Health Fitness

It might be a good idea to review some simple safety precautions before you head into the great outdoors.

Health stories from around the world this week include a new handheld ultrasound device that can help to diagnose illnesses. Also a breakthrough U.S. study which has discovered garlic oil can help combat warts, and a new spray foam which can help prevent major blood loss.

Mobile that can tell if you're ill

A futuristic scanner the size of a mobile phone is being used to diagnose hidden health problems.

The pocket-sized device, which is undergoing trials, is held over the body and relies on ultrasound to produce images of damaged internal tissue.

Ultrasound has a wide range of uses, from monitoring babies' health in the womb to diagnosing gallstones.

But most machines are too big to be portable. The new device, called Vscan, will change that. Despite its size, it is almost as powerful as the bulky ultrasound machines in hospitals.

It has a wand-like attachment that is held next to the skin - the information it picks up is transmitted instantly as an image to the Vscan screen.


This instant feedback means doctors or paramedics don't have to send patients to hospital for a scan.

Developed by GE Healthcare, it is the closest scientists have come to a ' tricorder', the high-tech instrument used by Star Trek's Dr McCoy to diagnose and treat illness on the Starship Enterprise.

Warts? Try rubbing on a little garlic oil

Garlic could be a fast-acting treatment for warts. A U.S. study has found that a rubon extract of the spice removed all trace of warts within two weeks.

It's thought sulphur compounds in garlic have antibiotic and anti-viral benefits.

Warts are caused by a viral infection in the skin's top layer. Though harmless, they are highly contagious.

Conventional treatment includes ointments containing salicylic acid (burning the wart to destroy tissue), but these can take months to be effective.

Cryosurgery (freezing) is quicker, but can be painful, especially for children, who are most likely to suffer from warts.

In the study, 23 people applied the oily garlic extract twice a day. After one to two weeks, all were wart-free, though side-effects included redness and burning.

Traditional wart remedies include a compress of freshly crushed garlic over the area at night (though this carries the risk of the same side effects as the oil).

How a spray can stop bleeding

A foam squirted from a can just like shaving cream stops major blood loss and could save many lives.

Once it's sprayed into a wound, the high-tech foam expands and sticks to tissue, instantly halting bleeding.

Heavy blood loss is a major cause of death in severely injured people. Many wounds can't be stitched and medics often struggle to halt bleeding.

The foam, which is being tested by Remedium Technologies Inc, uses chitosan, a substance commonly found in the shells of crabs and shrimp, to act as a coagulant and stop bleeding. It also has anti-bacterial properties, which reduce the risk of infection.

The foam could also be used in surgery. The initial aim is to use it for road traffic accident victims and injured soldiers. One in ten deaths on the battlefield is due to haemorrhaging from damaged limbs.

Paramedics will also be able to use it to stem bleeding while patients are rushed to hospital.

By Holly McCord, RD, with Gloria McVeigh, Prevention
Ever get the guilty feeling that you're being watched as you toss the double fudge brownie mix into your grocery cart? Well, you are!

We checked with some of the top US nutrition experts, who admitted they secretly spy on the rest of us as we make real-world choices in restaurants and grocery stores. Here are their top five gripes.

1. We can't tell the good fats from the bad ones.
"Most people still don't get that some fats are actually good for you," says Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, an American Heart Association spokesperson. "You want to avoid saturated and trans fats, but you need more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Good sources are fish, nuts, avocados, and soybean and canola oils."

Smarter: Fit in good fats. "If you keep track of total calories, you don't have to worry about how much fat you eat, just what kind," explains Dr. Lichtenstein. Grandpa Po's Slightly Spicy Nutra Nuts use only canola oil (160 cal, 10 g fat, 1 g sat. fat, 2 g fiber, 60 mg sodium); at healthy food supermarkets.

2. We supersize to save money.
"People think that supersizing a restaurant meal is a money saver, but it's not a health bargain if it has way too many calories," says Karen Weber Cullen, DPH, RD, research nutritionist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Smarter: Judge with your palm, not your purse. A serving size is about what fits into the palm of your hand (larger for men than women, smaller for children). For most meals, pick one protein, one starch, one veggie, and one fruit based on the serving that will fit into your palm.

3. We think anything liquid has no calories.
"What freaks me out is the amount of sugared soda and juice we drink," says Judith Stern, ScD, RD, professor of nutrition and internal medicine at the University of California, Davis. "I'd like to see all the sugared drinks sent out into space, where they could orbit the Earth forever." Sugared drinks balloon your calorie intake and squeeze out more nutritious foods.

Smarter: Try a cup of tea. Available in myriad varieties, the calorie-free brew promotes heart health, staves off several types of cancer, strengthens bones and teeth, and protects the skin.

4. We don't know how "hungry" really feels.
"If you don't know when you're hungry, you don't know when you're full, so you won't know when to stop eating," says Elisabetta Politi, RD, nutrition manager of the Duke University Diet & Fitness Center in Durham, NC.

