Thursday, January 30, 2014

WELCOME

Dear Friends,

The purpose of this blog is to make available  to a larger audience my posts, mainly in the IIT Global Current Affairs Group and a few other groups.

Most of these posts refer you to the store house of knowledge - The World Wide Web. A few of the posts are also my 'bright?' ideas.

My posts in the year 2013 are posted in this blog

2013


5. INDIA
7. SPACE
10. HEALTH

Thursday, January 2, 2014

11. EDUCATION - 2013

11.1 Does investment in education lead to economic growth?
11.2 Capitalists for Preschool
11.3 When 'stress reduction' in schools fuels frustration
11.4 Education
11.5 Education ... The debate continues 

11.6 Classical liberal arts education
11.7 Physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of babies
11.8 As Education Declines, So Does Civic Culture
11.9 Midday naps help preschoolers learn 
11.10 Turning Education Upside Down


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11.1  Does investment in education lead to economic growth? (5/2/2013)


Similarly, in the 20th century, in places like China, South Korea and India, the economic boom — and the policies that create it — always come first while the investments in education come later.

... Japan is now well into its third "lost decade." Over the years, it has poured money into "stimulative" infrastructure projects that have yet to stimulate and protected industries that have steadily lost their competitive edge. Economic growth has averaged less than 1% since 2000, while government debt is now more than twice its GDP. If a highly educated workforce, support for allegedly cutting-edge industries and lavish spending on infrastructure was the recipe for economic growth (and if debt didn't matter), Japan would be doing great.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-education-growth-20130205,0,5140545.column
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The reasoning appears counter-intuitive, but true. A corollary would be, in a booming economy you can afford to teach pupils all kinds of fancy stuff. In a depressed economy you may have teach pupils more basic survival techniques. (Am I getting it wrong?)

Selvaraj


11.2  Capitalists for Preschool (3/3/2013)

 Although some studies suggest that the positive impact decreases over time, this is mainly attributable to differences in the quality of preschool and of the schooling that follows — not a deficiency in preschool itself.
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Most people in earlier generations did not attend preschool. Now the situation is different: 

1. With both parents working, and lack of support from grandparents, there may be no other option.
2. In our time we had a healthy outdoor life. No longer possible, as you will risk getting run over by the modern 'totem pole', the motor car.
3. In large extended families older children looked after younger ones.

... I doubt however that the brain (which grows rapidly at this age) will be sharpened by preschool. The brain will be sharpened by a wider exposure and experience, and by exposure to Nature (the most complex of all entities). Most of the pre second world war generation, who built USA, would not have had pre-schooling and many would have come from rural backgrounds. 

Selvaraj


11.3  When 'stress reduction' in schools fuels frustration  (21/7/2013)
 
Taking clue from the CBSE, state boards of school education also went on a spree of ‘give them more marks’. The chairperson of a state board enlightened me: “When the CBSE is so liberal, why should my students be sufferers? We shall be more liberal than the CBSE in our evaluation pattern.” One could witness this political dimension on huge billboards put up by the Delhi government, claiming that exam success in 2013 was 99.4 per cent compared to 50 per cent when the rival political party headed the government. There are reports that specific instructions were given to teachers to show ‘good results’. Many teachers interpreted it as providing ‘support’ to examinees. Widespread prevalence of unfair practices during board examinations in large number of schools in most of the states is a stark reality.


11.4  Education (12/8/2013)

The standard for education used to be literacy — competence in math, English, geography, history, civics, and other factual knowledge. We didn’t need a test or a battery of tests to prove the result. Americans excelled in nearly everything when parents taught — or directed and chose the education — of their children.
Indeed, most children used to be home educated in America. Public/government/state funded and controlled education is a relatively recent development, and the outcomes are only now really being understood by its victims — the parents and students of these schools.
FAMOUS HOME SCHOOLERS
Scientists
·  George Washington Carver
·  Pierre Curie
·  Albert Einstein
·  Michael Faraday - electrochemist
·  Oliver Heaviside - physicist and electromagnetism researcher
·  T.H. Huxley
·  Blaise Pascal
·  Booker T. Washington
·  Erik Demaine - Popular Science Mag: One of the Most Brilliant Scientists in America


11.5  Education .. The debate continues (25/8/2013)

In the same way that an English degree suggests a number of careers rather than simply "novelist", an art degree should help you channel your creativity into a variety of weird and rewarding jobs. Rather than art school, it should be called a college of creativity. But, you know, less embarrassing.

.. This isn't just an art school thing, this is an education in 2013 thing – this is a thing that should maybe be discussed at clearing time, to widen 18-year-olds' choices. I met people with the most incredible, creative brains who have resigned themselves now to a life cold-calling strangers about their broadband providers. The benefit to this is that, as it's unlikely they'll pay off their student loans after 30 years, my peers' debts will probably be wiped. The downside? Their future is still hanging, waiting to drop.


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The comments to the main article are interesting. On the whole however the discussion does not tackle the main issues.

- The Americans want to improve their education system so that they can compete with everyone else economically. From the American point of view (they are the thought leaders), that's all that education needs to do.
- The comments do not address the issue, that with all their education, the students finally find employment in repetitive and monotonous software jobs (which pay higher wages).
- The issue that computerisation and automation are reducing the need for flesh and blood workers is not addressed.

