Teenage is a crucial period of physical, emotional and social maturation. This is an important stage in the human life cycle as the body changes from childhood to adulthood, where hormonal and physical changes occur drastically. In the same time since teenagers are under academic pressure, their bodies need nutritional diet, including extra calories, calcium and iron, and sufficient protein. Teenage eating habits are influenced less by parents and family, and more by peers, media messages, and body image issues. They tend to make more food choices on their own, often in the company of influential peers.

Teenagers are notorious for their terrible eating habits. They typically eat only what tastes good or what’s within reach. Since their bodies are still growing and developing, good nutrition is crucial to prevent various diseases. Since teenager’s body goes through tremendous physical changes, it needs changes that need to be supported by a balanced diet.

Due to modernization and fascination towards western influence, teens usually tend to control their diet which leads to lack of nutrients. However in some cases, due to high consumption of junk food, they tend to be obese. Assuming that Ready to Eat Food (RTEF) is lighter than homemade food, they discard homemade food. Some even have the wrong concept that only ‘higher class’ people consume RTEF. Therefore, youngsters prioritize on such food merely to impress the society of being a ‘higher-class’ teenager.

The teens often tend to ignore positive guidance or suggestions provided by their parents and listen more to their peers. They also like to spend more time with peers, giggling with them rather than being with their family members. During this stage, the teens gain independence and start eating out with their friends.

Advertisements of RTEF in different media attract teenagers thus enticing them toward packed and canned food. They enjoy having food prepared in the restaurants rather than their homes. Therefore, youngsters should be encouraged to know the benefit of homemade food and discourage them to eat food in fast food cafes. What is to be emphasizes is that RTEF is not rich in nutrients needed for a body. The test is of course awe-inspiring and seems palatable but if you go in depth, there is nothing healthy components which can add a brick to build the body and brain except giving energy. These foods are filled with sugar, overheated oil, harmful chemicals and artificial colors due to which the food seems attractive and, of course, tasty.

The Government has implemented different health and nutritional programs targeting children, pregnant and lactating women. However, special concern and programs has to be initiated to create awareness among the teenagers.

Teens should be aware of making healthy choices when they eat out, whether at school or in a local restaurant. This is the period their body needs more micro-nutrients along with adequate amount of protein and energy. Selection of diets should be made accordingly considering adequate amount of calories, carbohydrate, protein, and micro nutrients.

A simple menu suggested for youngsters:

Nepali meal (Daal, Bhat, Tarkari and Achaar) is a very good combination of essential nutrients. It has enough amount of Carbohydrates, Proteins, Vitamins and Minerals. One should select proper vegetables to get adequate amount of vitamins and minerals and follow the proper way of preparing, cooking and storing so that essential nutrients containing in the food do not loss.

For the snack, they have option to go with Curd and Bitten Rice (Chiura), Horse Gram (Chana) and Bitten Rice, Chapati (Roti) with different beans such as Soya bean, Cowpea. Meat and eggs are good source of protein and essential nutrients. Obviously, teens are fond of Spring roll, Pizza, Momo, Sandwiches, Ham Burger, etc. Think whether these foods have all those components discussed before? Are all these foods fresh? What kind of oil has been used? What about the harmful preservatives and artificial color?

Think before eating

Whether the food contains energy giving, body building and protecting components or not? While choosing the drinks with food, instead of carbonated cold drinks such as Coca-cola, Sprite or Pepsi, select fresh juice or whole fruits. It gives adequate amount of vitamin C and other nutrients that helps you to absorb more iron containing in the food. Tea and Coffee is also considered as break food but think, caffeine containing in these drinks wont’ help you rather shrinkages the nutrients food have.

Ms. Sunita Rimal is a nutritionist.

A healthy diet is low in sugar and deep-fried food, and high in fruit and vegetables. What’s less well known is how often a person should eat. Doctors recommend eating frequently – at least five to six times a day since our health must be replenished to work satisfactorily. According to Heiko Griguhn, a nutritionist, people wanting to lose weight often make the mistake of eating too seldom, he says. After a long interval without food, the body starts trying to conserve energy by reducing the number of calories it burns.

