Scientists have revealed a biological connection between obesity and colorectal cancer, and they have identified an approved drug that might prevent the cancer from developing.
They found that obesity, whether from excess fat, carbohydrate consumption or both, is associated with loss of the hormone guanylin. Guanylin is produced in the lining cells, or epithelium, of the intestine.
By switching the tumor suppressor back on in this way, cancer development was prevented, even when mice continued to eat excess calories.
The experiments showed that the hormone and its receptor were far more likely to be silenced in obese mice than in lean mice. Dr Waldman and his team proposes that colorectal cancer could be prevented in obese individuals through hormone replacement therapy, in the same way that diabetes is treated with insulin.
Dr Waldman says, “Calories sit in the middle of [obesity and colorectal cancer], but the question of what they were doing has been one of the most perplexing and provocative questions in cancer research. Now we finally have a big clue as to the origin of colorectal cancer in obese individuals and perhaps in other people as well.”
Six ways to prevent knee damage
Knee problems are prevalent worldwide. Knees are the poor souls that have to carry your weight around literally. Here are a few ways to prevent your knees, from damage.
Most of us today follow a sedentary lifestyle, where a majority of our day is spent sitting on the chair. This is where the height of your chair gets all the more important. Make sure your hips are an inch or two higher than your knees. Also, avoid sitting cross-legged.
Some people push themselves to walk and walk more when their knees are giving trouble, believing that the more they flex their knee muscles, the better they will get. But it doesn’t really work that way. Sometimes you could be hurting your knees more with walking. When you walk, your motion should come from the pelvis. Your body should be tilted a little bit forward, where your body weight is in front. Additionally, when you walk, your knee should line up over your second toe. A lot of people walk with their toe out and it puts pressure on the knees. If the knee and foot point in different directions, you need to correct your alignment.
Nothing quite looks as classy as a low seating sofa, chairs or poofs. Wish they also came with health check. Low chairs, sofas only aggravate knee problems as they put more pressure on your knees.
Good footwear is important to support the foot and provide good cushion. So how do we exactly define good footwear? It is something that gives proper support to your foot arch. A poor diet is also responsible for knee issues. Your diet should have calcium and essential vitamins and minerals. Lack of Vitamin D is a big reason for women suffering from bone issues.
Five subtle signs you are
dehydrated
Thirst and urine colour can tell you that you have to gulp more water but sometimes these sins are absent and still you may be dehydrated. This is because some signs of dehydration are subtle.
Researchers at the University of Connecticut’s Human Performance Laboratory tested the mood and concentration of 25 women who drank healthy amounts of water one day, and then didn’t over the next two days. When slightly dehydrated, the women reported fatigue, irritability, headaches and difficulty focusing. In a separate test, men who were mildly dehydrated also experienced fatigue and had a tough time with mental tasks.
You might mistake needing to drink for wanting to nosh, especially post-exercise. “After a strenuous session, we are not only dehydrated, but our glycogen stores are depleted,” says Kim Larson, RDN, sports dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. Glycogen is a form of stored carbohydrates that our body uses as fuel; the cravings are just our bodies telling us we need more of it.
Pinch the back of your hand and hold for a few seconds; when you let go, your skin should snap back into position pretty quickly. If it’s slow to return to normal, take that as a cue to hydrate. With more moderate or severe dehydration, the pinched-up skin will remain “tented” in place
According to research published in Physiology and Behavior, driving while dehydrated may be just as dangerous as getting behind the wheel intoxicated, in terms of how many mistakes you could make on the road.
Dehydration causes fatigue and affects our cognitive abilities, like clear thinking and reaction time.
Blood volume and pressure drops when you’re dehydrated, which can leave you feeling dizzy or faint, or bring on that rush of light-headedness after you quickly get up from sitting or lying down.

Published in The Nation newspaper on 30-Mar-2016

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I Am The Captain Of My Soul .. !
--- Nelson Mandela ..