WHAT EDUCATION NEEDS TO ADDRESS:

1. Create a body of highly qualified individuals who with their knowledge will be able to provide solutions to our common global problems. 
2. Provide an enlightened education so that people are more aware of their responsibilities than their rights. 
3. Everyone needs a work environment that healthy and which does not dull the senses.
(We cannot have a good educational system unless we have worthwhile objectives.)

The nature of the problem, and our current realities are such that in my view the work environment we aim for should have a duality, where:

1. We spend half our time in a conventional work environment.
2. Spend the other half in a socially motivated work environment. 

Selvaraj


11.6  Classical liberal arts education (2/9/2013)

The reality is that the new Common Core standards for reading, writing, and arithmetic are just too high for many minority children who have hitherto been reared on lenient and progressive education policies that inherently deride the virtues that cultivate well-trained minds. One cannot expect children who are encouraged to read books like Captain Underpants and the Wimpy Kids Diary well into middle school, and who at worst spend their unsupervised free time playing ultra-violent video games while listening to the lyrics of rappers like A$AP, to comprehend the writings of nineteenth century American authors such as Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, or Booker T. Washington. This is a bit of what the CCSS advocates. However, it is simply delusional.    

... In time, though, mainstream America will realize that the applause for this type of pedagogy was a mistake. The great thinkers of western civilization, from St. Augustine to Sir Isaac Newton, were not reared on a voc-tech or S.T.E.M. paradigm. They were reared on the classical liberal arts. America does not need any more students who are being educated to become socially acceptable imitators. We need students who are destined to become broad thinking innovators.
A classical liberal arts education is broad-based; and by no means does it exclude the study of mathematics or the sciences. The liberal arts continue to be based in large part on a system of study that began in classical antiquity, was continued by the Judeo- Christians of medieval Europe, and passed down to the Christian humanists and enlightenment thinkers through the eighteenth century. The seven liberal arts are grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. The entire intellectual history of western civilization is rooted in the integrated study of these "freedom arts."  It was the careful consideration of these arts that led our forebears to devise the very charters that protect the rights of those who seek to deny so many down-trodden American children the type of restorative education that has the potential to liberate them from their dismal social and economic situations. 

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/09/leading_from_behind_in_urban_education.html#ixzz2dk1poz2J 
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

11.7  Physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of babies (12/9/2013)

The role of play is being down-valued in England's nurseries. For many children today, nursery education provides their only opportunity for the active, creative and outdoor play which is recognised by psychologists as vital for physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. However, two key qualifications currently being drawn up for nursery teachers and child carers no longer require training in how children learn through play. Indeed current policy suggestions would mean that the tests and targets which dominate primary education will soon be foisted upon four-year-olds.

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Add to this the fact that our engineers have created an environment where it is impossible for a child to grow up in a healthy way. The design of our environment is car centric not child centric.

(Redesign Cities, Towns and Villages so that core areas of 1 Km x 0.5 Km exclude cars. It is quite simple to rezone existing layouts. Make separate provisions for emergency services.)

Selvaraj

11.8  As Education Declines, So Does Civic Culture  (18/9/2013)

Many employers can attest, as college instructors will too if they're being frank, that many college graduates can barely construct a coherent paragraph and many have precious little knowledge of the world—the natural world, the social world, the historical world, or the cultural world. That is a tragedy for the graduates, but also for society: Civic life suffers when people have severely limited knowledge of the world to bring to political or moral discussions.

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At least 5% of the population should be widely read. Intellectual development when one reads is very different from that obtained by watching videos. 

The television is a technological marvel but an intellectual disaster. Even pornography if it is in the form of books will enhance your language skills; in the visual form .......?

Selvaraj

11.9  Midday naps help preschoolers learn  (24/9/2013)

NEW YORK — Any parent knows that a daytime nap can help keep preschoolers from getting cranky. Now a small study suggests that it helps them learn, too.
The lesson for grown-ups: Don't cut out the naps if you try to cram more learning activities into a preschooler's day, say researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/23/midday-naps-preschoolers-learning/2856591/

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Kindergartens should have provision for children to lie down. In India mats should be sufficient. This principle applies not only for children, but also for adults. There was a time when people used to have a siesta. An ideal workplace of the future I envision, will have provision for a worker to lie down for say half an hour and recoup. Slumping in a chair is not the way to relax.
Sleep will help to:
1) Remove toxins from the body.
2) Help to reconnect with the subconscious - essential for improved physical and mental performance: http://humanposure-subconsciousmind.blogspot.in/
Selvaraj
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Power naps of less than 30 minutes—even those as brief as 6 and 10 minutes—restore wakefulness and promote performance and learning.[3][4] A University of Düsseldorf study found superior memory recall once a person had reached 6 minutes of sleep, suggesting that the onset of sleep may initiate active memory processes of consolidation which—once triggered—remains effective even if sleep is terminated.[4]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_nap

The siesta habit has recently been associated with a 37 percent reduction in coronary mortality, possibly due to reduced cardiovascular stress mediated by daytime sleep (Naska et al., 2007).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siesta


11.10  Turning Education Upside Down (10/10/2013)

Three years ago, Clintondale High School, just north of Detroit, became a “flipped school” — one where students watch teachers’ lectures at home and do what we’d otherwise call “homework” in class. Teachers record video lessons, which students watch on their smartphones, home computers or at lunch in the school’s tech lab. In class, they do projects, exercises or lab experiments in small groups while the teacher circulates.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/turning-education-upside-down/

