Life & Style

ISLAMABAD:  Regularly eating fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids can extend your life span, a new study revealed as quoted by media reports.

Fish provides omega-3 fatty acids which are essential for brain development as well as reduce inflammation of the brain, cardiovascular system and other cells, according to the study, Xinhua Reported.

It is the first study to check for levels of fish consumption and link them with death rates.

The research carried out by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and
the University of Washington, examined 16 years’ worth of health records involving 2,700 healthy American adults.

It found that people with the highest blood levels of the fatty acids lived on average 2.2 years longer than those with the lowest levels.

The American Heart Association recommended eating fish at least twice a
week, including 140g of oily fish.The human body cannot produce omega-3 fatty acids and the best dietary source is oily fish, according to dailymail.

Types of fish that contain high levels of fatty acids include tuna, salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, and anchovies.

Treating people with HIV soon after they become infected is cost-effective over the long term, according to a study out Wednesday that focused on South Africa and India.

The study in the New England Journal of Medicine analyzed the economics of giving antiretroviral drugs to people with HIV before their viral load gets too high.

While researchers have already determined that early treatment has many health benefits, its cost — about $23,000 a year according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — has remained a concern for considering widespread early treatment in low and middle income countries.

By projecting the treatment costs over time and accounting for the effects of better health and fewer infections, researchers found long-term economic benefits in both countries.

“In short, early ART is a ‘triple winner’: HIV-infected patients live healthier lives, their partners are protected from HIV, and the investment is superb,” said co-author Rochelle Walensky of the Massachusetts General Hospital.

“This study provides a critical answer to an urgent policy question.”

Researchers chose to focus on South Africa and India because they had the highest numbers of people with HIV among nine countries studied in a clinical trial known as HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052.

The trial showed that treatment as prevention dramatically reduced the risks of viral transmission and also substantially cut back the development of infections like tuberculosis in the HIV-infected patients.

South Africa and India were also representative, respectively, of the middle and lower income countries where these questions persist over how early to treat people for HIV.

Early ART was defined as therapy initiated when the CD4+ T-cell count ranged from 350 to 550 per cubic millimeter, and delayed ART as therapy initiated when the CD4+ count was below 250 per cubic millimeter.

“We found that early ART substantially improved the rate of survival of infected patients, greatly decreased the rate of early HIV transmissions, and provided an excellent return on investment,” said the study.

For the first five years, the results showed that 93 percent of patients receiving early ART would survive, compared with 83 percent of those whose treatment was delayed.

Life expectancy for the early-treatment group was longer too — almost 16 years, compared with nearly 14 years for the delayed treatment group.

“Now that we know that early ART not only improves clinical and prevention outcomes but also is a great investment, we need to redouble international efforts to provide ART to any HIV-infected person who can benefit from it,” said Walensky

KARACHI: Doctors have urged the government to initiate “National Stroke Prevention Programme” with major focus on public awareness campaign, formation of prevention guidelines and support for research related to stroke.

Through the platform of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) on Wednesday they said that despite being third cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the country stroke has received little attention from health care authorities.

PIMA President, Dr Misbahul Aziz, Neuro-physician Prof Muhammad Tariq and Neurologist Dr Abdul Malik cited Stroke as one of the unfortunate diseases in Pakistan.

They said that due to poor post stroke care up to 40% die within six months and remaining 60% are added to the pool of disabled people.

Mentioning that high blood pressure or hypertension is the top most cause of stroke they said as per National Health survey every third Pakistani above age 45 is hypertensive.

Majority of these patients are unaware of their high blood pressure and they only find out once they have a stroke or heart attack, which is too late, said the doctors.

They said Pakistan is also home to five million Diabetics and around 20 million tobacco users (smokers, shisha, chewing tobacco) that are the major risk factors for stroke.

It was mentioned that stroke is a treatable problem and a large number of patients are able to go back to work after a stroke because of acute stroke management, dedicated in patient care and intense rehabilitation programme.

Research has shown that more than half of this stroke could be prevented by effective Blood Pressure control and risk factor management.

