Double Doses Of Chicken Pox Vaccine Found To Be Most Effective

When vaccinating children against varicella (chicken pox), researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found, two doses are better than one. In fact, the odds of developing chicken pox were 95 percent lower in children who had received two doses of the vaccine compared with those who had received only one dose. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began recommending a single dose of chicken pox vaccine for children ages 1 to 13 in 1995. The chicken pox rate fell drastically and studies showed that the effectiveness of one dose was 86 percent. But there was still a high rate of breakthrough illness in immunized children. The CDC changed the immunization policy for chicken pox in 2006, adding a second dose for children ages 4 to 6. In this study, Shapiro and his team showed that the effectiveness of two doses is 98.3 percent.

Past studies have suggested that two doses of varicella vaccine are linked to higher antibody levels than one dose, but this is the first study to assess the clinical effectiveness of two doses of the vaccine in the general population. In a survey of Connecticut children, Shapiro and his team discovered 71 cases of chicken pox in children ages 4 and older. None of these children had received two doses of vaccine; 66 (93 percent) had received one dose and five (7 percent) had received no vaccine.

"We weren't surprised to find that two doses of varicella vaccine are highly effective and are more likely to prevent varicella than a singe dose," said Shapiro. "The findings confirm that, at least in the short term, the policy of routinely administering two rather than one dose of varicella vaccine is sensible. Other countries that are routinely immunizing children with varicella vaccine may consider changing to a two-dose regimen."

Because it has only been four years since the CDC policy change, Shapiro also recommends that there be continued monitoring of the effectiveness of two doses to assure that its high degree of effectiveness is sustained. 

India and Malaysia tie up for Ayurvedic research

After the Ayurveda Congress, Malaysia is impressed with the ancient medicinal system and has now collaborated with India to explore the potential of natural herbs in the Forest Research Institute, Malaysia (FIRM). The president of the Malaysian Society for Complementary Medicine, Dr. Lee Chee Peng said that he has invited the National Institute of Unani Medicine in Bangalore to start off with the research of natural herbs.

This invitation was extended when he had attended the Fourth World Ayurveda Congress that was held in Bangalore. He was here with a nine-member team from his society to the four-day Ayurveda congress, which ended on Monday.

Dr Lee said that India had about 9,000 natural herbs, out of which only 300 were exported to Malaysia. He also added that there was a lot of demand for traditional medicines in Malaysia and that about 70% of the population made use of this medicinal system. Dr Lee, who is chairman of International, Scientific and Research Council for Complementary Medicine, said that he is working very hard to set up a head office of the council in Malaysia soon.

Beautiful People Convey Personality Traits Better During First Impressions.

A new University of British Columbia study has found that people identify the personality traits of people who are physically attractive more accurately than others during short encounters. 

The study, published in the December edition ofPsychological Science, suggests people pay closer attention to people they find attractive, and is the latest scientific evidence of the advantages of perceived beauty. Previous research has shown that individuals tend to find attractive people more intelligent, friendly and competent than others. 

The goal of the study was to determine whether a person's attractiveness impacts others' ability to discern their personality traits, says Prof. Jeremy Biesanz, UBC Dept. of Psychology, who co-authored the study with PhD student Lauren Human and undergraduate student Genevieve Lorenzo. 

For the study, researchers placed more than 75 male and female participants into groups of five to 11 people for three-minute, one-on-one conversations. After each interaction, study participants rated partners on physical attractiveness and five major personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Each person also rated their own personality. 

Researchers were able to determine the accuracy of people's perceptions by comparing participants' ratings of others' personality traits with how individuals rated their own traits, says Biesanz, adding that steps were taken to control for the positive bias that can occur in self-reporting. 

Despite an overall positive bias towards people they found attractive (as expected from previous research), study participants identified the "relative ordering" of personality traits of attractive participants more accurately than others, researchers found. 

"If people think Jane is beautiful, and she is very organized and somewhat generous, people will see her as more organized and generous than she actually is," says Biesanz. "Despite this bias, our study shows that people will also correctly discern the relative ordering of Jane's personality traits - that she is more organized than generous - better than others they find less attractive." 

The researchers say this is because people are motivated to pay closer attention to beautiful people for many reasons, including curiosity, romantic interest or a desire for friendship or social status. "Not only do we judge books by their covers, we read the ones with beautiful covers much closer than others," says Biesanz, noting the study focused on first impressions of personality in social situations, like cocktail parties. 