Heiko recommends eating frequently – five to six times a day. He suggests afternoon snacks to avoid low blood-sugar, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur. In order to maintain a healthy weight, it’s essential not to consume more calories than one burns, he says suggesting small portions of vegetables or other snacks in between breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, experts recommend chewing each mouthful of food 15 to 30 times. Likewise, experts also suggest drinking plenty of fluids, which helps in simulating the production of digestive juices. (Agencies)

Pretty soon, gyms might start losing their members. With Wifi, a smartphone and a bit of floor space at home, you can now YouTube your way to fitness.

Or can you really?

Last week, a friend of mine called, complaining of knee pain.

Not a fitness buff, and after giving birth to two lovely children, she had piled on more than 30kg and decided it was time she shed the excesses to usher in her 50th birthday in 2019.

Due to her size, she was too intimidated to sign up for a gym membership or hire a personal trainer. Not a nature lover either, she opted to learn from the Net.

As a newbie embarking on an exercise programme, the poor woman had no clue which videos were suitable for her except that she wanted quick results. Body awareness and alignment were furthest from her mind.

Monkey see, monkey do – you’ve heard the term before.

What happens? The chimp gets injured, of course!

Today, there are more than two billion free fitness videos on YouTube channels and countless more on social media platforms devoted to everything from weightlifting to aerobics, high intensity interval training, yoga, Pilates and more.

A lot of these videos have a tendency to make false claims that delude beginner followers into thinking they can transform their bodies just by doing 10 minutes of something (e.g. trimming, toning, tightening, etc) a day.

Or a four-minute workout that replaces one hour in the gym.

If only it were that easy, we’d all be looking like super toned models.

Better yet, I found one with three million views that suggests a workout before sleep to slim down the legs. All it takes is three minutes and you can do it in bed.

Midway through the exercise, the commentator asks, “Are you sweating and feeling the burn? That’s a good sign!”

Do you really want to sweat in bed performing non-intimate activities when you should be relaxing before drifting off to sleep?

My friend diligently followed a six-minute one that had 20 million views.

I took a look and it wasn’t too bad. You needed to perform the routine three times a week.

The problem: it wasn’t intended for beginners (although it claims to address beginners) because the host was obviously targeting the fit to get fitter. And you would have to have some knowledge of muscle groups to work efficiently.

For example, when words like “strengthen your quads and hams” are mentioned, the majority of netizens have no clue what muscles these are and where they are located. There were a series of squats and push-ups thrown in the mix.

Being a novice, the friend tried to follow as much as she could because she was motivated by how easy the instructor made it look.

Three months later was when I received her “busted-knee” call. She had a slight tear of both her knee ligaments (meniscus).

On the positive side, she managed to lose 4.5kg, so hooray for that. However, she has to wait until her knees heal before resuming exercise again.

YouTube videos do not allow the instructor to see you, check your form, and offer modifications or corrections based on your performance.

This means you could inadvertently perform exercises incorrectly, or even unsafely, without knowing it.

This is particularly concerning for beginners and those recovering from injuries, as they’re more likely to perform exercises incorrectly, especially squats and planks.

Fitness is a burgeoning industry, online or offline. There is tons of money to be made and stars to be uncovered.

These days, unlike the traditional workout video, where weight loss and fitness was the goal, consumers are logging on to their favourite fitness vloggers for a more intimate and interactive experience.

According to Flurry Insights, which analyses mobile app data, health and fitness app usage rose 62% in the first half of 2014, and it’s growing at a rate 87% faster than that of other industries.

A 2015 study by researchers at the New York University School of Medicine revealed that more than half of all smartphone users had downloaded a fitness or health app.

Yet, our society continues to be obese.