10. HEALTH - 2013

10.1 Being moderately overweight might not pose health risk
10.2 Health study of  NFL players universally lauded
10.3 A Safer Way to Affordable Health Care
10.4 Aging Poorly
10.5 Everyday Activities May Have Same Health Benefits as Going to Gym

10.6 Health Officials Urge F.D.A Action on Soft Drinks
10.7 'There is no safe threshold for alcohol and cancer risk'
10.8 Six Health Problems Linked to Lack of Sleep 
10.9 When it comes to Women's Health, Politicians Still Don't Get it
10.10 New tattoo inks may cause complications

10.11  CDC sounds alarm on deadly, untreatable superbugs
10.12 Dr. Shetty on Heart
10.13 The Air That Kills in India
10.14 Nanny-in-chief or health crusader?
10.15 Drugs do not equal health

10.16 At chicken plants, chemicals blamed for health ailments
10.17 The health conundrum 
10.18 Fast food's takeover of France
10.19 Should The World Invest More in Men's Health? 
10.20 Celebrities Who Should Have Never Attempted Plastic Surgery

10.21 Economist explores the roots of global health 
10.22 Doctors prescribe narcotics too often for pain, CDC chief says
10.23 Active Design
10.24 Are Aging Parents in La-La Land About their health?
10.25 Plastic surgery to improve appearance

10.26 Next-Gen Solution for shocking Muscle Gains?
10.27 Sugar
10.28 Wimbledon Champion Retires, Citing Recurring Pain
10.29 Obesity's death toll could be higher than believed
10.30  Doctors sound alarm on child fitness and health

10.31 BMI is not an accurate measure of health
10. 32 Concussion Lawsuit
10.33 Our children need to move more and watch less
10.34 Fruits not fruit juice
10.35 Europe's public health disaster

10.36 New CPR - A MUST WATCH!!!
10.37 Health kick 'reverses cell aging'
10.38 Plain packaging laws for cigarette
10.39 Patents
10.40 High fat / high-sugar foods

10.41 Stroke Numbers Up Worldwide 
10.42 Drug resistant TB
10.43 Fast food restaurants doing little to promote healthy options for kids
10.44 Many children 'slower runners than their parents were'
10.45 Modern-day health woes

10.46 Sugar
10.47 Wasting money on vitamins
10.48 The best preventive medicine?





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10.1  Being moderately overweight might not pose health risk  (1/1/2013)


There are a range of possible reasons why people who are overweight might fare better in studies than those who are of normal weight, said obesity researcher Dr. Steven B. Heymsfield, executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La.
Only some of those explanations suggest that carrying a few extra pounds truly makes someone healthier.
For example, some studies suggest that people who are overweight or mildly obese are treated more aggressively by their doctors for blood pressure or cholesterol problems than those who are of normal weight, said Heymsfield, who was not involved in the study but co-wrote a commentary that accompanied it.
Preferential treatment could more than compensate for a higher rate of health problems among those who are overweight or mildly obese.
.. Study lead author Katherine M. Flegal, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she and her colleagues could not say what lay behind the apparent survival edge for overweight people. But she noted that it had been observed before in other studies.
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/01/science/la-sci-overweight-survival-20130102


PILE OF RUBBISH?

Dr Walter Willett, from the Harvard School of Public Health said: "This is an even greater pile of rubbish" than a study conducted by the same group in 2005.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20889381

10.2  Health study of NFL players universally lauded (1/1/2013)


Harvard researchers have determined that professional football players in the United States and Canada “appear to have life expectancies in the mid-to-late 50s.” Atallah said the Players Association has not done recent life-expectancy studies of its own.
“But I do know that from the research we have done, NFL players are at a greater risk for long-term health problems, and that’s one of the things that this research aims to tackle,” he said. “It’s a comprehensive look at the overall health of players, where head trauma and brain trauma and the impact on the brain is one of the areas we cover, but we also cover chronic pain, mental illnesses, and a score of other health issues that they face.”
... Hundreds of former players are suing the league, charging that the NFL did not do enough to inform them of the dangers of concussions.
http://bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/01/30/nfl-players-putting-money-toward-player-health-research/w94CEo93buzbIUrEEeOowJ/story.html


10.3  A Safer Way to Affordable Health Care  (1/2/2013)


Archimedes said that if you gave him a large enough lever, and a proper fulcrum,
he could move the world. For social change, the fulcrum is personal choice ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-a-georgescu/safer-way-affordable-care_b_2580986.html


10.4  Aging Poorly (5/2/2013)


"About half of people 20 years ago said they exercised regularly, which meant three times a week, and that rate now is only about 18 percent," he says. "That's an astonishing change in just one generation."
The impact could be far-reaching if millions of baby boomers are already in such bad shape just as they're starting to grow old.
"The implications for health care costs in the next decade are astounding," King says. "The baby boomers are going into those high medical-use years in much worse condition than their forefathers."
... Despite all this, baby boomers are living longer than their parents. But along the way, they're having a lot more knee operations and taking a lot more pills for blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/02/04/171008686/aging-poorly-another-act-of-baby-boomer-rebellion
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The speculations in the comments section are interesting.