Although participants largely agreed on group members' attractiveness, the study reaffirms that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Participants were best at identifying the personalities of people they found attractive, regardless of whether others found them attractive. 

According to Biesanz, scientists spent considerable efforts a half-century ago seeking to determine what types of people perceive personality best, to largely mixed results. With this study, the team chose to investigate this longstanding question from another direction, he says, focusing not on who judges personality best, but rather whether some people's personalities are better perceived. 

Natural Asthma Treatments

While quick relief medicines (referred to as relievers), long-term control medicines (referred to as preventers), and hormones (adrenaline and hydrocortisone) continue to be the most traditional approaches to managing asthma, many doctors are complementing these approaches with natural asthma treatments. In addition, there’s a growing population of sufferers who prefer taking a more natural approach to controlling their condition.

Natural asthma treatments are as much about thinking and acting smart as they are about adding non-Western approaches to your management program. For instance, the best natural treatment is to avoid known triggers. If you’re sensitive to cigarette smoke, avoid it. If cat dander triggers your asthma attacks, don’t put yourself in an environment with cats. If pollen is your culprit, find ways to remain indoors as much as possible during those high pollen seasons such as spring and autumn.

See? Simple common sense.

But let’s move on to proactive natural asthma treatments.

Vitamin and mineral supplements can be an excellent complement to conventional asthma treatments. A nutritional deficiency can weaken your immune system making it more difficult to withstand environmental triggers. By adding a regular routine of supplements, you can keep your immune system strong.

For instance, asthmatics tend to have very low magnesium levels (a mineral that helps relax the bronchial tubes) so adding a daily magnesium supplement to your diet may prove to be very beneficial. Vitamin B6 can help reduce wheezing. And studies have shown that taking Vitamin C before exercise can prevent an asthma attack.

One word of caution with supplements … make certain that they’re hypo-allergenic. You don’t want to be taking something that will aggravate your condition instead of improving it.

Next are herbal supplements. Herbs can be toxic and dangerous if taken in large doses, so make sure you read the label and follow the prescribed doses.

Tylophora indica (also referred to as Tylophora asthmatica) is a rare Ayurvedic botanical known for its anti-asthma/anti-allergy benefits. A 1969 twelve-week study involving one hundred ninety-five patients suffering from bronchial asthma resulted in approximately 15 percent of those who took Tylophora indica experienced complete to moderate relief of their asthma symptoms.

Boswella is derived from resin extracts from the Boswellia serrata tree. While this herb is most often mentioned for its anti-inflammatory properties, some studies suggest it can also be helpful for asthma. In one trial, 300 mg of boswellia serrata taken three times daily showed an improvement in the symptoms of asthma, including a reduction in asthma attacks.

Butterbur is a perennial shrub that contains petasins, which inhibit leukotrienes and histamines. In one study of butterbur, 40 percent of the participants showed improvement and were actually able to reduce their regular asthma medications.

Mullein is a weed and grows everywhere. While some people have experienced immediate relief from asthma attacks when using mullein, others have experienced no relief at all. So this herb is a bit of a hit or a miss, depending on the individual.

Elecampane is a large herbaceous plant found primarily in England. It’s recommended by some herbalists as a long-term treatment for asthma, particularly when mucus is an ever-present problem. There haven’t been any studies of elecampane. So at this time, there’s no real evidence of its effectiveness.

Always be cautious when using natural asthma treatments, and always involve your doctor in the process to make sure there won’t be any adverse reactions with your prescribed medications. And of course, never stop taking asthma medicine prescribed by your doctor without consulting with him or her first.

Discover additional natural asthma treatments and learn more about asthma and allergies in your quest to control your asthma. The better educated you are, the healthier you’ll be.

Ayurvedic product launched for treatment of H1N1

PUNE: As pandemic Influenza H1N1 spreads at an alarming rate in Pune, city-based Institute of Integrative Healthcare (IIHc) under the aegis of India International Multiversity has launched ‘Immurich’, an Ayurvedic product made out of ‘Gau-Piyush’ or cow colostrum that can act as an effective treatment against communicable and pandemic diseases.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, India International Multiversity founder Dr Vijay Bhatkar said that with increasing H1N1 cases being reported from the city and the country in general, it is difficult to find a vaccine immediately because of extreme costs, time consumption and other challenges. 

It is in this backdrop that IIHc constituted a task force of experts together to find a solution.