Before you get started on a new fitness regimen, get clearance from your doctor about what’s safe for you and your size. This is especially important if you’re pregnant, injured, ill, or have limited mobility for whatever reason.

Don’t wait till you bust a body part.

(Agencies)

The idea of retiring seems enticing; ending years upon years of long weeks at work to spend your days doing whatever you want. If you’re counting down the years until your retirement age of 65, one physician said that you might want to reconsider.

As reported by Reader’s Digest, a Japanese doctor urged people to never clock out of the workforce. Yes, you read that right. Never. In an interview with The Japan Times two years ago, Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, who was “one of the world’s longest-serving physicians and educators” and had since 1941 worked as a doctor and teacher at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo and St. Luke’s College of Nursing, respectively (and served as chairman of both organizations’ board of trustees), said not retiring was one of his secrets to living a long, healthy life.

“There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot later than 65,” said Hinohara, who has penned around 150 books, including the best-selling Living Long, Living Good.

“The current retirement age was set at 65 half a century ago when the average life expectancy in Japan was 68 years and only 125 Japanese were over 100 years old. Today, Japanese women live to be around 86 and men 80, and we have 36,000 centenarians in our country. In 20 years, we will have about 50,000 people over the age of 100,” he added

Keeping busy throughout the senior years can help give elderly people a sense of purpose and accomplishment. These are key traits to keeping the brain healthy and switched on as the body ages, he said.

Hinohara practiced what he preached. He lived until the age of 105, treating patients and working up to 18 hours a day up until a few months before his death in 2017.

(Agencies)

Your teenage daughter, who has been working very hard for a major exam, receives her result and is very disappointed with it. Later that day, she brings several packs of potato chips into her room. She laments: “I feel so bad about my result. I want to eat all of this.”

Sounds familiar?

It may be a case of emotional eating, where a person increases food intake in response to, or as a way to, soothe certain feelings, especially negative ones like stress, tension, sadness, boredom, loneliness or anxiety.

Emotional eating occurs when people eat not to satisfy hunger, but for comfort; hence the term “comfort food”.

This can lead to an unhealthy cycle, where negative emotions trigger eating, which provides temporary relief or comfort, but then the person starts feeling bad or guilty for overeating, which, in turn, triggers more eating to relieve their negative feelings.

This can become a habit that continues into adulthood, which increases risks for health-related problems such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

There are also studies linking emotional eating with poor cognitive performance, particularly in obese adolescents.

Physical or emotional hunger?

When you are under stress, your body produces more cortisol and this can lead to increased appetite, causing emotional hunger.

Eating sugar and carbohydrates can also trigger the release of dopamine, which is why you feel “comforted” by binge-eating.

It can be difficult to differentiate emotional hunger from actual physical hunger. Here are a few pointers:

Physical hunger

• Comes on gradually and can be postponed.

• Can be satisfied with any type or quantity of foods.

• Likely to stop eating when full.

• Doesn’t cause feelings of guilt.

Emotional hunger

• Feels sudden and urgent.

• Causes very specific cravings, e.g. for pizza, ice cream, fries, etc.

• Tend to eat more than normal.

• Can cause guilt afterwards.

Controlling emotional eating

No one is 100% free from emotional eating. There are times when even you as an adult will surrender to your cravings after a hard day at work.

Your teenage kids tend to give in more easily to their emotional hunger due to the changes in their hormones from puberty.

However, there are ways we can control this tendency from becoming a habit:

• Check hunger.

Ask if she is really hungry or if it is just emotional hunger?

If she just had a lunch an hour ago and her stomach is not rumbling, it may be just a craving.

Give it time to go away by doing other activities or drinking water.

Refer to the signs above to help differentiate physical and emotional hunger.

• Manage stress.

Emotional eating is mainly caused by stress. Find the source and solve it.

Reduce stress by meditating, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep.

• Tackle boredom.

Simply being bored can also lead to munching.

Instead of grabbing a snack when bored, advise her to go for a walk, listen to music, read a book or indulge in a hobby.