Selvaraj



10.5  Everyday Activities May Have Same Health Benefits as Going to Gym (10/2/2013)

 SUNDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Short stretches of physical activity -- such as taking the stairs or raking leaves -- throughout the day can be just as beneficial as a trip to the gym, according to a new study.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/02/10/everyday-activities-may-have-same-health-benefits-as-going-to-gym



10.6  Health Officials Urge F.D.A Action on Soft Drinks  (13/2/2013)


Sodas and sugary drinks are the biggest source of calories in the American diet, adding 300 to 400 calories to the average consumer’s total daily caloric intake. At least one-quarter of the total calories consumed each day by roughly one-fifth of children aged 12 to 18 come from added sugars, according to the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a survey done by the Centers for Disease Control.
The centers noted that a typical 20-ounce bottle of soda contains an amount of high fructose corn syrup equivalent to roughly 16 teaspoons of sugar. The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons and men no more than 9 teaspoons of added sugar a day.

10.7  'There is no safe threshold for alcohol and cancer risk'  (17/2/2013)

 While previous research has consistently shown that alcohol consumption is a significant risk factor for cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and liver, more recent research has demonstrated that alcohol consumption also increases the risk of cancers of the colon, rectum and female breast.


10.8  Six Health Problems Linked to Lack of Sleep (1/1/2013)

6 Health Problems Linked to Lack of Sleep




10.9  When it comes to Women's Health, Politicians Still Don't Get it  (1/3/2013)


Florida has two million uninsured women and nearly 1.9 million more who need contraceptive services and supplies. Women don't come to Planned Parenthood to make a political statement. They come for confidential, non-judgmental care. And they don't want their health care to be politicized. So when legislators attack women's health and Planned Parenthood, they're attacking the single mother working two jobs who gets birth control at Planned Parenthood. They're attacking the recently laid off woman who has nowhere else to turn. When they attack birth control, they attack virtually all women, since, according to the Guttmacher Institute, 99 percent of us have used it.

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'Planned Parenthood' is a lousy name! They should think of changing it to say 'Woman's Health Services' or even 'Family Planning Services'.

Selvaraj


10.10  New tattoo inks may cause complications  (3/3/2013)

Washington: Modern tattoo inks are causing increased complications like allergic reactions, serious infections and reactions that can mimic skin cancer, a dermatologist has claimed.

Tattoo ink`s composition has changed dramatically over the years. In the past, metal salts, lead, cobalt and carbon were used in inks but today, many modern tattoo inks (especially intense reds and yellows) contain organic azo dyes with plastic-based pigments, which also have industrial uses in printing, textiles and car paint.

As a result, Michi Shinohara, MD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist and clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Washington in Seattle, explained that there are many unknowns about how these inks interact with the skin and within the body and if they are responsible for an increasing number of complications. - See more at: http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/health-news/new-tattoo-inks-may-cause-complications-that-mimic-skin-cancer_20866.html#sthash.YgUKbBR1.dpuf

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Humans are a crazy species :-) They lack common sense :-(

Selvaraj


10.11  CDC sound alarm on deadly, untreatable superbugs (6/3/2013)

CDC sounds alarm on deadly, untreatable superbugs



10.12  Dr. Shetty on Heart  (10/3/2013)

Q: Which is the best and worst food for the heart? 
Ans: Fruits and vegetables are the best and the worst is oil. 

Q: Which oil is better - groundnut, sunflower, olive? 
Ans: All oils are bad 

Q: How would you define junk food? 
Ans: Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds , samosas, and even masala dosas. 



10.13  The Air That Kills in India  (14/2/2013)


The thick haze of outdoor air pollution common in India today is the nation’s fifth-largest killer, after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution (mainly from cookfires), smoking and poor nutrition, according to a new analysis presented in New Delhi by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute. In 2010, outdoor air pollution contributed to over 620,000 premature deaths in India, up from 100,000 in 2000.
‘’It’s not just breathing bad air,’’ said Aaron Cohen, the principal epidemiologist at the institute. “A host of diseases is related to air pollution, such as cardiovascular diseases that lead to heart attacks and strokes, respiratory infections and lung cancer.”
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In Trivandrum we have our own brand of this problem, with garbage disposal in disarray and a frenzy of garbage burning going on without any attempt to segregate the garbage. The government and the public are equally unaware of the consequences. A scene from the front of my house which adjoins the Government Higher Secondary School for Girls, Mathrubhumi Road, Vanchioor (where children from poorer families study). The school authorities have sent a number of representations, as the fumes and the stench make it difficult on the teachers and the students; the authorities are still to respond. In India problems relating to handling and disposal of garbage is left to uneducated people belonging to the depressed classes. 

Selvaraj


10.14  Nanny-in-chief or health crusader?  (24/3/2013)

"We have a worldwide, nationwide problem on obesity. This year, more people will die from overeating than from starvation -- first time in the history of the world."


