Footballers: Too many headers 'can damage the brain'

For the perfect header, keep your eyes on the ball and make contact at the peak of your jump, say coaching experts

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• Modern footballs 'not much safer'
• Warning over Astle's death

Frequently heading a football can lead to brain injury, warn doctors who say they have found proof on brain scans.

Imaging of 32 keen amateur players revealed patterns of damage similar to that seen in patients with concussion.

There appears to be a safe cut off level of 1,000 or fewer headers a year below which no harm will be done, but the US investigators say more work is needed to confirm this.

Heading is believed to have killed the English footballer Jeff Astle.

Astle, 59, who died in 2002, developed cognitive problems after years of playing for England and West Bromwich Albion.

The coroner ruled that his death resulted from a degenerative brain disease caused by heading heavy leather footballs.

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Repetitive heading could set off a cascade of responses that can lead to degeneration of brain cells"

Lead researcher Dr Michael Lipton

Repeated trauma

Although the balls used to play soccer today are much lighter than those used in the 1960s when Astle was playing, they can still pack a punch, says lead researcher Dr Michael Lipton of Montefiore Medical Center, the university hospital for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Footballs can travel at speeds as high as 34 miles per hour during recreational play and more than double that during professional play.

However, others doubt that the force exerted by the ball would be enough to cause damage.

Dr Lipton's team set out to determine what impact on the head repeated contact with the ball might have.

They used a special type of brain scan known as diffusion tensor imaging, which is good for visualising nerve and brain tissue.

The 32 volunteers who underwent the scans were asked to say how often they headed the ball during football training and play.

This revealed that players who were "frequent headers" had obvious signs of mild traumatic brain injury on their scans.

Five brain regions were damaged - areas in the front of the brain and towards the back of the skull where processes like attention, memory, executive functioning and higher-order visual functions take place.

Jeff Astle played 361 games for West Bromwich Albion

The researchers believe the injuries build up over time.

Cumulative damage

Dr Lipton, who presented his findings at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, said: "Heading a soccer ball is not an impact of a magnitude that will lacerate nerve fibres in the brain.

"But repetitive heading could set off a cascade of responses that can lead to degeneration of brain cells."

The same volunteers also performed worse on tests designed to check cognitive abilities like verbal memory and reaction times.

The damage only occurred in players who said they headed the ball at least 1,000 times in a year. Although this might sound like a lot, it amounts to a few times a day for a regular player, say the researchers.

They recommend further studies to confirm what is a safe amount so that footballers could be advised on this.

Dr Andrew Rutherford from the School of Psychology at Keele University has been researching the possible damage caused by heading for several years. He says he is yet to be convinced by the evidence so far.

He suspects that researchers are looking at the wrong thing. He believes most head trauma seen in football is due to players clashing heads when they are going for a header, rather than contact with the ball itsel

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Stressful lives and an addiction to smartphones can lead to the phenomenon of sleep texting

Don't sleep over this one!

Case study: A young woman working in a private company gets up in the middle of the night to her vibrating smartphone. Sleepy, she notices a message and texts back. The next morning, she has no memory of sending the text. 

    The above phenomenon is now being referred to as 'sleeptexting'. Psychologist Seema Hingoranny says, "People with stressful lives are so much into sending (work-related or otherwise) messages to people the entire day that they keep doing it during the night, without even realising that they are." 
    This, however, is not a common trend yet, but city experts agree that it is happening. Former president of the Bombay Psychiatric Society, Kersi Chavda, states, "People do get up in the middle of the night to text, check their phone for emails or updates on social networking and microblogging sites, but it is not that they are unaware of it, like in sleep walking." 
    Experts agree that since smartphones are addictive for some, sleep texting is becoming common. People are not ready to ignore their smartphones - they check their phones even in the middle of intimate moments with their partners, say Chavda. "But unless it is compulsive and you are completely unaware the next morning of texting from your phone at night, this is not a serious problem." In an earlier report, sleep specialist Dr David Cunnington said that he was so worried about the disorder that he warned those experiencing the condition to leave their mobile phones out of their bedrooms. He was quoted as saying, "People are doing so much during a normal day that it can mean they feel like they're on call even at night. Because it's so easy to communicate with smartphones, it becomes more difficult to separate waking and sleeping lives." 
    Seema adds, "The symptoms of sleep texters include stress, low attention and memory spans, and low concentration. And if there are instances of something like this happening, one must start taking precautions." 
SAVE YOURSELVES 

• Avoid keeping your handset in your bedroom. 