The task force decided to focus on nutritional immunology inspired by Ayurveda. The group found a number of references for communicable diseases in Ayurveda and recommended the use of cow colostrum as a powerful and effective treatment against many diseases, including Influenza-Like Infections (ILI).

Bhatkar said that IIHc had approached the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to test on H1N1 patients and is awaiting permission for the same.

Say goodbye to Anemia with Ayurveda !

Minor imbalances in the blood components of our body are capable of opening up a plethora of health issues, and anemia is one such common medical conditions of the blood which is characterized by low count of red blood cells (RBC). As per an official estimate released by the World Health Organization (WHO), anemia affects over one-third of the total population of the world.

This is an alarming report that calls for immediate measures, hence curbing the further outspread of iron deficiency causing anemia is a critical requirement. Besides incorporating iron-enhancing medications, extending treatments at the nutritional level has already shown great results in improvising imbalances. Herbal treatment with iron supplements like AnemiCare not only increases the quantity of iron in the body, but it also supplements the body with Vitamin C, Folic Acid and Calcium.

The simple truth is that the problems of anemia arise due to reduced or inadequate intake of iron-rich food in our diet. Our body depends majorly on iron supply from external sources in order to produce red blood cells in our bone marrows. Technically, iron is an inseparable blood component used in the structuring of blood hemoglobin, and the redness of the blood is indicative of the presence of hemoglobin. Meanwhile, there are various other underlying causes of anemia excluding inadequate dietary intake, and they are— stomach ulcers, chronic internal bleeding due colon cancer, uterine cancer, intestinal polyps, hemorrhoids and so on.

People suffering from one of these medical conditions are subjected to continuous and slow loss of blood, as a result the amount of iron in their bodies remain below the threshold limit at all times. Also, vitamins and essential minerals aid in the production of red blood cells in the blood, so in other words iron, vitamin B12 and folate are the main components required in the making of hemoglobin in the blood.

In conformity with the degree of anemia in the body whether acute or chronic, an anemic person may exhibit symptoms ranging between fatigue, low energy, weakness, shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitations and paleness. But, severe cases of anemia are reportedly characterized by chest pain, dizziness, loss of consciousness, discoloration of stool, increased heart rate, breathing and more.

In similar lines with modern medicine, Ayurvedic treatment for iron deficiency causing anemia focuses on the importance holistic approaches. Both type of treatment methods employ the power of dietary supplements and healthy lifestyles. Increasing the intake of iron-rich foods such as mustard greens, spinach, turnip greens, broccoli, parsley, watercress, brussel sprouts, beans, lentils, soya beans, fortified iron whole grains, seafood like oysters, clams, tuna, salmon et al are the simplest remedy for overcoming pang of anemic distresses.

If you reckon Ayurveda to be the safest means for treating the problems of anemia, then AnemicCare, a potent herbal iron supplement, is the right choice for your \health. This purely herbal product carries zero side-effects and time-bound use of this vegetarian capsule guarantees relief from spells of dizziness and fatigue. It is capable of improving your stamina and replenishes vitamin C, iron and folic acid in your body system.

Make Ayurveda a part of your life and enjoy limitless happiness!

Commonwealth Games popularizes Ayurveda

With the launch of the Commonwealth Games, Ayurveda, Yoga and Medical tourism in general will draw a huge number of visitors and will potentially fetch $200 million, a study that was released on Tuesday said.

Ayurveda and yoga alone will be a $135-million business during the 12-day event, while the revenue prospects for medical tourism are expected at around $65 million, says the study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).

“Job opportunity for Ayurveda, naturopathy, yoga, spa and medical tourism professionals is projected for 50,000 people,” said chamber secretary general D.S. Rawat, releasing the study. He also added that visitors from Canada, Britain and Australia would take advantage of the ancient Indian medicinal practices and traditions while they are here for the games.

According to the study, each foreigner visiting India during the Games is likely to spend Rs.10,000-Rs.35,000 ($225-$775) on ayurveda and related treatments, while the spend on medical tourism will be higher at Rs.40,000-Rs.120,000 ($885-$2,650). Occupancy at ayurveda and naturopathy centres have gone up by 60 percent, it adds.

Around 200,000 patients from overseas visit India each year, fetching a business worth over $500 million. This is expected to touch $2 billion by 2012, due to advantages such as low-cost treatment compared to the US and Europe.

Assocham also suggested to the Ministries of Health and Tourism to jointly set up a separate department and training institute to bridge the gap of skilled professionals in this field and also authorize the ayurvedic and Herbal centres.