10.15  Drugs do not equal health  (8/4/2013)

Drugs do not equal health:http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/stress-and-health-dr-lind/2013/apr/7/drugs-health/



10.16  At chicken plants, chemicals blamed for health ailments  (25/4/2013)



Under the new rules, which could be finalized as soon as this summer, the number of chemical treatments used on birds is also likely to further increase, according to agency documents and USDA inspectors who have worked in plants where line speeds have already accelerated.
To keep speeds up, the new regulations would allow visibly contaminated birds to remain on the lines — rather than being discarded or removed for off-line cleaning, as is now common practice. The proposed rules say “all carcasses” on the line would be treated with antimicrobial chemicals “whether they are contaminated or not.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-chicken-plants-chemicals-blamed-for-health-ailments-are-poised-to-proliferate/2013/04/25/d2a65ec8-97b1-11e2-97cd-3d8c1afe4f0f_story.html

10.17  The health conundrum  (29/4/2013)


 More than two of five adults—75 million people—reported problems with medical bills. Problems included an inability to their pay bills, being contacted by a collection agency, or being forced to change their way of life to meet medical costs. Of those reporting problems paying bills, 32 million said they had received a lower credit rating as a result, making it more difficult and expensive to obtain credit to purchase a home or car and threatening higher credit card interest rates and reductions in credit lines.
An estimated 28 million people reported using all of their savings to pay off medical bills. One-quarter of adults reported being unable to pay for basic necessities such as food, heat or rent due to medical costs, while 17 million delayed career or education plans. Four million people reported filing for bankruptcy; 5 million took out a second mortgage or other loan. Those unable to find a way to finance their medical care have been forced to go without.

The original article:
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2013/Apr/Insuring-the-Future.aspx


10.18  Fast food's takeover of France  (6/5/2013)


More than half of all French restaurant sales now take place, sacrilegiously, at fast food chains, according to a new survey by food consultancy firm Gira Conseil.
This is the first time fast food sales have surpassed sit-down restaurant sales in France —  you know, the the country that gave us cafes, bistros and the Michelin star. It also makes France the world’s second-biggest consumer of fast food, NPR reports, with 1,200 McDonalds franchises alone.
... So why the sudden taste for burgers and frites? NPR’s Amy Guttman suspects it has to do with France’s shrinking lunch breaks, which have fallen from 80 minutes in 1975 to a hurried 22 minutes in 2011.
... Another economic explanation might have more to do with cost, one of the same reasons fast food is so popular in the U.S. Food is not cheap in France.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/06/how-economics-are-driving-fast-foods-takeover-of-france/

10.19  Should The World Invest More in Men's Health?  (20/5/2013)

On average, men aren't as healthy as women.
Men don't live as long, and they're more likely to engage in risky behaviors, like smoking and drinking.
But in the past decade, global health funding has focused heavily on women.
Programs and policies for men have been "notably absent," Sarah Hawkes from the University of London's Institute of Global Health.
She and a colleague a commentary in The Lancet on Friday calling for more gender equality in global health funding.
"If you look at the top 10 health problems around the world, they are much more common in men," she tells Shots. "But the current focus is predominantly on women's health. "
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/05/17/184771915/the-unsafe-sex-should-the-world-invest-more-in-mens-health

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Two points missing from the  above commentary:
1) As chief wage earners, the finances of the family will go for a six when men cannot earn due to ill health and in addition have to undergo medical treatment.
2) Even when they are not ill, their substance abuse habits are likely to strain the finances of their families... eventually compromising the health of the whole family.
Selvaraj



10.20  Celebrities Who Should Have Never Attempted Plastic Surgery  (4/6/2013)

Hollywood culture centers on the youthful, attractive features of its much-adored stars. Yet, as these actresses and actors grow older, they face constant pressure to resist the aging process and retain their youthful good looks. Unfortunately, this cultural obsession with youth has led to a number of sad plastic surgery mishaps.

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If anyone understands that the musculoskeletal system in intimately linked, he will think twice before doing surgeries of this nature. The human body is not a rock that can be sculpted locally without affecting the other parts. Ignorance about the musculoskeletal system in the highest reaches of modern science is simply amazing. Since this ignorance affects children adversely, it is also highly regrettable. 

Selvaraj



10.21  Economist explores the roots of global health  (23/6/2013)

Alsan began to think about the root causes of death and disease, and realized that if she really wanted to make a difference, she needed to know more than how to treat an individual patient with medicine. She needed to understand how social forces affect a population’s health.


.. Alsan plans to keep observing the effects of the vaccination campaign by dissecting Turkish census data. Ultimately, she hopes to show the economic impact of early childhood intervention as it relates to children’s ability to contribute to society later in life. As she has been finding, keeping a child healthy can also have a positive effect on the entire household. http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/06/22/physician-economist-explores-roots-global-health/168pgSBN1PmPL2gpDf2AdI/story.html



10.22  Doctors prescribe narcotics too often for pain, CDC chief says  (3/7/2013)
The nation's top public health official on Tuesday sharply criticized the widespread treatment of aches and pains with narcotics, saying that doctors are prescribing such drugs too soon, too often and for too long — putting patients at risk of addiction and overdose.
Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that doctors are relying on these powerful drugs to treat chronic pain when physical therapy, exercise and other remedies would be safer and in many cases more effective.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rx-painkillers-20130703,0,916397.story

10.23  Active Design  (18/7/2013)


Active design has gained cachet in recent years among architects and public health experts, who see it as a low-key but effective way to build more exercise into lives that cars, elevators and other factors have made more sedentary over the decades. Less than half of American adults met aerobic exercise guidelines in 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
New Yorkers are on the move more than many Americans, because lots of city residents depend on public transportation, walking and bicycles to get around. Still, only 30% of New Yorkers get recommended amounts of physical activity, city Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said.
Active design can entail making sidewalks more inviting, biking more convenient, and the like. And especially in a vertical city, "stair-climbing is an important, valuable, and under-recognized form of physical activity," Farley said. A 150-pound person burns about 10 calories a minute walking up stairs, compared to 1.5 calories riding an elevator, according to the CDC.