• Accept that your body and mind need six-eight hours of sleep. 

• Try to 'switch off' from work once you are at home. 

• Do not keep your phone on the vibrate mode because that is very distracting . and will invariably wake you up.

Sleep texting is on the rise

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Heart attack between 1 & 5 am deadliest

Study Reveals Brain Releases Hormones During Sleep Which Put Strain On The Organ

New Delhi: Scientific studies have revealed that heart attacks are worst when they take place between 1 am and 5 am. 
    Researchers say the size of the heart attack and the subsequent left-ventricular function is significantly different based on the time of the attack. 
    Astudy on humans, published online in the reputed journal "Circulation Research", says "the greatest amount of injury to the heart occurs when individuals have a heart attack between 1 am and 5 am". 
    Indian doctors agreed. Dr Ramakant Panda, cardiac surgeon at Asian Heart Institute, said, "There are different phases of sleep. Early morning sleep is called rapid eye movement sleep during which people dream. The body is asleep but the mind is awake. The autonomous nervous system is stimulated which releases hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol. These hormones increase the activity of the heart which beats and works harder. But the hormones constrict the blood supply to the heart." 
    Chairman of Escorts Heart Institute Dr Ashok Seth said, "One main reason why heart attacks are worst at night is because people wait till morning to go and get an ECG. Initially, they rubbish it by thinking its indigestion and take some antacids. Instead if it occurred in the morning, people would immediately go to the hospital for an ECG." 
    "We were trying to ascertain whether the time of day when a heart attack occurs influences the amount of damage that the heart sustains," said the study's senior author Jay H Traverse, a cardiologist at Minneapolis Heart. 
    An analysis of 1,031 patients of acute heart attack identified 165 patients with their firstheart attack who had blocked arteries. 
    What are the implications of these findings? "It is important to understand that theheart's ability to protect itself against more severe damage varies over a 24-hour cycle. Identifying those protective changes may be particularly relevant for pharmaceutical manufacturers that are seeking to develop cardioprotective drugs," Traverse added.

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Health & the city: They don’t go together

Studies Show Babies Born In Cities Face Battery Of Mental And PhysicalHealth Problems

London: Living in a city can take a toll on your health — it can make you obese, infertile, depressed, and may give you potentially life-threatening diseases such as cancer, say researchers. 
    A number of studies have shown that babies born in cities, and children who grow up in them, face a battery of health problems that afflict both their physical and mental well-being. 
    In fact, urban living carries a significantly increased risk of chronic health disorders like mental illness, immune diseases, arthritis, heart diseases, cancer and fertility problems, according to the researchers. 
    The studies indicate that daily exposure to urban pollution can affect people before they are even born, leaving them prone to a lifetime of illhealth. The researchers have discovered that babies born in cities are bigger and heavier — normally a good sign — than those born in the countryside. But when they compared the placentas of mothers from a busy city and a rural area, they found that the city mums had far higher levels of chemical pollutants called xenoestrogens in their blood and in that of their unborn babies. 
    Xenoestrogens are industrial chemicals that affect human bodies in similar ways to the female hormone — oestrogen. As well as causing excess foetal growth, they have been linked to problems such as obesity, hyperactivity, early puberty, fertility problems and cancers of the lung, breast and prostate. 
    The researchers from the University of Granada, Spain, found that although city mothers were older and weighed less than rural mothers, they still gave birth to larger babies. 
    Maria Marcos, who led the study, has said that the toxic xenoestrogens seem to have a significant effect on the development of unborn children. Her report provides the latest evidence that city air can seriously hinder normal childhood development. But it doesn't end there. Laboratory tests undertaken at the Ohio State University showed how urban pollutants may cause metabolic changes in toddlers resulting in raised blood sugar levels and increased resistance to insulin. PTI

Risks of urban living affect babies even before birth

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% of people in Mumbai, Thane hit by COPD

In The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee brought to the fore a disease that society and the medical world are still grappling with. But there is another disease that claims more lives than cancer; considered as dangerous as AIDS, its fatality rate is surpassed only by heart attacks, strokes and acute lung infections—Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Described as a slow killer, COPD is fast emerging as an epidemic, affecting eight out of 100 people living in Mumbai and Thane district. The results of a city-based study show that the percentage of Mumbaikars and Thaneites suffering from COPD is much higher than the all-India figure of 4.1%. The culprit, say doctors, is smoking. 