PARIS: Mowing the lawn or washing the car are among simple activities that can reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke by almost 30 percent in people over 60, researchers said Tuesday.

A study in Sweden found that older people who were physically active around the house stayed healthier longer than couch potatoes — regardless of whether they also did any kind of “formal” exercise like jogging or going to the gym.

“A generally active daily life was, regardless of exercising regularly or not, associated with cardiovascular health and longevity in older adults,” said the study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

While the health risks of prolonged sitting and the benefits of regular exercise have both been well documented, the contribution to good health of “non-exercise physical activity (NEPA)” is not fully understood.

For the study, researchers screened nearly 4,000 Swedish 60-year-olds in 1997-99 and tracked their health for an average 12.5 years.

The participants recorded how frequently they performed certain activities, including doing home repairs, cutting the lawn or hedge, car maintenance, going hunting or fishing, cycling, and gathering mushrooms or berries.

The researchers found that people with high levels of physical activity, excluding formal exercise, had a 27 percent lower risk of contracting cardiovascular disease compared with inactive people, and a 30 percent lower risk of death from all causes during the study period.

The results were “not significantly different” from those for people who did do regular formal exercise but had low NEPA levels, the study said.

Those who did both had the lowest risk. “Promoting everyday NEPA might be as important as recommending regular exercise for older adults” — boosting individual and population health as the demographic shifts towards an ever-older population in many parts of the world, the study said.

The researchers factored in other lifestyle factors that could influence the results, including alcohol intake, education level, smoking habits and diet.

And they warned that care should be taken applying the findings in cultures that may have different physical activity habits and levels.

Augusto Odone, a former World Bank economist, defied skeptical scientists to invent a treatment to try to save the life of his little boy, wasting away from a neurological disease, and to give hope to other children afflicted with the same genetic defect.

Odone, 80, died on Thursday in his native Italy, five years after the death of his son Lorenzo, who astonished doctors by surviving decades longer than they predicted.

The concoction, derived from natural cooking oils, became known as Lorenzo’s Oil, which was also the title of a movie depicting the relentless efforts by Odone and his late wife, Michaela, to try to find a cure.

Cristina Odone told The Associated Press on Friday that her father had died in Acqui Terme, a town in northwestern Italy in the area where he grew up. She said he had lived for many years with a series of medical problems and had died of organ failure precipitated by a lung infection.

“What was so remarkable about my father is that he would never accept a death sentence, either for his own son or for himself,” she said. “He was supposed to die eight years ago, six years ago, four years ago. Till the very end, he would not accept either medical wisdom or a death sentence that nature would impose.”

In the 1992 film “Lorenzo’s Oil,” Nick Nolte played Odone, while Susan Sarandon played his wife.

Lorenzo was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy, a neurological disease also known as ALD, when he was 6 and living in the Washington, D.C., area. Doctors predicted the rare genetic disease would kill him in a few years and that he would not survive childhood. But Augusto and his wife Michaela refused to accept an outlook of doom.

Odone took early retirement and began work. After scouring medical journals and consulting scientists and doctors, he taught himself enough science that in 1987 he came up with a concoction derived from natural cooking oils.

He turned to a British scientist to produce an edible version, eventually contained in a bottle carrying the simple name “Lorenzo’s Oil.”

ALD is caused by a genetic defect that destroys the sheath covering nerve fibers. It is characterized by the buildup of substances in the blood called long-chain fatty acids. Lorenzo’s Oil is believed to return acid levels to normal when the condition is diagnosed early and the oil is accompanied by a strict, low-fat diet.

New York-born Michaela Odone died of lung cancer in 2000. Lorenzo died in 2008 at age 30. His parents had cared for him at home as he became paralyzed and lost the ability to talk, needing 24-hour care.

After his son’s death, Augusto Odone returned to his home region of Italy and wrote a book, “Lorenzo and His Parents.”

Cristina Odone ventured that her father’s legacy was to “try and try and try again, even when all around you say it is impossible.”

Odone is survived by Cristina and son Francesco. Cristina Odone also named as part of the surviving family Oumouri Hassane, the man who cared for Lorenzo from his early years.