India’s City Dwellers at Greater Risk than Americans for Heart Disease, from Scientific American Blog

Image courtesy of iStockphoto/JeremyRichards

Diabetes, heart disease, stroke and other afflictions that once primarily plagued wealthier, western countries are now accelerating in poorer nations.

A new study reveals that risk factors for heart disease in Indian cities are now more prevalent than they are in the U.S. or Western Europe per capita. And with a population of more than 1.1 billion, India’s health is a major global concern.

Cardiovascular disease is still the leading killer in the U.S., but it has been on steady decline for decades. In India and other countries, such as China and Brazil, this and other diseases linked to an unhealthier lifestyle, are on the rise.

“India has the dubious distinction of being known as the coronary and diabetes capital of the world,” Prakash Deedwania, of the University of California, San Francisco and co-author of the report, said in a prepared statement.

For the study, the researchers assessed the health of 6,198 adults who lived in 11 cities in various parts of India. Across the country about 79 percent of men and 83 percent of women didn’t get much exercise, and 41 percent of men and 45 percent of women were overweight or obese, the team found. And high-fat, low-fruit-and-vegetable diets were common. All of these trends put people at higher odds for developing—and dying from—cardiovascular disease. The findings were presented April 20 in Dubai at the World Congress of Cardiology.

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About the Author: Katherine Harmon is an associate editor for Scientific American covering health, medicine and life sciences. Follow on Twitter @katherineharmon.

 

What Causes Inflammation? Comprehensive Look At The Causes and Effects of Inflammation

April 7, 2012 by Dov Michaeli

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Both the causes of inflammation, and the specific dangers of inflammation have been poorly understood from a scientific perspective. But this is changing. Inflammation is now understood as playing a crucial role in moderating many chronic diseases of lifestyle. Despite this, there is a lot of confusion as to exactly what causes inflammation, and what we can do to reduce it. [read more]

I (Dov Michaeli here) recently came across a great article in the PEERtrainer  website, explaining what inflammation is all about, and what can be done about it. I especially liked the road-accident metaphor. The article is long, so we’ll post it in 3 consecutive installments.

Written By Brian Rigby, Edited By Jackie Wicks , PEERtrainer Founder
Both the causes of inflammation, and the specific dangers of inflammation have been poorly understood from a scientific perspective. But this is changing.

Inflammation is now understood as playing a crucial role in moderating many chronic diseases of lifestyle. Despite this, there is a lot of confusion as to exactly what causes inflammation, and what we can do to reduce it.

This article will discuss the latest science and research, and also provide some practical advice that you can put to immediate use!

Inflammation is very well-defined by specific factors, and if you understand what these factors are and, more importantly, why they are associated with inflammation, then you are better equipped to make choices which reduce inflammation.

Inflammation is not a catch-all phrase for a lack of health, nor is it a result of unknown factors–there are very specific reasons why the actions we make in our daily lives lead to a state of chronic inflammation, just as there are specific mechanisms by which we may reduce inflammation.

What Causes Inflammation?
The first thing which must be addressed is why we get inflammation at all, and how short-term acute inflammation differs from chronic inflammation.
Inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury. Although the symptoms of acute inflammation are unpleasant, they are necessary for the healing processes the body goes through. The characteristic symptoms are pain, redness, heat, swelling, and loss of mobility.
If an ailment ends with the suffix “itis”, it is a form of inflammation. For example, arthritis comes from arthro, meaning joint, and itis, meaning inflammation. Thus, arthritis is inflammation of the joints.
more...
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