    Researchers at the Indian Institute of Environmental Medicine 
    (IIEM) put the urban and rural 
    prevalence of COPD at 7-8%. 
    The most common cause of 
    COPD is smoking. "Around 90% 
    of people who smoke risk the chance of developing COPD," said IIEM director Dr Rohini Chowghule, a chest specialist who conducted the study on 500 men and 500 women above the age of 35 years. 
    Though the study reflected 2006 figures, city doctors say the incidence rate would have only increased in the last few years. 
    One reason, say doctors, for the higher prevalence of COPD in Mumbai is the massive population. "There is a bigger population in the city, especially of those who smoke—actively as well as passively. This is the reason more people suffer from respiratory problems," said Dr Ashok Mahasur, a chest specialist with Hinduja Hospital. "Another problem is the environmental pollution in the city. Many Mumbaikars have occupational exposure to pollution and end up falling prey to COPD," he said, adding that if repeated respiratory infections during childhood are not treated, they too can become COPD at a later age. 
    "For a long time, there are no visible effects of smoking. But over a period of time, the tubes of the air ways get inflamed. The person gets bronchitis, which is still reversible. If, however, the person continues to smoke, then the alveoli, which are tiny air sacs in the lungs, start getting damaged," said Chowghule. There are about 300 million alveoli in two adult lungs and provide a surface area almost equal to the singles area of a tennis court. But with COPD, the elasticity of the alveoli is lost. The walls of the air sacs break, thus reducing the capacity and the surface area. "The air is trapped in these damaged alveoli. There is stale air in the lungs and one has to strain to breathe," said Chowghule. 
Biomass fuel is a health hazard Another worrying aspect, say doctors, is the prevalence of COPD among women who don't smoke. Studies show that women who have to use biomass fuel for cooking purposes are more prone to COPD. Dr Amita Athavale, head of the chest department at KEM Hospital, said: "It is not just a rural phenomenon. Even women in Mumbai slums and pavements use this technique for cooking purposes." According to doctors, the morbidity is higher and gradual among women who use biomass fuel. "In the course of the disease, there comes a time when they cannot perform the most basic household chores and have to strain the abdominal and neck muscles to breathe. It is important that women are taught to maintain smokeless chulhas so that they don't fall prey to COPD at a later age," said Athavale. WHAT IS COPD? 
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD is a chronic obstruction of the flow of air through the airways and out of the lungs. The obstruction is usually permanent and progressive—the disease gets worse over time 
CAUSES 
CIGARETTE SMOKING AND SECOND-HAND SMOKE | Smoking is responsible for 90% of COPD cases. When a COPD patient stops smoking, the decline in lung function slows to the same rate as a non-smoker AIR POLLUTION | It can cause problems for people with a lung disease, but it is unclear whether outdoor air pollution contributes to the development of COPD. In the nonindustrialized world, the most common cause of COPD is indoor air pollution, usually due to indoor stoves used for cooking 
OCCUPATIONAL POLLUTANTS | Some occupational pollutants such as cadmium and silica do increase the risk of COPD. People at risk include coal miners, construction, metal and cotton workers 
SYMPTOMS 
COPD symptoms usually slowly worsen over time. Over time, symptoms may become severe enough to see a doctor 
Typically, after smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day for more than twenty years, patients with COPD develop a chronic cough, shortness of breath (dyspnoea), and frequent respiratory infections Chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis symptoms—chronic cough and sputum production—are telling signs Periodic chest infections can cause fever, dyspnoea, coughing, production of purulent (cloudy and discoloured) sputum and wheezing ADVANCED COPD SYMPTOMS Patients may develop cyanosis—bluish discoloration of the lips and nail beds—due to a lack of oxygen in blood 
They also may develop morning headaches due to the inability to remove carbon dioxide from the blood 
Some patients experience weight loss, primarily because of the additional energy that is required to breathe. Patients with COPD may cough up blood DEADLIER THAN CANCER 
Worldwide, one in 10 adults over the age of 40 may have COPD prevalence In India, the is 4.1% 
Worldwide, nearly 3 million people die from COPD every year 
    According to the World Health Organization, COPD is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, surpassed only by heart attack, stroke, and acute lung infections. It kills more people than cancer, and as many people as AIDS

