Vitamin B can protect your heart from air pollution

April 13, 2017

Washington D.C, Apr 13: You may want to take a diet rich in B vitamins as a recent study has suggested that it can help keep you from succumbing to air-pollution-induced heart problems.vitamin

In the research conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, healthy non-smokers who took vitamin B supplements nearly reversed any negative effects on their cardiovascular and immune systems, weakening the effects of air pollution on heart rate by 150 percent, total white blood count by 139 percent, and lymphocyte count by 106 percent.

This is the first clinical trial to evaluate whether B vitamin supplements change the biologic and physiologic responses to ambient air pollution exposure. The study initiates a course of research for developing preventive pharmacological interventions using B vitamins to contain the health effects of air pollution.

"Ambient PM2.5 pollution is one of the most common air pollutants and has a negative effect on cardiac function and the immune system," said principal investigator Jia Zhong. "For the first time, our trial provides evidence that B-vitamin supplementation might attenuate the acute effects of PM2.5 on cardiac dysfunction and inflammatory markers."

Researchers recruited ten healthy, 18 to 60-year-old, non-smoking volunteers who were not on any form of B vitamin supplements or other medication. All volunteers received a placebo for four weeks preceding a two-hour exposure experiment to concentrated ambient PM2.5, after which they were administered B vitamin supplements for four weeks before the next two-hour exposure experiment to PM2.5. A particle-free two-hour exposure was included to provide baseline data. The controlled exposure experiments were conducted from July 2013 to February 2014 at the same time of day and adjusted for season, temperature, and humidity.

"Our results showed that a two-hour exposure to concentrated ambient PM2.5 had substantial physiologic impacts on heart rate, heart rate variability, and white blood counts. Further, we demonstrated that these effects are nearly reversed with four-week B-vitamin supplementation," noted researcher Andrea Baccarelli.

The findings are published online in the Nature Publishing Group journal, Scientific Reports.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

An uncertain prognosis, severe shortage of resources and the imposition of unfamiliar public health measures that infringe on personal freedoms along with large and growing financial losses are undoubtedly contributing to the widespread psychological and emotional distress associated with COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of people to work from home world-wide. Today, due to constant exposure to increasing numbers, an intense fear of contamination have a massive psychological impact on people who are working from home.

Kuhoo Gupta, Healer and Founder of The K Junction talks about wellness during work from home as the situation is resulting in people being vulnerable to severe mental illnesses. Staying positive and optimistic while working from home during pandemic can be heavily challenging.

Gupta states its critical to maintain your mental well-being and immune system, as people with mental upheavals are prone and susceptible to various flu or inflammations. Your bodies immune system reacts abnormally which diminishes the capability of it's function.

The only key to manifesting a wonderful well-being is to try and calm one's mind and focus on constructive and wellness activities, to find a path towards making ourselves more resilient while working from home. Gupta shares 5 tips you can start doing today to improve and enhance your positive outlook.

Remember! Your workplace should be a sacred space where you are able to find a sense of comfort in your work environment. It should help you feel positive, healthier and happier, more like a protective zone.

Fabricating a Positive Workstation

There should be a separate workstation so that one can concentrate while working from home. It would be great if the work desk is stationed somewhere near a window or a balcony door so that one can welcome sunlight, fresh air and a view of plants & birds during the day. Try to have an ergonomic setting of your table and chair so that you keep your posture right while working the whole day. Keeping one or two indoor plants near your work desk will help to make it interesting.

Keep your laptop charger wires and other stuff neatly on your desk to avoid overwhelming yourself. Motivation quotes around you will help to make you overall positive. Keep your notes diary and pen handy at your desk. It will always helps to keep some colorful artifacts around you to make the atmosphere a little cheerful.

Declutter Your Workstation

Avoid the pilling up files and unnecessary stationery at your workstation. Clutter is responsible for the confusion and problems all around and it leads to distraction; thus, a clean desk reflects power which enhances positivity and creates a tranquil workspace that will help your mind focus on productivity. It is important to declutter your work desk once in a few days because physical clutter translates to mental clutter.

Gratitude Notes in workstation and how to manifest

It is a great morning practice to write at least five things you are grateful for. It helps to shift the focus from negative to positive, from scarcity to abundance. One can write gratitude statements on Post it notes and put them at the work daily. This will raise the vibrations and help you stay grounded and positive. You can also compile affirmations and prayers that you resonate. Whenever you take work breaks, it is a good idea to read these.

Crystals to imbibe positivity at workstation

Selenite is a great crystal to spread light and positivity around. Black tourmaline absorbs negativity and is great to shield you from it during lockdown. Shungite is a great crystal to reduce the effects of electromagnetic radiations around you. You can place it near your wifi router, laptop and other devices to reduce the EMF pollution effects on you and your family. Clear quartz is great for energizing you after a tiring meeting. Just hold it in your left hand with eyes closed for five minutes and visualise beautiful energy entering your body and soul.

You can combine this exercise by holding black tourmaline in your right hand and visualize all the tiredness and unwanted energy draining into the black tourmaline. Tiger eye is very effective in eliminating the scattered brain and it allows us to make confident decisions. Green Aventurine neutralizes stress and anxiety from work, allowing us to keep calm.

Lepidolite is known as the Peace Stone, making it one of the best crystals for peace. It improves our overall mood, calms us, soothes us, and reduces our anxiety with a peaceful sense of happiness.