Smarter: Tune in with mindful eating. Here's how.
1. Before you eat, relax, and rate your hunger from 1 (hungriest) to 7 (fullest).
2. Eat slowly, pausing often to rate how your hunger changes.
3. When finished, rate yourself one more time. Try to stay between 2 1/2 and 5 1/2: not too ravenous when you start and not completely full when you stop.

5. We have a microwave addiction.
Many women come home from work and pop a frozen entrée into the microwave. "Eating too many heavily processed foods can leave you short on fiber and antioxidants such as vitamin C," explains Jo Ann Hattner, RD, clinical dietitian at Stanford University Medical Center.

Smarter: Complement a frozen entrée with a green salad, a 100 percent whole wheat roll, and fruit for dessert. Stock up on the freshest fruit for maximum flavor.

As various colds and strains of the flu are passed around schools, offices and homes across America, you may be wondering what you can do to stay healthy. We’ve all heard recommendations to get flu shots, bundle up if it’s cold outside, and the like, but your mom and your doctor may have neglected to tell you about an important precaution you can take to avoid getting sick: practice your stress management skills! The effects of stress on immune system functioning and overall level of wellness have been studied and well-documented, and if you're worried about your health, stress levels should be monitored closely! Stress affects your overall wellness level and susceptibility to infection in two important ways:

Weakened Immune System - Chronic stress can raise cortisol levels and weaken our immune system and make us more susceptible to colds and the flu, as well as more serious health problems like heart disease, diabetes and other diseases.

Unhealthy Choices - When we’re under stress, health may suffer because we don’t always make other healthy lifestyle choices like getting enough sleep, exercise and healthy food in our diet, which also makes us more likely to become ill.

Steps Toward Wellness
To protect your health, stress should be kept to a minimum and other precautions should also be taken. To increase your odds of wellness, especially during flu season, here are some important steps you can take:

Practice Stress Management Techniques. Certain techniques, like journaling, yoga and even laughter have all been found to increase immunity. By practicing stress-reducing activities, you can keep your body from going into chronic stress mode, maintaining increased health and wellness.

Take Care of Your Body. Eat a healthy healthy diet, get enough sleep, and exercise regularly to keep your body running smoothly. Taking better care of your body will keep it functioning properly and increase your ability to fight off the latest bug that’s being passed around. And, if you do get sick, a generally healthy body can bounce back from illness much more quickly so you’ll be less miserable while you’re ill, and heal sooner.

Maintain a Supportive Network. Social support boosts immunity and helps you manage stress in your life, both of which will keep you healthier. By keeping several healthy relationships in your life, you’ll have friends to help you through the difficult times and increase your enjoyment of the good times, helping everyone stay healthy and enjoy life more.

Stay Organized and Maintain Balance in Your Life. Keep your home uncluttered. Become proficient at saying no to requests that aren’t in line with your priorities. Staying organized and balanced will help you keep from overtaxing yourself, and can help reduce the level of stress you experience in your life, helping you stay healthier in the long run.

Practical Tips To Remember
As always, don’t forget to take the commonsense health precautions that mom and the doc have been telling you for years:

Wash Your Hands Do it frequently, and especially before meals. This will keep germs from being passed to your face, so your immune system won’t even have to worry about fighting them. You can also use antibacterial hand lotion to serve the same purpose when you’re out and about.

Take Vitamin C and Drink Plenty of Water. The vitamin C can strengthen your immune system and the water can help flush out toxins. This increases proper functioning of your immune system and helps you fight disease more easily.

Avoid People Who Are Sick. If members of your family are ill, in addition to washing your hands and avoiding direct contact, it’s a good idea to spray disinfectant spray on all door handles, light switches, phones and other areas of the house that are touched often and may contain germs.

A little prevention can go a long way in keeping you healthy. While I can’t promise that you’ll never be sick again, following these wellness suggestions for living a low-stress, healthy lifestyle can have a very positive impact on your health and wellness levels.

Most of us want to feel clearheaded and on our game from morning ‘til night. The happy truth is, you can find more pep even if, like me, you can’t always find more pillow time. The amazing energy enhancer I’m referring to? Healthy, delicious food! Specifically, lean protein, complex carbs, foods high in vitamin C and high-fiber fruits and veggies.

As anyone who has ever experienced a sugar crash knows, the bites you nibble have the power to make you feel spunky or completely spent. Make tiny tweaks to what you put in your mouth—say, by having an egg sandwich instead of a roll with jam for breakfast—and you’ll enjoy the invigorating effects all day. Keep your motor revved with these mojo-lending strategies.

Energy enhancer: Pack your breakfast with protein.

Less is more may apply to some things in life, but not breakfast. Rather than skimp on your premiere meal of the day breakfast (or worse, skip it entirely), aim for a bite that boasts at least 5 grams of protein—it spurs the production of norepinephrine, a neurochemical that increases your heart rate and makes you feel more alert. Eggs are always a good bet. Because protein digests slowly, your blood sugar and energy levels stay constant. Adios, doughnut daze!


Energy enhancer: Squeeze in more vitamin C.