Find a replacement activity to escape emotional eating.

• Avoid temptation.

Do not keep her favourite comfort food at home.

Delay the trip to the grocery store if she is feeling angry, sad or frustrated.

• Choose healthy snacks.

Replace her usual comfort food with low-calorie snacks, or pick a healthier version such as fruits or whole-grain unsalted chips.

• Food journal.

Ask her to keep a record of her eating habit, i.e. what, when and how much she eats, as well as her mood when eating.

Over time, she will start to see links between food and mood, and this can help her make better choices.

• Be an example.

Remember that you are the role model of your children. They learn your habits through observation.

If they see you eating ice cream whenever you are sad, they may develop the same habit when they are older.

• Don’t reward them with food.

If you give cookies to stop your children from crying, they may start to associate cookies with comfort.

Avoid rewarding or disciplining them using food as they may “learn” emotional eating as they grow up.

The trouble with emotional eating is that once the pleasure of eating is gone, the feelings that cause it remain.

Don’t be afraid to seek expert help if the problem becomes worse.

Nutritionists can help identify eating patterns and get your teen on track with a better diet, and therapists can help them deal with their sources of stress or depression.

Take control of your family’s diet today!
Source: Star 2

Research suggests that, in addition to some common causes of migraines, the result of fluctuating estrogen levels can trigger migraines in women more often. People often like to say, “‘Such-and-such’ illness doesn’t discriminate.” But in the case of migraines, the condition appears to do exactly that, according to experts from several research institutes.

Numbers from the Mayo Clinic in the United States indicate that 17% of women surveyed develop migraines, compared to 6% of men. Additionally, both the US National Medical Library and the Migraine Research Foundation in the US concluded in studies, that women are three times more likely to be afflicted by the condition.

Based on this, there looks to be a consensus across the board that migraines are a bigger issue for women than they are for men. Contrary to popular belief, migraines are not milder versions of headaches. Rather, it is a chronic neurological ailment that affects more than one billion people all over the world, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is listed among the top 20 “most debilitating illnesses in the world”.

Causes in women

Let’s take a look at some of the leading causes of migraines.

• Stress

It’s only possible to diagnose the causes of stress by analyzing a patient’s daily routine, which includes work, sleep, recreation, food, relationships and other lifestyle patterns.

Other times, psychological trauma might be involved and will require long-term counselling as part of the treatment.

• Weather

Women tend to suffer more easily from changes in weather, as it can create an imbalance in serotonin levels – a hormone whose many functions includes regulating mood. In cold climates, you might find women suffering from migraines more easily during the winter. The reverse is also true: when temperatures in hot climates rise to extreme numbers, that could also serve as a trigger for migraines.

• Alcohol

Excessive consumption of alcohol causes dehydration, which encourages migraines. Many types of alcohol also contain high amounts of tyramine – a naturally-occurring compound. It is a by-product of the tyrosine amino acid, which is found in many foods, including alcohol. Tyramine is akin to a panic-inducing element, elevating heart rate, spiking blood pressure and triggering migraines.

Hormonal changes

Several studies indicate that changes in levels of the female hormone, oestrogen, is a key cause of migraines. The cells that surround nerves inside the head, as well as nearby blood vessels, are quick to detect migraine triggers, and a drop in levels of oestrogen is viewed as a “flip of a switch”.

Dr Soma Sahai-Srivastava, associate professor of neurology at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine in the US, describes it like this: “Once this (switch) is flipped on, it spills toxic, inflammatory chemicals on the roadmap of the brain. “Then the blood vessels start acting out, which produces throbbing; it’s like an orchestra on the surface of the brain.”

There is still much more work to be done in understanding the role of oestrogen in migraines. What we do know presently, are four important scenarios where drastic changes in oestrogen levels have an impact on migraines:

• Pre-mentrual symptoms

Headaches are a common complaint women have before they are about to get their period.