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DIAL DFOR DENTIST

Are we really as aware as we should be when it comes to oral health? Debarati S Sen finds out how to ward off diseases with proper dental care

    Dental care is something not many people in India bother much about, and 'daily dental hygiene', an almost alien concept for most, just translates to brushing teeth twice, instead of once a day. 
    And the alarming part is that even that little use of the toothbrush is not up to the mark. A recent survey conducted by Indian Market Research Bureau on Consumer Usage and Attitudes has found that India has the lowest per capita toothbrush consumption as most people use their fingers, neem sticks and other tools for brushing teeth. 
    Experts say that we do not take a teething child to a dentist, usually. Dr Sagar Shah, dentist, stresses on the importance of the same, "It is important to take your child for a dental visit when the first tooth erupts or the child's first birthday. Don't ignore the treatment of milk teeth as decay is passed on easily from the milk to the permanent teeth." 
    Experts suggest visiting a dentist twice a year is a 
must. Senior dentist Dr 
Mukul Dhabolkar says, "The mouth is where the digestive system begins and is the gateway for most of the nutritional processes. It is the starting place for keeping bacteria out and letting essential oils in." 
    Recent studies illustrate the link between dental health and diseases like diabetes and heart diseases. Dr Dhabolkar states, "If oral health is not maintained well, the endocrine system has to work harder to break down foods during the digestive process and the immune system has to struggle to fight harmful bacteria that ultimately lead to compromised or incomplete efficiency." 
    Your mouth is more than just a pretty smile. Dr Shah says that the mouth is also the gateway to your overall health and keeping it clean may keep you healthier and younger for longer. 
    A well-balanced diet is also important — it not only enables you to watch your waistline but your dental health too. Choose a diet that's rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, low-fat dairy and lean protein. Limit foods high in saturated and trans fats, salt and added sugars says Dr Dhabolkar 
Here are a few 
    other points that 
    you need to keep in mind... 
Brush with essential oils 
Add a drop of cinnamon oil on to your toothbrush before brushing. It is anti-bacterial and anti-viral and can prevent infection and protect you against colds and flu bacteria in winters especially. 
Get the whole mouth involved 
Brush into your gums and tongue at the end of a brushing cycle to build resistance against cold/flu bacteria and other sickness. Rinse after meals. 
Take professional help 
A professional deep clean is the best way to clear out all the bacteria from the mouth. Visit a dentist every six months to proactively combat hard-to-reach bacteria and keep your mouth extra clean. Thorough gargling with water after every meal will help in absolute cleanliness of the mouth. 
Brush and floss regularly 
Brush after having sticky, sweet food and brush twice a day at least, with a soft bristled, brush that does not damage your enamel. Dr Shah says, "People brush their teeth vigorously thinking their teeth will become white — actually they become yellow, as the white outer layer gets worn out by brushing hard." Flossing will remove the bacteria and food particles that your toothbrush cannot reach. 
Say not to tobacco and smoking 
Avoid chewing tobacco and smoking — this is one of the major causes for tooth and complete oral tissue damage. The tobacco powder and its smoke causes stains on teeth and weakens them. It can lead to discolouration of teeth and sometimes is also responsible for oral cancer. 
Avoid aerated drinks 
Soda, cola drinks contain citric acid, and phosphoric acid have a corrosive effect on teeth and dissolve them. 
    With inputs from IANS DID YOU KNOW? 
65% Indians who change their toothbrush only after visible signs of damage

SMILE PRETTY: A toothbrush is vital for daily oral hygiene, maintenance and helps in reducing plaque, caries and other dental problems

Tongue cleaning is very important. Use a tongue cleaner or the back of a toothbrush

