patients benefit most. Surgery risks should be weighed against diabetes drug side effects and the long-term risks of diabetes itself, they said.

Experts generally agree that weight-loss surgery would never be appropriate for diabetics who are not obese, and current federal guidelines restrict the surgery to obese people.

The diabetes benefits of weight-loss surgery were known, but the Australian study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association is the first of its kind to compare diabetes in patients randomly assigned to surgery or standard care. Scientists consider randomized studies to yield the highest-quality evidence.

The study involved 55 patients, so experts will be looking for results of larger experiments under way.

"Few studies really qualify as being a landmark study. This one is," said Dr. Philip Schauer, who was not involved in the Australian research but leads a Cleveland Clinic study that is recruiting 150 obese people with diabetes to compare two types of surgery and standard medical care.

"This opens an entirely new way of thinking about diabetes."

Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, and researchers are furiously pursuing reasons for the link as rates for both climb. What's known is that excess fat can cause the body's normal response to insulin to go haywire. Researchers are investigating insulin-regulating hormones released by fat and the role of fatty acids in the blood.

The pandemic of Type 2 diabetes is driven by the pandemic of obesity. As average weight increases so does the incidence of diabetes. Waist circumference is a better indicator of prognosis in individuals but has not been measured historically.

In the Australian study, all the patients were obese and had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the past two years. Their average age was 47. Half the patients underwent a type of surgery called laparoscopic gastric banding, where an adjustable silicone cuff is installed around the upper stomach, limiting how much a person can eat.

Both groups lost weight over two years; the surgery patients lost 46 pounds on average, while the standard-care patients lost an average of 3 pounds.

Blood tests showed diabetes remission in 22 of the 29 surgery patients after two years. In the standard-care group, only four of the 26 patients achieved that goal. The patients who lost the most weight were the most likely to eliminate their diabetes.

Both patient groups learned about low-fat, high-fiber diets and were encouraged to exercise. Both groups could meet with a health professional every six weeks for two years.

The death rate for stomach band surgery, which can cost $17,000 to $20,000, is about 1 in 1,000. There were only minor complications in the study. Stomach stapling has a 2 percent death rate and costs $20,000 to $30,000.

In the United States, surgeons perform more than 100,000 obesity surgeries each year.

The American Diabetes Association is interested in the findings. The group revises its recommendations each fall, taking new research into account.

"There is a growing body of evidence that bariatric surgery is an effective tool for managing diabetes," said Dr. John Buse of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, the association's president for medicine and science.

"It's just a question of how effective is it, for what spectrum of patients, over what period of time and at what cost? Not all those questions have been answered yet."

Medical devices used in the study were provided by the manufacturers, but the companies had no say over the study's design or its findings, Dixon said.

GB/24 January

Thai Airways  offers  New Yearly Promotional Packages

Thai Airways International, one of the leading international carriers serving Bangladesh, has introduced New Year Promotional package fares from Chittagong with a view to improving services to its customers, as said by a press release by Thai Airways on January 21. The New Year Promotional Fares are valid till March 3.

The press release said, Bangkok is for $230, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for $350, Hong Kong and Kunming $355, Canton $400, Sydney and Melbourne $764, London $904 and for the DV lottery winners Los Angeles one way fare $619 and New York one way fare $716 only. These fares are $50 -$129 less than regular fares, excluding all taxes.
Frequent travelers, Royal Orchid Plus members can accumulate and redeem miles, enjoy extra facilities that include free tickets, excess baggage and priority while booking for seats. Royal Orchid Holidays put the fun back into planning the customers' dream vacation.

Meanwhile, Thai has got award the Best First Class Lounge for the world Airline award 2007, ranked second position for Airline of the Year 2007 award by Sky Trax and also received Avion Awards under the category of Best Single In-flight Audio Programme and all types of in-flight entertainment from the World Airlines Entertainment Association (WAEA).

GB/22 January, 2008

Health Professional’s Article:
Be Alert! Prediabetes and Hypertension knocking your door!

In Bangladesh, diabetic patients are increasing day by day. The Global Bangladesh is publishing an article for its valued readers, diabetic patients and medical professionals.

Prediabetes, a state defined by the presence of either impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance is due to two basic defects – insulin resistance and/or beta-cell failure. Accumulating evidence suggests that even individuals with non-diabetic range of hyperglycaemia (prediabetics) are already at risk for cardiovascular disease. Hypertension which is also an individual risk factor for cardiovascular disease has been strongly linked with insulin resistance. Numerous studies have proven that insulin resistance and resulting hyperinsulinaemia cause increase in blood pressure.