This is when oestrogen levels are low, allowing painful migraines to attack.

• During pregnancy

For all the other inconveniences one experiences during pregnancy, you can rejoice to know that pregnancy helps to reduce migraine attacks.This is because an expecting mother’s oestrogen levels are high, and remain that way throughout pregnancy.

• Post-delivery

Unfortunately, good things come to an end. With the end of a pregnancy, your hormone levels fluctuate downwards, including oestrogen levels.

Now, with a baby at home to adjust to and care for, it’s best to have the husband and your family to support you, in order to not let stress or hormones trigger the migraines again.

• Pre-menopause

This is a challenging period for women who suffer from migraines, as your hormone levels become the most unbalanced. Some seek hormone replacement therapy (HRT), but the results differ for every individual. But for many, the headaches tend to go away post-menopause.

A study showed that those who applied lavender essential oil, made from lavender flowers like those shown in this filepic, had their migraine symptoms reduce much faster than those who applied a placebo.

Ways to reduce migraines

Paracetamol, ibuprofen and other similar drugs are the typical over-the-counter medications that are prescribed most often for migraines, but you can try natural remedies to alleviate migraines too:

• Acupressure

This is a good alternative to try for your migraines, as well as for other ailments. The method involves applying pressure to various points on the body, to reduce symptoms of a condition. It has been studied and found to be an effective alternative treatment.

• Lavender oil

Aromatherapy works differently on everyone, but a joint study by German and Iranian researchers found that study participants who applied lavender oil reported that their symptoms were reduced much faster than those who applied a placebo. It is always a good idea to invest in high-quality, 100% natural essential oils, and preferably organic ones.

• Magnesium

Deficiency in magnesium has been linked to increased migraines. You can add more magnesium to your diet by consuming foods like milk, peanut butter, eggs, oatmeal, almonds, cashew nuts and sunflower seeds.

• B Vitamins

Vitamins B6 and B12, as well as folic acid, may reduce the frequency, severity and disability of migraines, according to new research. Fruits, whole grains, veggies, beans, fortified and whole grain products, poultry, meat, fish and dairy are excellent sources.

• Yoga

Working on your posture, stretching and breathing exercises may reduce the intensity of migraines, studies show. It can ease stress by promoting vascular health and relieving the tension in your muscles. In any case, it is a great complementary therapy to encourage overall health.

• Ginger

This anti-inflammatory root is well-known for reducing nausea, and because migraines are a linked symptom, ginger may be able to help with that as well.Take a small amount of ginger powder – one-eighth of a teaspoon in hot water – or crush some sliced ginger root and steep in hot water to make tea.

In looking at solutions for migraines, it would be tremendously helpful to examine one’s overall lifestyle and any impact it may have on health. You’ll be surprised to find that sometimes, changes in your routine, such as cutting out poor lifestyle habits like late nights and excessive alcohol, can make a difference. Discuss your symptoms with your doctor, and for whatever the underlying causes, whether it is stress, nutritional deficiencies or hormonal imbalances, find the solutions that work best for you.
Source: star2

(Agencies)

If you want to boost your health, but resolutions seem too daunting, then read on for five easy ways to improve well-being each day and throughout the coming year.

Cut Out Soft Drinks
Even making small diet changes can boost health, and cutting out soft drinks and other sweetened beverages are one of the biggest small changes you can make, reducing both calorie intake and sugar consumption. A high intake of sugary drinks has been linked to a variety of health problems, including increased risk of diabetes, chronic kidney disease, lower chance of getting pregnant, an increase in visceral fat (the type of fat that wraps around internal organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines), and even an increased risk of death.

Walk More
If the thought of a gym membership or marathon training is too big a fitness goal, simply walking more will still bring benefits for health. One study found that walking at least four hours a week, or just 35 minutes a day, may reduce the severity of a stroke, and walking to work has been linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death, with an even lower risk for those who also walk in their leisure time.