BRUSH RIGHT: Begin with the front, then back and then reach into the molars

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Gorging On Green

Remember the time when our mothers ran after us telling us to gorge on the greens? Believe it or not, there is some truth to it and here is why you should have a lot of that green colour on your plate.      Gorge On Greens: They are good for you. Green, dark and leafy vegetables offer the maximum amount of protection against diseases. The darker the colour, the higher the nutritive value it holds. Spinach, among other greens, have the least amount of fat, salt and calorie content and is a great source of fibre.      Calorie Conscious: For the calorie conscious, green vegetables are a boon as they are extremely low in calorie content, except avocado which maybe higher. Greens, thus, are good weight watchers.      Nutrition: Green veggies are enriched with vitamins, fiber, minerals and even phytochemicals, all of which are extremely important for good health and immunity-building. With very low to moderate fat content, they benefit the body in more ways than one.      Disease Combat: Studies have shown that consuming green vegetables on a regular basis cuts down risk of cancer, obesity and other chronic illnesses. With high magnesium content and low glycemic index, green leafy vegetables are good for people with type 2 diabetes. High levels of vitamin K in greens are essential for bone health and reduces the risk of bone diseases and displacement in those who consume more servings of green vegetables on a regular basis.      Green, leafy vegetables come in a great variety of colours from the bluish-green of kale to the bright kelly green of spinach. With assorted flavours, the leafy greens oftfen range from sweet to bitter, and peppery to earthy. Make sure you pick the crisp leaves with vibrant green color as opposed to the yellowish ones that indicacte that the veggies may have lost their flavour.      Include greens wherever possible; in your salad, snacks and meals, and chances are you will be embracing a happy, healthy and a green and gorgeous life.

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A HEALTHY SUGAR ALTERNATIVE

If you are diabetic and need to satisfy your sweet tooth, here is a sweet leaf that can do the needful

Stevia rebaudiana bertoni is a perennial shrub of the asteraceae family that is popularly known as honey-leaf, sweet-leaf, or Madhuparni. A boon for diabetics, this natural sweetener has zero calories, zero carbohydrates and zero glycemic index. So if you crave sweets but diabetes prevents you from satisfying it, these leaves are 30 times sweeter than sugar and will take care of your sweet tooth. They are also rich in minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients, proteins and fibre and can be used in cooking and baking as well. It can be a substitute to artificial sweeteners like saccharin and cyclamate. It activates the beta cells of pancreas to secrete more insulin and increases glucose tolerance in diabetic patients. 
Health benefits 
It can improve digestion and prove to be beneficial for an upset stomach Another importanthealth benefit is that it has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties Stevia can also contribute to stablisation of blood sugar allowing those who are currently insulin dependent to eventually not need treatment for high blood sugar levels and inhibit candidiasis - a yeast infection that flourishes with sugar It contributes to lowering blood pressure 
Suggested use 
When having tea or coffee add 6-7 leaves instead of sugar. In case you need to make a concentrated syrup, add 50gms of Stevia leaves to two litres of water and boil until the water is reduced to 1.5 litres. Filter the leaves, and cool the water, which can be used in place of sugar syrup.

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Wanna be fitter? Grow taller? Holistic health guru Mickey Mehta tells you how...

HOPING WITH ONE LEG 

This is one of the simplest exercises ever and can be done anywhere — while watching TV at home, while playing in the park, even in school during recess! Just hop on your left leg eight times with your hands up pointing towards the sky and then hop the same way on your right leg. 
BENEFITS 
This bouncing activity is great for brain development. It also strengthens the legs and generates growth hormones. CAT STRETCH 
This is the Indian dandwat. Put your palm and toes on the floor and become a mountain shape. Then, slowly glide down getting the chest towards the ground and become serpentine, thereby getting into bhujangasan. Your spine at this position is arched; bum is low, shoulders high and elbows straight, pelvic bone touches the floor. Then simply reverse the position and glide out. Now, push yourself out and become a mountain again. BENEFITS 
This activity helps to open up your spine, strengthen your shoulder, palms, chest, back, and puts a stress on the stomach and stretches hamstrings. It is good for circulation. HANG ON 
This exercise involves hanging from a rod and stretching your body completely. You should keep your toes pointed to the ground, stomach and buttocks should be sucked in tight and chin should be up. 
BENEFITS 
This exercise increases height. It also strengthens your hands arms and shoulders and leads to a strong stomach.

Mickey Mehta demonstrating a cat stretch

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