10.24  Are Aging Parents in La-La Land About their health?  (1/8/2013)

 The study found that sixty percent of seniors expect their health to stay the same over the next five to 10 years. (Who are they kidding?)  They are not doing any activities to help themselves manage their health over the long run.  65 percent of seniors report having at least two chronic health conditions.
From seeing this part of the study, I am concerned.  Chronic health conditions need to be managed or they are sure to get worse over time, not stay the same. Yet the majority of the seniors in the study did not report taking their chronic health issues seriously enough to work on managing them.  They must be in la-la land.
More than half of the seniors studied have set no goals, such as regular physical activity or weight loss, to manage their health.  And these seniors are apparently not getting much help on this goal setting either.  Of those with chronic health conditions, 7 in 10 state that they were not encouraged by their health care provider to attend community programs to help with their health.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolynrosenblatt/2013/07/31/are-aging-parents-in-la-la-land-about-their-health/
10.25  Plastic surgery to improve appearance  (4/8/2013)

Are you hoping to shave ten years off your appearance by doing expensive and painful shit to your face? Before you get on the operating table, you might like to know that a new study suggests the visual effects of plastic surgery (specifically: face-lifts, brow-lifts, and eyelid surgery) are not nearly as dramatic as we’ve been led to believe.

Read more: http://www.thegloss.com/2013/08/02/beauty/plastic-surgery-study/#ixzz2axZJGUYF


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The human musculoskeletal system is linked from the tip of the nose to the tip of the toes. The only way to improve appearance and well being is to improve postural balance. (People who are badly scarred will need plastic surgery).

Selvaraj.

10.26  Next-Gen Solutions for Shocking Muscle Gains!?  (9/8/2013)

Since its launch in 2009, Force Factor has enjoyed skyrocketing success, winning honors like GNC’s "Rising Star" award and Bodybuilding.com’s "Best New Brand" award while transforming the bodies of thousands of men and women throughout the U.S. Today, they’ve improved upon their original, groundbreaking formula and have released the most advanced nitric oxide supplement on the market: Factor 2.
http://www.smarterlifestyles.com/2013/06/13/next-gen-solution-for-shocking-muscle-gains-ca2/

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 Nitric Oxide, artificially introduced, will be impossible to detect if it is also produced by the body naturally. Is this what sports medicine professionals spend their time and energy on?
Selvaraj

10.27  Sugar  (14/8/2013)

Studies indicate that between 13 and 25 percent of Americans get a quarter or more of their calories from added sugars, which also include candy, cookies, fruit drinks and ice cream. While previous studies have found sugar has a toxic effect, they generally used amounts much higher than most people actually eat, said the study's first author, James Ruff.
"I think the big takeaway is the level of sugar we readily eat and think is safe causes major health declines in mice," said Ruff, who recently earned his doctorate at the U. "We're not just talking about some minor metabolic thing. We're taking about increased rates of death and [lower rates] of reproduction."


10.28  Wimbledon Champion Retires, Citing Recurring Pain  (15/8/2013)

Wimbledon Champion Retires, Citing Recurring Pain

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More research is needed on sports injuries and why they happen. Are certain sports more prone to injuries?

Selvaraj

10.29  Obesity's death toll could be higher than believed  (17/8/2013)

The death toll of the nation's obesity epidemic may be close to four times higher than has been widely believed, and all that excess weight could reverse the steady trend of lengthening life spans for a generation of younger Americans, new research warns.
Some 18.2% of premature deaths in the United States between 1986 and 2006 were associated with excess body mass, according to a team of sociologists led by a Columbia University demographer. That estimate, published online Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health, is far higher than the 5% toll widely cited by researchers.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-obesity-20130816,0,1789948.story
10.30  Doctors sound alarm on child fitness and health  (22/8/2013)

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which represents the UK's 11,000 specialist children's doctors, said it was worried about the trend towards so many children entertaining themselves indoors in front of devices rather than outdoors as previous generations did.
Prof Mitch Blair, the college's officer for health promotion, said: "It concerns me that half of all UK seven-year-olds are sedentary for six to seven hours every day and are failing to undertake the recommended daily minimum level of physical activity; at an age at which children should be moving around a lot more and enjoying active play instead of being glued to screens."
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Is there a practical way to solve this problem?
Good posture is also important.
A child with good posture will be naturally active even in an adverse environment.
Selvaraj

10.31  BMI is not an accurate measure of health  (25/8/2013)

Obesity is a serious issue in the United States. According to the CDC, more than 33 percent of U.S. adults are obese. In fact, the estimated yearly medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008; the health care costs for obese individuals were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.

Read more: http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/bmi-is-not-an-accurate-measure-of-health-researchers-argue/#ixzz2cxkoBWj2


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This is an issue I am also trying to understand, as part of my interest in 'Posture'.