Picking up the pace can also bring extra benefits, with walking at an average pace linked to a 20% lower risk for all-cause mortality compared with walking at a slow pace, and walking at a brisk or fast pace reducing the risk even further, by 2%.

Get Some Daylight
Getting enough natural daylight has previously been linked with a lower risk of depression, a lower risk of postnatal depression in women, and more recently, with improved eye health. Previous research has suggested that getting outdoors in the morning is most beneficial; those who struggle to get outside are advised to open the curtains at home and sit by windows in offices to try to maximize the amount of light, or use light therapy lamps to help fight depression in winter months.

Enjoy A Massage
A massage is a great way to help you de-stress, which is important for health, but recent research is suggesting the benefits may go further than simply helping us to relax. A recent study also linked regular massages with improved arthritis symptoms, while a study published back in 2014 also suggested that shiatsu massage could aid sleep.

So if you choose just one way to improve health this year, booking yourself in for a massage might be the most enjoyable one.

Visit Blue And Green Spaces
If you live in the countryside, this one is easier, but even in a city, most of us have access to blue spaces, such as lakes and rivers, and green spaces, including parks and nearby forests. Taking in these locations can not only help you get more active through walking, but many recent studies are also uncovering a variety of benefits from being near nature and natural space, including fewer respiratory problems, reduced risk of breast cancer in women, improved mental health and a lower risk of depression, as well as improved overall well-being.

(Agencies)

Hong Kong scientists claim they have made a potential breakthrough discovery in the fight against infectious diseases – a chemical that could slow the spread of deadly viral illnesses. A team from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) described the newly-discovered chemical as “highly potent in interrupting the life cycle of diverse viruses” in a study published in January 2019 in the journal Nature Communications.

The scientists said that it could one day be used as a broad-spectrum antiviral for a host of infectious diseases – and even for viruses that have yet to emerge – if it passes clinical trials. The spread in recent decades of sometimes deadly bird flu strains, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) have underscored the need for new drugs that can work more quickly than vaccines.

Broad-spectrum antivirals are seen as the holy grail because they can be used against multiple pathogens. In contrast, vaccines usually only protect against one strain, and by the time they are produced, the virus may have mutated. The HKU team tested their chemical called AM580 on mice in a two-year study and found it stopped the replication of a host of flu strains – including H1N1, H5N1 and H7N9 – as well as the viruses that cause SARS and MERS.

It also stopped the replication of the mosquito-borne Zika virus and Enterovirus 71, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease. “This is what we call a broad-spectrum antiviral drug, which means it can kill a number of viruses,” microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung, who led the team, said. “This is quite important in the early control of an epidemic.”

Starving the virus

The study is part of a growing body of research by virologists to find drugs that avoid targeting a virus directly – something that could lead to resistance. Instead, they look for compounds that interrupt the way viruses use crucial fatty acids, known as lipids, within a host’s cells to replicate.

“This study is science in progress – an early step in an exciting new direction,” said Benjamin Neuman, an expert on viruses at Texas A and M University-Texarkana, United States, who has published his own studies on starving viruses of lipids. “Viruses are totally dependent on supplies stolen from their hosts, and a number of recent studies have shown that treatments that interrupt the steady flow of lipids in an infected cell are highly effective at blocking a wide range of viruses,” he said.

The next step is to test the drug on a wider variety of animals, including pigs and primates, before pushing for clinical trials, a process Yuen said could take up to eight years. The HKU team has applied for a patent in the US.

A derivative of AM580 is already being used in Japan to treat cancer, raising hopes that it will show low toxicity for humans.

But Neuman warns there are drawbacks. Like many chemotherapy methods used to fight cancer, antivirals such as AM580 damage a person’s cell starves a virus. While cells can heal, much research still needs to be done on how and when to use such techniques. “Unless the treatment is targeted very carefully, the potential for side effects would be very worrying,” he said. Densely populated Hong Kong has had first-hand experience of deadly viral outbreaks.