You know that too few zzz's lead to wooziness, but you may not realize that a shortage of C can have the same fatiguing effect. About 30 percent of women don't get enough vitamin C—that’s a lot of yawning! Vitamin C produces carnitine, a molecule that transfers fatty acids to cells where they're converted into energy. Too little carnitine compels your body to use carbs or protein for energy instead, which spurs lactic acid to accumulate in tissue and fatigue muscles. Get 75 milligrams of C daily by munching an orange or a kiwifruit (about 70 mg per fruit), steaming a cup of broccoli (74 mg) or savoring a cup of strawberries (89 mg).


Energy enhancer: Crunch and munch 'round the clock.

Spacing out your meals more than three or four hours apart may make you feel, well, spacey. Going a whole afternoon without a nibble causes your blood sugar to plummet, which makes your body think it's starving and often triggers a binge (cue the carb coma). A better stay-svelte strategy: Aim to eat every three to four hours by having five mini-meals of about 350 calories each, along with two 100-calorie snacks. Click here for 30 slimming snacks you'll love.


Energy enhancer: Be an iron woman. (Not to be confused with the triathlon goal!)

Iron is essential, and many women are walking around borderline anemic without knowing it. This mineral delivers oxygen to your muscles, increasing energy levels. Aim to get about 18 milligrams of iron daily—the amount in a cup of MultiGrain Cheerios—to stay pumped. Bring the Os in a baggie to fend off an afternoon slump. Spinach, pumpkin seeds and kidney beans are also rich in iron—toss ‘em in your salad to savor the bennies! Popeye would be proud.

Drinking more than three cups of tea a day cuts the risk of diabetes, say researchers.

Studies show that regular tea drinkers have a 25 per cent lower chance of developing Type 2 diabetes compared to those drinking tea occasionally or not at all.

Almost 80 per cent of Britons are tea drinkers, getting through 165million cups a day. Diabetes affects 2.3million.

Researchers are suggesting doctors tell patients most likely to develop the condition to step up their tea consumption.

The seven studies involved almost 300,000 tea drinkers, while further studies included information on those who drank regular coffee and decaffeinated coffee.


They showed coffee drinking was also linked with a reduced risk of developing dia-

betes, says a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal.




The researchers from the University of Sydney collated studies involving 286,701 people which looked at the association between tea consumption and diabetes risk published between 1966 and 2009.

In addition, 18 studies on coffee and diabetes found that drinking four cups cut the risk of getting diabetes by 25 per cent compared to those drinking no coffee.

Dr Rachel Huxley, who led the research team, said the protection appeared to be due to 'direct biological effects'

A link was also found with decaffeinated coffee, so caffeine was unlikely to be solely responsible for the effect.

She said: 'The identification of the active components of these beverages would open up new therapeutic pathways for the primary prevention of diabetes.'

Dr Carrie Ruxton, scientific adviser to the industry-backed Tea Advisory Panel, said: 'The authors found that individuals who drank three to four cups per day had a 25 per cent lower risk than those who drank between zero and two cups per day.

'This protective effect may be due to the variety of compounds present in tea, including antioxidants.'

Hospitals that ban flowers in an attempt to stop infections spreading are actually slowing patients' recovery, researchers have found.

They say visitors bringing bouquets to wards do not increase the spread of germs and help speed a patient's return to health.

In fact, the biggest hazard posed by flowers could be nurses' irritation at having to change the water.

A growing number of hospitals have introduced 'no flower' policies, with Southend University Hospital bringing in a blanket ban this summer despite protests.

Bosses said patients were in favour because of the potential health and safety risk to bedside electrical life support equipment as well as fears over the spread of germs.

But research in the British Medical Journal says the risks have been overplayed.

There is no record of an outbreak of infection in a hospital being traced to bacteria found in flower water, according to Giskin Day and Naiome Carter from Imperial College London.

Vases might tip over, they admit, but the risk is no greater than that posed by crockery containing food and drink.

The researchers say studies show flowers have immediate and long-term beneficial effects on emotional reactions, mood and memory.

One trial found that patients in rooms with plants and flowers needed significantly less pain relief after surgery.

They also had lower blood pressure readings, lower rates of pain, anxiety and fatigue and more positive feelings than those who were in flower-less wards.

However, hospitals continue to impose bans on the wards despite the absence of any ruling from the Department of Health.

The study also found evidence of contrasting attitudes to flowers on private and NHS wards, after questioning patients and staff at two London hospitals, the Royal Brompton and the Chelsea & Westminster.

Private nurses appeared much keener on flowers than those from the public sector.

Charge nurse Dermot Richards-Scully at the Royal Brompton said: 'I hate them [flowers].'

'My staff don't have time to change stagnant water, spillage is responsible for slips, trips and falls, and they cause hay fever.'

But sister Susan Bunce, in charge of the Sir Reginald Wilson ward for private patients at the same hospital, welcomes them.

'Maintaining flowers doesn't take up any nursing time and they have a positive effect on patients,' she said.

The BMJ article concluded: 'Although flowers can undoubtedly be a time-consuming nuisance, the giving and receiving of flowers is a culturally important transaction.'

It recommends bedside lockers be designed to cut the chances of spillage from vases.