Selvaraj


10.32  Concussion Lawsuit  (30/8/2013)

The NFL has agreed to a $765 million settlement deal with thousands of former players who sued the league, accusing it of hiding the dangers of brain injury while profiting from the sport's violence, according to court papers released Thursday.
The league agreed to pay $765 million to fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation and a program of medical research as well as to cover some legal expenses, according to a filing in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
... More than 4,500 players had accused the league of glorifying football's ferocity while concealing the risks of concussions and long-term brain damage as a result of repeated hits to the head.
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The above issue relates to pounding taken by the brain. It is important to do similar research to pin down what happens when we engage in sports with faulty posture. Especially when the sporting activity is intense and of a competitive nature - what is the nature of the damage to the musculoskeletal system (if any)?
Selvaraj

10.33  Our children need to move more and watch less  (1/9/2013)

Unfortunately, the trend continues to go in the wrong direction. Thirty-five years ago, daily physical education was the norm for K-12 students. Today, according to the American Heart Association, only four percent of elementary schools, seven percent of middle schools and two percent of high schools have daily physical education class for the entire school year. Twenty-two percent of schools don't require physical education class at all!
Moreover, the amount of time students spend in physical education steadily declines from kindergarten through high school. By high school, most kids in our country are basically done with P.E. The result is that elementary school kids -- who are increasingly overweight and obese themselves -- are now 24 percent more active than high school students.
It's important to note that young people who are active through high school are more active than their less-active school peers through their adult years. Active children tend to turn into active adults.
Bottom line: Our children need to move more and watch less.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ken-reed/physical-education-trend-_b_3845922.html
10.34  Fruits not  fruit juice  (8/9/2013)

Popkin, a distinguished professor at the department of nutrition at the University of North Carolina, told the Guardian that smoothies and fruit juice are the new danger.
He added that it’s kind of the next step in the evolution of the battle, and it’s a really big part of it because in every country they’ve been replacing soft drinks with fruit juice and smoothies as the new healthy beverage.
Researchers from the UK, USA and Singapore found that, in large-scale studies involving nurses, people who ate whole fruit, especially blueberries, grapes and apples, were less likely to get type 2 diabetes, which is obesity-related, but those who drank fruit juice were at increased risk.
http://www.dnaindia.com/health/1886164/report-fruit-juices-and-smoothies-not-as-healthy-as-believed-to-be

10.35  Europe's public health disaster  (9/9/2013)

What we have learned is that severe, indiscriminate cuts to vital social protection programs are not only economically self-defeating, but fatal. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/09/business/europes-public-health-disaster-how-austerity-kills/?hpt=ibu_c1


10.36  New CPR - A MUST WATCH!!!  (17/9/2013)

Please watch - and then share.  This short video illustrates the best  demonstration and gives the simplest explanation of exactly what to do if  someone near you collapses and is presumably having a heart attack.   You could very well save the life of a friend or loved one.  Someone  you share this video with might save your life!
http://heart.arizona.edu/cpr-video
>

10.37  Health kick 'reverses cell aging'  (17/9/2013)

The University of California team says it has found the first evidence a strict regime of exercise, diet and meditation can have such an effect.
But experts say although the study in Lancet Oncology is intriguing, it is too early to draw any firm conclusions.
The study looked at just 35 men with prostate cancer. Those who changed their lifestyle had demonstrably younger cells in genetic terms.
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Not surprising, similar effects should be there with good posture. Even thought we all age, faulty breathing and improper circulation of blood due to excessive tension must impact the system at the cellular level.
Selvaraj

10.38  Plain packaging laws for cigarette  (25/9/2013)

The Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has revealed a proposal to package all cigarettes in the olive green cartons covered with large health warnings.
If the draft legislation passes through parliament Australia will become the first country in the world to implement plain packaging laws for cigarettes.
Retailers and tobacco companies have campaigned against the changes, saying they will not reduce smoking rates.
But Professor Mike Daube says tobacco companies hate the idea because they know it will stop people smoking.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/08/3185876.htm

10.39  Patents  (6/10/2013)

 
There are at least five big departures of our health care system from a classical free market:

...5. In order to spur research into new drugs, the government gives temporary monopolies on the production of life-saving drugs—a.k.a. patents—that push the price of those drugs far above the actual cost of production. .

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Interesting thought - Patents do not match the ideals of a classical free market!?
Selvaraj
- The history of patents and patent laws is generally considered to have started in Italy with a Venetian Statute of 1474 which was issued by the Republic of Venice.[1] They issued a decree by which new and inventive devices, once they had been put into practice, had to be communicated to the Republic in order to obtain legal protection against potential infringers. The period of protection was 10 years.[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_patent_law
10.40  High fat / high-sugar foods  (16/10/2013)

“Our research supports the theory that high-fat/ high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do,” Neuroscience Professor Joseph Schroeder said in a school press release. “It may explain why some people can’t resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them.”  
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/10/15/college-study-finds-oreo-cookies-are-as-addictive-as-drugs/

10.41  Stroke Numbers Up Worldwide  (24/10/2013)

The overall burden of stroke in terms of absolute numbers of people affected around the world is growing, especially in younger age groups and in low-to-middle-income countries, a global study showed.
In 2010, there were 16.9 million people who had a first stroke, 33 million stroke survivors, and 5.9 million people who died from a stroke -- increases of 68%, 84%, and 26% respectively since 1990, according toValery Feigin, MD, of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and colleagues.
In addition, 102 million disability-adjusted life years DALYs were lost, up 12%, the researchers reported online in The Lancet.
What's more, there was a 25% (95% CI 13% to 33%) increased incidence of stroke in those ages 20 to 64. At the end of the study period, 31% of first strokes occurred in people younger than 65, up from 25% in 1990...