It was as early as in 1966 where the association between high blood pressure and high plasma insulin concentrations was noted before and after an oral glucose tolerance test. Although this observation suggested that insulin resistance may be associated with essential hypertension, it received relatively little attention until recently. Within the past few years, several papers have been published showing that this is the case and there now appears to be widespread agreement that insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinaemia are characteristic of patients with essential hypertension.

Prediabetes occurs due to two basic defects – insulin resistance and/or beta-cell failure. An observation suggested that insulin resistance may be associated with essential hypertension. There are some thoughts to favor the argument that insulin resistant individuals are at a higher risk to develop hypertension as compared to insulin sensitive individuals. Some pathophysiological causes which have been commonly observed and hypothesised are narrated in this article. Management of hypertension in prediabetes should include antihypertensives and therapeutic lifestyle modification. To manage hypertension in prediabetes one should think for dietary modification, reduced selt intake, physical activity, smoking cessation, use of statins and antihypertensives.      

Though hypertension and insulin resistance are commonly associated together, not all patients with high blood pressure are insulin-resistant. Hence, there is ongoing debate as to whether insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinaemia play a role in the regulation of blood pressure. The simplest answer to this debate is that insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinaemia are neither necessary nor sufficient for essential hypertension to develop. In this regard, the situation closely resembles the role of insulin resistance in the development of type 2 diabetes. Hyperglycaemia develops in insulin-resistant individuals when they no longer are able to secrete the large amount of insulin necessary to overcome the insulin resistance. In a similar fashion, it seems likely that hypertension only develops when some unknown compensatory response (or responses) is no longer able to overcome the metabolic changes associated with insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinaemia that favor an increase in blood pressure.
The following observations favor the argument that insulin-resistant individuals are at a higher risk to develop hypertension as compared to insulin sensitive individuals:

(a) Patients with high blood pressure, as a group have been shown to be insulin-resistant as compared to normotensive individuals when matched for all confounding variables including age, gender and degree of obesity.
(b) Insulin resistance does not develop in patients with secondary forms of hypertension.
(c) Insulin resistance and compensatory hyperinsulinaemia are observed in normotensive first-degree relatives of patients with essential hypertension when compared to individuals without a family history of hypertension.
(d) Four large prospective studies have been published indicating that the presence of hyperinsulinaemia as a surrogate measure of insulin resistance is a risk factor for the development of hypertension. This was true in both adults and children.

Pathophysiology
Although a number of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the possible relation between hypertension and insulin resistance, the following pathophysiological causes have been made commonly observed and hypothesised.
(1) Acute insulin infusions in humans and animals were found in most studies, to have a vasodilator hypotensive rather than a hypertensive effect7. It is possible however, that it is the resistance to the vasodilator effect of insulin that could lead to a rise in BP8.
(2) Elevated levels of insulin can cause atherosclerosis, which directly affects the diameter of the inside of the blood vessels. Chronic elevations of glucose and insulin levels are classic symptoms of insulin resistance, which is an underlying cause of prediabetes. One of the primary risk factors for atherosclerosis is an elevated level of the fat-storing substances called triglycerides. The biggest risk factor, in turn, for increasing the production of triglycerides is the rate of insulin secretion9. As insulin comes in contact with the intima, it is caustic to the tissues, causing the initial injury that produces plaque. As plaque builds up on the intima of the arteries, the circumference of the arteries decreases, thus increasing the peripheral vascular resistance. Increasing peripheral resistance increases the afterload; this, not only placing increasing strain on the heart but also making it more susceptible to injury.
(3) The association between insulin resistance and hypertension may not be causal. Instead, they may be linked indirectly through mechanisms of an inherited or acquired nature. One possible link is through the sympathetic nervous system. Enhanced adrenergic tone may lead to increased insulin resistance on the one hand and a rise in BP on the other.
(4) A further possibility in that a cellular or structural defect, genetic or acquired, may constitute the link between insulin resistance and BP. Reduced activity of sodium - potassium ATPase, decreased intracellular magnesium and increased sodium - lithium counter transport have been proposed as possible links. Ethnic or social differences in sympathetic nervous system and ion regulation have been described and could account for the observed variation in the relation of insulin resistance to BP. For example; nearly all studies show a strong association between insulin and BP in non-hispanic whites, while there is a relatively weak association in Africans, Americans, Hispanics, Prima Indians and Asian Indians.
(5) Insulin-resistant individuals also exhibit endothelial dysfunction. Whether insulin resistance causes endothelial dysfunction or endothelial dysfunction precedes the development of insulin resistance remains controversial. Insulin resistance may be linked to endothelial dysfunction by a