Sodalite is a great crystal for peace because it turns fear and stress into peaceful feelings. It also helps in better communication and can help while making crucial presentations & meetings.

Fluorite is great for healing and rejuvenating the mind and body. You can close your eyes and sit quietly with Fluorite while imagining your body being filled with an incredible energy that puts you at ease with yourself and the world.

Pyrite, also known as abundance stone, is great to put over your business card to manifest abundance at work.

Don't forget to clean your crystals regularly to harness their maximum energy.

Meditate, Do Pranayam and Stay Hydrated!

It is important to take short breaks to maintain productivity at work. Being summer, it is a good idea to get up for a water break once in 30 minutes at least. Even if you keep a water bottle alongside you, walking to the kitchen for water will help your physical body get some much needed movement.

Few iterations of square breathing once in two hours is a great way to boost your mind and body. Square breathing is basically the sequence of inhalation - holding breath - exhalation - holding breath - all for equal time spans. So you can count mentally 1 to 4 in inhalations, then again counting 1 to 4 as you hold your breath, and so on and so forth.

You can also chant any mantra while taking a work break for 1 or 2 minutes. While attending online meetings, where there is nothing much your hands are doing, you can utilize that time to do Yoga Hast/Hand Mudras and harness their energies. Pran Mudra is one of the best options to practice while attending meetings or reading articles, where your hands are free essentially.

You can Also -

Dress up like you would do while going to office so as to feel good in general

Go out on your terrace/balcony once or twice a day to get some fresh air, sunlight and hear birds chirping

Say yes to distractions rather than getting irritated from them, because you cannot avoid them while working from home, like the kids, TV sounds, kitchen sounds etc.

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Agencies
July 14,2020

UN, Jul 14: There will be no return to the "old normal" for the foreseeable future as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and too many countries were still headed in the wrong direction, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned.

"The virus remains public enemy number one, but the actions of many governments and people do not reflect this," Xinhua news agency quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at as saying a regular briefing on Monday.

He noted that mixed messages from leaders are undermining trust, which is the most critical ingredient of any response, while the only aim of the virus is to find people to infect.

Things are going to "get worse and worse and worse", he warned, unless governments communicate clearly with their citizens and roll out a comprehensive strategy focused on suppressing transmission and saving lives, while populations follow the basic public health principles of physical distancing, hand washing, wearing masks, coughing etiquette and staying home when sick.

COVID-19 has been gaining its momentum lately.

According to Tedros, Sunday saw a record of 230,000 cases reported to WHO, of which almost 80% were from just 10 countries and about half from just two countries.

"But it does not have to be this way," he said, asking every single leader, government and individual "to do their bit to break the chains of COVID-19 transmission and end the collective suffering".

To control the disease and get on with people's lives, Tedros said, three things are required. The first is to focus on reducing mortality and suppressing transmission; the second is to focus on an empowered, engaged community that takes individual behaviour measures in the interest of each other.

And the third is a strong government leadership and coordination of comprehensive strategies that are communicated clearly and consistently.

"We weren't prepared collectively, but we must use all the tools we have to bring this pandemic under control. And we need to do it right now," he added.

At the WHO briefing on Monday, health experts also said there was evidence to suggest that children under the age of 10 were only very mildly affected by Covid-19, while those over 10 seemed to suffer similar mild symptoms to young adults.

To what extent children can transmit the virus, while it appears to be low, remains unknown.

On Tuesday, the number of global coronavirus cases cross the 13 million mark, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

The total number of cases currently stood at 13,070,097, while the fatalities rose to 572,411, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US accounted for the world's highest number of infections and fatalities at 3,363,056 and 135,605, respectively, according to the CSSE.

Brazil came in the second place with 1,884,967 infections and 72,833 deaths.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

Washington, Aug 2: Children under the age of five have between 10 to 100 times greater levels of genetic material of the coronavirus in their noses compared to older children and adults, a study in JAMA Pediatrics said Thursday.

Its authors wrote this meant that young children might be important drivers of Covid-19 transmission within communities -- a suggestion at odds with the current prevailing narrative.

The paper comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump is pushing hard for schools and daycare to reopen in order to kickstart the economy.

Between March 23 and April 27, researchers carried out nasal swab tests on 145 Chicago patients with mild to moderate illness within one week of symptom onset.

The patients were divided into three groups: 46 children younger than five-years-old, 51 children aged five to 17 years, and 48 adults aged 18 to 65 years.

The team, led by Dr Taylor Heald-Sargent of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, observed, "a 10-fold to 100-fold greater amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract of young children."

15 countries with the highest number of cases, deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic

The authors added that a recent lab study had demonstrated that the more viral genetic material was present, the more infectious virus could be grown.

It has also previously been shown that children with high viral loads of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are more likely to spread the disease.

"Thus, young children can potentially be important drivers of SARS-CoV-2 spread in the general population," the authors wrote.

"Behavioral habits of young children and close quarters in school and daycare settings raise concern for SARS-CoV-2 amplification in this population as public health restrictions are eased," they concluded.

The new findings are at odds with the current view among health authorities that young children -- who, it has been well established, are far less likely to fall seriously ill from the virus -- don't spread it much to others either.

However, there has been fairly little research on the topic so far.

One recent study in South Korea found children aged 10 to 19 transmitted Covid-19 within households as much as adults, but children under nine transmitted the virus at lower rates.

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