10.42  Drug resistant TB  (3/11/2013)

The activists hijacked the stage and shouted  slogans like ‘Shame India’ and ‘The tuberculosis genocide must stop’. They also pointed at the Indian delegation and said, “They should take the next flight back home and fix the supply, management and monitoring systems for tuberculosis to a desired level. If you don’t do this, India is going to be a breeding ground for drug resistant TB. We, global citizens, are not going to allow other global citizens who you are custodians of, to continue suffering like this.”
http://www.dnaindia.com/health/report-paris-health-meet-shames-india-on-tb-drugs-shortage-1913111

It is a well-known fact that about eight out of 10 Indians carry dormant TB bacillus. The problem starts when these TB bacilli become active and start spreading. An unhealthy lifestyle, lack of nutrition and low immunity can cause TB in any person, say doctors.

...
Doctors believe that While TB can spread through air, it is the citizens, especially those from well-to-do families, who are responsible for making the TB bacilli drug-resistant.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-30/mumbai/31005446_1_tb-bacilli-drug-sensitivity-drug-resistance
In Arunachal Pradesh 1 in 10 people suffer from TB!
http://infochangeindia.org/public-health/statistics/morbidity-statewise-number-of-persons-per-100000-usual-household-residents-suffering-from-asthma.html

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There is HUGE variation in the worldwide incidence of TB. Poverty? Cleanliness? Better Medical Treatment?
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
Selvaraj
10.43  Fast food restaurants doing little to promote healthy options to kids  (10/11/2013)

The study also found that 97 percent of kids' meals don't even meet the restaurant industry's own standards for what is considered a healthy meal. The study showed that the healthy options are rarely offered as a default. Instead, unhealthy options like soft drinks and fries usually come by default.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/08/fast-food-restaurants-doing-little-to-promote-healthy-options-to-kids/
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How do we balance the benefits that Market Economy brings, with social goods which come into conflict with Market Economy in many spheres?
Basically the Market Economy also controls the Educational System, the Government and the Media.
Better Education (or no educational at all :-) is perhaps the key to this dilemma.
Selvaraj

10.44  Many children 'slower runners than their parents were'  (20/11/2013)

Many children cannot run as fast as their parents could when they were young, a study of global fitness says.
Experts say the work - being presented at the American Heart Association's annual meeting - suggests children's fitness levels may be declining.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24998497
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We have our lame duck engineering profession to thank for this. Forget running, if a child attempts to even walk outside he is going to be run over by a car.
Selvaraj

10.45  Modern-day health woes  (1/12/2013)

Beware: More and more research suggests that blue light from a light-emitting diode (LED) screen -- the type of screen on most computers, phones, TVs and other devices these days -- can inhibit the production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin and disrupt our circadian rhythms. Researchers think this is because LED-generated blue light emits wavelengths very similar to daylight, so it can make our bodies think it's daytime all the time.
In a 2011 study in the Journal of Applied Physiology, participants who viewed an LED screen at bedtime had melatonin levels that took longer to rise and remained lower during the night than when they looked at old-fashioned fluorescent monitors.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/29/health/modern-health-woes/

10.46  Sugar  (1/12/2013)

"You hear people saying, 'Why are we all of a sudden freaked out about sugar?' The answer is scientists have actually started to learn things the public isn't aware of," Schmidt said. "People don't understand how much added sugar they're getting in their diet."
She said food manufacturers are putting sugar in almost everything, even if the foods don't taste sweet. Bagels, bread, sauces, salad dressing, ketchup, sausage - all of them contain added sugar. Women should eat no more than six teaspoons of sugar a day, but most eat three or four times that, Schmidt said. The recommended limit for men is nine teaspoons.
"I would rather get my teaspoons in a nice big piece of chocolate cake rather than in a pork sandwich or salad dressing," she said.
The UCSF research team argues that the federal government needs to intervene, as it has with tobacco and alcohol.
"If you have a substance that's both toxic and abused, which is what we have, then you need societal intervention," Lustig said.
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Experts-back-nanny-state-health-efforts-5022777.php
10.47  Wasting money on vitamins  (18/12/2013)

Looking for ways to save money in 2014? Here's some advice from doctors: Stop buying vitamins.
Time after time, studies have shown that vitamin and mineral supplements don’t prevent disease or death. And yet consumers keep buying them, lament the authors of an editorial published in Tuesday’s edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
A 2011 report from the National Center for Health Statistics estimated that 53% of American adults used some type of supplement in the years 2003 to 2006, with multivitamin/multimineral formulations being the most popular. Those pills weren’t cheap – U.S. consumers spent $28 billion on them in 2010 alone, the editorial says.

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-vitamin-supplements-waste-of-money-20131217,0,3582353.story#ixzz2nmdQIwsq
10.48  The best preventive medicine?  (31/12/2013)

If losing weight and looking better isn’t enough motivation to inspire you to exercise, how about the fact that the latest research shows that regular physical activity may be “the best preventive drug we have” for many health problems?
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20131230/WIRE/131239978?Title=The-best-preventive-medicine-Exercise
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I would put (NATURAL) PHYSICAL ACTIVITY as being more important than either GOOD POSTURE or EXERCISE for people who lead sedentary lives.
It is extraordinary that we have crafted a civilization where we design our environment (including the nature of our clothing) to reduce physical activity to dangerously low levels.

Worse still, children whose nervous systems are still to mature, are trapped in this dangerous environment.
Selvaraj