In 2003, nearly 300 people died from SARS and the city’s densely packed apartment blocks are considered hugely vulnerable to future outbreaks.

(AFP)

New research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, finds that sleep deprivation increases sensitivity to pain by numbing the brain’s painkilling response. Sleep may be key for relieving chronic pain, a new study suggests. One in 3 adults in the United States, or 35 percent of the adult population, do not get enough sleep.

The effects of sleep deprivation on the brain are numerous, from inducing an inebriation-like state of cognitive impairment to hindering our ability to learn and form new memories. New research highlights another neurological effect of insufficient sleep: heightened sensitivity to pain.

A lack of sleep impairs the brain’s natural mechanisms for relieving pain, finds the new study, which draws attention to potential links between the public health crises of sleep deprivation, chronic pain, and prescription opioid addiction.

In the U.S., over 20 percent of the population, or around 50 million adults, are living with chronic pain, according to recent estimates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that, on average, around 130 people in the U.S. die from an opioid overdose every day. Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California in Berkeley carried out the study, together with doctoral candidate Adam Krause.

How sleep loss affects pain sensitivity
Walker and Krause induced pain in 24 healthy, young study participants by applying heat to their legs. As they were doing so, the scientists scanned the participants’ brains, examining the circuits that process pain. The participants did not have any problems sleeping or any pain-related disorders at the beginning of the study.

The scientists started by recording each participant’s pain threshold after a good night’s sleep by scanning their brain with a functional MRI machine while applying increasing levels of heat to the participant’s skin. Once the scientists had established the person’s pain threshold, they repeated the procedure after a night of no sleep.

“Across the group, [the participants] were feeling discomfort at lower temperatures, which shows that their own sensitivity to pain had increased after inadequate sleep,” reports Krause, the study’s lead author. “The injury is the same,” he explains, “but the difference is how the brain assesses the pain without sufficient sleep.”

The researchers found that the brain’s somatosensory cortex, a region associated with pain sensitivity, was hyperactive when the participants hadn’t slept enough. This confirmed the hypothesis that sleep deprivation would interfere with pain-processing neural circuits.

However, a surprising finding was that the activity in the brain’s nucleus accumbens was lower than usual after a sleepless night. The nucleus accumbens releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, which increases pleasure and relieves pain.

“Sleep loss not only amplifies the pain-sensing regions in the brain but blocks the natural analgesia centers, too,” explains Prof. Walker. Finally, the researchers found that the brain’s insula, which assesses pain signals and prepares the body’s reaction to pain, was also underactive. “This is a critical neural system that assesses and categorizes the pain signals and allows the body’s own natural painkillers to come to the rescue,” notes Krause.

‘Sleep is a natural analgesic’
To replicate their findings, the researchers also conducted a survey of over 230 adults who were registered in Amazon’s Mechanical Turk online marketplace. The participants reported their sleep patterns and pain sensitivity levels over several days.

The scientists found that the smallest changes in the participants’ sleep patterns correlated with changes in pain sensitivity. “The results clearly show that even very subtle changes in nightly sleep — reductions that many of us think little of in terms of consequences — have a clear impact on your next-day pain burden,” Krause says. Walker comments on the findings, noting, “the optimistic takeaway here is that sleep is a natural analgesic that can help manage and lower pain.” “Yet ironically, one environment where people are in the most pain is the worst place for sleep — the noisy hospital ward.”

Source: Medical News Today

DAMAULI : Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) Tanahun district chapter organised a health camp for the treatment of different patients with special focus on eye patients at Thuldhunga in Bhanu Municipality-13. In the two-day camp concluded on Wednesday, surgery of 15 cataract patients was carried out for free while 750 plus others received different health care services, President of NRCS Tanahun Krishna Hari Wagle said.
The health camp was orgnaised on the occasion of the Martyrs Day under the empowerment and inclusion programme targeted to physically challenged people from the quake-hit communities of the NRCS with technical assistance from Bhaktapur-based BP Eye Foundation.